I'll read our sermon text for us today.
Believing what God says about his own word.
In 1 Timothy, that the word of God is spirit-breathed.
In Hebrews 4, we're told that the word of God is living,
it's powerful, it's piercing.
Hebrews 6 tells us that the word of God
is the sword of the spirit.
If you receive God's word as he says it is,
then at the end I'll say this is the word of God.
You can respond, thanks be to God.
Our passage for today is Philippians chapter 4, 10 through 13.
Philippians chapter 4, 10 through 13.
But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly,
that now at last your care for me has flourished again.
Though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity.
Not that I speak in regard to need,
for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content.
I know how to be abased.
And I know how to abound.
Everywhere and in all things,
I have learned both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
This is the word of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
You may be seated.
Isaiah 40 reminds us that the grass withers,
the flower fades,
but the word of the Lord stands forever.
In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel,
he pronounces that no word from God
shall be void of power.
May it be so for his glory.
Let's pray.
Lord, I ask that your Holy Spirit will shine the light of your glory
onto your people through your word.
I pray that as the preacher today,
I won't get in the way.
I pray that you will help me.
And I pray, Lord, that you'll protect me,
that the enemy won't accuse me of my own lack of contentment,
the weakness of my own vessel,
how much I still have to learn.
But Lord, I pray that this testimony that Paul has given
by the inspiration of the Spirit
will be an encouragement
to each one that you have brought here by your providence,
that we will not leave this place the same,
that you will change us,
transform us more and more to be like Jesus Christ,
our Redeemer and our Lord.
For your glory and for our good we ask.
Amen.
Contentment has many benefits that health professionals have observed.
Reduced stress, lowered anxiety, enhanced gratitude,
improved relationships.
emotions like envy resentment and an outlook like pessimism are replaced by satisfaction
peace and an optimistic outlook on life yet most people the vast majority of people are not content
over 400 years ago a saved sinner a pastor named jeremiah burroughs gave this illustration that
to me just put me right there you know the northern part of england those those grassy hills
as they go into scotland he said you picture a child or a group of children they're on one hill
and they look over to the next hill and they see a cloud hovering right above it and they think if
we can just run to the top of that hill we'll be in the clouds we'll be able to touch the clouds
so they go and as soon as they climb up to the top of the next hill the clouds are just as far away
as they were on the previous hill for this reason he described christian contentment even among
believers as a rare jewel we should all be seeking it when we find it it is so precious christian
contentment the reason it's so rare is because contentment is an art that requires careful study
and ongoing practice throughout a lifetime it wasn't until his very final years that the apostle paul
as his cup is being poured out the last grains of sand falling through the hourglass
he says in verse 11 of the passage we just read i have learned in whatever state i am to be content
what a testimony paul's writing to a greek audience likely many roman retired soldiers who have had
this classical greco-roman education and paul is very quick to clarify he's not talking about
some stoic detachment which would be similar to what we have today with like a buddhist emptying of
yourself paul says this contentment that i have learned it's not by my own strength at all but it's
through christ who strengthens me so beloved congregation of our lord jesus christ
my objective today is to show you six encouraging truths from paul's testimony in these three verses
three or four verses of why you and i can be content why you and i can be content number one
when you and i are weak christ shows his care for you through his church when you and i are weak
that's when we're most prone to discouragement isn't it and and to not be content we're so weak
everything's messed up my soul's stirring and in those moments he shows us his care through fellow
believers in big and small ways i bet you could think back on the last month or maybe even today
how the lord has brought you strength through a fellow believer
if roman prisoners didn't get outside care they would go without food without a blanket even
and certainly without company hungry cold lonely vulnerable to the enemy's attacks
hardest circumstances to learn contentment
yet in verse 10 paul says i rejoiced in the lord greatly the lord was with him all the time
and now when this encouragement arrived he's rejoicing in the lord the lord's right there with him all
along that now at last it's been a while like this at last your care for me has flourished again
that phrase to flourish again it's an agricultural term it's used to describe a plant that's sprouting
or being renewed again so the buds are showing up that's a sign that there's fruit and life inside this
plant and that's how paul describes the care of the philippian church what great encouragement to him
now you notice he's not he's not excited about the financial gift
he's rejoicing in the lord about their care their relationship their love
paul does not treasure their money he treasures them
if you take your eyes down to verse 19
paul says my god encouraging them now in return my god shall supply all your need
according to his riches in glory by christ jesus see the point that he wants to make regarding their
financial gift is that it comes from god it's my god who shall supply all of your needs and all of my
needs from his abounding riches through christ
jeremiah burroughs pointed out that christian friends are to you and me but a conduit like a pipe
that's going to carry water to me
god uses christian friends to convey his goodness and his gifts to his people
our friends conveyed the gifts of god to us because it's god who first loved us we love because he first
loved us and gave himself god the son for us
in john chapter 13 verse 35 this is the love flowing from god through his church jesus says
this way the world will know you are my disciples by your love for one another
the world will know you belong to me because my love from god whose supplies are endless
flow through my people to one another
so christian when you receive even a small gift from one of god's people
you're receiving a gift from god the creator of all
the christian can truly enjoy even the smallest little gift
as burroughs put it because that's like a token on this earth and this life of the love of god for me
picture a couple of little kids even from among our congregation and one spends several hours making a
a little string bracelet for the other and then that friend receives this little bracelet and they're going to wear it for
weeks not because it's expensive but they treat it as if it's pure gold it's because of who it's from it's from their friend
so when christians are sharing in this gift giving and this love one to another it's a token from god himself we ought to receive it and cherish it that way
when we are weak and i know many of us are weak i'm weak these days too
but when we are weak christ uses the care of his church to strengthen his people so receive the care from one another as god's love for you
and continue being generous and showing that kind of care one for another
number two when you can't see the care of others christ is your strength still
when you can't see the care of christ through his people which is all the more good reason to feel discontent isn't it
christ is your strength still
well you notice in verse 10 how paul says now at last your care for me has flourished again
though you surely did care but you lacked opportunity
paul is sitting there in prison in rome not seeing this gift that's traveling slowly for months from
philippi to reach him he can't see it god knows it's it's in root he knows the philippians have not
forgotten him he knows that they're praying for paul paul can't see it right now
there's a time when it feels maybe like it's dry i'm not i'm not being fed by god i'm not being fed by
god's people what do i do where do i turn
paul's testimony here is that he rejoiced in christ christ was his strength still christ has proved that
when he's in abundance with friends christ is with them when he can't see the love of god through the
people of god christ is his strength still and in those times when it feels like we're not receiving
the love from fellow christians that we expect or hoped for and it's right that we would feel that way
that we turn to the source himself jeremiah has pointed out jeremiah burroughs pointed out you are
thirsty and needy because it feels to you like that pipe has been cut off and god says to me come to
the fountain and drink immediately if you'll notice in verse 15 philippians 4 15 paul tells this church
in philippi that they were the only ones who had given him any support he received the gift from you
only we know paul is calling out the sins of the church in rome that are seeking vain glory
and yet he says christ is my strength paul was forgotten by these other churches that he had
planted now being neglected by those same people paul did not see the care of others but he still thought
the best of them look at verse 10 again paul says surely you did care the lord taught him to think the
best of the church in philippi they just lacked opportunity christ was his strength even then
if you're feeling forgotten or abandoned maybe you feel like you have no friend by your side
you can learn this kind of strength from christ himself because christ was abandoned no friend by his
side forgotten by those he had discipled and this is why there's no one besides christ himself who can
teach a christian like paul this kind of strength and christ can teach this to you and me as well
the lord jesus had to hold on to this promise in god's word in psalm 22 that god the father
does not despise the affliction of his son nor does he hide his face from him when jesus cried out
even from the cross all alone psalm 22 verse 24 says the father heard him the father was near the son
and christ learned even that level of obedience and humiliation because you and i can't come up with
that on our own he has to be our strength his active obedience had to secure that strength for us so he
can now teach us that when you don't feel the care of others god is your strength still he hears your cry
and he wants you to trust him trust his timing he will provide
number three when your needs are great christ himself comes close to train you in this art of
contentment it is when your needs are great that christ himself comes near to train you in the art of
contentment in verse 11 paul says not that i speak in regard to need for i have learned in whatever state i am
to be content he says i have learned
this term refers to being initiated
maybe you've started a new job or a new position and you get a you get to learn the ropes you go to a
new school you need to be initiated into how to survive and how to get by here paul says i've been
initiated by christ himself in the school of contentment in order to learn how to swim you're going to have to
get wet in order to learn contentment we're going to have to feel severe need
to be content it means to be sufficiently supplied
sufficiently supplied jeremiah burroughs defined contentment for christians this way that sweet
inward quiet gracious frame of spirit that joyfully submits to god you trust god's wise fatherly provision for you
in every condition another person said that contentment is when your soul is even with your circumstances
christian life is even with your soul is even with your soul is even with your soul is even with your soul
in the school of contentment
luke 9 58 tells us that christ
as the people expected him to be this conquering
military figure he reminded them that foxes have holes
and birds of the air have nests but the son of man
has nowhere to lay his head
and when jesus was tempted by satan
In Matthew 4, 4, he quoted scripture back to Satan.
He said, man does not live by bread alone,
but from every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
God is the supply.
God is the one who is all sufficient.
It's from the fullness of God that Christ in the flesh knew contentment.
John 1, 16 reminds us that from his fullness,
the fullness of Jesus Christ, we have received grace upon grace.
We just sang this wonderful song that suffering, anguish,
despised and rejected, bearing our sins, my redeemer is he.
Hands that healed nations stretched out on a tree,
and took the nails for me.
Christ secured the contentment by living a life of love for God
and love for man that we need.
We can't have contentment unless we are united to him,
fully satisfied in love with God,
which settles our soul, and it turns into that love,
self-sacrificing, generous love toward our neighbors.
When we are in great need,
Christ himself comes close because he's the only one who can,
and he trains you in this wonderful upside-down art of contentment in this world.
He does that when we're most in need.
You think of a person making an instrument out of metal.
In order to shape this instrument into something useful,
what do you have to do to this piece of metal first?
You have to heat it up, get it really hot in the furnace,
and then pound it.
Pound it into its shape.
The Lord Jesus became that.
He put himself in the hottest furnace,
and he let the Father shape him for us
so that he could turn around and graciously train us
and initiate us into being content,
into living in his fullness.
Number four, when Christ is your strength,
you learn contentment from being brought low.
When Christ is your strength,
you learn contentment from being brought low.
In verse 12, Paul gives this testimony.
I know how to be abased.
Brought down, made low.
It refers to loss of reputation,
rights, standing, or security.
And in Paul's case, all of the above.
Paul was an elite intellectual,
now a fool.
He was a born citizen,
now a death row criminal.
He was popular, now forgotten.
Powerful, now he's weak.
You learn from Christ
how to be satisfied in God
even when you are abased.
Some of you have suffered such pain.
Some of you are facing the biggest reasons in life
to feel anxious.
The world says,
see, here's proof that God doesn't love you.
For some of you on the other side of that,
you're bearing testimony like Paul.
I've been abased.
And I can tell you,
God is love still.
And this is a mystery.
It's definitely a mystery to the world
and it's a mystery to Christians.
But this is the faithfulness of God to his people.
Christ has taught you the answer to this great mystery.
The Spirit has shown the great love of God
for you in Christ.
And you can say now with Paul in 2 Corinthians 6.10,
having nothing,
yet possessing everything.
Because God teaches you contentment
when you bring those cares,
those concerns,
those fears,
that pain to him
over and over again.
You open up your heart
and you set it before God
once again.
When we're abased,
we have to do that.
There's nowhere else to go.
When Paul was abased,
he prayed,
opened up his heart,
brought it before God.
And listen to the response from the Lord
in 2 Corinthians 12.9 and 10.
Jesus Christ said to Paul,
My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness.
And Paul now tells the church,
Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly
of my weakness,
of my abasement,
so that the power of Christ
may rest upon me.
For the sake of Christ, then,
I am content with weakness,
insults, hardships,
persecutions, and calamities.
For when I am weak on my own,
then I am strong in Christ.
Think about what a gift this is
for believers on this earth.
Think of what we would be without Christ
in these hardest of times.
When a proud, unrepentant sinner
suffers a little bit in this life,
we need to view that
in the light of eternity.
That's really a small tasting
of the eternal judgment
a proud, unrepentant sinner
will face for all eternity in hell.
But when we as Christians suffer
in this life,
we view ourselves in the light
of the Holy God.
Instead of asking,
why do I have to bear this cross?
Christ graciously teaches us,
why isn't my cross as great
as I deserve it to be?
Christ is the only source
of such strength.
Jesus fulfilled Isaiah 50, verse 6,
when he gave his back
to those who struck him
and his cheeks
to those who plucked out his beard.
Jesus was mocked and jeered,
ridiculed and spat upon.
He was taunted and tempted.
He was abased.
But Jesus never sinned against God,
even in that humiliation.
Jesus had his gaze set firmly,
like Flint on the mission
his father gave him to do.
Jeremiah Burroughs said that
one drop of the sweetness of heaven
is enough to take away
all the bitterness
of the afflictions of this world.
And Jesus knew the sweetness of heaven,
not just for himself,
but for those he was dying to save.
And that sweetness
made all of the torments of the cross
a joy for him to bear
so that you could enjoy
the sweetness of heaven with him.
Jesus Christ knew no sin
because he was the most content,
soul that has ever walked this earth.
Burroughs again said that temptations
can't enter into a content heart.
It would be like a wasp,
tiny little wasp trying to fly into
and penetrate a massive boulder.
When your heart is content in Christ,
temptations have no place to get in.
So when Christ is your strength,
you learn contentment
even from being brought low.
And you pray,
Lord, may I know how to be abased
like Jesus,
like Paul,
trusting in your promises
and your word.
Luke 14, 11,
that he who humbles himself
will be exalted.
I know this is true
because Christ humbled himself
and the Father has highly exalted him.
Number five,
when your soul knows Christ,
you are more content in him
than in worldly abundance.
When your soul knows Christ,
you and I are more content in him
than in worldly abundance.
Abundance, kids,
it means when you have more
than what you need.
But you're not content in those things,
you're more content in Christ himself.
Look at verse 12.
Paul says,
I also know how to abound.
Everywhere and in all things
I have learned both to be full
and to be hungry,
both to abound
and to suffer need.
When we are suffering,
when we are abased,
when we're humiliated,
it almost always drives us to Christ.
But when we are in abundance,
we can easily fall into
a spiritual slumber.
We let down our guard.
We're even more prone to temptations,
finding their way into our hearts.
So abundance may be
a higher level of a course
you've got to learn from Christ,
even than a basement itself.
Paul learned how to abound from Christ.
Think about how Christ secured
that ability to be content in abundance.
Think of how Christ
left the abundance of heaven
as eternal God the Son.
He joyfully obeyed his Father's will
so that he could merit
on our behalf.
He lacks nothing,
but we need to know this,
how to be content in abundance
and not be attached to those things.
As an old verse put it,
a wise content
his even soul secured
by want not shaken,
nor by wealth allured.
Christ was not attached
to his heavenly glory,
the manifestation of his essence.
He joyfully stripped himself
of every comfort,
every honor,
every privilege
to become a slave,
Philippians 2,
and to die a shameful death
for you and me.
So he's the one
who can train us
on how to abound
and not attach our soul
to these gifts.
when a lover of this world
has some abundance
in this life,
that's all they have,
and they live in constant paranoia
of losing what they have.
But when a Christian
has even a small thing
in this life,
it is a deposit
of the full reward,
the great treasure
that Christ has secured
and has stored up for them
in heaven.
When your soul knows Christ,
you are more content
in him
than in worldly abundance.
Well, the sixth encouraging truth
from Paul's testimony,
the last one for today,
is that when Christ dwells in you,
he is the strength
that holds your soul contained.
When Christ dwells in you,
he is the strength
that holds your soul contained.
In verse 13,
Paul says,
I can do all things
through Christ
who strengthens me.
Literally,
this very famous quote
is this,
in all,
I am being made strong
in the one empowering me,
Christ.
In other words,
Paul is saying,
in all,
in all that God will have me endure
in this broken world,
I am being made strong
in the one empowering me,
Christ.
Being made strong.
Paul says,
I am being made able,
becoming more powerful
to prevail,
being made able
to overcome
all.
The word content,
which is the theme
of this passage,
content means held
or contained
within the limits.
You think of the contents
of a can
or something like that.
That's what it means,
to be content.
Your longings
of your soul
are contained
within the bounds
God designed.
What is the strength
that holds
those desires
of your soul
contained?
It has to be Christ.
His strength
holding your soul
in its proper place.
When Christ
dwells in you,
he's at the very
center of your being,
the very core
of your essence.
It's Christ inside you
like this powerful
magnetic force
pulling your soul.
Keeping it together.
Not letting your
desires spill over
and reach beyond
the bounds
that God has
designed for you.
Philippians 3
verses 7 and 8
tell us that
it's the surpassing
worth of knowing
Christ Jesus,
my Lord.
That's my
overriding ambition,
says Paul.
It's to gain Christ.
See, it's this
love for Christ
at the core
of my being,
Him dwelling in me,
that holds me
together
and makes me
satisfied.
If you'll look
at verse 7
as we saw last week,
you find that
verse 7,
the peace of God.
Put your finger
on that.
And then you'll look
at verse 9 again.
We saw this last week
as well.
The God of peace.
peace.
It's only by grace
that you and I
can experience
the peace of God.
And once you've
experienced this
peace from God
by grace,
you won't settle
for just the peace.
You want the God
of peace Himself.
You want more,
not just the peace,
but you want God.
That's what your soul
now wants.
More and more
and more.
Because our souls
are not made
for anything else
in this world,
we will not find
contentment.
No one will find
true contentment
until their soul
knows the God
of peace.
Jeremiah Burroughs
says to the church,
my brethren,
the reason why
you do not have
contentment in the
things of this world
is not that you
do not have
enough of them.
What's the reason
then?
The reason,
he says,
is that these things
are not proportional
to that immortal
soul of yours
that it is capable
of God Himself.
Your soul
is immortal
and your soul
is capable
of fellowship
with God Himself.
That's why
nothing short
of God Himself
will satisfy
the longings
of our soul.
That's why
there's no contentment
outside of God
through Christ.
So Paul,
verse 13,
in all,
I am being made
strong
in the one
empowering me,
Jesus Christ.
It's God's Spirit
with us
giving us
Christ's
own strength.
I thought of how
this church
in Philippi
got to witness
firsthand
that Paul
isn't just
saying these words,
he's lived it.
You remember
the Philippian jailer
and his entire
household?
Surely some of them
are still part
of this church
in Philippi
years later.
They've seen
this contentment
on display.
Paul and Silas,
we read in Acts 16,
25.
It was midnight
and these
missionaries
were praying
and singing
hymns to God.
This is while
their backs
are open
and bleeding
and they're
in stocks
chained up
and the other
prisoners
were listening
to them.
Wouldn't you
be listening
if you saw
two men
in that condition
physically
singing,
praising their
God
and praying
out loud
for all to hear?
That's the picture
of contentment.
I was thinking
about all of the
songs we sang
today would have
been a wonderful
witness.
If any one of us
were to be arrested,
we could sing
any one of these
five songs
and the Lord
can minister
and we can pray
as we prayed
before the service
today and the Lord
will use that
to draw others
because it's
his ministry
in the life
of a Christian.
So we don't
need to know
what were the hymns
that Paul and Silas
were singing
because they're
singing the truth
of the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
I do know
that Paul
being a Jew
and being a Pharisee
of Pharisees,
he would have
kept all of the
festivals
and approached
the temple
and approached
the hill
of Zion
where you
as God's people
would go to be
in his presence
and you would have
sung what you
were supposed to sing
as you ascend
these hills
toward Jerusalem.
These were special
psalms in the Psalter
called the Songs
of Ascent.
And of those
Songs of Ascent
one of them
is about contentment.
Psalm 131.
This would have
been a familiar
psalm
to the church
and to Paul.
I have soothed
and calmed
my soul.
Now my soul
is content
at rest.
Hope now
in the Lord
from this time
forth
and forever
more.
Because God
himself
is training
all those
that he saved.
You and I
we learn to
treasure
God
with us
more and more.
And as Christ
trains us
Reformed Heritage
Church
we can be
the most
content people
on planet earth
for the glory
of God
and for our
good.
Let's pray
for his help
to do this
in us
in our lives.
Father
thank you
for your word.
Thank you
for this testimony.
We thank you
Lord
for Jesus
Christ
who came
and secured
the contentment
the access
to the presence
of God
the only source
of true
peace
and true joy.
please teach us
to rejoice
in the Lord
always
because Christ
himself
is our strength.
Amen.