[0:00] The following message is given by Walt Alexander, lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Athens, Tennessee.! For more information about Trinity Grace, please visit us at TrinityGraceAthens.com.
[0:14] Philippians 4. Look with me down there at verse 10. I'm going to read through verse 13. The Apostle Paul writes, I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me.
[0:30] You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I'm speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
[0:47] I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger.
[1:00] Abundance and need. Verse 13, I can do all things through Christ, or through Him who strengthens me.
[1:12] That is the word of our Lord. That's the word of God. You know, I am a world-class complainer. I've been complaining my whole life, and I've gotten pretty good at it.
[1:26] You know, when I was a boy, I would complain about eating vegetables. I'm sure no one in this room has ever complained about eating vegetables. No one has ever fussed or whined about having to eat more broccoli instead of more mac and cheese or chocolate cake.
[1:45] You know, I still remember one time I was with a babysitter who made me eat a whole serving of green beans. I remember where I was. I remember what the green beans taste like, even though it's been over 30 years.
[1:58] And I remember nearly dying through gagging on those green beans. But you know, I didn't just complain about vegetables. I complained when it was too hot. I complained when it was too cold, perhaps like this morning.
[2:12] I complained when it was too rainy. I complained when it was not rainy enough. I complained when I had to wake up. And I complained when I had to go to bed. I complained because of schoolwork and other work.
[2:26] And sometimes when I was just playing. And if there was something to complain about, I found it. And I complained about it. You know, I've gotten older and I've begun to learn some of the reasons I shouldn't complain.
[2:37] But many times I still find it hard to stop. And my guess is, you're a bit like me. What would it take to really stop complaining? Do we just need to learn how to grin and bear it?
[2:51] You know, bear the things we don't like. Do we just need to be stronger? You know, like our resolve is stronger. Do we just need to stop wanting it so much? My grandfather used to say, you have a bad case of the I wants.
[3:06] Like it's a sickness. Surely that's it. You know, if we didn't want so much, we'd just be happy with what we have. And we wouldn't complain. Or do we just need to care less? You know, some people say, all we need to do is lower our expectations.
[3:20] And then we won't be disappointed. Or perhaps we just need to realize that our lives are going pretty well. We live in one of the richest nations in the world.
[3:30] And one of the richest nations in history. Maybe that's our problem. But what would it take to really stop complaining and be perfectly content? My guess is none of us are going to reach it in this life.
[3:42] But this morning, we're going to tackle some of the best known verses in Philippians. And they're specifically focused on helping us learn to be content. They're precious. Because they come into the details of our life to help us train our hearts.
[3:59] So in a word, where we're going, train your heart to find joy in Jesus in every situation. These verses uncover the secret of how to stop complaining and how to be content.
[4:10] And they call us to train our hearts to find joy in Jesus in every situation. The first, we're going to break this out in three points. First point, welcome to the school of contentment.
[4:22] Welcome to the school of contentment. You know, these verses begin in a little bit of an odd way. You know, if you remember, if you've been following along or if you've read Philippians, you know, Paul's responding to a gift that the Philippians had sent to him.
[4:40] So they'd send him a monetary gift. He's in prison in Rome. And he's kind of writing to say a few things on his heart and then to write to say thank you. So we get all the way to the end of, or near the end of chapter four.
[4:52] And that's when he begins his thank you. And that's what these verses tackle. And it begins, though, when he's thanking him, it begins in an odd way. You can see that down in verse 10. He says, I rejoice greatly that now at length you've revived your concern for me.
[5:05] What he's saying is I'm happy because you've done this for me. I want to express my gratefulness. It was surprising to him. You know, he's in prison. He wasn't expecting this gift.
[5:17] It's come. He's thankful. He's aware it's a very kind expression of God's concern or their concern for him. But he continues, though, I'm thankful for the gift. I must tell you, I don't need it.
[5:30] And that's why I say it's a bit odd. I must tell you, this is a great gift, but I don't need it. You know, now people like that annoy me a little bit. You know, somebody that you try to get them a gift.
[5:42] You ask them what they need. And they say, I don't need anything. You know, maybe it's your mom who says, I don't need presents. I need your presents. Which, yeah, it's a little play on words.
[5:53] Or maybe I didn't pronounce it just right. But, you know, I've been married long enough that when your spouse says this, it's a little bit of a trick. Because if she says, I don't need anything, she doesn't really mean that.
[6:05] Because if you follow through on that, it doesn't end well. But when Paul says it, I don't need anything. That's not trying to throw Kim under the bus. But it's damage done.
[6:18] But when Paul says, I don't need anything, he means it. And it's so interesting. He's beginning to thank them. He says, I don't need anything. And he moves on from there to uncover why.
[6:33] Why he's happy. Here he is in prison awaiting his execution. And he's happy. The first thing he teaches the Philippians is that all of us must go to the school of contentment.
[6:45] Because contentment is learned. Contentment is learned. Look down there in verse 11. He says, I have learned. Again, at the end of verse 12, he says, I have learned the secret.
[6:58] And at the beginning of verse 12, he says, I know. Again, he says, I know. You know, contentment is just a word that means to be joyful and happy no matter what's going on.
[7:10] And so Paul's saying, I know how to be content. Contentment, I know, not just in my head, like I know that volcanic lava is hot or that Antarctica is cold.
[7:20] He's saying, I know how to be content because I've truly learned to be happy in Jesus Christ no matter what's going on. And so this is encouraging news. Contentment is learned.
[7:33] Contentment does not come naturally. And there's a lot of things that come naturally. We learn to walk. We learn to talk, you know, and those two-year-olds getting that two, three age and they learn to talk and they learn to talk a lot.
[7:48] And ask lots of questions. We learn to run. We learn to interact. We learn to do so many things. But we don't learn contentment is what he's saying. It doesn't come naturally.
[7:59] It didn't come naturally for Paul. And it will not come naturally for us. Contentment, therefore, is not a super spiritual quality given to super spiritual saints.
[8:12] It's not given to the really good people. You know, sometimes you can look at somebody. Well, they're definitely content. Because their life is great. But not me over here. That's not what Paul is saying.
[8:22] You know, many times we look at Paul in the Bible. We look at others in our lives. We think we can never be like them. We can never be content like them. But in this case, we can. Contentment is learned by everyone.
[8:33] And that's so encouraging. But it's sobering, too. Contentment must be learned. Learned here literally means to appropriate for yourself.
[8:47] To truly learn, we must hear teaching and put it into practice. We must do this for ourselves. You know, contentment is not a feeling that comes over us.
[8:57] You know, I think sometimes we can think about contentment like I'm waiting on a train to arrive. I'm just kind of at the station. It's going to come. That joy, that contentment, that peace is going to come. I'm just kind of waiting.
[9:08] Well, that's not what this text says. Contentment must be learned. It's not a waiting thing. Contentment is not something that just comes to us when we get older. Have you ever met a grumpy old man?
[9:27] They've gotten older, but they haven't become content. J.C. Riles says it like this. Two of the rarest sights are a young man who is humble and an old man who's content.
[9:39] It doesn't come naturally. In fact, it's exceedingly rare. An old man who's content.
[9:51] That's sobering news. The idea is that contentment can be unlearned. You know, contentment can fail to be learned. We can get older. We can get the job we want.
[10:04] We can buy the things we want. We can do all these types of things and yet fail to learn contentment. And if we don't learn it, it doesn't matter what we do with our life.
[10:16] We'll never be satisfied. That's what Paul says. It must be learned. Contentment is learned by repeatedly practicing what we know to be true and applying it to our lives.
[10:28] The idea is no one can do this for you. You must do it for yourself. You must seek God in his word and repeatedly apply it to your life. We must learn contentment by ourselves by repeatedly practicing these things we know to be true and applying them to the circumstances of our life.
[10:43] That's why I say welcome to the school of contentment. All of us must go back to school. I was reading an article earlier this week.
[10:53] You know, nightmares, I think, are the worst. They stink. They jar you from sleep. And I was reading this fascinating article about the most common nightmares. And some of the common ones were you wake up thinking your teeth are falling out.
[11:10] Now, I have never had that nightmare. But that sounds scary, you know. I don't know if you're like biting into corn and then they all come out. You know, or you wake up thinking you're falling, right.
[11:22] Now, that happens all the time, you know. In all your classes, you suddenly wake up like that and feel like you fell on the floor and everybody's laughing. Laughing at you. You wake up thinking you're naked before a crowded room.
[11:34] Now, that's just yikes. So, we'll move on from that real quick. But one of the most common ones is you wake up scared you forgot to turn in an assignment. Or you wake up, you know.
[11:44] There's some essay you meant to write. You know, a couple years ago, I went back to school to finish my Master's of Divinity. And it was so funny. I hadn't been in school in probably 15 years, maybe 14 years, something like that.
[11:57] And I started having those nightmares again. You know, like, oh my goodness, I forgot an assignment. Ah! You know, wake up paranoid and go back and look at your syllabus. That's one of the most common things.
[12:09] And I don't want to go back to school. And I don't want those nightmares. But if we're going to make it through life glorifying Christ, we've got to go back. The school of contentment is not a school we can afford to miss.
[12:24] Are you still in school? Are you still taking classes? Have you settled into school or settled into discontent?
[12:36] Are you still a student? Are you okay admitting you're trying to learn? Is it just the kids who have a complaining problem and an arguing problem?
[12:49] Or is it you? Is your aching for contentment matched by a regular pursuit of God? I mean, surely your desire for contentment produces prayer.
[12:59] But does it lead to steps of discipline and application? What would change if you viewed your circumstances this way as ordained by God and a God-given opportunity to learn the secret and the greater value of contentment?
[13:17] We've got to go back to school. And sometimes that's not great news. Point two, your teachers are in this new school of contentment, Mrs. Pleasure and Mr. Payne.
[13:32] I thought that'd get a little bit more of a laugh, but you know, whatever. You know, in school of contentment, those are the two teachers. Paul's talking about, I've learned in whatever situation to be content. You see, he's talking in these sweeping ways.
[13:45] I've learned in whatever situation. He says later, any and every circumstance. I can do all things. He's talking about something that's changed the way he lives all of his life.
[13:55] And then he gets specific. Look down there in verse 12. He says, I know how to be brought low. I know how to abound. He continues at the end of that verse. I've learned the secret of facing plenty and want or hunger, abundance and need.
[14:14] He's saying all the highs and lows of life have taught me that contentment doesn't depend on them. The idea is that in this school, there's two teachers, pleasure and pain.
[14:25] And both of the teachers teach the same thing, that contentment doesn't depend on them. That's what he's saying. And so Mrs. Pleasure teaches us contentment is not gained through pleasure and success.
[14:38] You know, we tend to think, how would it be hard to abound? I mean, you know, most people read these verses and they don't, those aren't the parts that pop out.
[14:50] You know, I know how to be brought low. I know how to face hunger. I know how to be, you know, face need, all that type stuff. That's not stuff that pops out. Or that's the stuff that pops out.
[15:01] We don't think, I know how to be, I know how to abound. I know how to face abundance. You know, we think, how could that be hard? That would be easy.
[15:11] I mean, that's what we're after, right? But Mrs. Pleasure and Paul warn us that it's hard to walk through pleasure and success without realizing they will never satisfy.
[15:22] That's what he's saying. It's hard to walk through pleasure and success without realizing they will never satisfy. You know, one of the most successful recording artists in the last 25 years is Madonna.
[15:36] I'm not going to sing any of her hits, but she has numerous ones and numerous albums. And yet, with all the success she has, she's not content.
[15:48] I know this because of her words. Listen to this quote from Madonna. She says, Again and again, my drive in life is to conquer this horrible feeling of being mediocre.
[16:04] And that's always pushing me. Pushing me. Because even though I've become somebody, I still have to prove I am somebody. Even though I've become somebody, even though my name's been in the lights, even though I've been on the billboards and all these things, I have to prove I am somebody.
[16:21] And she says, Hauntingly, my struggle has never ended, and it probably never will. Outside of Christ, that's exactly right. It never will.
[16:32] She attained something great, becomes somebody, but it's not enough. It's always more. Always more is needed, is what she's saying. That'll never be enough. She's never satisfied with what she's accomplished.
[16:45] And the idea is that pain and success are never enough. We'll never reach a level of money in our bank account, and then we'll say, All right, that's enough. I'm good. I don't need any more.
[16:57] That nest egg, you know, or that emergency fund. Dave Ramsey and these guys are telling us, That emergency fund is never going to reach a level where you say, I can sleep easy now.
[17:08] It'll never be enough. Let me continue. You will not be content if everyone likes you. Or if you make the best grades in class. Or if you get 20 or 30 or 40 more likes on Facebook. Or if you finally get that house.
[17:20] Or go on that vacation. Or if you finally get that prayer answered. Or if your income raises by 25%. Or if your last business hadn't failed. It wouldn't be enough to make you content.
[17:30] That's what he's saying. The grass is always greener on the other side. And if you got over there, it wouldn't be enough. The old guys used to call this the test of prosperity.
[17:43] And they always said it was harder. They always said it was harder to abound than to be brought low. So he's warning us.
[17:56] Contentment's not gained in pleasure. It's not gained in success. Mr. Payne teaches us contentment's not lost in failure. Numerous people over the years have, or pain and failure, numerous people over the years have taught us that pain and failure teach us so much.
[18:13] One of our beloved forefathers failed many times. At 23, he lost his job. You probably heard these. Same year, he was defeated for legislature. 24, he failed in business.
[18:25] 25, he was elected to legislature. At 26, his girlfriend died. At 27, he had a nervous breakdown. 29, he was defeated for speaker.
[18:35] 34, he was defeated for nomination to Congress. 37, he was elected to Congress. 39, he lost re-election. 40, he was rejected for another position. 45, he was defeated for Senate.
[18:48] 47, he was defeated for nomination for the vice president. 49, again, he was defeated for Senate. And at 51, he was elected the president of the United States. Who is that?
[18:59] Abraham Lincoln. It's incredible. Lincoln's life teaches us not to give up on pain and failure, or give up in it. But Mr. Payne and Paul teaches us not to lose our joy in pain and failure.
[19:16] That's a better lesson. The Apostle Paul has faced so much. Just look at this list. Dare say his failure list is worse than Lincoln's.
[19:27] He said, Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes lessed one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned.
[19:39] Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea. On frequent journeys and dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles.
[19:49] Danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, danger everywhere in toil and hardship. Through many a sleepless night and hunger and thirst, often without food and cold and exposure.
[20:04] Apart from all the other things, there's the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Now imagine this.
[20:15] Paul began his ministry at 55 years old, right when we buy the house on the lake. And he's saying, that's when I faced all that. So when he says, I'm brought low, he means it.
[20:30] When he said, I've learned the secret of facing hunger, it's literal. This is not where the Bible is speaking a metaphor. I mean, he's saying, I faced need, I faced hardship, and yet the pain and failure has been his teacher.
[20:44] He needed a teacher, and this is what it's taught him. Not to look for his circumstances for contentment. The old guys used to call this the test of adversity.
[20:55] The idea is that God has promised pain and failure will come into your life. Acts 14, 22. Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God.
[21:06] And he's purposed in pain and failure to test our little hearts, see whether we rely on him, and whether we'll learn to be content.
[21:19] You know, pain and failure teach us that our main problem in life is not trouble, but discontentment. Thomas Watson says it like this, It is not trouble that troubles, but discontent.
[21:34] It is not trouble that troubles, but discontent. Think about that. What's your trouble? What's my trouble? Is it the kids?
[21:47] Is it the boss? Is it the classmates? Is it your health? You know, is it your parents' rules? Or is it discontent?
[22:01] Pain and failure teach us that what we really need is not for things to go better, but for humility. Thomas Watson, again, in his fabulous little book, he says, The way for a man or a woman to be contented is not by raising his estate higher, but by bringing his heart lower.
[22:21] That's what pain and failure do. That's what Paul began to see. I don't mean to make this sound like this is an easy lesson. This is a hard lesson.
[22:32] But that's what we need. The way to be content, not by raising our estate, but by bringing our heart lower. Pain and failure teach us to rest in God's providence and resist complaining.
[22:43] You know, complaining is just discontent made audible. It's just audible discontent. You know, sometimes we can think, Well, I didn't mean what I was saying. The Bible says overflow of the heart, your mouth speaks.
[22:54] And complaining is just discontent. It's eked out. In light of what we deserve, in light of what we received, it should not be. We're not in hell. And we should be content.
[23:08] Pain and failure teach us to close our mouth. And I pray for my mouth to be shut all the time. Oh, Lord, close the door of my mouth. Do not let my heart incline to any evil.
[23:19] But it teaches us to close our mouth and learn to rest in God's providence. Pain and failure teach us to find lasting joy in God. Look at this quote from D.A. Carson.
[23:30] He says, The ultimate ground of our rejoicing can never be our circumstances. Even though we as Christians recognize that our circumstances are providentially arranged.
[23:42] God's providence is just this idea that He works out everything in your life with His good fatherly hand. So we understand our circumstances are providentially arranged by God's good hand.
[23:55] If our joy derives primarily from our circumstances, then when our circumstances change, we will be miserable. Our delight must be in the Lord Himself.
[24:06] Perhaps that is one of the reasons why the Lord sometimes allows miserable circumstances to lash us. And that's what it feels like sometimes.
[24:18] That we may learn this lesson. Whatever the mysteries of evil and sorrow, they do have the salutary, the good effect of helping believers shift the ground of their joy from created things to the Creator.
[24:35] And that's what Paul found out. That Mr. Pain stepped into his life to lash him and it hurt. I mean, you think, this is not like this Superman guy that faced all that.
[24:47] The 40 less one lashes and all these things and the beating with rods. He's saying those things just beat him down and yet the Lord was lashing him so that his joy would always be tied away from what he's facing and to the Lord.
[25:03] So he's telling us, he's inviting us, train your heart. Find joy in Jesus in every situation. Point three, all must learn. All you must learn is found in Jesus Christ.
[25:17] Believe it or not, pain and pleasure are trying to teach you the same thing. They're trying to teach you that all you need to learn is found in Jesus Christ. He continues and unveils the secret of contentment.
[25:34] Contentment's a secret he's learned. Look down at verse 11. He says, I have learned. Verse 12.
[25:45] I have learned the secret, you know, the secret of contentment. And here it is in verse 13. He says, This is a secret. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
[25:58] I can do all things through him who strengthens me. You know, this is one of the most widely quoted verses in all the Bible. Maybe judge not lest you be judged.
[26:09] I think it's number one. And this is probably, yeah, top five. Right? Sadly, it's one of the most misunderstood verses of the Bible.
[26:19] A lot of people write it, you know, before they go do something great. Tim Tebow used to write it underneath his eyes. And we love Tim Tebow. He's a great guy. Steph Curry wrote it on his shoes when he led Davidson through that March Madness thing.
[26:33] Almost to, I guess, to the lead eight, if I remember right. Maybe it's what UT should have written on their shoes on Thursday night. But, you know, it's a misunderstood verse because we write it on our shoes because we say, We can accomplish great things with Jesus' help.
[26:51] We can think, I can climb every mountain with Jesus' help. I can have this superhuman strength with Jesus' help. And that's not what it means.
[27:02] I'm sorry to break that to you. What it means is so much better, though. What he's saying is, I can face any situation with joy because Jesus is with me and will help me.
[27:13] I can face any situation with joy because Jesus is with me. Now, the meaning of this verse is couched in the context of these verses where he's saying, I can face this plenty and want. I can face this abundance of need with Jesus as my helper, as one who's with me and will help me.
[27:30] You know, contentment in our day is different than what the Bible describes. And it's different also back in Paul's day. You know, Paul was in the day of stoicism.
[27:42] You probably heard that. Someone says, you're stoic. Stoic. And what they mean when they say you're stoic is you're just kind of unemotional. And so contentment largely was talked about like you have this grin and bear it ability where you face hard things without responding.
[28:00] But Paul says Christian contentment is not like that. It's from God. It's not from strength within us. It's from Jesus. You know, it's not these moments where we learn to rely on ourselves and rely on our own strength.
[28:14] It's these moments where we learn to boast in the Lord and boast in his strength. It is the settled confidence that Jesus will never leave and never give you what you can't endure with his help.
[28:27] It's incredible. It's a secret. Secret to face anything. It's the secret to living for Christ.
[28:40] A lot of people have taken this idea of contentment and have applied it by returning to Jesus' words right after his resurrection.
[28:52] If you remember, Jesus was resurrected. He called his disciples to him. He called them to take the gospel to the world. And he gave them the great commission is what we've called it. But he closes that with a promise.
[29:03] He says, behold, I'm with you always. To the end of the age. That's what he's saying. You know, I can do all things to Christ who strengthened me. And people have taken that verse and said, that's the promise of contentment.
[29:18] That I'll be with you always to the end of the age. Many disciples have given their life to Christ here and taken the gospel to the nations with strength because of that promise.
[29:28] One of those men was John Patton. Probably heard that name. Perhaps. Took the gospel to the South Pacific to what we now call Australia or to islands off of them.
[29:44] These islands were filled with lost people who were cannibals. Which is not good. Many people tried to dissuade him. Just in case we want to make sure.
[29:55] Many people tried to dissuade him from going. Within a year of arriving in 1858, both his wife and his newborn son died of fever.
[30:06] He lived alone on the island for four more years. He says there's no promise he went back to more than that promise. He lived on the island four more years with savages who did not know Christ.
[30:22] He married again. So you got to know what she's all about. She went there. They continued to preach the gospel there for 41 years until Patton was 81 years old.
[30:39] He faced many trials. Much pain. Much suffering. Many days he feared for his life. Not from sickness. Or not only from sickness. But from being killed.
[30:53] On one particular night, he tells the experience of hiding in a tree. As hundreds of angry natives hunted for his life. He was warned ahead of time that they were after him.
[31:05] And so he climbed the tree and clung to that promise that we just referred to. I'm with you always to the end of the age. He clung to the promise that the Lord was with him.
[31:16] Listen to these words. He says, I climbed into that tree and was left there alone in the bush. The hours I spent there live as before me as if it were but of yesterday.
[31:34] He talks a little bit differently than we do. But I heard the frequent discharging of muskets and the yells of savages. You know, if you think long and hard enough, you can get your mind there. And yet I sat there in the darkness among the branches as safe as in the arms of Jesus.
[31:54] Never in all my sorrows did my Lord draw nearer to me and speak more soothingly in my soul. Than when the moonlight flickered among the chestnut leaves.
[32:07] And the night air played on my throbbing brow as I told my heart to Jesus. Alone, yet not alone.
[32:19] Listen to this. If it be to glorify my God, I would not grudge to spend many nights alone in such a tree. To feel again my Savior's spiritual presence.
[32:32] To enjoy his consoling fellowship. And he turns to us. If thus thrown back upon your own soul alone. All alone.
[32:43] In the midnight. In the bush. In the very embrace of death itself. Have you a friend who will not fail you then. That's contentment.
[32:55] That's contentment. That's contentment. Contentment is not when the 401k gets where we want it to be. Contentment is not a feeling. It's not a grin and bear it.
[33:05] Attitude is not realizing that our lives are better than someone else's. It's a person. It's Jesus Christ. This is the secret. Jesus is with you.
[33:16] Jesus will help you. He's not going to make you do great things. But he's never going to leave you. Jesus will supply all the strength you need. We need to keep pressing forward with joy.
[33:26] All you must learn in life. All you must learn in contentment is found in Jesus Christ. He's saying you will face much pleasure and pain. And you must know the secret or it will destroy you.
[33:38] You will face much pain. And you must know the secret or it will destroy you. Do you know the secret? Do you have a friend who won't fail you in the highest of highs or the lowest of lows?
[33:50] Do you have a friend in Jesus? It doesn't matter if you're eight years old and learning to face everyday fears or if you're 48 facing a world that's unknown to you.
[34:00] It doesn't matter if you've done everything right or everything wrong. You must have a friend in Jesus. You must have a friend. What a wonderful word. A friend.
[34:11] He's the only friend you must have. He's the only friend that can deliver you from the wrath to come. He's the only friend who can strengthen you for the troubles you will face.
[34:25] Does he call you friend? Does he know you? Do you know him? Have you given your life to him?
[34:36] That's what the gospel offer presents. The gospel offer calls us to finally buckle our knee and give our lives to Jesus Christ. To be rescued from the wrath that we deserve.
[34:50] We so deserve to receive the forgiveness we could never deserve. And to receive a friend. The only friend we must have and the only friend that will never fail.
[35:04] I've been a Christian for 17 years and he hasn't failed me yet. He's enough. He's enough. He is enough.
[35:17] He's enough. Whatever life's going to bring at you, he is enough. Jesus Christ has enough resources to hold you up. Remember, he's the one who's Lord of heaven and earth. Remember, he's the one who says, I have all authority in heaven and on earth.
[35:30] He's enough. There's no pleasure that he cannot doubly bless you through. There's nothing you're going to gain in pleasure that he cannot outmatch.
[35:43] He's enough. He's enough to satisfy your heart. Strikingly, at the end of 2 Timothy 4, Paul's, this is a devastating passage.
[35:54] He's walking through. He's still in Rome. He's back in Rome. He's writing from another prison. And he says, all have left me. And I'm not quoting because I don't have it up.
[36:06] But he says, all have left me. I've been deserted. And he says, the Lord stood by me and strengthened me. The Lord did it for Paul.
[36:18] He'll do it for you. Let's train our hearts to find joy in him. Amen? Father in heaven, we thank you that you are indeed enough. God, we say with all our hearts, whom have I in heaven but you?
[36:32] And there's nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My heart and my flesh may fail, but you are the portion of my life forever. Protect my heart.
[36:50] God, protect our hearts. So we don't fail in adversity. And we don't fail in prosperity.
[37:00] We want our hearts to be fully relying on Jesus Christ. God, we offer ourselves to you. We come this morning. We do sit under your word, but we also bow our knee.
[37:14] And we say, Lord, help us to be content. We want to believe this promise with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And yet, so often, we're marked by fear.
[37:28] We're marked by complaining. We're marked by discontent. We pray that you come and mold us and change us. Help us to learn the secret. Lord, we want to go back to school.
[37:41] So we can learn to be content, no matter what, in Jesus Christ. That's our prayer. Help us, we pray. In Jesus' name.
[37:53] Amen. Amen. You've been listening to a message given by Walt Alexander, lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Athens, Tennessee. For more information about Trinity Grace, please visit us at trinitygraceathens.com.