Inflation. Who here is concerned about inflation? I think everybody's concerned about it. Anybody that's gotten filled up with fuel and gasoline in the last few weeks is concerned about inflation. Or maybe you looked at your grocery bill, you're concerned about inflation. And I am concerned about inflation as well, but just not the inflation that you're thinking of. I am not concerned primarily with the gas pump or grocery bill inflation, but rather a different inflation that may be killing you without you realizing it. And in fact, I think, I don't think this is an overstatement to say, I am concerned that this type of inflation is killing the American church in its kingdom work.
And the phenomenon is what economists and behavioral psychologists call lifestyle inflation. The economic phenomenon that as you make more money, you don't feel richer. Like you're making more money. It has been well documented that as your income goes up, your expenses often slowly creep up alongside your income without you ever realizing it. So maybe the shampoo you get is a little bit nicer, right? Maybe the car, the next car you buy is a little bit nicer. Maybe the home you consider is a little bit larger. Maybe your family trip is a little bit better. And Goldman Sachs studied this last year in a survey. They, they found a bizarre phenomenon when they asked how many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Now, what I expected to find is that as your income grows, the percentage of people living quote unquote paycheck to paycheck or describing their life that way, as you, your income goes up, your paycheck to paycheck score should go down. Right? I mean, wouldn't that make sense? It would make sense, right? But it was not the case. In fact, when people go from making, say, $50,000 to $100,000 a year, and then you measure people making $500,000 a year, the people making $500,000 a year, a greater percentage of them describe themselves as living paycheck to paycheck. In fact, 41% of people making $300,000 to $500,000 a year say that they are living paycheck to paycheck. And I guarantee that all of those people, when they were making 50 grand or 100 grand, they all thought, if I just made more money, I would finally be free and everything would be good and I wouldn't be living paycheck to paycheck, right? And that's exactly what happens.
Now, this is, I think, the core question when it comes to lifestyle inflation. How much is enough? Right, that's the thing. Everybody, the reason lifestyle inflation happens is everyone is answering the question, How much is enough? And the answer is always just a little bit more, right? Or you could say a little more than I have right now, right? As much as they have, that's how much is enough. And in the end, I'll argue that Christians being unable to answer and have a biblical answer to the question, how much is enough? It will end up wreaking havoc in our lives and on the kingdom. In the end, if we don't answer this well, it neutralizes Christians. It wastes kingdom resources. It gives you terrible life and career advice, and it impairs your stewardship. But if you have a biblical answer to the question of how much is enough, you're gonna be set up for a life of joy, peace, fulfillment, and kingdom impact.
So we're gonna look at this in 2 sections today. The first one is always enough. Paul says he, what he has is enough. Is always enough. And wouldn't you like to know, man, I would like to be there. I'd like to be where Paul is.
Look at verse 6, but godliness with contentment is great gain. Godliness with contentment is great gain.
Now Paul is giving us in shorthand what he explains in great detail in Philippians chapter 4, where writing to the Philippians, Paul says, not that I am speaking of being in need, For I have learned, and by the way, this is the context for this is he's in jail, okay? So you think, well, Paul, you know, his income, his 401k didn't perform as well this year as last year. That's not where Paul is. He's in jail, okay? So read this as a guy in jail. Not that I am speaking of being in need, written in a jail cell. For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. Content. For I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound. And in any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Christ, through him who strengthens me. Do you see how it informs that sentence then? But godliness, With contentment is great gain.
6 · Alcantar contrasts the world's contentment formula ('what I have + more = contentment') with Paul's ('anything or nothing + the Lord = contentment')
Now, in the background is this formula Paul has essentially, because the world's formula is, okay, whatever I have plus a little bit more equals contentment, right? Isn't that the world's formula? It's like, whatever you have, even if you have a half million dollars, some of you are sitting here thinking, well, if I had a half million, I would definitely be content. That's what everybody thought. Until they got there. And then they think, well, if I had a million though, right? That's where everyone is. The formula of the world is whatever I have plus more equals contentment. Paul's is this, anything or even nothing plus the Lord equals contentment. Anything plus Christ is contentment. Meaning a little bit more is enough to the world, but just Christ is enough for the Christian. That's what the scriptures say. Jeremiah Burroughs has this beautiful book, a little paperback that you can get it in, called The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. And doesn't the title just bless you? You're like, I would like the rare jewel of Christian contentment, but it is rare. And so his contentment definition, I think, is informative. He says, Contentment is that sweet inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit or heart, we could say, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition. It's that sweet inward heart posture that submits to the Lord and delights in the Lord in no matter what situation he's got. Whether you've got $500, $100,000, $50,000, $5, whatever it is, Paul says, I have learned to be content.
7 · Alcantar exposits Psalm 4:7 to illustrate the psalmist's experience of contentment: possessing greater joy in God than the world possesses in abundance of material goods
The psalmist, I think, says this so well in Psalms 4:7. He says this, you have put more joy in my heart than they have out there in the world when their grain and wine abound. Do you see the comparison? He's saying they have grain, they have wine, they have properties, they have stuff, but I have the joy. They have the stuff, but no joy. I have none of the stuff and all of the joy. Do you see how stark this is? That's what Christian contentment is.
8 · Alcantar exposits 1 Timothy 6:7 and Ecclesiastes 5:10, establishing that wealth is 'vapor' (Hebrew: hebel)—impossible to grasp or retain
And notice then his logic. He argues this for, or because, godliness and contentment is great gain because we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world. Look, he essentially points us back to the vaporous nature of wealth and riches. Ecclesiastes, which we covered this summer, says this in chapter 5, verse 10, he who loves money will be satisfied with just a little more. No, that's not what it says. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income, this also is vanity. Now remember, the word vanity there literally means a breath or a wisp of smoke, meaning as soon as you try to grasp it or hold onto it, it just floats away. That is what looking to more money, more wealth, more stuff is like. You try to grab it and it's like, if you've ever seen a kid, that you spray some, you know, like a water bottle in front of them and they're like, they just don't understand how is it not there? You know, or my favorite was the humidifier. Does anybody have a kid with a humidifier? The kids are fascinated with the humidifier. They're like, what? They'll just keep doing it. At least my kids, maybe that's an us thing, but they're just like trying to grab the mist. That's what Ecclesiastes says it is like to desire riches and try to grasp them.
9 · Alcantar drives home the mortality argument with a pastoral joke about U-Hauls and hearses, then exposits 1 Timothy 6:17-19 to apply the doctrine specifically to the wealthy
And his point is, look, you didn't arrive with anything and you're not leaving with anything, right? The old pastor joke is nobody sees a U-Haul being pulled by a hearse on the way to the graveyard, right? There's nobody who's like, make sure you bring all my stuff. They're dead. They're not bringing anything into the next life, right? That prized possession, not gonna be there. That collection, not gonna be there. All those stocks and bonds, not gonna be there. You're not bringing any of it. That's why in 1 Timothy 6:17, the rich have a warning. As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, meaning the vaporousness of riches, but on God who provides, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich, rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, meaning eternity, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
10 · Alcantar articulates the fundamental directional difference between worldly and Christian contentment: the world attempts to import contentment from external possessions inward, while Christian contentment flows from the heart outward
So here's what Paul's doing. He's saying the world thinks one way, but Christians think a completely different way about contentment. For the world, The stuff we have creates the contentment in our hearts. The stuff out there creates the contentment in here. But Paul says it never works. It's like trying to grasp it and bring it in, grasp it and bring it in, it doesn't work. Instead, contentment wells up in the heart of the Christian and then flows outward in the way that we handle everything else. Do you see the difference?
11 · Alcantar exposits 1 Timothy 6:8, establishing Paul's minimum threshold for contentment: food and clothing
So Paul then concludes with an inventory in verse 8, 'cause you might be thinking, okay, well, Paul doesn't, I obviously have a mortgage, I have expenses, I've got property taxes, they just went up again. I've got this and school uniforms. And so, so Paul, what is the minimum? What's the minimum? Verse 8, but if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. He says, I'm gonna give you real practically some advice. If you clear this bar, you can be content. Okay? Did you eat anything yesterday? And are you wearing human clothing today? Great job. You can practice contentment. That's what Paul is doing. He's saying you have the raw material for contentment. Now, the challenge for that is we're tempted to argue with Paul, aren't we? We're tempted to say, well, Paul, what about this? And what about that? And what about this? Well, let me refer you back to history for an example here. Our version of the quote unquote American dream is a post-World War II phenomenon. Okay. So post-World War II, the war ends, everybody comes back and kind of restarts life. And the vision of life held out for many Americans was what's called lovingly the American dream, right? Small house, white picket fence, 2 kids, 1 dog, that kind of thing. So financially, what did everybody think post-World War II they needed to achieve to be happy? Well, I looked it up. This is what the American dream was at that era. Number 1, a place to live, usually about 1,000 square feet big, right? So a lot of these post-World War II homes are about 1,000 square feet or 1,200 square feet, something like that. And if you're in an apartment and it's like 900, you're almost there. You're almost there, just 100. You just need a patio, then you can get to the American dream, right? Now for all of us, Many of us just went, that seems small. Don't we? Right? That, well, that was the first part of the American dream. Second, one automobile to drive. Right? And you're thinking like, one? You don't know how many kids I have. You don't know how many teenagers I have. No, one automobile. That was the American dream. And travel goals consisted of being able to drive on the great highways of America down Route 66. If you can do that, great, you're already ahead of things. You know what, some real practical things people wanted, their dream was to have an automatic dishwasher and an automatic clothes washer, right? So if you have access somewhere to an automatic dishwasher and an automatic clothes washer, everybody in 1940 is like, that's awesome, awesome, love it. Dryer? Whoa, let's not even get— they weren't even thinking about dryers, okay? And you know what they thought of was the end-all for entertainment? A good radio. I mean, just a good radio that you could sit there with the family and listen to the, you know, the Lone Ranger or whatever. And if you were like, man, I'm really gonna dream big, I'm gonna own a television someday. Right, if you own a television, they'd be like, oh, look at moneybags over here with the RCA. And do you know what wasn't even on the American dream list? Air conditioning. Like those of us who were like, we have to have air conditioning, everybody in 1940 is like, what's air conditioning? Right, that's the reality. So the reason I say that is to illustrate how, quickly the bar with which we will be content tends to move. Because here is the reality, guys. If it was possible by fulfilling the American dream for you to be happy, America would be full of the happiest people on the face of the planet. If wealth was what it took to make people happy, America would be the happiest nation in world history. But is everybody around you happy? No way. What do they want? Just one more thing, right? That's where we are. And I love that Ecclesiastes 3 takes us back to the same thing, right? And remember Ecclesiastes written by a man with almost unlimited wealth, unlimited power, unlimited, you know, he could have his pick of all the women the most beautiful people in the kingdom, and he could, he could do whatever he wanted, have whatever he wanted, buy whatever he wanted. Do you know what his conclusion is after all that? Ecclesiastes 3:12 says, I perceive that there is nothing better than to be joyful and to do good as long as you live, and that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil. And this is God's gift to man. This guy's gone all the way down the road, all the way down the millionaire billionaire route. And he is saying, it's not down here. You never get to the place where enough possessions equals contentment. Contentment has to come to you outside of your possessions. And there is where we get referred to the beginning. Godliness with contentment is gain. For the Christian, the way we think about contentment is not maybe someday when I achieve enough or have enough, it is, Something grace gifted to you by your relationship with God himself.
12 · Alcantar enumerates four concrete implications of biblical contentment: freedom from financial worry, unleashing of kingdom resources, wisdom in career decisions, and empowerment for stewardship
Now, some implications. What does contentment do? Number one, it frees Christians from worry. Now, I don't mean like it frees you from ever having to think or financially plan, but consider for a second, friend, how much of your worry is financial and not just like, okay, I need a plan, it's worry. It's what about, what if, what if this, what if that, what if, what about, what about, what if. Why is that? Because we're living the lie that if we just have enough or hold on to enough, then we'll be content. It frees us from that. Second, it unleashes kingdom money. Meaning, can you imagine the effect that would happen in the kingdom of God if Christians all around the world, but especially in America, were open-handed about all the things God has given us? What we could do, what the church of Jesus Christ across the world could do. It unleashes kingdom money for us to open our hands up. Third, contentment always gives you great career advice because think about how many career decisions and poor career decisions are driven by, but I have to achieve this standard of living or I have to keep this standard of living, right? You're not thinking anymore, what does God want me to do in my career? You're thinking, How do I have a little bit more? Or how do I hold on to what I have, right? That's terrible career advice. Fourth, contentment empowers you to be a wise steward, right? Meaning you have these things God has given you for this brief moment before eternity. And when you don't need them to fulfill you, you can finally manage them in a way that honors God. Does all those things.
13 · Structural pivot from the 'always enough' section into the 'never enough' section, contrasting Paul's Christ-centered contentment with the world's insatiable craving
Now, that's the good side, always enough. Paul, even in a jail cell, says Christ is always enough. But second, you find a worldview that says it's never enough, never enough.
14 · Alcantar exposits 1 Timothy 6:9, emphasizing that the danger is not possessing wealth but desiring more than one has—a craving that afflicts all income levels equally
Look at verse 9, but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation. Now, the phrasing of it is a little interesting. Notice that it says those who desire a particular income, It's those who desire more than they have fall into temptation. So think about it. It's possible to have $100,000 and desire to have more, isn't it? But is it possible to have $1 million and desire to have more? Is it possible to have $10 million and desire to have more? Right, does it ever end? It never ends. Ever does. Those who desire that, that crave that, that long for that, they never actually have enough.
15 · Alcantar illustrates the 'never enough' mindset through P
One of my favorite films is the film The Greatest Showman, a fictionalized version of P.T. Barnum, the circus guy's life. Has anybody seen Greatest Showman? Oh, that's awesome. Good job, Cross of Grace. I got so much more faith now for our future seeing, seeing the good showing there. But if you haven't seen it, It's P.T. Barnum and he starts from nothing. And he sings this song at the beginning of the movie about like, one day we're gonna have more and I'm gonna provide for my family and we're gonna make it in the world. And then by the middle of the movie, he's done it, right? He's started the circus, right? A particular kind of circus. He's made money, he's got notoriety, everyone's coming. And you think, oh, that's where the movie ends. He's just satisfied. Anybody seen the movie is like, mm-mm. No, he's not satisfied. He goes, no, I need more respect. I need more notoriety. I want the fancy people to like me. I need to make more money. I need to achieve this thing. And he grasps and grasps and grasps. And there's this great scene where it's intercut. His desire for more, his longing for more is cut against this song a woman is singing. And the refrain is, it's never enough, never enough, never enough. And you're looking at Barnum and you're going, this guy, unbelievable, unbelievable. But here's what happens. The movie ends and your streaming service starts something else. And then you see an ad for Zillow and you're like, hmm, maybe we wouldn't fight as much in that house, right? Or, Or you see an ad, you know, for a new car, a new Toyota, and you're like, I would be a more rugged, adventurous man in that vehicle. Maybe then it would be enough, right? Or look, even down to the— look down to Uber Eats. If I could just order exactly what I wanted to eat right now, then it would be enough, right? And you think, right, the people that were going, P.T. Barnum's got a problem. He's never satisfied. 20 minutes later have the same problem, don't we?
16 · Alcantar exposits the mechanics of 1 Timothy 6:9, depicting the desire for riches as a snare that initiates a gradual but accelerating slide into destruction
And Paul is warning us and saying, those who are craving more, more, it's never enough. It's never enough. And notice the slide then that takes place. They fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. You get this picture that these people are caught almost in a snare, right? They're walking and then all of a sudden, you know, something grabs them and they start to slide. And at first it doesn't seem as bad, it doesn't seem too bad, but they start to slide a little bit and they're like, I can stop the slide anytime I want, I'm fine. They start sliding and then boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And all of a sudden you're dashed on the rocks at the bottom of the crevice. That is the picture Paul has. It may seem small, it may seem not a big deal, but it will lead you into destruction.
17 · Alcantar confronts the American cultural assumption that desiring wealth is neutral or even virtuous, asserting Paul's counterclaim: the desire for riches is insidious and deadly
And here is the point, desire for wealth, desire for more, that endless craving for the next thing, it seems, especially in America, at worst, a neutral thing. Some people would say that's actually good, but at worst, it's neutral. You know, you can want a better car, better house, but you know, it's not a big deal. I don't know why anybody's in my business about it. But Paul is saying it is insidious. The desire for riches is not neutral, it is deadly. It will lead you into a senseless slide to pain and destruction.
18 · Alcantar introduces John Trapp's vivid description of the torment of those who crave wealth: three vultures (care in getting, fear in keeping, grief in spending) perpetually feeding on the heart, placing them 'in hell ahead of time
Now, John Trapp, who is one of the commentators, the old commentators on this text, drops a quote on me this week that a lot of times I'm going through a lot of material quickly, for my sermon, you know, I'm looking, okay, here, here, here, okay, great, great, great. But every once in a while, there's a quote that you read and you go, whew, I'm gonna need to walk around for a minute now. It just feels like a punch. So I'd love to share it with you. John Trapp says this, those who will be rich, sorry, those who will be rich, meaning are willing themselves to be rich, take no more rest than one upon a rack or bed of thorns. When they grasp earthly things most greedily, they embrace nothing but smoke, which wrings tears from their eyes and vanishes into nothing. And they have 3 vultures always feeding on their heart, 1, care in getting. 2, fear in keeping. And 3, grief in spending and parting with what they have. Now think about that for a second. You have these 3 cares constantly tearing at your heart. I want more, I want more. But then what happens? You get it and you're going, I gotta keep it, I gotta keep it, I gotta hold onto it. And then you're going, what if I have to spend it? I had to spend it. I had to spend it. And it's just constant, constant, constant. And Trapp ends with this. So people in such a state are in hell ahead of time. Whew. That's why I had to get up. That's why I had to walk around. I thought, man, oh my goodness. It turns everything. It feels like it's turning everything upside down, but actually, friends, it's turning everything right side up. That never enough mindset only leads to loss and pain and sorrow.
19 · Alcantar exposits 1 Timothy 6:10, correcting the common misquotation ('money is the root of all evil') and emphasizing that the love of money—the craving, the idolatry—is the danger
And Paul concludes in verse 10, for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. Now, this verse is often misquoted. Have you guys heard this misquoted? Right, it's often that money is the root of all evil. You guys heard that at times? That's actually not what the text says. It is the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evils. Meaning it's the craving. It's not as though, you know, a $20 bill, if I hold it out, it will like voodoo hypnotize you, just, you know, or, you know, if you own a stock portfolio, all of a sudden you're gonna become evil, like, you know, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Like, that's not what this is. It's the craving. It's the never enoughness. It is, biblically it would be the category of idolatry. Treating something as if it were God in your life. I'm gonna obey this, I'm gonna sacrifice for this, I'm gonna look to this for my satisfaction and hope and peace and fulfillment. That craving, Paul says, is a root of all kinds of evil.
20 · Alcantar illustrates the destructive power of the love of money with a pastoral observation: families united in grief at a funeral splinter immediately upon reading the will
Now look, one of the most tragic illustrations we often run into as pastors is something that, that I've seen happen more times than I wanna admit. And it is this, that at the funeral, we're walking somebody through a funeral, they're grieving the loss of a loved one, we're involved on some level, maybe, you know, it's their parent or someone else close to them that they've lost. And so at the funeral, everybody comes together, don't they? I mean, people that haven't spoken to each other in years, that they're all of a sudden embracing and they're, They're bonding over this shared loss and caring for one another. And one of the tragic realities is often that lasts right up until the point someone reads the will. Because all of a sudden everybody's in the room and everybody begins to think, why do they get X? Why don't I get more? Why do they get to take And all of a sudden it just splinters. Now, you know, you can act as a Christian godly in that way. And we've walked people through that, but it happened not just once, not just twice. I remember thinking, this must be a strange family. 'Cause, you know, they all turned on each other. Friends, it happens over and over and over again. And this is exactly what Paul is saying. That craving, that love will take even the most beautiful, precious moment of grief and loss and turn it into all kinds of evil. Beware, Paul says, and he issues one final stark warning, it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
21 · Alcantar exposits 1 Timothy 6:10b, warning that the craving for wealth can lead to apostasy not through a single dramatic choice but through incremental compromises over a lifetime
it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. Now, this should sober us because you and I are probably thinking, okay, I'm not tempted You know, if somebody gave me a choice today, do you want $1 million or Jesus? I could easily be like, I want Jesus, right? We imagine ourselves responding with faith in that moment. But what if it happens slowly, gradually over the course of a lifetime? This decision, that decision, money or Jesus, you pick money. This decision, money or Jesus, you pick money. Money, just over more. I need more. I need to have that. I can't find what I'm looking for in Jesus. I need this as well. And in the end, Jesus says, no man can serve 2 masters. You'll either serve God or you'll serve something else. You'll serve money. You'll serve that craving. And there are many stark, sobering examples in the Scriptures, perhaps none more clear than Judas himself. You and I would probably say we would never, if we had spent 3 years from Jesus, Nothing could have induced us to turn away from him, right? But we have the example of a man who for mere silver pieces trades away the Son of God. You see it with Demas, in love with his present world, has left us. You see it over— Paul has seen it over and over and he's saying, watch out.
22 · Alcantar enumerates four destructive consequences of the 'never enough' mindset, mirroring the four positive outcomes of contentment from unit 12
Now, in summary of this section, the never enough mindset does terrible things to us. Number 1, the never enough mindset neutralizes Christians. Right? Think of how many hours of kingdom time and true rest and worthy investment are lost to Christians as they grasp at smoke that will never stay. Second, that never enough mindset wastes kingdom money. There are times where God has given us, entrusted us with something that we're meant to steward and use for his purposes, but rather we take it and use it on ourselves instead, never even Perhaps pausing to consider and pray, how would the Lord want to use it? Third, that never enough mindset gives you terrible career advice, right? And that's probably the main career advisor of America is just, I want more, right? And maybe the Lord is calling you to ask for a promotion or take that promotion. But friends, the love of money should not be the thing driving you there. It should be, okay, for the kingdom, I, and for the call of Christ, I feel led to pursue this. Fourth, it impairs wise stewardship.
23 · Alcantar steps out of the expositional flow to address the congregation directly, confessing his own discomfort with his credit card statement and normalizing the struggle
So with that, then where are we left with? We've seen Paul's always enough mindset. We've seen the world's never enough mindset. And I don't know about you, but I get to the end here and I'm a little like, oh man, I really don't wanna go look at my credit card statement right now. I don't know if it's just me. Maybe you guys are like, yeah, I'm doing it great. I am not always doing it great, guys. And I think these texts are in our Bibles, not to condemn us, but to sober us, especially for us as Americans. We need to honestly look at the way the culture around us thinks about money and craves money as a replacement for God. And we need to live differently as Christians.
24 · Alcantar exposits 2 Corinthians 8:9, presenting Christ's downward movement from riches to poverty as the gospel pattern that both models and enables Christian contentment
And you know how we get there? You know how we get there? We get there with verses like 2 Corinthians 8:9, which gives us the path to get from our culture to where Jesus is, where it says this: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. Right, the way we get from where we are to where we should be is not by going, man, beating ourselves up or trying to do better so God will accept us. It's rather to see the example of Christ and live according to it. Do you see this? Jesus was the richest person in the universe. Though he was rich, Paul said, yet he became poor. For what? For your sake. Right? For your sake and my sake, Jesus gave everything to become a man and then gave everything on the cross so that what? Not so that he could hold on, not so that he could grasp, but rather so that he could give. And in giving, give us the one thing that can truly satisfy. Because do you know the trade that leads to this never enough mindset? The trade was the same trade that humanity's been making since the Garden of Eden. Do you guys remember the Garden of Eden story where God gives all the garden to Adam and Eve except for one tree? And what is— what do Adam and Eve do? They go, this is great, but what about that? This is great, but it's not enough. And here's the tragedy, they did not see that the enough never came from the things of the garden in the first place, they came from from the God of the garden. The enough humanity longs for is only found in God himself, not in the stuff he provides. And so Jesus, by going to the cross, gives us the enough that we have been longing for from the beginning, because the enough we need, the enough we long for, is not found out there, it's found in him, in the Lord. And Jesus, by offering himself, gives of himself that we might finally be fully satisfied and home. And rest in God. Friends, this is the shape of the gospel.
25 · Alcantar synthesizes the sermon's argument: Paul's instruction in 1 Timothy 6 is to remember the gospel and live accordingly
And so what Paul is doing in 2 Timothy is he's basically just saying, guys, remember the gospel and live like it's true. Remember that the greatest need in your life is fulfilled by Christ and not by the stuff around you. Therefore, you can be content in any situation and you can live with an open hand with everything anything and everything the Lord has given you. So go do it that you might unleash a kingdom impact upon the world. Does that make sense?
26 · Alcantar closes by rereading 2 Corinthians 8:9, letting the gospel text have the final word before the congregation stands for prayer and worship
So with that, I will read one more time and then we'll pray. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, Yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. Amen. Would you stand and let's pray and sing.
27 · Closing prayer acknowledging the discomfort of the Word's press while affirming its goodness, praying against both condemnation and self-righteousness, and issuing an evangelistic invitation for those who have not yet found their 'enough' in Christ
Heavenly Father, Lord, your Word lands on us and presses on our lives, in ways that are not always comfortable, but are always good. And I pray, Lord, that we would not take from your word condemnation or self-righteousness, even if we've been doing well, but rather see the trajectory of Jesus that points us to a gospel trajectory related to contentment that the world can never match or offer. And Lord, I pray if there's any who've not placed their faith in Jesus Christ, have not found the enough that they've been looking for, I pray that they would find it today in Jesus' name, amen.