In Philippians chapter 4, the Apostle Paul says, beginning in verse 10, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty in hunger, abundance in need, I can do all things through him who strengthens me." This is the word of the Lord. And you may be seated this morning. Well, as we've seen, contentment is something that everyone seeks, every human being. But true and lasting contentment is elusive in the fallen world we inhabit. It always seems to be just out of reach. We set our sights on something we think will bring contentment only to discover that when it's finally in our grasp, the sensation of contentment is so short-lived. Contentment is as slippery as an eel. I mean, holding onto it is like trying to keep sand from sifting through your fingers. And so whenever that sense of contentment wanes, what do we do? Well, we set our sights on the next promising thing. And there we engage in this endless cycle, this search goes on and on for something to fill that deep longing in our souls. But there is no worldly possession, no earthly achievement, no terrestrial experience that can ever satisfy that longing. and this futile quest that we've talked about for some weeks now. There's a poem by Jason Lehman entitled Present Tense, and I think it captures quite well this problem of perpetual discontent. I made a copy, and I want to read it to you this morning. So just listen carefully to what he says. It was spring, but it was summer I wanted, the warm days in the great outdoors. It was summer, but it was fall I wanted, the colorful leaves, the cool, dry air. It was autumn, but it was winter I wanted, the beautiful snow, the joy of the holiday season. I was a child, but it was adulthood I wanted, the freedom and the respect. I was 20, but it was 30 I wanted to be mature and sophisticated. I was middle-aged. But it was 30 I wanted, the youth and the free spirit. I was retired, but it was middle age that I wanted, the presence of mind without limitations. Now my life is over, but I never got what I wanted. I think it speaks quite well to that insatiable search that humanity has for happiness. We always think that something will satisfy, something will bring contentment, and yet, It never does. Well, as we've seen, it is possible, and this is hope, it is possible to experience real contentment, but not from this world. Real contentment is transcendent. It hails from the realms of glory. And so true and lasting contentment is a reality that can belong only to those who are in Christ. However, As Paul tells us, it is still a secret that must be learned, not only by renewing our minds on God's word, but by the experience of God's grace in our daily lives. Apart from Christ, there is no true solution to our perennial discontent. But this doesn't keep the world from searching, does it? And they offer bumper sticker solutions. I mentioned a couple of these last week. Contentment doesn't come by getting what you want, but appreciating what you have. Or finding contentment isn't a matter of satisfying your desires, but limiting those desires. And as I said last week, there is some wisdom in those words. I think people who think this way are on to something. I mean, after all, it really is hard to be discontent when you're grateful for what you have. And if we lower our expectations, there's less chance of disappointment, isn't there? They're applying these principles as if they were band-aids over a fatal wound. They can't see past the temporal passions and possessions and transient experiences of this decaying world. And that's how they try to apply them. And so at the end of the day, they fail to address the true longing in our souls, that nagging sense within each and every one of us that we were made for more. And it's true, we were made for more. But we will never be satisfied by anything this world has to offer. So what is the right perspective? Well, I think it's one that transcends this world. I think the scripture bears this out. There is a sense in which true and lasting contentment is realized by appreciating what we have if what we're talking about is what we have in Christ. If we appreciate what we have in Christ, it is going to be very difficult to be discontent. We have been blessed with all blessings, spiritual blessings in the heavenly, says the scripture. Our sins have been paid for. We have been reconciled to a holy God. We have been given his righteousness, and we have been granted eternal life. There's nothing in this world that can take that away from us. And so appreciating that, I think, puts everything else in perspective. And then, of course, we could ask, well, what about keeping our expectations low? Well, I would say that it's more a matter of having the right expectations. Yes, we should keep our expectations low when it comes to finding satisfaction from anything in this world. And that's the way we can enjoy the temporal blessings of this life as we should if we don't expect from them what only God can provide. There's the problem is that our expectations are that the things of this life are going to satisfy that in our souls which only God can. Now at the same time, however, Scripture raises our expectations, not lowers them, with astounding promises of blessedness in our Savior. And so I think it's right for us to expect more, to look forward to the day when we will have more. For God is working all things together for our good and for his glory. We can expect that anything we experience in this life, whether it's pleasure or pain, gladness or grief, whether it's comfort or distress, it is all working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. So true contentment is realizing that there is a reality awaiting us that's beyond our capacity to imagine. I love that. That's what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2.9. Eye hasn't seen, ear hasn't heard, hasn't even entered into man's imagination what God has truly planned for his people. And then, of course, I love that passage in 1 John 3. The fullness of what we shall be has not yet been revealed, but this we know, it will be glorious. And so true and lasting contentment, contentment that can't be disturbed by the chaotic circumstances of the life in which we live, that kind of contentment comes from keeping our minds focused on God's purpose and his promises. It comes by keeping our sights fixed on the joy set before us, not by letting hardships of the journey distract us from the splendidness of the destination. And so, as we've seen, Paul's journey spanned the full spectrum of human experience. There were times when he slept in the nicest of beds and beautiful houses and ate the choicest of foods. But then there were times when he had no bed on which to lay his head. There was one time that he spent an entire night holding on to wreckage as he was adrift in the sea. And there were times when he had little or nothing to eat. And so you see, Paul lived what we could call the full gamut of human experiences. And this is why he could say, I know how to live with a contented heart, whether I'm being humbled or whether I'm abounding, whether I'm being ridiculed or whether I'm being respected, whether I'm hungry or whether I'm full, whether I have little or whether I have much, the situation makes no difference. I've learned to be content with the ups and the downs, the ins and the outs, the joys and the griefs. I've learned to live contentedly in every situation. That's what Paul says. That's his testimony to us. And so he tells the Philippians, yes, I rejoiced greatly in the Lord when I received your gift, but not because I was in need. What does he mean? As I said last week, we often confuse wants with needs, don't we? The two aren't synonymous, and Paul had learned the difference. He had learned to be content in whatever situation he finds himself because he had learned that God's grace is always sufficient. He had learned to be satisfied with whatever God supplies. He had learned that God provides what he needs, and if God doesn't supply it, that means he truly doesn't need it. That's the barometer. That's the litmus test. And this is the lesson that the Lord was teaching the Israelites in the wilderness, isn't it? In Deuteronomy, we're told he humbled them. He let them hunger. And then he fed them with manna, which they did not know. And he did this that they might learn that man does not live by bread alone. Man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Don't miss the lesson here. The lesson isn't You need food to live. The lesson is you need God to live. And so Paul is saying, because of this, I have learned to be content, whether or not I have earthly bread, because I don't live by bread alone. God is my sufficiency. Now, while we're still thinking about what it means then to live contentedly in this life, I want us to consider another passage from the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 6. There we find Paul shedding a little more light on the true nature of contentment and how we as Christians come to recognize it. In 1 Timothy 6, 6, as the apostle instructs this fellow laborer in the Lord and giving him direction in the particulars of ministry, he makes a remarkable statement. One that perhaps if you have a bumper sticker, this one would be good for it. Something on your refrigerator. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Now, as always, the context of any passage is important, and no less so than here. So Paul begins, and let me just catch you up. I'm going to read from 1 Timothy 6 in just a moment, but earlier in the chapter, Paul begins by telling Timothy to teach sound doctrine and urge people to live accordingly. Sound doctrine is biblical preaching that centers on Christ. Doctrine that proclaims who Christ is, what he has done, what Christ commands of us. And Paul warns Timothy that those who fail to teach the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, those who teach something other than the true and life-giving gospel that Christ proclaimed, well, they are to be avoided. It's important. While scripture doesn't tell us just how wrong a Christian can be and still be a Christian, this much is clear. There is no salvation apart from Christ. And I'm talking about the Christ of the Bible, not the Christ of anyone else's imagination. We must get the gospel right. We must believe in the good news of our savior. Our salvation depends upon who he is and what he has done. He is God incarnate who humbled himself and took on human flesh, died in our place, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven that he might redeem us and conform us to his glorious image. This is the gospel that must be believed. This is the very basis of sound doctrine. What say ye of Christ? I mean, that is the central issue. No one comes to the Father, Jesus says, except through me. And as Peter preaches on the day of Pentecost, there is no other name under heaven given whereby men must be saved. So Paul warns, first of all, against those who teach unsound doctrine, those who deviate from the gospel of Christ, those whose teaching does not align with Christ's words. These are those who pervert godliness by confusing it with greed, says the Apostle Paul. And I love the way Paul describes this. He gets very graphic here. He says such people are puffed up with conceit. In other words, they have an over-inflated view of themselves and their own self-importance. They think they know everything, but in essence, Paul says they're full of hot air. As one scholar translated Paul's description, they're conceited idiots. That's one way of taking the Greek here. And so basically, Paul wants Timothy to know they don't understand the first thing about what truly matters. They don't know what they're talking about. Paul says they have a morbid craving for controversy. He says they thrive on debate. They love to quarrel over speculative matters. They like to quibble over the meaning of words because it's all about one upmanship. It's all about I know more than you do. And Paul says that breeds envy and dissension and slander and evil conjecture and relentless friction among people whose minds, Paul says, are ruined, unbalanced, and deprived of truth. In short, they're insane. That's what Paul says. And so with that context established, let me paraphrase what Paul says next. We will get to the text itself. We'll begin reading in verse 7 in just a moment. Paul says these false teachers imagine that godliness is a means of gain. In other words, they lust after the things of this world, they're preoccupied with obtaining worldly riches, and their desire for it consumes them. And they see godliness, they see Christianity as a means to that end. Now, who does that sound like today? You know, Christian radio and television is overrun with so-called prosperity teachers, those who claim that their version of godliness will make you rich in this world's goods. They promise you your best life now. Well, they can have their best life now, right? My best life will be the day when I see my Savior face to face. And that's what Christ promises me. So why would I want my treasure here when Jesus says, and he doesn't give any exception for believers, moths corrupt it, rust does as well, and thieves break in and steal it. You mean God would let a thief steal from me? Jesus said he would. Therefore, don't lay up your treasures here. Don't have anything that you hold on so tightly that you would be devastated were it gone. That's really what he's telling us. Hold lightly to those things God gave them to you. He can give them to you again or not, and you can be content without them if you have Christ. And so in any case, as the Apostle Paul says, these people who think this way are of corrupt minds. They subvert godliness. Godliness, you have to understand, is simply that which is Godward-looking. Godward looking, looking unto God. It's reverence for God. It is submission to his authority. It is devotion to his will. And the reverse, ungodliness, is anything that's averse to God, anything that turns a person away from God, anything that fails to properly image God. That's ungodliness. Well, that's what these false teachers do. They encourage others to set their affections on things below, to seek contentment from that which can never satisfy. If I might borrow an analogy from C.S. Lewis, any gain attained by their perverted version of godliness amounts to nothing more than a buffet of mud pies when there's a sumptuous banquet available to God's people. Godliness is not a means for obtaining worldly wealth. Paul says godliness with contentment. Now that is gain, true gain. In fact, it's not just Paul says it is great gain. Mega is what the Greek says. Mega gain. It's the highest gain. True godliness accompanied by the contentment that comes from knowing that God's grace is sufficient, that is riches beyond our wildest dreams. That is great gain. And that's what Paul is telling us. That's the only thing that can satisfy the profound hunger in our souls. Scripture is clear. True wealth then isn't found in the material things of this world. They're all passing away. All of them. True wealth is knowing Christ and being filled with all the fullness of God. And that's what Paul defines as gain. Now in verse 7, I want to read that because the Apostle Paul goes on to explain to us that godliness is true gain when we have godliness with contentment, and there are reasons why. And the reasons are given to us here, beginning at verse seven. We will read, first of all, verses seven and eight. 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. Now, we're not finished there, so keep your finger there. We'll come back to this in just a moment. But the point I want you to see at this moment is, very simply, nothing is actually ours. My wife and my name are on our deed to our house, but we don't really own that house. The earth is the Lord's in the fullness thereof. Everything in it, and he says, all who dwell therein. So we may lay claim to many things in this world, but truth be known, we are simply stewards over whatever it is that we come to possess. Everything we have is in essence on loan from God. And we must leave it all here when we die. That's what Paul is saying. We leave the world just as we entered it with nothing. And Job, he discovered this. Earthly wealth is so volatile, we may well lose it before we die while we're still alive, right? He lost all of his assets, and there were many, and his children, 10 of them, all on a single day. You talk about being wiped out. This was much worse than the Great Depression. In one day, everything he owned and everything dear to him was taken from him. Do you remember what he said in response? Well, naked I came into this world from my mother's womb and naked I shall return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. That last part's the hardest part, isn't it? Blessed be the name of the Lord. God was at work. Job didn't understand. You can read through the book of Job and you find out that there's no resolution until you come to the end. And then Job suddenly understands the greatness of God, his own smallness, the fact that he doesn't deserve anything. And yet at the end of all of this, God blesses Job and gives him back much more than he had to begin with. But nonetheless, the point is, riches are volatile. The possessions of this life are volatile. just as we are. And so in this ever-changing world, there is nothing that can offer us true and lasting contentment. It can all vanish away just like that. So such contentment, if we're going to have true contentment, lasting contentment, it must transcend this present age. True and lasting contentment must be anchored in eternity. not in time and space in this created world. And so Paul says, since we were born with nothing, we leave it all behind when we die. Therefore, if we have food and clothing, we should with that be content. In other words, Paul's saying that's truly all you need Let's redefine the word need in our vocabulary, right? That's truly all you need. Now, let me just say this very quickly, because the translation is somewhat misleading. The word translated close is often translated close in the scripture, but it's also translated shelter. And so basically what Paul is saying is that with food, sustenance and shelter, we should be content. As clothes shelter us from our nakedness, a house shelters us from the elements. And so these are considered the basic things that we need, the basic necessities of life. And so Paul is saying is if we have that sustenance, the food that we need, if we have shelter for our body with clothes and for us from the elements with a home, then that's all we really need to get us from the cradle to the grave. That's what he's saying. That's all that's required to get us from the cradle to the grave. And in this day of rampant inflation, we'd do well to remember this, wouldn't we? You know, Doug Larson said something, I thought it was really good. He said, some people mistake the high cost of living, it really is the cost of high living. You get the difference? We mistake the high cost of living for the cost of high living. And it really is true. Luxuries are not necessities. They are wants, they are not needs. And listen, this life is not even a blink of the eye in comparison to eternity. There's no way to compare the shortness of this time with the endlessness of eternity. And so in light of this, John Stott said we ought to have good perspective. And he offers some very sound advice. He says, possessions are only the traveling luggage of this time. They are not the stuff of eternity. And therefore, it would be very sensible for us to travel light. The possessions of this life, they're the traveling luggage of this time. And so indeed, since they're not the stuff of eternity, we would do well to travel light. Let things have less of a hold on us. You see, that's one of our problems today, is the more things we accumulate, the more things we possess, the more they possess us. Right? And we become a slave to the things that we own. And we become a slave to trying to protect them, to hold on to them at all costs. And so we need a better perspective on all of this. And I'm not telling you that we should be nonchalant and that we should be negligent in taking care of the things that God has given us. We are stewards, so we should be taking care of what God has given us. But that is not our life. Jesus said that your life doesn't consist of what you will eat or what you will drink or what you will wear. No, our life is in Christ. And there's nothing that can take that away from us. So true contentment, Paul is telling us, has nothing to do with how much we have. That's a lesson Solomon learned. Took him a long time. He writes Ecclesiastes at the end of his life. But there he said in Ecclesiastes 5.10, he says, he who loves money will not be satisfied with money. He who has wealth will not be satisfied with his income. In other words, if you have money, you always want more. It's never enough. He said, if you have wealth, you're not satisfied with your income. It needs to be more. And he says, this is also vanity. It is futility. It is worthlessness. Now we're talking about Solomon, the richest king of ancient Israel. Riches so much, there were mounds of silver. Gold became quite common. And this is Solomon. He said, it's all vanity, it's futility, it's worthlessness. Listen, the wealth of eternity is the godliness that comes from knowing Christ. That's the wealth of eternity. True riches aren't the material blessings that God provides. True riches is being loved by the God from whom all blessings flow. Godly gain is a life lived in reverence and submission to God, a life that is content with having received his mercy and his grace, a life that is content with whatever he provides. And then Paul goes on in verse nine. Let's read verses 9 and 10. 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 pangs. These are firm words, sober words from the Apostle Paul. Now I have to say at the outset that this passage has often been misquoted, misapplied, and we need to get it right because it is a powerful warning. But we don't need to say more than what the text says. We don't need to say certainly less than what it says, but we certainly don't need to say what's more. And so first of all, Paul does not say those who are rich fall into temptation. All words matter in the scripture. He says, all who desire to be rich fall into temptation. Now, he has just widened the scope, hasn't he? You might have said to yourself, oh, he's talking to the rich. They fall into this temptation. No, it's not just the rich. It's those who fall. into who desire riches to who fall into temptation. That word desire is not just simply that I would like that, and that was something that would please me. No, in the Greek, it means to plan, to aspire, to make it your goal. Again, Paul is talking about those who are obsessed with the idea of amassing material wealth. Listen, as Christians, and we should know this, our greatest pursuit ought to be loving the Lord our God with our whole being and our neighbor as ourselves. That ought to be the number one pursuit. Our main goal should be to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our aim should be to know him in the power of his resurrection and in the fellowship of his suffering that we might be conformed to his image. This was Paul's goal in Philippians 3, was it not? That's the wealth of heaven. As Paul says in chapter three of Philippians, all of the wealth he had before he counted as nothing. All of the reputation, everything that he once put stock in, he says, that's all for the rubbish heap. He says, all of that that I might gain, that surpassing wealth of knowing Christ. No wealth can compare with knowing him. That's the wealth of heaven. And Paul also then goes on to warn That being obsessed with getting rich is a snare. It's a trap. And he said it cultivates senseless and harmful desires that can plunge us into ruin and destruction. Paul's language is very graphic here. Such desires are senseless. They're stupid, right? Because once again, whatever we amass here and now will remain behind when we die. As Jesus said, what's gain you if you were able to obtain all things in this world and lose your own soul? That's precisely what will happen for those who their whole goal is to be rich. Their whole goal is to amass as much as they can. Oh, lose your own soul. That's senseless. That makes no sense. Such desires, he says, are also harmful. Why? Because they engender selfishness in us, pride in us. They engage us in worthless endeavors while they distract us from everything that truly matters. People who are obsessed with getting rich, they're no good to anyone else, certainly not for serving God. And so we need to remember that. Yes, there are people who gain wealth because they are so obsessed with it. That's what they think about 24-7. But just as many people who have gained that wealth have lost it in a moment. You know what? It is. It is slippery as an eel. It is like sand in your hand. It's like vapor. Try to corral the vapor and keep it. You can't, right? And so We harm ourselves, it's a senseless endeavor. And we need to also read this carefully because secondly, Paul then, this is often misquoted, doesn't say money is the root of all kinds of evil. Now, you know, do it later, but pull some money out of your purse or your pocketbook or whatever you have, your wallet, take a look at that money, and you're not looking at evil. When you look at that money, you're not looking at evil. Money isn't the root of all kinds of evil. It's the love of money. And so if you're looking at evil when you're looking at money, you should be looking in the mirror because that's where it is. That's where the evil is, is in the desire within your heart that I must have more of this green paper, right? Now, and so this is so important because I want you to see this. Paul isn't telling us poverty good, wealth bad. That's not what he's saying. He's contrasting contentment with covetousness. He's giving us a warning, and the danger was just as real in Paul's day as it is in ours. In fact, Paul says, listen, I'm telling you, I know of professing Christians that have followed this insatiable craving for material wealth, and it has caused them to wander away from the faith. They have suffered from self-inflicted wounds causing great distress. Paul says it's self-inflicted. They have no one to blame but themselves. And so this is important. It is not wealth, but the craving for wealth that is the problem, the desire, the aim, making it the sole goal, the highest goal of your life. That's where the problem lies. Money isn't the problem. The problem is loving that money. and what you can do with it. And so this is important that we understand what Paul is actually saying. Now, I'm not going to actually read from there. I'm going to, for the sake of time, because we're running out of time, I would encourage you to later on read verse 17. Paul does take a small excursus from this, but he comes back to this issue of money in verse 17, and he says some very important things that we should know so that we not misunderstand. He's made it clear that being rich isn't the issue, it's aspiring to be rich that's the problem, making it your goal. He's also let us know that money is the problem either, it's the heart obsessed with having that money. So Paul says, so what do you do if you happen to be rich? Now, don't anyone here think to yourself, Paul's talking about somebody else, I'm not rich. Believe me, this applies to all of us because most of us who live in America are rich compared to the living standards in Paul's day. I can guarantee you that those who own the most palaces and the greatest wealth in that time would trade places with you in a minute. They didn't have the wealth of indoor plumbing. They didn't have the wealth of electricity. They didn't have the wealth of this little device you have in your pocket that tells you everything you need to know immediately when you want to know it, able to contact anybody in the world whenever you want to in an instant. Now, listen, we are wealthy. We are rich. And this is the question, what are we to do with what we have? It isn't as if we should look at all of it as evil. Now, if you have such a problem with it, perhaps it is good to pare down, scale back, get rid of the stuff, right? I mean, isn't that what the writer of Hebrews says? Let us set aside those weights, right? And so indeed, if that's your problem, perhaps you need to. But the issue here is Paul wants you to know what we should do if we have it. What should be our attitude? And so as he says in verse 17, he says, those who are rich in this present age, Timothy, I want you to charge them. I want you to make an important note to them that they will know. I want you to command them not to set their hopes on these uncertain riches that they have, but on God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. Now, those are dramatic words. He says, I want you to tell them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, to be ready to share, store up treasure for themselves, and lay up a good foundation for the future so that they can take hold of that which is truly life. That's what Paul says. And there's a lot here, as I said, that we're not going to have time to expound upon. But let me just make a couple of important notes here for you to remember. Enjoying the things of this life isn't a sin. Some Christians have a problem with this. Again, as I said, the problem may be in your own heart, and you may need to deal with that. But simply enjoying the things of this life isn't a sin. You know, I always go back to Genesis chapter two, verse eight, where we're told that God made the fruit of the garden pleasant and beautiful and appealing. It was good for food, it was tasty, it was nutritious. Listen, God isn't a miser. And he's given us many gifts. And Paul says, richly providing us with everything to enjoy. God wants you to enjoy what he has made. He wants you to enjoy what he has given. And he supplies in abundance. He gives us more than we need. And it's not a sin to enjoy the things God has made. The sin is in failing to enjoy them properly. The sin is becoming obsessed with them, loving them more than the God who provides them. As Calvin said, the human heart is an idol factory. You know, whenever we begin to worship these good gifts that God has given, what was once a blessing of God becomes a destructive demon in our lives. It can rob us of so much. So we can and we should enjoy God's good gifts, but in moderation. The temptation for those who are rich is to be arrogant. He says, don't be arrogant, be humble like Christ. Remember, we don't have anything that we didn't receive, and that means that we should be humble and we should trust not in the uncertainty of the things that we have, for they may be gone in a moment, but instead we should trust in the certainty of the unchanging God who has loved us and gives us all we truly need. And then he says, be generous, be content with what we have and be willing to share it with others. We're to use it to store up treasure in heaven. We're to use it to invest in eternity. And as we close this morning then, this is the secret of contentment that the apostle Paul had learned. Humanity fell. when in a moment of pure insanity, Adam and Eve put their trust in what this world could give them rather than the God who gives all things richly to enjoy. They sinned when they turned from God, looking to gain fulfillment and contentment from the things God had made rather than the one who had made them. And this is why Christ came, to redeem us from that insanity. to reconcile us to God and to restore his image in us, to put us on the right path, to have the right priorities, to see things clearly and truly as we should. It is God who grants eyes to see, that we will know that godliness with contentment, that's true riches, that's the highest gain, that's the greatest treasure. And so may God grant that our lives be lived in the blessed contentment of godliness. There's no greater, no greater experience of the grace of God than to know that he is abundantly supplied all that we need and that there are greater blessings awaiting us than we could possibly imagine. He is a gracious God. who wants us to see the truth and not be dazzled by the tensile and ten of this world. That's all that it is. Nothing valuable in this life, for it will all perish. But that which is laid up for us in heaven, that is eternal. Contentment with godliness is great gain. And to him be glory forever and ever. Amen.