Philippians 4v10-23
Notes
Transcript
Christmas is a time of year that exposes a real lack of contentment…
Spent all summer complaining it was too hot, now it’s too cold!
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Amazon Prime Day - we get all these “deals” telling us we can have the stuff we think will make us happy
A yearning for the “Perfect Christmas”
Although it should a really enjoyable and happy time of the year, the sting of discontentment poisons our hearts and makes us feel like we’re left wanting yet again.
This is sadly reflective of life all year round – that gnawing sense of things being less-than-ideal, that something better is around the corner. But it never comes. We’re always left feeling dissatisfied, incomplete, discontented.
But Paul has a secret! It’s…
The Secret of Godly Contentment
The Secret of Godly Contentment
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
Paul is thanking the Philippians for the gift that they had sent to him. But he rejoiced not so much in their gift, but in the concern and love that they had demonstrated for him.
More than that, he rejoiced in their concern for the work of the gospel, the thing that we have repeatedly seen is closest to Paul’s heart – Christ proclaimed, Christ believed.
While Paul was clearly grateful for the gift, nevertheless he had learned the ‘secret’ of contentment.
Wouldn’t we all like to know that secret!? How often do you feel the sting of discontentment? Every so often? Once a week? Couple of times a week? Every day? All the time? It’s an experience that I’m sure is common to all of us.
And so Paul’s words stand out because they seem so unrealistic:
v12b “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”
How can anyone know that level of satisfaction? That even if they’re well fed or they’re starving hungry they are content – not wanting anything more than what they have, happy in their circumstances, fulfilled and entirely at peace? Is that even possible?
Where do we get that kind of satisfaction? We might consider looking in all sorts of places.
Maybe the secret of contentment is actually to amass so much wealth that you couldn’t possibly want for anything else.
Thinking more in spiritual terms, maybe the secret of being content is a strong devotional life, or being busy serving the church and the gospel. Being a bit like Paul – always on the move, always evangelising, always talking about Jesus. Maybe that’s how we get to feel totally content all the time.
But what is Paul’s secret? He says it’s a secret that must be learned. But how?
As might be predicted it’s not what or how, but who. Paul’s secret doesn’t have anything to do with what he does, or what he has. It’s all about Jesus.
I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
In other words, Paul can be content whether he has plenty or has nothing, not because he has any inner strength or will-power or determination, but because he is united with Christ. He can therefore endure anything because Christ is the source of his contentment.
Being content, then, has nothing to do with having all we want; rather, it has everything to do with being thankful for and satisfied with all that we have received.
In Christ we have an abundant supply of all we need. His abundance means we can endure any circumstance with peace and contentment, because ultimately we are united with Him through his death and resurrection, and we therefore have a future hope in him.
Paul means to yet again set an example to the Philippians, as he himself has imitated Christ, who ‘made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant’ (2:7).
For Paul the proclamation of the gospel was far too important to allow lack of funds or food to get in the way! If there was no support from the churches he’d go and make some tents. His mindset was shaped by the cross – sacrificial and selfless living leading to suffering and even death.
So the secret of godly contentment doesn’t lie in ourselves – we’re powerless to live lives that bring absolute peace and contentment.
It doesn’t lie in what we have, or the things that we own.
Nor does it lie in other people – our relationships, though often great sources of joy and comfort, are nonetheless unable to fulfil that desire for complete satisfaction. People let us down, hurt us and abuse us.
The secret of godly contentment can’t even be found in being more ‘spiritual’.
No. The secret is being in Christ – knowing and confessing him as Lord, and obediently taking up our crosses to follow him. The secret is living in utter dependence upon Christ, like a child to his parents.
Godly contentment says, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every circumstance – because I have Christ, I have all I need. In Christ there is nothing that I require. He is everything, and in Him I have an abundant supply of strength to endure any and every circumstance.”
That doesn’t mean that God gives us everything we want. God never promised to make us wealthy if we follow Christ. Rather it means that Christ himself is the very treasure that satisfies. In Him we have everything we need.
Paul’s aim is to impress upon the Philippians this secret, because he wants them to excel in something else that arises out of godly contentment; he wants to them to experience…
The Joy of Godly Giving
The Joy of Godly Giving
Godly contentment recognises that because God supplies us with all we need, we can therefore give generously and share our abundance with others, particularly those who are engaged in gospel work.
The Philippians have been long-term supporters of Paul.
I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need.
Paul expresses joyful gratitude because of the long-term support that he had received from the Philippians. Their love and concern for him and for the gospel clearly meant a great deal to him.
But at the same time Paul has been saying that, “Although I’m grateful for your gifts, actually I don’t need them, because God supplies for all my needs all the time! I have all I need in Christ. I’m content!”
So he goes on…
Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account.
Paul isn’t really after their money to benefit himself; instead he’s after gospel fruit that benefits the Philippians. Fruit that arises out of their gospel mindedness, and leads to the proclamation of the gospel and therefore the glory of Christ.
This is what he prayed right at the start of the letter
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Paul wants the Philippians to increase in their knowledge and experience of the grace of God, so that it overflows from them to the world around them. He wants them to grow as disciples, to increasingly experience the outworking of God’s abundant grace in them. And the evidence of that will be their desire to share their abundance with others as they delight to participate in the work of making Christ known. And as they sacrificially give out, God will graciously fill them up.
So the sharing of our resources, including our money, becomes much more than just a financial exchange. It is the fruit that is borne out of hearts that desire to see Christ proclaimed and believed upon through the work of the gospel around the world.
What a privilege we already enjoy, then, to be partnering with John & Sian Newton-Webb, church planters in Japan. George in Sheffield. 20SChemes in Scotland.
And yet we also have growing needs as a growing church. More resources needed, anticipated over the next several years. As we’ve moved to a bigger, more expensive venue, as we will likely look to grow the staff team in the years ahead, as we explore new ministry and outreach opportunities - it all costs.
But maybe for some of us, the idea of giving away money is a terrifying thought. Maybe you’re sat listening, and picturing in your mind your last bank statement, or counting up how much money you know you will be spending on Christmas presents. Maybe you’re starting to sweat as you think about this idea of giving generously and sharing abundantly.
But remember that the actual amount of money given is irrelevant – the gift does not matter as much as the heart that gives. When we remember that we are in Christ and that therefore we have all we need in Him at all times, we can look beyond ourselves and give whatever we can towards the work of the gospel.
At the same time, we must all take seriously the need that we have as a church, and consider carefully how we might contribute to that need.
But we can give confidently knowing that we will never lack anything, because of…
The Certainty of God’s Provision
The Certainty of God’s Provision
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
This reminds us of the promise that Paul relayed at the very start of the letter
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
That good work is the work of spiritually transforming us and making us fit for the citizenship of heaven (3:20), that we might live lives worthy of the gospel of Christ (1:27), shining as stars in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation (2:15). All the while having the sacrificial mindset of Christ (2:5ff), straining towards the goal to win the prize for which we’re called heavenward in Christ Jesus (3:14).
God will meet all these needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. What else could we possibly want or need!? How could we not give in abundance that countless others would come to share in this as well?
How could we not take joy in Christ, spurning our circumstances and denying those feelings of discontentment any room in our hearts?
How could we not strive together for the faith of the gospel, to know Christ and make him known?
How could we not together have the same mind as Christ Jesus?
who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
In Christ alone, our hope is found. That’s the result of the gospel. We share in that hope together. We want to share our hope with others. We are therefore together for the gospel.
