We live in a world where material things seem to rule the roost; our Western society values money, commerce, luxuries and wealth as prizes to accommodate a level of living which even a few generations ago would have seemed impossible. This has always been the case, though, as the gold of Egypt and the wealth of Babylon testify. Money and the things it can buy have always been seen as a measure of success, often the only one recognised by leaders and peoples alike.

Yet the Bible makes it plain that there is far more to life than material wealth and places a far higher value on spiritual treasure (Matt 6:19-20). In Revelation 18, we see that worldly success will not mean spiritual security, as Babylon (representative of the world in its independence, industry and economic prowess) ultimately faces the judgment of God and is fallen. (Rev 18:2)

Babylon, with its merchants and ‘cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves’ (Rev 18:12-13), represents the kind of wealth most of us can only aspire to. Yet this chapter makes it plain that this kind of success is transitory and cannot atone for sin. God sees her as ‘a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.’ (Rev 18:2) Plagues, death, mourning, famine and fire are the fate which awaits her. (Rev 18:8)

John’s vision of the total destruction of one of the most celebrated cities of the ancient world reminds us that we need to see things from God’s perspective. Rev 18:22-24 shows us an abandoned, derelict city with no sound of music or rejoicing, no bustle of work, no light or vitality. We might ask how this state of affairs comes about, and see that it is because of the rejection of God and the violence done to His people. Paul urges the Corinthians to keep an eternal perspective, especially with regard to suffering and evil. (2 Cor 4:16-18) We do well to do the same. An eternal perspective keeps us from the shallowness of judging life simply by what we can see (as Asaph did in Psalm 73) and helps us to trust in the righteousness and holiness of God to do what is right in the end.

Tonight we looked at three Cs which are important in Christian living: being confident, competent and content. These three aspects of life are not entirely unique to Christianity, but certainly, Jesus Christ transforms the meaning of all three attitudes and gives us the ability to live differently as we live in Him and allow His Holy Spirit to direct us and shape us so that we can experience life in all its fulness (John 10:10) and can live in ways that are decidedly counter-cultural.

Confidence is not simply a personality trait which some possess and others must just do without. Confidence can easily be bruised and broken by life’s difficulties, but the key to Christian confidence is that we can trust God. God is faithful and loving, and so we can be confident that we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Ps 27:13) and that God Himself will complete the work He has begun in us. (Phil 1:6) Because of God, we can have confidence that we can do all things through Him (Phil 4:13). Our confidence is in God and not in ourselves!

Competence is ‘the ability to do something successfully or effectively.’ Many of us feel we are not particularly good at anything, but just as God gives us the righteousness which restores our relationship with Him, God gives us the very competence we need to live for Him (see 2 Cor 3:4-6). Our competence doesn’t come from our own abilities or strengths but from God’s. Both Gideon and Moses knew all about feeling inadequate; Jeremiah felt he was too young to do what God asked him to; Paul came to the Corinthians with fear and trembling. Ultimately, these Bible heroes realised their competence came from God; God does not call the qualified, but qualifies the called!

Being content in God enables us to live patiently before the Lord. Paul speaks about this in Phil 4:11-13, reminding us that contentment is not dependent on circumstances but on a personal relationship with God. We have a part to play in this, namely learning to quieten ourselves before God (see Ps 131:1-2). Only when we see Him as able to meet all our needs (especially our needs for significance, self-worth and security) can we reach the place of contentment, which, alongside godliness, is great gain. (1 Tim 6:6) Then we can rest content, untouched by trouble, because we know Christ has overcome the world (see Prov 19:23, John 16:33).

Garry spoke this morning from Gen 47:1-11, when Joseph presented his family to Pharaoh. We can imagine the different worlds clashing – Joseph’s nomadic farming family meeting Pharaoh, a meeting that under normal circumstances would never have ccome about. But Joseph had proved himself a valuable ally and trusted worker to Pharaoh and therefore they were acceptable to Pharaoh because of their connection to Joseph.

We too are brought before God through the sacrifice of Jesus. A holy God welcoming sinful people – how can this be?! Only those with clean hands and a pure heart could ascend the mountain of the Lord (Ps 24:3-4), but Jesus comes as our representative, taking on flesh, dwelling among us (John 1:14) and making a way for us to be acceptable to God. We are now of the same family (Heb 2:10-12); He is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters and experienced first hand the ups and downs of life, the joys, disappointments and sorrows. Jesus suffered for us (Heb 5) so that He has become a high priest forever (see Heb 6:19-20, Heb 7:25-27).

Not only do we gain access to God through Jesus, we gain blessing. Just as Joseph’s family were given the best grazing land for their flocks entirely through grace, now we have been blessed beyond belief by God (see Eph 1:3, 7-8) Sometimes we are unaware of all He has done for us, but as we take Communion each week, we can remember and count the blessings He has achieved for us. We have salvation so we can stand faultless before a holy God. We have gaied a Father who knows us, loves us, holds us and works for us. We have God with us continually to support and guide. We can give thanks for all He has done and for all there is to come.