Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Pray With Purpose Pt.8

Let's turn to Matthew chapter 6.

Oh, Missy, I got that plaque; it's beautiful. Thank you! Missy had found this thing for us. It's a Sword of the Spirit plaque, and it has a sword that's placed down, recessed into this beautiful frame, and recessed into this area that recites the passage in Ephesians. It's just gorgeous, and we're going to--I can't decide whether to be selfish and take it home or to hang it in the conference room where we can see it every day and everybody else can enjoy it. It's just a blessing.

As the Lord years ago put that Scripture on our heart to depict the outreach ministry here and to name, of course, the radio and the different things that we've done in outreach and evangelism, it's what we've tried to keep as the hallmark of the ministry--that God's Word is the final authority and is the only source that we draw our wisdom and our strength from. I think that after all these years, we will be able to stand before the Lord and hear Him say, "You did a good job." I believe with all of my heart that we've done our best, amen? Do you believe that? I believe we've done our best. Do you believe--and I'm talking not just "me"; I'm talking "we." I believe that we've done our best. How many of you think we can do more? But I believe to this point, we've done our best. We really, as a people, have tried to walk according to the Word of God as our standard and tried to assist one another. And I believe that God has shown His delight in that by His presence--the peace that we have and the knowledge of His presence that we have--and I'm just so thankful for it.

We're coming up on our twenty-fifth anniversary of being here in this auditorium. Twenty-five years ago on Palm Sunday we had our first service in here. That's exciting, and I can still remember what this room looked like--the little toy soldiers painted on the wall and the old--you all remember the green tile that was in the bookstore for so long. That was all through here. The drywall was all faded and had not been taped; it was all water-stained. Fluorescent light bulbs that didn't have any covers over them that went down--the room ended back there where that little alcove is, and the little stage that came across here, the door that was out this way (the one that the cow looked in during one of the services). We were the only thing back here!

Things have changed, haven't they? I remember some people being very upset that we wanted to move up here, and they thought we were insane to move out in the country and, "There's nothing out there." And there wasn't; they just showed up. We got here first, amen? How foolish we were for buying these thirty-one acres. God has ordered our steps, and a lot of ministry that's taken place, and all of the changes that the Lord has given us. Here we are, twenty-five years later.

Do you realize that in these twenty-five years, I've designed two auditoriums to move into? And we're still here. Real nice auditorium, one that some of you've never seen, we designed. It was going to be built at the peak of the twelve acres. If you go down past the ball field, you'll see there's already an opening and a driveway that's been cut through the trees that goes back there. Jenkins designed that for us, and it was a beautiful little auditorium--not little compared to what we were in in Herndon or here. I think it was a 350-seat auditorium, and I can't remember what it was going to cost us back then--probably $300,000. It was a lot of money. We bought that twelve acres then for $64,000. How many of you'd buy it for $64,000 right now?

It was exciting, and then later on we designed the other auditorium. Some of you aren't even aware of that. We designed another auditorium. We were going to drain the pond and build an auditorium over the pond. It would have been tough ice-skating this last winter, but had a beautiful 5,000-seat auditorium designed. Those of you that are newer are probably thinking, "What would you be doing designing a 5,000-seat auditorium?" We were on our way to needing that at that time.

God spoke very clearly to us as we were in prayer--and this relates to what we're talking about in prayer and in talking about being content--that godliness with contentment is great gain. There are the big visions that we can have and things that we feel we want to achieve (and all of us have had those things in our lives), and sometimes we're not real clear if it's us or God. How many of you have been there--not sure whether it's you or God? Let me see your hands. You don't know if it's your ambition or God. We've all been there, and we think, "How can I find out? What's going to be the wisdom of God as it manifests here and lets me know what the motivation of this thing is?" As we've shared in the teachings in the past, you begin to find out that when you're not at peace, it's not God. If broken order is manifesting itself, if you see that you're coming out from under authority and the role where God's placed you, then it's not of God. This is a lot of what's happened in many ministries today, and everybody's become an authority to themselves, and there's anarchy within the churches. And I don't mean necessarily schism and fighting, but there's anarchy. There's no control. There's no oversight. There's no authority that's recognized, and it's caused a lot of confusion. So everyone's doing what's right in their own eyes. People really don't, then, have that safety of having the Word of God and an authority speak toward the contentment factor in our lives, and we're each having to discern that for ourselves.

So as you look at these things--and we were faced with that and looking at what the Lord would have us to do. I think I shared with you that it was right around that time we had just been over in Korea and ministering there. We had been out West at Jerry Frye's church and ministering there, and Willard Cantelon was trying to get me to leave here and go pastor that church in San Jose. Willard was a man that I had great respect for, and so I listened to what he had to say. He shared a lot of what his reasoning was as to why it would probably be good for me to go out there. There was only one thing that was lacking, and that was the fact that God had supernaturally brought me here and He wasn't in the process of supernaturally moving me. It was too much natural involved.

It was at that time that the Lord began to really redirect the course of the ministry here. It was at that time also that there was a settling within myself of this contentment factor. Some of you, over all the years you've been here as you've watched me, you've probably been able to discern that I am a little bit of a type "A" personality and kind of competitive and that there is that tendency to move in that direction. I had to settle those issues because, frankly, in those different times, I believe God was ordering our steps, but to say that I wasn't gratified by the fact that at that time we were the fastest growing charismatic church in the Washington, D.C. area wouldn't be truthful. As I drove by some of the churches of these men that I knew then (that were much smaller than we were at that time and wondering how we were having all of this great success) and to see their 3,000-seat auditoriums built and to drive by those today and see the beautiful facilities that they're in and to look at them and be able to--and it happened to me just the other day--to be able to absolutely tell you, to be able to look and say, "I thank God we're not there, because it would have been in our own strength." I'm one hundred percent convinced that what we have at this moment as a fellowship, God has given us. It wasn't built by man; it wasn't built by the arm of the flesh. And so, it creates a joy and a peace. There is bigger and there's better in the eyes of men, but it doesn't last. To be able to say, "Father, of those that You have given me, I've lost none," I think, begins to be the hallmark of success, as I shared with you in that service years ago.

How many of you remember that testimony that we shared with you in Cho's meetings there years ago, the story of sharing with all of those pastors? It was a supernatural thing. As I got up to speak and they had asked me to share on the subject--Cho had asked me to teach on the subject of faith for church growth, how to build a big church. We were in the process of that. I got up to speak, and as I began to hear--and I don't use these words lightly. I'm telling you literally, I began to hear these words coming out of my mouth--hadn't thought them, hadn't planned any of this, went exactly contrary to what I was going to be speaking. But in that particular meeting, who had just spoken--any of you ever heard of Dr. Schuller? He had just spoken and also Dr. Cho and Dr. Tommy Reid from New York. Tommy has about a 10,000-member church in New York that I used to go preach at quite a bit.

So these men had just spoken, and then it was my turn to preach on the subject of faith for church growth. I got up to speak, and I heard these words come out of my mouth. I heard me say, "I'm the first person who's spoken that isn't a doctor. We've had Dr. Schuller and Dr. Reed and Dr. Cho and Bob!" I said, "I'm not as educated as these men, and so I don't spell 'church growth' the way that they do. I spell it this way." And I proceeded to spell "church," and then I spelled "growth": grow up. I said, "It's time for the church to grow up--to grow up into the image of Jesus."

As I began to share with these men, I said, "I can see it in your eyes." As I looked at these pastors, I said, "There are thousands and you're looking and you're saying, 'Tell us how to build a bigger church! Tell us how to build a great church!' And every one of you are seeing yourselves as failures and looking at how to become a success. The only thing that I see in the Scripture that tells us what biblical success is are these passages." Now, you've got to remember, this is all just coming out. I'm listening to myself. I'm actually preaching to myself. I said, "What I see in the Scriptures are these two principles: to be able to say [as I quoted just a moment ago], 'Father, of those that You have given me--whether it's twenty-five in West Virginia [and there were some that were from West Virginia that had that many in their churches] or 25,000 in Seoul, Korea [like the Presbyterian church that we'd preached at]--success is being able to say, Father, of those that You have given me (like Jesus said), I've lost none,' and to be able to hear, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.'"

That sermon to those men changed my life. It was at that moment that I stepped out of the big time. Now, God had His hand on me, and the power of God was evidencing in our lives. We were bringing what I believed was pure biblical doctrine that wasn't accepted of the two major camps that we seemed to be ministering in primarily: the Assemblies of God and, at that time, a lot of the faith movement. Neither one of them really wanted to embrace us because we weren't embracing their doctrine entirely. We were bringing something that seemed to be down the middle. We chose at that time--in fact, after I finished preaching at Jerry Frye's church, God spoke to me as I was in a little storefront church in Richmond. He said, "I don't want you ever going back to one of those super churches unless I specifically send you." And He said, "This is where I want you to teach my people." Well, being an individual who is humble by nature, leaving the Lear jet crowd and the multithousand congregations to go into little Richmond storefronts of forty-five was just exactly what I wanted to do! And He said, "This is where My people are, and this is where I want you to bring My Word."

If you want to know why I refer so many times over the years to the John 15 passages, it's because of these things that He had spoken to me at this time. He said, "Now bring forth some fruit that'll remain." Oh beloved, so much of what goes on out there is a percentage game. Whether it's mass mailing (and the churches are using the same processes to build on), it's just a numbers game: the more seed you scatter, the more potential there is for some kind of an increase. But it's really not God's method, and it's one of the great lures that the world has on all of our flesh. We've got to be very careful in our prayer that we're not using prayer to try to effect our will or our visions, our goals, and that we're not trying to use prayer to better our position in life, assuming that God isn't involved, doesn't care, and hasn't ordered our steps to this point. You see, so many of us think God just kind of left us out. So now I've got to build up my prayer life so that I can get up there with the rest of these guys.

The real issue at hand is found, again, over here in this 6th chapter of Matthew. Let's turn back there, and we'll finish up on this tonight. We've gone and spent a lot of time in the Lord's prayer, but I'd like to read on in the 6th chapter and point out a couple of other things that relate to prayer. It has to do with the attitude of the heart for successful prayer and this subject that we're going to talk about a little bit tonight of contentment.

He goes on and talks about fasting and the attitude of humility that we're to have in fasting, and that that's done in secret, the Lord will reward us openly. In other words, we're never to do anything to be seen of men. We don't pray openly to be seen of men. That doesn't mean that we can't pray in public. "Brother Smith, would you pray over the offering?" "I don't want to pray and be seen of men." It's not talking about that. It's praying to be seen of men; the long prayers that were made of the Pharisees so that they could be seen. That projecting of our righteousness so that men would have an image of us and to project ourselves as just a little better than everybody else. "I'm just a little more spiritual than everybody else. See, that's why I'm always the last one to leave the auditorium in praying, so that everybody will know I'm the spiritual one. I'm the last guy occupying the facilities." Well, for some, we might ought to start charging you room and board, because you're sleeping! I've seen a number of you in here sleeping. We're going to start charging you rent! It doesn't have to do with how spiritual you are--how long you're in here--if you're asleep! Pray, and go home and sleep! So we realize it's trying to project an image, or whatever it is, and the Lord is speaking against that.

It has to do the same with fasting. It doesn't mean you've got to get stupid about it. If you're out with somebody and they happen to say, "Would you like a cup of coffee?" "No, go ahead." If somebody offers you, and you just say, "No thank you," and they push the issue, then you just tell them. Say, "No, I'm just fasting today." Then they say, "Oh, okay." When it's wrong is when they sit down at lunch to order and they all open their menus and you're going, "(Sigh) Ohhh!" And you're like the waffle-whiffer when the food comes up and you're (long sniff). You've got a long face and sackcloth on. You go to the bathroom and change into sackcloth and come back and sit at the table. He's talking about that kind of stuff. He says you're not trying to show anything that's projecting that you're suffering for the Lord, but you do it as unto the Lord. It's done internally. It's in your heart, and the Lord rewards you openly.

Then He says in verse 19, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth." It doesn't have anything to do with abundance, with savings accounts, with investments. That's not what it's talking about. Treasures here isn't talking about stuff or abundance. We've shared it before, and I'm not going to get into it tonight, but we've talked about the fact of there's no rebuke on the plurality of barns. "I'm going to, then, tear them down and build bigger barns!" There was not even any rebuke for the bigger plurality of barns. The rebuke was, "And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry [you've done a good job; you're set for life; you don't need anybody or anything]. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee..."

You see, treasures are when you're trusting in these things. Treasures are when it becomes idolatry. Treasures are when any of the abundance that you might have begins to rob the glory of God and the dependence upon God. When there are things that are trusted in, there are things that we have anchored our soul to, and we haven't adopted the wisdom of God that says, "We've brought nothing into the world, and it's sure that we're going to take nothing out."

And so when the Lord is speaking here and we're talking about contentment, He says that we're not to lay up for ourselves treasures where moth and rust corrupts and thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. And then He makes the statement in verse 21, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." And so, we're able then to determine what our treasure is by what our heart's delight is.

It's not hard to see somebody's treasure. When your wife comes into the room, when your children are present, when your little grandbabies come into your presence, and your eyes light up and you take on some new energy, it's obvious that that's your treasure. If fellowshipping with the saints, Bible study, prayer, witnessing, whatever it is, is a job, an obligation, but playtime--all of a sudden you've got that spring in your step! "I've got mail!" You look, and now you're excited about whatever this new business venture is or the newest gadget, and you can tell what the treasures are because where your treasure is, is where your heart is. It's what delights you; it's what stimulates you and brings you contentment and excitement. It drives you to obtain these things. It even comes to the place of compulsion, that a man would sell everything that he has to obtain that pearl of great price.

So the gospel, then, and the lordship of Jesus is to be that motivation in our lives. We begin to see whether or not the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of things are entering in and choking the Word of God out of our lives because we've lost the joy, we've lost the excitement, we've lost the contentment. Oh, we have all the same doctrine; we can say the same words. We say that we really don't trust in it, we really don't need more, but everything points the opposite direction. Then we've deceived ourselves.

The thing that I've found over the years is that God, in His mercy, will always give us an opportunity to make decisions in this area. He'll cause us to have to climb Mount Moriah. He'll cause us to be able to enter the Garden of Gethsemane. You'll take the promise and lay it upon the altar. You'll pray, "...not my will, but thine be done" with strong crying, but He'll give you the grace to come to that resolve. The Lord is merciful, but He won't have any other gods before Him.

Prayer, then, tragically is used by so many people to try to better ourselves in life and, as we said yesterday and this morning, in the immediate circumstances to put us into a place of ease when God is wanting to move you into a place of reliance and trust, of dependence. We pray that we might be back in control, and God wants us to be in total trust. You see, if you listen to most of your prayers, your prayers are asking to get your life back under control. "I want to get back in control! I want to have this thing back on course to where I'm at ease. I want to be cruising--cruise control, one arm, other arm free, CD, rapture-roof," whatever it might be, and just cruising. Jesus speaks to us and He says, "Search your own heart in prayer and ask yourself what your treasures really are."

Verse 24, "No man can serve two masters." You see, prayer really begins to reveal whether we're trying to serve two masters or not. Check out your prayer life, and it'll reveal whether or not you're trying to serve two masters. Now I don't want to get too far off course here, but it's amazing just to listen to some people pray, and they want to pray blessings upon heathens. "Oh Lord, bless heathen Grandma, Uncle, Aunt, George, Millie, whoever." You begin to see that your natural blood's too much of an idol in your life and that those aren't the things we're to be praying for. And really, don't you believe that God's not willing that any should perish? We don't pray for them to be blessed and have their life easier. We pray for them to be converted and to be born again. "Lord, if these circumstances are the things that are going to bring them to the knowledge of Your lordship, put more pressure on them! Lord, I want them saved. Jesus, show Yourself to them, in the midst of this adversity, as the way of escape--not necessarily from the circumstances, but from the evil hearts that hate You and defy You in this time of their need."

Do we always pray accurately when natural family and friends seem to be in trouble? Listen to how you pray, and find out if you're trying to serve two masters. Are you praying and asking--you know, it's no different from praying, "Lord, let us win this basketball game." God doesn't care who wins the basketball game! He's not in the basketball business--can't afford it. You begin to see that when you're looking at these particular things, what are we praying? Are we serving two masters? Are we wanting God to come down and bless our secular ventures and to bless our secular friends and to bless whatever it is? We're wanting God to be this good fairy that comes down and just blesses everything. We've got to understand that that's not contentment. It's not a life that really believes that God's ordering the steps of every individual and doing the things that are best for them to bring them to the knowledge of Himself and to glorify the name of Jesus and to show Himself strong in the midst of adversity.

You can't serve two masters; you're incapable. It's impossible to serve God and mammon. "Mammon" just talks about the natural realm. It talks about abundance, stuff--not just finances but, as we said, family and possessions and projects. So how do we deal with this? Because every one of us is confronted with this; we all face this. Every one of us is tempted in these areas. Now, you can't serve both; it's impossible for a man to love both and to serve. "Therefore I say unto you, [here's the answer] Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on." And then He gives the great illustration in verse 26 and says, "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns [squirrels kind of do, but...]; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. [Say the next phrase with me] Are ye not much better than they?"

See, this begins to come down to the real issue. Do you really believe that God cares? Do you believe that God's aware, that His eyes are searching to and fro, and He's looking for those people that He can show Himself mighty, the Scripture says, on their behalf? Do you really believe that not one sparrow falls and that the hairs of your head are numbered? Do you really believe tonight that God can call your name? How many of you believe that He even has a pet name for you that nobody else knows? "Bubba." Nah, too many people answer to that thing!

And you realize, then, that in all of life's pressures and all that we're surrounded by that seemingly is so important, it's all temporal, beloved. You brought nothing in; you're taking nothing out. Prayer is that ability to enter His presence and be rich with His presence and His grace and His peace. And in that time of prayer, when you've touched the heart of God, when you've touched the face of God in prayer, beloved, it doesn't matter. The wind and the waves, the lion's roaring, or whatever else the circumstances are--you're at perfect peace. Nobody can buy you, and nobody can scare you.

"Are ye not much better than they? [What are you going to do about it even if you decided to try something?] Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?" Now, we all know that we can add to our stature in breadth, but not in height! But by taking thought, there's nothing you can do! Now, we know when you get older, you get shorter. What is that? I'm convinced that if you live long enough and you're a man, that your ear lobes would drag the ground and you'd have prostate cancer! They say that if a man lives old enough, he'll get it. Everybody will get it if you live long enough, so that's something to look forward to! But your ears start getting bigger and your features. Then hair grows out of them and stuff that didn't used to happen, and it's weird stuff that begins to happen. But you can't add to your stature. People hang upside down trying to stretch out. As soon as you stand up, there you are--gravity. What are you going to do about it?

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." We talked about this a few months back. We see that "if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" "Hummm. You mean discontentment is little faith?" Yes, that's what it's all about. If I'm concerned about my wardrobe here and that I need to do something to add to this, I'm not content. Styles have changed. How many of you think that in your lifetime, you've thrown away a thousand pieces of clothing? Let me see your hands. You've given them to Salvation Army, you've--let me see your hands. Yeah, probably more of you than that; you just didn't count. I can think of times over the years--you just get stuff, and at first you put it in a bag because you may need it sometime. And then the bags take over the basement. So then you think the white house may need it. But it's there in case! You've brought up enough here to last you for a lifetime! You can't wear that stuff out!

Oh ye of little faith. Does God care or doesn't He? He said He's going to feed us. He said He's going to clothe us. "And having food and raiment let us be therewith content" (I Timothy 6:8). So how much should we really pray for in that area? How much time should be spent in stuff? Isn't prayer really about seeing souls saved and seeing our lives conformed to the image of Jesus? Isn't that what prayer is all about? It's not necessarily about us prospering, getting ahead. God knows what we have need of and has promised us exceeding abundant.

"Therefore [verse 31], take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles [the heathen, the world] seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things." One of the verses that we've--you know, there are certain verses that you just live your life off of, and this is one of them that for all of these years, we've tried to live our life off of: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness..." Things have never determined any decisions we've ever made in the Kingdom of God. And because of that, it's been easy to fulfill other Scriptures.

We've had people in here over the years actually get upset with us that we treat rich people just like we treat poor people. You see, rich people think they ought to get preferential treatment. The reason we don't have respect of persons and it doesn't manifest is because we seek first the Kingdom of God. All this other stuff has nothing to do with an individual's worth or even ability. It's not all the smart guys that are getting ahead. I mean, you can be an idiot and hit the lotto! We have the wrong perception because of the world's influence. The Spirit of God says to us here very clearly: seek the kingdom, His righteousness, and all the things that are necessary in life will be added. "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

Don't worry; don't worry about the circumstances. Just deal with today's issues, seeking the Kingdom, taking no thought. We don't have any guarantees that we're going to wake up tomorrow, and yet people have missed eternal privileges because of worry of things that won't even happen. "Be careful [anxious] for nothing [the Scripture says]; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Pray without fear, pray without the anxiety aspect, but in thanksgiving, rejoicing in the goodness of God, let your requests be made known.

So we look at these principles that the Lord's taught us. Then we go over to Timothy 6, that passage that we're familiar with that the apostle speaks concerning this contentment factor, and see that he's taking the statements of the Lord here in this teaching and amplifying them into the church. In the 5th chapter of I Timothy, he's ending that up by talking about elders and the double honor and not muzzling the ox that treads out the corn and all of these different things. He's dealing with natural issues, and he's saying these are the Levitical laws that are to be followed, and this is God's purpose in remuneration, etc., all these different things, and that's what you're to trust in. And then he talks about--to the same man of God, over in the next chapter--about making sure that, in his having receiving double honor in these different areas, he doesn't fall in love with money because Ecclesiastes says that he that loves money will never be satisfied with money. It's impossible to satisfy lust; you can't serve two masters. So be careful that there aren't those that come into your midst that begin to promote a false doctrine that says gain is godliness. From such, he says, turn away here.

We realize then that people are very susceptible to this doctrine--that God somehow has an investment plan. Of course, we know the perversion that went on through teaching of the last few decades in this area--none probably worse than Fred Price. Some of the false doctrine that he's propagated in recent years to prop this doctrine up is nauseating. It's this spirit that Paul says to run from in verse 5: those "supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself." But in fact, just the opposite is truth. "But godliness with [say it] contentment is great gain."

I mentioned something to the men in breakfast yesterday morning about this. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Godliness is contentment. You can't be godly and not be content. And I don't believe that you can be biblically content without seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, without making righteousness the real treasure of your heart that Jesus spoke of. Because where your treasure is, that's where your heart's going to be. So many of us need to learn our own hearts. We think it's God, but it's really that individual we're interested in. We'll leave prayer early so we can by chance run into them in the foyer and get that opportunity to glimpse them or speak to them. It's that house, it's that car, it's the clothes, it's the games, it's the--whatever it might be.

Does the presence of God bring you total satisfaction? We come in and out of prayer so many times on a weekly basis. Do you come into His presence? Does your mind get quiet enough to where you can be refreshed to where you don't need to get home for the nap, to do whatever it is that causes you to unwind, to do whatever it is that brings you a little bit of satisfaction, because "I'm always serving the system, and I'm having to work, and this is the one little thing that I like that brings me pleasure"? Does God satisfy beyond that? That's what prayer is all about. That's what godliness with contentment is all about; it's great gain. "Come on out and play!" "I'm already satisfied."

This is what the apostle speaks toward, and yet none of these other things--a lot of these things we're talking about--they're not bad, and there's a time and a place for them. But what do you really derive in your prayer life from the presence of God? Can you get up more refreshed from thirty minutes of God's presence than eight hours of sleep? Rejuvenated! Oh, how many times have you come in so weary, unable to put two thoughts together, your mind racing in so many different directions, physically exhausted, and God's presence infuses your being, and in fifteen minutes you're ready to go again? Do you all know what I'm talking about? That's how I live; I couldn't live without it. I don't know how anybody could exist without that infusion, the presence of God.

"For we brought nothing into this world," he goes on to say in verse 7, "and it is certain you can carry nothing out." People have sure tried every way possible. You're not taking anything out; it's all going to burn. And so because of that, "having food and raiment let us be therefore [say it with me again] content." Now, what is this contentment? Does it mean, "Okay, got a biscuit, worn-out pair of Levi's and a T-shirt; that's all a man needs. Anything more than that's sin!"? There are some people that take that on as a doctrine. That's not what the Scripture is saying here. But it's saying that we're to be content and that we don't fall into the false doctrine that gain is somehow godliness or that the more you have shows the more of the pleasure of God, the blessing of God, how spiritual we are, etc., but in fact, just the opposite--the fact that a man can be as satisfied with the biscuit and the one pair of Levi's, that he's living in a life realization that everything else is temporal. But that spirit that wants to be rich--now we're talking about finances, increase in the things.

We just got a new microwave for Christmas. They've heard the stories about our microwave so long they bought us a microwave. I'm going to start now on a Mercedes! I have to laugh because you go back and you could relate it to whatever it is. A microwave, what about--I'm getting sick of cell phones! It's ridiculous! You're walking through the airport--ring, ding, zing! Everybody's ringing--everybody! They're ringing or talking. What did they do before these things? What's this all about? What's so important today that wasn't important before these things got invented? How did we live before the cell phone? How many of you know that credit cards began in the Fifties and not with Nimrod? And everything that the spirit of Antichrist is introducing into this world to take your mind from the only thing that can bring you peace, all that is now so important, that takes time, and has to be handled immediately, that we can't be still and know that He's God!

We're driven, and it has to be multi (whatever the functions are), to where it has to be sight and sound and smell and five things happening. I hate these commercials that you can't see what's--these things are flashing. I want to see something! Don't throw all that stuff at me! I can pause long enough and enjoy that tree! They've got to give you this weird angle and fire it across the screen and all of this kind of stuff, and it makes me tired! I want to slow down, you move too fast. You got to make the moment last. Just walkin' down the cobblestone, feelin' groovy. (Adaptation of song Feelin' Groovy by Simon and Garfunkel.) See we thought it was bad in the Sixties and Seventies, and look what it's turned out to be! We thought it was nuts then, and we've lived long enough to see that it's only the introduction!

I shared with our men on Saturday: beloved, we've got another generation that we're raising up. What are we teaching them? Are we teaching them how to trust God and to be still and to be at peace and not to be seduced by all of these things that are the by-products of the spirit of Antichrist? Cell phones aren't bad; microwaves aren't bad. I'm talking about the seduction that takes place in our minds and our souls that we're not even aware of and all of these things that are being placed into our minds that we think we have to have. And the Scripture says, "godliness with contentment is great gain." Are you content? Does God satisfy you? Is He sufficient for your children? Do your kids know how to be still and commune with God, the only eternal source of our needs? All these other things are temporal; they're going to pass.

"O, man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life..." (verse 12). And so the Lord speaks to us concerning this fight against discontentment. We're such easy prey for the seduction of things. It's so natural--the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life--she perceived that it was good. It's the source of the original sin. You and I are the by-products of sin. We were born in sin; we're depraved in our members. We are easy prey for all of these things, and so you have to watch and pray that you don't enter into temptation. You have to guard your heart against what the Scripture spoke to us earlier concerning all of the different cares and the awareness that you can't serve God and mammon; you can't serve two masters.

Contentment. The biblical definition of contentment is nothing less than: God is sufficient. When God isn't sufficient, then we have to add to it something else to make me happy, feel better, feel safer, feel better about my self-image. So as we get ready to end for tonight, we have to ask you that question: "Are ye not much better than they?" Do you really know that God is aware of what you have need of? Is the evil of this day sufficient, or are you caught up in all the worries of tomorrow? I'm not talking about the practical wisdom of saving and storing up. God, on numerous occasions, has told us that that's wisdom. We're not talking about industry ("Go to the ant, thou sluggard"); we know that there needs to be industry. We know that there has to be the sowing process. But what are we trusting in? Are we content with the sufficiency of God to recognize our gifts, to recognize where He's placed us, and then in some of our cases even to recognize, "I could go on and do far above in the world's system. I could receive far greater recognition and benefits than it appears God wants me to have in His kingdom"?

As we end in the contentment factor, there's an interesting passage in Proverbs 15. "Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith." Do you have that today--the "better"? You don't have to turn; we're not going to spend a lot of time there. Do you have the better, the peace, the satisfaction that little is better with the fear of God? I'd rather be where I am, knowing that God's placed me here and that I'm going to hear, "Well done," than to have all the treasures that the world's system promises. Godliness with contentment is great gain.

Father, we thank You for the Word of God. We just ask that You would cause us to realize that prayer is that opportunity to come and infuse ourselves with Your presence that we might be content. That in itself is the watching and praying against all of the solicitations of the evil one that creates the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

Every one of us has it in our members; we all want to be on top. We want to have the most, the best. We want to be at peace. We want to be strong. We want to be successful. I'm not saying that in yourself you think, "I have to be the richest guy in the world [you'd settle for probably top ten], the strongest [no, you'd settle for top ten], famous [top ten]. I mean, I'm not so proud that I think I should be number one. Top ten-top ten percent!" Are you content? Your flesh will never be satisfied.

We come to prayer to be infused with His presence. We recognize His sufficiency. We recognize His promises and that we're much better than all of the other creation that He provides for. Gravity still works every day; God's the source. It holds the solar system in place; therefore, we say the sun rises every morning. God's the source of that. The tides are affected by the lunar presence, and God's the source of that. The distance from our sun as it stays constant and the canopy of our atmosphere that brings oxygen and supplies to us the water. It sustains our life, and God's the source of that. He provides for all of the fowl, and He clothes the fields. "Are ye not much better than they?" Not a sparrow falls that He's not aware of it. Are you not much better? When you leave His presence, are you satisfied? Is He sufficient? What is it that you feel has to be added to that to make you content, to make you a success, to give you security? Prayer accesses that infusion, and you walk away satisfied. And for that we say thank You, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let's stand before the Lord. As Gary plays for us, let's just rest in His presence and rejoice in the great promises that God's given us. How far is the world's system going to go? What greater technologies are ahead? How much more abundance is going to be lavished upon us before the collapse? I don't know. It's not for us to know or to find out, but it is for us to raise a godly seed in the midst of it. It is up to us to raise a generation that trusts in God and not in man who's doing all of the genetic engineering. Oh, beloved, when they can engineer and create limbs and organs, we need to have a people that trust God. As they do work with the aging genes, and they find the source and cure Alzheimer's, MD (Muscular Dystrophy), and many of the other areas, we need a people that believe in the name of Jesus that causes the lame to walk and the blind to see. It's not about more stuff; it's about the presence of God. It's about Him being our sufficiency.

Let's sing it together and worship Him. "In Thy presence..." Oh, Hallelujah! Just thank Him for His presence in your life. Just take a moment and thank Him for all that He's provided you with. The great opportunity to access the presence of God. Oh, we're so thankful, Father, for that bold access through the blood of Jesus. Lord, we're thankful for the Word of God that's a lamp unto our feet, that orders our paths into that ever-open door. We thank You, Lord, that You've gone before us and You've made a way, that Your glory is our rear guard. We thank You, Lord, for the preservation of our lives and the great high tower that we run to and are safe. Oh, Lord, cause us always to come and obtain help and favor in the time of need. For that, we give You the praise, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "Be content." Amen. Go in peace; God's love go with you.

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