Afternoon, we're talking about contentment. God's wisdom frees from covetousness. Wisdom, God's. We've been talking about wisdom and that we need to pray to God for wisdom because when we come into the world, and we burst into the world, we belong unto Satan. Our wills are in bondage to Satan with the bondage of the will and who we are and what we are. So we have to be born again. And after that born again experience, we learn that we have to requisition all that we need to make us in his image and his likeness, requisition it from God through prayer. And it says, if any lack wisdom, let him pray to God. But the genesis of that being able to ask God through prayer for wisdom is Proverbs 1 and 1, where it says, the reverent fear of the Lord is the beginning and preeminent part of knowledge. It's the starting point. It's the essence. but arrogant fools despise Godly wisdom and instruction and self-discipline. So when we are born again in that process of regeneration, it starts with the fear of God. Without that fear of God, the reverence of God, the reverence of reverential worship of God, seeing the sovereignty of God, we don't have a reference point in which to grow from. We grow in Christ Jesus, who's the author, the finisher of our faith. And so we are born again. It's a gift of God. It's something that God supernaturally does in and for us. It's a gift of God. That's the grace of God, but it's through faith. It's through hearing of the word of God. That's how faith comes, is hearing the word of God. What thus saith the Lord, it's the gospel, the good news that God had provided a savior to buy us back and we preach it here at the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But as we are saved and baptized in the name of Jesus and we grow in grace and knowledge and understanding, We come to find out that God tells us a preeminent, above all, seek ye first the kingdom of God. We should seek the kingdom of God. According to the book of Matthew, the sixth chapter and the 33rd verse, but first and most importantly, seek after God's kingdom and his righteousness, that he is his way of doing and being right, the attitude and character of God. All of these other things have been added unto you. So we're not to seek out the things. And by being in the flesh, carnal, but being converted, we still have propensities because we're still in the flesh. We're putting on Christ, but we have to pull off the old man. So what resides in us still is covetousness. It's the covet, it's the carnal desires, the lust, all of those things that are in the fleshly man that we have to learn to put to death. We learn of Christ, he says, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. So we have to learn of him, and that's by not forsaking the assembly together of ourselves, coming unto the church, coming unto God's place of worship, where he had sent in apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers. He had sent in their five-fold ministry for the perfecting of the saints. And we are washed and cleansed by the word, and we continually follow after God's word. Seeking the kingdom of God in our prayer, we seek and ask them, thy kingdom come. That's what we're looking for. All of the other things will be added unto us that's necessary for our sustainability here on Earth, even the material things. The Bible warns us, though, not to pursue after riches. It tells us labor not for the bread that doesn't satisfy. It says to beware of covetousness. sermons would focus on the biblical warning against the sin of desiring what others have. Highlight its destructive nature and urging listeners to find contentment in what God had provided. To find contentment, and I told you contentment is something that has to be learned because That's belong to those that are created in the image and likeness of Christ. That comes from the fruit of the spirit because it's part of patience. It's part of temperance. It's part of what God produces in us through obedience to his word, obeying his word. And through that obedience of his word, We may have knowledge in the world or other knowledge that we can't apply knowledge. We might have some understanding or whatever and know not how to, how that understanding goes. Jesus God has to open up our understanding but through his spirit that we could understand the scriptures That's what Job said After all the way that God brought Job to the point where Job says he thought he knew but now he understand He see God better so we see that it's a process of that we have to ask God for wisdom in simplicity of life. He gives wisdom to the simple. He gives wisdom to all who ask Him. So any of us as children of God, if we ask of God for wisdom, He liberally supplies that wisdom. Whether it be just common sense to apply the knowledge that we have to open up our understanding, that we may understand the scriptures, how to make the scriptures applicable to our lives. Because we may know the scriptures, The Jews had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. So you can have knowledge, but wisdom is the skill to be able to use that knowledge. We talked about Beziel, that God had give him wisdom and craft and how to put together everything for the temple and the tabernacle, how to craft, to go be done and shape and form all of the vessels. There are people that have natural abilities and natural talents. We see some of Cain's people were artifices of brass in workmanship in certain works. We shouldn't get a natural ability confused with the virtues of God, God changes vices into virtues. You may have a musical talent, a lot of people talk about Aretha Franklin a great deal or whatever because her father, I have a lot of his albums, sermons, C.L. Franklin was a great preacher. But see, Aretha Franklin was a great singer, but she left away from gospel singing. become one of the most well-known rhythm and blues singers or pop music singer, whatever music genre she was under. And she, a lot of women and men followed Aretha Franklin, but it wasn't using her ability for the kingdom of God. And I was watching Ray one time, that movie by Ray Charles, where he did a crossover from United Blues and pop music to gospel lyrics and gospel tunes. And people were saying that, well, you're doing something that you shouldn't be doing there. So we have to see that wisdom lies in two different stratas. That there's earthly wisdom, which is devilish, which is sensual, which is from below. Well, I'm trying to think of his name. I'm just kind of spitballing it here because Jonadab, Jonadab, one of David's daughter, sisters or whatever, had a son that was very crafty and very wise. And he was a friend to Absalom. and Absalom loved his sister Tamar, and he wanted to lie with her, not Absalom, what's his name, Adonijah? Well, anyhow, one of Solomon's sons that Absalom slew loved his sister Tamar, and he was sick to death so he could go with her. But this wise of this shrewd, cousin of his told him a method to devise and get the daughter to sleep with him, you know, so he raped the daughter or whatever. We see that in our elected leaders that we have today, some of them. We have some very shrewd politicians nowadays, but it's the earthly wisdom, the devilish wisdom, that comes from Satan. And the scripture tells us to be wise as serpents, but harmless as a dove. See, but there are those that use wisdom through subtlety. Satan was, they tell you about the serpent, he was the most subtle of all the creatures that God had created. has crafted this. And we have to see the false prophets and the ministers, they have a wisdom or they have craft. And he says, the children of the world are wiser than the children of light. So let's not get confused here. That's why we have to ask God for wisdom. And that is wisdom that comes from above. And the reason we study in wisdom here, because we in a wisdom book that we were talking about, Daniel was wise. He conducted himself wisely. And being taken to Babylon, he had to walk precariously thin line, and there was a gray area that he had to watch over. He didn't want to defile himself in those gray areas, but he was in Babylon. And just as we're in Babylon, we can learn from Daniel who conducted himself wisely. We need to learn to conduct ourselves wisely because these are evil times we're in, and sometimes it's good to be prudent. These are perilous times. Sometime the prudent has to keep silent, but then that's what we learned from God when we have to speak up God has provided a head provider emphasizing that true happiness cannot be found in material possessions but only in a relationship with him and often Jesus referencing these this by parable of the rich fool from a teaching point who continued to Looking at things for the world and the worldly possessions and material thing, that's Luke the 13th chapter, the 21st verse. The Bible tells us, labor not to be rich, Proverbs 23 and four. Because like I say, I'm trying to show you that it's nothing wrong with material things and the things that we have need of, Jesus ain't know what we, that God knows what we have need of. And if we seek the kingdom of God, we can ask anything, but we shouldn't be desiring and lusting after these things. God knows we have need of and he provide for those things. And that's why as I've grown spiritually, I've sort of gotten away from asking for a whole lot of material things. nothing's wrong or evil with those things. God created everything good, but it's to perversion or the covetousness to our attitude or disposition toward those things and acquiring those things, how we go about acquiring those things. In other words, the attitude or what's what motivates us or generates us to go after those things and how we go after those things. Proverbs says labor not to be rich cease from that own wisdom notice that cease for that from that all wisdom because there's a Wisdom of there's a way that seem it right to a man in there. Is it? There are the ways of death and destruction But we have to have wisdom from God It says will thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings, and they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. They vaporize, as Solomon says. There disappears a vapor. This verse is warning against overworking to acquire wealth. And I gave you an illustration, the wealthiest man in the world today, and it seems as though His wisdom in wealth is devilish, it's earthly, it's sensual, and that God's not in it. And he doesn't realize that it was God who'd given him power to get wealth. He's like Solomon in a way that he's a fool. Solomon said it was all vanity and vexation of spirits. With the acquiring of everything that he had, Solomon wasn't fulfilled. He wasn't fulfilled with wives, he wasn't fulfilled with the things of this world, and he was able to achieve things most men would only dream of. Like I said, that ambition of those desires and things are not evil or wrong within themselves that no man has to know. be reserved to complacency or anything, but what is it something that drives you other than God? Have you placed those things before God? Because he tells you, seek ye first the kingdom of heaven. It also serves as a reminder that the love of money can lead to spiritual poverty because the guy was busy building bigger barns, nothing in that which is wrong in itself. But along the way, that night his soul was required of him and God says, who will have that in which you labored for? And Solomon talked about leaving his wealth and would he leave it to a son that was worthless were destroyed or whatever. And we see some of the philanthropic people or wealthy people we have nowadays that donate a lot to charity or whatever and say they're not gonna leave all of their wealth for their children or whatever. They have a kind of a semi-idea, so I'm not judging them. And I don't judge, you know, we're trying to stay far away from judge. He says, judge not, unless you be judged. So we're kind of trying to paint some of this with a broad stroke here. But I've noticed the ways of some different people, because he that is spiritual, judges all things. The Bible cautions against making wealth an idol, even though wealth has historically been seen as a sign of God's blessing. And that's what the religious area is today, that godliness is gained. That's why you have the prosperity churches. That's why money and prosperity has came in. And it's been a sour note, but we as children, the sons of God coming in priest and gospel, we must now chase the money changes out of the church like Jesus did. We must chase the money changes out as Jesus did. Now, uh, The reason I'm talking about wealth and what they're going after, and it lies at the heart of covetousness because covetousness is idolatry. Now we may not be into idolatry as some of the older nations was or the people of olden time, but it's idolatry the same because it's covetousness. Covetousness, our New Testament tells us covetousness is idolatry. That's why one of the Ten Commandments forbids covetousness. Covetousness is an emotion of a physical side. It's a craving, a lusting, a desiring, a hungering after something. with a wrong, a legitimate, illegitimate use. The conservative Christian perspective emphasizes that riches are found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. So you may be a volunteer during the holidays at different things, and I told you I wasn't judging those that, in philanthropy, that give millions and billions of dollars away to charities or whatever, whether they had a relationship with God or not, because you can do all that, and Jesus would say he never knew you. But I look at, what's her name? Mackenzie, I don't know her first name, but Mackenzie, Jeff Bezos' ex-wife, and she's been giving away, I forgot how many, a billion, maybe $2 billion of her fortune, and constantly giving to charitable organizations, but the richest man in the world still criticizes her, and I've never heard of him giving anything to anybody. Nothing charitable, nothing really good to say about anybody or whatever. So we have to look at those things there. And that's what I say, we have to judge and we look at, we be prudent, we stand back as a watcher. He's made us watchful, so we sound the voice, we sound the word of God. Sir, there's a theme that consists of money. throughout the scriptures and we have to address both sides of the issue because we don't want to wander into covetousness. Proverbs 13, 11 through 16 says wealth from get rich quick schemes quickly disappear. Wealth from hard work grows over time. Hope defers makes the heart sick but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. People who despise advice are asking for trouble and those who respect the command will succeed. So there's counsel and there's a stock market, but then there's gambling, trying to get rich through gambling, but then you can invest in the stock market, which is a little bit more legitimate. Investing in stocks and bonds and so forth. But get rich quick schemes like the lottery. I was telling you about the lottery and gambling over sports things on the phones and different things. The Bible seems to speak against those things. For those who seek out the riches, Ecclesiastes 5 and 10 says, for those who seek out the riches and gaining them quickly, their appetite will never be satisfied. The root of these desires is greed and the purpose for more will never end. It's an insatiable lust. He that loveth silver will never be satisfied with silver, the scripture says. So that's because your focus is wrong. The reason that you are after it is wrong. God is not the end, and the end, the means doesn't justify the end. So that's why I say if you're giving just because you've been convicted of the heart of greed or what you have done trying to cover those things up, It's different, but if it's God causing you to love or compassion through the things of God that causes you to give, it's different. So it's the reason of the purpose, and that's why it says we don't judge, we can't judge, it's hard for us to judge, because only God knows the intent and the motivations. Because some of what Job's friends were saying was right, but where they were spiritually condemned at, it wasn't applicable to Job, and they were preaching these things to Job as if his son had sinned, as if Job had shorted his people that worked for him. If joe was a wicked person and is giving it treatment of people, so that's why I say we can use the scriptures to condemn others and that's the double-edged sword Because by our words, we're also condemned and god hadn't given us to say that because if we were discerning We would be slow to speak and only speak those things which god gives us to speak of the spirit prompts us are led by. We have to be led by the spirit. That's why we have to have the wisdom of God to be able to speak or say whatever we say or do. Now, those that live the way of gain will receive retribution from God. Those that are greedy for gain will receive their just recompense from God. Proverbs 1 in 19 says, such as the faith of all who live by violence and murders, they would die a violent death. Not necessarily in this life, but they will have to appear before the judgment seat of God for all of the deeds done in the body. because through their actions, through what they did, whether it was through financial blocking, and I told you this guy that's the richest man in the world was saying that poor people, a lot of them were poor by choice. And that they chose to be this way. It was other reasons. Well, I don't see that as very practical. I'm not saying that it may not be true in some instances or cases. But I think to judge the woman that does a lot of giving, She's giving through her stewardship, I see the practicality of what she's doing. And it's up to God to judge those people that are receiving those entitlements or to those things that she's giving. It's like that we give to a church or organization or you vote for somebody, you do something. What you was doing it for a sense of doing good. your intentions was to benefit those that you were contributed to. Your intentions is benefiting for the church, is benefiting for the organization that you're given to. Now, others that are administrators of those organizations, the pastors, the CEOs, and you know, who over those organization, it's up to them to police what you have given them. They have to be stewards of your resources, so they have to pray to God that they are not squandering the resources delivered unto them. As a pastor, you may not can justify buying a $200 million jet or something with the resources that the congregation is supplying you. Now, if it's justified, it's in the sight of God. They don't have to give account in such a matter. but also with the president, with anyone, you have to give account of your stewardship. And I talked to y'all last week about the unjust steward, and he was called before the king and said, give account of your stewardship of what you've been doing with what was given unto you. We all have to give account of our stewardship of what God had given us. And some people use their wealth to oppress the poor. Some people use it, like I said, That's why we have to pray to God for wisdom in every area. That's what our finances, that's what our time, with our labor, with the words we say, with our presence. It says, ask God for wisdom. And that is in every area. God wants you fully dependent upon him because you're being shaped and made in his image. And if you're doing these things for the kingdom of God and If you're trying to do these to be content and serve with God, this is learning of God, because you have to study his word and be obedient unto his word to learn how to ask God, how to be a good steward, what should we be doing, plus to be able to watch those that are over you. You can't be blind, you can't just walk away and close your eyes to these things. Ezekiel and James is one of the ones where God has a warning here. of these stewardships. Ezekiel, I read yesterday, 719. They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will be discarded like something unclean. Their silver and gold shall not be able to save them in the day of God's wrath. These things cannot satisfy their souls nor fill their stomachs. They have become stumbling blocks and a source of sin. So if this guy's not giving of his wealth, it's eating the hooves and stripping the poor and stripping the congregants, lording it over the flock and living luxuriously, they had to give account to God at some point in time. Maybe not in this life, but in the next life, because like I said, we all shall stand before the judgment seat of God. God, the day of vengeance is coming and sometime the poor cry out for that day in this life and God brings it about. but not all of the time. So that's why that covetousness holding on to those things, you piling, killing wood around you, you call, you piling up gasoline there to help burn you with. That's why it says, if you give food to the poor, if you help your enemy and you pray for your enemy, you're heaping coals of fire upon him. Because God's blessing, these things should have opened your eyes to God, but you were hard-hearted, unconscionable, and didn't consider what God was giving you. And I said, sometime you forget who had given you power to acquire the wealth that you have, because your heart was of covetousness. It was up on itself. James talks about this in the New Testament, another book of wisdom, James, the fifth chapter. First through the sixth verse says, come quickly now you rich, you who lack faith, who lack true faith and hoard and misuse your resources. Weeping howl over the miseries, the woes of the judgments that are coming up on you. Your wealth has rotten and is ruined and your fine clothes have become moth eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you, and will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up your treasure in the last days, when it shall do you no good. Look, the wages that you have fraudulently withheld from the laborers who have mowed your fields are crying out against you for vengeance. And the cries of the harvesters have come to the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. On the earth you have lived luxuriously and abandoned yourselves to soft living and led a life of wanton pleasure, that is, self-indulgence and self-gratification. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and have put to death the righteous man. He and he offers you no resistance. So you kept wages low. You didn't pay people a living wage. You wanted to be multimillionaires and billionaires and you CEOs and things. You got countless of golden parachutes and bonuses of hundreds of millions of dollars, whereas you were laying off people. You were causing others to work harder. You fought against a union. You fought against people being rewarded for their labors. You fought against profit sharing. You wasn't empathizing with your fellow man. And we see in the book of, I mean, the book of Revelation, the 18th chapter also, It says, the kings and the political leaders of the earth who had committed immorality and lived luxuriously with her, that is the whore, the harlot of Babylon, will weep and beat their chest in mourning over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing a long way off in fear of her torment, saying, whoa, whoa, the city, the great city, the strong city, Babylon, in a single hour, your judgment has come. And the merchants of the earth will weep and grieve over her because no one buys her cargo. Nobody buys her merchandise anymore. Cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, all kinds of luxurious stuff are being wasted and are being destroyed. because this is the end hour. This is the vials of God's wrath being poured out upon the earth. This is the bold judgment where God is bringing judgment upon the earth of all of these people who coveted after which was greedy for gain. If they were like the man that was building bigger bonds, he would have, during his time of prosperity, he would have been hearing from God, trying to learn of Christ and blessing God through other people because God had been so good to him. He would have learned contentment. This is something that has to be learned. You have to practice by applying God's word to your life. Every day you have to live in such a way. Philippians 4, 11 to 13 says, I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance I'm in. I know what it is to be in need. I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. In other words, to be content with such that you have. You don't need that bigger house. You don't need that bigger car. Your mind is not on more. It's not on greed. It's not winning more money. It's not on achieving just this other thing. If I could just get something else, if I could just have one wife and one girlfriend, and then I have two or three other girlfriends, and then I have these clothes, and then I have this, it's all on that instead of saying, I'm happy with the wife I have. I'm happy with the few clothes I have. You know, I tell you a few times about my mother having a chiffre or a cedar chest where she only had a couple of dresses there that she wore. but she was happy with life. But nowadays, people have closets up on closets. Some rooms are closets, walk-in closets. They have self-storage bins. You were talking about the clothing that you had gotten inherited, whatever. We have more clothes than we can use at the end of each season. They discord and give away clothing and merchandise. We throw away food. You walk about the restaurants and everything. Set food on the hot light or whatever and leave it there few hours didn't throw it out or whatever We have wasted and more of abundance instead of being content with such that God had given us Your car's going good, it's driving all right or whatever, but you're not content with that. You need another car. Your coverage is, now you have more car notes and bills. You can't hardly come to church now from worrying about the things that you've gotten that you're trying to pay for. And only if you'd have been content with that you had, you can do that. You would be able to make it in life and you wouldn't violate God's word. He says he learned to abase himself in every situation, learn to be content. That's why you have to learn patience because sometimes it may take a few years to save up money to get something. But nowadays we believe in instant gratification. We get married, we have to have two cars, we have to have a nice home, we have to have it fully furnished, we have to have a $20,000 or $30,000 wedding, we have to have the whole nine yards. It leads to debt, but all of this is covetous, it's from warning, warning, it's from greed. But Philippians 4.13 says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Notice that you can only do it through Christ. That's why you have to ask him for wisdom in how to do this. You have to walk in the way that he walked. You have to learn from him. how to abase yourself and how to abound because he wasn't always meek, mild, and easy. You remember he told Peter, get behind these things. So he gave him the words to speak. Sometimes we don't answer a person the same way. Notice in Proverbs it says, answer not a fool according to his folly. But in a verse or two later it says, answer a fool according to his folly. So you have to ask God, as I was telling you, Job's friends was applying those scriptures to Job, but they may have should have said, is this what I should answer, Job? See, be slow to speak, quick to hear. So you ask God, how can I comfort Job in this? What can I say? Because sometime the best of friends is one that just come in and shake his hand or hug him and sit down there with him and just keep your mouth closed. In the passage, Paul describes how he learned to be contented in his situation, whether he was well fed or sometimes you just have to be hungry or sometimes you just pass and go without. You have to learn to this from, but it's a learned behavior. Remember I told you contentment is learned. And to be wise, this wisdom comes from God, and it frees us from covetousness and the bondage of the world. That's the anointing that breaks the yoke, because it teaches us through patience. We're the fruit of patience. That's part of the fruit of patience. It's temperance because we don't just say things and voice our things. We don't suppress it in jealousy and anger and bitterness and all of these other things that we don't see. That's why we have to ask God. We ask God for these things because we think we gonna be wise. I'm just like, you always thinking and that's the problem. The thoughts of man is evil continually because his thoughts are not like our thoughts and our ways are not like his ways. Paul's contentment was based on his relationship with Christ. and the fruit of the spirit, such as love, joy, and peace. So you still need to keep harmony. It says, pursue peace as much as possible with all men. Paul also learned to be content through philosophical thought. and reflection and practical living experience. That's why I say it's a growing thing. We have to, through patience, through time, wisdom come over a period of time. You're not born wise, it's acquired taste, it's acquired character, it's something God's building in us. And we ask for God, we see it lacking, but we also see something else in us that have to be modified or put to death that we need God's spirit to help us with, but we need God's spirit of truth to lead us and guide us into that truth and give us the power over that truth. We have to learn these things from denying ourselves. Didn't you say deny yourself and take up your cross and follow after me? So sometimes through self-denial, you grow out of habitual things that you're addicted to or used to having, so you learn to do without. You learn sometime that the body just have to wait. If I don't feed it after a while, it'll go through cold turkey. I can do without it. The book, the 37th chapter of Psalms says, do not worry because of evil doers or do not fret or agonize because of those that prosper in their way. It says, for do not be envious toward wrongdoers for they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green earth. True, I mean, trust and rely and have confidence in the Lord and do good. Don't grow weary of well-doing. Don't do like the people of this nation, looking out for the economy, looking out for money or whatever. No, you might have to sacrifice not having as much money. You have to sacrifice these other things, but what is right? Choose what is right. Choose that which have good character. What is pure? What is right? Well, I'm just gonna take this person. They may be evil. They may be doing these things, but they couldn't put money in my pocket. Well, you're a harlot, you're a prostitute, you sell yourself the principles of life and the precepts of God for that which you think you can buy. It says, dwell in the land and feed on faithfulness to God, faithfulness to God. It says, delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires and the petitions of your heart. Commit your ways to the Lord, trust in Him also, and He will do it. He will make your righteousness, that is, your pursuit of right standing with God like the light, and your judgment like the shining of the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord, wait patiently for Him, and trust yourself unto the Lord. So that was Charles problem. He was scared that the Philistines was gonna kill him or do something and he offered up the sacrifice Samuel was supposed to offer up Don't put yourself in somebody else job or position Doing what God had given them to do being afraid of the consequences So if he just would have waited right after he offered the sacrifices Samuel came and But obedience is better than sacrifice. Obeying God. So that's why we have to follow instructions. And what did I say? The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge and understanding. But fools despise instructions. They despise the word of God. They despise obedience to what is said. So Eve transgressed what God had said not to do. God has said, do not eat of it. So no matter what it would make you wise or good or whatever, you coveted that tree. He took you into a physical realm. For the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and pride of life, you sold yourself out for a bite of a fruit, for partaking of the fruit. That Psalm in living, it says, do not fret because of him who prospers in his ways. because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and abandon wrath. Do not fret, it leads only to evil. For those who do evil will be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord will inherit the land. For yet a little while and the wicked one will be gone forever. Though you look carefully where he used to be, he will not be found, but the humble will at last inherit the land. So we see evil prospering, and these are the perilous times we're in. We're seeing that that which is wicked prosper. We're seeing a nation that's utterly corrupt and hypocritical prosper. We see our religious leaders and our political leaders given to lack of character. That's a character that's lacking. They're not being made in the image of God. We see the apostasy of the church. That's why it's such a perilous time. But we shouldn't fret ourselves because of this. We shouldn't compromise the values of God. We should just tolerate these things until God comes in and do something. We should be praying for vindications from God. Some of us have to remain prudent because it may cost us a whole lot that God see because sometimes self through pride and arrogance Causes you to stand up in itself. It's a vanity and vexation the spirit because that's what see Satan sees that weakness at you and that I'm not gonna let them do me this, I'm not gonna let people see me do this, where you care about what people see than what God actually know or what God is working in you. You remember I was just telling you about why are you doing something, what reason? You see, Joseph's brother did what they did because they was wise, they was cunning. But they did it for evil. God takes the wicked, he takes what the evil doers do to you. He takes those that oppress you, all of these things. Sooner or later, he vindicates you. God uses it, as he says, all things work together for good for those who love the Lord. Now, it don't work together for good for everybody, but for those who love the Lord. Never envy the wicked. They will be gone after a while. We can trust God to do this, and we rest and patiently wait up on Lord to for the Lord to do this, and it takes the fruit of patience to achieve this, to see people being promoted on the job, to see the good people losing elections, to see good churches Going Seem like the going out exists. I was telling you the other day while I was reading an article where it's over a thousand Churches a year that's closing churches selling their property churches that are in ruin and in desolates But that's one of the appeals of god and parts of his promises that after this work or doing this work that he's doing that the young people, our sons and daughters, that people will flow into the house of God, they'll rebuild the desolate places and the ruined places of David. In other words, the churches that had been closed, God will rebuild, He'll restructure these things. God sees what's going on, but he must test us to see the trying of our faith. We can't cave in and just because evil is winning that we become evil, that we vote for evil people, that we have evil preachers and teachers, and we're empowering those things. We shouldn't give power to evil. We shouldn't empower that which is wicked. We shouldn't be in their presence. It tells us not to associate with evildoers. It tells us to mind the company we keep, to not sit in the seat of scorners and the markers and things. It tells us to be separate, to divide ourselves away from all of these things. So covet, that word covetous to long after another's property or to enjoy it as one's own. It is indulging in thoughts that lead to actions named in the other commandments. Grasping thoughts leads to grasping deeds. And that's the spirit of the age, the spirit of this world now is covetousness. Coveting normally arises from two sources. First, it begins with a perception of beauty. You remember I told you the lust of the eyes. Look at that tree as one that desired to make one wise. You have advertisements on TV. Advertisers seek to make you want what others have. They have some beautiful woman or some handsome man or some car, some material thing that appeals to the lust of the flesh, to the eyes, to the desire. And to possess those things, that it looks good and puts us in a place in having those things. Ultimately, those things don't satisfy. Second, it comes from an inclination of something more abstract than that, like a desire for power. And that's what the president has become. That's what pastors and leaders has become. For that power, that authority over people, they coveted that position. they covet that place of being a teacher. James tells us, be not many masters or teachers, but people long to lead other peoples to say, I'm a preacher and other preachers want to be doctors or professors and this and all of those things. Now, those desires are normal to a certain extent. And it is so normal that we might feel a measure of guilt desiring some of these things, but God created us with the ability to have desires. And he pronounced it as being very good. But what motivates the desire and what completes the desire, because James says that's why we have wars among us, is because of the desires within our members. because as David looked up on Bathsheba and desired her and wanted her, but God's word was saying, well, this is not a legal desire. Paul says, all things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient. So as Peter, he can lead about a wife, a mother, a sister, but if you have a wife, it's not a lawful desire to look up on another woman to lust after her, that's an unlawful desire. We have to control those desires. our desires, those things become vices to us. But if you have need of something, God knows what you have need of. If you need a wife or you desire a wife, there's nothing wrong with that within itself, but we have to know God's word. We have to be led by the spirit. So we have to get the wisdom of God and ask God for the wisdom to go about What wisdom does, it gives us the ability or the skill to apply the knowledge or gives us an understanding, a proper understanding from God. It says he opened up the understanding to understand the scriptures. because some men may be created to be eunuchs or some women may be created to be as what is nuns or different people, but through a sexual urge or a pretense of the lust of the flesh, that desire may cause you to burn within or whatever, but after once or twice or whatever, then you say, you know, I don't feel like I should be married. they divorce or leave marriage or whatever because it all wasn't, marriage really wasn't meant for them. but they didn't pray to God to keep those desires and those passions down because there are men or women that have desires that are exceeding and that desire is no longer for their spouse or whatever because it's for the variety of life. In other words, you want your wife, but you want other women too. You want your husband, but you want other men too. So God has to corral that desire That passion that's where it comes in bringing every thought into the captivity and obedience of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, so you don't have a illegal desire of covet after something that's not a legitimate desire before God, but it's a natural part of being human that's why the carnal man is enmity with God because it's not subject to the laws of God. That's why Paul says that's another law within my members bringing me into the captivity and obedience of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So that person that Talk to you. It's all right. It's legal to talk to a woman or man But now you've you've been overcome by this and that friend of that person you're related to the hip get you through things You didn't discarded them. You didn't start to love them and now you Divorcing your wife or wishing your wife or your spouse wasn't here no more somebody killer they die something so you could have this other person because that you've substituted something wrong. You didn't ask God into the situation. We are carnal, we are human, but we must put to death the deeds that mortify the deeds of the body, but we must also bring every thought into captivity and obedience to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, casting down imagination. So you might go out to help somebody, but that same person that you turned around and was helping, Now you're helping a little bit too much. Now you're over at their house all the time. Now with the same person you were helping, you're sleeping with her. You're taking money from your home, spending it at their home, and you're not, you're infidel, you're less than infidel because you're not taking care of your own family. You're taking care of somebody else's family more than your family. Desire means a strong yearning, and that's why we have to be careful of inordinate passions. We have to be careful of those. Through desire, we accomplish our goals, but Paul exhorts the brethren to earnestly desire the best gifts. So there's people that want the gift of healing. There's people that want different spiritual gifts or the gifts of giving, and that's what I was saying about this Mackenzie Scott or whatever her name is. God may have given her the gift of giving, And she's a cheerful giver, she loved that giving. But then there's some people that ring a bell or they want accolades from their giving. They're giving to be seen. I've seen this countless numbers of times. People that ring bells and want to bring, they like the Pharisees to bring attention to themselves for what they do for others. That's why the scripture says, let the right hand not know what the left hand is doing. So are you desiring a gift as a lot of evangelists or preachers? Well, we could be healing here. Well, they want the gift of healing as Simon the Sorcerer wanted to buy the gift of healing so that he would say, I didn't heal this many people and people were bragging on healing the needy and doing all of the Giving and what they were doing not from their relationship with Christ Not from their love of people as a servant of God that God had gifted you to minister those gifts But they covet those gifts because it brought them glory They coveted those things for the wrong reasons 1 Corinthians 12 and 31. David writes that God himself desires truth in the inward parts, Psalm 51 and 6. Desire means a strong yearning. However, some desires are destructive, and these the Bible usually calls lust. And you lust, that's why Jesus says you lust, James says you lust and you have not. And Jesus says if you look after a woman to lust after her, he didn't say if you look after a woman, he says, but if you lust after her. That's what pornography does, is lusting. So it's nothing wrong with admiring beauty. Beauty is to behold. A person should look attractive. They should put on their best appearance. They should dress nice. But if it's a lust, if it's something in you that God needs to take away. That's why Job says, I made a covenant with my eyes that I wouldn't look after a woman I lust after. It's a difference from looking at a woman admiring beauty than looking at the woman lusting and wanting to go to bed with her. It's different from looking at a man lusting and coming, if I just get out of here, I can sleep with him or whatever. It's the mind. And that's what we need to do by the renewing of the transforming of the mind. So God sees everything as negative. Adam and Eve were negative, were not ashamed. So being negative is not the problem, but it's the thoughts that come after, the wicked and evil thoughts, what precipitates the action. These desires are often showed as cravings for satisfaction of these physical appetites. That's why wanting a nice attractive plate of food, and you should fix food where it's appetizing and nice. But then you can desire and crave it and you can become gluttonous. Gluttony is a sin. But if you, in moderation, and the doctor tell you you have diabetes or whatever, we bought some pralines on the way home the other day, yesterday, and I told my wife, I bought a little box, I said, you know, you can only have one of these. because it's gonna drive your sugar up. Now somebody else might eat two or three of them. They don't have the same problem you have. So what is sin to one may not be sin to others because we're responsible for our bodies because our bodies are no longer ours. They belong to the Lord. So we need to keep that body. So wisdom come over a period of time, say, well, no, I know what's gonna happen if I eat too many of those. I wanna eat them, but I know what happens to me after I eat those. Paul tells Timothy, flee also you for lust, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. That's why I say, why are you calling up on the Lord? Because the Lord says, all those that call me Lord, Lord shall not be saved. Just because you call the name of the Lord doesn't mean you'll be saved. Though scripture speaks of desire in both a good and evil sense, the man of God recognizes that he can have evil desires and he turns from them when they arise and he pursues after what that is good. Because when you attempt to do good, evil is right there. I was with my brother the other day and someone started talking about, you know, looked at my eyes and was saying something about my eyes or whatever. And I tried to turn away from that because, you know, a lot of women look at my eyes, oh, you got some pretty eyes or whatever. I take it as a compliment and say, I thank you or whatever. But if I turn it into an invitation to pursue them for sexual passion. You remember, Satan is right there, right there from a compliment, right there with a power to overcome. So we have to pray to God. Those are what you call fiery dots of the adversary. So sometimes a compliment can be a fiery dot of the adversary that turns to wickedness. That's why we say, when we attempt to do good, right in the middle of doing good, evil is right there present. Desire is also seen in context with power. Some have a passion to be number one and to compete to dominate, to assert their will and have control. That's why I don't watch sports today. Nobody operates as a team. Everybody wants to be the star of the team. The courts even compete with his players for the most attention. That's the kernel portion that we inherited, a competitive nature. a desire to be seen. That's what Facebook is about. That's what all the social media to be seen and heard. Everybody wants their 15 minutes of fame. People record them murdering people. They put it on Facebook and all that, that they're going to do this so when they kill or do this, they'll get news. They'll get put in the news. That's their 15 minutes of fame. That's why team sports are no longer team sports. There's no sportsmanship. I wouldn't give you 15 minutes of watching a football game. And you know, I used to watch football double-headers. I used to watch double-headers in football. I used to play the cards in football. And you remember in high school, we grew up football, the Rams, the Cowboys, and you would go out after then. But it has set a wrong precedent. That's one of the worst areas, the largest area of idolatry that this nation has. The most detrimental thing to this nation is sports. It breeds idolatry, covetousness. People are paying hundreds of dollars for jerseys and shoes and tennis and all kinds of attire. And that person's no longer with that team. He got a different number of different jerseys and everything else. It's a wrong, we've taken and corrupted all of these things through covetousness. That's one of the biggest fields of all, is sports and actor, you know, entertainment, you know, movies and sitcoms and things. Heavenly Father, as we've come before you this day, Lord,