STRANDS IN THE FIBRE OF CONTENTMENT

Philippians 4:10-19

Introduction:  We might as well face it...most Christians do not experience contentment.  It appears that the more you have the more discontented you become.  [this makes no sense, but it is true]. If things, more things, more stuff make you discontented, then this has to be the most unhappy and discontented society in the world.  The whole system today is geared to make you discontent, make you dissatisfied with everything, your spouse, your job, your car, your home, your yard....you name it. The prosperity gospel which is “Jesus wants you happy, Jesus wants you wealthy” is only successful when sowed in the SOIL OF DISSATISFACTION. When I think of dissatisfaction, I am reminded of the fact that Princess Diana had a wardrobe valued over one hundred and eighty thousand dollars....obviously she was never satisfied. 

What Christians have done is to turn the Bible around to make it THE PHYSICAL RESOURCE FOR OUR NEEDS. Question: When was the last time you heard or met someone who was content?  How many Christians could give testimony to Psa 23:1...”The Lord is my shepherd, I SHALL NOT WANT.”  [is that my testimony today?]

Now, Paul was content: He said,  “I have learned to be content.” Remember, contentment is not ABSENCE from all problems....it is the ability to be content and satisfied in the MIDST OF ANY PROBLEM, not the absence from all problems.  

CONTENTMENT BEGINS WITH A CONFIDENCE IN THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. v.10 "I rejoice greatly in the Lord at last you have renewed your concern for me" 

1. Ten years had passed since the last gift from the Philippians to the apostle Paul.  Ten years and no support from the church that he had started.  [I can see the minds of most preachers if this was a case in point for them personally]

2. Notice how Paul handled it.

a. “you lacked the opportunity”  [It was not because they did not love Paul...the ten year gap was not because they did not care, but they did not have the opportunity.  He did not reprimand them or say something unkind to them.  PAUL WAS CONFIDENT IN GOD'S PROVIDENCE TO PROVIDE WHENEVER HE CHOOSE TO DO SO.  

    b. “you revived your concern.”  [horticultural term]  

       3. lesson: Paul had a simple, easy to live with confidence in the Sovereignty of God.  He could wait on the Lord.....thus, to wait ten years was no problem for him.  He did not have to manipulate people to get what he wanted out of them.  God would work it out.  Paul was content because the times and the seasons were controlled by a sovereign God. Until  the truth of Romans 8:28 is ingrained in you, you will not understand contentment. "For we know that God causes all things to work together for good to them that love God". Do you really believe this?  

                a. The Providence of God: Is a term that means that God provides, plus orchestrates everything in your life to accomplish His purpose.  

                b. There are two ways God can Act:                                1.  MIRACLE   [He can work through a miracle...such as parting the Red Sea....which is merely holding back that which is natural, causing the natural to cease.]

                    2. PROVIDENCE: Is taking all of the diverse elements of the normal and orchestrating them to accomplish His purpose.  [this is why I believe Providence is a bigger miracle...for it has more elements, more involvement to accomplish the result God desires]  

5.  Lesson:  A contented person is one who believes that God is ordering all events.  I'll tell you that you will never be contented until you believe in your heart in HIS PROVIDENCE....that He takes all of the elements of life and orders them for His glory and your good.  ONCE THIS GETS INTO YOUR FIBER, YOU WILL BE CONTENTED. 

  c. Lesson: What we need: is not to go around trying to PATCH UP discontentment among believers, but give them a real dose OF THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD....patching up is temporary, but once you get a real dose of sovereignty, you will begin to realize that....DISCONTENTMENT MEANS YOU ARE NOT TRUSTING. 

The NEXT STRAND IS SATISFACTION WITH LITTLE  v. 11  "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."

1. This is satisfaction with little....Paul had merely the bare necessities of life and yet he was content....His need was deep and great, but he did not acknowledge discontent...HE WAS SO AT PEACE WITH A SOVEREIGN GOD THAT HE WAS CONTENT.   He was so satisfied with having SO LITTLE that it did not matter that he had very little and was a prisoner. It did not matter that he was chained, in a place that had no real comfort....

2. This hits our culture:  WE LIVE IN AN AGE THAT IS NOT CONTENT PERIOD....If you want to meet a really unhappy person, meet a rich person who is unsaved....one who has absolutely everything materially. The attitude of people today is that their NEEDS CAN NEVER BE MET.  Satisfaction with little is virtually unknown....especially, if you watch television.  

a. We are developing a concept  of NEED AS THE NUMBER ONE VALUE IN AMERICA.  We have developed a concept of life which says that the whole of life is MAN MEETING HIS NEEDS.  It comes from Freud....If Humaninism is right, then the whole of life is to satisfy your own needs. When man is the ultimate, then he will spend all of his life meeting his needs.  When you are a humanist, the culture defines your needs. The problem is THAT MAN WITHIN HIMSELF DOES NOT KNOW WHAT HIS REAL NEED IS.....which is SPIRITUAL.  

3. PAUL SAID, “NOT THAT I SPEAK FROM WANT.”  

a. Not that he did not have needs, but he was at the place that he was completely satisfied with a minimum....

b. I Thess 2:9.... says "he worked day and night.”  [how about this]

c. II Cor 11:8-9...”I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you.  And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed."

4. PAUL WAS NEVER IN TOUCH WITH HIS NEEDS...

a. we are compelled by NEED.... THE WHOLE IDEA BEHIND TELEVISION COMMERCIALS IS TO PRODUCE IN YOU DISCONTENT.  The goal is to make you discontent so you think you need something you do not have. The GOAL IS TO MAKE US UNHAPPY SO YOU WILL PURCHASE.  IT IS AN APPEAL TO YOUR DISCONTENT....CREATE A NEED...for something you do not have.  

5. QUESTION: Are you content with having your needs met?....remember, YOUR WANTS ALWAYS EXCEED YOUR NEEDS.  We now live in a society where our NEEDS EXCEED OUR WANTS...television appeals to us, not on  the basis  that you might like to have this.....but on the basis that you  need this....NOW, I AM FINDING THAT I NEED THINGS THAT I DO NOT EVEN WANT....

6. WE HAVE MADE GOD A NEED MEETING GENIE.     

 lesson: You will never know real contentment until you have a total confidence in a God who is ordering all circumstances for His glory.....and until you are satisfied with LITTLE....because your satisfaction is not depended on what the world defines as what you need.

THE THIRD STRAND IS INDEPENDENCE FROM CIRCUMSTANCES  v. 12 "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, wether living in plenty or in want."

1. This is the part of contentment that is utterly indifferent to circumstances....and this is what v. 12 is teaching.   Paul was now indifferent and even independent of circumstances.

2. “ I know how”  [uses this twice}

a. I know how to get along with humble means.  

b. I know how to live in prosperity.  

1. I can get along with poverty or prosperity.... He knew what it was to go hungry...or have more than enough...He knew how to suffer lack...SATISFACTION IS NOT RELATED TO WHAT YOU DO HAVE OR DON'T HAVE, BUT LIVING ABOVE EITHER LEVELS.  

2. How could v. 12 be true:   BECAUSE HE LIVED INDEPENDENT OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES.....BE THEY GOOD OR BAD.  Paul was never a victim of circumstances.  

3. Let me make this statement; PAUL WAS THE WORST ILLUSTRATION IN THE WORLD OF THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL...WHICH IS GOING AROUND TODAY... I have never heard any prosperity gospel people use Paul as an example....Acts 14:19....they ”stoned Paul.” Acts 16:...Paul and Silas in v. 19- 22....were beaten with rods and put into prison.  In Acts 18:12 Paul was hauled into court. In II Cor 4:11... they were "constantly being delivered from death.” 

HE WAS SUSTAINED BY DIVINE POWER.     [DEPENDENCE]   v.13 "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

1. some manuscripts say “Christ”who strengthen me.”

a. Paul understood that in the PHYSICAL, MATERIAL WORLD that there was a SPIRITUAL UNDERGIRDING THAT WENT ON.

b. lesson here is that PAUL WAS NOT REALLY SELF SUFFICIENT, but Paul was CHRIST SUFFICIENT.  [all of these qualities came through Christ.]

c. Since Paul was connected to Christ, Gal 2:20....he had a supernatural strength that came from Christ.  Paul understood that there was a connection to Christ....that gave him strength.  PAUL UNDERSTOOD THE ‘INFUSING’ OF HIS POWER. 

2. Where did Paul learn to APPROPRIATE this divine power?  II Cor. 12:9-10] "But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong" 

a. I think part of the answer came with the thorn and how Paul had to learn to APPROPRIATE divine power for the pain and inconvenience of the thorn....read v. 9 and  10 for a picture of a man who was content.   CONTENTMENT THUS WAS A BY PRODUCT OF A RIGHT RELATIONSHIP TO DISTRESS, PAIN AND INCONVENIENCE.   [this is part of the phrase, “I have learned.”]

3. “I can do” is a strong word.  [It is translated Acts 19:16...OVERPOWERED, James 5:16 as EFFECTUAL.  IT IS A WORD OF POWER. 

a. going hungry, lack of material things, distress, deprivations in the material world.  HE COULD DEAL WITH ANY KIND OF MATERIAL CIRCUMSTANCES BECAUSE OF HIS SPIRITUAL STRENGTH.  

4. note Ephesians 3:14-19  [note this prayer] " I pray that out of his glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

a. “strengthened with power in the inner man.”  [this is what Paul had and which made him content...]

b. v. 20  " Now to him who  is able to do exceedingly beyond all we ask or think, according to his power that is at work within us."   Here again,  we see the same power in the inner man....and you will be able to do exceedingly beyond...[WHAT A POWER SOURCE] 

5. “strengthens me”  means to INFUSE WITH STRENGTH....GOD PUTS HIS CONTROL IN US.  This strength was the END RESULT OF RIGHTLY RELATING TO HIS PROBLEMS....It did not come as a result of some incident, but in rightly relating to his problems.  THE POWER HERE WAS THE RESULT OF RIGHT THINKING AND LIVING.

a. You cannot claim this verse unless you have been marking out a pattern of right living, right relationship to situations.  THIS VERSE IS NO INSTANT SOLUTION FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS NOT BEEN PROGRESSING IN RIGHT RELATIONSHIP TO SITUATIONS.    THIS VERSE IS NO QUICK FIX VERSE..

ANOTHER STRAND IS CONCERN FOR THE WELL BEING OF OTHERS [UNSELFISHNESS] v.17   "Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account."

1. When  you spend your life thinking about yourself, you will NOT be content....PAUL WAS NEVER THE ISSUE TO HIMSELF....note v. 17...Paul was not rejoicing so much for the gift as the fact that THEY GAVE THE GIFT...AND IT WILL PROFIT TO THEIR ACCOUNT...[spiritually it would profit them]  

a. What made Paul happy was not the gift, but the fact that THEY GOT THE BLESSING WHEN THEY GAVE THE GIFT.  I would also mention that most likely you can forget about claiming the next verse [which is done by scores of Christians] without the practice of the v. 17.  HE WAS MORE CONCERNED THAT THEY BE BLESSED WITH THE BENEDICTION OF GOD THAN FOR HIM TO HAVE HIS NEEDS MET. 

2. Lesson: to be content, you must be interested and concerned about others.  

a. Most of us never find this...for we want everything to be like we want it to be.  One reason marriages fail is because we want the partner to work within the confines of our little life and agenda. 

b. Phil 2:3...is the attitude we should have.  “regard one another as more important than himself.”

3. Let me quote verses which give us a principle similar to what Paul is saying in v. 17.

a. Luke 6:38...”give and it will be given to you.”  [PRINCIPLE]

b. II Cor 9:6....”sow sparingly, reap sparingly.”  WHAT YOU SACRIFICIALLY GIVE BECOMES TREASURE IN HEAVEN.  Will supply, multiply, enrich. 

4.Three verbs.  v. 18" I have received everything in full and have an abundance;  I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God." 

a. I have received everything in full: [you have sent me more than I need.]

b. I have an abundance  [I have a surplus.]

c. I am ample supplied:  [filled up completely]

5. Theology of Christian Giving from this text.  [NOTE THE POINTS]

a. HEART.   v. 10   concern was revived.  It was from the heart.

b. OPPORTUNITY. V. 10  when God makes it possible and you have                                       opportunity to give, you are to give....

c. You become a PARTNER  v. 14    [giving is a partnership with those who                             teach, preach and serve the Lord]

d. CONSISTENT.   ‘more than once.”  ‘giving again.’ over and over, they                                 gave.  I Cor.  talks about each Lord’s Day....GIVE EVERY WEEK.

e. SPIRITUALLY BENEFICIOUS.  v. 17...credited to their account.

f. GENEROUS.....they were generous  v. 18.....they gave out of poverty but                              it was generous...

g. SACRED ACT OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. v. 18...an acceptable sacrifice                             well pleasing to God.

h. IT IS TREASURE IN HEAVEN   v. 19 "And my God will supply all your                             needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."