Treasures look attractive because they serve us, but then they captivate us, says Jesus, then they motivate us, says Jesus, then they control us, as our master, that's why this is not some incidental little thing, this is a crucial issue in life, what is your treasure, what is your master, it's the same question, what is your vision, it's the same question, what motivates you, it's the same question, and that's why every one of us need to make sure that our master is right, we talk about free will, our free will is rather limited, I suggest to you, it's basically limited to a choice of who's going to be your master, from then on, everything we do is because of that mastering principle in our lives, and it's either God, or it's a material thing, and the love of money becomes the root of evil, because it begins to set us on a pursuit of material things, which will override then, people, override spiritual realities, in the pursuit of that greed, and so he warns about the destructive power of the love of money, it's the root that lies behind so much evil, he says, but the third thing we'll talk about from these verses is the legitimacy of riches, because riches are not in themselves wrong, they have their limitations, they have their dangers, but material things are necessary to us, we need not be embarrassed about them, it says in verse, is it verse 17, the second part of verse 17, well let me read the whole verse, command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant, nor put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment, God does provide us with material things, there are some material things which are necessary, and legitimate, we need homes to live in, we need clothes to wear, we need vehicles to get around in, we need money to make this possible, there's no virtue in poverty in itself, in the history of the church, of course, there have been some who have thought that there is virtue in poverty, those who have taken vows of poverty, and that may be a healthy thing for an individual to do, but there is no special virtue in that, in the New Testament, it's a freeing thing for those who do that, but there's no special virtue in that, in fact, under the old covenant, poverty was a sign of God's curse, prosperity was a sign of God's blessing, that's under the old covenant, but like most things, we need to get these things into perspective, and probably the biggest lie of our day is the idea that a man's life consists in the abundance of things he possesses, Jesus said the reverse of that, a man's life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses, but in our society, a person's status in society, his sense of importance, the measurement of his or her success is directly related to their material prosperity, but that is not the value that governs the life of a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, we're to learn to resist that as a value, and as a criteria for measuring our success, and verse six, where I began, where we're going to finish and talk about for a few moments, godliness with contentment is great gain, learning to be content with the things that God has given to us, Paul in Philippians four, I don't want to encroach on Michael Bourne's territory, he'll get to this chapter later in the week, but Paul in Philippians four, verse 11 says, I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances, then he elaborates, I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty, I've learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want, now he says I've had to learn this, it was not instinctive to me, I had to learn it, he describes it as a secret, I've learned the secret of being content, and I've been in situations, says Paul, when I'm well fed, I'm not embarrassed about that, I don't feel guilty about that, I enjoy the well feeding, and I've been in situations where I'm hungry, I'm not embarrassed about that either, what happens to me in material terms is irrelevant to my sense of contentment, and he goes on to say, of course, in the next verse, that this secret, I can do everything through him who gives me strength, that doesn't mean, of course, I can do all things through Christ, that doesn't mean I can do anything, I can jump over the moon through Christ, of course, this has a context, I can live in any circumstance, I can learn to be content, why?