As you turn to the 37th division of the Book of Psalms, as you turn there, again, James, I want to thank you for extending the invitation for me to be here. It's been good. My soul has been edified. I've been blessed. Been good. Thank you, lady, for the food, the fellowship, the hospitality. You asked me if it was like home. Yes. I'm sorry. I just get emotional sometimes. My heart's been overly blessed. That song didn't help. Thank you for that song, really. And the one before it, brother. Thank you for that song. Appreciate it. This morning, excuse me, this evening, I'd like to speak on the subject of, are you a 37-37 person? I'm not talking about some new shotgun, some new rifle. I'm not talking about some new diet pill. I'm not trying to sell you any land. What I'm talking about is your heart. Are you a 37, 37 person. Mark the perfect man. Behold the upright. The end of that man is peace. And you find it in Psalms 37, verse 37. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you again this evening as we gather in thine house. And Lord, we have been so blessed and gratified. And we do thank you for the word. We thank you for that that preceded not only this evening, but this morning and yesterday, Lord. and Lord we ask that one more time that you would refresh us with your grace to be that you would speak to our hearts and to our souls Heavenly Father for we want to hear as it were a sound from heaven oh God speak to us Heavenly Father leave us not to ourselves and so we look to you and to your blessings in Jesus name we ask amen and so we ask are you a 3737 man are you a 3737 woman. This is the person that David describes here in Psalm 37, 37. Mark the perfect man. Behold the upright. The end of that man is peace. Peace. And I know that some of you might look at these words, some of these phrases that David uses. and go, wow, Pastor Joe, it sounds good, but I don't know if I can be that person. I mean, to be perfect, to be upright, and we come to the conclusion, well, Pastor Joe, you know nobody's perfect. And so we kind of maybe throw up our hands, and it's unattainable. I can understand these sentiments. But the work that I really want you to consider also are mark, behold, and the end. And hopefully by the time I'm done, that it may said about you and me, mark the man, behold the man, the end of that man is peace. That we would seek to emulate such a person that David describes here. I don't know about you, but I want to be a 37-37 man. And so we'll be talking to the saints of God this evening. There's a lot here, but I want to stay in verse 37, and I'll just outline the whole chapter for you real quick. In verses 1 and 2, I'm sure you've read this before, and it tells you, fret not. You know? Fret not. We see that in verses 1 and 2. And so here we see the believer's problem. And then in verse 3, we're told the importance of trusting in the Lord. And here we see the believer's place. And then in verse 4, we are told to delight in God. And you can only delight in God if you trust in God. And so here we see the believer's pleasure. And then in verses 5 and 6, we are instructed to commit our ways unto the Lord. And so here we see the believers practice. And then in verses 7 and 8 we are told to rest in God. It all follows through. Don't fret. Trust in the Lord. Delight yourself. Commit. Now rest in the Lord. Verses 7 and 8. This is the believers patience. And then in verses 9 to 24, we're told that our Lord upholds us. And one of my favorite verses, and we sing this in the church because we like to sing scriptures, and it's the steps of the good man. In verse 23, I ordered by the Lord, and he delighted in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down. Why? For the Lord upholded him with his hand. And so in verses 9 to 24, we see the believer's protection. And in verses 25 to 29, and of course, and shortly to verse 28, It says, for the Lord loved judgment and forsaken not His saints, they are preserved forever. And so verses 25 to 29, the believer's preservation. And then in verses 30 and 31, it speaks about the law of God being kept in our hearts. Here we see the believer's precept. In verses 32 to 36, the importance of waiting upon the Lord, keeping His way, the believer's proving. And then of course, verses 37 and 38, the believer's peace. And he concludes in verses 39 to 40, the believer's possession. And you can tell there's a lot here in this psalm. And it's a soothing psalm. It's one of those spiritual bombs to the heart and to the soul that you can meditate over and over again. But again, David says, mark the perfect man. Behold the upright. For the end of that man is peace. Three things quickly. We'll see, number one, the character of this man. Mark the perfect man. Then secondly, we'll look at the completeness of this man. Behold the upright. And then we'll conclude with the contentment of this man. Why? Because the end of that man is peace. First of all, the character of this man. He tells you, mark. Mark the perfect man. I love the way it starts. He tells you to mark this particular man. The word mark in Hebrew, shemar, it doesn't mean to observe, to give heed, to keep watch. Also, in some areas, it's also used for watchmen. That is to watch this man, to look, to consider the perfect man. Of course, notice in verses 35 and 36, as David speaks about those outside Christ, at verse 35 he says, I have seen The contrast, I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passeth away, and lo, he was not. Yea, I saw him, but he could not be found. Oh, but mark the perfect man. Behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace. What a contrast, what a distinction between the two. But the problem with us, and most people that we very seldom look at the perfect man or the man or the woman of God. So many people are so concerned with so many other things. I mean, they would rather give more attention to, you know, the Hollywood stars and observe all these other things. And, you know, some on Sundays get more excited about reading the newspaper or the tabloids instead of the scriptures. You know? No, no, no. Don't consider the worldly person. Don't look at the lost person. Remember, I believe in Psalm 73, he warns about not envying the lost. And David says, this is what I see in the wicked. But he's passed away. Oh, he said, what you need to do is put your eyes on the perfect man. The perfect man. Don't consider the worldly person. Consider the perfect man. Give close attention to that man. Now, in all fairness, we sometimes give people reasons not to consider the perfect man or the man of God or the woman of God, because our testimony is not what it should be. We're not the salt and the light that we ought to be. And sometimes it causes others to blaspheme the name of God. They make a mockery against Christianity. The lost are always looking at us, my dear ones. They're always looking, just waiting for you to fall, for me to fall, so they can say, aha, aha, I knew you were a hypocrite. But again, regardless, we're told we need to be soft, we need to be light. As a matter of fact, Paul wrote to the Philippians, he says, that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke in this midst of a crooked and perverse nation. And America right now is a crooked and perverse nation. And how should we be? That we should be blameless and harmless. It doesn't make... I don't care what's going on around us. And I don't care how much power the Son of Mights are getting. It doesn't make a difference. It shouldn't affect our walk. We still should be blameless and harmless, that we should shine as lights in the world. And again, we live in an ungodly world. In America, as we said, it's crooked, perverse, forcing that. homosexual sodomite agenda upon us. But nonetheless, we must maintain that holy character before God and man. And so, David reminds us, as he wrote by inspiration, he says, mark the perfect man. Mark the character of that man. You see, the one who truly wants to serve the Lord, want to serve the Lord with the whole heart, And if you serve the Lord with a whole heart, you will leave a definite mark to others. Remind me of Joshua and Caleb. And I don't want to go to all those verses in Numbers 32 and other places, but the idea, we know everybody age 20 and up, they didn't make it to the promised land. They died. Except for two men, Joshua and Caleb. Why? Because it says in those scriptures, because they have wholly followed the Lord. You see, that's the perfect man. The one that wholly follows the Lord. To be like Caleb and Joshua. Let others murmur, let others complain, let others do whatever. Let's follow the Lord. And so, no doubt we can say about Caleb and Joshua, we can say it assertively and certainly. Mark that perfect man. Mark Caleb. Mark Joshua. Mark the person. Again, to study, to watch, observe, pay attention. And again, the word perfect disturbs a lot of people because they know, well, again, nobody is perfect. True and false. But on the other side of the coin, you know, we also say, I cannot attain. I cannot attain to perfection. I can't get to that level. Well, we sometimes have a wrong definition of things. We think that the word perfect means to be without sin. That's not what David is saying. Because as we heard last night in 1 John 1, if a man says he has no sin, he's a liar. Or this morning. So I'm not talking about being without sin. No, no, no, no. The word perfect is the Hebrew word tam, which basically means to be complete, wholesome, and therefore morally, ethically, pure. In simple term, it means integrity, and of course, to be a mature Christians. Don't you sometimes get a little bit perturbed with immature Christians? See, the perfect man is one who is mature. He's matured in his walk. So it's speaking about a Christian maturing, understanding his calling. We have a high calling. We have a heavenly calling. We have a holy calling. And even when we go through difficult times and trials, it doesn't mean that we take our calling and perfection and put it in the closet. Even in those times, we ought to still walk in such a manner that is well-pleasing unto the Lord. And so there is a sense that we can be perfect, be mature. I'm not talking about being sinless, but being spiritually a spiritual, mature Christian. Remember, even Christ said, these things that I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In this world you will have tribulation. Let be a good cheer, I have overcome the world. You see, that one who is a perfect man, a perfect woman, understands this saying of Christ and understands there's going to be trials, there's going to be tribulations, there's going to be problems through our Christian lives. And what we need is that faith. that faith that we heard of this morning to help us to walk in difficult times. Remember, in 1 Peter 4, we are told, Rejoice! You are partakers of Christ's sufferings. It says, if any man suffers a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on his behalf. Again, this is the perfect man, the mature Christian, who understands trials are going to come, problems are going to come, there's going to be situations, but we must be reminded that we are being conformed to the image of Christ in the midst of all this, and therefore we must wholly follow the Lord. And I tell you, mark that person. Mark him well. Again, as we said last night, we cannot control the trials coming to our lives, but we can control the way we respond to those trials. That's a big difference. You see, a perfect man, a perfect woman, they built their foundation upon Christ, upon God. At the end of the Sermon of the Mount, that's what Christ instructed us. Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house. The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, beat upon that house, and it fell not. Why? For it was founded upon the rock. And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not, there's a big difference between doing and doing them not. shall be likened like a foolish man no not a perfect man but like a foolish man which built his house upon the sand and the rain descended and the floods came the wind blew and it beat upon the house it fell and great was the fall of it again a perfect man a perfect woman of God seeks to build their house upon the rock because they hear and submit to the word of God even in the midst of dark stormy clouds, strong winds that might come into our life. Knowing that in Christ, Christ can weather any storm that come into our life. And therefore we built upon the solid rock. And then of course you have the nominal Christian, professes Christ only when there lives not with their hearts, will not obey the words of God at all. And so they build their foundation on pure sand. And therefore they can't withstand the storm, the strong wind, and therefore they're always just murmuring and complaining about everything. And so again, Mark the perfect man that obeys God and seeks to build their life upon Christ. Not lip service, but heart service. And so I hope you starting to get an idea what it means to be perfect in the sense of true maturity, following the Lord Jesus Christ. And I understand again, doesn't mean that we'll always be perfect, but it doesn't hurt to strive for perfection. I don't have time, I wanted to go to the parable of the sower. And you see all the things that transpired, there's the four different grounds, the four different hearts, and only one of them was good. But two of them received the word of God with gladness. They rejoiced. But tribulation arose. Things came. They were offended by the word of God. No, no, no. No. Even the writer in Hebrews reminds us in Hebrews 6. Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrines of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance and dead works and of faith toward God. And so leave those elementary things of a Christian faith and go on to Christian perfection, yea, Christian maturity. But again, Pastor Joe, can you really believe we can be perfect? Yes. Again, let me just show you at least two of the many examples that we could probably use. And some of these have already been used. The brother used it last night. But we used it again in Genesis 6 with Noah. Noah stood out in his generation. And they could say of Noah, Mark the perfect man. Because God said he was perfect. Again, in Hebrews 6. Hebrews, excuse me, Genesis. In verse 8, we know what it says. And Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man, an upright man. and what? Perfect in part of his generation, right? No, no, no, no, no. He was perfect in his generation. Why? Noah walked with God. In order to get to that Christian maturity and go to that aspect of perfection, perfection involves walking with God. Walking with God. Perfection is walking with God. So Noah was that just man, that perfect man. And we know that the writer of Hebrews uses an example of him. When he said, again, by faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen. Again, as the brother said this morning, our Christian life is made of things not seen. That's why it's called faith. Things not seen. What happened? Noah moved with fear. a holy reverence toward God. He prepared an ark to the saving of the house by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. But it started again that no one what found grace in the eyes of the Lord and he was that perfect man. The sad thing, there is too much complacency and laziness and compromise in Christianity of our day. We need to stand out like Noah and be that perfect man, be that perfect woman that they can say, mark that person, mark that lady, mark that man. They walk with God. And then of course you also have Abraham, who is called the father of our faith. Romans 4 16 therefore it is a faith that it might be by grace to the end of the promise might be sure to all the seed not only which is of the law but that also which is of the faith of Abraham which is the father of us all and if you're still there in in Genesis turn to Genesis 17 And in Genesis 17, and in verse 1 it says, So I hope you're starting to see that walking with God and perfection coincide. Goes hand in hand. Perfection is walking with God. Not saying, but doing. And then, what shall we say of the Lord Jesus Christ at the end of chapter 5 of Matthew? And this is to each and every one of you in this auditorium this evening that names the name of Christ. This is for you. This is for me. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 5.48, Be ye therefore perfect. even as their Father which is in heaven is perfect." Yes, David understood exactly, exactly what he was saying. To observe, give heed, keep watch, look, consider, give your attention to that sincere, godly, matured man and woman. Study them, behold them, don't idolize them, but mark the perfect man. Are you a 3737 person? Secondly, the completeness of this man. Behold, the upright. Behold, the upright. Again, the word upright here in the Hebrew basically means to be right, righteous, a just man. A holy man of God. And of course, it's only because of the imputed righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ that He gave to us at salvation that we are able to walk in holiness and righteousness. We are commanded to be holy. 1 Peter tells us, he quotes from the Old Testament, I believe from Leviticus, when he said, But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. That is, in all manner of conduct. Not just at church, at work, at home. Everywhere, in all manner of conversation, because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. Because of time, I'm only going to use one example. I preach a series of about 8, 10 messages on this. I'm just trying to condense it as much as I can. But I would like to use the example of the church of Sardis. I would ask you to go all the way to the last book. You went from Genesis, now you're going all the way to Revelation. I know, I don't mean to make you work so hard this evening in the Bible. But I covered it all, brother. From Genesis to Revelation, brother. Come on. Here we go. Revelation, chapter 3. And unto the angel of the church of Sardis write, These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars, I know thy works. Man, I want to chase this rabbit. I don't have time. He starts to every church, I know thy works. That blessed my soul one day, reading to Revelation in my office, going through a hard time. And I realized the encouragement to all the pastors. He knows your work. He knows your work, brother. He knows your work. He knows your work. If you're a pastor this evening, God said, I know your works. What a blessing. I know thy works. Gadal has a name. that thou livest and art dead." And now he's going to prove them. But he prefaces every letter by saying, I know thy word, thou blest my soul. He says, be watchful. In other words, don't be a sleeping Christian. There's too many Christians asleep in this 21st century. And then we wonder why we are where we are. I blame the problems of America upon the church. not the government, not the politicians, the church. The church that has compromised. They lowered the standard of the gospel. You know Paul says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Don't you love that? I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. And he speaks about that power of God unto salvation to everyone to believe that the Jew first and all to the Greek. And then in verse 2 it says, therein is the righteousness of God declared. In other words, if you lower the standard of the gospel, you lower the standard of the righteousness of God. And that's what is happening in our day. God help us. Be watchful. Don't be a sleepy Christian. Strengthen the things that remain that are ready to die. I have not found thy works. Uh-oh. Is that our word for this evening? Can y'all help me with this? I want to hear y'all say it. I have not found thy works. Perfect. That's right. Amazing, huh? I have not found thy works perfect before God. And then he says at least four important things. Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard. Hold fast, repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. But this is the blessing. Thou hast a few names, even in Sardis, that have not defiled their garments. And they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. And of course, he says, but he that overcometh. And he says that to every church also. What a blessing also. And then, of course, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the church. And so the Lord speaks to the church's artist, and he speaks to us. Commended it, but then he reproves it also. It's not, I use the example not so much that if I see your perfection, or somebody sees your perfection, or you being upright. No, no, no. How does the Lord see us? Remember, the church of Sardis was a compromising church, a worldly church, many sleepy and lazy Christians. So the Lord commands them what to repent, and He gives them a full reason to repent. Be watchful! That is, over the state of your souls. Again, because they were sleepy Christians. Secondly, strengthen the things that remain. Have a fixed heart. A strong resolution in your walk. They were compromising the things of God. Thirdly, remember. I mean, it's so sad. You preach a sermon. You spend hours a week preaching. You pour your heart out on Sunday morning. Before they hit the door, they forget what you preach. Oh, but they remember this movie over there, and they remember that game over there. But oh, what did I preach? What did you preach on last week, Brother Joe? Hmm? Forgetful. Remember what you have received and heard, lest you forget. Hold fast, guard your heart, preserve your heart. If we do these four things of being watchful, strengthening the precious things that remain, to remember the things that we heard, and hold fast our heart, it would keep us from being sleepy Christians. The opposite is, if you don't do those things, you will be a sleepy Christian. You cannot be spiritually sober if you're sleepy. So how can you be watchful? How can you strengthen the things that remain? How can you remember? How can you hold fast? How can you guard your heart? These things are important. But if we're sleepy Christians, oh my. But who were, but he, excuse me, but in this church they had some who were perfect and upright. Oh yes. And we see that in verse four. The Lord had his remnant in that flock, in that church. And what great encouragement we have in verses 46. Not all was lost in this church. Because, as we said, God has a little remnant in there. He had his little faithful flock. Others might not be as faithful, but at least these were faithful and they continued to serve Him. Don't you just love that? Thou hast a few names even in Sardis that have not defiled their garments. and they shall walk with me in white, they are worthy. He had a few people, that was a few names in Sardinia. They had a firm purity, which has now defiled their garment. They walk in a faithful perseverance, they shall walk with me in white, and they had fortunately a fixed preservation, for they are worthy. Again, there is a lot here But I'm also interested in that little phrase, these which have not defiled their garments. They had that firm purity. Because it means that they were not only perfect, but they were also upright. Mark the perfect men, behold the upright. They had a firm purity because they were upright. Christ walked among His churches, and He knew exactly who was faithful in Sardis and who was not faithful in Sardis. He knew those that were faithful in Sardis, and He knew those who befall their garments. You see, Jesus walks upon every church. I pastor the Hillburn Drive Great Baptist Church, and Christ walks among Hillburn Drive Great Baptist Church, and He knows who's faithful and who's not. He walks here at Lakeview Baptist Church also. And He knows who's faithful and who's not. And at your church, and in your church, and every pastor's church. And He knows who are faithful. Christ sees those that are faithful and pure. He always had that zeal with godly integrity, holy conviction. And so the little flock in Sardis, they kept the testimony. No doubt, again, there were many mere professors. But he had his faithful few." Oh, what a blessing. What a blessing. Again, we can even look from that perspective, Job. Book in it last night also, brother. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was perfect and upright, both of these. And he feared God. And there's so many verses and Psalms and Proverbs that uses this. And this is what I believe was the point of the psalmist in Psalm 37, 37. Mark the perfect man and behold the upright. The holy man. The one who wants to walk in a way that's well pleasing to God. Reminds me of a story I read once. Have you ever heard about the little ermine in northern Europe? It's a white little fellow. Looks like a weasel. But it's coat is pure white. And they hunt them down because they're very precious. You see, there's something about this little ermine that Busted my heart. They can't catch him. He's too fat, he's too quick. So the hunters come and they wait. He leaves the cave. They let him go a little bit, and then they send the dogs after him. Dog can't catch up to this ermine. Well, the ermine is away with the dogs. The hunters come, and they bring brine and dirt and grease. And they put it in front of the hole in this cave. And that little creature, man, he is high-telling. He's running fast. He's running fast on those dogs. And he's running as fast as he can, my dear ones. And he's running and running and running and running. And he comes up to the cave and he stops. He won't go in. He won't be following his garment. And so he laid there. And they come, they captured him. He would rather die than disdain his garments. Oh my goodness. Isn't that unbelievable? Mark, the perfect man, the upright, the holy man, and then quickly and thirdly, the contentment of this man. Because the end of this man is what? Peace. You see, the essence of contentment is what? Peace. Peace. This is why when you look at Psalm 37, it begins with fret not. Do not fret. Trust in the Lord. Delight in the Lord. Commit your way to the Lord. So that you can what? Rest in the Lord. Again, Romans 5.1, Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and how glorious is that, to have peace with God. Every child of God, if you are saved, you have peace with God. But the sad thing is, not every true child of God has the peace of God. Those are two different things, my dear ones. Everybody has peace with God who is a Christian, but not everybody has the peace of God. Every Christian experiences peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, but sometimes a Christian does not have the peace of God. There's a big difference. You will never be content in your Christian wall unless you experience the peace of God. Being content is a process that we grow and we learn. And I would venture to say so is peace of God. We have peace with God. We've been reconciled. That's not what I'm talking about. but having that peace that surpasses all understanding. God works in us, conforming us to the image of His Beloved Son, which includes growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But the problem is, so many Christians, they want a shortcut into Christianity. They want contentment and peace with God without the process of God molding us in the image of His Son. Everybody likes to talk about the doctrine of election that God has called us. But do you forget that God also called us to suffer? Oh, we don't like that calling, do we? God is molding us into the image of his son. And the sad thing, as I said, people want, Christians want contentment and peace with God without that process, and it will never happen. And so what ends is that a Christian lives in frustration in his walk. Instead of trusting and delighting in God, what do we do? We murmur and we complain. We grumble about everything. Because we have not learned the simple principle that Paul laid for us so clearly in Philippians 11 when it says, For I have learned in whatever state I am, therewith to be content. Peace and contentment go hand in hand, my dear one. You can't have one without the other. But if you have one, you will have the other. Paul says, for I have learned. Again, it is a process. He learned. It was a hard process to learn. But he learned. It is attainable. We can learn to be content. And therefore, we can have not only peace with God, but the peace of God. Again, Mark 37, I mean, Psalm 37, 37. Mark the perfect man. Behold the upright. The end of that man is peace. Because he was content. I mean, the day we learn to accept the problems of God in our lives is the day that we really understand the sovereignty of God. I mean, we like to talk about the sovereignty of God. Can't wait till the Armenians are like, God is sovereign. Don't you know that? Oh, let a child come and we act like God lost his sovereignty. We like it in doctrine, but we don't like it in practice, do we? I'm there with you, but I'm preaching to myself this evening. We murmur, complain, grumble over situations and wonder why don't we experience that peace that suppresses all understanding. The problem is not with God, the problem is with you and with me. Because God has given us all things that pertain unto life. 2 Peter 1.3, according to his divine power, has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. through the knowledge of Him that He called us to glory and virtue. But we think we can take a little shortcut without the school of learning. We think we can attain without the school of learning. It doesn't work like that. You go later on, I'm not going to take the time, I'm running out of time, I want you to read Philippians 4 verse 4 to 14. But let me read a couple quotes to you, one from one of my favorite authors, William Plummer, regarding contentment. As to what is contentment, he says, quote, contentment is a disposition of mind in which we rest satisfied with the will of God respecting our temple affairs without hard thought, hard speech concerning his allotment and without any sinful desire for a change. It submissively receives what is given. It thankfully enjoys present mercy. It leaves the future in the hand of an unerring wisdom." Sometimes we've, you know, I had a lot of people tell me, Joe, Pastor John, I don't know what the will of God is for me. I don't know what the will of God is. Real simple, get a concordant, look up the word will. Read all the verses that say the will of God. And one of my favorite ones is this. In everything is thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Yeah, you stubby little son with a hammer, thank your Lord. Woo, amen. It helps! Let me tell you, it helps! Better than kicking the trash can and everything around you and jumping like an Indian or something, you know? We only want to give thanks for all the blessings and all. If something goes wrong, we can't say, thank you, Lord. Sometimes it's hard to be content because we're so fickle-minded. We have all those problems and things that go against us to be content. What do I mean by this? Well, what is the opposite of contentment? Well, the opposite of contentment is covetousness. Covetousness. In other words, it is easier to be covetous than to be content. And the reason we have a big problem We've been contented because we, again, forget that the things of this world will not satisfy. If I have more and more, if I have more of this, I have a bigger house, a new house, a fancier car, a better job, a better figure, my income, you know, and all these things, the list goes on. Everything, it's not going to satisfy. It's like our children, remember, with the toys. They get so excited. You buy them a toy, I mean, they're so excited. It lasts like two or three days. And then you gotta buy him another toy, brother. And then you buy another toy. And then you have more toys in the toy store. And they're never satisfied. And you think we would learn and grow. And we do the same thing with God, don't we? Our unbelievable cycle. Because we're not content. Therefore, we have no peace. And then we're tempted. We see somebody else happy, we become envy, jealous, complaining, murmuring. We find ourselves back at the beginning of Psalm 37 fretting. And that revolving door of constant complaining, murmuring, fit of being content. So the end result of contentment causes us not to trust God, because we're not content. And so it leads to what? Mistrust in God. Not believing God. Leads to distress, discouragement, despondency regarding the aspect of providence. Sad to say, leads to unbelief. Mine. And so the end result, again, is murmuring and complaining. J.C. Rouse says, contentment is one of the rarest graces. Like all things, it is more uncommon excuse me, it is most uncommon, unquote. I mean, Adam and Eve, of all the trees in the garden, you didn't have that one. He wasn't content with all the trees. He needed to get that one right there. And we still haven't learned, have we? Oh, my, my, my. My. One writer says, to say it another way, believers Degree of contentment in this world is a reflection of the degree of contentment regarding the world to come. The more visible eternal things above grip our heart, the less will be the power of visible temporal things of this world to cause discontent. Matthew Henry said, we have here an account of Paul's learning, not what he got at the feet of Gamaliel, but that what he got at the feet of Christ, unquote. Because Paul said, I have learned. My favorite Puritan, John Owen, says, quote, the apostle does not say, I have learned that in every estate I should be content. I have learned, he says, whence our first doctrine, that it is not enough for a Christian to hear their duty, but they must learn their duty. It is one thing to hear, another thing to learn. It is one thing to eat, another thing to concoct. Paul was a practitioner. Christians hear much, but it is to be feared, learn little." Why? Because contentment does not come naturally. It is a process as we go in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we are instructed to be content in order that we might have peace. Paul would write to Timothy, if you recall, he says, but godliness with contentment is great gain. We brought nothing into this world, and it's certain we carry nothing out. Having food and raiment, let us therefore be content. that they would be rich, falling to temptation and dismay, and to many foolish and hurtful lusts, would drown men in destruction and perdition, for the love of money is the root of all evil, which, while some have coveted after, they, ere from their fate, pierce themselves enough with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God," who's the man of God? The man of Psalm 37, 37. Thou man of God, flee these things. Fight the good fate of fate, he tells us. Another writer would say, I am satisfied with the wise providence and goodness of God, and I know whatever he determines is the best. Therefore, I am perfectly contented that he should govern the world in a way which seems best to godly wisdom. How true is that proverb? A contented mind is a continual feast. What do we get by murmuring and complaining? Unquote. And then Spurgeon, I believe, hits it in the nail. He says, I'm almost done, my brother. I'm almost done. show us that contentment is not a natural propensity of man. I love this because I'm a gardener. He says all weeds grow quickly. Covetousness, discontent, and murmuring are natural to a man as thorns to the soil. We need not sow thistles and brambles. They come naturally enough because they are indigenous to the earth. And so we need not to teach men to complain. They complain fast enough. without any education. But the precious things of the earth must be cultivated. If we're going to have wheat, we must plow and sow. If we want flowers, there must be a garden. And all the gardeners care. Now, contentment is one of the flowers of heaven. And if we have it, we must cultivate it. It will not grow in us naturally. It is a new nature alone that can produce it. And even then, we must Be specifically careful and watchful that we maintain and cultivate the grace of God that has been sown in our heart. Paul says, I have learned to be content. As much as to say he did not know how at one time, it cost him many pains to attain the mystery of this great truth. No doubt he sometimes thought he had learned and broke down. And when he at last, he attained unto it, he could say, I have learned. in whatever state I am, therefore to be content. Do not grudge the notion that you will have content naturally. We know only from experience. Brother, hush that murmur. Natural though it is, in a continual thing, but be a diligent student in the College of Contentment, unquote. Woo, I like that, I'm sorry. And so a man of contentment is a man who sees Christ, studies Christ, wants to live for Christ, and understand the importance of what it means by learning to be content. Knowing that no matter what ever happens to me, at the end of it all, I'm gonna have peace. Contentment is learning that our end is peace. If I'm a Christian, remember Christ said, peace I leave with you. Not as the world giveth you, but I give you that peace. He said, let not your heart be troubled. Don't let it be afraid. And this is what Paul was speaking about, that he learned contentment, that he might have that peace. And this is the whole argument, I believe, of David when he said, mark the perfect man, behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace. But the same thing, I mean the sad thing, it takes us, what, a whole life to learn to be content, that we might have that peace, to be at peace. with God. And so I conclude with the same question that I started. Are you a 37-37 person? Mark, the perfect man. Behold the upright. For the end of that man is peace.