Contentment in chaos | Philippians 4:10-23

be together and praying together, singing together, listening to and hearing about what

God is doing even amongst the children, the little lambs, how Grace Kids has exploded into

a wonderful ministry where indeed the little lambs among us are being fed wonderfully by

the leaders prayerfully as they take our children from us, take them downstairs and give them

these wonderful lessons that they can be reminded that Jesus has saved them as well.

Well, before we get into our text this morning, let us ask for our Father's help in prayer.

Would you please join me?

Father, we are so thankful for the work that you have done in Christ and that you continue

to do among your people on this earth.

Father, we ask that as we peer into these words of truth that you would help us to understand

them, that they would invade our minds, that you would help us to meditate and dwell on

the truth of what's being said this morning, that you would change us for your glory and

for Christ's sake.

We ask for this in Jesus' name, amen.

Church, I wonder if you can think of the worst day that you have ever had because having

the worst day can really make anyone go from a great mood to a terrible mood pretty quickly.

You know the days I'm speaking of, right, where everything, and I mean absolutely everything,

seems to be going wrong.

It's almost like you got out of the wrong side of the bed and then everything just seems

to not want to work in your favour.

The coffee machine doesn't work, you trip on one of the kids toys, you get to school late,

you can't get parking, you have a squabble with someone in the family or in the workplace.

I can think of many times this has happened in my life and I'm sure that you can think

of the many times that it's happened in your life as well.

Bad days just seem to be part of the human experience and bad days can really affect

our whole attitude on things to the point that we might sing in chorus with Mick Jagger,

I just can't get no satisfaction and say to ourselves if only things could just change

then everything would finally be good.

Well this morning we're wrapping up our series in the book of Philippians by looking into

a context where both writer and receiver weren't just having a bad day but an incredibly

bad season.

And when I say bad season, I mean things had not gone their way for many, many years and

so you can imagine the temptation in all of this.

If only things could just change then everything would be finally good.

Well our apostle has some encouraging words for the church this morning.

Come the best of times, come the worst of times, I've found the secret of contentment.

I've learned to be satisfied in whatever life throws at me and I want you to know what

it is so that you might share in it as well.

And as we explore our passage this morning, we'll actually see that Paul in fact gives

us five encouraging truths for the church to dwell on in regards to this great theme

of contentment.

Now before we have a bit more of a think on these things, let's first think about the

context that our author, the apostle Paul, was speaking from.

If we think about it, he was a man who spent much of his ministry years under intense persecution.

I mean the book of Acts alone tells us that he was mocked, slandered, ganged up on, driven

out of cities, abandoned, starved, stoned, beaten, shipwrecked, whipped and imprisoned

a number of times.

In fact the very letter that we're exploring this morning is a letter that was written

from a Roman prison where our author was chained up and unable to get to his friends in Philippi.

So that's the writer, that's the author.

But what about the receivers?

What was the apostle Paul speaking into?

Well as we know through this series that we've done in Philippians, this church was highly

persecuted both externally and internally.

Only the church was persecuted by the pagan society around them which came with all sorts

of social and economic ramifications, which we can only imagine.

But as we saw in chapter 3, they also had the pressure of the dutyisers, a sect of so-called

Christians who believed that the Philippians weren't really saved because the males hadn't

been circumcised and kept to the requirements of the Mosaic law.

That's some pretty big external issues, but that wasn't all that was going on.

Internally we know that this church had a division between two congregants which had

pretty much parted the church like the Red Sea.

So that's the context here.

Both author and recipient were in horrid circumstances.

But insult is added to injury when we also think about the male man in all of this, a

goddess.

Remember that guy?

We met him way back in chapter 2 where we learned that he was sent from the Philippian

church to Paul in Rome to bless Paul with both his companionship and the gifts from the

Philippian church as they had pretty much supported Paul in his missionary efforts since

the beginning as we see here in verses 15 and 16 of our text this morning.

We will take a few breaks.

However, does anyone remember what happened to Paul Epaphroditus?

Well, the male man got so sick that he almost died.

And so Paul had to send him back to his friends in Philippi with this letter in hand.

All this to say and for all intents and purposes these people were having a terrible time.

And it seems like everything just wasn't working out for them.

So with all that said and with all that in mind Paul says in verse 10, I rejoice greatly

in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me.

Indeed, you were concerned but you had no opportunity.

In other words, Paul was overjoyed that he had received Epaphroditus with the churches,

his missionary partners gifts.

But as we're soon going to see, that's not the point that Paul wants to make here in

these last few verses.

No, though grateful, Paul is concerned that his friends understand that God wants them

to also be content in their circumstances.

That God desires for us his precious blood purchased people to live in a state of satisfaction

even in this chaotic world.

And so Paul ever looking for the moment to tell us about the hope that we have, he takes

this opportunity as he's wrapping everything up to speak to us of the need for and the

importance of contentment in the Christian life.

If you have your Bibles with you this morning, look with me at verse 11.

We read, I'm not saying all of this because I'm in need, for I have learned to be content

whatever the circumstances.

Okay so what we see here is that Paul wants to communicate to his friends the state that

Epaphroditus found him in.

Though he was delighted with their gifts, he was content with where he was at.

In other words, he was satisfied with where he was in life and where things were and he

wanted his friends to know about it.

Now you might remember last week that our apostle exhorted, he commanded us to dwell

and meditate on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, pleasing and what?

Whatever is commendable.

And you might remember that commendable things are those things that we would happily recommend

others for their edification and their growth in Christ.

Well that's what Paul's doing here.

He's commending to his friends that though in prison, though without the creature comforts

of this life, that he is totally content.

He wants the church to be edified in that.

Now as I said before, Paul always looks for an opportunity to teach the church about the

hope that we have.

And so what we see here is Paul saying no matter the circumstances, no matter what's

going on, I'm content.

And so I would say that's the first thing that we are encouraged in here.

God desires for his people to be content.

Now I say that God desires for his people to be content because this theme of contentment

has come up in other places in Paul's inspired writings.

For example in 2 Corinthians 12-10, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth and said, I'm content.

But listen to the rest of the verse.

I'm content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities.

Let's stop right there and think about that.

Because it seems that Paul has this kind of gratification for the horrid right.

Well no, because listen to the rest of the verse.

Because Paul kind of pulls up the bonnet and shows us the engine powering all of this.

He goes on to say, even with all of this unpleasantness going on, for the sake of Christ whenever

I'm weak, then I'm strong.

His point is for the sake of Christ Paul's content.

Now just so we're all clear and on the same page here this morning, contentment as the

Bible defines it is not saying, not saying, sarah, sarah, whatever will be, will be.

No contentment as the Bible defines it, godly contentment is being satisfied at peace and

emotionally fulfilled with what one has or the circumstances in which they find themselves.

And that's what we see with Paul.

Even in all sorts of trials and suffering, Paul has made peace with it.

In fact, he sees in this letter to the Corinthians, his weakness in his life is as exactly what

is needed.

As it is the vehicle that has helped Paul get his fleshly, self-sufficient self aside,

which leaves room for Christ's strength to accomplish what God has called him to do.

Again, this theme of contentment comes up with Paul's ministry apprentice, Timothy in

1st Timothy 6.6.

He says, godliness with contentment is great gain.

For we bought nothing into the world, we can take nothing out of it, but if we have food

and clothing with these, we'll be content.

Which is to say, when Christians focus their life's efforts on pursuing godliness, which

is thinking on and doing what God would have us to do with contentment, then we're going

the right way.

That's our aim in life, right?

Not gold, glory and glamour.

But this all works together.

If godliness is our aim in life, then whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, we'll

be content because we'll see the circumstances like Paul did as the vehicle God is using

to make us more like Jesus.

Which is impossible to be content when our hearts are set on gaining more, having more,

being more.

And so the warning is, we'll go completely off track and down the rabbit hole if we're

not content with what God has given us in this life.

The writer to the Hebrews, in fact, sums this up in chapter 13.5 of his book.

He says, keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.

For it is God who says, I will never leave you.

I will never forsake you.

That's the first encouragement here.

God desires for his people to be content.

And because this life is going to have many curves, bends and potholes, if our hearts

are set on what we don't have and pursuing that, then the slope of losing trust in God

is very slippery.

So godly contentment is for our own good.

But I want to dive a little deeper here because yes, God desires for us to be content, but

how do we obtain it in this chaotic world?

Well, that's the second thing that our apostle encourages us in this morning.

It's not natural to any of us.

No, godly contentment was something that he had to learn.

Am I not just saying that is amazing, isn't it?

I don't know about you, church, but being a bit of a dreamer and a goal setter, I can

read something like this and feel so off the mark.

I don't know if you feel the same way, but I can daydream about the what ifs and the

maybes a little too much.

But listen to what our apostle says here in verse 11.

Godly contentment wasn't natural to him either.

No, it wasn't endowed on him when he met Jesus on the open road, but this is important for

us to know here, he had to learn how to be content in this chaotic world, which means

you don't just trust Jesus and suddenly you're content with everything around you, something

we have to learn.

Now let me be crystal clear with you this morning.

We enter into the finished and final work of Jesus Christ when we come to him and put

our trust in him alone for our salvation.

That is true of every single born-again Christian.

We enter into Christ's finished work and rest.

We rest satisfied that no more needs to be done.

That's not to say that there aren't battles of contentment that we continue to fight against

this side of eternity in our flesh all the time.

So church, take comfort in the fact that like our apostle who's writing to all Christians

here, this is something we need to learn.

So how do we learn to be content?

Well this was something that Paul had to learn first hand as a disciple of Jesus Christ in

whatever context that God put him in.

He might call it the school of life.

In other words, Jesus teaches us godly contentment by and through our circumstances.

Notice it, verse 11, I've learned to be content in whatever the circumstances.

Verse 12, I know what it is to be in need and plenty, whether well-fed or hungry, whether

living in plenty or in want.

In other words, Paul had to learn to be content as he experienced real life with all its ups

and downs.

This is what I want us to think about this morning church.

See, I think we're in a better position to seek and find godly contentment when we come

to the point of understanding that we might not actually have it.

Let me say that again.

I think we're more likely to seek and find godly contentment when we come to the point

of realizing that we might not actually have it in the first place.

And so you might be wondering, well how do I know if I have godly contentment?

Well the school of life with its ups and downs that God allows providentially to happen,

well that will usually reveal that to us.

Think about it like this.

If your circumstances in life are providing you with everything that you need, if you're

totally content because of your things, if you're totally satisfied with the work of

your own hands, then that's actually not the best place to learn about godly contentment.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't Paul saying only the poor will ever get this.

It's as we read here, he learned to be content in whatever the circumstances.

But let me say it again, if your circumstances, if your things are providing and fostering

satisfaction, then will you really want to pursue what Paul is talking about here?

Maybe.

However you're more likely to seek and find godly contentment when you realize that you

lack it.

And so God may allow circumstances to come into your life to reveal that to you.

Why?

Because he loves his children.

See if there's any area of our lives where we're still operating in the fleshly, self-sufficient

self rather than looking to God to meet all of our needs, then our loving heavenly Father

will reveal where we lack dependence on him.

And we must and we should take great encouragement in that because when there's seasons where

the water gets a bit choppy and the valley gets pretty dark, then think about how you're

reacting to it all.

Are you saying if only things could just change then everything would finally be good?

If only things were the way they were then I would be happy.

Well brothers and sisters I have good news for you.

If you're out there this morning saying I am deeply discontent because of the fleshly,

self-sufficient self and it's not finding satisfaction any longer in my circumstances and stuff, then

I have good news for you.

You're in a better position and more likely to seek and find godly contentment than someone

who finds total satisfaction in the work of their own hands.

This totally flies in the face of the Western world.

I mean the prophets of this age, they preach gold, glory and glamour about having more

and more.

I mean just see how people are reacting over the latest tax cuts and so we should take

Paul's encouragement as a bit of a warning as well, right?

Because if we're still living for the things of this world, if we're still aiming to find

our satisfaction in the work of our own hands, then we're missing out on the real thing.

God in his kindness will sometimes take away the things that we look to for our contentment,

that we hold onto for our satisfaction and will shepherd us into and through circumstances

and situations so that we realise, wow, I really need God.

Do you see how loving and personal our God is?

Church, there are so many different stories and situations in this very room.

So many different contexts where the rug has been pulled out from under us.

Not because our God is cruel or just life happens to happen to us, but because we're

disciples of Jesus Christ, we're gods, precious blood purchased children.

And thus where our fleshly, self-sufficient selves have still looked to the things of

this world, to the work of our hands, to our circumstances, to find contentment and rest

satisfied, God in his kindness shows us that gold, glory, glamour, whatever it might be,

they're fleeting things.

He is all we need.

Church, I don't know where you are this morning, but I want to encourage you.

If you're in a life situation where the things of this world just don't satisfy, if your

circumstances don't bring contentment, then you are in a position of great discovery.

That's that our contentment was never designed to come from those things in the first place.

So God desires for His people to be content.

Second, He teaches us about it by and through our circumstances.

Third, well Paul's got the secret to all of this and he wants to share it with us.

So what is the great secret of verse 12?

What is the secret that Paul has learned that he wants to share with all of us?

Well church, might I say thus far he has taught us that godly contentment doesn't come from

our circumstances.

No, if anything, all that Paul has been teaching the church is that the last place you want

to look to for contentment and satisfaction is in your circumstances.

So what's the secret?

Well it's right there in verse 13.

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

In other words, Paul is telling the church that the secret to godly contentment that

he has learned in the school of life, in the difficult times, in the best of times, in

the thriving of times, is that contentment and satisfaction isn't circumstantial in our

surroundings, but it is guaranteed in our Lord and Saviour.

Now just something I want you to note here, this isn't Paul saying that you can do anything

you want and you'll find a supernatural strength in it.

Because if this is what he was saying, don't you think he would have ripped the chains off

and flown to his friends in Philippi?

This is a text that has been taken out of context and conned many, many people through

the years.

So our context needs to define what Christians do with this strength.

And that's that we can do what God has called us to do.

No matter the circumstances, because our hearts and minds have so embraced the fact that our

God is good and that in his providence, in his sovereignty, he has given us the strength

to do what he has called us to do in Christ Jesus, no matter where or in what we find

ourselves in.

That's the secret to contentment.

It's knowing, knowing that God is sovereign over all our circumstances and that it gives

us the strength in Christ to keep on keeping on no matter where or what we find ourselves

in.

If you're anything like me, this is such a monumental truth that is taking me years to

learn because our hearts are so distracted by the things of this world, by our everyday

circumstances.

But this is the great encouragement.

Our God desires this contentment in our life.

And so he will give us the strength to learn how to walk in it.

And that's the fourth encouragement here.

It is God who supplies this strength.

And Paul has thanked his friends and missionary partners, thanked them for their years of common

ministry.

He ends by saying, and my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his

glory in Christ Jesus.

Verse 19, is that to say that God is now going to change all their circumstances and make

them rich, make them influential, take them out of the persecution firing line?

Well, no.

Paul's great encouragement here is that though the church will go through the external and

internal problems, though Christians individually will face incredible hardships, we must never

think that our good father has abandoned us.

We live in a world where all sorts of things happen.

But we also live in a world where we have great hope because the universe isn't random

and our circumstances aren't haphazard.

No it's all under the sovereign control of our good God and no matter what he decides

to give and bless, take or put his people through, we can rest satisfied that he will

give us the strength to continue to do what he has called us to do in this world.

So as we end our time in this beautiful and encouraging passage and book, there's just

one more way that Paul wants to encourage us all this morning.

As found there in verse 20, right before Paul gives his final farewells to the church,

our apostle writes, to our God and Father, be glory forever and ever.

Amen.

What's Paul's final encouragement here?

Well, not only does God desire contentment for his people, not only will he help us learn

contentment, not only will he give us strength and supply it, but that our contentment will

result in greater worship and appreciation of our God.

That's Paul's final encouragement here to the church.

As we receive godly contentment, it will only ever lead us to glorify our God and Father

more and more on this side of eternity.

That's a wonderful truth that is held out to every single born again believer.

As you come to know God more and more, as you learn to rest more and more in his good

sovereignty, as we know who we are in Christ, as you experience wonderful contentment and

satisfaction, no matter the circumstances, as you come to be thankful that your life

is actually not built on gold, glory or glamour, but on the Lord Jesus Christ, there will be

a deeper gratefulness that you will find directed in your personal life to your loving Father

in heaven, who has rescued us by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, says verse 23.

So church, as you go into your days, as you go into your weeks with the various circumstances

that will come your way, if you find yourself in the midst of it all wishing if only things

could change then everything would be finally good, try to stop yourself from singing, I

just can't get no satisfaction.

Now stop yourself from looking and dwelling on the circumstances and dwell and meditate

on what is true, on what God has revealed to us this morning.

No circumstances are not random or sporadic, they are under the sovereign hand of our heavenly

Father and he has given you the strength in Christ to be a godly mum, a godly husband,

a godly colleague, a godly boss in that situation, as there is a strength that our loving and

good Father has supplied to every single one of his beloved children so that we might be

content with those circumstances, for it is our God who will meet all your needs according

to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

Would you pray with me?

Father we thank you for the wonderful truths of the gospel, that in Christ clothed in his

righteousness we are invited to come as we are to the throne of grace, to find mercy

and to receive grace in our time of need.

Father you know every circumstance, you know every life situation of everybody in this

room.

Father we would ask that you would please help us to walk into these truths, walk in

them, live them out and that the truth of the gospel would bubble out of us to all those

around us, that you would use this church to be a city on a hill, that we would be a light

for your glory.

Father we ask for your strength, we ask for your grace, we ask for your help in Jesus

name.

Amen.