The Motivation for Godliness, Part 2

You must possess an eternal perspective. Dr. Tony Evans says a lifestyle reflecting the character of God yields everlasting rewards.

You and I must learn to think and live in light of the world to come, not only in the light of the world we live. Celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, this is The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans. Author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of the Urban Alternative. Some activities in life are of fleeting significance, while other pursuits can return benefits that go on and on. Today, Dr. Evans explains why practicing godliness falls into the latter perpetual rewards category.

Let's join him in 1 Timothy chapter 6 as he begins. Godliness is a lifestyle that is consistent, both desirous and functionally, reflecting the character of God. But there's a problem.

It's a big problem. Because there is one thing above all other things that interrupts our move toward godliness. Among all the things that will hinder, limit, distort, deny our desire and pursuit of godliness, one thing reigns above all. And Paul tells Timothy, both for himself and both for the congregation at Ephesus, to make this point clear.

Notice what he says. He says at the end of verse 5, Godliness is a means of great gain. The word gain means profit. A profit is the difference between your income and your expenses.

It's that gap that gives us our profit margin. Not only a good profit, he says it's a great profit. So anybody who's interested in making a profit, and I'm sure everybody here is, he says that you ought to be interested in godliness because with it comes a zinger, a high profit margin, great gain. But he says the thing that gets in the way is when you use godliness as a means of gain.

The verse 5, end of verse 5. He says, here it is, verse number 6, but godliness actually is a means of great gain, that's a high profit margin, when accompanied by contentment. If you want your life to be a high profit margin and not a wasted, limited profit margin, then a marriage needs to occur between your pursuit of godliness and your contentment in life. Lack of contentment will stifle godliness. The presence of contentment with the pursuit of godliness will give you a profit margin that will blow your mind.

Because he calls it great gain. Stay with me here. One of the main reasons why the spiritual is subject to the material is lack of contentment. Contentment means inner sufficiency in spite of external circumstances. Hebrews 13, verses 5 and 6 says that the contented man is the man or woman who knows that god is acting on their behalf. See, if you don't have a view that god is acting on your behalf and it's totally 100%, 1000% dependent upon you, then you can't be content. Why is he concerned about the lack of contentment? Because he says godliness with contentment. You can't have maximum godliness and discontentment. So if you're complaining all the time, and I wish I had more, and I don't have enough, and this and that, and you whining and crying, what you're doing is saying no godliness, no godliness, no godliness, which means let's gain, let's gain, let's gain.

Because godliness with contentment is great gain. That's because being rich, and everybody here is rich, being rich without contentment has side effects. You know, you go to the doctor, you get this medicine to make you feel better, and then it tells you the side effects. Okay, get this medicine, it's gonna make you feel better now, it's gonna give you cancer, it's gonna give you a stroke, it's gonna give you a heart attack, it'll take away the headache. It make you not want to take it for the problem you need it for, because the side effects are gonna make you worse.

Now you're gonna give me something for a headache and tell me it might kill me. I mean, what the deal is. He says when you are rich, and now everybody is rich, so now unless you're one of those rare people in here, you are rich based on the Bible. I ain't talking about Hollywood, I ain't talking about Wall Street, I'm talking about the Bible. Based on the Bible, food, clothes, and shelter, every dollar over that should put you in the contentment category, because you're in the rich category. See, right now, once you know you're rich, you'll think differently. See, if you don't know you're rich, then you're trying to get rich. But once you discover you're already rich, it changes your priorities.

Watch this now. He says there are two side effects for richness without contentment. Two side effects. He says in verse 17, instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches. He says there are two side effects of the discontented Christian who is wealthy, who is all of us.

He says side effects, number one, is thinking more of yourself than you ought to. He calls it being conceited, because when your net worth goes up, often your self-worth goes up with it. Because I have more money, I think I'm more than I really am. Because I'm driving a better car, I'm living large, I think I'm better than I really am. And that's why the more you get, the more you are likely to look down on other people who used to be where you are, who are not where you are now, and therefore you treat them with less because you view them as less because you have more. He says a side effect of wealth is pride. He says the second side effect is a shifting hope. You fix your hope on the uncertainty of riches.

What does he mean? You give money more credit than it deserves. Because now you're looking for money to fix it, money to get you out of it, money to make the contact, money to buy the solution, money to do it, money to do it. And you now make money your hope when when you didn't have money, God was your hope.

Because you were pursuing godliness, so you were looking to God. But now that you got American Express, Mastercard, and Visa, and a little chump change in the account, you are now looking for more money and not more God. He says, and you get the side effects of being rich when the material takes over priority over the spiritual. You get the side effects.

You get the disease. Having more money doesn't make you better at being rich, just like having more kids don't make you better at being a parent. Just because you get more of it don't mean you can do a better job with it. And that's why the more money we get, the more debt we're in. Because we weren't able to handle it with a thousand dollars. We're asking God to give us another thousand so I could pay off that thousand only to get in debt with a new thousand, because more money doesn't make you better at being rich, and everybody here is rich. I hope you caught in the news about this new disease out there called affluenza. This guy, this kid committed a crime, and he blamed his wealth on his crime spree. Affluenza.

Anybody had that disease? Affluenza. That's the disease of being rich, being conceited, and hoping that money will do what only God was designed to do. God doesn't mind you being rich.

Everybody here is rich at varying levels. He never wants your riches to compete with your pursuit of godliness or to cause you to be discontent with where you are when the basic needs have been met. In verses 18 and 19, he gives you the vaccine for affluenza, for the disease of stuff.

Again, don't misunderstand me. You are rich. God is not telling you don't be rich. He's not telling you don't enjoy the riches that He's given you. He's just saying don't let it blind you to the greater gain of godliness.

So watch this now. Three things, when you get these final three things, you're on your way to a profit margin the likes of which you have never seen before, regardless of your bank account. I'm getting ready to tell you three things that will blow your mind and give you what He calls at the end of the verse life indeed.

You're really going to get to live now with these three things once you vaccinate the disease. Instruct them, verse 18 says, to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share. He says if you want to be positioned well so that riches, and everybody's rich, don't get in the way of your pursuit of godliness, you tell them who are rich to be rich in serving others. If you're rich in money, you ought to be richer in service. The more your worth goes up, the more your service should go up. If you're getting a raise on the job, but you're not getting a raise with God for serving, then you've got the disease. He says you tell the rich folk to be rich in service.

It's funny how the richer people get, the less service they want to render. He says the other thing is being rich and being generous, giving. The more your blessing goes up, do you know the average American Christian gives 2.5% of their income to the Lord? The average American Christian gives 2.5% of their income to the Lord. The reason why there's so much misery in the church, the reason why the kingdom of God can't advance, the reason why people have to come up with gimmicks is that rich people aren't generous, and everybody's rich.

Not only do they not give an offering, they don't even give the tithe. He says I want God to be your source. That's why God says give as first, the first check you write, the first gift you may make it to God to let God know you know He's your source.

He says you're not looking to your job or to the bank. God is my source. He is my supply, and God, I want to let you know that. But people rob God all the time. He says you tell the rich people to be generous in their service and generous in their giving.

Not just the church, but they have a giving spirit about them and when they can help and as they can help. That's in their DNA to do it because they are filthy rich. And most people in this room are not just rich, most people in this room are filthy rich. Except when you're comparing yourself with Bill Gates.

But that's not the comparison, the comparison is with the Word of God, and the Word of God says you're filthy rich. Dr. Evans will have more for us on the motivation of godliness when he continues our message in just a moment. Stay with us. Throughout any woman's life, you'll hold many roles, and so often it can feel like you're just plotting to get through. We know that this can feel like obscurity and mundane tasks, but whatever God has called you to do, plant yourself there, because you've got a harvest coming back to you if you do. Carrying the legacy of Lois Evans, daughters Crystal Hurst and Priscilla Shire encourage you to not just survive the season you're in, but thrive there with the new four-DVD Bible study, Seasons of a Woman's Life. With your generous gift to the Urban Alternative, receive the classic book, workbook, and DVD series now. Visit TonyEvans.org to learn more about how you can get the Seasons of a Woman's Life Bible study package. And that's also where you can go to receive a full-length copy of today's message, part of the short but powerful new series Tony's delivering called In Pursuit of Godliness. This four-message collection takes you deep into Scripture to explore what it means to be godly, how God allows us to approach Him, and just why godliness is something we should seek in the first place.

You can get the complete series on CD and digital download as our gift when you make a donation to the Ministry of the Alternative. And if we hear from you today, we'll also send you a copy of Tony's popular book, God Himself, A Journey Through His Attributes. This exciting work takes a look at God's wisdom and wrath, His efficiency and sovereignty, and His goodness, grace, and glory. Dr. Evans dives deep into the character of God, giving you fresh new insights that'll deepen your understanding and love for your Creator. Just visit us today at TonyEvans.org or call us at 1-800-800-3222, make your contribution, and let us send you as our thank you gift, In Pursuit of Godliness, and Tony's book, God Himself.

I'll have our contact information for you again after part two of today's lesson. The third thing that will blow your mind and give you great gain, that's a high profit margin in your life, is storing up for yourself the treasure of a good foundation for the future. You must possess, I must possess, we must possess an eternal perspective. He says, tell those who are rich, verse 17, in this present world, so you're rich right now, to store up in the future world.

Okay, let's get this straight. You're living in two worlds, the present world, and then he says, the future world. You and I must learn to think and live in light of the world to come, not only in the light of the world we live. See, the earth is only going to get you to think about the earth, which means Godliness won't be a priority.

Making more than the Joneses will be a priority. God doesn't mind you being rich. He doesn't mind you enjoying that you're rich. What He minds is that you've linked all of your efforts to earth.

If you know Jesus Christ, you have a future that's going to blow your mind. And God is going to see what you did here to give you your future there. A lady one day went on a trip and she had a cat. She told her husband, who hated the cat, keep the cat, while she was gone. She was going to go for two weeks or something, and this cat was driving this man nuts. So he couldn't take it anymore, and he took the cat down to the shipyard and put the cat on a boat that was getting ready to take off. He went back home.

The wife came back the next week. She said, where's the cat? He said, the cat went away.

He didn't lie. The cat was gone. The cat went away. She said, we've got to find him.

He said, certainly, dear, let's go look. So they went all around and of course couldn't find the cat. She said, you've got to find me, my cat. I love my cat.

He said, I tell you what, dear, what we're going to do is this. I'm going to put an ad in the paper. Anybody who finds this cat, I'm going to give them $5,000, because I love you that much. One of the guy's friends saw the ad and said, man, I just saw the ad you put in the paper for the cat. $5,000 for a cat? He said, yeah.

Why would you give $5,000 reward for a cat? He said, it's simple. When you know what I know, no investment is too big.

When you know about your future and what God has in store for you in eternity, then you giving in service and giving in resources as a priority to God because he's made you rich. Because when you know what you know, it ought to change how you function. A couple of times a year, I talked to Dan Cathy. Dan Cathy is the son of Truett Cathy. Truett Cathy is the founder of Chick-fil-A.

Truett Cathy would be on the side of the road selling chickens with his unique recipe. And more people liked it, more people liked it, more people liked it, more people like it. It grew, it grew, it grew. And now it's a Fortune 500 company today. If you ever go to Atlanta, go by the Chick-fil-A offices, beautiful offices. Sitting right outside the front door is their mission statement.

Let me paraphrase it for you. He says Chick-fil-A exists to bring glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in providing a quality product to our customers with quality service alongside. As you know, Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays. It's closed on Sundays because their philosophy is that's the Lord's day. And we're willing to give up whatever profit we would make on Sunday in order to make sure that people don't get their worship interrupted. When they took their stand for the biblical family and said the biblical family is a man and a woman, and there is no other definition, and everybody came out of the woodwork to condemn them taking a stand, he said we couldn't keep up with the amount of chicken we needed to sell for everybody coming out the woodwork to support kingdom values.

Because God knows how to make up on Monday through Friday what we gave up on Sunday when we put him first. What I'm trying to say is, when you know what they know, if it's a filthy rich company, but their priorities are God-ward, so they support missions around the world to support the kingdom of God because they understand while they're in it to make a profit, they want great gain. So let me conclude by telling you what great gain is. He tells you at the end of verse 19, great gain, the profit margin that will blow your mind, is life indeed. If you make godliness with contentment, you're going to spend more time giving thanks than complaining about what you're going to have. You're going to be at rest with what you have until God legitimately allows you to get more to enjoy.

That's going to be your posture. You're going to pursue the spiritual over the material. He says, and now you will have life indeed. The word indeed means show enough. When Jesus rose from the dead, the women came back and said, He has risen indeed. So what is life indeed?

Here it is. Life indeed is experiencing the reality of God operating in your life and in your circumstances so that you have His supernatural presence at work with you, for you, in you, through you, regardless of the circumstances that face you. There are a lot of folk with money who don't have life indeed. They don't have peace in the midst of trouble. They don't have stability. They've got a house, but they don't have a home. They have money, but they don't have peace.

They've got stuff, but they don't have a life. God is offering you, if you mix godliness with contentment, He's not just saying just live out the rest of your life. He's inviting you to live out your life indeed. Dr. Tony Evans, wrapping up the final message from his current series, In Pursuit of Godliness. Now don't forget, all four full-length messages in this collection can be yours with our thanks if you'll help us keep bringing Tony's teaching here each day with your generous contribution. You'll receive the complete series on CD and downloadable MP3s, and as a special bonus when we hear from you today, you'll also receive Tony's popular book, God Himself, A Journey Through His Attributes. To take advantage of this offer, be sure to call right away 1-800-800-3222.

Resource team members are on hand 24-7 to help you. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222. Or you can make the arrangements online at TonyEvans.org. Again, TonyEvans.org.

The more we really get to know someone, the more it seems like we're getting into their head. Well, tomorrow Dr. Evans will explain why that's exactly the way it works with God's Spirit and our heads as he begins a series of lessons about life in the Spirit. Before we go today, we want to share this quick shout-out Dr. Evans recently received in celebration of 40 years of God's faithfulness to the ministry of the Urban Alternative.

Hey Dr. Evans, O.S. Hawkins, and Jack Graham here, just thanking God for you and your 40 years of ministry. We've been in this city together with Dr. Evans and his wonderful church all these years, 30 years plus for me and you, 25 years. And we've just seen God do incredible things in your life, not only in this community where you are loved and appreciated, but through the Urban Alternative and the ministry of your church around the world. I love you.

I respect you. I thank God for you, Dr. Tony Evans. And Tony, let me just add that today as Jack and I sit here just to wish you a happy 40th anniversary of ministry. As Asaph said of King David, you've led your people with the integrity of your heart and the skillfulness of your hands. Just want you to know you're loved and appreciated. The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by the Urban Alternative and is celebrating 40 years of faithfulness thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you.