This is Living // The Secret to Contentment

Well, today we are going to be in Philippians, chapter four.

Philippians, chapter four, and one of the age old battles that takes place especially in the summer is the battle of the thermostat.

You guys know what I'm talking about.

Now, some of you run a little hot and you like it a little bit colder.

How many of you like it colder?

The thermostat down?

Okay, right, some of you.

Now I like the thermostat personally at about 72 or 73, 72, 73?

Some of you are thinking that's hot.

I'm sweating.

Right Now in the back of the building, me and Pastor Cody are, offices are next to each other and the thermostat is actually in my office Now.

I like it around 72, 73, but he likes it warmer.

In fact he wouldn't even turn on the thermostat ever in the summer.

I know it's crazy.

Pray for him, guys.

So I go into his office the other day and we're in the middle of summer.

It was one of those days.

It was close to 90 degrees, right around 90 degrees, and I walk in his office and I get hit with this wave of heat.

I'm like, oh, is this a sauna?

I'm thinking like Cody, do we need to get your AC fix?

Is everything okay?

And I look at him and his shoes are off.

He's all cozy and comfortable.

He's like no, what's the problem?

And about that time I look down and I see something plugged into the wall.

It's like 90 degrees on a summer day and Pastor Cody has a space heater on in his office.

So it is.

I unplugged the space heater, I picked it up and I threw it out the window.

No, I'm just kidding, I didn't do that.

I'm just kidding, I didn't do that.

But we all know that thermostats are important because they regulate the surroundings.

Thermometers go up and down based on the surroundings, and something I'm learning in life is that some people are like thermostats and some people are like thermometers.

Some people are like thermostats and other people are like thermometers.

Their emotional wellbeing and their steadiness and where they are goes up and down based on what's happening around them.

And this really leads into the conversation that we're gonna have today.

And I'm actually really excited about this because we're gonna learn today a secret.

How many of you in the room you like secrets?

Oh, nobody raised.

Like three of y'all raised in your hand.

The rest of y'all are liars.

You love secrets.

You find out a secret.

You're like, oh, what's going on.

I wanna know what's happening.

We're gonna learn a secret today that's gonna allow us to have steadiness no matter what's happening around us.

That's gonna allow us to have well-being, no matter what's happening around us.

But the thing about this is that not a lot of people know about this.

This is why, in Philippians 4, paul calls it a secret.

Now, this secret, it's elusive.

That's why it's a secret.

I mean, not a lot of people know about it.

In fact, this is what the secret is, because some of you wanna know what the secret is.

So I'm gonna tell you the secret right now.

The secret Paul learned is he learned the secret to be content.

He learned the secret of contentment.

Everybody say the word contentment together, ready Contentment.

Now, before we talk about contentment in Philippians, chapter four, it might be good to define.

What does that word even mean?

Well, this is what Tony Evans says about contentment.

It's a really great definition.

He says contentment means being at rest with where God has you, despite what's happening around you.

Being at rest with where God has you, despite what's happening around you.

Now, contentment doesn't mean that you don't have dreams or goals or aspirations.

That's not what that means.

It doesn't mean you don't have that.

But contentment means that even if you don't get to those dreams, goals and things you wanna accomplish, that you can still be okay.

Why?

Because you've learned the secret, the secrets of contentment.

Now here's the secret in a nutshell.

This is not hyperbole, this is not a churchy answer.

This is not a porous pastor.

It's going to say this here's the secret you ready A real relationship with Jesus.

This is what Paul's going to say.

Paul's going to say here's a.

I want to teach you about the secret.

It's about this relationship with Jesus that, if it will be authentic and if you will have this, it is the secret that not a lot of people know about.

So today, this is what's going to happen.

We are going to find out and you are going to learn today what is the secret and how can you have this relationship with Jesus and, for those of us that have it, how can we strengthen it so we can be more content?

In chapter four, verse number 11, if you are excited to learn the secret of contentment today, would you say amen, amen.

This is what Paul writes.

He says I don't say this out of need, for I have learned to be content.

I have learned to be content.

Let's say the underlined phrase together Ready, learn to be content.

Some things in life you have to learn.

Other things in life you discover.

For example, I didn't have to learn that ice cream tasted good.

I just discovered it.

My mom never sat me down and said okay, little Nate, I'm going to give you some ice cream and I'm going to teach you that this ice cream tastes good.

Open up your mouth.

She didn't teach me that.

In fact, I don't know when I discovered it.

But let me tell you when I discovered it it was life changing.

I discovered that when that creamy goodness touches my taste buds, it immediately sends a message to my brain that says give me more.

You know what I'm talking about.

It wasn't something I had to learn, it was something I discovered.

Now there's a lot of things in my life I've had to learn.

I remember when I had.

I remember when I learned how to ride a bike.

Do you guys remember when you learned how to ride a bike?

I remember that I was in my grandma's front yard it's like five or six years old my uncle, he was helping me with it.

We took the training wheels off and y'all know that's a really big deal when you're five or six years old.

That's like the biggest life moment up to that point for a five or six year old.

My uncle.

He took the training wheels off and he put his hand on the back of the seat and he put his left hand on the handlebar and he was like you're going to do this.

He walked with me and then he got a little faster and got a little faster and then he let me go.

I went about 20 yards and then I fell and cried like a baby.

But but I made it 20 yards.

I learned how to do that.

I remember something else I had to learn One of my first jobs.

I worked at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.

Yeah, no minimum wage, let me tell you, it's a big deal.

And I worked in food service.

I know you're impressed, y'all are impressed.

Yes, it was as unglamorous as it sounds.

When I worked in food service, I had to learn how to make the food, and by making the food, of course, I meant dropping the fries down into the fryer.

That's what making the food meant there for me, right?

I learned how to make the food.

I had to learn how to do the register.

I had to learn that when the Coke machine runs out of syrup, you got to get the big box and you got to carry it over and you got to put it in there and plug it.

I don't learn all these things.

In fact, in life, there's lots of things we have to learn.

I want to hear from you for a minute what is something, just in general, that you haven't discovered, but something you've had to learn.

Somebody talked to me being a mom.

You had to learn how to be a mom.

Yeah, somebody else.

What's that?

Patient?

You had to learn patients.

Yeah, teach the rest of us that, rachelle, please.

Yeah, somebody else.

Something else you had to learn yeah, driving.

You had to learn how to drive.

Who remembers when you learned how to drive, when you first learned that?

Okay, yeah, they all learned how to drive.

Something else.

Something else you have to learn Communication.

You have to learn how to communicate.

You got one.

Okay, what is it?

She had to learn that school is hard.

I just discovered that I didn't have to learn that school is hard right Now.

This is what Paul says about contentment.

Contentment is something you learn, not something you discover.

This is really important, guys.

This is really important.

Contentment is something you learn, not something you discover.

Because what some of us think is that we're going to discover contentment on the other side of the new job, on the other side of the job promotion, on the other side of the house, on the other side of the move, on the other side of accomplishing this, and when I get this over here, then I'll be content because I'm gonna discover it, because I'm gonna discover contentment on the other side of what I think will bring it to me.

But this is what Paul says.

Paul says, nope, you don't discover it, you learn it.

And could it be that some of us are thinking I'm gonna discover contentment when I accomplish this or get this or move out of the state of California or whatever?

When Paul says you gotta learn it.

And this is what's also interesting about the rest of the verse in verse 11.

He says he's learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself.

Now, before that, he talks about contentment.

The reason why contentment isn't something we discover is because true contentment is not related to circumstances.

Okay, so some of us think that it's completely circumstantial, based on our contentment, but we know that it's not because of the next verse, what Paul says in the rest of the verse.

He says I've learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself, whatever circumstances I find myself.

Now, guys, this is when you need to lean in.

No, for real, you need to lean in Because Paul says this and he's had a really crappy life from the outside, he's had a lot of tough things happen to him.

Paul's not sitting in his mansion, with the chef cooking for him, with the Ferrari out in his driveway, with a big lake in his backyard where he can fish whenever he wants.

It's not locked.

Paul.

Is that a tough life?

Paul says this.

Paul says I've learned in whatever circumstances, whatever circumstances.

In fact, did you know that when Paul became a Jesus follower, one of the first things that God said he wanted him to do was suffer?

Look what it says in Acts, chapter nine, verse 15.

Acts nine, verse 15, says but the Lord said to him go for this man.

This man is Paul.

This man is my chosen instrument.

I've chosen him to take my name to Gentiles, those people who are not Jewish kings and Israelites.

I will show him how much he must what's the next word?

How much he must suffer from my name.

Can you imagine?

Can you imagine that when you became a Jesus follower, god said my will for your life is that you're gonna suffer.

God, is there a plan B?

Is there any alternate options?

God said no, no, you're gonna suffer.

If you study Paul's life, we know suffering he did Beaten, shipwrecked, stoned, left for dead, abandoned, emotional pain, physical pain, mental pain.

And Paul says I've learned, in whatever circumstance, to be content.

And I say, well, let me take out my notebook.

Will you teach me, paul, will you teach me how to be content?

Because if somebody that goes through all that has learned to be content, then you, my friend, can learn the secret of contentment too.

He says in verse 12, I have learned, I know to make do with little.

I know how to make do with a lot.

Hey, I know.

I know when things are going great and I have just a little bit.

And I know when things aren't so great and I just I know when things are great and I have a lot, when I don't have a lot.

He says in any and all circumstances, I've learned that.

Here's the word.

I've learned the what's the next word.

I've learned the secret, the secret of being content, whether well fed or hungry.

Hey, whether I'm going to Texas Roadhouse for dinner, or whether I'm having peanut butter and jelly sandwich and ramen for dinner, whether in abundance, bank accounts full or in need.

I've learned it.

And then, verse 13, he gives the secret I am able to do all things through him.

Who's that him?

It's Christ.

It's Christ who strengthens me.

Now it's crazy, because this is one of the most popular verses in scripture but one of the most misused verses in scripture.

You know what I'm saying?

Right, you got the football player he's gonna score a touchdown.

He's like I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I'm gonna score a touchdown.

You got the basketball players I'm gonna hit the game winning three pointer because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

You know, you're trying to get into the college.

I can do this.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and God empowers us and God uses us in great ways.

But that's not the context of this passage at all.

In fact, when it comes to Bible study, context is king.

When it comes to Bible study, context is king.

So when you're reading the word or you're studying the word, what you wanna look for is you wanna look at what's happening in the verses before, what's happening in the verses underneath that?

What's the context of the passage?

And the context of Philippians chapter four is not chasing your dreams or getting your following, all of your passions, or getting into that college or whatever it is.

This is the context of Philippians chapter 14.

Is that, in a life that's marked by constant highs and lows, in a life that's filled with difficulties, in a life where you don't know what's up from down, in a life where you don't know what's gonna happen, there's this security and there's this stability and there's this contentment that is found in the person of Jesus?

This is the context and he says the secret is Jesus, it's his relationship with Jesus, and when Christ is your all and the gospel is your foundation, it produces a security, a steadiness and a firm foundation that will produce contentment even in the most hopeless circumstances.

Here in the chapter we talked about it last week, paul had this piece that passed all understanding later on.

Here he has contentment in all things.

Philippians chapter four one of the most beautiful chapters in the Bible, because he's unpacking this.

He's showing us how, how do we do this, and he says here's the secret it's Christ.

And though Paul was content in the.

In the rest of these verses he's going to affirm the people, the people at Philippi, because the people gave him a financial gift, and they gave him a financial gift multiple times.

It says in verse 14 of Philippians four still.

So, even though I'm content, still, you did well by partnering with me in my hardship, and you Philippians know that in the early days of the gospel.

So when I first started making Jesus known to you, when I left Macedonia, this was a region, this was an area.

So he was making Jesus known in this area.

Then he goes to this other area to make Jesus known.

You guys know, when I left that area, there was no church that shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except for you alone.

For even in Thessalonica you sent gifts for my need several times.

So this was a generous group of people that gave financially and because they were giving, things were happening.

It says in verse 17,.

Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that's increasing to your account.

Paul's, not some like money hungry preacher.

He knows God's going to take care of him, but these people were giving and what was happening is there were fruit.

There was fruit that was being produced in the ministry.

There were people that were being reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

These things were increasing to these people's account and Paul's like.

I'm so thankful for that because of your giving.

I'm going to tell you what's really cool is we're seeing the same thing happen in our church.

We're able to support missionaries.

Right now I think we support seven or eight missionaries and in just a couple of weeks, on Celebration Sunday, we're going to watch a video of the church planner we support in downtown Oakland preaching the gospel in downtown Oakland and he's going to share how our giving is making the difference for the gospel in Oakland.

And what's really cool is what we see right here Paul telling the Philippians a Philippi, philippians you guys have given and now there's food at your account, fruit at your account.

We're doing the same thing right now, like when you give their fruit to our account, to people that we don't even see or know.

But we're going to watch a video a little bit about it in just a couple of weeks.

And Paul says listen, fruit is happening because you're giving verse 18, but I have received everything in full and I have an abundance.

I'm supplied, having received from me, papua Didis, what you provided a frigate offering and acceptable sacrifice.

Pleasing to God Verse 19,.

He says my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Now he gives this promise to people that are giving.

So he does.

And he says that God will supply all of our needs, not all of our wants.

That God will supply all of our needs, not all of our greets.

And he tells people that are giving financials like hey guys, god's going to take care of you have said not to our God, verse 20.

And father be glory forever and never, amen.

Now, when I look at this text, I think there's a couple of really important questions that we have to answer, and if you can answer these questions, you will learn the secret of contentment.

But you have to be able to answer these questions, because these are the difference between living a life of contentment and living a life that's constantly chasing and pursuing and yielding and going.

Here's the first question that I want you to ask yourself this morning is why is contentment a secret?

Why is it something that everybody strives for?

They want to be content, but it seems like they can never find contentment.

Tim Keller writes about this passage and this idea of being content.

He tells a story that him and his son were having shortly after the death of Kurt Cobain.

Kurt Cobain in the 90s lead singer of Nirvana, incredible musician.

He took his life and he talked.

He was having a conversation with this teenage son about suicide.

Well, there's a lot that goes into that.

Tim Keller says to some degree it suicide goes down to a couple of things why people do this to some degree.

One you accomplish all of your hopes and dreams and aspirations and you realize that it's still not enough.

In other words, you think that you can discover contentment if you can just do this and accomplish this and have this and you.

You get that and then you realize you're still empty.

I was watching the Netflix show this week.

It was about a football player named Johnny Manziel.

Anybody, any guys, have heard of Johnny Manziel?

Okay, a couple guys from Manziel.

Okay.

So Johnny Manziel was the young.

He was the first freshman to ever win the Heisman Trophy.

It's pretty big deal.

Best football player in the country.

Johnny Manziel.

First round NFL Jaffa.

Johnny Manziel before he ever hiked the football in the NFL.

Millionaire.

Johnny Manziel so popular that when he was walking around his college campus.

He could barely go class to class to class because he was swarmed by mobs of people like this is a really big deal.

And he, he, he was, he.

He made the NFL.

He moved to the city where he was going to be the quarterback and he made a statement about this that literally caused me to hit, pause, rewind and played again, because I didn't think that he really actually said this.

Johnny Manziel said it was when I had everything I ever wanted that I was the most empty.

Hold on on, pass.

Don't you not right, rewind, play, because when I had everything I ever wanted, that was the most empty.

And that's what same color says.

We come to a place that we think will bring us happiness, that we think will bring us contentment, and it just doesn't deliver and it leads us to a place of despair.

Or we come to a place in our life where we realize we'll never reach our goals, despite how many TikTok videos we watch, despite how many college classes we take, despite how many YouTube videos and self-help books and blogs and all this stuff, it's like I do all these things up and we discover that we're never gonna accomplish it, we're never gonna get there and we despair.

And To the person that has accomplished all their dreams and has made all the money and has everything they ever wanted and they realized it's not enough.

And to the person that has realized that I'm never gonna be able to get to where I thought I was gonna be, I'm never gonna be able to have everything I thought I was gonna have, I'm not gonna be at the place where I wanted to be.

This is what Paul says.

Paul says both of those people listen.

Contemplation is not in either of those places.

Contentment is a secret because it's found in a relationship with God, and you have to learn this and you have to.

You have to.

You have to come to this place where you realize this, because if not, you will live your life in discontentment.

But you don't have to.

Cs Lewis says if there are desires in you that nothing on earth can fulfill, it means you were built for something else.

Another man says this we won't be fully satisfied when we get what we want, because God loves us and wants us to find our satisfaction in him, and he won't allow us to be satisfied.

He wants our contentment to be found in a relationship with him.

Here's the question why is contentment a secret?

This is why it's a secret, because we live in a world that's pointing us to everything outside of a relationship with Christ as the place of the time.

Paul's like guys.

Paul's like guys, guys, guys, y'all gotta get this, y'all, you gotta get this Contentment.

It's a secret.

It's found in Christ.

Here's a second question that's probably a better question, honestly, and it's this why am I discontent?

What do I do if I walked in this room discontent?

What do you do?

That's where some of you are right now.

Okay so, okay, nate, so I see.

So the secret is a relationship with Christ.

Okay, great, okay, I understand, but I'm discontent.

Christian contentment is so different Than contentment that you learn outside from an influencer or a blog or whatever.

Here's the difference a lot of these bloggers they suggest techniques to find contentment good techniques, by the way find a hobby, relax, go on vacation.

So we're all like that'd be great.

Going on vacation, go on vacation, sleep more.

All these techniques and good techniques.

Christian contentment is not based on techniques, but the foundation is the person of Jesus, and this is why Because Christianity Points us to the big questions of life and it actually answers the big questions of life, things like identity, meaning, value, purpose.

These are answers that secularism cannot answer at a fundamental level.

So what what secularism calls us to do is do all these techniques to make yourself feel good about yourself.

Where Christianity says, let me get down to the very core and let me show you why you matter and let me give you purpose and let me give you identity.

It's found in this person of Jesus.

It's completely different, guys, techniques for contentment versus the person of Jesus.

For contentment.

There was a genius author, pulitzer Prize winner, secular guide, not a Jesus follower named earnest, only gets named Ernest Becker, cultural anthropologist, and he gave this honest reflection in a book that he wrote shortly before he died of cancer, called the denial of death, wrote about the denial of death and as a cultural anthropologist, anthropologist means somebody that just studies people and studies these different things.

He had lived for decades trying to figure out people and trying to understand Different world views and he had taught on multiple college campuses as a high-end professor, places like Cal, berkeley and others.

He gave this honest assessment of the world, an honest assessment of people, and he looked out at all and he was like I Don't follow Jesus, I'm not a Jesus guy.

But if you want to find purpose and value and meaning and Identity he didn't use the word identity.

This is what he was talking about the best place to find it is Christianity.

But the thing that is so crazy is he could not come to a place in his own life when he surrendered his life to Jesus and was willing to follow Jesus.

But when he stepped back and took an honest view of everything, this is what he says.

He says Jesus offers the security and the hope and the meaning that humans long for that secularism cannot give.

This is how.

This is how.

This is how encouraging the secular mindset is.

Your complete accident.

You have no purpose, you have no meaning.

You're just here to do whatever you want to do.

Everything's accident.

That that's just.

That's despairing.

But in Christianity he says no, no, no.

You were made on purpose, with the purpose, by a loving heavenly Father that gave his life for you.

And when you come to him by faith, what happens is you have an identity that gives you security and gives you stability and gives you meaning and gives you self-worth.

That you cannot find in all of these other places.

And this secular thinker steps back and is like man, that looks really awesome and that's really appealing.

I just can't get to the place where I'm willing to follow.

This is real, guys, and Paul says in Christ is where you find contentment.

So what do you do when you're discontented?

This is the first thing you need to do.

You need to identify.

You need to identify what do you think will bring you contentment?

Now, be careful, guys.

This requires you to be honest with yourself.

What do you think will bring contentment?

Do you think when I just have this, then I'll be content, when I just accomplish this, then I'll be content.

When I just get to this place, then I'll be content?

Some of you guys know that workout and it's just fun, right?

Some people have a hobby of fishing, do woodwork.

I just go workout, I just go gym all the time and I'm always like, oh, when I hit that next PR, that next personal record for lifting a certain amount of weight, then I'll be good.

I hit that weight, it's amazing for about 30 seconds and then I'm like, ok, what's next?

And sometimes, when we think we have to identify, what do we think will bring us contentment.

Number two you need to preach the gospel to yourself.

This is what I mean you need to realize that things are not going to give you personal worth, that things cannot hold the weight of your personal identity, that things cannot provide the meaning that your heart longs for.

You have to recognize that and remind yourself.

This is who Jesus is.

This is what Jesus did.

Number three enjoy the gifts, but remember, only the giver can satisfy.

Enjoy the gifts, but remember, only the giver can satisfy.

You know God has given you good gifts to enjoy, but sometimes what happens is we make the gifts be God and when the gifts become God and we put them in the place of God, bad things happen.

But here's the thing is that God has given you good gifts to enjoy.

Enjoy the gifts that God's given you, but remember, only the giver can satisfy.

Number four develop your relationship with God.

This is not just like popping into the church building every now and again on a Sunday morning.

It's not just I'm going to say my prayers every now and again.

No, no, it's learning to seek God.

It's meditating on God's word.

It's letting Christ, letting His value system, reframe how we see things.

It's understanding that I'm going to value what God values.

I'm going to seek what God sees.

It's I'm going to grow in my relationship with God.

I'm going to develop that, and I don't know what that means for some of you, like for some of you, that could be simply as as simple as on my way to work, I'm listening to Christian music.

Oh no, for some of you that means I'm going to develop my relationship with God by getting more connected to the church, by being more involved in the church, by being faithful.

Maybe that's it For some of you.

You know there's something in your life that you're like man that needs to.

I need to adjust that.

Why?

So I can develop my relationship with God.

And number five lastly obey God.

You have to have a clear conscience to be content.

And if you're living in disobedience, you won't have a clear conscience and you won't be content.

You have to obey.

When we're discontent, we need to go to this place.

When we're discontent, we need to look.

What do I think will bring me contentment?

What does the gospel say?

I'm enjoying the gifts, but remember, only the giver can satisfy.

Am I thinking right now that the gifts of the giver can satisfy, because then things are going to get all wonky and messed up.

Am I really developing my relationship with God?

Is my relationship with God kind of like I thought line a little bit, kind of got a little a little pedestrian, kind of gotten used to it.

Yeah, I know the church thing, I know the communion thing, I know the worship thing, I know the.

I know we need to develop that and am I obeying God?

Here's what can happen, guys, when we do this.

One day you'll be able to sit down somebody, somebody that's going through a lot, somebody that's having some really hard circumstances, somebody that can't see up from down, they can't see around, and this is what you're going to be able to tell them Learn the secret of being content.

It's not having a lot of stuff, it's not having a lot of money, it's not all these things that we hear.

This is what it is.

It's in a relationship with Christ and when you understand that relationship and you pursue that relationship, it's then, and only then, that you can learn the secrets of being content.

And it's a secret because not a lot of people have learned it and today you've learned it.

So today let's learn to be content.

Let me pray for you this morning.