The Secret of Contentment: Finding Strength in Christ

Well, Paul here says, as we look again in Philippians chapter 4,

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

really the second half of this, being content in crisis, if you will,

he says, I've learned to be content. We saw that last week, in whatever circumstances I am.

In other words, whether my circumstances are good or bad, up or down,

positive or painful, Paul says, I am content.

Now, in verse 12, he fleshes out a little bit more this concept,

and he certainly gets my attention because I'm still learning this.

I don't know about you, but I'm still learning.

And by the way, that disciple is a learner, right?

And someone who follows closely to Jesus. And as we learned in Sunday school

today, we follow so close to our rabbi, to our teacher, to our Lord and Savior,

Jesus Christ, that we are covered in the dust of the rabbi.

That's how closely we follow behind him.

So that's what Paul here is challenging us to do.

Paul's got a hold of something here that you and I desperately need.

None of us here are above and beyond what he says, by the way.

Rather, all of us here are in need of this important truth, every single one.

And he begins in verse 12, I know.

You see that there in verse 12? I know. And we got to stop there in just a moment

because Paul knows this because Paul has learned this.

That's what he told us in verse 11. Some of this we looked at last week,

but Paul has learned this by personal experience of trusting God in hard times.

He says, I know how to get along, verse 12. Look at it. I know how to get along.

And when he says get along, by the way, he means how to get along joyfully,

triumphantly, successfully, not just surviving, but thriving, right?

Thriving through any circumstance. He says, I know how to get along with humble means.

We can be sure of this because Paul is living in the lap of humble, right?

Humble means as he writes this. We all know, we looked at that a little last

week. He's in prison, right?

You'd be hard pressed to be more humble and means than Paul is right now.

He faces a low supply of provisions. He has financial shortage.

He has physical problems, physical affliction. He's restricted in movement.

Remember, he's chained to the guard, and he has limited food.

Yet despite this trial, Paul is abounding in Christ.

He's abounding in Christ. Paul also writes this. He says, I also know how to

live in what? What are you saying in that verse?

Prosperity. You see it? And the word prosperity just means To be filled with an abundance Right?

The idea is one of being furnished With more than what's needed.

And there have been other times in Paul's life when that was not the case, if you can remember.

In fact, he sat in the lap of luxury when he sat there.

In those seasons, he had more provisions than he needed.

But part of the secret of contentment he's learned is that when in a time of

prosperity, his contentment still does not come from that source.

That's important, y'all. It doesn't come from his circumstances.

That would be a pale contentment or that looks just to circumstances, right?

It would be superficial, however good those circumstances were.

Paul did not look for contentment in Christ only when he lacked other things to give it to him.

He sought contentment in Christ in want and in plenty.

Both, he sought contentment in him. That's where it came from.

And Paul has learned this, to be content in any and every circumstance because

he didn't look to his good favor as a source of contentment.

Do you understand? Who is our source?

God, Jesus, right? He is our source. That's where we find contentment.

It is not in our circumstances.

And that's what Paul is learning. I think that's what we're all learning,

whether he's in prosperity or in prison.

In every situation, he has lived triumphantly. Look at what he says in verse

12 again there. He said, I have learned the secret of being filled and going

hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

He says again, I have learned. It's not mere head knowledge for Paul.

It's not something he's just saying, oh, yeah, that's what I think.

But it's a hard expression that's born out of real situations.

He claims to know the secret of this. And the secret here in Greek talks about myeo.

It's a word which means to be initiated in mysteries. In Paul's day,

it referred to the initiation rites into a mystery religion.

When somebody entered into one of the pagan temples to be part of those mysterious

religions, there would be an initiation process in which secrets would be made

known to that person then.

They were not made known to the average person on the streets, though.

But there was a commentator, Hendrickson, I believe it was, that explains that

the only initiation necessary to learn this secret is to fear and trust in God,

he said in his commentary.

In fact, I wrote down this. He says, to those who fear him, God reveals this mystery.

And he draws on Psalm 25, 14. Those who reject Christ cannot understand how

it is possible for a Christian to remain calm in adversity, humble in prosperity.

So filled here, he mentions filled, means for your stomach to be full with food, right?

We were talking about some nice places to eat and some hole-in-the-wall places

that in Sunday school before we started about how some of these hole-in-the-wall

places that you run across have some of the best food, right?

And they, you know, somebody said, yeah, they have to, right, to survive.

But boy, you've got some awesome food. But so we're thinking about that.

I was already thinking in Sunday school, you know, about getting hungry,

right? But to fill, or think about it this way, or for your pocketbook to be

filled with all that is needed.

You can be satisfied when filled, but also, Paul says, when hungry.

When both your stomach and pocket are empty, those two extreme circumstances

are polar opposites, aren't they?

They're at either end of the spectrum of life. And Paul is putting his arms

here around the entirety of human experience, all of it.

And really, we can look at this. It's a literary device known as inclusion.

And it implies that every other life experience in between, in other words.

When having abundance, Paul had more than needed, right?

When he was suffering need, he did not have anything, either physically or financially.

But everything else he or we may experience lies somewhere in between.

Where's our contentment line? Well, as the guys threw up here,

we're going to talk about this slide now, the secret of contentment.

So what is the secret of contentment? Here's the mystery that Paul learned,

Eastwood, in the school of discipleship.

In fact, we were talking about that this morning in Sunday school,

about the difference, you know, like Christian, if you go ask people down the

street, like, what is a Christian? Are you a Christian?

You would probably, if you asked 10 people, get 10 different answers.

Some of them qualifying Some of them just, you know, random And all this stuff, questions maybe,

But we realize today that that word Christian Is not something that the followers

of Jesus In his day called themselves In fact, it was what their enemies called

them It was a derogatory term It was kind of like you little Jesus-y people, right?

I mean, it was meant to be an insult But that brought the question What did they call themselves?

Guess what? Disciples. Disciples.

And so as we look at this today, Paul learned this in the school of discipleship

because he was following closely to his master, his Lord and Savior, his rabbi.

He was following close, and he learned from him, and he learned through this

school of life that he went through.

In fact, in the difficult times of life, what happened? Paul thrived as he discovered that.

Look at verse 13. This is probably everybody's favorite passage,

or at least one of them on the list, right? I can do what?

All things through him who strengthens me or through Christ who strengthens me, right?

All things is put in that emphatic position in Paul's original sentence order.

The word order actually is all things I can do.

It's as if Paul took a yellow highlighter, y'all, and he underscored those two words, all things.

Those two words are what really should leap off the page.

And Paul, additionally, he doesn't say, I may do all things, but what? I can do.

A world of difference exists between those, right?

Between may and can, because may indicates permission, but can means ability.

Another commentator i believe hansen pointed out

that the contextual meaning of all refers to

the previous claim to be content whatever the circumstances

and all the situations of his life in poverty and in prosperity when well fed

and when hungry paul can be content he has the power to endure all these extreme

situations all these ups and downs without out of anxiety with the peace of

God guarding his heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

And then look at that word do. I can do.

Yeshua, it means to be strong, to have power.

It conveys that idea of having strength to perform a task, in other words.

In fact, in Acts 19, verse 16, the word is translated as overpowered, overpowered.

Acts 19:16

Paul states here emphatically in this verse that he possesses the power to do all things.

And that refers, make this clear, I'm gonna flesh this out with all of us today as we look at this.

This refers to all things within the will of God, all things that glorify God.

I wanna say that again. This refers to all things within the will of God,

all things that glorify God.

That little phrase, through who?

Through Christ or through him, right? That refers to Jesus, right?

The one who is the object of Paul's faith is the one who gives him the power

to do everything that God has called him to do.

Paul's whole life is Jesus. His whole life is Christ. He talks about that in

Philippians 121 that we looked at.

It's through Christ, it's through him that Paul possesses and that we possess

all the strength that we need for this life.

Jesus said, what, in John 15, verse 5, apart from me, you can do nothing.

John 15:5

Right? Absolutely nothing. thing. Paul has discovered that in him, he can do what?

Everything, all things. And that word strengthens, boy, I'm going to get excited in a minute.

That word strengthens there is the word that comes into our English language as dynamite.

Dynamite. It means to be empowered, to be enabled, to be made strong,

to be increased in strength.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

That's an individual and as personal as it can be, right?

No matter what anybody else is doing in your family, at your workplace,

in your church, the confidence is individual here and personal.

You can do all things through the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst

of your personally difficult circumstances. Amen?

I mean, this is the truth that Paul has learned. This verse,

though, I have to say this, I'm going to do this as quickly as we can,

but it's been misunderstood so much and misapplied so much repeatedly over time.

So I think it needs some qualification.

And we're on that slide right now that we're going to look at.

First, I got to explain a few things. This does not mean God will empower me or you to sin.

God is not the author of sin. That comes from the flesh.

All things would never include that which God hates or which is opposed to his very nature.

Believe it or not, some people have took this verse to mean that very thing.

That's not what it means.

And second, this does not mean I can do supernatural, physical feats such as

jump across the Atlantic Ocean or flap my arms and fly in the air, fly to the moon.

It doesn't mean I can perform miracles in the sense of the snap of a finger, right?

It doesn't mean that. All things are the simple things of life that believers

are called to do. This is Paul's perspective.

Everything God has called you to do, he will give you the power to do it.

If he's called you to go to Africa to be a missionary and the spears and all the stuff start flying,

if God has something for you there, yes, he can supernaturally deliver you and

you can do all things through Christ there where he's called you to,

but it's all within his will.

This is not some magical thing that we just go out and we're at the gym and

we have this weight over here.

Oh, I'm going to try to lift 525 pounds today. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

That's not that verse. That's not that verse.

Third, this means that, this means, it really does mean, I can do all things within the will of God.

Now, could be, maybe, maybe, maybe it might be God's will for you to lift 525

pounds if it meant doing his will to reach people for Christ.

Could be, but it's all things within the will of God.

I can do all things that God calls me to do, not just whatever I choose to do, right?

We got to understand all things is everything that is defined by the word of God.

God's never gonna empower us to do things that are contrary to his word.

And then fourth, it does not relieve me or you of our responsibility to commit

ourselves to the means of grace. What do I mean by that? God's word,

studying God's word, right?

Spending time in his word, spending time in prayer, you know,

fellowshipping together, coming together as a body of believers,

observing the Lord's supper, all those things that we're called to do.

In other words, if I just sit back passively, I'm not going to know this strength.

If I'm just a spectator sitting on the sidelines and I'm not a disciple of Christ,

I'm not going to know this strength.

It's not for everybody.

It requires my active pursuit of the means of grace for me to experience this

supernatural power in my life.

A disciple of Christ. We're talking, this is what Paul is, right? is what Paul is.

And fifth, it doesn't remove my responsibility to confess my sin and to repent.

If there's unconfessed, unrepentant sin in your life or in my life,

I just want y'all to know something today. It'll pull the plug on your joy.

Sin and joy cannot exist in the same heart.

Of course, we'll never be perfect, and there will always be sin in our lives

in this life, right? It's about direction, not perfection.

But if those are patterns of sin in our life, are going on in my life of unconfessed

sin, unrepentant of sin, no matter how good my circumstances happen to be,

newsflash, there is no real joy.

And then six, it does mean that as I can live my Christian life knowing that

the power of God is far greater, far greater than whatever difficulty I'm facing,

is far greater for you. Put it personal.

Whatever difficulty you're facing, no trial is too difficult.

There's no obstacle that's too high. There's no temptation that's too strong.

There's no opposition too powerful.

There's no persecution too threatening. If we put our faith and our trust in

God and God alone and follow Him and

surrender to Him as His disciple in obedience, this joy will be our joy.

Just like with Paul. And this contentment will be our contentment,

and this confidence is going to be our confidence.

When you say that verse, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

God does this work, seventh, in the Christian at the deepest level of their innermost being.

It's not a superficial work, right, that God just does on the outside.

We're talking about to the very depths of your being, of my being.

That's where God enables you. That's where God enables me by the strength of

the Lord Jesus Christ to do, y'all not just may do, but to actually do what

God would have me and you do.

It's a comprehensive work in our life. It involves our mind,

our affections, and our will.

Imagine being able to write what Paul can write here in this passage,

and that is as close to the truth here as close to the truth in your own life of what Paul is saying.

Imagine being able to say this, I'm content no matter what my circumstances.

I can get along with little.

I know how I can get along with much. I'm content whether I'm full or whether

I'm hungry, wealthy, or in great need, I can do all things through my Lord who strengthens me.

He empowers me to do it. That's where I get the ability.

Imagine being able to live like this.

We can, Brother Ronnie. We can. We have all we need in who?

In Christ. In Christ, we have all that we need.

No circumstance could ever arise which would be too much for Paul's God,

and therefore no circumstance could ever beat Paul.

And the same applies for you and me.

Mortyer said that. He summed that particular area up in those words,

and I think that's important for us to hear because Paul's God,

after all, is our God, right?

I mean, come on. So when we lack the contentment that Paul enjoyed and that

he exemplified, it's not because we don't have what we need to enjoy it.

It's because our eyes are on the wrong place.

They're upon our circumstances instead of upon our Savior.

Y'all this is something that i'm talking about this is discipleship,

you don't think like this you don't you don't see or

learn what paul has revealing to us here without being a disciple of jesus christ

do you need to be living above your circumstances today or are you pulled down

in a whirlpool of emotional collapse do you need to experience joy in the midst

of your situation right now?

Do you need to know what it is to say, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me?

If so, just remember that all joy for your soul, all power for your life,

for my life is found only in Jesus Christ.

And you need to get as close as you can to Christ.

You need to follow as close as you can in the footsteps of your rabbi.

Let his dust be all over you. If you'll look to him, if we will trust him,

live for him, worship him, adore him, serve him, follow him,

obey him, then this joy that Paul speaks of will increase by filling and flooding

our souls. He's just going to keep going.

I need this. You need this. We all need this, right?

We're either in a very difficult set of circumstances right now,

some of you are, or you're about to head into one.

As we look at this final slide in a moment, think about this.

You're either in a difficult set right now or you're going to be.

Or maybe you've just stepped out of one momentarily to head back into one.

And I think it's important that we're reminded of, I don't know how else to

say it, God had only one son without sin, but he has no son without sorrow.

You'll know what it is to be hungry. You may know what it is to be full,

but this is the secret which Paul has let us know.

You have all you can ever need in Christ, and you can do all things through

Christ who strengthens you, no matter what the circumstance is.

If it's God's will, he has called you to do it. I promise you, you can do it.

I can do it. through his strength.