Eroding the House 2
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Today i want to focus on the 4th foundation of the Word for our families.
But know that everything i say today for the married couples is equally true for the singels.
In Paul chapter of married life is says a remarkable thing:
17 Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this way let him walk. And so I direct in all the churches.
18 Was any man called when he was already circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? He is not to be circumcised.
19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.
20 Each person is to remain in that state in which he was called.
21 Were you called as a slave? Do not let it concern you. But if you are also able to become free, take advantage of that.
22 For the one who was called in the Lord as a slave, is the Lord’s freed person; likewise the one who was called as free, is Christ’s slave.
23 You were bought for a price; do not become slaves of people.
24 Brothers and sisters, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.
What is this long passage saying in a nutshell?
A key to preventing Satan from eroding away at your marriage or indeed your very life is to learn Contentment.
THE SECRET OF CONTENTMENT
THE SECRET OF CONTENTMENT
A thermometer doesn’t change anything around it—it just registers the temperature. It’s always going up and down.
But a thermostat regulates the surroundings and changes them when they need to be changed.
many Christians are a thermometer—they lack the power to change things. Instead, they change them!”
The key to contentment is being a thermostat and not a thermometer.
Contentment is not complacency, nor is it a false peace based on ignorance.
The complacent believer is unconcerned about others, while the contented Christian wants to share his blessings.
Contentment is not escape from the battle, but rather an abiding peace and confidence in the midst of the battle.
11 Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
Two words in that verse are vitally important—“learned” and “content.”
1: The verb “learned” means “learned by experience.”
Paul’s spiritual contentment was not something he had immediately after he was saved.
He had to go through many difficult experiences of life in order to learn how to be content.
2: The word “content” actually means “contained.”
It is a description of the man whose resources are within him so that he does not have to depend on substitutes without.
To paraphrase in a marriage context:
I have had to sit down and learn the hard way that with Christ my marriage already has everything necessary to flourish.
Because Christ lives within us, we are adequate for the demands of life.
How do we receive this contentment?
How do we receive this contentment?
Paul names three wonderful spiritual resources that make us adequate and give us contentment.
The Overruling Providence of God
The Overruling Providence of God
33 The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord.
In this day of scientific achievement, we hear less and less about the providence of God.
We sometimes get the idea that the world is a vast natural machine and that even God Himself cannot interrupt the wheels as they are turning.
But the Word of God clearly teaches the providential workings of God in nature and in the lives of His people.
The word “providence” comes from two Latin words: pro, meaning “before,” and video, meaning “to see.”
God’s providence simply means that God sees to it beforehand.
It does not mean that God simply knows beforehand, because providence involves much more.
It is the working of God in advance to arrange circumstances and situations for the fulfilling of His purposes.
Life is not a series of accidents; it is a series of appointments.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will advise you with My eye upon you.
4 When he puts all his own sheep outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
What is the take away when it comes to our marriage?
Simply that even if your marriage originally was not based on godliness, as a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ your marriage is NOW under the providence of God.
You may have lacked opportunities before but now God has poured out his grace on you and your marriage.
This is the providence of God, a wonderful source of contentment.
The Unfailing Power of God
The Unfailing Power of God
11 Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
12 I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.
13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Paul is quick to let his friends know that he is not complaining!
His happiness does not depend on circumstances or things; his joy comes from something deeper, something apart from either poverty or prosperity.
Paul now literally shares the secret:
All of nature depends on hidden resources.
The great trees send their roots down into the earth to draw up water and minerals.
Rivers have their sources in the snow-capped mountains.
The most important part of a tree is the part you cannot see, the root system, and the most important part of the Christian’s life is the part that only God sees.
Unless we draw on the deep resources of God by faith, we fail against the pressures of life.
13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Who is “Him”? Christ! Christ is the hidden source of Paul’s strength.
Christ is the hidden source of your strength.
And Christ is the hidden strength of every marriage:
12 And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.
The overruling providence of God and the unfailing power of God are two spiritual resources on which we can draw that we might be adequate for the tasks of life.
But there is a third resource.
The Unchanging Promise of God.
The Unchanging Promise of God.
Paul thanks the church at Philippi for their generous gift.
He compares their giving to three very familiar things.
A budding tree (v. 10).
A budding tree (v. 10).
10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked an opportunity to act.
The word “revived” carries the idea of a flower or tree budding or blossoming.
Often we go through “winter seasons” spiritually, but then the spring arrives and there is new life and blessing.
The tree itself is not picked up and moved; the circumstances are not changed. The difference is the new life within.
An investment (vv. 14–17).
An investment (vv. 14–17).
14 Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my difficulty.
15 You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone;
16 for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs.
17 Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek the profit which increases to your account.
Paul looked on their missionary gift as an investment that would pay them rich spiritual dividends.
The word “communicate” is our familiar word “fellowship.”
The church entered into an arrangement of “giving and receiving”; the church gave materially to Paul, and received spiritually from the Lord.
The Lord keeps the books and will never fail to pay one spiritual dividend! That church is poor that fails to share materially with others.
A sacrifice (v. 18).
A sacrifice (v. 18).
18 But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
Paul looked on their gift as a spiritual sacrifice, laid on the altar to the glory of God.
There are such things as “spiritual sacrifices” in the Christian life (see 1 Peter 2:5).
We are to yield our bodies as spiritual sacrifices (Rom. 12:1–2),
as well as the praise of our lips (Heb. 13:15).
Good works are a sacrifice to the Lord (Heb. 13:16),
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Contentment comes from adequate resources. Our resources are the providence of God, the power of God, and the promises of God. These resources made Paul sufficient for every demand of life, and they can make us sufficient too.