Philippians: The Secret of Contentment (Phil 4:2-23)

Hello, friends.

This is Pastor Creighton.

Thank you for tuning in to Newsong Church's Sermon Podcast.

At Newsong Church, we want to see Jesus lifted high in Port Perry, Ontario, as we worship, grow, and serve.

You can learn more about us and find contact info at newsongportperry.ca.

Our second lesson is taken from the book of Philippians, chapter 4, verses 2 through 23.

Philippians 4:2–23

I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntheci to agree in the Lord.

Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always.

Again I will say, rejoice.

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.

The Lord is at hand.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

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.

Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.

And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only.

Even in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs once and again.

Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.

I have received full payment and more.

I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus.

To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever.

Amen.

Greet every saint in Christ Jesus.

The brothers who are with me greet you.

All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be your God.

Saints, I have learned the secret of contentment, writes the Apostle Paul.

I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

Let's pray.

Lord God of hosts, who is like you?

Your faithfulness, Lord, is round about you.

Your righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.

Your mercy and truth goes before us, and we can count ourselves blessed as your people who rejoice in you.

Lord, illumine our hearts by your Holy Spirit, even now, as we open up your word in Philippians.

Lord, let the light of your countenance shine into our hearts today.

Let us be dazzled by your goodness and grace.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Please be seated.

So I made the ambitious decision to title this sermon The Secret of Contentment.

And having read that, I understand earlier this morning it was suggested that I simply get up here and say the secret of contentment is Rachel.

And I think that's a pretty good suggestion as far as sermon content goes.

Rachel didn't suggest that, but it was suggested on her behalf.

No, I've been thinking about self-help recently.

Um I've been thinking about the self-help industry, and I was doing some research uh this week and discovered to my surprise that the self-help industry is a$13.5 billion industry in the US alone.

Are you surprised by that?

That's a lot of money.

It's a lot of moolah.

In 2020 alone, 45,300 books, uh self-help books were sold in the U.S.

I suspect that's exactly 45,300 and not a single one more.

No, I don't know.

It's an estimate, right?

But it says a lot of folks are seeking to improve their life through the means of self-help.

See, self-help we know promises a better life, a life characterized with by peace and contentment through our own personal resources, through our own self-sufficiency.

You have what it takes to make your life a better, more contented life.

And year for year we see hundred tens of thousands of self-help books sold, and we see something like a 10 to 15% increase year for year, at least in the last couple years, of self-help materials being sold.

Year for year this increases, but so too does statistics on our anxiety.

So too does statistics on our own discontentment.

Both are in the increase.

And that's surprising to me.

Because you'd think if self-help really does deliver on this promise of a better, more contented life, then we should be seeing anxiety going down overall.

Now, I don't mean to be overly hard on self-help.

There's been some great resources out there that I know have been very helpful to many, many people, and I count myself among them to some degree.

There's practical wisdom to be shared there, so I don't want to sound like I'm being overly hard on this industry.

But if we expect to find full and true contentment in self-help, I wonder if these statistics suggest that it always seems to escape us.

True contentment seems always just beyond our reach.

Even if we improve one area of our life, there remains yet another area of life to improve, doesn't there?

That's the human experience.

Will we ever solve, truly solve the problem of discontentment, or will anxiety always persist?

This is what the Apostle Paul writes that's just so surprising and bold, isn't it?

The Apostle Paul writes that I have learned the secret of contentment, and it's this, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

See, Paul is in very dire and anxiety-producing circumstances, I think, for the very best of us.

Paul is imprisoned, probably in Ephesus.

He's in dire need.

His ministry is, seems like it's run out of funding, at least up until Epaphroditus' visit here.

Paul's uncertain about his future.

He doesn't know whether or not he's going to his own execution because of his preaching of the gospel in the Roman Empire.

Paul is under very dire and anxious circumstances indeed, but despite all of these external circumstances, Paul boldly states that he's found the secret of contentment.

True contentment, Paul understands, is not found in self-sufficiency, it's found in self-surrender.

True contentment is found in self-surrender to Christ.

So this morning I want us to wrestle with what Paul has to say about contentment.

I want us to zoom especially in on verses 10 to 13 in the Philippians reading today.

So if you have your Bibles, pull it out to Philippians chapter 4, verses 10 to 13, especially.

Philippians 4:10–13

If you've got your order of service, you can turn there with me as well.

We're going to wrestle a little bit with what Paul has to say about contentment.

And then having wrestled with contentment, maybe gleaned a little bit from Paul, maybe we can rewind the tape a little bit and understand verses 2 to 9 in light of where Paul goes with his understanding of contentment here.

So verse 10 to 13, let me read a translation by a Bible scholar Tom Wright that I think is uh, well, it's it's it's just really illuminating.

Uh it's great to read as many Bible translations as we can and try and get as as much of the text kind of illuminated in its uh range of meaning here.

So anyway, here's a translation that I found helpful for myself.

I hope you find it helpful too.

Tom Wright says this, translates this.

I have been having a great celebration in the Lord because of your concern for me.

That's the Philippians Church concern for Paul.

Your concern for me has once again burst into flower.

You were, of course, concerned for me before, but you didn't have opportunity to show it.

I'm not talking about lacking anything.

I've learned to be content with what I have.

I know how to do without, and I know how to cope with plenty.

In every possible situation, I've learned the hidden secret of being full and hungry, of having plenty and going without, and it's this I have strength for everything in the one who gives me power.

So the context for Paul writing this passage, for this whole letter in general, is that Paul has received a gift from the Philippian church.

A gift has been sent from a church leader named Ephrydis, and Paul has received it.

Now he's writing a letter to the Philippians, having received a positive report from Epaphroditus, and it's a letter to thank them for this generous gift that's going to support his ministry.

So that's why in verses 14 to 20, Paul acknowledges this gift.

But Paul wants the Philippians to understand that even in their giving, ultimately, it's God who supplies every need.

Paul acknowledges verse 18, I am well supplied.

And then verse 20, pardon me, verse 19, he says, My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory and in Christ Jesus.

God ultimately supplies every need.

So Paul has a lot of confidence.

So what Paul wants to say is, I'm not writing here talking about lacking anything.

My ultimate hope for supply, what ministry requires, what my living requires, doesn't ultimately hinge on you, Philippians.

It hinges on God's capacity to provide for me.

And God will supply every need.

So I'm not writing to talk about need, I'm writing to express my contentment.

That's what Paul has to say in verses 11 to 12.

In 1 Timothy chapter 6, Paul writes this to his protege.

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

He writes, Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we have brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of the world.

See, Paul claims to have found the secret of contentment in whatever situation.

That's what he says to the Philippians, in whatever situation I find myself.

And we can think about the situation that Paul is presently in.

It's not an easy one.

But his contentment is not based on any external circumstance of his.

That's a pretty remarkable claim, isn't it?

How often do we think that our contentment, our being at peace, our finding tranquility, our peace in mind and spirit, is contingent on having everything around us in a perfect orderly fashion?

If we can just change these external circumstances, then I can feel content with life.

Paul's saying my contentment isn't based on these external circumstances.

Even in the worst circumstances, I can be content.

How?

That's the question we want to ask, right?

This is the answer Paul gives in verse 13.

I have strength for everything in the one who gives me power.

Or we could say through him who strengthens me.

It's maybe unclear whether Paul has God or Christ in mind.

It doesn't ultimately really matter because Paul is talking about the God who has revealed himself to us in Christ.

Ultimately, God is supplying Paul with the strength that he needs in this circumstance through Christ his Lord.

So this is one of the most marketable verses, I think, in the Bible, isn't it?

There are a few verses that we will put on a motivational poster, let's put it that way.

And so I can think of one I saw in particular, which, I don't know, had a picture of Michael Jordan or something, you know, doing the slam dunk pose with this verse, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, kind of emblazoned over it, which makes me think that if I have enough faith, I too should be able to slam dunk a basketball, right?

It's never happened for me before, but uh but it could happen yet.

I mean, if we take that logic to its conclusion, we're kind of left feeling like my faith is never adequate enough, right?

I've never slammed a bat slam dunked a basketball.

I clearly don't have enough faith to do that.

Now substitute whatever you'd like for slam dunk a basketball, right?

Maybe it's the good things in life, maybe it's the hard things in life, but we can always feel like my faith is lacking.

So I always fall short.

Isn't that the case?

Paul doesn't have in mind slam dunking a basketball or necessarily achieving all the goals that we have in mind for ourselves.

We need to bear in mind the context in which he writes this verse.

He's in prison.

He's in dire straits.

Paul is not writing to say, I've got no limits because I've got limitless power.

Paul is saying, I have exactly what I need to face what's in front of me.

Why?

Because my hope to face what's in front of me is not located in my own self-sufficiency.

I'm not pulling myself up from my own bootstraps.

My sufficiency is found in Christ.

My ultimate contentment is not found through my own self-sufficiency, but in self-surrender to him who strengthens me.

Paul's strength comes from without.

And the strength that Christ supplies is what Paul needs to face the present circumstances.

We might want to ask, well, how does Christ strengthen Paul?

And I think Paul has been developing how Christ is strengthening him and the Philippian church throughout his whole letter.

In chapter 1, verse 6, Paul acknowledges that Christ has begun a good work in you, Philippians, and he will bring it through to completion.

It's through the power of his Holy Spirit that Christ empowers the spiritual life, that he transforms us and continually draws us to himself until we are with him in glory.

Christ is committed to do a good work in you.

For your faith is in Christ.

Christ is committed to seeing that good work through to completion.

And that's why Paul, Paul's ultimate hope is to be with Christ.

He says in chapter 1 again, to live is Christ, to die is gain, and Paul seems caught between a rock and a hard place.

Do I hope to survive this imprisonment and continue the good ministry that Christ has given to me, or do I hope to go and be with Christ in glory?

I don't know which one is better, Paul seems to say.

He's not resigned to his fate, but his hope is so profoundly located in Christ, he can only imagine the very best future being found in Christ.

So he's got hope in all circumstances.

And it's the humility of Christ that we see in chapter 2, this humility that ultimately brings Christ to the cross on our behalf that results in his rising and his ultimate exaltation.

It results in a glory that ultimately belongs to Christ, but that he freely shares with us who are within him.

No matter what humbling or humiliating circumstances in life we may face, Paul understands ultimately this will work out for Christ's glory that he will share with us for eternity.

So, Paul can say in chapter 3, I count everything else a loss compared to Christ's surpassing worth.

There is nothing that can compete with him who died and rose for me, who strengthens me in every circumstance.

And that's why we saw last week Paul is striving towards the goal, the upward call of God in Christ.

Paul's not striving towards the goal of slam dunking that basketball.

Paul is striving towards the ultimate goal of being caught up in this mystery of perfect union with Christ.

That's the purpose for which we're made.

To share perfect union with God in Christ.

To find not just our strength, but our very identity, our very selves located deeply in Christ.

So that no matter how choppy the waves are on the surface, because we are so deeply united with Christ in the ocean depths, we have peace and contentment.

Because ultimately it's Christ reigning in the universe as he's reigning in our own hearts.

That for Paul is the secret to contentment.

And because Christ is supplying Paul with the strength that he needs, because Christ is the source of his contentment, his life is animated by the contentment of Christ.

Everything else in Paul's life is understood in relationship to Christ who strengthens him.

So for Paul, none of these circumstances are about self-sufficiency.

Paul is not writing a self-help letter about, you know, how to get out of prison and make money while you do it or something.

Paul is content even in this circumstance because he knows that it's Christ at work bringing a good work through to completion and strengthening him all the while.

His hope is completely in Christ through self-surrender.

See, self-surrender is ultimately the posture of the heart that says, Not my will be done, but thy will be done.

Man, that's a hard prayer to pray.

So easy to glaze over those words in the Lord's Prayer, isn't it?

I find that's true for me.

Paul's ultimate hope is for contentment, is not in an attitude of my will be done.

Once I realize my goals, once I achieve my vision, then I will have contentment for my own life.

Paul is saying ultimate Christian contentment is found in keeping an open hand before the Lord, saying, Thy will be done.

Like our gospel reading says today, those who seek to gain their life will ultimately lose it, but those who lose their life for Christ's sake will ultimately find it.

That's a cryptic thing to say, isn't it?

But what Jesus means is those of us who cling so tightly to our life on our terms and our own determination will ultimately find that it slips through our fingers.

Life has a way of doing that, doesn't it?

But if we willingly hand this over to the Lord, if our pot the posture of our heart is not my will, but thy will be done, then we will discover the great and wonderful paradox of the gospel, and that's this.

The way of the cross is the way of everlasting life.

It's through self-surrender that we discover true contentment.

It's by giving that we truly receive.

Because it's Christ Himself that we receive.

So does all this mean that Paul always feels happy, that he's just elated at his circumstances?

I suspect not.

I'd be very doubtful if the claim is made that, you know, Christians are always supposed to be happy and peppy all the time.

Oh, I'd be exhausted.

I'm sorry.

Paul knows what it is to be brought low.

He knows low times.

I think he knows he's in a low time.

He's willing to admit that.

Paul also knows what it is to struggle with sin.

We can read read Romans chapter 7 and see Paul's own inner conflict.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

He knows what it is to be brought low.

But Paul's contentment is not the same thing as happiness.

Happiness is a wonderful thing, by the way, but happiness is a Temporary feeling of elation that is largely, if not wholly, based on our circumstances.

It's hard to be truly happy in the hospital, for example, right?

But contentment isn't contingent on our circumstances, nor is contentment just a temporary mountaintop.

Contentment is a deep and settled peace.

Because ultimately our hope is set on Christ and not on ourselves.

So Paul can claim that his contentment is truly found through self-surrender to Christ.

So for a Christian, as for Paul, this is the hope for true contentment.

This is the secret of contentment.

That it's found only in self-surrender to Christ who strengthens us.

So maybe the question we want to ask ourselves is where are those areas of my life where my heart's postured like this?

In a way that it needs to be postured like this.

A closed fist and an open palm, if anyone's listening to this on Spotify, I guess.

When Christ's strength is the bedrock of our contentment, when it animates us from the inside out, our whole life is transformed.

And very quickly, I want us to see some areas that Paul identifies that could be transformed by this sort of contentment found in Christ.

Verses 2 and 3, contentment in Christ transforms our relationships.

Paul appeals to Euodia and Synecdoche to agree in the Lord.

We don't know much about these women, but we know Paul thinks very highly of them, that they've been important partners in his ministry, and we know somehow there's conflict in this church.

Thank goodness we've solved all church conflict since then, right?

We don't have that anymore.

But Euodia and Synecdoche are not getting along.

But Paul exhorts them to agree, not necessarily on the issue, you'll notice that, but in the Lord.

Paul wants these two women to under triangulate their relationship with Christ.

Understand that it's your common fellowship as sisters in Christ that is far more important than any agenda on the table.

It's not necessarily ultimately about who is right and who is wrong.

If being right means you don't show any Christian charity towards your sister.

Agree in the Lord, show the Lord's character in your relationships.

It's when our hearts as individual Christians can be grounded in the contentment of Christ that we're willing to release our agendas.

We're willing to say, Thy will, Lord, be done.

And then our church communities can radiate heavenly peace.

See, contentment in Christ can transform our relationships within the church.

It can transform our anxiety, verses four and seven.

Rejoice in all things, Paul says.

Do not be anxious about anything.

He echoes what our Lord says in Matthew chapter 6, doesn't he?

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

Now, when I read these words, it's that Bob Newhart sketch that comes to mind where he's playing the psychiatrist and some poor soul comes into his office and starts sharing her uh her heart and her troubles, and the only advice he'll give her over and over again is stop it.

Just stop it, you know.

And I think if we paid for a counseling session where we got to stop it, we'd be just as frustrated as she was.

I mean, the joke is that if we could stop it, we would stop it, right?

But anxiety doesn't really work that way.

So is Paul just saying stop it?

I think he's got more in mind than that.

We need to ask what is anxiety?

And I'd like to suggest that anxiety is this.

Anxiety is the difference between what we think we can cope with and the difficulty, or at least the perceived difficulty, of the situation we're facing.

If the perceived difficulty of the situation we're facing is more than we think we can cope with, then that's the measure of our anxiety, isn't it?

But that's only true if our own resources are in mind here.

If I think I can't cope with the situation that I am in, then my anxiety skyrockets.

But Paul has another perspective in mind.

His contentment recognizes Christ's strength.

His anxiety doesn't hinge on his own self-sufficiency.

He bears in mind that it's Christ who strengthens him.

Yes, this is a difficult situation, and I don't doubt that Paul feels the weight of it, but ultimately Paul's hope in the midst of this is Christ, not his own resources.

So, when we bear in mind that our contentment is found in the strength that Christ gives us, then we as Christians can radiate the peace of God even in the most difficult of circumstances.

That is not a quick fix for anxiety, by the way.

Anxiety is a very difficult and three-dimensional thing to work through.

But we always bear in mind that Christ enters into our anxiety.

Stop measuring it up against us.

So contentment rooted in Christ can transform relationships and anxiety, it can transform our behavior, our thoughts, and our actions, verses eight and nine.

Think about these things, Paul says.

What's true and honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, uh, praiseworthy.

When I was in youth group, this was kind of the proof text against watching R-rated movies.

That was kind of this that always this verse always got brought up in that context.

Now, there's there might be wisdom to that.

Probably this verse should bear itself out on what we focus our attention on.

But I think more than anything else, more than just don't watch R-rated movies, Paul wants us to catch that what we set our attention on, what we think about, should reflect Christ's own character.

If Christ is the source of our contentment, then contentment will only be found in those things that shine forth his character.

So that's what we occupy ourselves with.

And likewise he says, practice these things, things that you've learned and received and heard and seen in me.

What Paul is offered to the Philippians is instruction in the gospel.

So when you put the gospel into action, when you love the Lord and love your neighbor, suddenly you discover that contentment radiates.

Sometimes it's easy to feel like contentment will happen when I feel like I've got everything I need for myself.

And almost the opposite is true, isn't it?

Contentment is discovered when we give more than we receive.

When we're more interested in the well-being of our neighbor, even than our own.

And the result of all this, Paul says, is that the God of peace will be with you.

The peace of God, the God of peace.

In other words, Christians radiate the character of Christ when our behavior is rooted in the contentment we find in his strength.

So, all this being said, we might want to ask, how do I begin this self-surrender to Christ?

Which is a tricky question.

Because the more I think about it, the more I make a list, the more it just sounds like here's more things you need to do for yourself.

Which is really just to say, here's some self-sufficient answers to how to be content in Christ.

Here's one article I read, it made a couple of suggestions.

These are not bad suggestions, but I wonder if these aren't self-sufficient suggestions.

One, finding contentment in Christ requires practicing gratitude, thinking correctly, learning to be satisfied, and trusting him.

And those are all really important things, but doesn't that sound like something you have to do to get contentment from Christ?

Paul seems to say the opposite is true, that it's Christ who strengthens you.

So if we don't begin, I think, with a heart that is surrendered to him, a heart that is willing to ask him, Lord, thy will, not mine be done, or at least we're willing to be willing to be willing to ask thy will be done, that's something God can work with.

If our heart is not surrendered to him, if we're not surrendering our own self-will over to him, then we cannot discover true contentment in Christ.

So if we're experiencing discontentment, the question we might want to ask ourselves is this is there an area of my life I refuse to see God's will and not mine own accomplished?

Am I willing to hand that over to him and discover contentment?

One Bible teacher named Sean Michael Lucas has this to say contentment comes as we live out our real, vital, personal relationship with Jesus.

That relationship is forged in our union with Jesus, and we live through him as he strengthens us with his energy that he powerfully works within.

Contentment is ultimately about what Christ wants to do for us.

So when we come to the Lord's table, we're reminded that God's grace goes in one direction.

We are not earning true contentment.

We are not earning God's grace.

It is something we receive as a gift through faith by self-surrender.

So, dear friends, this is Paul's challenging word for us.

The secret of contentment is self-surrender in Christ.

But let's keep in mind we can do all things, face all circumstances, through Christ who strengthens us.

Amen.

Thank you for listening today.

We worship a generous God who calls us to follow Him in giving willfully, cheerfully, and sacrificially.

Newsong Church's mission and ministry is one hundred percent funded by the generous gifts of those worshiping and journeying with us.

If you'd like to offer a gift towards Newsong's ministry, please visit NewsongportPary.ca slash giving for more information on how to do that.

May God bless you and keep you today and every day.