Contentment’s Key | Philippians 4:10–11

Opening Remarks: Turn to Philippians 4. Coming down to end of our study in Philippians.

Last week we looked at the need to filter our thoughts. If we want God’s peace, we must only dwell on thoughts that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of a good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy.

Too often we allow whatever thoughts that pop into our heads have free rein to wreak havoc in our lives.

Thoughts that aren’t true, or pure, or lovely. We need a filter. You need a filter. It is not noble to say, “I don’t haver a filter.” Well, you need one.

Paul then moves on to a new section in which he expresses gratitude to the church at Philippi for their generosity.

Look at Philippians 4:10-11.

A few months ago we dealt with these verses in a Sunday morning miniseries on Contentment. We’ll be looking at contentment again tonight, although we’ll focus on a different aspect than last time. But even if we heard the exact same message on contentment, we probably can’t hear it too many times.

Title: Contentment’s Key

Introduction: Some people have to learn the hard way.

You ever met anyone like that? I think back on raising our kids - Some listened the first time, but most of them had to learn lessons the hard way. For some it doesn’t matter how many times you say it, the only way they get the lesson is if they feel the consequences.

And it’s not just kids. Many of us are “Live it to learn it” types.

We know it’s not good to use a credit card too much and go into debt, but we don’t really learn the lesson until we’re making the payments.

We know we shouldn’t speed when the roads are bad, but we have to have a fender bender to really learn it.

We know it’s not good to buy impulsively, but we have to feel buyer’s remorse to fully understand.

We know it’s not worth it to procrastinate that project at work or school, but it doesn’t really sink in until we’re pulling the all nighter frantically trying to get it done.

Some of us have to live it to learn it. Most of us. Because most lessons don’t become part of our internal fabric until we go through it.

Some things you can’t know until you experience them:

You can’t know the joy of marriage until you get married.

You can’t experience the joy of childbirth until you go through it.

There’s nothing like the experience.

But some lessons are hard:

You can’t know the pain of regret until you act on a wrong impulse and feel the sting.

You can’t know what real loss is until you lose someone close.

You can’t know the heartbreak of betrayal unless you’ve been through it with a friend.

And in those cases, we would all say, “I don’t ever want to go through that again.”

But there’s an element to those lessons that we need to understand:

If we never live through the hardest things, we would never learn the most important things.

When you’ve been through something difficult, you learn some things that you couldn’t get otherwise. That element comes through in this section of Paul’s letter.

Paul Was A Content Man

Vs. 11 - “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

Vs. 13 - “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

Vs. 19 - “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

Paul makes it clear that Jesus Christ is all he needs in life.

And he makes the point by talking about a gift the Philippians sent to him.

Paul was a missionary who was supported by churches in his missions work.

The church at Philippi had generously supported his efforts.

Philippians 1:3–5 “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;”

That word “fellowship” is koinonia, which means shared responsibility or partnership. In Romans 15:26, churches in Macedonia and Achaia made a “contribution” for the poor in Jerusalem, and the word for contribution is “koinonia.” Fellowship. Partnership.

So the church at Philippi had given gifts to Paul, supporting him in the ministry. In Philippians 2 he wrote about the church sending Epaphroditus to him with gifts to meet his needs.

And Paul didn’t take it for granted, because even though the church at Philippi was extremely generous, they were also extremely poor. And when others weren’t giving, they still gave.

Look at verse 15.

“Communicated” comes from the same word as fellowship - “koinonia.” Paul says, “When no one else gave, you did. Over and over. And you don’t have much to give. So thank you. I rejoice in the Lord that you have been so good to me.”

Paul was clearly grateful for their support and he says so, but he also makes another point.

Vs. 10b - “At the last”

This means “At last.” So he had been expecting their gift, but it took a long time. It was probably due to Epaphroditus being sick, or just other delays. But the reality is their gift came much later than they hoped.

Vs. 10c - “Flourished” is a picture of a tree sprouting. Their gifts were the proof or fruit of their love.

Vs. 10d - “Wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity”

He says, “I’ve known all along that you care about me, but you just didn’t have a way to get the gift to me.” Maybe they didn’t have any extra because they were poor. Or maybe they didn’t have a messenger to take it to Rome.

Either way, Paul makes it clear it came much later than they hoped.

“Thank you for the gift, even though it was SUPER late.”

And before you think, “That sounds ungrateful,” Paul is making the point that he wasn’t wringing his hands about the gift. He’s thankful for it, but he wasn’t dependent on it

Look at what he writes in Vs. 11. “Not that I speak in respect of

“Your gift came late. And, I was doing fine without it. It was nice to have, but I was good,”

Ouch. On first glance, it may sound ungrateful. But we know that’s not true. He’s clearly grateful. He says thank you. He rejoiced in the Lord greatly. He knows they’ve given more than others but they have less than others.

But he does say, “Not that I speak in respect of want.”

Here’s the idea, “Thank you so much for your gift. But know this: I don’t need more. And I’m not saying “thank you” because I want you to give me more. I’m actually okay. I have all I need.”

He wasn’t being ungrateful. He was actually trying to get them to learn an important lesson about contentment. Starting with this truth:

I. God Wants His People To Be Content In Every Situation

Paul says in Vs. 11, “Whatsoever state I am”

Paul says we are to be content in every circumstance. And he says, “Look at my life. I’ve learned to be content no matter how good or bad things are.”

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:10 “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

He essentially says, “For the sake of Christ, I’m happy to deal with whatever situation I’m in.”

What situations did he talk about there?

Infirmities - Physical weaknesses

Reproaches - Insults, people talking about him or to him

Necessities - Hardships, afflictions

Persecutions - Facing backlash for the Gospel

Distresses - Calamities

Basically, Paul said, “No matter how bad the situation is, I take pleasure. I am content no matter what.”

My thought is, “Paul needs therapy if he’s happy about being miserable.”

But remember that he ended 2 Corinthians 12:10 with, “I’m happy in any circumstance, BECAUSE when I am weak, then am I strong.”

You know what Paul is saying? “If I didn’t have a weakness, I would never know God’s strength.”

Another famous text on contentment is 1 Timothy 6:6–8 when Paul wrote, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”

The idea is, “When we have very little, it’s gain to us. It’s beneficial. Because it reminds us that the most important things can’t be held in our hands. The most important thing is to know God.”

Another text on contentment is in Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

Once again, when we don’t have much, we think that’s a bad thing, but having very little helps us focus on the fact if we have God’s presence, that’s enough.”

Those three statements helps us get to the point of Philippians 4. God wants His people to be content, but…

II. The Best Way For Us To Learn Contentment Is To Be Without Something

Paul said, “In whatsoever state I am, I have learned to be content.” And we might think, “How in the world will that teach contentment?”

Because, listen, when we have all we need, we have no reason to seek God.

That’s why Jesus said it’s difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

They have all they need. If you’ve ever door knocked in middle to upper class neighborhoods, you’ll see this.

Why do they need church when they have money? They have no worries. Plenty of food. New car. Nice house. Great vacations.

They are relying on circumstances to give them contentment, not realizing they don’t have it.

Their positive circumstances mask their lack of genuine contentment.

On the flip side, negative circumstances act as a wonderful revealer of the fact that we aren’t content.

So if you’re here tonight, and your circumstances aren’t great. And you’re feeling financial pressure.

You’re weighed down with relationship troubles.

You’re worried about a physical prognosis.

You’re concerned about the direction of your child’s heart.

How you’re going to pay the bills. How you’re going to get it all done.

How you’re going to fix this mistake you’ve made.

And you’re discontent because of it.

I would say to you, “I’m sorry that you’re dealing with that.”

But I would also say, following Paul’s lead, that You are more likely to discover genuine contentment because of tough circumstances than you are if things are always good.

Paul looked at his circumstances and said, “I have learned contentment not in spite of my life being hard, but because my life has been hard.”

Some lessons are only learned the hard way.

Here’s the take home tonight: If you never go through tough circumstances, you’d never learn true contentment.

Those trials and difficulties and pressures are are the way we learn contentment.

If things were always easy, we’d never to be content.

That’s what Paul is saying. “The reason I’ve learned to be content is because my life has been hard.”

He’s saying, “Contentment is one of those things that can only be learned the hard way.”

You need tough circumstances if you’re going to learn true contentment.

Because the tough circumstances help us realize that Jesus is all we need to be content.

There’s a song that said it this way, “When Jesus is all that you have, you’ll find He’s all you need.”

Is there an area in which you’re struggling to be content?

Job? You’d never learn to be content if it was only easy.

Marriage? Every couple has to go through difficulties in order to learn to be content. Easy circumstances never teach genuine contentment.

Financial position? If you only ever had all you need, you’d never learn to depend on God’s provision. It’s hard, but it helps us.

Life situation? Career, relationships, even church. If it was only easy, we’d never learn to be content. We have to go through it in order to learn it.

Parenting Principle: I believe some parents short circuit their children’s growth by striving to make everything easy for their kids.

Lawnmower Parents - Mowing down all obstacles

Helicopter Parents - Watching over at all times to clear the path

If we never allow our kids to go through tough circumstances, they’ll never learn true contentment.

They don’t have to have the latest technology to be happy.

They don’t have to be given everything they ask for.

When my kids were little and struggling with something like carrying something heavy, I would step back and wait for them to figure it out rather than rescue them every time. They have to go through the struggle in order to learn.

I think that’s missing in a lot of our child raising these days. Maybe that’s why young people struggle to persevere. They’ve never had to push through to learn.

But it’s especially true in the area of contentment. CIT: If you never go through tough circumstances, you’ll never learn true contentment.

Now, maybe you’re in the place of struggle, and you’re still not content.

Your response has been anger toward God.

Bitterness toward your spouse or someone else.

Resentment that someone else has it easy and you don’t.

Don’t forget that Paul says he had to learn it.

It’s a process of learning. It’s sad when someone goes through a tough circumstance, but they miss the lesson and remain discontent.

Whatever God was trying to do in their lives, they miss it. They go through it all for nothing.

If you’re going to deal with hardships, might as well grow and embrace the work of God in your life.

You have to go through it anyway. Might as well learn.

There’s only one thing worse than someone who only learns a lesson the hard way, and that’s someone who experiences the hardship and learns nothing.

Don’t waste the difficulties by coming out of them the same way you entered.

Don’t miss this lesson: Without a trial, I’d never learn that all I need to be content is Jesus.

Conclusion:

If you will respond correctly to your trial, you are in for a wonderful discovery.

What’s that? Contentment has nothing to do with your circumstances, good or bad.

If your circumstances are great, they don’t add anything to genuine contentment in Christ.

And if your circumstances are bad, they don’t have to ruin your contentment in Jesus Christ.

Contentment is non-circumstantial. And that may be one of the most important life lesson we’ll ever learn

So rather than get angry, or in despair, or bitter, or do something desperate to change your circumstances, turn your face toward God and recognize He’s all you need to be content. He is more than enough for you.

We just have to learn it.

How? Three statements:

1. God wants me to be content.

It’s His will for your life.

Which means, anything that He wills for us, He makes possible.

You have all you need to be content: God’s Word, the Holy Spirit, and a free will to choose your responses.

2. I have all I need in Christ.

Build time into your day to list out the blessings that you have in life because of God.

Like I mentioned last week, if 80% of our thoughts are negative and 95% are repetitive, we must have a plan to combat the negative thoughts with positive ones.

Don’t just pray. Spend time in your prayer thanking God for His blessings and provision.

3. Tough circumstances can lead to true contentment if I will choose to learn.

Example: Doing the exercise that connects all the worst things in life to the best things in life.

If God has ever done that for you before, He can do it this time too.

The difference will be whether or not you choose to be a student and learn or a victim and simply suffer.

Students learn. Victims wallow. Be a student.

Don’t waste the trials by learning nothing.