REVELATION
CHAPTER 18
LESSON 6C
A CONTENTED CHRISTIAN HAS A CORRECT VIEW OF
LITTLE THINGS
DIVORCE YOUR THINKING FROM SOCIETY’S RELATIVISTIC STANDARDS.
* Colossians 3:1
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things,
which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
* Romans 12:1-2
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what
is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
* 2 Timothy 2:2-3
And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses,
the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
TURN OFF THE ADS AND TUNE OUT THE LIES.
* According to A.C. Nielsen, the TV set in the average home is on
seven hours and seven minutes a day, and the average viewer watches four
and one half hours each day. The statistics for religious homes is just
a half hour less. A renowned media expert, Professor Neil Postman of New
York University says that between the ages of six and eighteen, the average
child spends some 15,000 to 16,000 hours in front of the TV, whereas he spends
only 13,000 hours in school. Postman says that during the first twenty years
of an American child’s life, he will see some one million commercials, at the
rate of about 1,000 per week!
* As to television’s effects, the results are infamous:
1. SHORTENED attention span.
2. DIMINUTION of linguistic powers.
3. REDUCED capacity for abstraction.
4. HOMOGENIZATION of adulthood and childhood.
* To deny there is a conscious assault on the Christian mind and its traditional
values is like believing Saddam Hussein is building a “kinder, gentler world.”
I am aware of the wise warnings against using words like “all,” “every,” and “always”
in what I say. Making and absolute pronouncement is dangerous. But I’m going to
do it anyway. Here it is: It is impossible for any Christian who spends the bulk
of his evenings, month after month, week upon week, day in and day out watching the
major TV networks or contemporary videos to have a Christian mind. This is always
true of all Christians in every situation! A Biblical mental program cannot coexist
with worldly programming. If we are to have Christian minds, there are things we must
put out of our minds — and this extends beyond TV, to what we read, listen to, and
laugh at. My advice? Stop watching television. I mean that sincerely! Not watching
TV will liberate so much time; it will become virtually impossible not to become a
deeper person and a better Christian. Do things to relate with other human beings!
I am not suggesting a new legalism, which forbids TV and the cinema. (There are many worthwhile things to
view; moreover, while Christianity is by nature countercultural, it is not anti-cultural).
But I am calling for believers” Who have a problem to take control of their minds” — what comes in and what
goes out. If you cannot control what you watch and read, perhaps it needs to go.
“If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away,” says Jesus (Matthew 5:29).
The Psalmist gives sage advice for those living in the media age: “I will walk in my house with blameless
heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing” (Psalm 101:2, 3). We need to allow Christ
to be Lord of our prime time. Some of you need to schedule a confidential conference with
your spouse and prayerfully seek God’s will regarding this. And you single men who have
so much trouble with your minds need to likewise seek God’s will — and someone to hold you
accountable. Let us not settle for being like other Christians or having a church that is
like other evangelical churches. May we be different because we have Christian minds?
* Liz George says think on true THINGS:
Phil 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things
are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, think on these things.
1. THINGS NEVER SATISFY
Isaiah 55:2
Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is
not bread? And you labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
2. GOD HATES WORLDLINESS
James 4:4-5
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not
that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain,
the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
3. WORLDLINESS IS SATANISM
1 John 2:15-17
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
DEFER TO GOD’S OPINION CONCERNING YOUR FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS.
* “How often, particularly in modern America have we seen the
devastation visited upon families through the ‘if only’ syndrome…
if only my wife were more appealing…if only my husband made more
money, or had more hair. Infidelity, even in thought, is greener
grass only because it’s been spray painted by the Deceiver himself.
Contentment keeps our eyes on the right side of the fence.”
Hebrews 13:1-7
* A careful look at can give us some enduring guidelines to protect
and promote contentment in all areas of our lives:
1 Let brotherly love continue.
2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have
entertained angels unawares.
3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them
which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.
4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but
whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content
with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee.
6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will
not fear what man shall do unto me.
7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto
you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of
their conversation.
1. LOVE ALL CHRISTIANS AS DEAR FAMILY 1 Keep on loving each other as brothers.
2. SHOW HOSPITALITY TO NEW PEOPLE 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for
by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
3. MINISTER TO AFFLICTED REGULARLY 3 Remember those in prison as if you were
their fellow prisoners and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
4. PRESERVE A SINGULAR FOCUS IN MARRIAGE 4 Marriage should be honored by all,
and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
5. FLEE ALL TYPES OF DISCONTENTMENT 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money
and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never
will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be
afraid. What can man do to me?”
6. LOVE YOUR GOD GIVEN SHEPHERDS 7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God
to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
SET NEW STANDARDS.
* Give more than you receive
Acts 20:35
I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak,
and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to
give than to receive.
* Others more than self [General Booth]
* Seek FIRST God’s way: as an old southern preacher shared with me
1. Every desire of life must be tested in relation to the King.
2. Every decision must be made in the interest of the King.
3. Every duty must be performed for the pleasure of the King.
4. Every difficulty must be faced by trusting the King.
5. Every danger must be braved for the honor of the King.
6. Every dishonor must be endured for the sake of the King.
7. Every distraction must be ignored for the claims of the King.
DEVELOPE COUNTER HABITS.
* John Charles Cooper writes, instead of:
1. Getting try giving
2. Replacing try preserving
3. Feeling covetous, try feeling grateful
4. Feeling inferior before men, try feeling accepted before God.
5. Being ruled by feelings, try enjoying the freedom of contentment.
SUBTRACT FROM YOUR NEEDS.
* Paul said he learned to be content with whatever he had.
Philippians 4:11-12
11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned,
in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound:
every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full
and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
* Every item I add to my possessions is one more thing to think about,
invest more time in, talk about, clean, repair, display, rearrange, and
replace when it goes bad. I buy a television, but that is just the beginning.
I hook up an antenna, I subscribe to a cable service, I buy a VCR, I rent movies,
I get a recliner to watch my programs in comfort. This all costs money, but it
also takes immense amounts of time, energy, and attention. Acquiring a possession
may also push me into redefining my priorities and make me unavailable for ministry.
It takes time to hover over our things, and that time must come from elsewhere-for instance,
1. From time spent cultivating intimacy with God,
2. From time spent in his Word and prayer,
3. Time spent visiting and ministering to the needy,
4. And time spent developing relationships with people who need Christ.
* Make a list of all the things you need and then start crossing things off.
Remembering the One who said, in
Matthew 6:25-34:
25 Therefore I say unto you, 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. Is not the
life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather
into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one
of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow
is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or,
Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things
shall be added unto you.
34 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.
1. LIFE IS MORE THAN EATING AND EXISTING v. 25
2. YOU ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO GOD v. 26
3. GOD TAKES CARE OF HIS OWN v. 27-31
4. GOD KNOWS YOUR NEEDS v. 32
5. GOD GIVES EACH OF US THE PRIORITY OF OUR LIVES v. 33
6. GOD ASKS US TO GIVE OUR CARES TO HIM v. 34
* There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more.
The other is to desire less. G.K. Chesterton
ACCEPT FROM GOD’S HAND THAT WHICH HE GIVES.
* Not resignation, complacency, mourning and gloom. An attitude of contentment
is always victorious. It sees God’s hand in all of life.
* David is fleeing for his life from his wicked son Absolom in 2 Samuel 16:9-14
Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse
my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head. 10 And the
king said, what have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse,
because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, wherefore
hast thou done so? 11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold,
my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may
this Benjamite do it? Let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden
him. 12 It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD
will requite me good for his cursing this day. 13 And as David and his men went
by the way, Shimei went along on the hill’s side over against him, and cursed as
he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust. 14 And the king, and all the
people that were with him, came weary, and refreshed themselves there.
IF YOU STILL DO NOT FEEL THE STIRRINGS OF CONTENTMENT WITHIN, ARGUE WITH YOURSELF AND TELL YOURSELF THE TRUTH.
* J.I. Packer says, “by learning to talk to ourselves in a good Christian way. You listen to God
in the Scripture and then tell, yourself what He said. If your emotions disagree, you argue with
your emotions. And if you find unbelief in your heart, you argue with that unbelief and drive it
out by appealing to God’s truth.”
* The list of the characteristics of the select few who get to abide in the presence of God
is significant: Psalm 15:1-2 LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in
thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the trut
h in his heart.
“Only one life to live and soon is past
Only what’s done for Christ will last!”
Hoping to make the time I have left count for the glory of God.
REVELATION CHAPTER 18 LESSON 6C