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So, the title of the sermon tonight is The Love of Money. The Love of Money. And this isn't anything new. If you've been around, you probably have heard this passage. You probably have even heard this preached. But I think this is important because of the fact that we're living in such a covetous society today. A society today that has put so much emphasis on the love of money and the things that money can bring us today. Now, it says there in 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 6, but godliness with contentment is great gain for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Let's go ahead and back it up actually to 1 Timothy chapter 6. Let's go to verse 5. It says in verse 5, I'm sorry. No, we'll just continue reading there. It says in verse 8, having food and raiment, let us there be with content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil. So, there it is in black and white. The Bible plainly says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Meaning this, that if you see some evil in the world, if you see some kind of injustice being done, if you see some kind of sin being committed, if you see people being oppressed, if you see whatever evil it is, whatever form it takes in the world, if you look at that, all you have to do is understand that behind it all is money. Behind every great evil in the world, there is money. Somebody is profiting from it. You can think about anything. Probably war is the one thing that comes to mind more than anything else. Sometimes not all war is unjustified. There are times to stand up and defend yourself and defend your homeland and your family and your country. But you know what? Most of the wars that we fight today are wars of aggression. We're the invading force. I can't remember the last time we had enemies put their foot down on foreign soil and come here and force us to take up arms and defend our homeland. And why is it that we're just in a perpetual state of warfare today in this country? It's because there's a lot of money in war. The old saying is that for the longest time they tried to turn lead into gold, and the bankers finally figured it out. You use lead bullets and it turns into gold. There's a great evil in war, especially unjust wars where innocent people are just being killed, they're being wiped out, there's oppression, and what's behind it all? Money. You can think of another great evil in the world today. Think about the sin of abortion, which is murder. There's a lot of people that are committing that sin every day all across the world, and it's wicked. But there's also a lot of money to be made behind that. A lot of people are profiting from that wickedness in the world. And the people are willing to allow wicked things to happen, they're allowed wicked things to take place. They're okay for these abominations and these oppressions to take place because they love money. They even know in their heart, they even know in their minds, this is wrong, this is wicked, it's causing innocent lives, it's killing people. But you know what? I love money too much. I want more money. It's the love of money. Which also tells us this, that money is not the source of evil. It's the love of money. You know, we've probably all got some money in our pockets. You know, most of us anyway, we've got some cash. Do you think that those bills in your pocket are the source of all evil? Or is it what's in your heart, potentially? It's the loving of that money that is the source of all evil. Which tells us this also, that you can be poor and still be a covetous person. You can be poor and still be an evil person. Even if you just love money. Even if you don't have money. If you love it and want it, you know, think about all the wicked things poor people do just because they love money. They rob, they steal, they murder, they cheat, they lie just to get a little bit more money. They do it all the time. The love of money is the root of all evil. All evil finds its root in the love of money. And you know, this is, you know, I was trying to avoid even bringing this up. I was really trying, you know, when I was thinking about what I wanted to preach tonight, I came back to this and I said no and I kind of scrapped it and then I came back to it again and I just, I couldn't shake it and I really don't like talking about politics. It's really not my thing. I'm not into it. But obviously it's a really big thing on everybody's mind right now. And then, you know, and then you couple that with the fact that our, you know, our commander in chief, you know, Donald Trump, love him or hate him, is going to be in Tucson tomorrow. He's coming to Tucson to hold a rally at the airport. And you know, I just couldn't stop thinking about this guy and the fact that he's coming here and the fact that we're going through an election. And you know, you see a lot of people today that are divided about, you know, politics and things like that, and they get all worked up about the election, who's going to be president. And it just drives me crazy how many Christians out there think that Donald Trump is some kind of savior for the religious right or whatever. Look, he's not. And here's the thing, when you start to read these articles, the things he says behind the scenes to people about his so-called Christian quote unquote friends, he's playing them like a fiddle. He's playing a part. He knows how to, he knows how to, you know, have the picture set up to where he's in his somber prayer and all the other evangelicals and Pentecostal preachers, the big names, the Franklin Grahams and the Paula Whites and the Creflo dollars and all these other big name preachers are all gathered around him and they're laying their hands on him and praying for him. He loves to have those photos taken because that appeals to a base of people that are going to go out and vote for him. You know, and the subject of voting alone, you know, that's just when I stay away from it. You know, and people can have their own opinion about voting. I opted out of that a long time ago. I saw that for what it was and I, you know, I don't play games with people that cheat and I don't vote for the same reason because it's a bunch of cheaters. Now I'm not going to be one of these people that says, you know, that it's such, it's such a vast conspiracy that, you know, the powers that be pick out which guy is going to be elected. Here's how it works. Here's how I think it works is that the best way to lead opposite or to control opposition is to lead it. So when you have a two party system, as long as you control both candidates, it doesn't matter who they vote for. Think about it. If we get our guy on this side and our guy on that side, who cares who wins? You know, and, you know, as the saying goes, it's two wings and the same bird. It's two sides of the same coin. I mean, it's the same things are going to happen with ones in the White House or the other. You know, there's still, I mean, what has Trump changed in this country that's made it so great? Now, has he made some things better that has he made America great again? In some areas, maybe some people would say, yes, he has. But what about the areas that really matter? Let me ask you, are we still, are we still having foreign wars of aggression? Are we still occupying other countries? Are we still having abortions? Are there still, is there still just, is our country just still a moral cesspool? It is. How has he made America great again? I'm still waiting. But you know, a lot of people say, no, no, you're all wrong. It's Trump. He's the guy. And here's why. Because he made a better economy. They don't care about the moral condition of our country. They don't care about the foreign policy. They don't care about anything other than money. That's what most people, they vote based on what, how they, who they think is going to do better for their wallet. And that's what all these elections are always about at the end of the day for people, money. That's what it's all about. It's not about making this country a better place. It's about who's going to protect my money better. It's the love of money. It's evil. This election, like all elections comes down to money. Who's going to make a better economy. And I read this article, I read quite a few articles about Donald Trump, you know, and he certainly has his critics, doesn't he? And you know what? He deserves every one of them. And that's my opinion. I could see where they're coming from. Look, I'm no Joe Biden fan. All right. I'm not up here promoting that guy. I'm not promoting any candidate. I just told you I don't vote and I don't care who you'd vote for. I don't care if you vote. If you want to vote, you feel like that makes a difference, you know, go for it. I'm not, you know, but I've, I already played that game. I already went down that rabbit hole back when Ron Paul was running for office and I found out that the powers that be, they control who's, who's, you know, who's going to be even available to be elected. Because again, it all comes down to let's just control both parties and let the people vote. I don't think it's, it's pre, it's pre-ordained. I think that voting does work. I think that's how the system works that whoever gets the most votes, you know, the electoral college votes, they get in. But I'm saying this, that this system is so corrupt that they've controlled both sides and they manipulate the masses. People are manipulated into who they're going to vote for. And that's a whole other topic. It's politics. I don't want anything to do with it. I really don't care. My kingdom, you know, I, I am a member of, of the, the, the, the party of Christ. You know, that, that's my king. That's my only potentate, the, the king of kings and Lord of lords. That's who I serve. You know, I'm just passing through this world. I'm not interested in getting entangled in the affairs of this life and getting so worked up about who's going to protect, you know, some retirement fund that I don't even have, quite frankly. But he certainly has, Donald Trump certainly has a lot of critics and I can see where they're coming from because you start to read the things this guy says and he just sounds like such a narcissistic psycho. You know, and if there's any Trump fans in here, you know, you can go ahead and hate on that and be upset about it. But the fact is, he is a narcissist. That guy is just, I mean, he's just, you have to wonder, you think at first you're like, he's joking. He's got to be kidding the things he says. But then you realize he's not. He really is the best at everything there is. I'm the best at it. Whatever the subject, no one knows more about it than I do. Nobody. He's just the best at everything. You know, whether it's tax fraud or lawsuits or bankruptcy or, you know, computers, what, you know, one of the other things that Trump's just, nobody knows more than he does. Name the subject. He's the expert in everything. The guy just knows everything. He's a know-it-all. And I, you know, so I'm going to read it a little bit out of an article here. That's probably, I don't even remember where it came from. I mean, it was, it was a legit source, but it's probably some left wing, you know, liberal rag too. I mean, but he just, the one, that's the one thing I do like about Trump is how much he triggers the other side. You know, it is fun. It's fun to kind of just sit back and watch, you know, them go after each other, you know, watch him just, you know, and you know what? And I, and I told a few people tonight, I was going to get some things off my chest tonight because I need this. I need this therapy. Okay. It'll probably be a quicker servant. It probably won't have a lot of points. It probably won't make a lot of sense. It probably be a lot of ranting. So forgive me. But who watched that stupid debate? The whole thing? How could you even sit through that? How could you, I watched the, I'm like, I heard about it. I'm like, okay, I'm going to watch just a few minutes. I'm going to catch the highlights. I put in, you know, debate highlights. It was a seven minute clip. I couldn't even make it through three minutes. I started watching that. It was, it was laughable. These are the potential leaders of the free world. You're a liar. You're a liar. You're a liar. It's like, it was like two kids in a playground. It's like, I hear that from my children. They are behaving like little kids. They couldn't even have, I mean, this is what we've come to. I mean, I remember when Trump was first running, it was such, I was at work and they have TVs everywhere. I was working at that time. And I was working with the city at the convention center and they just had TVs everywhere. And I'm like, I remember I walked by, I hadn't, I didn't pay attention to the news cycle in years. And it's Donald Trump versus Hillary Clinton. I didn't even know that until that day. And I'm going, Donald Trump from The Apprentice? You're fired. You know, you're fired. That guy, I mean, that's who is running for president. It was so surreal. It was crazy. But that's where we're at. These aren't exactly the distinguished statement of old. You know, the, I mean, the people, you know, that the type of men that, the type of character of men, the quality, the caliber of men that used to run for public office, they would, they would, it would be, they would vomit over what they're having to watch today. It would make them sick to have to see that the type of people that are running for public office today. Did you know running for public office used to be a sacrifice? It used to be something that people would have to convince you to go do. You know, you'd have to leave your family and go to another place and serve, you know, for four years. You didn't walk out a millionaire after the fact. You weren't cutting deals in a back room. But it actually was, literally was public service. But today it's like, it's like they're competing for, it's like Hollywood for ugly people. This is how I've heard politics, politics correctly described. Hollywood for ugly people. They want just the popularity. They want the fame. They want the fortune. They want their name mentioned. They want to, they want to go down in the history books. Again, I'm ranting. It's what this sermon's going to be tonight. But this election is a total joke. It's a total joke. And I'm not going to get all wrapped up in it and worried about it. But you know what? When Trump's coming to town, when he's landing here tomorrow and having a big rally, and I keep getting emails and the church emails from, you know, these so-called Christians that are just, you know, I had a vision. I was at church and someone got a word and they stood up and they said, we must elect the right president. If we don't elect the correct guy, our country's doomed. That's their hope. He's the great hope of America to so many Christians. And it's always these Pentecostal types. That's who he loves. These, you know, and I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself here, but you know, Trump's surround, that's who's in his, you know, prayer cabinet or whatever. His advisory board from evangelicals, the vast majority of them are just these prosperity preachers, these health, wealth, and prosperity preachers. The Paula Whites, you know, a pastor, a woman pastor. Okay, there's a whole other subject. You know, I want to ask these women pastors, so, you know, are you keeping your wife in subjection? Well, I mean, it says, you know, you got to be husband of one wife. Are you keeping your wife in subjection? You know, Paula White, the female pastor from Florida. Okay, I'm just going to throw that out there. No diss on anybody from Florida. But it just seems like a lot of weird things come out of there. It depends. Is it just me or is that where a lot of weird stuff comes out of? It's like the Japan of America. But she's on that board. And what is she? I mean, what are the net worth of these so-called pastors and preachers that are surrounding Trump and being his spiritual advisors? I mean, they're millionaires flying around in jets. You know, and I read all these articles and Trump is like playing them like a fiddle. And then he's going around to these, his other people in his cabinet saying, these guys are such suckers. What a scam. Boy, those guys are, I played the game with them. You know, I let them stay in my hotels and bet my casinos. And now they got to endorse me. I played the game. That's what he said. Because he likes that photo op. He likes to have people see him being prayed over because it appeals to a base of people that think that Donald Trump is somehow ordained of God. Now, he might be sent here by God, but not the way for the reasons you think. You know, he very well could just be what leads us, you know, into the new world order for all you know. But I mean, the guy, and here's, and I've been thinking about this and it's just like, is this who we have? We have Donald Trump, the egomaniacal, just narcissist weirdo. And then you have creepy uncle Joe Biden, a senile, like pedophile. And I thought, a pervert at the very least, the guy's pervy. Okay. That's what he is. The way he's always groping people. I mean, you could go watch entire just YouTube videos that are just 10 minutes long. Him at photo ops, just like feeling everybody up, kids, everyone. And who knows what that guy does a secret? Who knows what Trump does a secret? The serial dulter that he is, the strip club owner, the casino owner, Trump. And you think, how do you come to that? You know what? They're the perfect reflection of America. A bunch of self-centered, greedy, covetous perverts. It's a perfect picture of the American populace as a whole. Leaders are always a reflection of the people that they lead. And that's a perfect picture of America right there, isn't it? We deserve these leaders as a country. I read this article, I'll just get into this because I don't want to spend all night just ranting, but he says, President Donald Trump claimed Monday, and this was a very recent article, that the coronavirus pandemic that has killed over 170,000 Americans is God's way of testing him. That's what President Donald Trump said. Hey, you know the over 250,000 people that died from coronavirus? That was God's way of testing me. That's how important Donald Trump is. Did you know that? I mean, you and I get tested by God when we walk out and have a flat tire or something. Or we get tested by God when someone cuts us off in traffic or steals a parking space or gets our order wrong or something. Our patience is tested in these little ways. But when you're Donald Trump, when you've reached a level of spirituality that Donald Trump is, 170,000 people have to die. You have to have a worldwide pandemic in order for God to test Donald Trump. Do you see just how self-centered that is, how narcissistic a statement that is, that God is testing me through coronavirus because I'm Donald Trump? That's God's way of toasting him while boasting about the economic miracle he claims to have achieved before COVID-19. And that's when you keep hearing him say, we had the greatest economy this world has ever known before the coronavirus. And in his words, it's an economic miracle. An economic miracle. The love of money. What does he consider a miracle? When the dead are raised, when the eyes of the blind are open, when the gospel is preached to the poor. Is that a miracle that Donald Trump today? No. It's when there's a thriving economy. It's a miracle. It's not a miracle. It's called economics. And if you cut taxes and you make more jobs, it's math. It's not a miracle. But when Trump's in the White House, it's a miracle. Everything he touches just turns to gold. While boasting about the economic miracle he claims to have achieved before COVID-19 disrupted life across America, the president described having a conversation with God about his track record as president. So in this interview, he begins to describe this conversation that he had with God, mind you, about his track record as president. Look, the Bible says that the nations that are less than nothing to God, he counts them less than nothing. You have nothing, then you have less than nothing. And that's what God considers all the nations, because they're just men. God doesn't have some special place in his heart for America. And this might come as a shock to some, but that is the case. And so here he is. Our president is having this one-on-one conversation with God. We built the greatest economy in the history of the world, and I know I have to do it again. He said, repeating the debunked claim about his administration's economic success during a campaign and stop in Minnesota. You know what that is? Trump asked, that's God testing me. He said, you know, you did it once. And I said, did I do a good job, a great job, God? I'm the only one that could do it. This is the conversation that he had with God. I did a great job, didn't I? I'm the only one that could do it. And now because of his pride here that he's kind of confessing to, God wasn't, according to Trump, God wasn't too pleased with his boast. God was just up there, now Donald. Because he's talking to God, they're just, they're close like this. Donald Trump and God are just like this. Do you really believe that about that guy? The guy says, I never asked for forgiveness. It was point asked, have you ever asked God forgiveness? I don't do anything wrong, so I never have to ask forgiveness. If you've never asked for forgiveness, you're not saved. Because you think you're without sin. Okay? And I just wish some Christians would get this through their head, that he's an unsaved man. And they say, well, it doesn't matter, we have to vote for him anyway. I'm not, I'm not looking for Trump to lead my Sunday school. You know, but we need to vote for the lesser of two evils. How many people have heard that over the years? Every election it seems like that's what I hear. You got to vote for the lesser of two evils. How's voting for evil working out for you? You ever stop to think about it? That's what they're telling you. You need to vote for evil. But it's the lesser of two evils. But it's still evil. So as long as it's the lesser of two evils, it's okay. So if it comes down to Lucifer, the prince of darkness himself, you know, on the Democrat side, of course. And then, you know, they resurrect Adolf Hitler or some other, you know, or, you know, what was the other guy? Stalin, who just, you know, killed many, many millions more. You know, just pick out the most evil man in the world, you know, whoever that might be in your book, versus Satan himself. We should vote for the lesser of two evils. And as long as we do that, we're on the right side. Hey, I know I voted for Chairman Mao, or whatever his name was. Not Chairman. But I voted for, you know, Stalin. But at least I didn't vote for Satan. You know, you don't want Satan in office, do you? Come on, you got to get out and vote for, you know, some mass murderer. Because after all, we don't want Satan in there. So let's serve two evils, man. It's just as simple. That logic makes no sense. None. How about I just don't vote for evil? And then when everything goes bad and wrong, I can laugh and just say, well, at least I didn't have anything to do with it. At least I didn't, you know, have some hand in getting that idiot in the office to let him do whatever it is he's going to do. If you don't vote, you don't have no right to complain. Actually, I have every right to complain because I didn't vote for him. You did. According to Trump, God wasn't too pleased with his boast. Tis, tis, Donald. Shame. God said, now he's quoting God, just putting words in God's mouth. This is what God told me. Well, let's all get out our Bibles tonight and get your pen out because we've got some divine revelation from Donald Trump about God has spoken yet once more. He's, you know, he doesn't have enough here that we said to us, but God has spoken to Donald Trump. So let's all get in the back of our Bibles. We find a blank page and write the gospel according to Donald Trump. Okay. The revelation to Donald Trump. Here it is. Okay. God said that you shouldn't say, now we're going to have, you shouldn't, that you shouldn't say. Now you're going to have to do it again. He's saying, you're so proud, Donald, to think that you built this, the greatest economy, this miracle that nobody else could do it. Now you have to do it again. So you know what I'm going to do, Donald? I'm going to kill 170,000 people. I'm going to put this country in an economic lockdown to teach you a lesson. This guy's insane. And he said, as his audience broke into laughter, so funny the way he just speaks for God. Look, if, and you know what, you have to wonder, does he really think that, does he, is that really going through his head that God said that to him? You know, I don't think he does. I think he's, he's a master at just playing people, telling them, you know, making them think something. Oh, it's so funny that the president said that, that God spoke to him that way. I said, okay, I agree. You got me. That's what he said. That's his quote. Oh, you got me, God. All right, I'll do it again. Yeah, I guess you're just going to have to kill a bunch of people so I can rebuild this economy and show everybody how great I am. I mean, this guy is such a proud, pompous jerk. He's so full of himself. Trump claims to talk to God like he talks to anyone else. Look, if you're having a conversation with God like that, where God's responding to you, you need to, you need to check into a mental hospital. You know, you might want to look into your mental health because that's not how it works with God. You know how God speaks to you? Right here, right here. What more can he say than to you he hath said? In this book, people want to talk to God all the time. It's just like, here you go. If I want to talk to anybody out loud, then read the Bible out loud, because that's how God talks to you. And anyone who's tried to have a walk with God and read their Bible knows what I'm talking about. That someday you're just going through your devotions and you read some passage, something is said and it just speaks to your heart. And you're brought to tears. You're brought to joy. It smites your heart. That's the Holy Spirit speaking to you through God's word. That's how God talks. He doesn't say, Donald, I'm a little disappointed with the way you've been running the economy. And now you're going to have to do it again. I'm going to teach you a lesson, young man. That's not God talking. Now, whether or not Trump really believes he's just being funny here or not, it's blasphemous. And if he really thinks that, the guy's got even bigger problems than I thought. Many Christians in the U.S. may be able to relate to the idea of such a conversation. About 90% of American Christians say that they talk to God and about 35% say that God talks back to them. That is your own head talking. And look, I could see where people get mixed up on this. They think that God is talking to them because they go to a church where they're told, hey, God was talking to me. I was in prayer. God told me. I've heard independent fundamental Baptist preachers get up and say, God told me to buy this bus. God told me to build this building. God told me to do this. God told me to do that. And then when it falls through, it's like, okay, so was God lying? Or maybe that was just your own head. Maybe that was a conversation you were having with yourself. Maybe you suffer to a certain degree from delusions of religious grandeur where you're so important that God just speaks directly to you. And the real dangerous thing about that is that the people that have a good head on their shoulders that go, well, God doesn't talk to me like that. They either think that guy's crazy for saying that, or they think I must not be as holy. And they start to think that there's something wrong with them. Well, why doesn't God talk to me? Why don't I hear God tell it? Why isn't God telling me where to go and what to do and what to buy and what not to buy and who to talk to? You know what I mean? They hear some preacher get up and say, well, God told me X, Y, and Z. Not God spoke to me through the word of God. God told me X, Y, and Z, whatever it is. And then somebody out in the pew says, well, why doesn't God talk to me like that? Now, some people might go, well, God doesn't talk to me like that. That guy must be crazy. But a lot of them also might think something along the lines of, God doesn't talk to me like that. There must be something wrong with me. Because they don't suffer from subclinical religious grandeur, delusions. Trump believes this. If he really is claiming, and he actually believes, that he had a conversation with God where these words were said, he's insane. He's losing his mind. But 35% of people say, Christians in America, say that God talks back to them, according to Pew Research Center. Among evangelicals, 45% say that their communication with God is a two-way street. Now, I will say it's a two-way street with God. We pray. We tell God. We make our requests known unto Him. We pour out our hearts before Him. We cast our care upon Him. We ask Him for the things that we have need of. We make our requests known unto God, like we're supposed to become boldly before the throne of grace, that we might find mercy and help in a time of need. I understand that. That is one way, that one avenue of communication between us and God, isn't it? We pray and talk to God, and we know that He hears us if we ask according to His will, that He hears us. But God doesn't ever speak to us. The phone's never going to ring, and you're going to look at it and say, it's not going to say, the Lord. People say, oh, if God called you on the phone, that'd be crazy. Would that be crazy, or would it be crazier to think that that voice inside your head is God talking to you? Because that's what 45% of evangelicals think, that when they say something and then they respond to themselves in their head, they say, that must be God. You're talking to yourself. God speaks to you through His word. So, you know, Trump, he's just, he talks, you know, they want to say, oh, he's a Christian. He's this great man of God. No, he isn't. He's playing these people like a fiddle. He just wants to be seen of men, and he wants to just, you know, come across as being some great man of God when he's the farthest thing from it. And you know what? He surrounds himself with people that love money. Trump loves money. He surrounds himself with people that love money. You know, like I mentioned earlier, Paula White and all these Pentecostal preachers that he has in his evangelical advisory committee, they're all millionaires. They're all the type of people that are going to tell you that, you know, if you're not making tons of money, God's not blessing you. Is that how God works? If you're not just rolling the dough, if you're not like, you know, what was that duck's name that walked around in all the gold? Scrooge or whatever? Scrooge McDuck. If you don't have a silo full of cash where you just swim in it all the time, then God must not be happy with you. That's funny because when the Lord was here, he said he had not where to lay his head. I look at the scripture and I see people that were destitute, homeless, poor. Some of God's greatest men were poor men. I don't see a lot of rich people. And that's not to say that, you know, if you have wealth, that you're an evil person. If you come to wealth in your life through hard work and honesty and being ethical in your doings, then God bless you. God will bless people like that so that they can be ready to communicate and to bless others. But that's not who Trump surrounds himself with. You know, there's not a bunch of hardworking independent fundamental Baptists that have made something of themselves in Trump's prayer closet or whatever with him. It's a bunch of Pentecostal prosperity preachers. You know why he likes that brand of Christianity? It's because it appeals to his greedy, covetous nature. Because they're just like him. They love money. They love the power that money brings. And you know what? People who love money don't love God. Keep something in 1 Timothy 6, but go over to Luke chapter 16. Luke chapter 16. Look, if you love money, you can't love both. The Bible's very clear about this. Look at Luke chapter 16 verse 13. No man can serve two masters. Why? Because in this particular instance, these two masters have two different wills. Jesus said, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves not break through nor steal. Jesus didn't say make it big in this world. He didn't say go out and make a bunch of money. Accumulate a bunch of wealth. That's not what Jesus taught. That's the commandment of that master, the Lord Jesus. Then there's the other master of the world and money, the God of mammon that says make as much as you can, squirrel it away, make money, make money, make money. Life's all about money. Those are two different masters with two different wills. You can't serve them both. How could you? No man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. And mammon is just another word for money. I mean Jesus could not be any clearer. You can't serve God and mammon. It's one or the other. And that's not to say that we should all quit our jobs and just beg for a living, but we can't make our life all about making money because that will become your God to you. That's what you'll serve. You'll be like Donald Trump. You'll just serve money. Your whole life will be just caught up in seeing how much you can amass, how much you can make. And you know what? People will go to great lengths to make more money. Then they start to serve that God. They'll start to do wicked evil things. They'll step on heads. They'll hurt people. They don't care because they want more money because the love of money is the root of all evil. And the Pharisees also, verse 14, who were covetous, heard all these things and they derided him. You know a bunch of Pharisees, a bunch of wicked people are going to hear that saying and because of the covetousness at their own heart they're going to mock anybody who believes like this. I mean they mocked the Lord Jesus for it. They derided him. Oh, you idiot. You can't too. What's wrong with, you know, what's wrong with making a bunch of money? You can serve both. And look, whoever wins this election, like I said earlier, they're both a reflection of our nation as a whole. You know, you got the proud covetous know-it-all in Donald Trump who boasts himself of a false gift. God talks directly to me. Nobody else can make this. It was a miracle economy. Nobody else could do it. I'm so important that God had to take me down a notch by making me do it again, which is what I'm going to do if you vote for me again this November. You got that guy or you have the senile pervert in Joe Biden. Those are your options today, folks. Who's it going to be? Which lesser of two evil are you going to vote for this fall? Don't tell me if you're going to. I'm voting for Biden. Just keep that to yourself. I don't care who you're voting for. Maybe I'll find another person who's going to vote and you guys can cancel each other out. But we have a covetous proud boaster for a president because that's who is making up the vast majority of our country. People who just love money, chase money. They're not in the house of God because they're too busy working. They're not winning souls because they're too busy working. They're not reading their Bible because they're too busy reading a stock report or whatever. They're just all about making money. They're covetous. So we have a covetous president. What is the cure for covetousness? Contentment. That's the cure. It's contentment. Look at 1 Timothy chapter six. Did you keep something there? The Bible says, but godliness with contentment is great gain. Look, you want to have great gain in your life. You want to be wealthy spiritually. Then godliness and contentment. That's what you need to invest in today. Living a godly life and being content with such things as you have. And not always just chasing the next thing. Not always just looking to see how much more you can make. But being content with what God has given you. For we brought nothing into this world and in a certain we can carry nothing out. You know, Trump's going to have to leave all the Trump casinos and all the Trump towers and all the gold-plated silverware, whatever else he's got. None of that's going with him. He's going to leave it all behind and he's going to fade into history. Eventually we won't even know who he was. He says in having food and raiment, let us be there with content. That's a pretty short list, isn't it? Say, well I don't feel like God's blessing me. Okay, did you eat today? I know some of you ate today because I was right there with you eating. Okay, well there's half of what God promised you right there if you ate today. And from the looks of it, everybody's got raiment. Clothes on, right? Hey, you just got everything God promised you. You got a full belly and clothes on your back? Don't be content. What more do you need in life, honestly? There's a lot of things we can have because they're nice to have. And I'm not against having nice things. You know, we work hard, you know, and we buy nice things for ourselves and we enjoy them. But is your happiness riding upon things and stuff? Are you caught up? Are you covetous? Do you think, how happy of a guy do you think Donald Trump would be if you took away all of his earthly possessions? If he gave up all the limos and the, you know, the suits and just the penthouses and the yachts. You know, any of these rich people, any of these just incredibly wealthy people, just take away everything that they have and just give them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a pair of blue jeans, and a t-shirt and say, there you go. And you can have that every day. Do you think that they're going to be content people? They're going to be mad at the hornet because they're all about money. They're all about things. That's all they want. Nothing else will do. They're covetous. And the cure for covetousness is contentment. He says, having fruit and lameness, let us be there with content. Jump down to verse 11, but thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. You know, there's all these godly attributes. These are the things that we want to have in our spiritual bank account. Godliness, righteousness, faith, love, patience, meekness. But notice about those things, it says you have to follow after them. What's he saying here? They have to be pursued. You're not just going to wake up in the morning and these things are going to fall into your lap. You're not going to wake up and have righteousness and godliness and faith and love and meekness and patience. These things don't just, you know what I mean? They're not guaranteed. But if you walk in the Spirit, if you follow after them, if you pursue them, then they're yours. You have to procure these things. So can you see how you can't serve two masters? If you're going to make your life just all about making money, you're not going to have time for all these things. You're not going to be able to invest in these things if it's just all about covetousness, greed, getting all these things. You're not going to be patient. You're not going to be godly. There's not going to be a lot of love. People will cut each other's throats for money out there. And he goes on and says, fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art called. Look at verse 17. It says, Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches. So look, because here's the thing. Some people, they make their money and then they get saved. They have riches. And he's imploring those people to not trust in uncertain riches. Look, don't put your trust in those things. Those things didn't get you saved, did they? Those things weren't profiting you anything in this life. Up until the time you got saved, they're not going to help you anymore in your Christian life. Unless, what does it say in verse 18? That they do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate. And we talked about a few weeks ago, that's talking about giving finances. Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life. I wanted to direct your attention to one other thing here, if you go back to verse nine. Because it says there that them that are rich in this world, talking about people that already have wealth, that they should behave themselves in a certain way. They should make sure that they use that wealth wisely to benefit them in eternity. That they should lay up for a store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come. They should use that wealth and prosperity they have to do works for God and invest in heaven. Lay up for themselves treasures in heaven. But those are people that are rich. Now, here's the warning to those that will be rich. You see the difference there? Those that are rich and those that will be rich? Look at verse nine. But they that will be rich, meaning that's what they want, that's what they desire, that's what they will to be rich. They're not content, they're covetous. What they have, food and raiment isn't enough for them, they want the wealth. And he's saying, look, those that will be rich do what? Fall into temptation and a snare, a trap. The devil lays a trap in riches. The flesh will trap you in riches. Because there's some sins that you can't get involved in without money. You just can't go to the degree of wickedness. Now, there's plenty of sin to get involved in without money. And what he's saying here is that money's not going to help that at all. In fact, when people come into money, a lot of times the sin that they're already doing, it just compounds it. It just makes it even worse. And that's what it's saying here. They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. How many rock and rollers, how many movie stars do you have to look at? How many Hollywood stars who came into riches and they grew up wealthy and then they just ruined their lives with drugs, ruined their lives with whatever, alcohol, to the point where they commit suicide. Some of the most miserable people in the world today are those that said, I want to be rich. People who win the lottery. I mean, there's just horror story after horror story. You think the lottery is going to fix your life? It'll ruin it. People that have been straight up kidnapped, held for ransom, murdered, all kinds of terrible things. People end up poorer than before they won the lottery. And that's what I'm saying tonight is that we shouldn't love money. But you know what? The vast majority of Americans do. And that's why we have the president that we have. And if the other guy gets in, you know what? He's a fitting reflection of this country as well. And we have to learn to be content. Be satisfied with the Lord. I mean, isn't he enough? Isn't that enough? Isn't it nice just having the food and arraignment and having the fellowship in Christ, doing something that matters with your life, saving souls, learning the Word of God. These are, you know, raising godly families. These are the things that bring true peace and contentment in life. Not chasing money. Chasing the same things that everybody else is chasing. The Bible says, if you would, go over to James chapter 4. It says in Hebrews, let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have. For he said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. You know, he's saying here that you should be content, that your conversation should be without covetousness, and that you should be content with such things as you have. Why? Because God said so. No, because he had said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Well, you know, I don't have all the wealth that other people have. Are they saved? You look at some rich guy who's got it all and he's unsaved. Do you really want to be in his position? Remember the sermon this morning? Some guy is going to partake in the resurrection of the unjust. Well, you know, it just seems like all the unsaved people, they've got everything and I've got nothing. You have everything if you're saved. Because God has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. The problem is, is that we just can't see that. You know, we can't wrap our minds around that. That's why we need to get in the Word of God and help God to help us, ask God to help us to see these things, to understand these things. That though we might not have this world's wealth, we have the Lord who will never leave us nor forsake thee so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. Donald Trump is not my helper today. I'm not comforted by the fact that if Donald Trump gets elected, I'm not going to breathe a sigh of relief. Go, I'm so glad Donald got back in there. Man, we were this close to losing it all. For all you know, Donald Trump could go get in office and the people that hate him could just burn this country to the ground, the way things are going. Who knows how triggered they'll get? Another four years? Who knows what will happen? But I'm not worried about it because the Lord is my helper. And whatever happens this fall, I'm not worried about it because God's in control. And God will, as long as we're serving Him and content with Him, then you know what? He's going to help us. And I want to just point that you say, well, you know, I don't want to be a covetous person. Well, you know what? Covetousness is something that has to be forsaken. Righteousness, all these things, they have to be pursued, they have to be followed. Contentment is the cure for covetousness and contentment is something that has to be learned. It has to be learned. Paul said, not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. You know, he said, I have learned this. Now, I already know how to do it. I've always known how to be content in whatsoever state I am. I've always known that. He would sound like Donald Trump. I've always been content. I'm the most content person there is. No one's more content than I am. You think that was Paul's attitude? No. He said, I have learned whatsoever state to be content. Meaning, you know, Paul probably had to be put in some positions where he had to learn it the hard way. And sometimes that's what God does to us. Maybe that's why God keeps us lean financially. Maybe that's why we never come into the windfall because he knows it would ruin us. That we wouldn't be content. That if we just got a bunch of money overnight, we would probably just blow it on stupid things that might even lead us into sin. So God keeps us lean. Why? To teach us contentment. To teach us to rely on him. We just go through life day by day. Food, raiment. Food, raiment. Food, raiment. Anything besides that is gravy. Anything on the cake. That's just a blessing of God. He said, I know both how to be abased and how to abound everywhere and all things. I am instructed to both be full and to be hungry. Both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. He said, I don't care how poor I am or how rich I am. I don't care if I'm hungry or full. I can do it all through Christ because the Lord is my helper. Look, we don't want to fall into the trap of the love of money. We don't want to be known as covetous people. We know that our current leader and many like him are covetous people or is a covetous person and he is a reflection of the people around us that are very covetous. This is a very covetous country that we live in. It's a very covetous world. Just wait a couple more months and you'll see that right around the Christmas time. When it's supposed to be about blessedness, it's more blessed to give than to receive. It seems like we get around Christmas and all everyone's thinking about is what am I going to get? We're trained from little kids. I've seen it and I'm saying we're training our kids that way. I remember going to my buddy's house and he had that big thick toy catalog. His mom would just take the catalog, take the marker, go tell me what you want and he'd just sit there. I want that. He's like circling everything on every page. I want it all. It's like man, spoiled man. At the time I was like you're so lucky. I was covetous. I was greedy. I wanted the same thing. Why doesn't my mom just buy me whatever I want? I remember one year when we moved to Michigan, we were so, my mom was, we were so poor. We went to Goodwill and my mom bought clothes for us in front of us and they were our Christmas presents. She literally bought them in front of us. We had no idea. She's just picking out clothes, second-hand clothes. On Christmas, she packed them up. That's what we got for Christmas. You know what? I was glad to have some wool socks and a sweater with a goose on it or something. The dorky clothes that none of the other kids wanted to wear. That's what I wore. I don't know what that has to do with anything, you know. At the time, I probably wasn't too happy about it. But you know what? I appreciate a good pair of wool socks these days. You get older, you start to, you start to go, man, I could use a good pair of wool socks. Even in the desert. Here's what I'm trying to say tonight. We don't want to be covetous people. We want to be content with the Lord. We want to be satisfied with God. But you have to understand this. This is something that's learned. Because here's the thing, being a covetous person, that's the default position. You know, when I'm a teenager getting second-hand clothes. Do you think I was really happy about that Christmas? I wanted a Super Nintendo, man. I wanted to play Super Mario World. And I got one after I got a job in third grade. I got one after I got a job in World. And I got one after I got a job and paid for it. But I thought, mom's just kidding. Why all the other kids are getting all this other stuff? Why was I like that? Because that's the default position. You know, that we come from the factory, the switch, you know, content, covetous. Content, covetous. Like there's a little switch, you know, on like a toy or a doll or something, you can turn it off and on. Ours is set to covetous. That's our default position, to just lust after everything. That's what the Bible says. Look at James chapter 4, last place we'll look at tonight. It says in verse 1, from whence comes war and fighting, wars and fighting among you. Come they not hence even of your own lusts that war and your members? Say, look, the covetousness, the wars, the lusts, they come from within you. He lusts and you have not. You kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you have not because you ask not. You ask and receive not because you ask and miss and consume it upon your lusts. The adulterers and adulteresses, knowing not that the friendship of the world is the enemy of God, whosoever therefore be the enemy of the world or the friend of the world is the enemy of God. Look at verse 5. Do you think that the scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? And I've heard some people get up and preach and say, he's talking about the Holy Spirit and that God's jealous for his children. That's not what this is saying. In the context, that doesn't make any sense. He's saying, look, you war, you have not, you lust, you cannot obtain. These things come from your members. Why? Because the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth envy. By nature, we are covetous people. We desire the things we can't have or shouldn't have. All the way back to Eve. She looked at it. She was told, don't eat that. But when she saw that it was pleasant of the eyes, it was good for me and could make one wise. Then she took it and ate, right? And he's saying here, look, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth envy, but he giveth more grace. Wherefore, he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Your default position as a human being is covetous, greedy, lust, desire. And if it goes unchecked, especially in an unsafe person, you know what you end up with? The Donald Trumps of the world. That's what you end up with. People who are just, you know, egomaniacs, desiring more power, more money. It's never enough. You have to learn contentment. You have to learn contentment. You got to learn how to take that switch and flip it over from covetous to content with such things as you have. Now that sounds easy, doesn't it? Just flip the switch, man. It's easy. But what did Paul say? I have learned to be content in whatsoever state I am. Meaning he had to be put in some states, didn't he? He had to find himself in some pretty dire situations to say, well, the Lord is my helper. He had to be put in those positions. And you know what? A lot of people, they will never learn it because they don't want to go there. They do not want to go there because of pride. Because learning contentment takes humility, doesn't it? That's what he says here. Verse 5. Do you think that the scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth in ebony, but he giveth more grace, wherefore God saith, God resist, wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners. Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, your joy to heaviness. Look at verse 10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Some people are never going to learn to become content people because it requires too much humility. They're too proud. Is anyone holding their breath waiting for Donald Trump to come out tomorrow and say, I've just given everything away. I'm just going to go serve God in a local church. I got saved. I see the error of my ways. I just want to serve God and win souls. Do you really think that's ever going to happen? No way. Could it happen? Yeah, but I would be shocked. I would fall over if it happened. Could happen, but I'm not holding my breath. Why? Because he's too proud. He's got too much pride because he's the best at everything, and we like to rip on guys like Donald Trump, don't we? They make it so easy because they're just, you know, they have all their quirks. They're so fun to impersonate. You know, it's easy, but you know what? We're probably all a little bit like Donald Trump sometimes. We'll probably all get a little coverage just because that's the default position for everybody. There's a lot of little Donald Trumps around the world today, a lot of little Donalds that need to learn contentment, that need to learn to be content with whatsoever things they have because when you learn to do that, when you learn to be content, that's when you start to realize the true riches that you have in Christ, when you can take your focus off the things of this world and not get so caught up in the affairs of this life and not have, you know, not allow your life to be just quenched, your spiritual life just strangled by the thorns and the thistles of the cares and the riches and the pleasures of this life, when you can get your mind off of that, then you can really start to understand how rich you really are in Christ. As I mentioned this morning, the fact that you are going to participate in the resurrection of the just, that we are heirs with Christ. The world can have all the gizmos and the gadgets and the doodads and the bank accounts and the vaca- they can have it. They can have it. Just give me Jesus. Just give me Christ. Just give me this book right here and give me the Holy Spirit. Give me a good church. Give me fellowship with other Christians. Give me souls to save. Content. Give me some clothes. Give me some, give me some Juanitos or give me a bowl of Cheerios. I don't care. Give me, you know, you put food in my belly, clothes in my back, good to go. Content. But you got to learn that. You know, it takes time. It takes having to learn those things. It takes having to want it, to follow after it. Let's go ahead and pray.