One of the Most Misunderstood Verses in the Bible

Good morning. Welcome to Church at the Crossing. If you

are new or if this is your first time, welcome,

I'm glad you're here. My name is Andrew, and before

we open God's Word, I just want to tell you

here at Church at the Crossing, especially if you are new,

our mission, our vision is that we want to be

a better church, not just a bigger church. We want

to be a better church. And let me tell you,

just this weekend we saw a snapshot of our church

becoming a better church. What that means is we want

to serve the needs in our community. We want to

serve the people in our neighborhood with the Gospel of Jesus.

So let me just tell you what was happening here.

In one day. We had last evening, our Arabic Congregation

had a large worship service and a meal and a

gathering celebrating in the morning. On Saturday, our neighborhood market

was opened and we served more than one hundred and

thirty families who were shopping for grocery. And while that

was happening in the market, in this room, we were

hosting a national Celebrate Recovery conference. Some four hundred and

fifty some people from all over the region and the

nation were here getting trained. A number of folks, I'd

say about fifty percent, had never been to celebrate recovery training.

Another number of them had no celebrate recovery at their church,

and they were here learning how to do it. I

met a guy from Pendleton who is thinking and seeking

how to start a cr at his church, and he

was here getting trained. And let me say this, I'm

so proud of our church because behind the scenes, it

was our church in the market helping shop with neighbors

and get their groceries and pray with them and share

the gospel with them. It was our people in our

church preparing dozens and dozens of gallons of coffee for

the conference, and in the kitchen early mornings taking out trash.

I think, you know, one of our unspoken mottos is

what we do best around here is we eat. I

think there was some fifteen hundred meals that were prepared

and served out of our kitchen this weekend. And so

we are becoming a people of grit who do what

it takes to get what matters done. And so can

we just celebrate everything that God's done here in our church?

This weekend. So let's prepare to open God's word, and

let's begin by praying, Father, God, we thank you for

your grace and your presence, and God, we want to

experience you. We want to hear from you. God. So

in the name of Jesus Holy Spirit, silence, distraction in

our hearts, in our minds, draw our attention and our

concentration to you. We want to receive from your word.

May we be obedient to your word. May we be

more like you because of your word. Pray all of

this in Jesus's name. Amen. Years ago, I traveled to

Nicaragua with a team of doctors and nurse is to

do some missionary work. Now, if you're wondering what was

I doing with a team of doctors, that's a good question.

I wondered the same thing because I was not of

much help in the operating room. I have no skills

for surgery. But I could pray with people. I could

meet patients and encourage them, and I know a few

phrases in Spanish. But at the end of the day,

prayer is a universal language. And so I went into

the first hospital room, and I know a few phrases

in Spanish. So I entered and I said how are

you in Spanish, and I was just met with blank stares.

So I went to the second hospital room and I

entered in Spanish, I said how are you, and this

time I had just confused looks and raised eyebrows and

some people just shaking their head. And then went into

a third hospital room, and there were some kids in

this room with their family, and I said in Spanish,

how are you, and the kids started giggling and whispering

to each other and pointing at me and laughing at me.

Now I knew something was wrong. You see, in Spanish,

the phrase how are you is pronounced coomla stas. I

was saying don deistas, which means where are you? So

there was some confusions, misunderstandings, the miscommunication. Today, as we

look at God's word, we're gonna look at one of

the most misunderstood verses in the entire Bible, a verse

that is misunderstood, misquoted, and often misused. And it comes

from Philippians, chapter four, verse thirteen. It's here on the screen.

Would you read this? It says I can do what

all things through Him who strengthens me. Now, when have

you seen this quoted. I mean, this verse has been

on the cover of Sport's Illustrated. This verse has been

on motivational posters. We've seen this quoted in the locker room.

Even some people have it on as tattoos. There's one

Internet source says that Philippius four thirteen is the most

popular Bible first for tattoos, and so I want to

show you mine. I'm kidding, I'm kidding, But we've seen

this as motivating people to succeed, to achieve, to win,

to be the champion. Philippius four thirteen is often misunderstood, misquoted,

and misused because it gets taken out of its original context.

In the Book of Philippians, The truth is the first

person to put these words in ink did not have

them tattooed on his body. He wrote them in ink

on parchment in a Roman prison cell. The apostle Paul

was in prison, possibly waiting execution, when he wrote these

words in a letter to the Christians in Philippi. In

chapter one, he says, I am in chains for Christ.

He's in prison. Last fall, I got to visit Rome

and I stepped into an ancient prison, a stone building.

It's very small, nondescript. It's just steps away from the Colisseum,

and you'd walk past it if you didn't even know

it was there. But over the years it's become kind

of a religious historic site. And so I walked into

this stone building. And in this picture you'll notice on

the stone ground there's this round black cover. It looks

like a manhole cover or a sewer cover that was

added later, but that is covering the original hole that's

the entrance to the jail cell. And so the prisoners

like Paul would be lowered down into a cave through

that hole. Since then, they've added steps so you can

go down into the dungeon. And I walked down into

the dungeon, and this is the dungeon where many historians

think this is where Paul spent his final days. Right

in this dungeon. Let me tell you, it was dark,

it was cold, it was damp, it was not dry,

it was uncomfortable, and it's in a setting like this

where Paul is in prison. The man who's preached in

front of thousands started church, has traveled the world. He's

performed signs, wonders, miracles in the name of Jesus, and

now he's stuck in this situation, and it's possible that

he wrote this letter to Philippians in this jail or

one like it. This is not the setting of triumph.

This is not the setting of a victorious world champion.

This is a setting of despair, loneliness, isolation. And yet

it's in this place that Paul says I can do

all things through Christ. Now, you may not be trapped

in a Roman prison cell, but do you feel stuck

somewhere in your life right now? Do you feel stuck

in a family issue, some family drama. Do you feel

trapped in a financial need, a health crisis, a surprise

diagnosis that has you stuck feeling trapped? Do you feel

stuck in a dead end job that's just not going anywhere.

If we take Philippians four thirteen out of its context,

when it's out of its context and we're suffering, we're hurting,

we're trapped, then these words just seem aspirational. These words

seem like, oh, that's a great idea, but I'm suffering here.

But if we understand Paul's original meaning, we will find

incredible strength, supernatural strength to endure even the worst of

life's troubles and pain and suffering. Because what we need

to understand is that verse thirteen is connected to all

of the preceding verses. So I want to invite you

to look at Philippians four. Starting in verse ten. This

is Paul reading. He says, I rejoiced greatly in the

Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed,

you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to

show it. I'm not saying this because I am in need,

for I've learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I

know what it is to be in need, and I

know what it is to have plenty. I've learned the

secret of being content in any in every situation, whether

well fed, we're hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

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

So in full context, Paul is saying that he's experienced

all of life's extremes. He's experienced having plenty, He's also

experienced having nothing. He's been well fed, he's been hungry,

he's been taken care of, he's been poor, he's been

in pl he's been free. He's experienced the full range

and he's saying. Verse thirteen points to all of that,

all of that that comes before, and so very briefly,

I want us to analyze verse thirteen in its original

Greek language. There are six words in verse thirteen. I

want us to look at you remember when you were

in school and you had an exam or a test,

especially like a math test or a science test. At

least in my experience, I had sometimes those questions that

went something like, if Jim is in a car driving

forty five miles an hour, and his destination is six

miles away, how long will it take him to arrive?

Do you remember those type of questions? And some of

us we could probably figure out in our head what

the answer was, But at least for me, I couldn't

just write down the answer that was incomplete. My teacher

wanted me to show my work, show the steps that

I had to take, the calculate velocity and all that

kind of stuff, to show where I got my answer.

What I want us to do is we're going to

look at where did we get our English translation of

verse thirteen? In Greek? There are six words. In English,

there are eleven words in verse thirteen. And I'm not

criticizing the English translators. They did an excellent job of

translating the meaning so it could be readable, because if

we just translate those six words, that'd be really clunky.

I just want us to see the work that got

us to what we have. So here in verse thirteen,

these are the six words that Paul writes. He writes,

Panta sq n two and then that word I'm not

going to try and pronounce, and me and so in English,

what these mean is all this continually I have strength

in He strengthening me. Now it sounds clunky in English.

That's why we have our English translations that make it readable.

But I want you to see what Paul is saying.

He's saying here Panta, in all of this, He's pointing

back to verses ten, eleven, and twelve. All this, all

this suffering, all this need, all this isolation, all this imprisonment,

in all of this trouble, I continually have strength. And

where is the strength found? He says in him? In Christ,

Christ is the one giving him strength. See it's in suffering.

Philippians four thirteen is often used to try an escape suffering,

but Paul intends these words to strengthen us for suffering,

we will suffer. Paul writes earlier in this letter. It

has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not

only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for him.

Since you are going through the stame struggle you saw

I had and now here that I still have, you

will struggle, you will suffer. Philippians four thirteen is not

a promise that because you're a Christian, you're going to

be successful, rich, healthy, and wealthy. Philippians four thirteen does

not promise that our retirement accounts will always be up

into the right. Philippians four to thirteen is not a

promise that you're gonna have an undefeated season and win

the championship game. But what does Philippians four thirteen promise.

It promises when you lose the championship game, when you

are embarrassed, when you are defeated, when you are discouraged,

you will endure because you are in Christ. Philippians four

thirteen says that when you face trouble, when you face diagnosis,

you will endure because you are in Christ. When the

bank account runs dry, you are in Christ. When your

job is terminated, you are in Christ. When a loved

one passes unexpectedly, you are in Christ. See Philippians four thirteen.

It tells us that when a spouse betrays you, when

you're going from treatment to treatment, surgery to surgery, when

you're suffering, when your newborn child is in the nick,

you on life support, you will be with Christ. Your

strength is in Christ. That's the promise of Philippians four thirteen.

The point of this verse is that Christians depend on

Jesus Christ in every situation, all situations. Paul says, in

every circumstance verse twelve, we read I've learned the secret

of being content in any and every situation, all situations.

We depend on Christ. He says, I've learned the secret.

My favorite TV show is The Office, and I've watched

it hundreds of times. I know all the characters. I

can quote it. And if you've seen The Office, you

might remember the scene with Kevin's famous chili and nobody

got to taste Kevin's chili because he spilled it all

over the floor. But Kevin tells us the secret ingredient,

the secret to his famous delicious chili is undercook the onions.

That's his secret. Sauce. That's a secret ingredient. In verse twelve,

Paul says, I've learned the secret. I've got the secret ingredient.

I've got the secret sauce for every situation. The secret

for every situation is contentment in Christ. That's the secret.

We might think of contentment as serenity, as sitting on

vacation by a still body of water with a beautiful

view and a gentle breeze and perfect temperatures. We might

think of contentment after Thanksgiving meal, eating as much as

we want and searching for the couch or a chair

to take a nap in because we're so content. Or

I think about my dog is laying out on the

patio and the sun just content. Well, remember Paul, Paul

says he's content. He's not on a beach vacation with

a drink in his hand and his feet in the sand.

He is in prison. And look at how his contentment

is peppered throughout this letter. He writes in chapter one,

what has happened to me has actually served to advance

the Gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout

the whole palace, Guard and everyone else, I'm in chains

for Christ. Later in verse twenty, I eagerly expect and

hope I will in no way be ashamed, but will

have sufficient courage that now is always Christ will be

exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die

is game. Paul is content in Christ. He says, if

I die, great, I'll be with Jesus. If I live, great,

Christ will be exalted. Whether I live, whether I die,

I don't care, because I am in Christ. Do you

think that Paul had any control over his situation in

that dungeon? Do you think Paul could change his situation?

Of course not. He had no control. He couldn't change it.

He was stuck in prison. Contentment is not having control

over the situation. Christian contentment is being satisfied in Christ

when the situation feels out of control. That's Christian contentment.

Let me make a confession. I am a recovering control freak.

If there's a reason for me to participate in celebrate recovery,

it's because of control. And somewhere deep inside of me

there's an inordinate desire, a false belief that control makes

me safe. Control makes me secure, control makes me less anxious.

But the longer I live, the more that I've learned.

There is very, very very little that I can actually control.

But I serve the one who does control all things.

I belong to the one who defeated death and sin.

I serve the one who is seated on the throne.

He is in charge. And so I agree with Paul

when he writes in Philippians three, our citizenship is in heaven,

and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord

Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to

bring everything under his control. Jesus is in control. Jesus

is on the throne. Jesus is in charge. Contentment very

simply is being satisfied. What satisfies you where do you

get your statis faction. I believe that much of the stress, anxiety, worry,

and troubles in life a result of looking for satisfaction

in anything but Christ alone. Lauren and I are kind

of casually looking for our next house. We're not in

any real rush to move, but we're just looking casually

where that next step might be because we're feeling like

we're outgrowing the space that we have, and there's a

few things we want, you know, we want some more space.

We want a basement, we want some more bedrooms. You know,

we want a yard with a fence. We've got some

things that we're hoping and looking for. But if I

believe that a new house is gonna make me happy

and solve all my needs, I'm not thinking christianly. If

I think that a new house is gonna satisfy my

need and satisfy my life, I'm not thinking christianly because

Christian contentment does not depend on situations or stuff. I

want to ask you a question, and how you answer

this question is the secret to contentment. The answer to

this question is the secret to peace in trouble, endurance

in pain. It's all found in how you answer this question.

And that question is is Christ enough? Is Christ enough?

Does he satisfy? It all comes down to that, does

he satisfy? Or are you looking for something else? If

you think a relationship will satisfy, your hope is misplaced.

If you think a job change or more money will satisfy,

you're not thinking christianly. If you think more staff, house, car,

new phone is gonna satisfy, it's not thinking christianly. Is

Christ enough can I share something with you from my

heart as your pastor. I just want to share something

from my heart, as I've been praying about this message,

studying this scripture. I want to share my heart with you.

The reason why did I share all this with you?

Why did we look at six Greek words? Why did

we talk about Paul's prison history? Why did I choose

Phippins four thirteen? Why Because my prayer and my desire

for you is that your heart would be so satisfied

in Christ that your life will surprise the rest of

this world. That's my desire for you, that you'd be

so satisfied in Jesus that it would surprise, it would shock,

it would confound your neighbors. That when your spouse or

your child passes unexpectedly and tragically, that your coworkers are

astonished that you still worship and love Jesus. That when

you lose a job or have a big financial setback,

your colleagues are surprised that you're not panicking. That when

you're facing a health crisis, when you've got a painful diagnosis,

that the doctors would be surprised that you have a smile,

that you have joy in the pain, my prayer, My

desire is that your heart would be so satisfied in

Christ that your life would surprise the rest of this world.

My prayer, my desire is that the people of Church

at the crossing would be just a little bit different,

a little bit unique, that when the rest of this

world sees the people of Church at the crossing, they

would be surprised. They would say, those people are different,

those people are unusual. Those people suffer differently, those people

endure differently, those people have a different motivation. May we

be a people satisfied in Christ alone? So how do

we seek contentment in Christ? For just a few moments,

I want to get really practical in the challenges of

life and the troubles of life. How do we find

contentment in Christ? I just want to be really practical.

And we're gonna look at what Paul says in chapter four,

verse four. He says, Rejoice in the Lord always. I

will say it again, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident

to all The Lord is near. Do not be anxious

about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace

of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts

and your minds in Christ. Paul says, in every situation,

go to God in prayer. Present your request to God.

Bring him your troubles, bring him your needs in prayer.

Not long ago, I was feeling a little bit overwhelmed.

There's a lot on my mind and worried about situations, outcomes,

things I cannot control. And I was talking to the

Lord about those things. And as I was talking to

the Lord, I just felt prompted to kneel in prayer,

to kneel and pray to the Lord. And I changed

my posture in kneeling, and I just told the Lord

about what was on my mind, told about what I

was turning over in my mind, things I was concerned about,

worried about. And let me tell you, when I stood

up from kneeling in prayer, do you know what changed?

Did my situation change? No, did my circumstance or issue change.

What changed? I changed? My heart changed, my attitude changed,

my faith changed because I changed my posture. If you

want contentment in every situation, change your posture, change your posture.

Seek Christ in prayer, Bring him your needs, bring him

your concerns. When you cannot change the situation, change your posture.

When you can't control the outcomes, change your posture. If

you're in the middle of a conflict, situation, a difficult relationship,

change your posture, Jesus says, pray for those who mistreat you.

When you're facing temptation or a sin issue, change your posture,

Jesus says, watch him pray so you will not fall

into temptation. When things are not going your way, change

your posture. When you cannot change the situation, change your posture.

Notice what else Paul says here in verse six, He says,

in every situation, by prayer and petition. With thanksgiving, he says,

with thanksgiving, by prayer, petition, with thanksgiving. You know, gratitude

changes your posture. Gratitude has an emotional and physiological effect.

In an article from the American Brain Foundation, I learned

that when a person practiced gratitude, studies have shown that

it reduces levels of cord is all in the body

that's a stress hormone, and it improved digestion and sleep.

Another similar study had participants who practiced gratitude habits like

journaling and keeping a gratitude list that they reflected on daily.

Those who participated had an increased volume of gray matter

and brain tissue. Now what does that mean. It means

gratitude grows your brain, Gratitude changes your posture. You may

recognize the name Corey ten Boom from history. Corey and

her sister Betsy were Christians in a in prison in

a Nazi concentration camp during World War Two, and they

endured the harshest conditions, the worst conditions. Even Paul in

a Roman prison had some dignity because he was a

Roman citizen. Corey and Betsy were treated unhumanly. Inhumanly starvation

was a regular threat. Disease was rampant, cold sleep, deprivation, abuse,

harassment from the guards, and at one point Betsy and

Corey were relocated to a new building that was infested

with fleas. Fleas everywhere, biting, itching, swatting at fleas all night,

no sleep, and Corey's sister Betsy encouraged Corey to pray

and thank God. She said, thank God for what, thank

him for each new day, thank him for the sunrise,

thank him for breath and our lungs. And then Betsy said,

let's thank God for the fleas and Corey said, no,

I'll thank God for a new day. I'll thank God

for the sunshine. I'm not thanking God for fleas. And

Betsy said, thank God for the fleas. He created the fleas.

What happened because of that flea infestation? The guards were

so afraid of contracting fleas that they never enter that building.

No surprise searches, no harassment, no problems to guards left

them alone. And so Cory and Betsy started Bible studies.

They started prayer meetings. They were singing songs to God.

They were sharing the Gospel with the other prisoners. When

you cannot change your situation, change your posture, Gratitude changes

your posture. Start your day with thanking God for what

he has done in your life. Keep a gratitude list

on your phone that you can look at when you're

overwhelmed and worried and anxious, when you're drive to school,

drive to work. Thank God for what done in your life.

When you change your posture and you when you pray,

God makes us a promise we read in verse six,

do not be anxious about anything. And the peace of God,

which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your

minds in Christ Jesus. Earlier I mentioned traveling on that

trip with doctors to Nicaragua, and for that week we

stayed with missionaries, and where we stayed was in a

not so good part of town. There was crime, there

were some gang activity. There was and Americans were kind

of targets, easy targets for harassing or bothering, especially Americans

who didn't know the difference between how are you and

where are you? But where we stayed, we had these

massive concrete walls around this compound and there was one

entrance with a guardhouse and a gate, and there was

a full time guard there. And anytime we left the

compound we always had a security guard with us. We

weren't bothered, we weren't harassed, we were safe. The peace

of God is like a security guard over your heart

and over your mind. Exchange your anxiety for God's peace.

His piece is a guard. Paul says that this peace

transcends all understanding. I like the way the New Living

Translation says it, You'll experience God's peace, which exceeds anything

we can understand. That means God's peace doesn't make sense.

It doesn't make sense because life doesn't make sense. Those

money problems don't make sense. That relationship issue doesn't make sense,

that job problem doesn't make sense, that diagnosis doesn't make sense,

that email, that assignment may not make sense. Your kids

may not make sense. We need a peace from God

that doesn't make sense because life doesn't make sense exchange

or anxiety for God's peace. His peace is a guard.

There's one last thing that Paul teaches us about contentment,

and it's found here in verse four. Rejoice in the

Lord always. I'll say it again. Rejoice the Lord is near,

he says. Rejoice the Lord is near. On one hand, yes,

the Lord is near us in our troubles, and on

the other, we are near to seeing him, whether we

pass and go to heaven or he returns, the Lord

is near. So rejoice, Rejoice in your eternal hope. Because

of Jesus's death and his resurrection, we have eternal life,

we have an eternal hope. Our sin is forgiven, our

debt has been paid, we have heaven. We've been reconciled

to the Father. And so rejoice. Because the troubles, the pain,

the suffering in this life, although they are real, they

are temporary compared to eternity. Rejoice in your eternal hope.

The word rejoice appears six times in Philippians. Paul writes

in chapter two, even if I am being poured out

like a drink, offering on the sacrifice and service coming

from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all

of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice.

Paul said, I'm being poured out like a sacrifice. I'm

being emptied out here, and I rejoice. So what does

that look like? How do we rejoice in our eternal

hope even when we're suffering. Well, I think it might

look like when a boyfriend or a girlfriend breaks up

with you, you rejoice because Jesus says I will never

leave you. It looks like when when you feel stuck

because you can't sell a house or buy a house,

you rejoice because Heaven is your eternal home. You rejoice

when you're trying to make ends meet and trying to

pay the bills, you rejoice because your faith is in Christ.

When you're exhausted from caring for a loved one who

is near death, you rejoice because Heaven is quickly approaching.

Rejoice in your eternal hope this life is temporary on earth.

As I close, I want to say something to someone

who's listening. You may have come in here today with

a low grade frustration in your life. You walked in

with with a low grade dissatisfaction, maybe even some anger,

and you just don't really know why, because on the

outside you got the stuff. On outside, you've got the

good health, you've got the family, you've got the job,

the money, the house, You've got the stuff. But inside

you're feeling the angst, feeling the frustration, feeling the disappointment.

And it might be because you do not have Christ.

But you can have Him today by allowing Him to

have all of you. And so we return to that question,

is Christ enough? Is Christ enough? It all comes down

to that question. That question is the secret to every trouble,

to peace, in pain, to endurance and suffering. It's the

answer to that question, is Christ enough? Can you declare

that Christ is enough in your life? Can you declare

in the pain, in the heartbreak, in the loss, that

Christ is enough? Can you say in the hospital room

and the waiting room that Christ is enough? Through the tears,

the sleepless nights, through the agony, can you lift your

hands and say, Christ is enough, although I suffer, although

I weep, although I am alone. Christ is enough? Is

He enough? We're gonna have a chance to respond to

what we've heard today, and I've invited our worship's team

to sing this old old song. And as we sing this,

I want to invite you to ask yourself that question.

Is Christ enough.

In the morning, when I rise in the morning, when

I ride in the morning, when I rise, give me

a g.

He said, when I.

Moner, or.

My lord, when I money, give me a job, he said, gabch.

Bess, you can all this.

Get there? It's all shorts. When I.

Love free, when love friends, when.

A fred, give me gause? He again, All this works.

Present comte to.

You. Can you can?

You can.

Give me Jesus.

May Church of the Crossing be a people who can say,

through it all, give me Jesus. I want to invite

you to join me in prayer. Would you bow your

head and close your eyes? Earlier I mentioned if you're

here today and you have not trusted Jesus as your

Lord and savior, this is your invitation. You can make

that decision by praying the simple prayer. After me, say,

Dear God, I admit that I'm a sinner. I need

your forgiveness. I believe Jesus died from my sins and

rose from the dead to save me. I confess Jesus

as Lord of my life.

He is enough.

Fill me with your holy spirit. Let me pray for

all of us. Father God, I pray that you would

fill each of us with the faith and the courage

to trust you even in the difficulty, to trust you,

even when we feel weak, You are strong.

God.

Would you increase our faith in Jesus's name. I'm gonna

invite you to stand, and I'm gonna invite our prayer

partner team to come forward because we're going to have

an opportunity for prayer and anointing. And we believe that

when we pray, God hears us, and we believe that

when we pray, God answers. And we want to pray

for whatever need you may have. If you want to

pray for healing, we want to pray for you. If

you want to pray for something on your heart, situation

in your life, we want to pray for you. And

so I just want to invite you to just come

forward as you feel led, and our prayer team would

love to pray with you,