Philippians 4:10-23  Learn Contentment and Trust

10 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.

11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

12 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.

13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

14 Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.

15 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.

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

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

18 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.

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

20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you.

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

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

 

 

This week a pastor friend of mine contracted an infection after a minor  operation in hospital. He died a few days later of blood poisoning. At the age of 40.

Another pastor friend's 77 day old daughter passed away suddenly in hospital:  It's with a heavy, aching heart and plenty of tears that we let you know that our precious daughter, Evelyn, has gone to be with her Lord and God. Evie started declining at around 11:30pm Thursday night. She went into hospital with a faint heartbeat and shallow breathing. Little did we know that shortly after she would take her final breath. She died peacefully, pain free and with all of us - including the kids - around her. It was all very sudden but glad that we got to say our farewells. Knowing this outcome was coming since pregnancy doesn't make it any easier dealing with it now in reality. We've shed a lot of tears but are comforted by our God who declares resolutely that death is not the end. Jesus himself has conquered the grave and while we grieve and mourn, we don't do so without hope.
"Where O death is your sting? Where O death is your victory?..  ...But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:55-57). We continue to hold and treasure the 77 days God gave us with our precious daughter. In some ways "complete" but in so so so many ways incomplete.

 

The Church at Philippi was one of the most pleasing and pleasant Churches in the New Testament record.  It very well could have been Paul's favourite.  Every time he thought of them, he gave thanks to God (1:3).  And, there really is a fragrance about this Church.  

A Church's ministry and testimony in the community should be like a fragrant perfume—pleasing all who come in contact with it. Yet, even in the best of congregations, all is not perfect.  There was a fly in the ointment, so to speak (cp. Ecc. 10:1).  There were tensions among the members. Some may even have betrayed Paul.  Some things still our joy.

Joy is not guaranteed.  Joy is an attitude of the heart that must be nurtured and developed.  It is possible, however, to live in constant joy.  We saw last Sunday that we are to stand firm over our emotions by reminding ourselves to rejoice in the Lord, realise the nearness of the Lord, rest in prayer and discipline our emotions. That's what Philippians is all about!  We live our lives filled with joy and peace in Jesus Christ.  

But there are concerns. Anxieties in fact. Things that cut us inwardly as the greek word merimnao pictures. It is (v.6) translated "careful" is a word that means "to be anxious about" or to possess a "distracting" attraction toward someone or something to be torn inwardly.  In verse 6, however, Paul clearly cautions Christians to place all trust in God through prayer rather than be distracted by things of this world. Interestingly, the only other person in the NT to employ this term is Jesus (cp. Matthew 6:25, 27, 28, 31, 34).

How can you stop this tearing anxiety that develops in our hearts through our circumstances?

Learn Contentment in the Providence of God (vv.10-12) Be content in God's plan.

I have learned to be satisfied with what I have and where I am. (Philippians 4:11 paraphrased)

The word "content" is the original word "autarkes" which can be translated, "an internal attitude of self-sufficiency," or simply, "having enough."

One of the most sought after secrets of life is the secret of contentment. Discontent is deadly to joy.  It chokes every opportunity for joy to live.  A number of years ago, a documentary was filmed about the way consumerism affects virtually everyone and everything. The producers coined a term to describe the toxic and dangerous effects of materialism and consumerism. The term is, "affluenza".

We have certainly seen already, the tragic effects of selfish consumerism.

People are not nearly as important as some product, and you have waited since early dawn to be the first person to get it. This is affluenza at its devilish worst. The truth is that every person is born terminally infected with this disease. It is only one more outbreak in the epidemic of "me, myself, and I". And it just so happens that our generation has for the most part, stopped offering for the generation now rising, antidotes marked self-sacrifice, humility, and patience.

Paul had learned the secret.  He said "I know…I have learned."   What had he learned?  Namely that "in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (v.11).   How can we learn this secret to being content?  

The first clue to knowing the secret of contentment is to rejoice in your substance (vv.10, 12).  You must be satisfied with what you have (cp. 1Tim. 6:7-8).  God has given you to be where you are. Be content! Paul says he learned to rejoice in "whatsoever state" he found himself.  

God knows what your needs are.   Whatever God provides, you must rejoice in it without complaining or grumbling.  The Dutch minister Frans Bakker wrote, "True thankfulness begins by recognizing our weakness.  It ends in praising God, glorifying His Name, and praising His attributes in love.  A mark of true thankfulness is that we love the giver more than the gifts.  When God's creatures return to Him, there in His presence His goodness is experienced.  If we possess this love we always have something to be thankful for."

The second clue to knowing the secret of contentment is to rest in your situation (v.11).  This is a picture of a perfectly contented man.  In jail, Paul neither frets nor fumes.  He is content where God has placed him in life.  

Note, though, that contentment does not mean you are self-satisfied.  You should not be satisfied to be an office assistant when your abilities can make you president of a company.  

Now it's our turn. What does the sovereignty of God mean for us, in practical terms?

Our God is so sovereign that he can be present in our darkest hours.

Jesus promised, "I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew28:20). David could pray with gratitude, "In your presence there is fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11).

Scripture assures us: "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth" (Psalm 145:18). Jesus tells us, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20).

Have you opened the door to your Savior today?

The Stoic philosophers used it to mean that nothing or no one outside of ones self—including God—was required for self-fulfilment.  They needed no one.   Paul took the word and employed it in a way unacceptable to the self-satisfied Stoics.  For Paul, "contentment" meant "self-surrender".  It means a relationship with Jesus Christ which keeps the soul unbroken regardless of circumstances.

Charles Spurgeon, the eloquent pastor and teacher in England during the 1800s, wrote in his devotional regarding this particular verse these words,

We need not teach men to complain; they complain fast enough without any education. But contentment must be cultivated. Do not indulge the notion that you can be contented without learning, or learn without discipline. Contentment is never exercised naturally, but is a science to be acquired gradually. Brother, hush that murmur, natural though it be, and continue a diligent pupil in the College of Content[ment]. Warren Wiersbe wrote that it is the disciplined mind that views life, not as a series of accidents, but as a series of appointments. Learn to be content. Learn to say I am under the eye of God. Sing "His eye is one the sparrow and I know He cares for me!"

Know that I am under the Mighty Hand of God. He undertakes!

Learn Consciousness of the Power of God

Contentment does not come to you because you have conquered your circumstances, but because you have learned to live with them. But how can you learn to live with prosperity or poverty? The idea here is like that of a pacemaker. The pacemaker attached to a person's heart doesn't work 24/7, otherwise you'd have to have the battery changed weekly. It kicks in when the heart stops. In the same way, when our circumstances get on top of us, the Lord has promised his strength in our needs.

This verse is often taken out of context to apply to just about anything. However, the context of this verse indicates that the "all things" that Paul is referring to are the extremes of life. He is saying, "I can endure the loss of my rights; I can live through the loss of food and comfort; I can survive even this imprisonment with joy – with inner satisfaction that expresses itself in terms of contentment."

One commentator suggested that Paul is also perhaps hinting at the voluntary surrender of his own

rights to the early church as he is maligned, mistreated, misinterpreted, and even ignored in his incarceration.

Learn a consciousness of your true strength (v.13).   What Paul did say was "I can do…through Christ".  This is the language of Paul and it is the language of power!  The dynamo of contentment is revealed here—the dynamite of the Christian life.  The believer is infused with the very power of Christ Himself, Who, as the verb tense indicates, "keeps on" pouring the power of God into my life. 

Paul is also saying, "I can handle the heights of accomplishment, success, and wealth, and plenty of food and comfortable surroundings – I can respond to this with humility, grace, and gratitude." In other words, "I can handle the extremes of life with balance and grace; I can be satisfied with life on either end of the spectrum." How? "Through the power of Christ who lives within me." J. B. Phillips translates this verse, "I am ready for anything through the strength of the One who lives within me."

"I can't" is the language of a pessimist and Paul was no pessimist.  In fact, no Christian can be a pessimist if they are living the Christian life.  Note also that "I can" is the language of presumption.  It reveals the inner ego out of control.  And Paul's ego was not the problem here.  

Consciousness of Christ's strengthening of you is a key to overcoming worry, fear and doubt.  Discontentment is a rapid killer which drains every bit of joy from the believer's life.  How content is your life? Do you see your struggles as chance to demonstrate the power of Christ residing in you?

Two: Our God is so sovereign that he can meet our needs by his grace.

"There will be deserts in your Christian pilgrimage, but God will provide streams to supply your needs, for the will of God never leads where the grace of God cannot sustain."

This is why we can "with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

Have you brought your need to the throne of grace today?

 

Learn Cooperation in the Purposes of God

First, Paul speaks of the beauty of giving (vv.14-18).  His reception of the gift the Church sent him was the actual occasion of the writing of Philippians.  Three things happen every time we give.  

First, our giving blesses others.  Paul spoke of the Philippians' giving as "you communicated" (v.15).  They actually shared in Paul's needs.    It encouraged his heart since "no Church" but them gave.

Secondly, giving also enriches us.  Paul speaks of "fruit that may abound to your account" (v.17).  He clearly is indicating that since the Church gave, fruit would be multiplied back to them.  

Jesus said "lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven…" (Matt. 6:20).  Too many people assume happiness is in getting.  To the contrary, according to the Bible, happiness and joy is in giving.  

Giving also pleases God. Paul calls their giving "sacrifice" (v.18).  For God, the giving we do is a sweet smelling aroma to God.  That's the beauty of giving.

Learn Confidence in the Promises of God 4:19,20  God will provide for you.

Paul is coming to the close of the letter he penned to his favourite Church.  He offers them a thank you note for the fellowship and support they'd given him through the years.  As he does, he reveals a subtle but real threat to the Philippian Church—beneath their glowing fellowship lay a paralyzing distrust in the full promises of God to meet their every need.  

He writes "But my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (v.19).  Paul uses the generosity of the Philippians themselves to teach them a final lesson about God provision (v.18). Paul speaks of the bounty of God (vv.19-20).   This must be kept in context.  God will supply the needs of those who give to others.  When your giving pleases Him, He will supply your needs. "Supply" literally means "fill to full".  

God is the source of that supply. He is "my God".  The mighty and majestic God is "my God"!  He is my source!  His riches include goodness (Rom. 2:4), grace (Eph. 1:7) and glory Eph. 1:18).  Paul said "my" God.  That brings a personal aspect to view.  

 God is the scope of that supply. What a promise.  He can meet them all—"My God shall supply all your need".   

Note the promise is not to fulfil all your greed.  God is not a cosmic bellboy.  He has no buttons you push to get your greedy wishes.  He will supply your material, spiritual, social and emotional needs.  

God is the standard of that supply—"according to His riches".  This assures us no request is too big for the bounty of God.  Why then do we so often become paralyzed by distrusting His promises?   A sure killer of joy in our lives is to distrust such a gracious, bountiful Giver as is our God.

Paul's wrap up gives us a summary of what everything is about. It's about Christ!

Our God is so sovereign that he redeems all he allows.

I often restate this principle because I think we need to be reminded often of its truth. Because our Father is sovereign, he must allow or cause all that happens (Matthew 10:29). Because he is love, he must want only what is best for us (1 John 4:8). He therefore redeems for greater good all that he allows or causes.

We may not see or understand God's redemption on this side of heaven, but one day we will (1 Corinthians 13:12). In the meantime, we can rest in the fact that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28 NIV).

Where do you need the redemption of God?

 

Learn that Christ can  be your God.  4:21-23

1) We are His saints. 4:21-22

2) We have His grace. 4:23

Paul speaks of the benediction of grace (vv.21-23).  He wraps up the letter the way he began it—grace (cp. 1:2). The whole Christian life is a work of God's grace.  

There is emancipating grace (v.22).  Paul was incarcerated at "Caesar's household".  

These were imperial employees, caught up in the decay and destruction of the Roman Empire.  Paul was no doubt in chains as he even penned this letter.  Yet, even more significant was Paul's freedom within.  No chains could keep him from God's grace.  No prison could void the promises of God. 

The grace Paul both experienced and expressed is also ennobling grace (v.21).  He speaks of "all saints".  Many of them were slaves who labored at menial tasks.  They lived a lowly, humble life.  But the grace God gave created them anew as people of worth and value.  

Paul assured the believers there and us here that a Christian is not one to go through life with head down, feeling inferior as a person.  Jesus made us fresh and new! 

Finally, the grace God gives is enabling grace—"the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you all" (v.23).  Paul did not know what lie ahead but He knew Who did. And he trusted without reservation in God Who supplies all our needs.  Distrust in God's promises cannot live together with joy in God's presence.  Trust God.  Let joy live!

 

 

"Secularism sucks hope out of a society"

Pastor and author Max Lucado was asked why suicide rates are rising and so many people are feeling anxious. He replied: "My hunch on this is that we are seeing the fruits of a secular society. When we raise up a generation of people and tell them that all of life is just what they can see, what they can touch and what they can hear—in other words—there's no transcending power, there's no good God overseeing the affairs of mankind—you remove that from society—my feeling is that creates a discouraged society."

He added that "secularism sucks hope out of a society."

In days like these, our joyful trust in God's sovereignty can be our most powerful witness. When Kayla Stoecklein says of God, "He has got this," her faith resonates across the culture.

Your Father is still on the throne of the universe. Is he on the throne of your heart?

 

 

 

Fritz Rienecker and Cleon Rogers, Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament (Regency, 1976), p. 801.  p. 562.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning By Morning (Baker, 1975 ed.), p. 47.

Ralph P. Martin, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Philippians (Eerdmans, 1987), p. 178.

Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Joyful (Victor Books, 1978), front cover.