Good morning. Please open your Bibles to First Timothy chapter 6 and verse 1, page 993 in your pew Bibles. First Timothy chapter 6, beginning at verse 1, page 993 in your pew Bibles. Last week, Vijay shared from the end of First Timothy chapter five how every time you come across a church that is failing, there are two reasons for that. Number one, because of bad food, meaning bad doctrine, and bad leadership, meaning a church is unstructured and badly ordered. But on the other side of that, he said churches that succeed exercise good discipline, have pastors that rule well, and have congregational unity. Amen. This week in 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 1 through 10, Paul now digs deeper into the subject of congregational unity by speaking directly to those in the church who were bondservants slash slaves. And then he addresses the false teachers and the covetous of heart. In a society where slavery was the norm, I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for the average Christian who was under the yoke of slavery to maintain a biblical work ethic. Slavery was so widespread in the Roman Empire that, according to most estimates, slaves constituted roughly one-third of the population. To help you understand just how large that number is, that comes out to about 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire. And someone may be wondering, how did they get so many slaves? Where did they come from? Well, some of them were criminals who were used as slaves. Some of them were kidnapped and also made slaves. Some of them were prisoners of war and used for slavery. Some of them fell into debt and sold themselves into slavery. Some of them took their children and use them to pay off of their debts and made them live a life of slavery, or at least for a time period. And then some were just born into slavery. Making up such a large part of the population, slavery was an accepted part of life. That's just the way it was. But here's where it looks different from what we're used to seeing or hearing about or reading about. A slave in that culture could be a doctor, an accountant, an artist, a musician. Basically, they can make a teacher. Basically, they can make up any occupation. They could fulfill any occupation in Rome. But with that said, they were still not legally considered persons, but were the tools of their masters. As such, they could be bought, sold, inherited, exchanged, or even seized by the authority to pay off their masters' debts. Their masters had virtually unlimited power to punish or even kill them, even for the slightest infractions. One Roman writer wrote, when a slave is ill, he or she should not be fed anything. Why waste your money? Just wait for them to die and then throw them into the dump. And there would be no legal ramifications for that. So how was a Christian Contextually, from where we're at today, a Christian in Rome who was under the bondage of slavery, who had been set free in Christ, able to handle that, able to serve where he is, and yet praise God. That cannot be easy. We can read about it and we can keep going, but to recognize that this is a real dilemma that they were facing at that time is something that the Apostle Paul gives us the answer to and how they were able to make it. And on top of that, you had false teachers in the church of Ephesus. They also were in bondage, but they were in bondage to greed. they thought the ministry was supposed to bring them great wealth. In the passage that I will be covering today, the Apostle Paul addresses both of these situations. So I've titled this sermon, From Bondage to Freedom in Christ. So my three points for the sermon are point number one, achieving contentment in Christ through faithfulness. Point number two, achieving contentment in Christ through true doctrine. and point number three achieving contentment in Christ through godliness. Follow me as I read first Timothy chapter 6 verses 1 to 10 page 993 in your pew bibles once again this is the holy word of God so listen carefully Verse 1, let all who are under a yoke as bond servants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers. Rather, they must serve all the better, since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these things. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. Please pray with me. Father, we thank you for your word, Lord God. Your word doesn't sidestep the hard issues. Your word gives us clarity. Your word gives us understanding. Your word exhorts us in how we should behave, Lord God, when we face these trials, when we face these difficulties in society, when we face sinful situations from society. How are we to respond? Please guide us. Please guide me, Lord, that I would do a just and righteous job of preaching this word, Lord God, and I pray it would help change our hearts if we're not thinking rightly about these situations, if we're not responding correctly where we are in life, Lord. In Jesus name we pray, amen. Point number one, achieving contentment in Christ through faithfulness. Slavery is an ugly evil that has appeared in just about every part of the world. But if Paul or any other gospel writer would have tried to lead a revolution against it in the Roman Empire, they would have been met with severe consequences. Anyone caught planning what even looked like an uprising would have been dealt with brutally. So in verse one, when Paul wrote, let all who are under a yoke as bond servants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, there was a monumental purpose behind it, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Instead of having the message of the gospel confused with social reform and rebellion, Christianity worked to destroy slavery more effectively than any other method in history from the inside out. Specifically in these three ways. Number one, through the conversion of the slave owner. through the conversion of the slave owner. Every person who owned a slave and became converted to Christianity either had to change his or her ways or walk in open disobedience to God. When they would open their Bibles and read Colossians chapter 4, verse 1, where it says, masters, treat your bond servants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master in heaven, some of them would have been like, what? Do what? Yes, treat them fairly, knowing you also have a master in heaven. Then if their slave was a Christian, when that slave owner came across Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 9, where it says, masters, stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. inner conviction should have pulled at his or her heart. Unfortunately, many fought back against this and didn't change at all, while some changed over time. It's similar to how we respond to the gospel or to words of instruction when we come across it and willfully choose not to follow at first. at first. But over time, most of us come around. Likewise, whenever Christianity dominated, slavery diminished over time. The second way Christianity worked to destroy slavery was through the conversion of the slave. The slave was able to see his or her true worth once they found out they were made in the image of God. They were encouraged when they heard there is no spiritual inequality between them and their master because through the gospel there is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus, Galatians chapter three and verse 28, which introduces the third way Christianity worked to destroy slavery as master and slave became brothers and sisters in Christ. It is only in Christianity where you find that all who are one with Jesus Christ are one with one another. like a chisel. Christianity consistently undermined the evils of slavery by changing the hearts of slaves and their masters. We see this in the book of Philemon. Philemon was a prominent member of the church at Colossae, which they held in his own household. His bondservant, Onesimus, ran away to Rome, where he ran into the apostle Paul. Under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of the Apostle Paul, he would go back to his master, to his slave master. But he didn't go back empty handed. He had a letter that the Apostle Paul gave him. In verses 16 and 17 of the letter, Paul told Philemon to receive Onesimus. No longer as a bondservant, but more than a bondservant. As a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. So if you consider me your partner, Philemon, receive him as you would receive me. Only Christianity does that. Christianity does not deny that there are social, ethnic, and cultural distinctions among Christians, but it affirms that these distinctions do not imply spiritual inequality before God. So what does that have to do with us? To begin with, the Apostle Paul used the Greek word for slave, doulos. This can also be translated as servant slash bondservant, so it covers a wide range of work situations. Just as the relationship between master and slave was the primary economic relationship in the ancient world, so the relationship between boss and employee is the primary economic relationship in the world today. And we should apply the biblical teaching here accordingly. In the Roman Empire, to have a Christian boss was not an impossibility. So in verse 2, Paul says, those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers. It appears some of the bond servants were taking advantage of the fact that some of their bosses were fellow believers. Many slaves lived on the same property as their slave owners. And if they were a Christian, most likely they worshipped at the same place. And this began, it appears, to breed some level of discouragement, yet bitterness, yet familiarity, breeding contempt, And Paul says, no, that's not the way it's supposed to be. He says, on the contrary, you need to serve all the better, because those who benefit by your good service are believers and beloved. And the question that comes to us today is, what if you found out your boss is a Christian? What if you walked into the cafeteria, and you saw him reading the Bible, and then you begin talking to him about the Bible, and he reveals that he's evangelical in his thinking, and he even goes out once a month with his church to share the gospel, and you begin thinking, well, he is not that bad of a guy. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, some Christians will begin to take advantage of that situation. They will begin thinking in their mind that, hey, maybe I don't have to come to work on time. Right? And even if it's not a front of the mind thought and it's somewhere in the back of the mind, they begin coming back from lunch a little bit later because we're brothers or sisters in Christ. Maybe I can begin using some of this sick time that I have, right? Because we're cool like that. We worship at the same place. It's okay, right? And it's amazing how the flesh is. It is amazing what we will do, right? If you give somebody an inch, they'll take a mile. And we'll say, no, that's not me, but you'd be surprised. Because Paul wrote this for somebody, right? Not just for somebody else, not to the person on your left or on your right. But think about it. When you find out somebody is a Christian, do you change? Do you begin to go a little further than you would with somebody who's going to hold you accountable? Somebody who's not going to be so understanding? The Apostle Paul says, no, you honor them. Verse one, no, don't disrespect them. Verse two, even in a bad work environment, even if everybody else is doing them, even if you're doing that, even if you think they're incompetent. He says, no, your good service will be a benefit to them. your faithfulness will be like a breath of fresh air. When everybody else is taking advantage of them and trying to get over, you're reminding them that you are their brother or sister in Christ by your good conduct. And God, the Father, loves them and perhaps sent a fellow believer to them to help them get through each day. That's what you're doing there. It's not by accident. You ought to be that light in a dark place. Not only does God the Father love both the Christian boss and employee, but Jesus the Son also loves them and has set the example for them by displaying the utmost humility when he emptied himself and took the form of a doulos, a servant. He's showing us this is how you do it. Lay down your life for the glory of God. Every Christian is called to be a servant, a slave of Christ, because every Christian is indebted to Christ. Two things are at stake every time a believer steps on the work floor. The first thing at stake is the name of God, which stands for God's character, his holiness, his love, his justice, and all the rest of his divine attributes. Since God's people bear God's name, the way they work is a reflection of God himself. So every time a Christian makes a delivery, turns in a project, hands in an expense account, makes a decision at a board meeting, pushes to get a sale, closes a deal, takes care of a patient, mops the floor, or grades an exam, he or she is making some kind of statement about who God is. A Christian who gives anything less than their best for the glory of God is putting Christianity and Christ in a bad light. The second thing at stake is our assurance of salvation. Notice I didn't say our salvation is at stake. I said our assurance of salvation. If I'm goofing off, stealing time, gossiping, complaining, and resisting my boss every time he or she instructs me to do something, that's a spirit of pride. It's as if I'm yoked together with pride. They see me, they see pride. You want me to come to church with you? You want to share scripture with me when you act like you're better than everybody else? And I see how you leave work early? And you want to tell me about John 3, 16? No. We are yoked together with Christ. And Jesus said, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. which is why we ought to regard our Lord and Master Jesus Christ as worthy of all honor and obedience, so that the name of God and His teaching, the teaching, may not be reviled. That is to be our mindset in our workplace. At the end of verse two, Paul writes, teach and urge these things. Why? Because whether you were a Christian slave in the first century or you are a Christian employee in the 21st century, these things from the Word of God provide the answer as to how we can achieve contentment in Christ through faithfulness. Faithfulness. It brings contentment because it shows we are not like the world. We are not like we used to be. We are following God consistently. And it's not easy because we don't feel the same every day. We're not immutable. God hasn't shared that divine attribute with us. We change. But here's the thing. God's glory doesn't change. His love for us doesn't change. So what we do is we go forward even when we don't feel like it. As I said, some of us work for people that we know the job better than they do. Now how do we act? Are we puffed up? Are we conceited? Do we look at them and say, I don't have to listen to them? and you do it your way, how is God being glorified in that? How can you be a witness on the job in that? How can you share the humility of Christ going to the cross in that? Of course, God knew better than everybody who put him on the cross. Jesus, the son of God, God himself knew better, but he said, no, I'm going to humble myself, and I'm going to go to the cross for others. It's always for others. Love the Lord God with your whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love others. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. It's always about the glory of God being projected from you. So whenever you don't feel like it, think of Christ. Father, if it is possible, remove this cup from me. But nevertheless, not my will, but your will, your will, in his human nature. He didn't feel like it, but he did it, did it for others, for others. After giving Timothy and the church instructions concerning the bond servants slash slaves conduct, the apostle Paul now directs his attention once more, this will be the third time in this letter, to false teachers. And this brings us to point number two, achieving contentment in Christ through true doctrine. True doctrine. In verses three through five, Paul gives three characteristics of a false teacher. Number one, they deviate from sound doctrine. They deviate from sound doctrine. Number two, they divide the church. And number three, they're motivated by financial gain. verses three through five says if anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing he has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. In verse 3, the phrase sound words means healthy and wholesome words that produce spiritual well-being. The sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ comprise the Christian gospel. This gospel teaches that Jesus is the one and only Son of God who was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. This gospel teaches that Jesus suffered and died on the cross at Calvary, was buried in a tomb, and raised from the dead on the third day to give eternal life to everyone who believes in him. These are the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Anything else is unsound. Anything else is heresy. Instead of teaching healthy and wholesome words that produce spiritual well-being, the false teachers spent their time in controversies and quarrels about words. The word there is literally word battles. That's what floated their boat, word battles. They wanted to get into these big words that nobody understood. They spent their time obsessing over terminology and attacking the reliability and faithfulness of sound doctrine, as opposed to the quote, unquote, simple preacher. The simple preacher doesn't obsess over big words nobody understood. because the faithful pastor slash shepherd wants the sheep to understand the word so he may be or she may be fed by rich food. They may feed on things that fill them spiritually and give them strength in Christ. They want to take their part in meals that unite them to Christ daily, that cleanses them daily, that gives them a broken heart of repentance daily, that gives them the ability to forgive daily. We need these things daily. We have to be cleansed daily. We have been eternally cleansed. Don't get me wrong on that part. But daily, we need to come back to Christ. And we need to be filled with the word and washed all over again, because the world sticks to us sometimes. And here's what happens. As you go one Sunday without fellowshipping and worshipping amongst the believers, that one Sunday could turn into two months. And then the next thing you know, you're starting to think differently. You're starting to talk differently. It's so subtle. It is so subtle. You begin looking like the people you hang out the most, hang out with the most. You begin sounding like the people that you used to shriek when you would hear them say something foul. Now it's commonplace. So what God did for our benefit is on the first day of the week, not the seventh day like the Sabbath. After working and worshiping all week and serving God all week, you needed that Sabbath rest. Take that day. But this is the first day of the week to be built up in Christ, and he sends you out as a soldier into the world. By Friday, Saturday, you get worn down again. So the first day of the week, you come back, you get built up again. And it's this thing that we ought to do until we see him face to face. The church isn't an anchor that some people say, oh, it's like a crutch. You got to go there. I can worship God anywhere. No, but he says, come together. Yes, you can worship God anywhere, but he says, come together. You need one another. You need to sing songs of praise to God after you guys have been listening to the Rolling Stones all week. I know you. But you need some words that praise and lift up the Holy One who saved your soul. You need people to pray for you. You need to fellowship and talk about what are you going through. You want to hang out. You want to get lunch. You need people that reflect the image of God so you don't start feeling like you're the strange one. Because in this world, if you go far enough and long enough without the church and you hang around secular people, you will begin to think, am I the strange one? Am I being too hard here? We have been changing. Maybe I should change with the culture. It is easier than you think to do that. It is much easier than you think to flow with the tide. In verse four, Paul shows us the contrast between the faithful pastor and the false teacher. Everything listed there is at the very root of the false teacher's heart. Conceit, a lack of understanding, an unhealthy craving for controversy, and a love for word battles as he wants people to believe he's much smarter than he really is. But in reality, proud and ignorant false teachers do not understand divine truth because it is foolishness, foolishness to them. They are not able to understand spiritual things because spiritual things have to be spiritually discerned. False teachers produce nothing of benefit spiritually due to their fleshly, corrupt, and empty minds. But doctrine matters. Doctrine matters. In these verses, we see how a lack of true doctrine directly affects life in the church. Verse five says it's happening among those who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. Yes, it was happening in the church, but no, it wasn't happening to true believers. It was the envious, dissenting, slandering, evil, and constantly in friction people that it was happening to. The depraved in mind who were being influenced by the false teachers were influenced because they were deprived of the truth from these false teachers. True doctrine, on the other hand, has been established by a set of statutes, laws, commands, and principles that have been mined correctly through proper exegesis and hermeneutics, drawing out of the text what it's saying, carefully interpreting the meaning of scripture systematically, where the aim is to arrange biblical doctrines into one self-consistent whole. not fractured parts where you end up with different beliefs and strange interpretations. From this standard, the false teachers had turned aside. They failed to realize that godliness is not the means to financial gain, but godliness is gain. And I wish that we all could grasp that and keep it. To keep it is the answer. We'll grasp it, but then we'll let it go. And this leads us to point number three, achieving contentment in Christ through godliness. In verses six and seven, Paul wrote, but godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. We all have moments of contentment. and then we either see something new or hear about something we quote-unquote need and all of a sudden we're no longer satisfied with what we have. We drive off the lot in our brand new Nissan Sentra, feeling good, new car smell, so thankful, God, I'm so glad you allowed me to buy a new car. And then a few months later, we see the newer model, And we're noticing how it's shinier, how it has better rims. And all of a sudden in our heart, we start like, man, I should have waited. I knew it was coming out. And now we're looking at our old dusty car. We don't like it no more. Or we come back with a family from a great Florida vacation. We had a wonderful time. Everybody was happy. You know, you're feeling good about your vacation. And then you go on social media, and you see somebody you know looking like they had a greater vacation in Hawaii. And all of a sudden, your heart sinks. And you're like, man, I knew we should have went to Hawaii. Why didn't we go to Hawaii? It's so cheap. But the thing is, Whatever the scenario is, we're assuming our lives would have been better if we had done something bigger or possessed something greater. Even though Jesus said one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Luke 12, 15. We're also disbelieving that godliness with contentment is great gain without uttering the words. We're saying godliness plus things is great gain. Godliness plus a bigger house, that's a great gain. Godliness plus a newer car, that's a great gain. Godliness plus you fill in the blank. You know what you covered. You know what you believe would make you much happier every time you see it. Some of you are like, I'm not going to talk about a husband or wife, or a better husband or wife. I don't even want to go there. That's a different sermon for a different day. But you're neglecting the fact that commitment and contentment in Christ, that's the game, right? Being content in Christ takes commitment to Christ, commitment to Him. That's the goal. Sometimes we act as if the things we accumulate on earth are going to come with us into the new heavens and the new earth. But verse 7 says, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. Job said basically the same thing 2,000 years, roughly 2,000 years, before the apostle Paul. When he lost everything that was important to him, he said, naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. Job chapter 1 and verse 21. He understood you cannot take it with you. Yet we hold on so tightly to the things we have and covet so strongly the things we don't, using up our good years to serve ourselves instead of using up our good, strong years to serve Christ. Think about Adam and Eve. Picture a circle and let it represent everything God gave to them. Right? In the world, that was theirs. And at that time, they had everything they needed. And if they needed anything else, God would have given them more. And we might wonder, how could Satan tempt people who had everything, living in a perfect environment? But his temptation was very subtle, very simple. He suggested to Eve that she and her husband needed more than what God had provided for them. Hmm, it is good for food. Hmm, it is a delight to the eyes. Hmm, I desire it, and it will make me wise. The thought developed in her mind, causing her to act on it. She ate, not only did she eat, but she also gave some to her husband to eat. And as we saw in First Timothy 2, he knew better. He was not deceived. He knew better, but he didn't. And their sin, their disobedience brought death, misery, pain, loneliness, heartache, sickness, disappointment, just go down the line. Let's try that again. Picture another circle. Put yourself in it and everything that you have right now. Everything that you have. Everything that God has given to you and everything God has taken away from you. Everything. God has given you or taken away from you everything needed for you to look more like Christ. That hurts at times, but God knows the end from the beginning. And he says, here's where you are, but here's where I need you to be. If we're up here, God has a way of bringing us down here. so that we can love those next to us who are down here. If we're up here, we can't see those down there. And we can come to church every Sunday, hi, bye, hi, bye. Worshiping next to people who are crying inside. But I'm so high, I can't hear their cries. So God says, I need you to be like my son who heard the cry of the sinful, the adulterer, the harlot, the drunkard, and he gave them life. All who would believe, he gave them life. He fed many with physical food, that's okay, but he gave them spiritual food in which they would never thirst again or never hunger again. And he provided the thing they needed to look like Christ. Zacchaeus, get down from that tree. I'm going to eat at your house today. Can we say that each and every Sunday when we see someone? Hey, let's get something to eat. Let's hang out. Let's talk. Are we low enough? Are we humble enough to do that? Or when the bell rings, I have to go back to my life now. I punch the clock, I have to go back to my world. God will give you and has given you everything you need to look like Christ and he will provide more as he continues to mold, as he continues to scrape off the hardness of the heart as he opens your eyes wider to who he is. And you run to him, Lord, I love you. Use me. Use me, Lord, for your glory. He has promised to meet our needs. He hasn't promised that everything will be sweet and lovely and great and cream pie. But he has promised to give you what you need. And I thank him for that. The goal of having godliness with contentment is being able to say and really mean it God and what God daily provides for me is what is best for me and that's good enough for me. I'll say it again being able to say God and what God has provided for me is what is best for me and I'm good with that. Calvin put it this way, he said, Godliness itself is a sufficiently great gain to us because through it we become not only heirs of the world but are enabled to enjoy Christ and all his riches. Are you enjoying Christ and all of his riches? Are you enjoying him? God has given you breath this morning to enjoy him. as long as we chase after temporary items, as if they're going to last forever, we'll never find contentment. We'll never find contentment. Verse 8 says, if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. To some, that may sound extremely minimalistic. But for those of us who have spent years chasing things and dreams and people only to be let down and brokenhearted and disappointed, we understand this. The Lord is trying to save his people from heartache. In Matthew chapter six, verses 25 and 26, Jesus said, therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Think about it. Are you not of more value than two sparrows who are sold for one penny? Or is your value tied up into what you wear? Or what car you drive? Or what people say about you? Take a moment to be honest. Are you letting people determine your worth? Nobody on earth should determine your worth, including family members. God has created you in his image. He elected you, regenerated you, called you, justified you, adopted you, sanctified you, and when Christ returns, he will glorify you to be with him. In and of ourselves, we are not worthy. Jesus Christ's righteousness, which has been imputed or accredited to our account, has made us worthy. For some, that's still not enough. They still have a strong desire to be rich in man's eyes. So in verse nine, we get a serious warning. In verse nine, It says, but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. Desiring to be rich in this world comes from short-term thinking, and he says it could lead to your ruin and destruction. However, understand me, if God has blessed you financially, praise God. He has blessed so many, from Abraham, to Job, to David, to Solomon. Praise God. Being rich is not a sin. A covetous heart is sin. Financial gain plus compulsive spending out of a covetous heart may bring short-term happiness. But true and lasting joy is found in Christ. Life and peace is found in Christ. You say, I know that, Pastor Mike. But how do I do this? The word says from Colossians 3, verses 2 and 3, that we are to set our minds on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. not things that are on this earth, they're temporary. And we ought to remember that we have died and our life is now hidden with Christ in God. To set our minds means we have this inner disposition that's pointed one way, similar to a compass which points north. Our entire disposition should point itself toward the things of heaven and eternity, causing us to make decisions that reflect that. What we say reflects that. Who we're in a relationship with reflects that. How we raise our children reflects that. Our consistency in the faith reflects that. In verse 10, Paul makes another sharp statement to the false teachers and possibly unconverted churchgoers in Ephesus. He said that some have wandered away from the faith. There was no longer any consistency in their faith. He wasn't saying they wandered away from Christ and lost their salvation. He's saying those who left departed from the religiosity of church life. They didn't just leave the church building, but they left the practices of Christianity. These people are similar to the religious but unconverted ones the Apostle John describes in 1 John chapter 2 and verse 19. There, John says, these people went out from us, but they were not of us, meaning of the same spirit, knitted together. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us. then to the rest of the congregation. In the next verse John says, but you have been anointed by the Holy One and you all have knowledge. What does he mean by that? You all have knowledge. It's exactly what Jesus said in his high priestly prayer in John chapter 17 as he's praying to the Father. In verse 3, he says, and this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. All Christians have been anointed with the Holy Spirit and know the Father and the Son intimately. As a shepherd serving under Christ the chief shepherd, Paul, at the end of verse 10, lovingly warns the greedy and self-indulgent that it is through the craving of riches that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. What you love and what you crave will determine who you are and where you're headed. what you are and what you crave will determine who you are and where you're headed. Picture the person who wanders from the straight and narrow path to gather some beautiful flowers. Get the imagery of somebody going down a path, straight and narrow, headed to the kingdom. They look to the left, and they see some beautiful flowers. But the flowers are lined with thorns. But they're so beautiful, the person just has to have them, no matter what it costs. But as they pluck them up, one by one, They realize that their hands are pierced, bloody, and wounded. The believer sees his or her hands and cries out, Lord, what have I done? And runs as fast as he or she can back to the straight and narrow path, and they pick up right where they left off. The unbeliever looks at their bloody, pierced, and wounded hands, and cries out, nothing ever goes right for me, and blames God for their pain. I am confident that we resemble the first person. Because I believe we are like those spoken of in Proverbs chapter 24 and verse 16, who may fall seven times, but will rise again and again and again and get right back on the straight and narrow road that leads to Christ and eternal life. Amen? Let us pray. Father, I thank you for your grace and mercy. I thank you for your patience with us, Lord God. Remembering our frame that we are dust and that we are attracted to shiny things, things that are no good for us, things that are good for us, but we cling to them with this heart of idolatry as if they belong to us and it stops there, forgetting that these gifts and blessings are used to be transferred to your people. are used to bless others who are in dire straits, are used to teach others lessons that we have learned along the way. Thank you for your patience with us, Lord God. Please continue to teach us. I am so glad you will never leave us nor forsake us, but convict us and turn us. You will lift us up when we fall, Lord God. You will never let go of our hands. You will guide us all the way till we see you for who you are. and we shall see Christ as he is. We shall be like him. Thank you for that day. In Jesus name we pray, amen.