View Full Transcript
Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason, and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching from God's word you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to him. If you're ever in the Madison, Alabama area, we'd love for you to worship with us on Sundays at 830 or 10:30 a.m. if you have any other questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison church, find [email protected] dot. Be sure to also check out our Bible study podcast, Madison Church of Christ Bible Studies. Thanks again for stopping by.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: Good morning. I hope you are as excited as I have been about this series of studies from the Book of Philippians. You know, I've listened to it. I've listened to what Andrew said. I've been convicted in my own studies, and you guys probably wouldn't understand this on some level, but when you study something that is positive in nature, but it also, you know, kicks your fanny a little bit, that's kind of where I am, as I come to share with you this morning, is as you talk about things and you study these things, they kind of impact you. They convict your heart, and you're kind of suffering through it, learning in a positive way, but also just being convicted of those things. And I have certainly been experiencing that this past week as I've studied. And I look at this book, and what we're about to talk about is contentment. And so if you want to turn your bibles to chapter four, we're gonna start in verse ten here in just a few moments. But before I do that, I want to just stop and take a moment to revisit kind of where we've been with this particular book. As we consider this letter that Paul has written to the church at Philippi, I want you to understand the closeness of that relationship, the joy that he has in the brethren that are there. And if you go back to the story, you know, Paul is converted, and he begins these missionary journeys. And as he's journeying in a certain direction, the holy spirit keeps him from going to one place and says, you need to go to this other place. And so he ends up in Macedonia in a place called Philippi, which is a roman colony, and it's over in Macedonia. And while he's there, there's no jewish synagogue anywhere. So there's no gathering of people who are coming to worship. But instead, he just kind of walks through the area. He ends up at the riverside, and he bumps into a lady named Lydia, who is conducting a prayer service there at the shore. And so he talks to them. They're converted, and they become christians who are now out and about talking to people. And this goes really well for a time, and so much so that crowds start gathering. And there's one little girl that has a spirit of divination. She can prophesy and tell people their fortunes. And so Paul gets irritated at this girl who keeps shouting out things over and over. And so he casts the demons out of her, which means she can no longer do those things that she was doing to help the people who owned her earn money. So, in their outrage, what takes place is Paul and Silas, his traveling companion, they're taken off to prison. They're beaten and beaten pretty badly, and they're put in prison. And, of course, what happens next? They're in the prison cell, and they're singing. And what I want you to know is, they're not singing. Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. No, they are singing praises to God.
Now, just for a second, put yourself in their shoes. You've done everything that God's asked you to do.
Even when you wanted to go some places and you felt redirected in other directions, you did that. You fulfilled your obligation. You went about teaching. The church is growing. It's exciting.
But you find yourself, even through all of that, to be bound up, beaten, and put in prison. And it's that kind of mindset that allows us to look past the circumstances and to see the joy that God has given us and find contentment. That's the story of Paul's life. So, as he writes this letter to the people at Philippi, one of the things he's doing is saying, thank you for your support, because they sent money through epaphroditus.
But he's also just, you know, in this mission report, so to speak, as they have found a way to get in touch with him.
It's interesting because he is sort of, as he's saying, thank you, and as he's given this mission report, he's also educating them about what he's gone through and what he's learned from that, but also the things that maybe they need to be thinking about in their own life. And so he gets really, really personal with them and gets really overt in this expression of what's going on. And so it's amazing to me when we listen to this guy talking about things like joy and, in fact, in this book. There's. There's, like 18 overt expressions of joy or rejoicing or the happiness that comes from being in Christ. And it's just filled with this. And you're not talking about a guy who, you know, is out and about, you know, enjoying some vacation somewhere. This is a guy who is in a roman prison, and he's ten years separated from this group in Philippi. Now, all along, they had been growing, and that's something that was really exciting. They had elders, they had deacons. They had a leadership group there. They were growing, and they were so much growing that they were putting their money where their mouth was, in the sense that they recognized the power of the gospel. So they were sending money to Paul regularly, but through the course of Paul's travels. And you can imagine how he was all over the place and experiencing all kind of things and gone through, you know, shipwrecks and gone through beatings and all kinds of things to this point, that as they look at his circumstance, he's there in prison, and they lost track of him. And while they may have continued to pray for him, they were no longer sending the funds that he needed.
And so it's interesting that even in those circumstances, in real time, okay, and in the moment, these expressions of joy come, flow. And so I say his words because of where he is and because of the circumstance, they speak volumes, don't they? They have a little bit more depth to them. They have a little bit more meaning because of what he's experienced. And so he fills this letter with these kinds of thoughts that are positive and joyful.
And so in this mission report, he sort of gives them the reasons or the ways that they can discover joy. And he says, first of all, the thing is, choose to see things differently. And I don't know if you've ever thought about this or not, but all to not dwell on something that's negative, but to twist our mind and to be thinking about things from a positive perspective. He does this in a number of different ways. He talks about how he was there preaching, but he doesn't know exactly what's going to happen. He's kind of in limbo. He doesn't know if he's in prison to be set free. He doesn't know if he's going to be condemned to die or if he is actually going to be executed on the spot. And yet still, through that lens of God has got everything under control.
I'm in this stable position. And he says to other things that you need to be reminded of, as you're going through these persecutions, you're going to have worries and you're going to have difficulties. He says, don't hold on to your past. Don't hold on to the things that you've done that were negative. Don't hold on to things that you've done that were great accomplishments. Don't let that be the thing that holds you in place. Keep pressing forward. But he also says, in this persecution, I know you're going to have worries, you're going to have anxieties, you're going to have things that come up in your life that are going to be difficult for you in that moment. And what he says is simply this, give those things over to God. Because when you do that, there's a certain peace that comes over you, and it's a piece that's inexplicable. It's amazing. And you have to trust me on this, that you have to give those things over in order for you to receive that special mindset, that special contentment that comes from it. And so he says all these things, and ultimately, in verse nine, he says, if you practice these things and you do them over and over, you're going to see how this pattern of thinking and this way of life and this mindset, that's very different. It's going to bring you to this idea of being settled, that you're going to find peace. And so he says, here's what you do to do that.
You change what you focus on. And so in this verse, he says, whatever's true, whatever is honorable, whatever's just pure, lovely, commendable, virtuous or praiseworthy, those are the things that you need to fixate. You need to dwell on those things.
And so he's inviting all of us, not just them at the time, but he's just telling them what he's had to do. He's had to overcome a lot. He's had to throw some things God's way and find that peace. But ultimately, when he patterns his mind and he decides that I'm going to seize control of my mind and think about things in a positive way, all of a sudden there's a peace that he can't explain that comes over him. You know, I'm reminded of that passage in romans twelve where it says, we renew our mind. It's the idea of starting over every day to refocus on what is most important. Now, think about two corinthians, chapter ten, verse five. There's all kinds of things out there. That can challenge our thinking, but we take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. It's the reality that we are in some control, and we can determine the way we want to think about things.
And that's a very important baseline that he's given us, because that leads us into these next thoughts. He says, imitating me or doing these things, practicing these things is going to get you to that place where you are spiritually settled. Amen. Don't we all want to be there? Don't we want to find ourselves in that place where things are just settled in our lives?
So he says here he pivots. And I think it's beautiful that he pivots in this way. He's already talked to them about epaphroditus coming. He's already talked to them about all these things that we just mentioned. But now he stops to just say, hey, I want you to know I appreciate it so much. I rejoiced when I got the gift that you bring. I know that there were times where you couldn't get it to me. I know that you were praying for me. I know that you were thinking about me and that you wanted to support me. And it's just through these terms that epaphroditus was able to make this long trip and to bring these supplies to me. So I really appreciate all that you've done for me. But catch this next part. This is really important because he says, not that I'm speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. What's he saying?
While I appreciate your gift, while the resources that you have sent my way made me rejoice, made me excited, I want you to understand something that before I ever got those, I came to a mindset to help me to find contentment in every circumstance. So he uses this term, I learned whatever situation I am to be content. Well, this word for learn to is.
Let me back up. There was something I wanted to say about this. This is a message that we have at our house.
And I think it's something that Cindy probably has probably uttered several times, that this is one of her favorite sayings in our house. And it's gratitude turns what we have into enough.
And I think what Paul is saying in this text is that he's saying, while I have all that you have given me, I want you to understand that I already had found a sense in which I was settled and in which I was content.
And so gratitude turns what we have into enough.
But how many of us have enough.
I was reading an article this past week. It was called materialism, discontent, and prosperous America. And it was an article that was written maybe six or eight years ago. So you can imagine what all was going on in our world. And things were, you know, kind of okay. Our economy was doing what it was doing, and we know it even got better from there, maybe in 2016 and beyond.
But as people were blessed with a lot of things, there was a study that was going around that measured what has happened over the past 40 years, what has happened to us in America, and what is it that we are constantly striving for? What they discovered is a lot of things. And the biggest thing was that we still have not found contentment, even though our earnings, you know, in relation to our timeframe, have increased greatly over the last 40 years. Even though our homes have, on average, a thousand more square feet, even though we have less children than our families, even though we are able to live much longer. Over the past 40 years, did you know that life expectancy has gone up almost a decade in that timeframe? Our environment is a little bit cleaner. There are a lot of things that are going on that make life a little bit easier. We, 40 years ago, a lot of us would take the time to, you know, phone call to people. Now we have every bit of knowledge we could ever want in our hands. You know, 40 years has passed, and a lot of things have come to give us extras, to give us more, to help feed us with a lot of information. And we are more informed, we are more enlightened. We are more wealthy. We are just a lot of different things that we have more and more and more. But none of those things necessarily bring us the joy. And what they're saying is, in all of those things, while we still have more, we still have not quite found contentment. So I think about all these images. Isn't it true that we kind of want the next car? Isn't it true that we are looking for a good meal? Isn't it true that we want, you know, a good family? Isn't it true that we are striving for a lot of different things in our lives, and we're hoping for those things, and we're working toward them, and we're always looking for that next thing and extra, and we may even have these pictures, you know, kind of. Of our family life and the experiences we've had. And everything looks great until what we look on Facebook or Instagram or somewhere else, and we see that some of our friends have not just done that. But they've done something different. And all of a sudden we find ourselves dissatisfied again.
Why is that? It's because we've got our focus on things of this life, and we continually find ourselves trying to get the next thing, the next the more.
We are notorious for maxing out our world. That's why we ask questions like, well, can I afford this?
I think we can squeeze it in, right? That's kind of the way we go about it. We find a way to just do the very most that we can with what we have, and we keep chasing those things as if those things are a replacement for that stability that we find in Jesus. So do we have enough? Are we there? I'm reminded of this proverb. It says, just as the place of death and destruction is never full, people always want more and more. That's the truth of it. And so what is contentment? We often confuse it with happiness, don't we? We think that the things that we want are the things that are going to bring us sense of satisfaction.
But what contentment really is is not looking at the greener grass on the other side, or what someone has in relation to what I have, or even comparing me in a good way. It's just saying that what I have in my life in this moment, I am satisfied with that, because it's good. Everything is good.
And it means that I'm not looking for the next thing. It doesn't mean that I'm playing the comparison game. We've talked about how comparison is one of those things that robs us of our uniqueness, and it takes away the joy of life if we find ourselves comparing ourselves to other people. But contentment says, no, it doesn't matter what anybody else is going through or what they've got or what they have. It's about me and being settled in this moment.
Ben Franklin says this, and I love this, because this tells us, reminds us of the attitude shift that's got to take place. He says, contentment makes a poor person rich.
Isn't that true? Like, the people that you find that really don't have much, and they're able to find some way to just feel like they've got everything. I remember talking when we were going through. We were talking about Charles Rodman, who had nothing, but he gave so much for the sake of this congregation and for our growth and for the potential that might be there. You know, he had almost nothing, but he found the joy in giving those things away. It's funny how contentment can make a person who has so little feel like he has so much. But then the opposite of that is true, right? A person who can't see things from a contentment standpoint will find themselves, though they may have everything in this life, they may not find happiness, and they may not find the joy of those kinds of things, and they may feel like they themselves don't have anything, even though they have every resource imaginable. Like the point that Ben Franklin is making is the same point that Paul is making, is that we can adopt a mentality that helps us see things differently from a different perspective.
Timothy. Paul says this to Timothy. He says, true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.
Follow that again, righteous living and having a relationship with goddesse. And the satisfaction that that brings is in itself a sense of wealth. You know, he reminds that we come into this world with nothing, and we're certainly not going to take anything with us, and, and yet still we find ourselves, like, really trying to do more and more here with the earthly side of things. But true contentment and godliness brings about great wealth.
So going back to what Paul said, he said, not that I'm speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation to be content. What does that mean to.
Well, the learned part there is kind of the idea of sort of mind knowledge, like the idea that I can learn something, that my experiences and the things that I go through can shape the way I think about something. I can make a decision and see the fruits of that, and I can learn from that, and that can help me. So when he says, I have learned to find contentment, what he's saying is, I can find that based on my experiences, I've come to realize that when I do these things that God is saying to me, you know, it works out in that way. So what is contentment? Based on the biblical definition? It's simply this. It's self sufficient. And that may seem like the wrong definition, right?
Unless you look at the context of that word. The idea is that I am self sufficient in that what God has put in my heart, what he has put in my life, causes me to feel like I am taken care of. It's a. It's a peaceful resolution inside of me that causes me to be satisfied, not because of my self sufficiency in the sense of what I can accomplish and what I can do for myself, but because of what Jesus has done for me. There's a peace that comes over my soul because that's the self sufficiency. It's like I'm satisfied living in God's fullness.
So this school psychologist makes this assessment, and I think this actually flows in line with what we're thinking as well. She says, while happiness may be a fleeting high, and, of course, this is the distinction between happiness and contentment, contentment is the gentle hum of salvation, of satisfaction that resonates through the soul.
And we know this, right? We're gonna have moments where we're way up here, we're super excited about something. We are clapping our hands really fast, and we've got this big, cheesy grin on our face. And then we can have these moments where we're just shocked and we're in despair or we're in grief or we're in hurt.
Those things will come and go. But the person who finds contentment seems to be able to navigate that a little bit better because they've got that stabilizing force. Well, another quotation that I found that I felt like was one of the greatest I could find, that was really a summation of the book of Philippians altogether is this contentment, then, is the product of a heart resting in Goddesse. It is the soul's enjoyment of that peace that passes all understanding. It's the outcome of the will being brought into. Of my will being brought into subjection to the divine will. It is the blessed assurance that God does all things well and is even now, making all things work together for my good. Wow. What a. What a quotation. And to me, it's a summary of the Book of Philippians. Let me see if I can illustrate that. When he says, contentment is the product of a heart wrestling, in Philippians chapter one, verse 21, Paul said this, for to me, to live as Christ and to die is gain. What's he saying? Is there's a certain stability that comes from me knowing that no matter what, God is going to be with me, whether I'm able to go out and keep preaching and I'm freed from this prison cell and I'm able to go out and share the gospel, that'll be great, because it'll lead people closer to goddess. But then if I'm put to death, then guess what that means. I get to be with God himself. So there's something that stabilizes me, that no matter which of those two things happen, I'm good. God has given me that sense of rest in my heart, but then also the peace that passes all understanding. We just talked about how we have worries and anxieties, and he says, with prayer and supplication. Let those things be made known to God and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. And that word guard your hearts is a military term. It's almost like Jesus is standing a post, guarding your heart against anything that might come in, in the outside pressures when we truly lift those things up over to him. But then not only that, but it's my will being brought into the subjection of the divine will. Remember, in Philippians chapter two, verse 13, he said, for it is God who works in us to will and to do for his good pleasure. Paul is inviting us to realize what God is doing through Jesus and that when we allow him to work in our lives, he is going to work his will, and you are going to find yourself walking parallel with the will of God. Now, that's a beautiful thing. To think that in your life God is working to execute his will and we are a part of it, and that you can trust that whatever you're going through is a part of the will of God in this life.
But then he goes on to say that there's a blessed assurance that takes place and we're going to get to this text in just a few moments. You know, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He was basically saying in all of these circumstances that we find ourselves. You know, the only way I can pull that off is because Jesus lives inside of me and then all things work together for my ultimate good. If you look in Philippians chapter one, I think it's versed, twelve or so, there he is in prison.
And like I said, one could think this is bad news. The gospel is stopped because Paul has been imprisoned. This evangelist has been stopped, and the word of God can no longer be uttered because he is imprisoned. And yet, if you read that context, the idea is that there's a praetorian guard. There's people inside there. There's people who are, you know, that he has an opportunity to talk to. And while he's talking to them, he's not talking about, hey, I'm uncomfortable. Can you please change these stocks or can you do these things? Can you give me more food? No, none of those things. It's, hey, may I share with you a little bit about Jesus? And what's happening is those people are believing, and not only that, but they're, they're bringing other people in to be taught by him, and then they themselves are going out and teaching. And the Christians in that area are so inspired by what's happening deep inside that prison, I. That the gospel is being spread everywhere. Do you understand? What I'm saying is we would look at that circumstance and go, this is terrible. That's a restriction on God's will. But not Paul. Paul's like, oh, wow, look at all the opportunity that I find myself while in prison to be able to share this. That's contentment. That is that balancing act. And so Paul would continue on and say, I know how to be brought low. I know how to abound in every circumstance. And I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger and abundance and need. Now he says, I have learned something else. He says, I have learned this secret.
Well, what is that secret?
The word that's used here for learned is different than the first word, which was talking about the head knowledge. This particular term is about shutting our eyes or our mouth. I think this is kind of profound.
It's the idea of my experiences in life and me putting my trust in God. The learning that I did with my head began to be a common practice in my life and through maturation and experiences in life, me putting those things into practice, and that's exactly what Paul said. To do right in verse nine, is put those things into practice. And as I do those things, God naturally matures me and settles my heart. So I know it's not something that I say. I know it's I am experiencing the peace of God no matter what the circumstance I find myself in. So he says that whether I am, whether I am in difficulty in successes or failures, whether I'm stuffed or I'm starving, whether I'm overflowing with things or whether I am depleted completely of my resources, he's saying, I can tell you most assuredly that God has brought a peace in my life. So those two types of knowledge are simply this.
I can learn. I can choose to learn. And in fact, it's important for us to learn. Contentment is not something that we come up with naturally, right? I mean, you can go to our nursery right now and see two little boys playing. One of them can be completely satisfied with his toy until the next boy grabs a toy and is having a better time with that. Then all of a sudden, this toy that I have is not satisfying, right? We want to put it down and we'll go snatch it from the other kid, right? And we say that we grow out of that. But, I mean, I've heard the statement, you probably have, too. The difference between men and boys is not just their size, it's the price of their toys, right? I mean, the idea is that, that we are still struggling with this. We're satisfied until we see somebody else having a great time, and then in that comparison, we lose it. But as a Christian, it doesn't matter our accomplishments, it doesn't matter the lowliness that we find ourselves in. It doesn't matter whether we're hungry or whether we are stuffed. It does not matter those things, because that contentment is that steady and satisfaction humming along in the background, giving us that stability and that rest in our heart.
And that's why Paul can say this.
I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. Now, this is a favorite verse of probably half the audience, and this is not, you know, a rebuke, because I think we have invoked this as a positive way to challenge, you know, attack the challenges of our life. We can say, hey, I want to be the very best engineer I can be, so I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me, or I want to. I want to buy that boat. I'm going to work hard to earn enough money to get that boat. I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me, or I want to run faster than somebody else. I want to be the best athlete. I'm going to train hard. And I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. All that. What I want to tell you is, it's okay for you to think in terms of God gives you the power and the ability to do some things. But what I want you to understand is you can't do all things, but you can, in this context, understand that he can help you through any circumstance in this context, Paul is not saying you can accomplish something or make something or do something above anybody's comprehension. No, what he's saying is, Jesus Christ empowers you to navigate any circumstance in this life if you trust in him.
And that's where we find ourselves this morning is asking ourselves the question, do I have that sense of contentment that's not based on things or possessions or goods or my accomplishments, my background, but it's based on what I have. In Jesus Christ, contentment does not come from what we have, but rather from who we have. And when we have him, we can have that kind of confidence and that settling of our soul.
Hebrews 13 five says this, your conduct must be free from the love of money, and you must be content with what you have. Why?
Don't miss this point. He said, I will never leave you.
I will never forsake you. And you may say to yourself, well, I've gone through some tough times and I couldn't find where God was. Let me tell you something. You trust in him. He's right there with you, helping you navigate that challenge. He is walking alongside you. I don't know how always. I don't know that I can always say exactly how it's working. But I can tell you this, because this promise is there. And God does not falter on his promises that he says, I will never leave you and I will never forsake you. You can trust that reality. And so let me give you just a few things to think about in cultivating contentment in your life. First thing is this. Practice mindfulness.
That's the idea that whenever I have something happen to me in life that I just kind of recognize, there needs to be a settling out, right? There needs to be a sense in which I don't need to establish that this thing is terrible or this thing is awesome or whatever things are happening in my life. It's kind of the way you play cards, right? It's not like playing solitaire when you go through and you flip it all around and you get to the part and you keep flipping the same cards and it's not going to help you just start over and do that again. No. If you're playing a real card game, you're dealt a hand, right? And you have to play what's in front of you. Like, if we can develop the mindset that says, whatever is going on in my life, I accept that reality. Not that I'm not going to make choices that, that are to my advantage or those kinds of things. Not that I'm not going to, you know, take control on some level and do the right thing in circumstances, but that I recognize what I'm going through is what God has me going through right now.
And so I don't assign a good or a bad to it or whatever. I just focus on the moment. All right. The second thing is this view emotions as natural responses to the waves, anticipating the calm. You know, if you see a pool of water and you, if it's completely still and you drop a coin into a rock in it, what happens? There are waves, right? And sometimes rocks get dropped up on you. That's just the reality of life. And when they do, we have an immediate reaction, do we not? Like an emotional outburst. We're upset, we're excited, we're angry, whatever it may be, and there's a ripple, right? But what happens if that rock sits there long enough eventually that that pool of water become still again. Recognize that life is going to have those moments. They're going to be waves, and you're going to have a moment of emotion. It's okay. God gave you those emotions to deal with the pressures in your life.
Don't feel bad for feeling those ways, but eagerly anticipate the calm that comes after that issue, that challenge that you're facing. Look forward to it and trust that God is going to bring it. All of life's circumstances are temporary.
And then finally this. Look past the circumstance and focus your heart on serving Christ.
I don't know how else to say it. Sometimes in the middle of our despair, we go inward and we think that what we're going through is the worst thing that's ever been gone through, ever.
And we stop looking out and about and to realize that God still uses us even in these moments and in fact, more often than not in our weaknesses. When God's power shows up in even more powerful ways, change your mind, begin to see things differently, and look for ways to serve somebody else. All of a sudden, your eyes are opened up to the blessings that you have in front of you. All of a sudden, things become a little bit clearer that your life is actually stabilized in the middle of all this. Serving Christ gives us that ability to just stabilize and to find that rest and that peace. And our anxieties begin to dissipate a little bit. Yeah, we don't know what's going to happen. We have a lot of question marks in the air because God is in control and not us. But what happens is we are able to endure because we have this sense of contentment that helps us in life, but then eagerly anticipate his care for you while you're going through those circumstances and invite ize in your mind, think on those positive things this morning. I hope this has helped you. It's a challenge because I'm one who, you know, might want to argue. I'm one who might want to complain or gripe or not find the contentment in my life in the moment. Maybe I want to be mad for a little while, but I've discovered this week, especially as I've dug into this, that I need to be a person who is a better representative of Jesus Christ.
And that only comes when I find that stabilization in my trust and my confidence in him. And when I am stabilized, those ups and downs are still going to affect me, but I'm going to have a sense of rest and peace. And there may be some who need that this morning. And if you do, I hope you'll come forward this morning. While together we stand and Singhenne.
