In Christ Alone

All right, good morning, you all.

It's an honor to be here with you this morning.

Our senior pastor, Bill Clark, is running the Heart Mini.

A surprise to nobody that if he's not here, he's running a race.

But as our youth minister here at Hickory Grove, I'm typically downstairs at this time, and many of your students are as well.

We're still doing student ministry this morning.

So I had to get here early to kind of prepare for both.

Had to make sure that downstairs was set up and ready to go, and get here to make sure all this stuff was ready to go.

And so what that looks like as adults, right?

We're like, okay, I should probably go to bed early, wake up early, get some caffeine, all this sort of stuff.

It makes sense to us.

You know who it doesn't make sense to?

My two-year-old.

We were watching Zootopia 2 last night, which by the way, it's worse than the first one.

Um and we got done, and I was like, hey buddy, uh, you ready to go to bed?

And he goes, I watch it two more times.

And I was like, You want to watch Zootopia 2 three times in one night?

And he was like, Yes, that is that's the best plan.

And that's not a typical, a perfect night for him is being in our living room.

Uh, we have this just beautiful, nice, soft white blanket that he insists uh that he eats popsicles on.

Um, and so, and they have to be like the red, white, and blue ones, like as messy as possible.

And so the perfect night for him is lay out the white blanket, give him half a dozen popsicles, turn on some TV, let him play Hot Wheels.

You know, that's the perfect night for Jude, who's gonna be three in May.

Uh, and as his parents, Grace and I are like, hey, we actually have a better plan for you.

It involves going to bed between maybe eight and nine, uh, which I feel like is still kind of generous because you're two.

And what about maybe either one popsicle or no popsicles?

What about a healthy snack before bed and uh less TV?

How does that sound?

And when I say things like that to him, I think he thinks I'm just a jerk.

I think I'm just the worst dad in the world to him, but I think I have a better plan for him.

And I think we feel this way as parents a lot.

And it reminds me of this passage that I want to look at with you all this morning.

It's not even gonna be our main text for the day, but it is gonna be kind of foundational, I think, for where we're going.

So this is Romans chapter 8, verses 28 through 32.

Romans 8:28–32

The Apostle Paul says this, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those whom he predestined, he also called, and those whom he called, he also justified, and those whom he justified, he also glorified.

What then shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, who can be against us?

He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

And if you're a believer, that passage should get you fired up this morning.

That is just full of good news.

So I'm gonna work through this with you quickly so that we can get to all the other stuff I have for us this morning.

But verse 28 is a very well-known verse.

You probably know it and have heard it before, but those who love God, all things are working together for our good, for those called according to his purpose.

This is one of those verses that reminds me of Jude, you know, he's working together for his purpose, for his good, and it's hot wheels, popsicles, and TV, and I'm trying to work something else for his good, and it's like caring for him, loving him, making sure he's nourished by more than just popsicles, which is frozen sugar water, right?

I'm trying to give him something good because I love him and he loves me, and I want to make sure that I am working things together for his good.

But those two things are obviously in conflict with each other, right?

What he wants versus what I want for him, those two things are in conflict, but we'll get back to that in a little bit.

Then we get verses 29 through 31, and these are not necessarily a primary focus for us today, but one, they're too good to skip, and two, they do have something that is gonna tie in for us.

Paul walks us through what some commentators have called the golden chain.

Uh, it's it's these events that are all tied to our salvation.

And what I want to point out for us today is that God is in control of every single piece of that.

From him foreknowing us to calling us to justifying us to glorifying us, God is in control, and that is a big deal.

And then we get to verse 32.

He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Listen to what Paul is saying here.

If God has already done this, if he has already gone this far to give us his son, what else would he keep from us?

In a verse like this, we see God's heart.

And I want you to think about it like this.

Imagine you're walking through the Florence Mall.

Does anybody still do that?

No, I am I allowed to throw a little bit of shade at the Florence Mall?

You still all right, he likes the Florence Mall, so we'll be gentle.

All right.

But imagine you're walking through the Florence Mall.

I don't know, um, and you see one of those like mall car giveaways, which again, if it's at the Florence Mall, maybe you just leave, okay?

Don't put your name and number in that thing.

Um, but you're walking through the mall and they're giving away your dream car.

I want you to picture whatever your dream car is.

And uh it gets shadier, right?

So you fill it out.

Man, before you even leave the mall, you have won the dream car.

What a day, all right?

So you go to pick up your new dream car, and they say the car is yours, uh, but unfortunately, we're keeping the keys.

This doesn't make any sense, right?

The the valuable thing here is the car, not the key.

The treasure here is the car, not the key.

But they say we're keeping the key.

The same thing is true in this verse.

God is has already given us the most valuable thing, the the treasure of all treasures.

He has given us Jesus.

So at this point, what would he keep from us?

Is what Paul is saying.

If God has already given us his son, then what would he keep from us?

This passage is not saying that we get money and health.

It's saying that God is gonna provide for us.

I believe in Scripture, time and time again, we see promises of provision, but not necessarily prosperity.

Think about this verse, 2 Peter 1, 3a, we read that His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.

What Paul is saying here in Romans 8 32 is that if God has already given us his son Jesus, then what would he keep from us that we need to live a life of faithfully following him?

He is going to give us everything we need for salvation and to live a God-honoring life.

Because he's already given us the most valuable gift of Jesus, what more would God keep from us?

And he is primarily concerned with giving his children his son and everything they need to follow him.

Now, like I said, this isn't our main text for the day, but it is foundational for where we're going because the same Paul who writes things like, God is working out all things for the good of those who love him, and the same Paul who writes things like, Since God has given us his son, what else would he keep from us?

That same Paul writes our main text for the day.

And that's Philippians chapter 4, verses 10 through 13.

Philippians 4:10–13

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me.

You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.

In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Let me give you some context for what we're reading here.

The Apostle Paul is in prison, writing a letter to the church in Philippi, and he is being persecuted for his faith.

He is literally thrown in prison for preaching the gospel.

And in this moment, Paul is likely receiving a small ration of food for each day, but he's largely responsible for providing his own food, which means he's dependent on other people coming to help him because obviously he has no way of retrieving this food himself.

He's also probably in chains in a common holding cell with other prisoners.

It's just a horrible situation.

It's a situation that many of us would be wondering why would God let us be in this place?

Many of us would maybe even want to curse God.

But in his letter, Paul writes about his joy and contentment.

All of Philippians is this letter of love and joy and peace that Paul has even in this horrible place.

So I want to go through this passage together this morning and point out a couple of things.

The first thing is this Paul says he has learned to be content in every situation.

I love that.

Following Christ fosters contentment over time.

Following Christ fosters contentment over time.

I see a lot of young saints in the room.

I also see some older saints in the room.

All right, I won't point out who's who.

But what I have learned in getting to know and appreciate some of the older saints in the room is that they have experienced this.

And if you have conversations with them about their lives, you will know that.

That over their uh many years of walking with Jesus, they have a contentment that many of us younger believers are still working towards.

They have a joy and a peace and a satisfaction in their lives that is just unshakable.

And I hear the things that they're actively going through, the things that they're experiencing in this time of their life, and yet it seems like they just have so much contentment.

Following Jesus promotes the development of this contentment over time.

And we see, we're gonna see this more as we go, but I want to do some Bill Clark stuff first and show you a Greek word.

Can I do that?

Okay.

The word that Paul uses for content in this verse is altarches.

What it means is that someone is sufficient for oneself, they're strong enough or possessing enough to need no aid or support.

They're independent of external circumstances.

The most interesting thing about this word altarches is that most scholars believe that Paul is stealing it or borrowing it from Stoic philosophers at the time.

This is actually, even if you read the definition, it doesn't seem necessarily like the most Christian idea that we're so independent and self-sufficient.

And so Paul is taking this from the Stoic philosophers who believed that to be Autarchis was the most, uh it was the key virtue.

The most virtuous Stoics would have valued Autarchis above all things.

And so Paul adopts this language, but then he transforms it with a little bit of a Pauline Jesus juke because he wants to make it mean something different for his people.

And people think that when the Philippians would have read this, that word would have stood out to them.

Like Paul is saying that, but when we see how he connects it to verse 13, it starts to make sense.

Paul says that he has learned to be autarchis, content in every situation.

But in verse 13, he makes it clear how he has done that.

It is only because he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him.

The typical view of autarchis was that an individual had become completely self-sufficient.

But Paul says he has reached this contentment by coming by becoming completely Christ-dependent.

I want to say that again.

We need to be completely Christ-dependent.

That is what Paul is calling people to here, and that is what he is saying about himself.

That he does want the contentment that comes along with autarkis, but he doesn't expect or believe it can come from himself.

That the only way to truly reach this kind of contentment is going to be by becoming completely dependent on Christ.

Why is this necessary?

We all know it because life is difficult at times.

And working here over the last almost six years now, I look out and I know a lot of you, and I know a lot of bits and pieces of your stories, and I know that we can all say that that is true, that life is difficult, and that following Jesus is a promise to a better life, but not always an easier life.

We're gonna talk more about that in a moment as well.

We're not in control of everything, though.

So why would we strive for self-sufficiency if we have a total lack of control?

Instead, what Paul is saying here is that the right answer is to go to the throne of our sovereign God, the one who is in control of all things, the one who actually has power over our circumstances, and to be fully dependent on him.

And we're gonna see Paul talk more about that as we get into this next point.

The next thing I have for you this morning is that true contentment in Christ is not dependent on our circumstances.

We see Paul acknowledge this in Philippians 4.

He says that he has been brought low and that he has experienced both abundance and need.

He has had plenty and hunger, but that he has learned how to be content in any and every circumstance.

I believe that in this passage in Philippians 4, Paul is being extremely humble.

But luckily for us, in different places in Scripture, he gives us some more examples of what he has been through that make it a lot more convicting when we read Philippians chapter 4.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

I want to read 2 Corinthians 11, 24 through 28 with you all.

And I just want you to follow along with what Paul is saying, he has experienced, and think about that in the context of your own life.

Because what I don't want to do here is say, look, Paul went through a lot of bad things, so you should feel bad that you haven't been content.

If the Holy Spirit convicts you of that in this moment, that's one thing.

But I know that a lot of us have gone through really legitimately hard things.

So the point here is not just blanket conviction for not being happy all the time.

The point here is that we would find such complete satisfaction and contentment in Christ.

Here's what Paul says.

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes, less one.

Three times I was beaten with rods.

Once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I was adrift at sea, on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, in toil and hardships, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure, and apart from other things, there's the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

The same man who said, God is working out all things for the good of those who love him, lived through that.

And the same man who said, Since God has given us his own son, what else would he keep from us?

Lived through all of that.

And the same man who said he can do all things through Christ lived through that.

And the same man who says he has learned to be content in all situations, lived through that.

To me, that is super convicting because I know that I have lacked contentment over some of the most superficial, material nonsense.

But I also know that I've lacked contentment in real things, like what I have, how I view myself, who I am, where I am at in life, all of it.

And so it makes me ask the question where are we going wrong as believers who have Christ yet lack this kind of contentment that Paul is talking to us about?

One answer is this too often our contentment, our satisfaction, and our joy are wrapped up in our circumstances.

And true contentment cannot be about our circumstances.

I think that's exactly what Paul is getting at here.

He's saying, I have had plenty, I have had abundance, but I've also had need, and I've had hunger, I've been beaten, lost, shipwrecked, out in the cold.

I have anxiety every single day.

He's experiencing highs and lows, but he's content in any and every situation because his contentment is not based on where he is at at that time.

The reason that our contentment can't be based on our circumstances is because our circumstances change.

And the reason that our contentment must be found in Christ is because he never does.

Hebrews 13, 8 says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

It's a really popular verse, but I'm not sure we're always applying it to every area of our life.

This is good news.

When our satisfaction is found in Christ, it doesn't go away.

It's constant because Christ is constant.

And because of his constant, abounding love, we are able to have true satisfaction and contentment in him.

There's a second area that I think that we fail as well.

If our hearts are not actually fully submitted to Christ, then I do not think we'll have this kind of contentment.

And I believe that this primarily affects those who are not believers.

If we are not in Christ, then it's going to be impossible to have contentment in him and from him.

But I also believe that this can affect believers as well.

That we can be in Christ, but that our focus can be off, and that we can be missing what we should be receiving from him.

And that takes us to this final point for today.

Contentment is found in Christ and comes from Christ.

Contentment is found in Christ and comes from Christ.

It's important that we note that Paul's strength and contentment is not his own, it's a gift from the Lord Jesus.

It's actually part of grace.

It is a gracious gift from God that Paul would be able to remain strong through the contentment that God has given to him.

What I mean by this is that we cannot just be in hard situations and just think about Jesus really hard and just have happy thoughts until we're happy, until we're content.

I don't believe that that is going to work.

This kind of contentment only occurs when our hearts are fully submitted to Christ as Lord.

If our hearts and our lives don't belong to Him, then I think we're simply trying to just think about something good until we feel better.

But when we're submitted to Him as Lord, when we become a temple of the Holy Spirit, then we are able to actually live in this kind of contentment because we have undergone a genuine life change.

And I think it's available only for those who are in Christ.

I was having a conversation similar to this, but very different from this as well, with a man in our church that I greatly, greatly respect.

And he was telling me one day that when it comes to the people in his life, in his family, that he loves, but that they are not walking with Jesus, that he often prays that they would have a serious level of discontentment in their hearts.

Even that at times that they would be miserable without Jesus.

It's not that he wants anything bad to happen to them, it's not that he doesn't love them, it's that he wants them to sense that they are missing something in their life until they would encounter the Lord.

And what I love about this is that I actually believe Jesus taught something similar that we would only be able to have that kind of satisfaction in him.

Not just from him, not just thinking about him, but by actually being in him, which by the way is the The way that Paul describes believers the most in the New Testament, that we are in Christ.

Not that we are just in church or talking about Jesus or calling ourselves something else, but that we are in Christ.

But the last verse I want to read with you this morning is John 6, verse 35.

John 6:35

Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Jesus taught that those who would come to him and believe in him would be satisfied.

That they would have a type of true contentment.

And remember, Jesus does not change.

So the same Jesus who said this is the same Jesus that helped and equipped Paul, and he's the same Jesus that walks with you in whatever it is that you are facing right now.

And only through complete dependence on him can we know true contentment in this life.

So I want to say once again that contentment is found in Christ and comes from Christ.

He is not just the object of our contentment, but he is the source of true contentment in this life.

And so my invitation for us this morning is simple.

If you've been searching for contentment, which I believe naturally, as people, we all do, but you've been unable to find it, the invitation is to turn to Jesus.

If you have never submitted everything to him as Lord of your life, then at least from my perspective, it makes sense that you haven't experienced the kind of contentment and joy and satisfaction that the Apostle Paul writes about.

But if you do submit everything to him as the Lord of your life and you repent from your sin and your selfishness, your need from control, for control, to be self-sufficient in all things, if you give that over to him, he satisfies like nothing and no one else can.

And then for believers in the room, if you're following him already but struggling to find that contentment, I have a few questions for us to ask ourselves.

And I and I say us because I'm in this boat regularly.

I'm asking myself these questions regularly because remaining content in this life is difficult.

But we need to refocus our hearts.

These questions are this examine yourself.

Are you focused on your circumstances or are you focused on Christ?

The next one, are you trying to control your life or are you dependent on him for all things?

And this last one takes us back to the very beginning.

Are you walking through hardships frustrated and exhausted?

Or are you trusting that God is working out all things for your good?

These are the questions that I think we need to ask and walk through daily to check ourselves and to do as the scriptures say, to examine ourselves to see: are we focused on Christ?

Do our hearts belong to Him every single day?

Because I know we are all chasing that kind of contentment and that joy and that satisfaction that we crave in this life, but it is available only in Christ.

So in just a moment, I'm gonna pray.

I'm gonna pray for two groups of people.

The first one is for anybody in this place this morning that feels led to say, I'm done trying to make myself happy.

I'm done trying to satisfy myself with control of my own life and self-sufficiency.

I need to give it over to the Lord Jesus.

I need to put him in full control of my life, turning away from my sins, trusting him, and living a life that honors and glorifies him forever.

And then I'm also going to pray for the believers in the room, those of us who have Christ yet constantly need to refocus our hearts and our minds to place him on the throne of our lives right where he belongs.

And that we would see that when we do that, we can have a true joy and contentment that we are chasing day after day.

What I would ask of you as we pray is that you start to ask God to help you identify what those areas are.

Because, like I said, it would be easy to just say, man, as people, especially in our area of the world and our culture and our context, it's just that we like nice things, we just want a bigger house, we just want a different car.

And I think those things are true.

But I think for everybody in this room, if we went through and we went beyond just the first surface level layer of what are you not content with in your life?

And we really dug deep, there would be all sorts of things.

There would be unhappiness in our marriages, there'd be broken relationships with our kids, there would be fear and guilt and shame.

There would be grieving and pain, all sorts of things that we need to work through that goes way deeper than just I want this and I don't have this.

And the good news about this message is not just that you can be content with your house, even if it's a little bit smaller than your friends.

The good news about this message is that you can be content in any and every situation, not because of anything about yourself, but only because of absolutely and completely who Christ is.

So when we pray in a moment, we're gonna take everything to him and offer everything to him because he can make us content in any and all circumstances.

And when we believe that, I believe our lives will change.

So my ask to you is that you would go to the Lord humbly, asking him to point out and pull out from however deep it might be the areas that you are lacking contentment, and then that together we would give that over to him.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, God, I believe that there might be people in this place this morning that need to take a first step with you to say that they have been running in their own strength for too long and that it's not working.

And so, God, if that's them, I pray that they would be able to pray something like this to you with a genuine heart this morning.

God, would you forgive me?

God, would you forgive me for running after my life, trying to be in control myself, trying to be completely self-sufficient, trying to make myself happy enough and content enough with the things of this world?

God, would you forgive me of that and all my other sins?

Would you take that from me and replace it with the righteousness of your son Jesus?

Would you call me to be somebody called according to your purpose, somebody who loves you, somebody who you are working out all things for the good of?

God, would you save me?

God, would you allow me to live a life of complete obedience to you?

To be somebody who knows, loves, and follows your son Jesus for the rest of my life.

Would you allow me to be the temple of your Holy Spirit on this earth?

God, would you save me as I take this first step of faith?

And for the believers in the room, God, I ask that you would continually help us to refocus our hearts.

God, that our sights would be set on you, that our contentment would not be found in our circumstances, but in your Son.

God, I pray that we would be a Christ-dependent people always, and that we would be a restless people until we are willing to rest in you alone.

So, God, would you help us to examine ourselves and would you call out every bit of hurt and pain and lack of contentment in our lives?

Would you pull it out and help us to give that over to you so that we can experience true satisfaction and contentment that we can only have in you?

God, I believe you can do that, and I believe you want that for your people this morning.

God, I'm so grateful for this opportunity to be in your word, to be with the family of God, the bride of Christ, the temple of your Holy Spirit.

God, I'm grateful that you have brought people here.

And God, I'm grateful, and I ask that your spirit would have been the real teacher and the real worship leader in this room this morning, and that you would be moving and transforming lives.

God, I'm grateful that that is the work that you do.

And God, this morning, we are grateful for your Son Jesus and the mercy and the grace that he has shown us on the cross.

We pray all this in his name.

Amen.