Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
January 14, 2001 p.m.
Learning To Be Content
Reading - Philippians 4.10-19
What I want to do tonight is to start where we left off with this morning’s lesson. I want to take the last point of our lesson this morning and expand it. The point was that we should learn the secret of BIBLICAL CONTENTMENT. We used three scriptures... Let’s review them quickly:
Philippians 4.11-13: I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 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. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
1 Timothy 6.6-12: Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
And Hebrews 13.5: Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Let’s examine some definitions:
Webster says contentment is:
To be satisfied,
To be pleased,
To be easy of mind.
To have peace of mind.
The Greek is auto-arks.
Autos in the Greek means SELF... Arks means DISCIPLINED... SUFFICIENCY.
Son contentment literally means that we have disciplined ourselves to be:
At peace,
Sufficient,
Pleased with what we have... The portion of life given us.
Vine in his Dictionary of the New Testament Greek says our word means adequate for any and all occasions. Paul is saying, in our text, that God has given us: the resources, the power-- all that we need to become adequate... contented people... Are we willing?... Are we?
Well, what does it mean to adequate... To be content?
Let me quickly rehearse four New Testament narratives which demonstrate genuine contentment
1. Go with me to the Garden... The night of His betrayal. We’re not looking at a man who is moaning in loneliness. He says to His Apostles, I want you to share in My joy in My glory of this hour. Then, in John 17, He prays for Himself, His Apostles, and for us as future believers.
Here is a man who knows that He is going to die on the cross for the sins of the world. And He is thinking and praying for others. Folk, that’s genuine contentment!... RIGHT?
2. Well, look beyond Jesus to Acts seven... And Stephen. We see a young man lying on the ground, the stones are hitting him in the face. As he is dying... Yet he looks toward heaven and says, Father forgive these who are stoning me. That’s contentment... RIGHT?
3. Go with me to a cold damp, dark jail cell in Phillipi. Paul and Silas are there... Fastened in stocks, both hands and feet. Every muscle and bone is racked with pain. Tomorrow is full of uncertainty. What is going to happen to them... Will they be tortured... Will they die?
Church, what are Paul and Silas doing in this time of uncertainty and suffering?... SINGING!
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
Maybe they were singing, Love Lifted Me.
Perhaps, Heaven Holds All To Me.
Contentment!... Contentment!
4. The Apostle John is banished to an island sixty miles off the coast of Asia Minor. A scrubby little rock pile in the Agean Sea. But his Christianity is red hot. As he writes the apocalypse that closes our New Testament, the Book of Revelation, he vibrates with the excitement of living for Jesus in spite of grueling persecution.
Hey... I want to live like them... Don’t you?
I want to think like they thought.
I want to talk like they talked.
I want to behave as they behaved.
I want to be able to react to life’s circumstances and situations as they did.
I want to, like them, live life above the ordinary, above the common, above the mediocre.
I want to have the contentment that Jesus came to make possible.
OK... How?... How can we have such contentment... Such peace of mind?
First, we must be willing to accept strength from other people. Do you see this in verse ten?... I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.
Ephaphroditus had gone through Phillipi... Told the saints there that Paul was in prison. And they wanted to help Paul because they loved him very much. Paul responds in verse ten by saying, I rejoice greatly... The Greek is mega. I have a great... A long... A big rejoicing because of your concern for me, and because of your gift.
Here it is church, Paul was not so proud that he could not accept financial aid, strength, encouragement and comfort from other people. I know those in the church, who are so proud and so independent, that they are determined to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps... They are never willing to ask for or accept:
Prayer,
Strength,
Encouragement,
Teaching,
Comfort,
Sympathy,
Money,
Or assistance of any kind from others.
And I’ll tell you something about these folk... They are NEVER CONTENT... NEVER!!
They are miserable, and their lives indicate that fact.
You see church, God helps us through people.
·
His hands are people hands.
·
His feet are people feet.
·
His spirit... His heart, is within His people... or should be.
Are you sick...
Are you lonely?...
Are you scared about tomorrow?...
Are you hurting?...
Are you in financial trouble?...
Are you depressed, down in the dumps?
Do you need some encouragement?
Tell the church... Tell the family... This is what church aisles and invitation songs are for.
This is Biblical... Read the first few chapter of Acts... See the church helping one another.
We must learn to share our lives with one another.
-John says, we are to love one another deeply... Fervently.
-Paul says, we are to bear one another’s burdens.
-James tells us to confess our faults one to another and pray for one another.
Adequate living... genuine contentment... comes from learning one anotherness!!
Secondly, contentment is learned... It is a discipline.
Note verses 11 and 12: I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances... 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.
Contentment does not come easy. We’re not born with it.
It doesn’t come automatically at conversion... at New Testament baptism.
It is not something we can pass on to our children.
It is learned... It comes from inside us... It is inner strength.
NO!!... Not self-strength... But STRENGTH which God supplies.
I believe Paul draws from this God-supplied strength to overcome some of the pressures that have been forced upon him while he is in this Roman prison. I want us to examine three of these forces... or pressures that are bought to bear on Paul.
First, there is the pressure of position.
He says, I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. Some of our English Bibles do a poor job of translating here. The Greek really says, I know how to be HUMBLE. What does the King James say?... I know how to be abased... Humbled.
You see, what Paul is talking about is POSITION. He is saying, I can be an humble man... Or I can be an elevated man... I have learned to deal with the two without losing focus... Without losing perspective of who I am.
This is the same Paul who once said, I am not one whit behind the chiefest Apostle.
This is the same Paul who once wrote, I am the least of all God’s people.
This is the same Paul who tell us that he was the chiefest of sinners.
Some of us are not content because we are much too concerned about STATUS & POSITION.
· I am not good enough to obey the Gospel.
· I’m not good enough to serve as an Elder in the Lord’s church.
· I'm too good to just be a Deacon... I should have been appointed an Elder.
· I should have had that promotion... That position down at the office.
· I would be content if I were the president of the company.
· I’m too good to wash feet.
· I’m too good to teach that little class or preach for a small church.
Paul said, I have learned to be content with whatever my status or position is at the moment.
Folk, STATUS or POSITION do not guarantee contentment. Some of us need to swallow our pride and be content with our status and position... RIGHT?
Secondly, there is the pressure of provision.
By provision, I mean the necessities of life... Food... Clothing... and Shelter. I have learned the secret of contentment, whether hungry or fed. Paul knew how to be warm... Full... Fed... and Healthy. But at the same time, he said, I know how to be without... Cold... Empty... Hungry... and Ill.
Question!!!... Do we have this kind of contentment?
Paul is saying... It is even possible to be content without the necessities of life.
Thirdly, there is the pressure of possessions.
Paul says, I can have it all... Or I can have nothing and still be content.
Some of us are caught up in Satan’s lie that contentment is having More... More... More.
Contentment is a new house... A different car... A bass boat... A new dress... etc... etc... etc.
Folk, there is nothing in the world farther from the truth than this.
Genuine contentment is NEVER based on how many material blessing come our way.
Jesus said, what does it profit a man though he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
Paul tells Timothy and us that a desire and push for this world’s riches will bring ruin and destruction upon us.
John tells us to love not the things of this world, because when you do, the love of God is
displaced from your life... Read it again... That’s 1 John 2.15-17
Our third point is that we must know the real issues of life. There is not a verse for this... This point is not from the text, but from the context. Does it sound to you like Paul knew what was important and what was not? Does he seem to know what really matters in life?
What does REALLY MATTER?
Well, we know that it is NOT the three issues we’ve just been talking about:
Position,
Provision,
Possessions.
If I were to give you a pencil and paper and ask you to write down, in two or three sentences the real issues of your life... What would you write? Sobering question... RIGHT?
What did we say this morning that was of supreme importance?
If somebody or something came along and took everything we own...
Our position... provisions.... possessions... our health... Everything!!!...
What would we come to understand?
That God created us for relationships... with Him and with one another... This is the real issue.
Consider these scriptures:
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.'
If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Fourthly, contentment comes from knowing that God will meet all our needs. Look at verse 19, God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
A lot of people today believe that... if they could just rid their life of troubles... They would be content... This is a MYTH!... It’s a lie from Satan. Contentment is not found by our trying to avoid pain and problems.
Genuine contentment is realizing that God can use:
Our pain and problems...
Our situation and circumstance...
The valleys we walk through
To discipline us... refine... and remake us into the people and person He wants us to be.
Biblical contentment comes from our faith and trust in God to supply ALL our needs.
Biblical contentment comes from believing that He is and will work all things out to our benefit.
Let me leave you with three quick thoughts as we close.
First, when we talk about contentment, we understand that there is a difference between contentment and satisfaction. I’m not satisfied with my life....and you know the reason. God is not finished with me yet... He is still molding me, refining me, remaking me into the person He wants me to be... So I can’t be satisfied... but I can still be content.
Second, we must understand that contentment will prove to ourselves, and to those around us that God is Sovereign. We must know tonight that, God is bigger than any problem we may have. Can our neighbor look at our life and say,
That family is facing bankruptcy...
That individual has terminal cancer...
That man or woman has lost a child... Spouse... Or parent
And they’re working their way though it... Their God must be Sovereign... I would like to know their God...their Savior... I would like to have their contentment.
Number three, sin and contentment are mutually exclusive.
Folk, how about the sin in our life?
Do you believe that God is Sovereign over that also?
Let me tell you, I don’t know anyone who can be content dragging around the sins of his or her whole life. Satan has lied to us saying,
You can be happy...
You can have peace...
You can be content in sin.
We can’t... We can’t... It doesn’t work that way.
But here is the good news, we can rid ourselves of sin by becoming a child of God by faith... repentance... and baptism. We can be forgiven by the blood of Jesus. As God’s children, we can rid ourselves of sin by repentance... confession... and prayer.
The invitation tonight is to genuine Biblical Contentment...
As we stand and sing, will you come!!
