Ecclesiastes chapter number 5, the part that I want to focus on is beginning there in verse
number 10 where the Bible reads, He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver,
nor he that loveth abundance with increase.
This is also vanity.
When goods increase, they are increased that eat them.
And what good is there to the owners thereof, save the beholding of them with their eyes?
The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much.
But the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
And the title of my sermon tonight is, Not Satisfied with Abundance.
Not satisfied with abundance.
There are people in this world who have abundance but they are not satisfied therewith.
The Bible says, He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver.
He that loveth abundance is not going to be satisfied with increase, the Bible says.
It talks about the fact that the sleep of a laboring man is sweet.
That's the guy who goes out, he's working hard, he's living paycheck to paycheck.
But it says, the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
So just because people have more things, it doesn't mean that they're going to be happier
or more satisfied just because they have more.
In fact, sometimes people who have less are more satisfied.
Now I think this is an important sermon to preach around this time of year because as
we get into the holiday season approaching Christmas, there is a lot of advertising and
things just geared towards selling you a lot of stuff because it's a very commercialized
time of year, isn't it?
You know, starting with the Black Friday and all of the sales and we're all getting all
the ads in the mail and showing us all the things that we need to be buying.
And this commercialism and this covetousness of our society is something that we need to
stop and look at at this time of year and beware of so that we don't just kind of get
sucked into this worldly mentality of desiring all these goods and abundance and coveting
things that we don't have.
Now if we just stop and think about a child with their toys, often the children who have
the most toys are the ones who are the most discontented with what they have.
They have a toy room full of toys and toys are scattered everywhere but yet they want
something different.
They want a different toy.
And then somewhere in some poor country somewhere, there's a little girl that has one doll and
just loves that doll and thinks it's the coolest thing ever.
Bratty American child has five dolls and just, you know, none of them is the one that they
want, right?
This is the difference between being satisfied, being content and being someone who is covetous
and always desiring something more.
And our society teaches us to be covetous.
All the advertising is geared to make us feel that we're missing out on something or
that we need something else.
Now flip back just one page there to Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verse 8.
What does the Bible say in verse 8?
There is one alone and there is not a second.
Yea he hath neither child nor brother, yet is there no end of all his labor.
Neither is his eye satisfied with riches.
Neither sayeth he, for whom do I labor and bereave my soul of good.
This is also vanity, yea it is a sore travail.
This is something that comes up over and over again in Ecclesiastes.
People having great riches and not being satisfied.
King Solomon was that person because he had all the abundance and was not satisfied there
with.
I love what it says in Ecclesiastes 511 when it says, when goods increase, they are increased
that eat them.
And boy do I know that that's true.
And what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes.
You know you think about really rich people and they have a multitude of cars.
They really need that many cars and they're really going to drive that many cars.
You know they just kind of go out to their garage and look at all their cars.
You know big fancy house, but they can't really use every room in that house, but they can
just kind of look at it.
Oh look how big and nice my house looks.
But you know what that's going to be cool for about a week or two until the newness
wears off and then pretty soon it's just your house.
It's just your car.
That's the way life is.
Go to Habakkuk chapter 2, Habakkuk chapter 2.
That's one of the minor prophets toward the end of the Old Testament.
While you're turning there, I'll read for you Proverbs 27, 20.
Hell and destruction are never full, so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
Look at Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 5, yea also because he transgresseth by wine, he is a
proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot
be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people.
What are we talking about here?
We're talking about a very powerful man, the king of Babylon.
You know and he just wants to take over more nations.
He already has all this power and riches and wealth.
You can look at other great kings and emperors and world leaders.
They just always want to conquer more.
They enlarge their desire as hell.
They are as death and cannot be satisfied.
But notice how it says, yea also because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man.
Now what does pride have to do with it?
Well because a lot of times the reason why people need to buy so many goods and increase
their wealth is actually not even because they want those things as much as just to
impress other people.
This is called conspicuous consumption, when people buy things just for the sake of showing
them off.
They're proud and they want to show off all their cars and their house and their fancy
clothes and purses and jewelry.
It's not even that they enjoy it as much as just they want to brag about it and boast
about it and just enlarge their desire as hell.
And these same type of covetous people who love money, and by the way the love of money
is the root of all evil, they're also real into wine.
Have you noticed that?
These wealthy people, they're also collectors of all the different wines, they're winos.
You know they have all the wine stacked up, the wine cellar, the expensive wines, and
they're proud and they are as hell in the sense that they are never satisfied, covetous
people.
Now let me ask you this, if a person is never satisfied, do you think that's a happy person?
No.
Being satisfied is tied in with your happiness.
When you're dissatisfied, discontented, can't sleep at night, that's not a happy life.
You see, getting abundance of items and things does not bring happiness to your life.
And I wish that all the children would listen up because right now the children are also
targeted by the advertising and shown all the toys and all the games and things that
they need.
But let me tell you something children, getting that toy, getting that ultimate Christmas
gift that you saw in that catalog is not going to bring happiness to your life.
It'll be fun, it'll wear off, it'll get old, and the older you get, the more emptiness
you'll find in getting things like that.
Go to Philippians chapter 4, Philippians chapter 4, while you're turning there I'll read for
you 1 Timothy 6, but godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into
this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out, and having food and raiment let
us be there with content.
But they that will be rich, meaning they that want to be rich, fall into temptation and
a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown man in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some covet it after, they have
erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
But thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, patience, meekness.
That's what we should be seeking in our lives, we shouldn't be on a quest for money and gold
and silver and toys and cars and boats and RVs, no, we should be on a quest for righteousness,
seeking godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
These should be the goods that we seek to acquire.
You know, what's the point of the birth of Jesus Christ?
Was he born that he might bring in retail sales and that he might bring in abundance
of toys in the stocking?
Is that why Jesus Christ came to this earth or did he come to bring peace on earth and
good will to men?
Did he come to bring salvation, love?
Did he come to bring in righteousness, godliness, faith?
That's what we ought to be seeking after but it's easy to get caught up in the quest for
goods and the quest for merchandise.
The Bible says in Philippians chapter 4 verse 11,
"...not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith
to be content.
I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound.
Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to
abound and to suffer need.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
There are people in this world who are contented people and people who are discontented, contented
covetous people and it's not based on their circumstances, it's based on who they are.
Paul said, I've learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content.
He could be content when he abounded and he could be content when he was abased.
He could be content when he was full and he could be content when he was hungry.
Why?
He learned in whatsoever state he was therewith to be content.
This is a learned skill.
If you would, flip over to 1 Kings chapter 21.
Here's a story about a guy who had great abundance but yet he coveted something else.
He wanted something that didn't belong to him and this is the story of King Ahab and
he coveted after Naboth's vineyard.
1 Kings chapter 21 verse 1.
And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which
was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, then I may have it for a garden
of herbs, because it is near unto my house, and I will give thee for it a better vineyard
than it, or if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it and money.
Now this guy is such a spoiled brat, he admits the fact that he already owns a better vineyard.
He already has something better.
But no, he wants the one that's right by his house.
So it's just never enough for him.
He just always wants something just a little different, a little better.
I mean if he had the one that was right by his house, you know what he'd be saying?
Well yeah, I know this one's right by my house but that one's better.
He's even saying that the other one's better.
But the grass is always greener, the vineyard's always greener on the other side of the fence.
So he says here, you know, I'll give you the worth of it and money or I'll give you a better
vineyard.
And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbideth me that I should give the inheritance of my
fathers unto thee.
See, biblically they were supposed to hang on to their inheritance and not sell it.
So he's actually obeying scripture by not selling it.
That's why he said, God forbid.
Verse 4, And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth
the Jezreelite had spoken to him, for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance
of my fathers.
And he laid down upon his bed and turned away his face and would eat no bread.
But Jezebel's wife came to him and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad that thou eatest
no bread?
And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him,
Give me the vineyard for money, or else if it please thee, I'll give thee another vineyard
for it.
And he answered, I'll not give thee my vineyard.
And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel?
Arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry.
I'll give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
But he's whining and crying.
It's like a little kid.
He took my toy away.
You know, telling mom.
He won't give me the vineyard.
He has to.
He won't give it to me.
He can't give it to me.
You know, but this is the way a child would act when they're like two years old, facing
the wall.
You know, where you try to smile to them, and talk to them, and they think.
He's a grown man, and he's acting this way.
But you know what?
This is the way adults are when they're ungodly and covetous.
They're like a spoiled baby.
They're like a little brat, a little toddler.
You know, and Jezebel, the Bible talks about how Ahab was wicked, and how Jezebel his wife
stirred him up, it says elsewhere.
She was always instigating him to be more wicked.
So she just tells him, oh, just steal it.
Just murder and steal.
Yeah, you want something that doesn't belong to you?
Just kill Naboth and take the vineyard.
You're in charge.
You're the king of Israel.
Terrible advice.
But you can see this spoiled brat mentality, where he's already got a better vineyard,
but he's not happy with it, okay?
Now go, if you would, to 2 Chronicles 11, verse 21.
One of the things that the Bible talks about not coveting, besides just merchandise, and
you know, we kind of emphasize goods and merchandise this time of year just because this is a very
commercialized time of year when we get close to Christmas.
And I'll talk a little bit more about that later in the sermon, but you know, another
thing that God often tells us not to covet is we're not to covet our neighbor's wife.
That's one of the things he brings up in the Ten Commandments where he says, don't covet
your neighbor's wife nor anything else that is thy neighbor's.
And of course, the Bible says in Hebrews 13, marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled,
but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
Then he follows that up by saying, let your conversation be without covetousness and be
content with such things as you have, for he has said, I'll never leave thee nor forsake
thee.
Now here's another example of a guy in the Bible who's a covetous, spoiled brat besides
Ahab, and this is Rehoboam.
Now look what it says about Rehoboam in verse 21 of 2 Chronicles 11.
The Bible reads, And Rehoboam loved Maacah, the daughter of Absalom, above all his wives
and his concubines, for he took eighteen wives and threescore concubines, and begat twenty
and eight sons and threescore daughters.
So here's a guy, get the picture.
This guy has eighteen wives and sixty concubines.
Now the concubine is the one that he sleeps with, but it doesn't have the status of being
his wife, okay?
She's not important enough to be the wife of a king, so she's just one that he sleeps
with.
That's what the concubine is.
So he has eighteen wives and sixty concubines, so he has seventy-eight women at his disposal
right here, okay?
But he has one that's the favorite, right?
Because it clearly says, oh well he loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his
wives and concubines.
Everybody got the picture?
But wait until you see what it says next.
I mean you look at that and you're like, whoa, that's weird, but keep reading.
And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maacah the chief to be ruler among his brethren,
for he thought to make him king, and he dealt wisely and dispersed all his children throughout
all the countries of Judah and Benjamin unto every fenced city, and he gave them vittle
and abundance, and he desired many wives.
Whoa, buddy, you already have many wives.
You've got seventy-eight women, you've already got the one that is the love of your life.
You got seventy-seven others that are not the love of your life, but they're just there,
you know, for your enjoyment, but you desire many more.
He desired many more.
Wouldn't you think that a guy who's got seventy-eight wives, pretty much, would just say, you know
what?
I'm satisfied.
This is enough.
This is plenty.
I'm satisfied.
But is he satisfied?
But did you know that there are men in this world that are married to one wife and they're
perfectly satisfied?
They're married to one woman and they're satisfied.
They're satisfied with just Maacah.
You know, that's all they need.
But then there's a guy who's got seventy-eight and he desires many more and many more.
He wants more.
He's not happy.
Don't you think that there's something wrong with this guy?
I mean, do you think there's something wrong with all his wives or do you think there's
something wrong with him?
There's something wrong with this guy.
And this right here should show you that abundance is not just automatically going to make you
satisfied.
Well, if I just had, you know, if I just convert to Islam and have four wives, that'd be enough.
No, because then you want seventy-four and seventy-eight, because it's a stupid mentality.
Because it's not the way to find happiness.
But so many people today, they think, man, if I could just get this, I'd be happy.
If I could just make this much money or get this car, get this house, you know, just get
this wife, whatever.
We see that there are people like the Apostle Paul who are satisfied with nothing and then
there are people like Rehoboam who have seventy-eight women and it's like not enough for them.
See what I'm saying?
They're the problem, not what they have.
Now it's interesting because I read about a study that was done on college graduates.
And basically there are two kinds of people in this world, and I found this to be true
in my life too, there are two kinds of people in this world.
Let's call them the satisficer and the maximizer, okay?
Now the satisficer is one who is basically just, wants to just be satisfied with enough.
And then the maximizer is the one who demands to have the best of everything.
And they're always looking for something else out there that's better and they're never
content with what they have because they're not sure if it's the very best thing.
They're only going to be happy if they have the best.
They want to maximize.
And then the other one wants to satisfies.
Now I don't think that's really a word, but think about this.
There was a study that I read up on though where they checked with a bunch of college
graduates, right?
And there were college graduates who were satisficers and there were college graduates
that were maximizers.
So group A college graduates, okay, in this study, they basically just, when they graduated
from college, they just wanted to find a good job.
A job that would pay them, you know, what they're looking to make, what they would expect
to make from getting that degree.
They're just looking for a good job.
And when they find a good job, they're going to take it, okay?
Group B on the other hand was the maximizer group where they are not just looking for
a good job.
They want to make sure that they get the best job that they could possibly get.
They want to get the best job.
Now on the surface, that sounds good.
I mean, why not?
You know, aim high, do your best.
So when they studied these two groups, the group B that was the maximizer group where
they sought out the very best job.
I mean, they put the resume out all over the place and really wanted to make sure that
they got the best job.
They made 20% more money than group A. Now doesn't that make sense?
Obviously if group A is just settling for a good job that they like, obviously group
B that goes out and seeks to find the very best job that they possibly can is going to
get a better job.
So not only did group B make about 20% more money, but they also had better jobs in the
sense that there were more benefits, there was a better workplace environment.
Pretty much by every measure, the group B jobs were better than the group A jobs when
the results were in.
But when they asked these same people if they're happy with their job, if they're happy and
like it, group A was much happier.
They had said, yeah, I'm real happy with my job.
I like it.
Group B is like, you know, finding everything wrong with it.
Even though group B's job is paying them 20% more money, better work environment, better
everything.
But they weren't happy with it.
Why?
Because they're that type of person that's the maximizer instead of the satisficer, okay.
Instead of just being content with something good, they just are thinking what else is
out there that I'm missing.
Now food choices is another subject.
You know, husbands and wives is one thing.
You know, food choices.
Go to Numbers chapter 11.
There's a lot about food in the Bible and Numbers 11 is a story that involves food.
But when you think about this subject, the restaurant that kind of came to my mind is
Cheesecake Factory.
Now here's the thing about Cheesecake Factory.
Cheesecake Factory has the biggest menu of any restaurant that I've ever been to.
I mean, and don't get me wrong, the food at Cheesecake Factory is really good, right?
But it's just like pages of menu, right?
Just pages and pages and pages.
And it's unbelievable that they could actually serve that variety of food.
Who knows what I'm talking about?
Who's noticed that before?
It just blows you away.
And it can be overwhelming, right?
Now the maximizer who goes to Cheesecake Factory, their head is pretty much going to explode.
Because they're going in there with this attitude like, I've got to get the best thing on the
menu.
Because that's the type of person they are.
They always want the best of everything.
So they're going to have to look at every page and every page and try to find the best
thing, right?
And then once they pick something, they're going to be wondering, I wonder if there's
something better out there?
And then they're discontent with what they have, right?
Now I'm a big time satisficer, just so you know.
So like, I go into Cheesecake Factory and this is how I handle it.
I just kind of pick one page.
I can't even handle the whole menu.
I just pick one page and I'm going to find something I like on this page.
And I'm going to eat it and I'm going to be happy with it and I'm going to like it.
I don't need to have the best, it's not like this is my last meal before my execution or
something.
You know, where it just has to be the greatest meal I've ever had.
I mean, to me, to me, if I go to that restaurant and I get a meal I like and eat it, I'm going
to walk out happy.
Need to worry about what if there was something better out there?
Now other restaurants are the exact opposite of Cheesecake Factory.
Like an In-N-Out Burger.
Where you walk in and it's like, there's one thing on the menu, burgers.
It's real simple.
It's like cheeseburger, fries, shake or Coke.
I mean, it's that simple folks.
Real simple.
There's no hot dogs, no chicken, you know, it's just burgers.
So it's like the exact opposite style menu.
But even fancy restaurants, sometimes I've gone to a fancy restaurant where they have
a really limited menu.
Like, it'll just have like five choices.
And you just pick one.
Now most people think that having a whole bunch of choices is going to make you happier
with what you end up getting.
Because you got all these choices, you know, you're more likely to find something really
good that you're going to like.
But in fact, sometimes having a lot of choices actually just makes people more discontent
because they see everything that they're missing.
That all looks good, if they're that type of person.
Now another thing that you think about is with marriage.
There are some people who go out there and they want to find someone that they can spend
the rest of their life with.
Someone to love and to cherish and to spend their life with and be married to.
And then there's other people that are going out there looking for the unicorn wife or
the unicorn husband.
They want to find the best man on the planet or the best woman on the planet.
They're going to go on this quest to find it.
And these people are still single when they're like in their 40s and whatever because they're
still searching for the unicorn over the rainbow, the four leaf clover.
Now it's interesting because part of what feeds into this mentality is the internet.
Because if you actually go back in time and study who people used to marry in the United
States, most people married someone who actually lived really close to them.
Like people actually, if you study census records and things, you can look at the addresses
of just who they were when they got married and everything.
And people have studied this and gone through and added up all the figures and noticed how
basically back 100 years ago, 80 years ago, people would often marry someone on their
street who lived on their street or on their block or in their same building or apartment
complex.
They would marry people that lived that close.
Or they'd marry somebody from church who just down the street in their area.
Whereas now, people marry people sometimes from really far away.
Now obviously that's because now with the internet, people just have all these choices,
especially when people go into internet dating where all of a sudden, and you know, it's
a jungle out there.
But anyway, they go into this wild and woolly world of internet dating and basically now
they're looking at like thousands of profiles of just thousands.
Like you know, a single guy, just thousands of women.
A single woman, just thousands of men.
And it's just overwhelming how many choices there are.
Whereas it used to be, you went to church, there's a couple people your age, you know
what I mean?
Those are, you got a couple choices.
You know?
Or hey, you know, that girl down the street looks pretty good and you know, she's the
only girl that lives on the street that's my age and she's single and I'm single, you
know.
So people actually used to just marry people that just kind of lived near them, went to
church with them.
They weren't just out on this quest for 52 points of compatibility.
Because you know what?
When you're limited to your town or your church or your area, you know, you can't mess with
52 points.
But when you've got the whole globe to deal with, then yeah, you know, now you're looking
for that, you know, I want to make sure that you know, she likes the long walks by the
beach and you know, whatever all the points of compatibility.
And make sure it all lines up.
But the question is, are people happier now?
Are they getting divorced less?
Are they happier with their choice?
Are they, you know, happier marriages?
Well, you know, I don't think so.
So the point is that when it comes to being married, there are people who love their wife
as a person and they cherish her and they're satisfied with her.
They're not out looking for something better.
Okay?
And then there are people who basically marry their wife and then they spend the rest of
their life thinking, I wonder if I could have done better.
And that's a wicked thought.
It's covetousness.
It's wicked and it's very hurtful to your spouse also to have that mentality.
You know, I wonder if there's something better out there.
Now listen, I just, I don't want to break your heart or anything, but you know, just
statistically speaking, there's probably a better woman out there than the one you're
married to.
It's because there are 8 billion people in the world, right?
And I mean, just statistically speaking, the chances of you being married to the best one
are pretty slim, especially since I already am.
So I mean, but even your chances, even your chances of being married to the number two
best woman, what are the chances?
You know?
And here's the thing, the chances of you being married to the best man on the planet, the
most manliest, studly, awesome, godly, you know, in every way, the greatest provider
and you know, on the planet, the chances of that are almost nil, okay?
Because there's 8 billion people in the world.
But that's a stupid mentality.
You know, marriage is about love.
It's not about just, you know, what's the best that I can do for myself?
No, it's about loving someone and spending the rest of your life with that person until
death.
It's a commitment.
It's love.
And obviously you should choose someone that you like.
And listen, if you're not excited about the person that you're thinking about getting
married to, don't get married to that person.
I mean, good night.
Even when it's new, even when you're not married, you're not excited, yeah, that's a problem.
You should be excited about who you're married to because it's not like the excitement's
going to come later or something.
You better be excited about the person that you marry.
Otherwise pick someone else.
But at the same time, you know, you can't just go looking for some unicorn and thinking
that I've got to find the best possible, you know what, here's the best possible person
for you, the one that you pick and love with all your heart and spend your life with and
are committed to.
You know, that's what it's all about.
But people get this weird mentality where there's so many choices and they just think
that, oh, there's something else out there.
Instead of just realizing I'm happy to have something, I mean, look, whoso findeth a wife
findeth a good thing and obtaineth the favor of the Lord.
You know, instead of just being happy that I have a wonderful wife, I love my wife, they're
looking for something better, quote, unquote.
And it might not even be better, it's just, you know, the grass is greener on the other
side of the fence, it's covetousness.
Same thing with food, same thing with your car, same thing with your house.
You know, when I bought my car, the Hyundai Sonata that I drove for many years, which
was kind of my, you know, it was my personal car that I used for work.
And you know, I was not out to buy the coolest car ever, the best car ever.
I just wanted a car that would be a nice car for me.
And I bought it and I was happy with it and I was satisfied with it.
You know, I didn't feel like, oh man, I need to be in a Mustang or something.
You know, I was okay with my Korean-made Hyundai Sonata, you know, that was, it's fine.
What else do you need?
The thing went 355,000 miles before it gave up the ghost.
What else do you need?
But look at Numbers chapter 11 verse 1, the Bible reads, and when the people complained
it displeased the Lord and the Lord heard it and his anger was kindled and the fire
of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them that were in the utmost part of the camp.
Let that sink down into your ears.
People complained and what did it do?
It made God angry and he burned with his wrath among them.
I mean, this is not a minor thing, is it?
When God's burning people up, he's pretty mad.
And what was he so mad about?
Because they complained.
And let me tell you something, God is the same yesterday and today and forever.
When you complain about your wife, when you complain about your husband, when you complain
about your car, complain about your house, complain about the neighborhood that you live
in, complain about every aspect of your life, it still displeases the Lord.
You know, why don't you just be that guy who walks into Cheesecake Factory, orders something
that looks good off the menu, eats it and is happy with it.
And goes home and says, that was a good meal.
I liked it.
I enjoyed that.
Instead of walking out like, oh, I don't know, it seemed like, you know, what he had was
a little better than what I had.
You spoiled brat, you should just be happy to even be eating at the Cheesecake Factory
because it's an expensive place.
You know, a lot of people couldn't even afford to darken the door of that place.
Just be happy to be there.
I mean, just to be there and just to eat the bread that they bring out, that brown bread
with all the oats on it and the whipped butter, that should be enough.
You know what, I could go right now.
I could go right now to Cheesecake Factory and sit with you as you ate a seven-course
feast amongst our table.
I could sit there and just keep safe, keep bringing more of that brown bread.
More brown bread, not the white bread, I wouldn't make this bet.
But the brown stuff with the oats, who knows what I'm talking about.
It's like the one they have at Black Angus, the molasses bread.
I could sit there and eat that molasses bread and just keep buttering it and putting it
in my mouth and drink a big cold glass of water.
I don't care if you have a strawberry lemonade, I don't care what kind of steak you're eating,
what kind of seafood, what kind of pasta, I don't care.
Give me water and brown bread and butter without prescribing how much and I will be content.
I don't even need to look at that menu.
No thank you, sir.
I don't need to see the menu.
Brown bread.
Keep the brown bread coming.
Why?
Because it's good.
Why would I be unhappy to eat something that good?
But people get spoiled where they just lust after.
I mean look, there's people right now in North Korea that are just lusting after white rice.
They just wish they could eat rice.
Seriously.
It's true.
I mean there are people all over the world that are eating out of a garbage can.
And listen children, because children are the ones who complain about their food more
than anybody.
Listen children, when you complain about your food, you're displeasing the Lord and you're
displeasing your parents.
And the fire of your parents will burn your backside.
But anyway, look what the Bible says.
He says it burnt among them, verse number two, and the people cried unto Moses and when
Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched and he called the name of the place Tabura
because the fire of the Lord burnt among them and the mixed multitude that was among them
fell a-lusting and the children of Israel also wept again.
What does it mean to weep?
Okay, these are adults.
And what are they crying about?
Are they crying because they just lost a loved one?
No, actually they're crying because they remember the fish.
Look what it says.
They wept again and said, who shall give us flesh to eat?
We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers, the melons, the
leeks and the onions and the garlic.
You know, they're crying over their food.
How many times, parents, has your kid ever cried about their food?
Put up your hand.
Who has children and your children have cried about their food?
Look I was once the child who cried about my food.
I used to, when I was a kid and my parents would give me food I didn't like, I would
cry so hard that I would induce vomiting.
Who knows what I'm talking about?
And I would cry and I would cry until I would throw up and my mom would say, are you empty
yet?
You know?
And then, alright, what about you?
She'd give me a haircut and I would cry until I threw up and then she'd say, are you empty
yet?
Good.
And then finish the haircut.
Good, you're empty.
You can't throw up anymore.
Alright, and you know, I remember being served broccoli and cheese as a kid and throwing
up about it.
But it was, it's just because you cry and get all worked up, you throw up, right?
I was a little brat.
You know, thank God my parents, you know, whipped my backside and got me into shape.
Thank God for parents that's panked.
You know, back in that generation and the generation before, that's what always has
been done with bratty, spoiled kids.
But nowadays, oh no, that's cruel, oh no, that's abusive, right?
No, children need to be spanked and they need to be taught not to fuss over all their food
and not to just turn their nose up at everything that's not chicken fingers and french fries
and pizza and they turn their nose up at everything else.
But honestly, these people are grown men, grown women.
These are adults and they're crying over their food.
Crying because they don't have the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions
and the garlic.
But now our soul is dried away, verse 6.
There's nothing at all.
I mean, it sounds like they have no food to eat.
There's nothing at all.
Well, besides this manna.
That's the free food that God's been giving them every day, angel's food.
The Bible says man did eat angel's food.
The taste of it was like honey.
The taste of it was like fresh oil, okay?
Yeah, but it wasn't enough variety for them.
They got tired of eating corn flakes every day.
And the manna, verse 7, was as coriander seed and the color thereof is the color of delium.
And the people went about and gathered it and ground it into mills or beat it into mortar,
baked it in pans, made cakes of it and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.
And the dew fell upon the camp of the night, the manna fell upon it.
Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his
tent.
And the anger of the Lord was greatly kindled, Moses also was displeased.
And Moses said to the Lord, wherefore has thou afflicted thy servant?
And wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight that thou layest the burden of all this
people upon me?
Have I conceived all this people?
Have I begotten them that thou shouldest say unto me, carry them in thy bosom as a nursing
father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swearest unto their fathers.
Whence did I have flesh to give unto all this people?
For they weep unto me saying, give us flesh that we may eat.
I'm not able to bear all this people alone because it's too heavy for me and if thou
deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand.
If I have found favor in thy sight then let me not see my wretchedness.
Look, Moses is saying to God, please kill me so I don't have to deal with these people.
Why?
Because they're whining about their food all the time.
Crying and whining and complaining, oh, all we have is manna, I want onions, I want garlic,
I want cucumbers.
And he's just like, kill me now, please.
Why have you done this to me?
Look, that should show you how annoying it is, children, when you complain about your
food.
Your mom is like, kill me now, Lord.
No, no she's not because she really did, you know, she really did give birth to you.
She can't say like Moses said.
I can't say like, have I forgotten them?
Yeah, yes I did.
But the point is though, you know, that if we discipline our children, the Bible says
they'll give us rest.
Whereas the child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
He that spareth his rod, hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteth him betimes.
And so, you know, we do need to teach our children, if we want to enjoy our children,
we need to teach them that this kind of behavior is not allowed.
Because you don't want to get like Moses where you're real upset and angry and yelling at
God about it because of the fact that your kids are just whining and fussing and complaining
at every meal.
So you got to discipline that out of them.
And you know, you kids that are listening to this sermon, you need to understand that
all the food that you're given by your parents is a blessing, especially because you're eating
very nutritious food in most cases.
You know, I know that some people might be, you know, giving their kids Top Ramen and
McDonald's frequently, but you know, the vast majority of people in this church are probably
feeding their kids a pretty good diet.
They're probably trying to give them three squares a day.
And I know in my house, the food that's being served is well prepared by my wife.
It's nutritious food.
And you know what?
Sometimes it wouldn't kill us to have a meatless meal.
You know, it wouldn't kill us to eat a meal that's based on rice and beans or to eat a
meal that's just a pasta with no meat or something.
It's like, what's the deal?
Where's the beef?
But wait a minute.
You know, sometimes you need to save a little money and tone it down a little bit on the
steaks and lobster for crying out loud.
And you know, you can actually make tostadas and burritos without meat in them and save
a little money and not whine about it and not complain about it, okay?
Because of the fact that your parents love you and they're trying to feed you nutritious
food and you know what?
Kids don't know what's good.
Listen kids, you don't know what's good.
I want every child listening to me right now.
You are not a connoisseur of food.
That's why Chuck E. Cheese sees you coming a mile away and serves you the worst pizza
ever and you love it because you don't know what's good.
Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child.
Children don't know what good food is.
As you get older, you learn what good food is.
Let your parents teach you what good food is.
Your parents will tell you, this is good, eat it.
This is good.
And then you need to eat it and realize how good it is over time.
Because look, if you took a little kid to McDonald's, they'll think it's great.
The Happy Meal.
But it's not great.
Adults don't think it's great.
I mean at least adults who eat nutritious food normally, they don't think McDonald's
is the coolest meal.
No, not at all.
But kids do.
Why?
Because kids don't know what good food is and they need parents to teach them.
And by the way, what you end up liking is just what you're used to.
You can get used to virtually any food.
And they say that if you eat something 11 times, you'll like it going forward.
And that's why when your kids are little, you should feed them a variety of foods so
that they're not just like limited to just chicken fingers for the rest of their life.
Okay.
And you know, broaden their palate and eat nutritious fruits and vegetables.
Look, God looked upon all the stuff that he made, all the fruits and vegetables God made,
what did he say about them?
He said it's all very good.
It's good for food.
It's good for you.
That means that we shouldn't just be turning up our nose at just the majority of fruit
and turning up our nose at the majority of vegetables.
And you know, God made these animals to be consumed.
We shouldn't just be turning up our nose and just have this really limited view.
No, that means you're a spoiled brat at that point.
And we should broaden our palate and not be like these people who whine and physically
cry over having the wrong food, quote unquote.
I guarantee you that that manna was everything that they needed nutritionally.
I guarantee it.
I don't doubt it for one second that it had the protein they needed, the carbohydrate
that they needed, the fats and the omega-3, the omega-6, it had the vitamins, it had the
minerals.
I guarantee you that if God's providing it and saying this is your main food source,
it's probably the most nutritious thing they could have been eating.
It's probably everything that they needed.
I don't doubt that for a second.
But yet they whined about it because they wanted a party in their mouth.
And every meal doesn't have to be a party in our mouth.
You know, we eat for strength, not for drunkenness.
And when it comes to our food, when it comes to our lives, our job, you know, we need to
be satisfied and content with what we have and not always coveting something else.
Now some people are more of a satisficer and some people are more of a maximizer in life.
But let me tell you something.
We all need to learn in whatsoever state we are there with to be content.
And here's the thing.
And the reason I bring this up about marriage is because, you know, there are a lot of people
that come to me, and not necessarily in our church, but people, just because I'm a pastor,
people come to you with a lot of problems and then you hear about a lot of problems
and bad situations.
And you know, there are a lot of marriages that are falling apart today.
And there are a lot of divorces that are happening today.
Wouldn't you agree with that?
I mean the United States, I mean there are a lot of marriages that are ending and divorces
are happening.
And I think a lot of it starts when people start asking themselves, is there something
better out there?
Or you know, am I married to the right person?
And you know what?
There's just a thought that should never even enter your mind.
Because switching is not an option, friend.
Once you're married, once you're married, you shouldn't sit there and evaluate whether
or not you want to be married to that person.
That is just wicked.
No, you're committed.
You're in it for life.
And when you get married, you should just focus on how I can love this person more.
How can I love my spouse more?
How can I build this relationship and get along better and be happier and make them
happy instead of worrying about just making yourself?
Try making them happy for a while.
Do all the stuff that they want for a while and see how that goes.
But instead, so many people are looking over at the grass and the other side of the fence.
And I'm telling you, the internet is part of this.
I'm not against the internet.
But let me say this though.
The internet opens our eyes to a much larger world outside.
And the danger of that is that we can start becoming discontented with our own lives.
Mostly because much of what we see on the internet is an illusion.
You know, so basically we go on the internet, we go on Facebook and there's all these thousands
of people on Facebook, right?
Normally we wouldn't really know that many people.
I mean, I have 4,999 friends on Facebook.
You know, back in, back years ago, I wouldn't have had 4,999 friends, right?
That's too many friends.
And on Facebook, you know, they let you have a maximum of 5,000.
And I always keep it at 4,999 because, you know, there's always room for one more.
So the bottom line is that, you know, with all these friends, what it does is it shows
you and then people are always showing you their life on Facebook, right?
Hey, here's the vacation we went on.
Here's the meal that we ate.
Here's what we did.
But here's the thing about that.
Don't you think people are putting their best foot forward?
Hey, everybody, just had a big fight with my spouse.
But see, they're not, now there are people who post that.
That's even worse.
Those people are the worst, you know, because they need to keep their own business to themselves
because that's embarrassing to themselves and their spouse.
But you know, the average person, you know, with any brains or tact isn't going on Facebook
and say, hey, just had a big fight with my spouse.
You know, the beer mug was thrown at me and I just barely dodged it, almost hit me in
the head.
LOL.
You know, that's not the type of status that people are posting necessarily.
See, people tend to post stuff that makes them look good, right?
You know, what they're doing is they're posting all the good stuff.
They take 30 pictures of themselves, 29 of them look terrible.
None of them looks awesome because all the stars aligned and the sun beamed in and then
Photoshop went to work and then it came out awesome.
That's what gets posted.
Not them when they just woke up in the morning and they got sleep in their eyes and whatever.
Not them after they've been up all night with the baby or whatever.
You know, that's not the picture that's getting posted.
And then they're posting all the good, oh, look at this wonderful vacation.
Oh, look at the fun.
But if you were behind the scenes of that picture, it's like, just shut up and pretend
like you're having fun for a second.
It's like, get this picture taken, you know, and it's like, you know, or hey, here's me
and my wife kissing and it's like, that's like the only time they've kissed in the last
month and it's photographed and uploaded to Facebook.
Seriously.
So you say, why are you bringing that up, Pastor Anderson?
Because the tendency could be there to look at all these perfect lives on Facebook and
start thinking, oh, I wish that my life were a little more like their life or I wish that
my wife was a little more like their wife or I wish that my husband were more like him.
Because you're seeing all these perfect people on Facebook.
It's an illusion.
There's no temptation taking you but such as is common to man.
All the same junk that you're dealing with in your life, they're dealing with, I'm dealing
with the same, everybody's dealing with it, it's life.
Why don't you just be content?
You got Jesus in your heart.
You got a church that loves you.
You got the Bible being preached.
You got Jesus.
You got a home in heaven.
You got three warm meals a day.
You got a roof over your head.
You got a car or a bike or a bus ticket.
Why don't you just be thankful with what you have at this season?
Don't let all this advertising get to you and tell you all the stuff you need.
It's just going to clutter your house and make you unhappy because you have too much
stuff.
Have you ever known people who just have way too much stuff in their house?
You walk in the house and you're like, whoa, pack rat, you know, you need to get rid of
some of this stuff.
Because think about that stuff that's like, oh, this is so cool and then it's just like
junk for the rest of your life that you just never get rid of.
Junking up the place.
Cluttering up the place.
Look, what do we really need in this world?
Very little.
We need to live a simpler life and not get caught up in the materialistic, commercialistic.
And you know, around this season, why don't we think about loving our family and if we
buy gifts for people, let's buy stuff from the heart.
And you know what, if you buy gifts for people, it doesn't even necessarily have to be something
you buy.
Sometimes you can make someone a really nice gift or make a memory with someone that can
sometimes even mean more than just throwing money at somebody, if you think about it.
Sometimes you just always want to spend money when in reality, some of the funnest times
and the best moments are things that don't even cost money.
And think about the birth of Christ.
Think about loving your family.
Don't just get caught up in this materialistic of, ooh, the new Xbox 5000 and the PS22 and
the new, you know, flat screen digital, you know.
I mean, what's the hot item this year?
What is it?
Tickle Me Elmo?
What was that like?
Was that the 90s or what?
Who knows what I'm talking about, Tickle Me Elmo.
People are like trampling each other to get the Tickle Me Elmo.
You know what, I bet you could probably buy one of those stupid things for 99 cents.
I mean, I don't know, somebody go on eBay real quick, don't really do it, but you know,
go on eBay, Tickle Me Elmo.
It's probably like a dime a dozen, free with shipping or something, you know, I mean, people
are probably just trying to get rid of it.
It's probably on Freecycle.
Tickle Me Elmo.
What was it, the Trolls?
The Troll Dolls was the hot item.
What else was the hot item in the past?
What was it?
The Cabbage Patch Kids.
What's the hot item this year?
What's everybody trampling each other about on Friday?
Video games.
What is it?
The same stuff.
What's the video game?
The 4K TV.
Why would you even need that much resolution?
4K?
But you know what's funny is that like the kids of yesteryear, they played their video
games on the tube television that was like this big with the rabbit ears coming out of
it.
They played 16-bit Nintendo games and they thought it was the coolest thing, but now
they gotta have the newest, you know, the PS whatever millionth number they're on.
You know, but don't, you know, I don't get caught up in any of that and we, you know,
just let the world get all excited about all that stuff and let's just be satisfied and
content with what we have and if we get gifts, great, cool, but let's not just sit there
and fixate on that and make it all about that.
Let's be content and satisfied with what we have.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for these Bible stories about these spoiled brats, Lord,
like Ahab and Rehoboam and the children of Israel.
Lord, help us to learn from their mistakes and not to lust as they lusted, not to covet
as they coveted, Lord.
Help us rather to just be like the Apostle Paul where we can just be content with whatever
we have and just enjoy some hot cocoa and sing some Christmas songs and, you know, spend
time with family and not get caught up in all the covetousness of this time of year,
Lord.
Help us to just enjoy a piece of buttered bread and not whine about all the things that
we can't afford and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.