1 TIMOTHY 6:6-122007 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Timothy 6:6-12

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2007. The Apostle Paul modeled this contentment for us. He was content. You remember as he wrote to the Philippians to thank them for the gift that they had given to him.

In chapter 4, he tells them essentially, thank you. But he goes on to make sure that he clarifies, hey, not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content.

He says, I know how to be abased and I know how to abound everywhere. And in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. And then he goes on to say, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That verse is not used in the context of, see, you can get rich or, you know, you can get what you want. That verse is in the context of, hey, no matter what happens, whether I need food or whether I have lots of food, whether I have nothing or whether I have lots of things, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He is my sufficiency. I am content with him and I trust him to provide for me.

Paul modeled this contentment. He says, thanks for the gift you gave to me, but I want you to know I'm content. Hey, if I'm in need, that's OK. If I'm a little hungry, I'm OK with that. I trust in God to provide for me. He will satisfy my needs. And so Paul this morning will be telling us the same thing to follow suit, to be content.

There in Philippians 4, what I just read to you, Paul says twice, I have learned to be content. I've learned to be full and to be hungry, to be abounding, but then also suffering need. It's something that can be learned and needs to be learned by you and I, that our sufficiency is in Christ. Learn how to be full.

but also learn how to be hungry. Learn how to abound and learn how to suffer need that you might be content. Paul says there are those who promote godliness and practice godliness because they suppose that they will receive some type of gain. But then verse six here in first Timothy six, he goes on to say godliness with contentment is great gain.

Timothy, keep yourself away from those who think that they're going to gain something. They're out to get something. They have ulterior motives, but also understand that, hey, godliness with contentment is great gain. He just finished saying that godliness is not a means of gain.

But now he tells us, if you add together, if you combine godliness with contentment, then there is great gain in that. How can that be? What gain is there when you combine godliness and contentment? Well, there's four things that Paul will share with us in the following verses. The four benefits of being content. We find the first one in verse 7. He says this,

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Very simple principle. What kind of clothes were you wearing when you were born? Were you wearing an Armani suit? Were you wearing a name brand diaper when you came out? What were you wearing? What did you have? What possessions did you carry with you on your way out? Was there room for a suitcase that you're able to tag along behind you? Maybe a wagon, whatever.

You didn't bring anything into this world. There was nothing that you carried in with you. And just as true as that is, you will carry nothing out. The first benefit of contentment that I want to share with you is that there is eternal rewards for being content. If you are content, you will have eternal rewards. You know why? Because you didn't bring anything into the world.

And you cannot take anything out. You're not going to take anything with you. The reason godliness with contentment is great gain is because it changes our priorities. The importance that we put upon things becomes appropriately placed whenever we combine godliness with contentment. Because this world and everything in it is temporary.

You know, the Apostle Paul gave us a great test to determine if something is temporary or eternal in 2 Corinthians 4.18. Here's the test. If you can see it, it's temporary. So just think about the things that you own that are valuable, the things that are important to you. If you can see them, they're temporary. They're not going to last. You're not going to carry them with you. They don't have eternal value. They don't have eternal benefit.

They are going to perish. You're going to leave them behind. You're not going to take them with you. In 1935, 1937, John D. Rockefeller died. And when he died, he was the world's richest man at that time. And his accountant was asked the question, well, how much did he leave behind? He was the world's richest man. How much did he leave? And the accountant replied, all of it.

He left all of it, everything. He didn't take anything with him. He had all the riches of the world and they stayed here. He moved on. He left it all behind. Contentment brings eternal rewards because when you stop placing so much value on the things of this life, automatically you begin to place more value on the things of eternity.

When you stop counting these things here, the things that you can see that are visible, that are temporary, when you stop counting them as so important and valuable, then what automatically takes place is you begin to put more value and importance on the things of eternity, the things that will last forever. There's a saying, you can't take it with you, but you can send it ahead.

Yeah, John D. Rockefeller, he couldn't take it with him. But you and I, we can send our treasure ahead and it will be waiting for us there in eternity. Remember in Matthew chapter six, Jesus taught us not to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth. He says their moth and rust destroy thieves break in and steal. Jesus goes on to say, but instead lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven and

Jesus is teaching the same thing. Don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. These are temporary. They're not going to last. These aren't going to satisfy you. They're not going to bring fulfillment. You will never be content with the things of this earth. And so don't store up for yourselves treasures on earth. Instead,

Take the value off of these things and automatically what will happen is you will begin to store for yourselves treasures in heaven. You'll begin to put ahead, to send ahead rewards, valuables that will be awaiting your entrance to the kingdom of God. There's a cancellation that happens when you lay up treasures on earth, when the things of earth are valuable and important to you. Then on the other side, you're lessening your

The importance of eternity. The things of eternity are less valuable to you. But you can tip it the other way. When you lay up treasures in heaven, when you place value and importance on the things of eternity and place importance on obedience to God and serving Him and doing the things that He's called, then the things of earth become less important, become less valuable to you. Think about the rich young ruler in Matthew 19.

He came to Jesus. What do I need to do to inherit eternal life? Jesus recognized, hey, yeah, this guy's pretty good. He has a heart. He wants to seek God. But what happened? Jesus said, well, here's what you need to do. Here's what you're lacking. Go sell everything that you have. Give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. And then come and follow me. But he walked away sad because the Bible says he had great possessions.

Now, that means he had a lot of possessions, but it also means he had really great possessions. They were really important, really valuable to him. He couldn't let them go. The things of earth were more important to him, so he had less treasure in heaven. But if he would have placed less importance on the things of earth, he would have had more treasure in heaven and he would have been able to follow Jesus Christ.

Godliness with contentment is great gain because we didn't bring anything into the world. We're not going to take anything out. And so as we fix our eyes on eternity, as we live for eternity, there's an eternal reward that awaits those who live content, content, satisfied with where God has you satisfied with the things that you have.

The materials that you possess. The wages that you earn. Paul says, be content. There's great gain. There's eternal rewards, eternal value for being content. He goes on in verse 8 to tell us the next thing. He says, in having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. There's another great gain of godliness with contentment. And that is a worry-free life.

Wouldn't you like to have a worry-free life? The contented life is a worry-free life. There's an article that came out recently sharing that 48% of Americans are stressed out, unable to sleep, and drinking too much.

They said that this nearly half of Americans were more stressed out now than five years ago. There's more anxiety, more worry, more stress now than five years ago. And they say that the same number lie awake at night, stressed and worried. Sleepless nights because of anxiety, because of stress, because of worry. Now, the article went on to share the danger of this.

is there's lots of negative effects of stress. This particular article listed the four top dangers in their estimation of stress. Number one, stress interferes with the immune system. So not only are the nights sleepless, you don't get good sleep because you're stressed out, you're worried, you can't figure out what you're going to do and how you're going to make it and how everything's going to come together. But the

It also messes with your immune system, so you're not able to fight off disease and fight off the colds that come through or the different bugs that go through. And so your body is weaker, more prone to sickness. The second thing they say, stress can worsen or trigger diabetes. It has a real negative effect on your body and can really mess with those who have diabetes or those who are in danger of becoming diabetic.

Stress accelerates aging. I know that's what everybody hopes for, but maybe that's not the right way to do it. You want to age? You want to get old faster? I don't think so. But stress accelerates aging, gives you more wrinkle lines, gives you, well, as I heard one person say at one time, you know, your face looks like you've seen 100 miles of hard road. It's a result of stress, of worry.

It goes on to talk about the impact of relationships that stress does. On and on we could talk about the negative effects, the mood swings, the depression, irritability, disorganization, obsessive behaviors, gambling, impulsive buying, all the things that it went on to say. Bottom line is, it's so destructive. Worry, anxiety, and stress in your life. Jesus wanted to make it very clear that

He tells us also in Matthew chapter 6, do not worry. Paul says, having food and clothing with these, we shall be content. This is all we need. This is what will sustain us. With that, I'm content. That's enough for me, Lord. Food and clothing. Provide those things and I'll be okay. And whoever will live that life, whoever will be content with food and clothing, will live a worry-free life because...

Jesus says, do not worry in Matthew chapter six. In Matthew chapter six, he says, don't worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body. What you will put on is not life more than food and the body more than clothing. The same two things that Paul is talking about, food and clothing will be content. These are the same things that Jesus is talking about and saying, hey, don't worry. He goes on to say, look at the birds.

You know, they don't have their own department stores where they get their clothing. They don't have their own Sam's Club in Costco where they go and get their food. Although you do see birds in Sam's Club and Costco from time to time. They don't have big storage sheds where they store their food. They don't have their pantries. They don't have anything. They don't sow nor reap. They don't gather into barns. But he says your heavenly father feeds them.

And he says, are you not of more value than they? Hey, you're more valuable than the birds. They don't worry about food and drink and clothing. So you're more valuable than them. The father, God, takes care of them. So God's going to take care of that in your life. He's going to take care of your food and your clothing. Jesus goes on to say, hey, how many of you, by worrying, can add a cubit to his stature?

Now, if you could do that, you could easily just join the NBA by just worrying all night long. Become an extra foot and a half long and then solve all your problems. Now you can be rich and famous. You can write a book, How to Grow by Worrying. But you can't. It doesn't work. And so Jesus again says, so why do you worry? Why do you worry about clothing? Why do you worry? Think about the lilies of the field, he says. They don't toil. They don't spin. But God clothes them. He takes care of them.

He says even Solomon and all of his glory. And, you know, Solomon had everything that there was to have. Solomon didn't even compare to the lilies. So if God takes care of the grass of the field, if he takes care of the birds of the air, if he takes care of these things that are less valuable, will he not take care of you?

So he says in verse 31 of Matthew chapter 6, He goes on to say, God knows you need food and drink and clothing. So don't worry.

And he says in verse 33, famous verse, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. All what things? The things he's been telling us not to worry about food and clothing.

He says, look, just put God first. Seek God first. Don't worry about those things as you seek God first. Again, as you rearrange your priorities and put the importance where God says, hey, this is to be important to you. Then as you seek him, all of those things, everything that you need will be added to you.

And so the contented life is a worry-free life because as you put your importance and value on the things of God, as you seek first the kingdom of God, God will provide for you and meet your needs. And so you don't need to stress. There's no need to lie sleepless at night, anxious and worried about how everything's going to be accomplished. Just be content.

With where God has you. Be content with what God wants to do in the future. Jesus says, don't worry about what you will eat or drink or wear. God knows you need those things. Just seek first the kingdom of God and he'll take care of it. God promises to meet your needs. He promises to provide your food and your clothing. So if you're content, there's no need to worry. God will provide for your needs. So be content and let God provide.

Wherever he may lead. Verse 9 goes on to say this. We're back here in 1 Timothy chapter 6. It says, Here Paul goes on to tell us the third thing, the third benefit, the third gain of contentment.

And that is you are preserved from destruction. When you are content, you are preserved from destruction. Contentment is like a life preserver in the sea of destruction. Now, I think it's important to make something clear. God is not condemning those who are rich or those who have wealth or are well off. You can look at

examples in the Bible, like Abraham, a very wealthy man. God had blessed him immensely. The issue here is not that everyone is to sell everything and be poor and never have anything and just, you know, live in the gutter and have faith in God that he's going to provide. The issue is not that you have to be poor, but that you must be content, whether rich or poor or perhaps somewhere in between. You need to be content.

Now, we always think, well, it'd be easier to be content if I had just a little bit more, but that's not contentment. And if you're not content with what you have now, you won't be content with the little more or the much more that you have. Paul says, those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare. The group that he's dealing with, the group that he's addressing or warning us against being in that group is those who desire to be rich. Do you desire to be rich? Is that a goal?

There's many young men that I have met, many older men that I've met, young and old women. Their desire, their goal is to achieve this amount of income or this amount of balance in the account or achieve this accomplishment, the desire to be rich. You know, I want to be the first person to make a million dollars before I turn 17 or whatever.

The age gets lower and lower as people make fortunes and pursue those things. Do you desire to be rich? And you might say, well, no, I don't desire to be rich. I just need 10,000 more a year. That would be enough for me. But the point is, those who desire to be rich, they're in a world of hurt. Do you desire to be rich? Now, we should ask the question then, well, how rich is rich? I mean, I don't desire to be rich. I just want 10,000 more. But...

Is that rich? Well, if you compare that to the rest of the world, in fact, if you compare our current status to the rest of the world, we have great riches. I was reading up on some different articles about being rich and people's desire to be rich, and one person said,

To be rich means that you make more than your wife's sister's husband. It's all relative. As long as I make more than my wife's sister's husband, then I'm rich. Or whoever makes just a little bit more than me, that's the rich person. It's all relative based on where you are at in society. The person who makes a million dollars a year says, I'm not rich. Look at this guy who makes a billion dollars a year. He's rich. I'm not rich.

And then we're down here, you know, in the $30,000 a year category saying, man, those guys are rich. You know, it's all relative to where you are. How rich is rich? Some people say rich means never having to worry about money again. Is that what you desire? Man, wouldn't that be cool? Just never have to worry about money. Yeah, that would be awesome. But if you're not content now, you won't be content then. Every year, Forbes does the list of the 400 richest Americans.

Last year, the lowest of the 400 was worth a billion dollars. But every year it increases. This year, 2007, the 400 richest Americans, the lowest one is $1.3 billion. That's a big difference. I know it's just a decimal point, 1 versus 1.3. But it's always growing, always increasing. Definition of rich is always changing. So let's do it the other way. Rather than try to define what rich is...

Let's just make the connection that Paul is making. Desiring to be rich is simply not being content. We could read it that way. Those who are not content fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. Paul says, look, if you're not content, you're in danger. There's great destruction that awaits you.

If you're not content, you will drown in the sea of destruction. Always seeking for the next thing. Always seeking for the next thing and then eventually destroying yourself. Proverbs chapter 23 verses 4 and 5. The author of Proverbs says, Do not overwork to be rich. Because of your own understanding, cease.

Just when you think you have them, they go just a little bit further away and a little bit further away. If you are not content now, you will not be content when you have whatever it is that you think you need to be in order to be content.

I'll be content once I get here and or once I get there. But then once you get there, then you find that, hey, I'm still not content. And then there's this other goal. Well, once I get that, then I'll be content. And so you keep going farther and farther using the picture that Paul is sharing here. Don't try to swim across the endless sea of destruction because you'll drown in it. You'll drown in it if you're not content. Preserve yourself from destruction.

The contented life is a life that is preserved from that destruction, from that destructive process of chasing after and chasing after the endless pursuit of the thing that will satisfy. Going on in verse 10, he tells us the fourth thing. He says, For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. So the contented life is

Has eternal rewards. It's a worry-free life. You're preserved from destruction. But you're also, number four, protected from straying. Protected from straying from the faith. Paul starts verse 10 with the word for, connecting it to the previous verse. Those who drown in the sea of destruction and perdition. Why do they drown there? Why is a lack of contentment cause for destruction?

because Paul says the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It's a root of all kinds of evil. And so if you're chasing after it, if that's your desire, then you're going to be stirring up for yourself all kinds of evil. Now, there's a common misquote that says money is the root of all evil. And that's not what the scripture says. Money in and of itself is not bad. It's not the root of all evil. But the point is that all kinds of evil comes from

From the love of money. All kinds of evil comes from greed and covetousness and jealousy and envy. The history of the world is full of examples of that. The things, the devastation that takes place because of that thirst for more. But Paul says, not just are we talking earthly things and material things, but the love of money, the real danger of the love of money is that it causes some to stray from the faith, to depart from the faith.

They stop following God because they have this love of money. He says that there's some which have strayed from the faith in their greediness. They're consumed by it and they pierce themselves through with many sorrows. It's not beneficial for you. Paul is sharing that you're hurting yourself. It's like taking a spear and and just jabbing it through yourself over and over again, piercing yourself through with many sorrows.

You're not going to be happy. It doesn't bring contentment. The love of money brings much sorrow. But not only that, sorrow in this life is one thing. But Paul says it causes some to stray from the faith. And so those who are content will be protected from straying from the faith. They'll be protected from that pool that the love of money has to take us off of the track that God has for us.

To take us off the path of life. The love of money will lead us down the wide road of destruction. In Matthew chapter 6 as well, verse 24, Jesus says, And he says you cannot serve God and mammon. Or, well, mammon is the god of money, wealth, wealth.

You can't serve both. The reason why those who have the love of money, those who are chasing after those things, those who desire to be rich, the reason why they stray from the faith is because you cannot have two masters. And if your desire is for the Lord, then you will follow him. But if your desire is for money, you'll chase after that. And you can't do both. One's going to cancel out the other. And so we have to choose.

Choose this day, in fact. Who will you serve? Will you chase after riches? Will you chase after that next thing? Well, we just need that next vehicle or the next house or whatever it is. Then we'll be content. Then we'll be satisfied. Not that we can't buy those things. Not that God won't bless us with those things. But if you're not content now, you're chasing after, you're serving a different God. A lack of contentment really is...

a smack in the face of God from us. It's us telling God, you haven't given me enough. You haven't done enough for me. I'm not satisfied. You don't fulfill me. You're not all that I need. I need this and I need that and I need that. And when you give me these things, then I'll be satisfied. Or when you give me these things, then I'll love you enough. Or then I'll serve you. Then I'll take care of the things that you want me to take care of. But God, at this point, you haven't given me enough.

You haven't provided for me enough. You cannot serve God and mammon. In Mark chapter 4, as well as other portions of Scripture, but Jesus is telling the parable of the sower. I'm sure you remember that parable. Jesus says that the sower went out to sow in his field and he sowed the seed and some fell on the path and some fell on the rocky soil and some fell on the thorny soil and then some fell on the good soil.

Of course, the good soil is what you want. The good soil is what produced 30, 60, 100 fold. But in explaining the parable to his disciples, he says in Mark chapter four, verse 18 to 19, he says, these are the ones sown among thorns. So the seed that was sown among thorns, Jesus says, this is who they are. They are the ones who hear the word and the cares of this world.

The deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things entering in choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. There's a danger for us having received the seed. If our heart is thorny soil, then when the word begins to produce fruit, as the word is growing, it is restricted. It becomes choked, suffocated because of unhappiness.

Jesus says, the cares of this world. Because we're too caught up in the cares of this world. Or the deceitfulness of riches. The chasing after. The deceitfulness of riches is that, you know, I'm just about there and riches deceive you. And then I think I've got it. And then you get there and it's still not satisfying. It's still not fulfilling. It's still not what you need and what you crave. The cares of this world. The deceitfulness of riches. The desires for other things.

It doesn't have to be riches. It doesn't have to be the cares of this world. Whatever it is, for those who are single, I won't be satisfied until I have a spouse. I won't be happy. Then I'll be content. Then I can love the Lord. Then I can really serve the Lord. Then I can be fulfilled. Then I can have everything that I need. He'll choke out the word.

When you chase after those other things, you cannot serve two gods. You cannot serve two masters. And so when you chase after those other things, you will choke out the word and stray from the faith. So Paul says, be content. You'll be protected from straying.

There are those who have strayed from the faith and their greediness. They've hurt themselves, pierced themselves with many sorrows because the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It's dangerous. It's deadly. It will hurt you and it may cause you to walk away from a relationship with God. Don't let the temporary things of this life choke your faith and affect your eternity. Be content. Protect yourself from straying.

Let's go on, verses 11 and 12. Paul says, but you. So here's the contrast. Here's those who have strayed. Here's those who chase after those things. But you, Timothy, but you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness,

Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life to which you are also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Here, Paul goes on to tell Timothy, but you, Timothy, don't be like those who stray from the faith. Don't be like those who see godliness as a means of gain. Instead, combine godliness and contentment.

Don't be chasing after the things of this life and this world. Don't let those things choke out the word which was sown in you. Instead, you, O man of God. And he tells them three things, perhaps four, depending on how you break it down. We'll look at them more in depth next week. But to give us a taste of what Paul is saying here, he says, flee, pursue and fight.

Timothy, don't be greedy. Don't be covetous. Don't lack contentment. Instead, flee, pursue and fight. Here's the last point that I believe Paul is sharing with us and God is speaking to us this morning. You are to be content. If you will be content, there's great gain in that because there is eternal reward. Now, contentment of itself is great.

Not really enough. There needs to be the combination of godliness and contentment. You need to have a relationship with God and draw close to God. Just being satisfied with where you're at doesn't merit eternal reward. But as you seek God, as you have relationship with God, as you draw close to him and you combine that with contentment,

being satisfied where you are at and what God has provided for you, then there will be eternal reward. Not only that, but your life will be worry-free as you trust in God. You'll be preserved from destruction forever.

By not chasing after and swimming out into that sea. And you'll be protected from straying or protected from those things choking out the word that was sown in you. There's great gain in contentment. So be content.

But there's one area that you are not to be content, that you're never to be satisfied. And that is in your spiritual walk. That's what Paul is telling Timothy, I believe, here in verses 11 and 12. He says, OK, Timothy, be content, be content, be content. But don't be content spiritually. Don't be satisfied spiritually. When it comes to spiritual things, O man of God, flee, pursue and fight spiritually.

Don't be content with where you are. As Christians, we are too easily contented with where we are spiritually. We exited the attitude, you know, although we wouldn't say this, but this is the attitude that we portray many times or the attitude of our hearts. I've got my ticket to heaven. Now I can focus on these other things. You know, I kind of got that area squared away. Boom. Got my salvation. Said the sinner's prayer. I go to church. Okay. Now that's taken care of. Now what I need to do is...

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Whatever we think it is that we need to do. Paul says, listen, don't be content. Don't be satisfied with where you're at as a Christian. Don't be satisfied and content with where you're at in your relationship with God. There's things that you need to flee. There's things that you need to pursue. And there's times when you need to fight.

You need to flee. That is to turn around, to run from sin. Paul says, flee these things. What things? Well, the things he's just been talking about. The love of money and greediness and covetousness. The chasing after of other things. Timothy, flee that mentality. Flee the heart and be content. But not in your spiritual walk. Run. Like Joseph, when he...

Potiphar's wife grabbed his cloak, said, come to bed with me. He left the cloak and took off running. He fled. Paul tells Timothy in other places to flee youthful lusts. We're told several times in the scriptures to flee. When it comes to sin, when it comes to those kind of things and those dangers in our life, we're to run from them. Now, again, sometimes we just get content. Well, I'm saved. I said the sinner's prayer. And so I can just dabble a little bit.

There's grace and I'll ask God to forgive me and there's no problem. So I'll be okay. I'm content in my spiritual walk is what I'm saying when I stop fleeing. When I stop running from sin. When I stop running from those things that God says, stay away from those things. We are to flee. Don't be content saying, well, you know, I used to be a lot worse.

I've made a lot of progress. And so, you know, I'm kind of OK where I'm at. You know, bad words that's out here, there, you know, a couple of things, you know, no big deal. No flee. Don't be content with your spiritual walk, but run from sin. Flee from the things that are contrary to the Lord. But not just flee, but you're also to pursue when you do the 180, when you run from those things.

You're not to just run aimlessly. Where am I going to go? I don't know. No, pursue. There's a goal in mind. There's something you're to chase after. You're to be focused on. What are you to pursue? Paul says righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and gentleness. Turn from sin. Run from sin. Run towards God. Run to learn the things of God. Run to draw closer to the Lord. Don't be content saying, well, hey, I'm a lot better than I was before.

Draw closer to the Lord. Pursue the things of God. Chase after the things of God. We're to flee, we're to pursue, and we're to fight. This is a battle that we face. There's spiritual war going on closer to home. There's a war taking place within you. Paul tells us that the flesh, our sinful nature, and the spirit war against one another within us.

I'm sure you've experienced and felt and understand that conflict. There's a war that takes place. Paul says, hey, the things that I want to do, those are the things that I don't do. And the things that I don't want to do, I find myself doing those things. What's going on here? There's a battle that takes place. There's a war that rages within us between our old sinful nature, the flesh, the cravings of the flesh, the desires and desires.

And natural tendencies of our sinful nature. They war against our spirit. And there's too many Christians who give up because it's hard. As Christians, don't be content in your spiritual walk. You need to fight the good fight. Don't give up just because things are difficult or things are hard. Or...

Letting go of that sin or turning from those things or pursuing the things of God or standing for righteousness or doing what's right. Don't stop. Don't quit. Don't give up simply because there has to be a fight. There is going to be a fight. It's going to be a battle. It's going to be hard. Everything just doesn't happen easily as a Christian.

There's some things that God gets rid of right away and he takes care of them really easily in our lives when we come to him and receive him. But there's a whole lot more where he wants us to fight. It's just like the picture of the children of Israel going into the promised land. God promised, I'll be with you. You'll have every place that you set your foot, but you have to fight. You have to go into battle.

And the problem with the Israelites as they went in is they stopped battling. They became content. They conquered kind of most of the land and they were like, oh, that's enough. He's kind of our friendly neighbors. We don't have to worry about them. We don't have to drive them out. We don't have to do everything God said. Oh, we're fine how we are. We don't want to fight. Don't be content in your spiritual walk, but fight the good fight. Charge those hills.

Deal with those strongholds in your life. Let God take care of those things. He's with you. He'll fight the battle. But you've got to join in the fight. He's not going to just do it for you while you sit on the couch changing channels. You've got to get on your knees. You've got to spend time in His Word. You've got to seek Him and be obedient to Him. You've got to stand up and do what He says to do. You're going to have to fight. Many times we have too many Saul's and not enough David's. Remember as Goliath is marching back and forth there.

The Valley of Elah. David comes to check on his brothers and Goliath comes out and challenges the whole army of the Israelites. The whole army is just sitting there waiting for something to happen, waiting for God to do something, waiting for something to take place. Saul's there just kicking it under a tree, just waiting. I don't want to fight. That's scary. It's hard. It's difficult. It might be painful. Look at how big he is. Look how difficult this would be. David says, I'll fight him.

I'll fight the good fight. Paul says to Timothy, fight the good fight. Lay hold on eternal life. Grasp hold of it. Don't just kind of wait for it to come to you, but reach forward. Fight the fight. Grab hold of it. Do everything you can to chase after eternity and follow the things of God. Don't be content in your spiritual walk, in your spiritual life. Saying, hey, I'm saved and that's enough. Now push forward. Progress. Grow deeper.

And they hold of eternal life. Be content, Paul says. There's great reward. There's great gain, rather. There's eternal reward. It's a worry-free life. You'll be preserved from destruction. You'll be protected from straying. But don't be content spiritually. Press forward. Press on. Draw close to the Lord. And be obedient to Him. Even if there has to be a fight. Flee. Even when it's difficult. Pursue. Even if the terrain is rocky.

Fight the good fight. Lay hold of eternal life. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, God, I lift up our hearts to you. May you teach us to be content. As Paul said, he learned to be content. God, I pray that you would help us to learn to be content. Lord, that we would not be caught up and swayed by the riches of this life and the deceitfulness that is there, God. That we wouldn't be caught up in the cares of this world or the

The other things, God, that would choke out your word in our hearts and what you want to do. God, I pray that you would help us to be content. Lord, that we'd be able to sleep and have a good night's rest. Even as your word says, you give your beloved sleep and rest. Lord, I pray for those sleepless nights that you would help us to trust in you, to rely upon you and be content with where you have us. And God, I pray that you would help us not be content.

In our spiritual walk. But it's so easy to become lukewarm. To be complacent. To be just satisfied with where we're at. But God you don't call us to that type of relationship. Lord you said to the church in the book of Revelation. That they were lukewarm. And therefore you would spew them out of your mouth. We don't want to be that church God. Help us to pursue the things of you. To chase after the things of you Lord. To run from the things of you.

contrary to your word, Lord, that there would not be even a hint of sin, but at the very thought, at the very opportunity, at the appearance, God, that we would run, that we would set ourselves apart for you. God, I pray that you would give us strength to fight. Help us, Lord, to have faith like David did, to believe you at your word, that you will go with us into the promised land, that you will fight the battles for us.

But help us, Lord, to engage, to stand, to do what's right, and to be obedient to you. God, I pray that you would draw us close to you. Thank you for your word, which promises all of these things to us. There's great value and benefit as we simply learn to walk with you, trust in you, and follow you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.