This is Robert Jeffress.
In response to the horrific attack on Israel, I've written a brand new book called Are We Litting in the End Times? Go to ptv.org to order your copy. Contentment isn't natural. It's not a part of our DNA. It's something we have to learn. Paul had to learn it.
How did he learn it? I want you to jot down Paul's three secrets for contentment. They're all found in this little letter we call Philippians. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. Social media provides a fun way to connect with our friends, but these platforms really have stirred up problems as well. One of the biggest issues? Jealousy.
People and their glamorous lifestyles look so much better than our own, don't they? Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress shares the secret to being content in our circumstances. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.
Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David. And just before we start today's message, let me call your attention to the 2024 Pathway to Victory Cruise Vacation to Alaska.
The dates are June 15th through 22nd. Alaska is often dubbed the last frontier. And once you see the expansive vistas, the cascading mountains, the quaint seaside villages, you'll gain a whole new appreciation for what that truly means. All the details of this trip are online at ptv.org. Well, today's program features our final study and a brand new teaching series on the Ten Commandments. And in a moment, I'll be sharing what God's Word teaches about envy. But first, it's important to remind you that today, October 31st, is the final day to request my brand new book called The Ten. It's the one I wrote while preparing this teaching series for you. In my book, I explain how these ten rules from God were never intended to stifle our joy or restrict our freedoms.
That's what a lot of people have assumed. In reality, the Ten Commandments were written to enhance our joy and to deepen our love relationship with God. While there's still time, be sure to give us a call or go online to ptv.org so that you can request your copy of The Ten.
How to live and love in a world that has lost its way. I'll send a hardcover copy to your home right away when you give a generous gift to support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory. It'll arrive with a collection of ten pocket-sized encouragement cards. Each card includes one of the commandments, along with practical ways for you to lead them out.
For example, one of those encouragement cards is about the tenth commandment. At first, coveting may sound like a minor offense. After all, jealousy happens in the private places of the heart. Nobody sees it.
Nobody gets hurt, right? But Scripture teaches that our sinful longing for something different can turn into sinful behavior. I titled today's message, Control Yourself and Be Content. Exodus 20, verse 17. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor. What does it mean to covet? What are we talking about when we say we are not to covet? Covetousness is desire that has gone awry. It is an obsessive or compulsive focus on what doesn't belong to you.
It's a form of envy, of greed that can lead to taking from another person what doesn't belong to you. Over and over again, you find God condemning this burning desire for what we don't yet have. In fact, in Micah, chapter two, verses one to two, there is a woe. You find that in Scripture, W-O-E, woe, woe, woe. That's a divine damnation, and he pronounces covetousness with a divine damnation.
Look at Micah two, verses one and two. Woe to those who scheme iniquity, who work out evil on their beds. When morning comes, they do it, for it's in the power of their hands. They covet fields, and then seize them, and houses, and then take them away.
They rob a man of his house and a man of his inheritance. Well, where did covetousness come from? I think, again, this is one reason God hates it so much.
Let's look at the origin of covetousness. We find it in Isaiah, chapter 14, a record of the very first sin committed. Do you know where the first sin was committed? It wasn't in the Garden of Eden. No, it happened long before that, and it wasn't in Eden. It was in a galaxy far, far away.
It took place in heaven, and remember the story? Lucifer, who was Satan's original name, Lucifer was the chief angel. God had given him charge over all the other angels, but he wasn't content with that great position. He wanted a different position. He wanted God's job.
He wanted to be like God, and we find in Isaiah 14, God pronounces a five-fold indictment against Lucifer. He said, this is why I'm casting you out of heaven. Verse 13, for you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of the assembly and the resources of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.
I will make myself like the Most High. Because of that, Lucifer was cast from heaven. Now, we have all inherited that proclivity to covetousness, desire gone awry, a burning greed for what doesn't belong to us and belongs to other people. Now, we all have that simmering in our heart, but there are three catalysts that fuel that covetousness until it turns into a raging fire.
A fire needs fuel to keep on and to grow brighter. So does covetousness. What is it that fuels covetousness?
First of all, our culture. The culture in which we live breeds covetousness, and that culture leads to dissatisfaction. Here is what you need, and since you don't have it, this is why you're miserable. Dissatisfaction. If only I drove that car, if only I wore those clothes, if only I had that person as my life partner, I could truly be happy.
Why hasn't God given me those things? Culture leads to dissatisfaction, the opposite of contentment. And dissatisfaction can lead to the third catalyst for covetousness, and that is idolatry. You may think I'm never guilty of idolatry. Idolatry is something, is simply loving something or someone more than we love God.
Is there anything in your life you are pursuing more than you're pursuing your relationship with God? Ladies and gentlemen, there is no person, there is no possession, there is no position that can satisfy your deepest need other than God himself. And that's what leads to covetousness. Culture, dissatisfaction, idolatry. What is the cure for covetousness? We all have a spark of it inside of us. What quenches covetousness?
One word. Contentment. Contentment is the cure for covetousness. What is contentment? That word contentment literally means containment. It's a person who is self-contained. That is, he doesn't look to external things for his satisfaction in life. He doesn't tie his joy to the square footage of his house, the model of automobile he drives, the outcome of Friday's game, the Dow Jones Industrial Average. No, it's internally that he finds happiness and joy. And for a Christian, that is his relationship with Jesus Christ. Listen to Philippians 4 verses 11 to 13. Why did Paul say I learned to be content? Because contentment isn't natural.
It's not a part of our DNA. It's something we have to learn. Paul had to learn it.
How did he learn it? I want you to jot down Paul's three secrets for contentment. They're all found in this little letter we call Philippians. First of all, contentment is based on a life that is ministry focused.
It's ministry focused. Look at verse 12 of Philippians 1. Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. What were Paul's circumstances? He was in prison. He was facing what could have been his execution.
He was waiting to hear the final verdict. And yet he said, I want you to know, I'm happy about my circumstances, for they have turned out for the progress of the gospel. He says, the imprisonment, my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout all the Praetorian Guard. Even Caesar's guards are hearing the gospel.
And not only that, most of my brethren now have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. In other words, all of my circumstances are turning out to help me meet my life goal to share Christ with as many people as possible. You see, as my friend Bob Beale says, every life, every one of our lives, exists for one of two purposes. Our life is focused on either filling a greed or meeting a need. Our lives are either self-focused or others-focused. Do you know what the goal of most Christians is, what their real focus is in life? Peace, prosperity, pleasure, the avoidance of any kind of pain.
It's self-focused. And that's why adversity like imprisonment or bankruptcy or sickness, those are tragedies because they are detours from most Christians' focus in life. Had Paul had that focus, peace, prosperity, pleasure, the avoidance of pain, then his imprisonment would have been a great tragedy. It got him off the road to what he wanted in life. But Paul had another's focus in his life.
It was to share the gospel of Christ with as many people as possible. And because of that focus, he was able to see how this temporary tragedy was really being used by God for good. Your focus in life is the filter through which you view the circumstances of your life. Somebody has written, if for me to live is money, then to die is to leave it all behind. If for me to live is fame, then to die is to be forgotten. If for me to live is power and influence, then to die is to lose both.
But if for me to live is Christ, then to die is gain. Paul said the key to contentment is, first of all, a life that is ministry-focused. Second, a gratitude that is regularly expressed.
A gratitude that is regularly expressed. Philippians 4, 4, Paul wrote, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. In fact, did you know in Philippians, Paul talks about rejoicing or joy 19 different times in the four chapters of this letter. Why does he talk about rejoicing, rejoicing, rejoicing so many times? Because Paul understood a simple truth, it is impossible to be grateful and discontent at the same time. You can't be expressing thankfulness to God while at the same time grumbling against God for what he hasn't given to you.
And that's why Paul focused not on what he didn't have, but on what God gave him. And he said, I rejoice, I rejoice, I rejoice. His life was filled with gratitude. You know, when I think about that truth, I think about my grandfather.
He's in heaven now. But later in his life, my grandfather went through a tragedy. In a three month period of time, he lost both his wife at 58 years, my grandmother. Then three months later, his only daughter died, my mom.
You know, that would be enough to crush most people, to lose your maid and your child in a three month period. He was grieving, no doubt about it. But every time we went to see him after that, my brother and sister and I, he would take us to the cemetery. And we would get out of the car and we would stand around those graves. And he would just thank God for the time he had with his wife and daughter. And then he would lead us in a prayer and we would pray together, holding hands around the grave.
And then he would always close by leading us in this song. When upon life's billows, you are tempest-tossed. When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, count your many blessings. Name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done. Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God has done. Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God has done. Regularly express gratitude to God for what he has done, not for what he hasn't done yet. Finally, Paul had contentment because his life was built upon a faith that was based on the sovereignty of God. He had a faith that was based on the sovereignty of God. Remember, when Paul is writing this letter, he's awaiting the verdict of his trial, whether he would live or die.
But notice what he said in verse 19 of chapter 1. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. What did he mean he knew this would result in his deliverance?
He said, look, one of two things is going to happen. Either because of your prayers, I'm going to be delivered from prison. If I'm not delivered from prison and I'm executed, I'm going to be delivered from this world into the presence of Jesus Christ.
Either way, I win. I'm going to leave the outcome to God. Believing that God's plan, whatever it is, is a good plan. Let me ask you this morning, do you have that assurance? Do you have the assurance of Psalm 84-11 that God will withhold no good thing from those who walk uprightly? Do you have the assurance that every aspect of your life, your job, your mate, your children, your grandchildren, are all a part of God's sovereign plan? A plan, as Jeremiah 29-11 says, was planned not for calamity but for your welfare.
A plan that will give you a future and a hope. It's that rock-solid belief in the sovereignty of God in your life that is the foundation for contentment, which in turn is the only real cure for covetousness. I'm going to ask you to do something different this moment. I want you to stand wherever you are, all of us standing together in a spirit of worship. You know, you'll never be at peace with your circumstances. You'll never be at peace with yourself until you're at peace with God. And that's why Jesus came. To break down the wall between God and us by providing the forgiveness of our sins. Romans 5-1 says, therefore having been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. If you'd like to have that peace that comes from knowing your sins have been forgiven, I want to invite you to pray this prayer in your heart to God as I prayed out loud. Dear God, thank you for loving me. I know I have failed you in many ways, and I'm truly sorry for the sins in my life. But I believe what I've heard today, that you love me so much, you sent Christ to die for me. And right now I'm trusting in what Jesus did for me. Not in my good works, but in what Jesus did for me to save me from my sins.
Thank you for forgiving me, and help me to live the rest of my life for you. In Jesus' name, amen. Because today is the last day to request my book I wrote on this relevant topic. My new book is titled, The Ten. How to live and love in a world that has lost its way. I believe that our nation has become obsessed with personal freedoms. As such, millions of people have rejected self-governing rules, like the Ten Commandments.
They view these guidelines as a violation of their personal rights. Well, I'm convinced that this defiance against God's law is responsible for the deterioration of our nation. My new book, The Ten, explains how these basic laws are meant to bless us, not to repress us. Be sure to take advantage of this offer to receive my book called, The Ten. Many people are choosing my book for their small group Bible study or book club. Others are reading The Ten together with their families. I'll be sure to send you a hardcover copy to your home right away, when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. And thank you for giving generously. We are pushing back the forces of evil in our country, and we're doing so by helping men and women embrace the timeless principles of God's Word.
David? Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. And I'll tell you how to request that brand new book in just a moment. But first, I want to let you know that Dr. Jeffress will be back shortly with some closing thoughts on the Ten Commandments and their relevance to us today.
So stay tuned. Well, we started this series called The Ten Commandments on the first of October, and it ends today. Which means today is the very last day for you to request Dr. Jeffress' brand new book, The Ten. How to live and love in a world that has lost its way. We'll send you a copy when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.
And when you give an especially generous gift of $100 or more, we'll also include the complete The Ten teaching series on audio and video discs, plus a handy study guide. Again, this is the very last day that we'll be offering these resources, so give us a call at 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. You could write to us if you'd like, P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. One more time, that's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. Now, here's Dr. Jeffress with his closing thoughts on the Ten Commandments.
Dr. Jeffress? You know, many people think that God is some great cosmic killjoy in the sky and that the Bible is his rule book he throws at us whenever we step out of line. But that's not true at all.
In fact, the opposite is true. God wants us to enjoy life to the fullest, and he gave us the Bible for our well-being. When we refuse to follow God's instructions, including the Ten Commandments, the result is social and moral chaos. In his book, How Then Shall We Live?, the late Chuck Colson told of a time he was invited to speak to a group of community leaders about criminal justice.
Before the formal event, he had lunch with other panelists. One man tried to assure Colson of his company's commitment to religious liberty by boasting they had led the charge in their city to remove the Ten Commandments from classroom walls. When Colson asked why, the man proudly explained, We must be sensitive to all faiths. Colson said, But Christians, Jews, and Muslims all believe in the Ten Commandments. Even Buddhists and Hindus don't object to them.
But the man was unmoved. He curtly replied, Separation of church and state. Of course, Colson said, But as the former special counsel to the president, he explained, The Ten Commandments are the historical roots of our legal system.
That's why Moses is included among the great lawgivers whose faces are represented in the fresco that adorns the walls of the House of Representatives chamber. But times have changed. We must recognize that, the man argued, ending the conversation. When the event began and Colson began his prepared remarks, the same man interrupted and asked if Colson had seen the latest statistics regarding crime in the schools. Two-thirds of our kids cheat in school, the man said, and a third admit that they steal. What can we do about it? And Colson just smiled.
This man didn't even realize he had proven Colson's point. We want freedom from God's rules and authority, but we hate the moral chaos that inevitably results. Only a generation ago, Americans generally accepted that the Ten Commandments are the foundation of our nation's legal system. Many of us grew up with these rules posted in our schools, not to mention the depictions of the Ten Commandments in the Supreme Court and in other government buildings.
But in recent years, the prevailing view has changed so that people reject biblical morality. We're obsessed with our freedom to believe and do anything we want. Many people consider the Ten Commandments to be an oppressive code of behavior from a bygone era, an archaic collection of thou shalt nots that no longer apply in today's world. Yet, far from what most people think, the Ten Commandments were not given to restrict our freedom, but to enhance our joy.
They serve as guardrails that keep our lives on track. These timeless truths invite us into the blessing of a loved relationship with God and the resulting spillover into our relationships with others. I'm convinced that our lack of application of the Ten Commandments is responsible for the deterioration of our nation, our churches, our homes, and our personal lives. We are reaping the consequences of forgetting God's most basic laws. We desperately need to get back to the basics of morality, to simple, clear answers about what it means to live and love in a world that has lost its way.
And that's just what the Ten Commandments provide. Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. I'm David J. Mullins, inviting you back next time for the start of a new series called Prayers That Really Work. That's coming up Wednesday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. In response to the alarming war in the Middle East, Dr. Robert Jeffress has written a brand new book for you. It answers pressing questions like, are we living in the end times? In this time-sensitive book, Dr. Jeffress answers seven questions about the future, such as, what are the major events of the end times? Request a copy right now by going to ptv.org. It's called Are We Living in the End Times? To receive your pre-release copy, go to ptv.org.
