The Wrong Kind of Contentment (Amos 6:1-7; Revelation 3:14-22)
What is your view of the Christian life? How would you answer someone who asked you about living for Jesus? Would you give a general answer that any Christian would give? What if the person asked you about your Christian life? What would you say if he asked you if you find it fulfilling and meaningful? Would you be honest with the person?
What kind of life does the Bible indicate should be our experience? Here are some verses with biblical answers:
John 6:37-38: ‘On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.’ That sounds like a life of satisfaction within and refreshment for others. This is an amazing and beautiful promise of Jesus to all of his disciples.
Matthew 11:28-30: ‘Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ Jesus is speaking to people who have suffered under the hands of the Pharisees, legalists who concentrated on the externals. Instead of such soul-sapping requirements, Jesus offers them rest and does so in two ways. First, they will get the rest of pardon if they come to him. Second, they will find that his demands are easy to do.
Galatians 5:22-23: ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.’ These verses describe the normal Christian life. The first three are affections or spiritual feelings. If they are absent, something is very wrong. The same can be said about the other details, although they are more attitudes than affections. The implication is that the second group of six flow out of the first group of three. Why do people not have these affections and attitudes?
Divine diagnosis
Jeremiah 2:11-12: ‘Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.’ That seems to be a diagnosis of why we may not have refreshing spiritual provision. God calls the heavens to observe this astonishing response from his people. He is like a doctor announcing to the community that his patients have deliberately chosen a path in which they will get sick. Their choice was twofold – they rejected God as the source of happiness and they tried to find it in earthly things. What a sad diagnosis!
Jeremiah 6:16: ‘Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” But they said, “We will not walk in it.”’ That seems to be a diagnosis of why some do not have rest for their souls. Yet the Lord has a remedy. The idea here is that people have come to a crossroads. They can choose the new paths or the old paths. There is no soul rest in the new paths, this rest is only found in the old paths where the Lord walks. He is not found on the new paths; indeed, they lead people away from him.
Ephesians 4:30: ‘And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.’ Paul gives the reason for the absence of those spiritual features. It is straightforward but striking. The Holy Spirit can be grieved and when that happens, there is no fruit.
What could be the explanation for not having those blessed experiences? I would suggest that there are only two possibilities. One is that people either are not Christians or they are flawed Christians. The question then is, ‘If we are like that, are we content to remain where we are?’
Non-Christians with wrong contentment
The Bible does speak about those who are at ease in Zion. That description indicates they have a connection to Zion, but they are not doing what inhabitants of Zion should be doing. An inhabitant of Zion would depend on the King of Zion for pardon, peace and protection. Unusually for a city, all its inhabitants can approach the King at the same time and ask him for mercy. Moreover, he gives them numerous opportunities to come and speak to him. But they cannot be bothered. They are at ease in Zion. The context of that verse in Amos 6 is that judgement is coming. Amos points out that powerful nations had not been able to prevent divine judgement coming on them, and neither will those today who are at ease in Zion.
Christians with wrong contentment
We read in Revelation 3 concerning the church in Laodicea that the members made Jesus sick. The picture is that he had come, as it were, to enjoy spiritual fruit, but instead he tasted the opposite and could not swallow it. They, of course, had not realised their spiritual state. Bizarrely, they had concluded they were doing so well that they had need of nothing.
What would mark such a believer? Perhaps we could focus on lack of prayer, because that is definite evidence of wrong contentment. Indifference to attending the means of grace that Jesus has provided is also definite evidence. Jesus himself mentions the catastrophic mark – they have no contact with him. There does not seem to have been any awareness that Jesus was no longer in their lives, which indicates that the decline was gradual. Sadly, in Laodicea, there was a church full of such people. The only way of recovery was to meet with Jesus individually.
Priorities of spiritual living
The obvious requirement for everyone is contact with Jesus, real living contact. This is the case whether we are at ease in Zion, or a backsliding believer or a believer making progress at the moment. Without this contact, we are in trouble. What are the signs of this contact with Jesus?
The obvious response to Jesus that is required of us is trust. We have to depend on him for salvation and it can only be obtained by faith. Faith in Jesus means that we trust him alone for salvation. There is surrender in this faith because Jesus is Lord and there is sorrow in this faith because we are sinners who repent when we believe in him.
The second requirement for healthy discipleship is time. How much time do we have? Plenty. How much time do we need to have a healthy relationship with the Saviour? The answer to that one is this: if we are doing something that he cannot bless, we are wasting precious time. So what do we do with our time?
We can think about Jesus. This is not difficult if we read the Bible out of love for Jesus. He will reveal himself throughout its pages to those who search for him. In fact, this is his favourite way of revealing himself to his people. There is something wrong if we cannot make time to think about Jesus.
Thinking about Jesus will lead to us tasting him and discovering what others have found, which is that he is altogether lovely. We can feed our souls on his person (God and man), his work, his position in heaven, his future activities, his promises, etc. The more we do so, the bigger our appetite will become.
Such practices will lead us to talk to Jesus. We can have communion (talk) with each of the three divine Persons. This is our great privilege and I suspect our failure to do so will be our greatest regret on the judgment day. We can talk to Jesus simply, reverently, about little things and big things. If we cannot talk to Jesus about something, we should not be doing it.
Following on from talking to Jesus will be talking about Jesus. This is always the order, and a reluctance to talk about him indicates that we are not talking to him. No one has a problem talking about someone they love. Our hearts should burn within us wanting to share what we have discovered and to listen to what others have discovered.
When we trust in Jesus, use our time wisely, think about him, taste him, talk to him, and talk about him, it will be obvious that we are being transformed. We will sense that we are changing, and others will certainly see it. Transformation into the likeness of Jesus is the proof that God is at work in us.
Application
Jesus want us to know him. This is the meaning of eternal life, as we can see from the prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17. Eternal life is to know the Father and to know Jesus, the one whom the Father sent to save us.
Jesus is disappointed when we don’t know him. Think of what he said to Philip in John 14 when that disciple expressed an astonishing degree of ignorance about Jesus as the Saviour. Jesus said that Philip should have been able to understand what Jesus was saying at that time.
Remember the example of Paul. On one occasion, he said that his aim was to know Christ (Phil. 3:10). How did he get on? Think of what he said in 2 Timothy 1:12, the last of his letters in the Bible: ‘I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.’ His efforts at knowing Jesus were successful and comforting at the time of great need.
What kind of life does the Bible indicate should be our experience? Here are some verses with biblical answers:
John 6:37-38: ‘On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.’ That sounds like a life of satisfaction within and refreshment for others. This is an amazing and beautiful promise of Jesus to all of his disciples.
Matthew 11:28-30: ‘Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ Jesus is speaking to people who have suffered under the hands of the Pharisees, legalists who concentrated on the externals. Instead of such soul-sapping requirements, Jesus offers them rest and does so in two ways. First, they will get the rest of pardon if they come to him. Second, they will find that his demands are easy to do.
Galatians 5:22-23: ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.’ These verses describe the normal Christian life. The first three are affections or spiritual feelings. If they are absent, something is very wrong. The same can be said about the other details, although they are more attitudes than affections. The implication is that the second group of six flow out of the first group of three. Why do people not have these affections and attitudes?
Divine diagnosis
Jeremiah 2:11-12: ‘Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.’ That seems to be a diagnosis of why we may not have refreshing spiritual provision. God calls the heavens to observe this astonishing response from his people. He is like a doctor announcing to the community that his patients have deliberately chosen a path in which they will get sick. Their choice was twofold – they rejected God as the source of happiness and they tried to find it in earthly things. What a sad diagnosis!
Jeremiah 6:16: ‘Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” But they said, “We will not walk in it.”’ That seems to be a diagnosis of why some do not have rest for their souls. Yet the Lord has a remedy. The idea here is that people have come to a crossroads. They can choose the new paths or the old paths. There is no soul rest in the new paths, this rest is only found in the old paths where the Lord walks. He is not found on the new paths; indeed, they lead people away from him.
Ephesians 4:30: ‘And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.’ Paul gives the reason for the absence of those spiritual features. It is straightforward but striking. The Holy Spirit can be grieved and when that happens, there is no fruit.
What could be the explanation for not having those blessed experiences? I would suggest that there are only two possibilities. One is that people either are not Christians or they are flawed Christians. The question then is, ‘If we are like that, are we content to remain where we are?’
Non-Christians with wrong contentment
The Bible does speak about those who are at ease in Zion. That description indicates they have a connection to Zion, but they are not doing what inhabitants of Zion should be doing. An inhabitant of Zion would depend on the King of Zion for pardon, peace and protection. Unusually for a city, all its inhabitants can approach the King at the same time and ask him for mercy. Moreover, he gives them numerous opportunities to come and speak to him. But they cannot be bothered. They are at ease in Zion. The context of that verse in Amos 6 is that judgement is coming. Amos points out that powerful nations had not been able to prevent divine judgement coming on them, and neither will those today who are at ease in Zion.
Christians with wrong contentment
We read in Revelation 3 concerning the church in Laodicea that the members made Jesus sick. The picture is that he had come, as it were, to enjoy spiritual fruit, but instead he tasted the opposite and could not swallow it. They, of course, had not realised their spiritual state. Bizarrely, they had concluded they were doing so well that they had need of nothing.
What would mark such a believer? Perhaps we could focus on lack of prayer, because that is definite evidence of wrong contentment. Indifference to attending the means of grace that Jesus has provided is also definite evidence. Jesus himself mentions the catastrophic mark – they have no contact with him. There does not seem to have been any awareness that Jesus was no longer in their lives, which indicates that the decline was gradual. Sadly, in Laodicea, there was a church full of such people. The only way of recovery was to meet with Jesus individually.
Priorities of spiritual living
The obvious requirement for everyone is contact with Jesus, real living contact. This is the case whether we are at ease in Zion, or a backsliding believer or a believer making progress at the moment. Without this contact, we are in trouble. What are the signs of this contact with Jesus?
The obvious response to Jesus that is required of us is trust. We have to depend on him for salvation and it can only be obtained by faith. Faith in Jesus means that we trust him alone for salvation. There is surrender in this faith because Jesus is Lord and there is sorrow in this faith because we are sinners who repent when we believe in him.
The second requirement for healthy discipleship is time. How much time do we have? Plenty. How much time do we need to have a healthy relationship with the Saviour? The answer to that one is this: if we are doing something that he cannot bless, we are wasting precious time. So what do we do with our time?
We can think about Jesus. This is not difficult if we read the Bible out of love for Jesus. He will reveal himself throughout its pages to those who search for him. In fact, this is his favourite way of revealing himself to his people. There is something wrong if we cannot make time to think about Jesus.
Thinking about Jesus will lead to us tasting him and discovering what others have found, which is that he is altogether lovely. We can feed our souls on his person (God and man), his work, his position in heaven, his future activities, his promises, etc. The more we do so, the bigger our appetite will become.
Such practices will lead us to talk to Jesus. We can have communion (talk) with each of the three divine Persons. This is our great privilege and I suspect our failure to do so will be our greatest regret on the judgment day. We can talk to Jesus simply, reverently, about little things and big things. If we cannot talk to Jesus about something, we should not be doing it.
Following on from talking to Jesus will be talking about Jesus. This is always the order, and a reluctance to talk about him indicates that we are not talking to him. No one has a problem talking about someone they love. Our hearts should burn within us wanting to share what we have discovered and to listen to what others have discovered.
When we trust in Jesus, use our time wisely, think about him, taste him, talk to him, and talk about him, it will be obvious that we are being transformed. We will sense that we are changing, and others will certainly see it. Transformation into the likeness of Jesus is the proof that God is at work in us.
Application
Jesus want us to know him. This is the meaning of eternal life, as we can see from the prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17. Eternal life is to know the Father and to know Jesus, the one whom the Father sent to save us.
Jesus is disappointed when we don’t know him. Think of what he said to Philip in John 14 when that disciple expressed an astonishing degree of ignorance about Jesus as the Saviour. Jesus said that Philip should have been able to understand what Jesus was saying at that time.
Remember the example of Paul. On one occasion, he said that his aim was to know Christ (Phil. 3:10). How did he get on? Think of what he said in 2 Timothy 1:12, the last of his letters in the Bible: ‘I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.’ His efforts at knowing Jesus were successful and comforting at the time of great need.