well greetings everybody uh we welcome you to the Divine Encounter Church uh broadcast uh for our Bible study this week and uh some information that you may need concerning Divine encounter our web address is www.d divine encounter ch.net uh our meeting location for Sunday Services we meet once per week sundayes and that is Sundays at 3M uh that is at the Morris Lawrence building of the Wasa Community College which is an arbor in an Arbor Michigan 4800 East Heron River Drive uh and that's an Arbor Michigan 48105 so do come by and visit us at your earliest convenience and we are glad that you decided to tune Us in for the bible study on this week uh we really emphasize God's word uh at Divine Encounter Church we focus very strongly upon prayer we believe in prayer and the importance of prayer and we also Focus very strongly on the teaching of the word of God we are into God's word we we love to study it meditate in it and uh we love uh to dig into the word of God so if you if you have a pen handy get a pen take some notes we're going into the most important uh message in the world and that is the message from the very word of God uh the most important message of our week the word of God so we want to go today to 1 Timothy chapter 6 and we're going to start at verse number three that's first Timothy chapter 6 starting at verse number three and we are continuing to deal with the to the topic of divine contentment we talked about contentment last week but we want to continue this week to discuss the topic of contentment because it's a valuable thing to possess we've got to be content as saints of God and so that's what we want to cover on today we're g to continue to talk about contentment all right so 1 Timothy 6 starting at verse three says if any man Teach otherwise and consent not to Wholesome words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which is according to Godliness he is proud knowing nothing but doting about question s and stries of words whereof cometh Envy Strife railings evil surmisings perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth supposing that gain is godliness from such withdraw thy s so we want to stop right there and we see here that the Apostle Paul warns Timothy about a group of people that had taken the mindset that God just having gain uh that is what godliness is all about they focused on getting a gain getting ahead in this world and prospering that was the focus of this group that Paul is talking about they suppose that gain is godliness that's verse five where he talks about that supposing that gain is godliness and he tells Timothy from such withdraw thyself in other words stay away from a group of people that is emphasizing the importance of just getting ahead and forgetting about the importance of godliness if your focus is on getting ahead and prosperity and wealth and that is the real thrust of your life you're missing the most important thing you're missing what is genuinely important and what is genuinely valuable to God you're missing it you're way off so Paul is letting Timothy know that this group is way off and they're so far off that you need to just stay away from these people don't associate with these people don't have hang around with a group of people that is telling you that gain is godliness don't associate with them don't Focus don't don't don't hang around such a group of people why because A little leaven lenth the whole lump if you hang around people that have a false perspective a false Doctrine uh a false way of living the leaven of their way of thinking can infect you you can end up adopting their foolish and erroneous way of thinking and uh you end up believing a lie believing something that is false and you end up believing it because you associate it with people that you should not have been associating with you kept hanging around a group of people that were just not a good people group of people to hang around with you kept associating with a group of people who had an erroneous mindset who had an erroneous way of viewing uh God and godliness and so this is what Paul is warning about if you suppose that gain is godliness you are mixed up you're mixed up if if you're if you actually think that that just getting ahead is what godliness is all about godliness is not centered around getting ahead in this world there are many people who walk with God very closely and they know God they have a deep fellowship with God they worship God they're they experience the glory of God but they're not the wealthiest people in this world they don't have a whole lot in this world they're not the most prosperous people in this world but yet and still they're close to God they're close to God they walk with God they know God and uh there's many people that are just getting uh mixed up and they're missing out on that which has genuine value they're missing out on the Eternal Treasures that are in Christ and with the father they're missing out because their attention is on the present world and what they can get and what they can obtain in the here and now so we don't want to be those who are caught up on the here and now we want to be those who have an eternal mindset a mindset that is focused on eternity Jesus said what shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his soul what's it going to really profit if you gained the entire world nobody's ever been able to achieve that you know we have some very wealthy people in the world but nobody's been able to get to the place where they they own the entire world but if somebody did Jesus was letting you know he was letting you know that that's not a big deal because they still have to deal with the reality of Eternity eternity has to be what drives us we've got to realize that we are pilgrims that are just passing through this world this world is not your home home man of God woman of God that's listening to me today this world is not your home don't allow yourself to become enamored with what this world can give you the money that it can give you the wealth and the supposed security that it can give you don't get caught up on that and think that that is everything you see your life does not consist in the abundance of goods that you possess don't allow yourself to get captivated by and enamored with things and the wealth of this world we've got to have a a focus on eternity Jesus said lay up for yourselves Treasures in Heaven where moth and rust don't corrupt and where thieves don't break break through and steal that was the advice of Jesus Christ it's the most Sound Advice you can get you said don't lay don't get caught up on laying up Treasures in this life don't get all wrapped up in that you know if if God blesses you with wealth so be it great enjoy it okay but enjoy it in wisdom don't go over overboard and don't trust in your money as though your money is your God don't trust in uncertain riches as the Apostle Paul says he says charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-m minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the Living God so you you got to put your your faith in the Living God you get to the place where that your your money is where your trust is and you have become deceived you've be you've been deceived whenever you get to the place where you think that money is is your is your answer and it's your greatest stability money is not the greatest uh blessing that you can have is not there are blessings that God can give you that are above money because God can give you Treasures that endure forever the money of this world only last here for this lifetime but the treasures that God gives in heaven they last forever and there is no end to the treasures that you lay up in heaven I'm by the grace of God living my life for eternity my focus is not on the here and now you know and I'm that don't mean that uh I'm not taking care of the Here and Now doesn't mean that you know if you get to the place where that you're focused on heaven and you won't take care of the hearing now then you can become out of balance and you can suffer because you're not taking care of the business of the here and now that's not what I'm talking about you know you gotta you got to work uh you gotta uh do what is necessary to earn a living you got to focus and take care of natural Affairs get a retirement account and all of that you can't ignore those things but the error is when you uh you make that too much of a a priority and you forget about eternity your greatest priority should be eternity and making sure that you are prepared for the world to come and your preparation for the world to come should not just be that you're saved being saved is the first step you should also lay up Treasures in Heaven lay up Treasures okay by living for the Lord doing right doing good helping others blessing others giving to others praying seeking God evangelizing winning Souls winning souls to to the kingdom of God if you do that then your eternity will be more glorious and brighter it'll be more glorious and brighter because you did what Jesus said to do anytime you obey Jesus there's a blessing the advice that Jesus gives us is lay up for yourselves Treasures in Heaven so let's do that now the prosperity movement is a movement that would uh is still uh to some degree functioning in the the body of Christ the prosperity movement where that people in the body of Christ took a strong interest in prosperity and they took a strong interest in getting ahead in this world they took a strong interest in that they said we're going to look at the Bible we're going to study the word and we're going to find the principles that are in the word concerning the issue of prosperity and what we can do in order to get ahead what we can do to to gain wealth okay there there was a focus by many in the church in the body of Christ on Prosperity there was a Thrust and a focus in that direction how can we get ahead how can we lay up more money and really build wealth we have God's word so we should really be able to generate some wealth and so people got excited and jumped on the bandwagon and said what can we do to gain more money well uh the prosperity movement if you took the teachings the good that was in the prosperity movement and you utilized it it could definitely help you to get ahead help you to do well in this life and help you to uh prosper in this in this world do well that's really what it's about is doing well those teachings if used in the right way they could definitely help you to do well okay you could definitely do well if you you use them in the right way but what happened is that there was an imbalance in that teaching there was an imbalance such that people just got too excited about prosperity and they just began to for get about the things that are more important than Prosperity things such as godliness holy living uh laying up Treasures in Heaven evangelism uh developing a life of prayer learning to be a person uh of great integrity uh learning to be a person that is given to the plans and the purposes of God whatever they may be these are the type of issues that were neglected by many who went after Prosperity many people who went after after Prosperity they fell into the Trap of going after prosperity as though it was more important than God himself they went after Prosperity as though it was more important than personal Integrity they went after Prosperity as though it was more important than uh what they would have in the world to come in eternity people just got all caugh caught up in the prosperity movement chased after prosperity and this uh movement just went too far as what happened the prosperity movement just went too far in the wrong direction um you know there are some good teachings that are relevant and helpful that you can obtain uh from the prosperity movement there are some but you got to make sure that you rightly balance such teachings and that you don't overemphasize the value of prosperity we don't want to overemphasize that and make that too important in our lives if you never become a person of wealth in this world it don't mean that God is looking down upon you and frowning at you it don't mean that you are at a lower level of godliness because you don't have a whole lot in this world okay has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith oftentimes the people that are rich in faith in this world are people that don't have a whole lot they don't have a whole lot financially but they have a whole lot spiritually they have real faith and they have a real walk with God they really know godh the generation before us they didn't have as much money as we have in in my generation My Generation a lot of people are getting money experiencing Financial breakthroughs and things the previous generation they they really didn't have as much they struggled more so than we do today but what is interesting about that generation uh is that they had power with God whereas Our Generation we don't seem to have power with God we're lacking we don't have the walk that they had we don't have have the faith that they had they cast out Devils they healed the sick they raised the dead in that generation I'm talking about people like Bishop uh Mason okay who went before us his generation and the early Pioneers in the Church of God in Christ these people had genuine power they went through persecutions they suffered for their faith they suffered for what they believed in they suffered and kept doing what is right they kept preaching the truth even though they were persecuted hated and despised mocked ridiculed didn't matter they still kept preaching the truth they still kept preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they they held to holy living they held to righteousness and godly living they really they really held to it they just had something they had something that our generation is lacking they had a deeper Faith a deeper connection with God a deeper walk with God they really knew God they didn't have as much money as we have in our generation the churches in of the past they may not have even had air conditioners I remember growing up at Mount Olive Church of God in Christ before we got a new building we didn't have air conditioning we had to use fans and things that church would be high and uh those people were still faithful to God and they loved the Lord even though they had to deal with lack didn't have as much Soh the issue is that Prosperity is not everything is not as valuable as godliness godliness just it just has a greater value Faith genuine faith has greater value is more precious than Prosperity so we got to get our mind off of just being prosperous and we've got to get our mind on being Godly Godly God is offering us the gift of godliness the blessing of walking in his nature I'd much rather be a person who walked in godliness than a person of great wealth I I would choose godliness because great wealth can't take me to Heaven it can't save me there's many people that have had great wealth that have been eternally lost but you won't find a single person who has godliness uh who's going to end up lost not a single person who is really walking in godliness that's going to be lost nope godliness with contentment the scripture says is great gain so that's what we've got to seek after and the prosperity movement just went too far people got so excited about money money that's all they wanted to learn about it seemed can you teach me more about Prosperity can you teach me more about how I can get ahead can you teach me more about how I can really really make a lot of money and get a bigger bank account that's what people got overly concerned with and that is that's a dangerous thing you don't want to be overly concerned with uh money that's not where it's at nope I don't want to be overly concerned with money and so a balanc perspective is this a balanced perspective is we should want to do well we should desire uh to have Financial blessings but we should desire it primarily because it is God's desire to bless us and we should desire it because we want to help somebody else not so we can just Heap it up just keep heaping up money get a bigger and bigger bank account uh show off to our friends and say hey look at what I got I got a new Mercedes Maybach look at what I got I got a helicopter and I got a jet and I can fly around the world whenever I want to at the drop of a dime I can get in my Jet and tell my pilot take me over to uh to to Africa I can go to Africa and walk through Africa and tell pilot you know what take me to Chicago I can go to Chicago and go shopping then after that take me to New York I'm gonna go to the Fashion District of New York go around there and just enjoy life you see that's the wrong mentality that's just the wrong mindset the focus of you getting the money is on you it's on you your personal gain your personal benefit your personal pleasure and just being able to sit back and enjoy yourself but when you are a person of divine character when you're a person of godliness your desire is others first you thinking about other people and how how I can help somebody else how can I help the poor people that don't have enough uh food to eat how can I help the poor people that don't have water to drink you know that's that's where we got to be we got to get to the point where we are focused on the needs of others rather than focused on self gratifi ification you got to be we got to have a greater focus on the needs of others helping them helping others that's where our mind has to be I want to see somebody else get ahead I want to see somebody else blessed and prosperous my focus is not on the present but my focus is on the Eternal so uh that is a more healthy perspective I'm G to help people I'm going to bless people and prosperity is only good to the degree that uh I'm using it for the glory of God and my heart is not focused on it but what happened with the prosperity movement is that I believe that many people's hearts became defiled many people's hearts were just too focused on getting ahead keeping up with the Joneses how can I get ahead and show my neighbor my friend that I'm above them how can I show them that I have an elite status and they don't have it see this is what happened unfortunately with with many people in the prosperity movement and they got to the point where that some people were actually thinking that if you weren't prospering something was wrong with your walk with God to the point that my younger brother was telling me that on the campus of Michigan State University when he was there he said some of the kids that went to the prosperity churches one of the questions that they would ask is when talking about a man or woman of God one of the questions that they would ask is is this person prospering are they prospering see they were thinking that Prosperity getting ahead gain is godliness they saying are they prospering that was one of the criteria for them to esteem a person highly in the church they were going to esteem you highly in the in the church they had to see evidence that you were really prospering in other words you got to have a mansion you got to have an expensive luxury car you got to have gold rings and a Rolex watch when they saw that you were prospering they say wow you that must be somebody I can pattern my life I can pattern my life after that person but I'd rather have the walk uh a faith that went to previous generations even though they didn't have as much than to have a lot like we have today but don't really know God I'd rather have what they had they had it much better because they knew the Lord and they could get a prayer through in our generation how many people do you know that know how to get a prayer through I can get a breakthrough for you and you get into a real crisis how many people do you know that can go to God in prayer and pray and shake heaven with their prayers that's the glory of the previous generations they had it the early 1900s uh around the isua Revival isua Street Revival those people they had something William Seymour man of astounding Miracles the Manifest glory of God was visible at the isua Street Revival you could see it with your own eyes if you went there you could see the glory of God in that place firemen were often called to the isusa Street Revival uh called to come there because people that were passing by saw fire coming off that building but it wasn't natural fire it was the fire of the Holy Ghost it was the fire that comes from Heaven see they had something that was real something that was tangible they had the real power of God I wish I could get some people today that want real power with God that want to know God they want to walk with God they want to talk with God they won't be satisfied with uh just having the goods and the Treasures of the here and now I wish I could find some people who had a focus on the treasures that are from heaven above the treasures that last for eternity I wish I could find some people that could see the value in it I'm sorry to say but many of us today we've lost our way we don't hunger and thirst uh for the Heavenly we don't hunger and thirst for the things that have spiritual value our focus is all off our focus is all on what I can get now the Here and Now what can I get now how is it going to benefit me now and we're missing out on the the real Treasures what about the Treasures of the anointing of the Holy Ghost so that when you preach and make the gospel known the power of your words causes people to be changed and causes Sinners to become Saints and causes the deaf to hear causes the blind to see causes people uh who are lost in sin and bound in Chains of sin it causes them to get free what if you had the kind of anointing on your life that when you preached to the homosexual the homosexual would get loosed and set free from the chains of homosexuality what if you had the kind of anointing on your life that when you preached to the fornicator the fornicator will want to change his ways will want to give up his lifestyle of fornication what if you had the kind of power on your life the kind of anointing on your life that when you talk to the alcoholic the alcoholic will get loosed and set free we get free from of alcoholism you see that's where the that's what the church needs to covet and desire we should not covet uh the wealth of this present world we need to be coveting Desiring longing for the treasures that are of spiritual value spiritual treasure does anyone long for the mantle and the mantles of those that went before us do we want their anointings do we want their power or do we just want their money do we just want their status do we just want their followings what what do we really want what do we really desire we get to the place sometimes where that our focus is just all on now but the church Pioneers pioneers of the church in God in Christ many of them they had the wisdom to live for eternity they realized we're just pilgrims and we're just passing through their their focus was not on the now I would I would oh let the church Let the church today Let the church in this world today have a focus have a genuine focus on the Eternal your life is short I don't care if you have uh 50 more years here on planet Earth your life is short you don't have much time your T time is running out James said James chapter 4 for what is your life it is even a Vaper that appear for a little time and then vanisheth away your life is passing away you you need to have a focus on eternity you to realize you to wake up to the reality that you're just a pilgrim we're passing through this world is not our home the anguish and the stress of this world uh it helps us to re to re to remember that this world is not our home it helps us to realize that this is not what God envisions for us God has a much brighter bigger vision for you than this world he has a much brighter vision for you than this world it's time for us to wake up it's time for us to focus on eternity let that be your focus let that be what drives you let that be what motivates you you don't know how long you're going to be given in this world sometimes we all make the Assumption we're gonna live long lives you're gonna live to be in our 90s things like that that's an assumption you don't know that you don't know what tomorrow holds you need to you need to wake up to the reality that your life is short and in comparison to Eternity it's like a puff of vapor and so we we've got to live our lives with a focus in that direction godliness with contentment is great gain that's where it's at you know I'm not saying that you is wrong to have money either I don't think there's anything wrong with having money not at all nothing wrong with you being blessed prosperous and getting ahead in this life I say go ahead but you better make sure that as you get ahead you don't put money in too high of a position that you don't put Mone money uh as something that has too much value keep it in its proper place if you keep money in its proper place and use it the right way more power to you but if you worship money and you deify it then that money can bring about your destruction so let's look at what Paul says to Timothy just want to read a little bit more he says in verse five that we should withdraw from people who suppose that gain is godliness in verse six he says but godliness with contentment is great gain me repeat that but godliness with contentment is great gain you want great gain you got to grab a hold of what God says is great gain it's godliness with contentment learn to be content whatever state you're in learn to be content okay learn to just relax be at peace for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out then take anything with you all that wealth that we are laying up in this world is gonna be left behind all the money that God has blessed us with and given us unfortunately we're leaving it not gonna be able to take it with us all right we can carry nothing out verse 8 says in having food and reignment let us be therewith content you just have food and clothing Paul says be therewith content just food and clothing verse nine 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 predition verse 10 for the love of money is the root of all evil money is not the root of all evil pay close attention to what he says verse 10 For the Love of Money the love of money is the root of all evil which while some from the faith and Pierce themselves through with many Sorrows repeat that verse for the love of money not money itself the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after they have AED from the faith and pierced themselves through with many Sorrows M Love of Money can mess you up cause you to air from the faith you end up falling away from Christ Because You Love money you made a God out of money and you end up falling away air from the faith as this scripture says they have aired from the faith and pierced themselves through with many Sorrows oh the sorrows and the pain oh the pain and the misery of those that love money causes such sorrow and such grief it causes such heartache and such pain when people love money they just make a God out of it and say this is where it's at and all the pain and misery that they experience when they do that so we got to wake up we got to be careful we got to guard ourselves against this guard ourselves be careful you can Pierce yourself through with many sorrows and it wouldn't be God that pierced you it's you you did it to yourself as the scripture says they pierce themselves through with many Sorrows let's not do that let's be wise look at what Paul says in verse 11 but thou oh man of God but thou oh woman of God applies to women too flee these things follow after righteousness godliness Faith love patience meekness That's Where It's At in other words follow after spiritual character character godliness that has the real value and that is something that can impact you in the present godliness will impact you in the present and in the world to come so uh that's where it's at okay bodily exercise profit of little but godliness is profitable unto all things it's profit able unto all things and it'll benefit you in this world and in the world to come that's what we must pursue and that's what Paul is encouraging is go after those characteristics those qualities of God the fruit of the spirit the fruit of the spirit when was the last time you prayed and called out to God and say God make me more temperate give me a greater measure of temperance self-control when was the last time you humbled yourself and cried out to God and said God give me more meekness I want to walk in a greater dimension of meekness I want to be a person of extraordinary meekness before you when was the last time you cried out to God and said God cause gentleness to be manifested in my life gentleness cause faithfulness to be manifested in my life cause it to Glow to grow flourish and develop in me that's what God wants us to Value you want to please God esteem what he esteems and value what he values don't Focus don't focus on the here and now and the Treasures of the present world you got to focus on things above where Christ sth on the right hand of God let us bow our heads for a word of prayer dear father we thank you thank you for your word what a blessing to have your holy word thank you thank you thank you for this time oh God bless us to take this word in to absorb it to remember it and to live thereby in our daily lives in Jesus name amen so God bless you and we thank you for joining us on this week for the Divine Encounter Church weekly Bible study we we just love God's word we invite you whenever you can to come by and visit us in person uh at uh in our Sunday service which I gave you the address earlier uh on the campus of washon Community College and Arbor Michigan uh please like this video video subscribe to the channel if you not already subscribed that's going to help us to get the word out that's going to help more people to hear the word of the Lord so like subscribe put some comments below this is going to help the word to get out may God bless you may God keep you till we meet again