Sermon Tone Analysis

In the name of Jesus, dear Thanksgiving pilgrims:

Sermon Outline

The Lord Has Something to Give Us, a Treasure Most People Do Not Have: The Secret of Contentment.

I. Introducing a cast of contented people.

II.

One contented man in particular.

III.

We’d sure like to know their secret!

IV.

And here it is: they had the true God—and he had them!

Sermon

In the name of Jesus, dear Thanksgiving pilgrims:

Tonight we have come to give the Lord our thanks and praise, and rightly so; but you can’t out-give God, and as a matter of fact,

THE LORD HAS SOMETHING TO GIVE US, A TREASURE MOST DO NOT HAVE: THE SECRET OF CONTENTMENT.

To receive this gift, join me as Thanksgiving pilgrims on a trip to a place called Philippi.

“What’s so special about Philippi?”

you wonder.

Well, listen carefully, for it has produced an abundant number of contented people.

A Cast of Contented People

People like Lydia, Paul’s first European convert ().

Lydia was wealthy, since she sold very expensive purple clothing, but don’t think her wealth was the reason for her contentment.

It wasn’t, as we will see.

In any case, when she and her household heard Paul and the Gospel message, they believed in Jesus and were baptized.

Then immediately, Lydia wanted to help.

She invited Paul and his companions to work out of her home and, according to Luke, she wouldn’t take no for an answer ().

Lydia seems to be a very contented woman.

Or how about a man named Epaphroditus ()?

He seems to be a very contented man.

He couldn’t do enough to help Paul’s work!

No expense was too great!

Paul even writes that “he [Epaphroditus] nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me” (2:30).

You must be very content to be willing to do that.

How about the Philippian congregation as a whole?

No other letter from Paul rings with such joy!

They are his partners in the Gospel ().

Of all the places Paul traveled, of all the congregations he served, he accepted support from—you guessed it—only these Philippians.

And when the Jerusalem Christians were suffering severe poverty because of drought and persecution, “in a severe test of affliction, [the Philippians’] abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints” ().

They were having a rough time of it themselves, but they insisted on helping “beyond their means,” Paul says.

Like Lydia, they just wouldn’t take no for an answer.

They must have been very contented people to give so much away when they were barely scraping by.

How about the Philippian congregation as a whole?

No other letter from Paul rings with such joy!

They are his partners in the Gospel ().

Of all the places Paul traveled, of all the congregations he served, he accepted support from—you guessed it—only these Philippians.

And when the Jerusalem Christians were suffering severe poverty because of drought and persecution,

“In a severe test of affliction, [the Philippians’] abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints” ().

They were having a rough time of it themselves, but they insisted on helping “beyond their means,” Paul says.

Like Lydia, they just wouldn’t take no for an answer.

They must have been very contented people to give so much away when they were barely scraping by.

The generosity Lydia, Epaphroditus, and the Philippians displayed can come only from contented hearts.

If you aren’t content, you can’t be generous with anything.

Rather, you guard it with your life, like a dog protecting a porkchop.

One Contented Man in Particular

There’s one more contented person you must meet, although his actual time in Philippi was very short.

It’s Paul.

When he wrote these words he was in a Roman prison cell, in chains for the Gospel.

Nothing new for him, as the Philippians could attest.

They had seen how Paul and Silas were arrested, brutally flogged, and thrown in prison right there in their own town ().

Amazing that they were willing to suffer that kind of treatment!

More amazing still, they filled their prison cell with hymns of praise to God!

And when an earthquake broke open their prison cell, rather than escaping and letting the sleeping jailer pay for it with his life, they stayed put, a witness to the Gospel that God would use to save not just the jailer’s earthly life but his eternal life and the eternal lives of his whole household as well ().

That’s pretty contented—after a beating and a night in the slammer.

And now, back in prison, this time facing the very real possibility of never getting out but being executed instead, Paul writes to the Philippians about as contented a letter as one could imagine.

At least eighteen times in this one little letter he says something about joy or rejoicing.

He even repeats it for emphasis: “Rejoice . . .

always; again I will say, Rejoice” (4:4).

That’s pretty contented.

And now, back in prison, this time facing the very real possibility of never getting out but being executed instead, Paul writes to the Philippians about as contented a letter as one could imagine.

At least eighteen times in this one little letter he says something about joy or rejoicing.

He even repeats it for emphasis: “Rejoice . . .

always; again I will say, Rejoice” (4:4).

That’s pretty contented.

Want to Know Their Secret!

What an astounding list of contented people!

What have you found, Lydia and Epaphroditus, that you so gladly throw yourself, your money, and even life itself, into the service of the Gospel?

What do you know, Philippians, that makes you beg Paul to take your offering, promising even more, when you’re barely scraping by yourselves?

What’s your secret, Paul and Silas, that you sing from your prison cell, with bloodied backs and shackled feet?

That you, Paul, write such a contented letter while facing death?

Where do you get such contentment?

Where, indeed!

In spite of recent economic problems, we are the wealthiest nation history has ever seen.

We revel in freedoms many have never even dreamed of.

We have more and greater comforts than ever.

We have traveled to more places and done more exciting things than past generations would have imagined possible.

We have indoor plumbing and outdoor carpeting, water softeners and air conditioners, central heating and accent lighting, cars with digital sound and cruise control.

Our pets have more to eat than many people do.

Where, indeed!

In spite of recent economic problems, we are the wealthiest nation history has ever seen.

We revel in freedoms many have never even dreamed of.

We have more and greater comforts than ever.

We have traveled to more places and done more exciting things than past generations would have imagined possible.

We have indoor plumbing and outdoor carpeting, water softeners and air conditioners, central heating and accent lighting, cars with digital sound and cruise control.

Our pets have more to eat than many people do.

But are we content?

It sure doesn’t seem so.

Families are disintegrating; people get married for the third, fourth, fifth time.

Drug abuse climbs, and with it, the crime rate.

Our courts are backlogged with litigation and criminal trials.