Be able to say he is the fairest of 10,000 to our soul. All right. We'll dismiss the children. And the rest of us, please turn our Bibles to one Timothy and chapter six. Okay. One Timothy Chapter six. And continuing in and our study of this epistle, this letter that was written by Paul to his son in the faith. Timothy, as we get started, Paul is going to speak about money. And money is a powerful motivator. It's amazing. You know, somebody name your price or what price, you know, is your price. And you could probably almost in our day get somebody to do about anything for money. It's a very powerful desire that people have. That desire has transformed territories. The gold rush in California was one such time that an area was transformed, and on pbs.org it spoke about what took place in that gold rush. There was never dreamt of wealth. Suddenly, thousands of Americans, mostly men, borrowed money, mortgaged homes or spent their life savings to take advantage of an opportunity they never dreamed possible. In a society that was becoming increasingly based on wage labor, the idea that a person could alter his destiny by collecting gold off the ground proved irresistible. Some American women among them Lucina Wilson, went to California, but most women stayed home. The women left behind took on responsibilities they had never anticipated, such as caring for families alone, running businesses and managing farms. And so you'd think about it's a loss for money. Got to have that easy money and people are mortgaging their properties heading out in that quest just to get rich. So there's a rush of gold seekers. By 1849, the non-native population of California had grown to almost 100,000 people. Nearly two thirds were American. Upon arrival in California, immigrants learned mining was the hardest kind of labor. They moved rock, dug dirt and waded into freezing streams. They lost fingernails, got sick and suffered malnutrition. Many died of disease or by accident. Again, they did all that. For what? For what you could say is not easy money, but somewhat easy money. The idea of finding money, millions in gold was taken out of the ground. 10 million in 1849, 41 million in 1850, 75 million in 1851. 81 million in 1852. After that, it declined till it was about 45 million per year. But the fortunate bettered their circumstances. But mining required above all luck and not everyone got lucky. And so there's people, I mean, just slaving away with this idea that they could get this money goes on to speak. About 120,000 Native Americans died of disease, starvation or murder homicide during the gold rush. And so the impact of that, again, was extreme. And so as you consider it tonight, consider the power of that desire for money, erect a lot of lives, just that gold rush there. There was no doubt men died. They were injured, some were divorced. Their families were separated over a lengthy period. There were suicide, I'm sure, from people that gave their last gamble trying to get rich quick. And they took their lives, no doubt because of that. And a whole region was transformed, much of it not for the better. You think about the scarring of the landscape that took place from that quest for money. You know, they come in with all their mining tools into that wicked community, sprang up communities of filth that would try to get the money from the miners through things like casinos, pubs, prostitution or things like that. And so there's a lot of vice and other problems that came into California because of these miners that were there seeking to get rich quick. And so as we come to one Timothy chapter six verses 6 to 10, it's a warning. And the warning is be on guard against the danger of money lost or that desire for money. And just think about as we get started. Are you aware that there was such a thing as a real danger in the desire to acquire things or to acquire wealth? And so let's pray as a spear to God to help us as we come to the Word of God tonight. Father, I'm grateful to you for the grace that you gave God. You are good. And I thank you for your love for us this evening. And Father. We've often prayed as a church where two or three are gathered together in my name there. Am I in the midst? Our greatest desire tonight is to meet with the God of Heaven and Father. Even as we've sung about that reality of Jesus. That sweet name. That name, above all names. That person who is above all and yet condescended to become a man. To die in the cross for our sins. There's nobody tonight in this world that loves us as much as our God loves us. And so tonight, Father, our greatest desire would be to draw close to you, even as we look at this topic that is before us tonight in the Word of God, the danger of a lust for money. Father, that danger could take us away from a true love for God, if through and from a close walk with God. And so may we not have casual hearing tonight as we listen to one of the great dangers that there is, one of the great vices that there is in this world. But, Father, I pray that we'd ever be aware of the enemy's tactics and how he seeks to undermine what you desire to do in our lives. Now, Father, I'm asking in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ tonight for a rich blessing from the Word of God, Father, for that blessing in the children's class. For that blessing. In the auditorium. In our time, I hear around your word. And so, Father, to that end, would you give us ears to hear tonight? And Father, would you give me lips to speak for the truth of the Word of God and Father? We thank you for the privilege of having a book that warns us and opens our eyes to danger so that we can be aware it's in Christ and we pray. Amen. All right, so be on guard against the danger of the lust for money. And so just some points as we go along and consider this tonight. And so the first one is realize what makes a person truly rich. Realize what a true riches are, says in verse six. But godliness with contentment is great gain. And so if you have godliness, and if you have contentment, you have true riches. The Bible says there great gain. You know, if I could tell you where to go to get great gain, great advancement, great prosperity, we'd get our ears up and say, Hey, I want to hear what that is. Well, the Bible just simply says it's in godliness and it's in contentment. So let's talk about those two things. Godliness will lead to eternal soul satisfaction. All right. That's going to lead to a blessed eternity if we have godliness. Luke, 16, verse 22, says, And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried and in hell. He lift up his eyes, being in torments and see it Abraham Afar off and Lazarus in his birth bosom. You've got two men. You've got a rich man that we would look at and say, That's a prosperous man. You've got a beggar. That's his. His body's all full of sores. You'd look at him and think his life is miserable, his life is awful, he doesn't have anything. But if we are to evaluate through our human eyes and look at those two people are evaluation would be wrong. We say the rich man is prosperous, the beggar is not prosperous. But in reality, because the beggar had righteousness which the rich man did not possess, as far as eternal soul satisfaction, the beggar had it all. That's where prosperity is, we understand tonight. I know as I express this to us, as saving, we understand that our godliness comes only through Jesus Christ and that somebody without Christ does not have what God intends. I was at a funeral today and physical life is not. It doesn't meet our expectations. We look at physical life and there's death, sorrow, sickness, suffering and all those things. But Jesus Christ said, I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. Was the abundant life. The abundant life is the everlasting life that God gives. And there's blessings that God gives in in physical life. To a believer, we've got the presence of God. We've got the encouragement of God, we've got the grace of God. But the reality is the the full blessing of what we have is the salvation of our soul, that when we die, we enter into a place that has no sorrow, no sickness, no death, no dying. It is a perfect, wealthy place that we go to. And so what I need today, more than anything, is godliness. Now, there's great value to godliness. Is righteousness imputed to me by Jesus Christ when I got saved? That's godliness. Godliness is also me walking in obedience to God in my life. That's godliness because that's going to lay up treasure in heaven. There's going to be an inheritance for that in heaven that godliness reaps reward as well. But those two things, and we'll look at the second one, so godliness will lead to eternal soul satisfaction that makes a person truly rich. Contentment will lead to temporal satisfaction in this life. Right? Temporal satisfaction. So if I have saved, if I've got godliness, I've got eternal satisfaction. If I'm content in life, then I've got temporal soul satisfaction. You know, the Apostle Paul was a picture of that speaking from prison in Rome. He said in Philippians 411, not that I speak in respect of want for I've learned in whatsoever state. I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be a based. I know how to bound everywhere and in all things. I'm instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer. Need. I can do all things through Christ with strength with me. And Paul said, I am, I am content. I am. I have learned to be satisfied with where I'm at. Look, he was in prison. There's not many people that would look at their life and say, I'm in prison, I'm content. Paul did. Paul say, I've learned how to be a base and how to build. I mean, it could be going really good from a human standpoint, and that's all right. And it could be going really bad from a human standpoint. And that's all right. Why? Because I'm content. Listen, if we have godliness with contentment. We've got satisfaction in life. We got satisfaction in eternal life. Those two things are vital for us as believers to understand. That's where that's where the gain is. That's where the blessing is. We're going to look more next week at the practical side of that godliness, as Paul is going to come back to that at the end of these verses and deal with that. And so realize what makes a person truly rich. Godliness that right relationship with God and contentment that satisfaction with what God has given in life. And that is riches, true riches. Now the following points Help us understand how we can be content. All right, how we could be content as we think about earthly finances, how we can be content with what what we have. And so secondly, remember that earthly riches are temporary. Remember that earthly riches are temporary. Four, seven, four. We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Again, I was at a funeral today and that truth is so evident as you go to the funeral. That person that has died has not taken anything that they physically possessed in life with them beyond the grave. It's just not possible to do that. You know that Bible truth can't sustain us in time of financial difficulty. When things go into reversals and it's tough, that idea and understanding that, you know, what what we look at and we value in life is just temporary can really help us to be content in in God. Joe did that. Remember Joe lost everything in a day. And Joe, chapter one, verse 21, he said, naked came out of my mother's womb and naked shall return feather. The Lord gave and the Lord have taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And what He was saying is, I came into this world without one thing. I'm leaving this world without one thing. And whatever God has given me, that's God that gave it to me. If God wants to take it away, that's fine. I didn't come in with any wealth. Anything that I have is given to me by God. And if I exit this world, I'm not going to take it with me. And so it's okay. At a time of financial reversal, you know, the markets go up and down, be nice. If markets only went up, if we only had an increase in savings and, you know, a year ago during COVID 19 and all that, I was surprised. I was watching the my retirement savings and it was just going, you know, and just keeping to climbing. And I thought, wow, you know, people said it was going to it was really going to drop and it's just going up and up. And and you knew at some point it was going to drop. And then we get into this year and things happened and now it's going like this, you know? But it's okay. It's okay. Why? Because God gives us what we need. And if God wants to take it away, that's alright, right? We can't take it with us anyway. It's kind of the saying from a human standpoint, easy come, easy go. You know, it came, it went and that's what riches are. They're very temporal. They could be fleeting and they they might go away. Now, I want to be wise about my finance, but finances are temporary. If I have anything, it's only because God is good. When we exit again, we leave it behind. You know Jesus. I told another story about a rich man. A man that had a lot of wealth in Luke, chapter 12 and verse 16 is said. He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. He thought within himself, saying, What shall I do? Because I have no room where to, but still my fruits. He said, This will I do. I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I be still all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul thou as much goods laid up for many years. Take that I knees eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, therefore this night they saw shall be required of thee. Then whose shall those things be? Which thou has provided? So as he that lay off of treasure for himself and is not rich toward God, somebody in this life could act as if this is it. Accumulating things, accumulating things, but never use those things for God in God's glory or anything to do with God. They're not rich towards God. They don't really care about eternal things. And they've got nothing. Because those things are fleeting. They die. Those big barns with all that wealth. What's the point? It's not that. So our our mind as believers, we understand. What we possess is temporary. That helps us to be content. Because it's just for a it's just for now. That's all it is. Is for now. And. And so keep that in mind that it's just a temporal tool to be used for the Lord. The third thing that we need to consider with regard to finances is rejoice that your needs are met by God. Rejoice that your needs are met by God. It says in verse eight in having food and raiment. Let us be there with content. You know, if you ask the average person on the street, what do you need to be content? I doubt they're going to say, well, if I've got food and if I've got clothes, that's okay. But but but what Paul is saying is if your needs are met, if you've got what you need, and all we really need is food and clothes, and if we have that, that's enough. We think we need a lot more than that. But but our actual needs are so much smaller than what we can see them to be. And God is going to make sure that these needs are met. He's always going to meet our needs. Jesus taught this truth in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 624. He said, No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God in Mammon if he's saying you can't live your life for God and things. You can't do that. It's one or the other. You're either going to live your life for a finance and things or you're going to live your life for God. And so he said to them in verse 25, Therefore I saying to you, Take no thought for your life what you shall eat, don't worry about it, what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you should put on your clothes. It's not the life more than meat in the body than raiment. Behold the fowls of the air, for they so not neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your Heavenly Father feed with them. Are you not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? Can you make yourself grow? He's asking. God makes you grow. And why take you thought for Raymond? Why are you worried about that? God makes you grow. He provides. Consider the lilies of the field. How they grow. They toil not. Neither do they spend. And yet I say to you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today as and tomorrow is cast in the oven, shine not much more clothe you all ye of little faith. He's saying, Look out at the Sermon on the Mount. He's sitting there on the Sea of Galilee. A beautiful area in the hillside, would have had no doubt some flowers in the grasses and things. And he's saying, consider these. Look at these. God clothed us. He made them beautiful. They're arrayed more beautifully than Solomon. And and so why don't you understand that God is also going to meet your need? For clothing. Therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothes for? After all these things, do the gentle seek for your Heavenly Father know if that you have died of all these things God understands today. And the wonderful thing is that God is so aware of that. God is so aware of our needs. But then he says, But Siki first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added on to you. So what is the Scripture teaching us is that God meets our needs. And listen, if God meets my needs, I don't need to be discontent. I could be content. Because the only thing I should really be discontent about is if I've got a need that's not met, but God meets my needs. Scott provides for and needs. So again, as a believer, there is great contentment. You're some of the happiest people are those that without much get to see God provide for them. My wife and I, when we got married, I've shared this before, but we didn't have much. I would I would value the total property value, that of things that we possessed in our first house the first year married. My parents bought us a bedroom set. It was used. I think they might have spent about $600 on that. I bought a $10 sofa. We had a a storage barrel that had a blanket over it with a lamp on top. I can't remember how much the lamp cost. The barrel was free and we had a Pepsi stand that was from the snack shop where we worked on campus, and that was our television stand. We had a board across boxes that was our computer desk. Then we had our our net worth. We got varied of stuff was not very much at all, but I mean, those were happy times. Those were good times. We got to see God provide. And yeah, I mean, we've got more now than we had 22 years ago when we first got married. But we're not happier now than we were 22 years ago because our contentment isn't based on the things that we possess or contentment is found in God. He's the one that meets our needs to rejoice. Rejoice that your needs are met by God and then reflect on the dangers of money. Reflect on the dangers of money. A sinner is a sinner or transgressors for lust of money. A lot of the sins that a man will commit or a woman will commit have to do with that desire for finance. And so because of that, they violate God's law. They'll break God's law to meet that lust or that desire. Verse nine says, But they, that will be rich, fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts. All right. So because of money lost, they'll do things that they may be ashamed of and look at their life and and be grieved by those things because they transgress God's law. But the reason they did it was a lust for money. There was a man I met down in Princes Street Gardens as I was doing evangelism, and I don't know why he felt compelled to tell me his story. He was probably in his sixties. He was from Europe. I can't remember the specific country that he was from. We said I was a I was a club owner and we had pimps and prostitutes and drug dealers that that were part of the cycle. And I think he got into this because I was talking to him about the gospel. I was talking to him about sin. And he was saying, I'm a changed man. I'm a self reformed man. That was me back then. And I'm so glad this is me now. But I was asking him, Have you ever dealt with that sin with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? Because we understand tonight that you can't just reform your life, but that you have to be transformed by the blood of Christ and forgiving of your sin. And he was kind of a self-righteous man and a self-made man, and he didn't see the need to have any more forgiveness. He felt like he had earned forgiveness with God. But as you think about his life, he was obviously ashamed of his life, that he had a club that was so wicked like that. And yet he did that for the love of money. Again, the scripture says they that will be found a temptation to stare into many foolish and hurtful lies. A prostitute prostitutes their body for lie lust of money, whether a man or a woman, they they get into that sexual sin because of a desire for finance. They they might get sexual disease. They lose their virginity and their purity. They have a defiled conscience and other things. But as for the last of money, a human trafficker, we look at that and think, that is horrible. How could somebody kidnap somebody and take somebody from their family? But they don't care about the grief. They don't care about the hurt, the abuse, the murder, perhaps that they're committing as a participant in the death of somebody because they're trafficking them all they're after is that money. A gang member engages in violence or murder for lust of money. That's what it's about. It's just that desire to accumulate wealth. A drug dealer kills people, wrecks their life for lust of money. He doesn't care about the people that are addicts. He doesn't care that they're going to steal to get money so that they can buy their drugs. So they have a lust for money for their drugs. He has lust of money, so he's got them addicted to his drugs. A bookie tempts men to gamble because he'd lust for their money. He wants their money, so he wants to get them enslaved to money lust as well, so that they give him their money. The lottery tempts people to gamble because of their lust for money. You know, I at our park across from our house, they got a grant from the lottery. They had to put up signs, lottery signs there. And it says this at the bottom. It says, thanks to the players of the national lottery. And I emailed the committee and I said, I'd like you to take those signs down. What that sign is saying is that gambling is charitable giving, that that national lottery is trying to sell people on the idea that it's charitable take to buy a lottery ticket for them. And that is so contrary to the truth. They lust for their money, and so they tempt them to buy a lottery ticket that they could take their money. The manufacture of cigarets, alcohol or drugs, okay, whatever that alcohol is, whether it's wine, whether it's any type of drink, no matter what it is, it's all about lusting for money. They're going to take that money, whether that's whiskey or whatever that is. Drugs. Again, lust for money. The pub owner makes people stupid because they want their money. The Bible says in a back at 215 wall unto him that give it his neighbor, drink that, put it the bottle to him and make it him drunken also. And so we look back at this scripture and it says, but they that will be rich, fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lust. Why again? Because they want that money. There is and I probably didn't come close to putting out all the ideas about the sin that somebody can get into just because they desire money. And so they violate not just God's law. They violate God's love. It says in verse nine, which drowned men in destruction and perdition, God desires to save men. God desires to give them abundant life. God desires to set them free. But their lust for money takes them down a path that violates God's law and also God's love for them in the work that Jesus Christ did for them. Barnes notes says the idea is that of a wreck where a ship in all that's in it go down together. The destruction is complete. There is a total ruin of happiness, of virtue, of reputation, and of the soul. The ruling desire to be rich leads on to a train of follies which ruins everything here and here. After how many of the human family have thus been destroyed? It'd be interesting to know statistics about families destroyed. Why? Because somebody in their family lost it for money. I think of Aiken. His whole family was stoned because he lusted after the garment and the gold and the things that he saw in Jericho that God said that was a curse, things to take, because that was to be sacred to God. And he lusted after those things and it destroyed his family. And a nice and sapphire were struck dead by God because they robbed God of what they said they were giving and their lust for money couldn't let it go. They wanted the honor of giving that money and declared that they were giving that money. But then they robbed God and they kept something that took their lives. The rich, young ruler. You know the story as he turned away from salvation. Because he's going to suffer such a great loss by losing the money that he held so dear to himself. The stories in Matthew, chapter 19, verse 16, and he comes to Jesus and he says, Good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And Jesus. 17 Why? Closed it down? Me Good. There's none good but one that is God. And as I read that in the Scripture, I think this it's almost like the man that Jesus said, You're very close to the truth. He's the only person that's truly good as God. And this man acknowledged that Jesus Christ is good. But if they would enter into life, keep the commandments. And he's saying it on him, which Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false. Witness the honor thy father and the mother. And Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. In the young man's phantom. All these things that I kept for my youth up, what lack I get. And it's not that he had fulfilled that, but the Lord allows that to go. And He said unto him, if thou will be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. And come and follow me. And he wasn't teaching him work, salvation. He was dealing with the lust for money that was in that man's heart, his love for material things, his idolatry and covetous ness of those things. And and so he dealt with the thing that was chief in that young man's life, keeping him from following him. The Bible says that when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, free, a great possessions, then said Jesus unto his disciples, Truly, I saying to you, that rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Again, I saying to you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God. A rich man trust in his riches. He loves his riches. He idolizes his riches. And God says it's very difficult for that man to get saved. Nearly impossible. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazing. Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, with men, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. It's very sad that there are people today that their lust for money would keep them from Christ. They they love what they get from selling drugs. They love what they get from whatever vice that they're involved in. They're trying to accumulate wealth. And they know that if they give that up or that they have to give that up. To find Christ. And their lust for money is so strong that it takes them to hell because they reject the love of God. And so, sadly, many sinners turn away from God, break his law, and and transgress his love. But some professed Christians. Turn back for love of money. They set their affection on things that are below instead of on things there are above. It says in verse ten. It says, for the love of money is the root of all evil money. Lust encompasses all the lust that the Bible speaks about when it speaks about the lust of the world. It says in one giant tube or 16. It says, For all that is in the world, the last of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father, but is of the world. Those three lust that are mentioned, the loss of the flesh, the loss of the eyes, the pride of life. As you think about money, money encompasses all of that. The loss of the flesh. I want money to satisfy my fleshly desires. Again, we talked about drug addicts or others that are seeking things for their art to satisfy their flesh, and they need money to do that. And so, again, love of money is a part of that. The loss of the eyes. I want money to get what I cover with my eyes, what I can see. I want to I want to purchase that and again, that lust of for money and then the pride of life. I want money so that others will look at me and think I'm great because I have great wealth or the things that I've accumulated. My my boys and I were at Fort Kinnaird and are some of the younger boys and we saw they're a Range Rover, I think it was. That was a metallic pink. It was a almost like a chrome color, but with pink in it. And, you know, you look at a car like that and you can't help but look at it. It just stands out. You think, why would somebody be by a car like that? Well, they want everybody to turn as they do and look at it. What is that? That's the pride of life. Is that is that something is something that's bling bling that other people look at and think, I'm cool or I'm great because I possess that. And again, that is the love of money and the pride of life. And so they set their affection and the things that are below. And because of that, they deviated from the faith it says which while some coveted after they have heard from the faith, even some believers that they got it, the word of God was there, the gospel was there. But they looked at what the world had and they thought, Right, I would rather have that than be a Christian. I'd rather have that than continue on the path that God has me on. Remember the parable, the saw in Matthew 13, verse 22. It says He also that received seed among the thorns and see that here at the word and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word. And he become an unfruitful. Somebody that that looks at Christ and thinks, I'm following Christ, I'm following Christ. But then they look off and they say, But look what the world has to offer. And I can't I can't get that. I can't have that if I follow Christ and they turn after the world. DeMuth was a man like that to Timothy 410, Paul said. Four Demons hath forsaken me having loved this present world and is departed into Thessalonica. Why did. Why did Demas leave? Because he looked at the world and thought. Look at what the world has to offer, Paul. When I'm with you, I'm suffering is stuff. We're not getting paid a lot. It's not going that well. So I'm just going to. I'm just going to go back into the world. You know, I wonder sometimes in our day that if there's not some believers that think, you know, I can't honor the Lord on the Lord's Day, because if I do that and I say I can't work on Sundays, I'm not going to get that bonus. I'm not going to get that overtime. I'm not going to get those extra hours. I'm not going to have that finances that I feel like I really need. And so I can't be faithful to the Lord. No doubt there are some that think I can't go as a missionary or become a pastor, because if I do that, it doesn't pay that well. And I'm not going to have the things that I hope to have. And of course, we understand that that's not true, because delight thyself, awesome, the Lord and He will give me the desires of my heart. But no doubt there are young people that think I can't do that because I won't get what I want to get in this world. There might be some that think I can't turn down that job even though it makes me participate in other men. Since I've got to work that job and I know there's some things that are objectionable at that place, but I got to have that money and so I'm going to work there anyway and they compromise their conscience for sake of money. My granddad worked at a print shop. And they started to print pornography in that print shop. And I praise God my grandpa quit his job. He started a business. God bless that. But my granddad out of conviction said, no, I'm not going to work there. Even though that was his job, that's where he was getting his paycheck. He obeyed God. But some some Christians would not do that. And in that case, they deviate from the faith, which was some coveted after they have earned from the faith. And in doing that, they took a path of sorrow for lust of money. It says Impure themselves through with many sorrows. The saying is All that glitters is not gold. They look at that path and they think that's going to make me happy. And if I just go down this path, then I have these things and I have this wealth that's going to satisfy. But the truth is this. Tonight, Jesus satisfies. Satisfaction is not in things Satan says. It's in things. It's not in things. And so some some people looked at that. They looked at Christ and they thought, I'm going to follow this path. They get down that path and they get down it far enough that they look back with regret and sorrow that they went down that path away from God. You know, as I started with that illustration about California, I found it interesting and I thought to myself, you know, what kind of a state is California? California is one of the most liberal states in the United States. It's a very wicked stage. It's got Hollywood and some other things that promote great wickedness. They are anti-God, atheistic, hard hearted. They need Christ, they need the church, they need the gospel. But it's interesting that a land that was was born in money lost is the land as a very wicked place today. The lost of money, again, is powerful. It impacts unbelievers, impacts believers. We need to be on guard against it. I you know, as I study this, I think I would have if you asked me what's the greatest lust and danger? I don't think I would have said money lost, and I hope that it would have come to my mind. But here, Paul makes it very clear that this is a great danger to us. And so what can help us with that tonight? Well, realize what makes a person truly rich. Godliness with contentment. Those two things ought to be things that we set our hearts upon. God help me to be godly. I need Christ. I need to be saved. And then I need to walk godly. But then give me grace to be content with whatever you see fit to give me. Because earthly riches are temporary, all my needs are met by God and there's great danger to the lust for money. So if I don't have a lot of money, that could not necessarily be a bad thing. But good thing because I'm going to see God provide. If I do have a lot, I shouldn't set my heart upon it, but just continue to trust God and by God's grace, be content. So may the Spirit of God just anchor those truths in our minds tonight and make us aware of a great adversary that we have the danger of money. Lust. Let's pray. Father, may the Spirit of God just take the truth of this text and put it into our hearts. Satan is a deceiver. Father. We've seen in our years of ministry, we've seen many taken out of church for lots of money because they had to work on the Lord's Day. And pretty soon they were coming to church. If either others get, integrate, send. If I. There's others again. Just turn away. And so, Father, tonight I pray that we'd understand what great gain as great grain is as godliness. Praise God for the righteousness that's imputed to us, to Christ, that if we have everlasting life through Jesus, we're rich. Indeed. And Father that understand that, you know, God meets my needs. God is the one that provides earthly riches or temporary. And so far that there would be contentment that's in her heart. And so, Father, tonight, would you please bless your word to our hearts? Would you encourage us and what we possess that what we have is of God and and Lord, that we truly be godly and truly be content is in Christ name I pray. Amen. Hey, man. All right. Well.