Way back in our series on Philippians, I don't know if you remember this or not, but I preached a sermon on do all things without grumbling or complaining. You probably remember that topic. But I also said Paul puts this in the negative will come to the positive eventually when Paul discusses contentment and the opposite of grumbling and complaining is contentment. And that day has come. We have come to Paul's discussion of contentment, what he calls the secret of contentment. Let's be reminded that Paul is in prison. He has just received a gift from the Philippians, I assume a monetary gift, delivered by the hand of Epaphroditus. You might remember Epaphroditus nearly died on the way to give this gift, which raised everyone's anxieties. But here comes Epaphroditus with a gift to Paul in prison. And that's the response. That's the occasion. And here, then, is the response. I'll read verses 10 through 13. This is God's word. 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. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In every and any circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Let us pray. Thank You, Lord, for Your Word. Thank You that Paul can say that he learned the secret of contentment. May we learn it as well. Teach us even now, Lord, through your word. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. I've lived and preached long enough to know that some sermons are more relevant to some people than others are. That's just the way it is. But it's hard for me to imagine the last few subjects that we've been considering. Peace, anxiety, and today contentment wondering how that could possibly be irrelevant to anyone. So I hope you brought your listening ears today. Paul says that he has learned the secret of contentment. Why does he call it a secret? He calls it a secret because as is true really of all of God's wisdom, it is counterintuitive. It's not what the world and the flesh would lead us to conclude. God's wisdom runs counter to that. And it's a secret because you can only know it when God reveals it to you. That's what he means by secret. Rightly did the Puritan writer Jeremiah Burroughs entitle his great book on contentment, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. Not too many people in his observation ever learned that secret, and I would have to go along in agreeing with him. The secret of contentment. What is contentment? Bill Barkley has written a good little booklet on contentment, which I've been reading with profit. Bill was Brent's Greek professor in seminary, Bill was one of the speakers at the conference we used to have. I say that because I know Bill to be a very reliable exegete. So I'm reading his book and he says, the essential meaning of the word contentment, which in the Greek is atarke, is self-sufficiency. And I thought, Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill, you've got that wrong. Paul is not saying that he's self-sufficient. That surely can't be what contentment means. So I said, I must turn aside now and check this out and see if Bill is right. Lo and behold, he's absolutely right. If you look in a standard Greek lexicon under the word atarke, you'll see the following definition. You'll see it means contentment, comma, self-sufficiency. The Greek philosophers loved that word. It was one of their chief virtues. It's what Greek philosophers were striving for, that self-sufficiency. They were singing an early version of a very old song. I date myself by mentioning it. Simon and Garfunkel sang, I am a rock. I have no need of friendship. Friendship causes pain. If it's laughter and loving, I disdain. I am a rock. I am a rock. That's what the Greek philosophers wanted to say. So, Pastor, have you lost your mind? What are you saying? That Paul is saying, I am a rock? No, I'm not saying that. Paul means self-sufficient in a certain sense. He certainly doesn't mean I don't need God. Clearly. Because the secret of contentment is that I can do all things through God. So he obviously doesn't mean that. Nor does he mean I don't need people. Obviously, in our text, he's very grateful for the saints. He loves the saints. So he doesn't mean self-sufficient in that sense. What can he mean? I will argue that he means this. When Paul says, I am content, I've learned the secret of contentment. that I have a kind of Christian self-sufficiency, what he means is this, I am not a prisoner of my circumstances or my felt needs. I have such things, but I'm not a prisoner of them. I'm only a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Let me unpack this through this text. and try to show you what I mean and what I think Paul means by this. Paul is saying, I am not a prisoner of my circumstances or my felt needs. Verse 11, the first part of it, may sound very odd. He has just received a gift from the Philippians. And then he almost seems to say, I don't really need your gift. You've received the gift, he's grateful for it, Not that I am speaking of being in need. What he's saying is, I'm not a prisoner of my felt needs. My felt needs aren't what drives me. My circumstances aren't what controls me. I'm self-sufficient in that sense of the word. Every situation that we face in life, And Paul lists some of them. And you can read his biography in the New Testament. He had situations of being brought low. And he had situations of being exalted. He had situations where the church was saying, Paul, you are the most wonderful minister. You preach great sermons. You are a great guy. He had moments like that. And he had plenty of moments when people were criticizing him. and saying, what's this guy up to? And we don't like him. And he's not really an apostle. And at times, he'd be imprisoned, and he'd be beaten by the authorities, and so on. So he had the whole gamut of experience. So Paul knows whereof he speaks. Every situation you and I face in life threatens to become idolatrous. Every situation, every felt need we have, I tell you, we are tempted to make an idol of it. I will refer once more to a song from my misspent youth. If it has any value, some of this music I listen to, once in a while it gives me a sermon illustration, and I promise I will use no more of these illustrations this morning. There was a very popular song by the Animals, and it went like this. We gotta get out of this place. If it's the last thing we ever do, we've got to get out of this place. Girl, there's a better life for me and you. I suggest that that, in about as popular a way as you can put it, is the idolatry of changed circumstances. My life is terrible. I demand that we get out of this situation. We've got to get out of this situation. I was interested to read a recent interview with Bruce Springsteen, who's more of a contemporary musician. And he said something interesting. He said, every song I've ever written is based on that song by the Animals. And if you listen to Bruce Springsteen, that's exactly what he sings about. He sings about the American dream and how you don't get it. And it's not fair that we don't get it and we really want to get it. That's true. I can't think of a better definition of what's being said here. Paul says, I'm not a prisoner of my circumstances or my felt needs. Fallen man is exactly a prisoner of his felt needs. We've got to get out of this place. We demand it. If you think about divorce, it's almost a cliche. It's almost a tragic cliche nowadays. That he or she will say, well, I'm getting a divorce My spouse doesn't meet my needs, as if that's sacred. You see how those needs have almost become sacred? Well, if she doesn't meet my needs, so of course I'm getting a divorce. How could you possibly even question that? Everything becomes about my comfort. It's interesting that Isaiah describes the evil as restless like the sea, churning up the mud of the sea. The very opposite of contentment. And let's not forget, Paul is not saying only that I had to learn contentment in the hard times. I had to learn contentment in the good times too. When people think I'm great, when my ministry is pretty successful, when things are going along well. I had to learn it then too. Because those are the precise times that you and I tend to forget God. As his word warns the Israelites so often, when you come into the land, you plant your trees, your flocks and herds are prospering, be very careful that you don't forget me. So contentment we need across the board in what we call bad situations and in what we call good ones. I also want to say at this point, as Paul I'm arguing that he's saying that contentment means he's not a prisoner of his felt needs or of his circumstances. Let me say that contentment is not a form of living in denial. It's not being stoic. And I can show you that directly from Paul's life. It's not that Paul doesn't have needs. He does, and he's made them known. He's happy to receive their gift. He asks people to pray for him. He will often tell people what his situation is as he writes his letters. So being content is not in conflict with having needs and letting people know what they are. Contentment also is not in conflict with hoping that things will change. That's not wrong. It's not wrong to desire that there be a change in your financial situation, your job, in your family situation, some problem you're having, some emotional issue you're wrestling with. It's not wrong to hope for change. Paul hoped for change. He pointed that out already in this letter. He's in prison. He says, pray for me that I'll get out. I think I will. I'm pretty sure I will. But you know I'm going to trust God even if I don't. That's really what he said. And I think that's really where we can measure our contentment. What happens when we don't get the answer that we want in prayer. Or we haven't gotten it yet. Or what we hope for hasn't come about. Then you can measure whether you've learned the secret of contentment or not. One other thing about this matter of of of contentment not being a matter of denial. Paul also acknowledges his own anxieties and pours them out before the Lord in prayer and he tells us to do exactly that. He says have no anxiety about anything but in everything. Remember a couple of weeks ago. Pour out your prayers to the Lord and the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. So you see my point. Paul is not saying here that contentment is a kind of stoic, philosophical, I feel no pain, or if I do, it doesn't matter. I'm a rock. I have no needs. No, no, no, no, no. Not at all. But he is saying, I am not a prisoner of those things because of God who strengthens me in every situation. Paul is saying, and I believe this is the positive side of what he's recognizing, is that I'm a prisoner of the Lord. And because he grasps that, he's really profoundly on his way to contentment. What is the secret of contentment? Say it again. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. And surely what Paul means by that is that my Heavenly Father, through the Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, the gospel of the triune God will strengthen me in every situation. Let's remember, Paul, if ever there was a driven guy, it was Paul, was it not? The guy was driven. We saw that, and I reminded you of this even last week. No, I guess I was reminding the prayer meeting of this, that Paul says, I press on. I press on. Remember we saw that in Philippians chapter 3. I press on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me. And he was called to be the missionary to the Gentiles. So Paul was a driven guy. But he has also learned that it is God who opens doors and God who closes doors. And the future is wildly unpredictable. I think it's interesting, just for one example of this, what he says in 1 Corinthians chapter 16 and verse 9. Again, he's telling people about his plans and about what he's been doing and what he hopes to do. And he's asking for their prayers. And he's saying, I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost. A wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. I think that's really an interesting thing to say. God has opened a door for effective service. But that doesn't mean it's smooth sailing. God has opened a door for effective ministry to me, and there are many adversaries. The future is wildly unpredictable. You don't ever know, really, what to expect when you're living in obedience to God. Paul realizes And I think this is at the core of his contentment, that even though he's called to minister and he may have had a certain agenda in mind, now he's in prison, he's in no doubt that God put him in that prison. Just to remind you of this, in chapter 1, verse 16, he's talking about the people who preach the gospel in a false way, who preach in competition with him, And he describes it this way, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. You hear that? Paul saying, I'm in prison. It's not an accident. It's not a slip up. I am put here. God put me here for the sake of the gospel. Would you say that about your circumstances? and the needs you feel, the emotions you have, would you say that they're not an accident, not a slip-up, God put me here. If we recognize that, then they're not things that we need to get out of. We've got to get out of this place no matter what. They become teaching times when God can work out His purpose in our lives. Because the purpose of life is not our comfort. purpose of life is to glorify God in every situation. But Paul is absolutely confident that even though he's in prison, he's not left alone and that God will manifest his sustaining strength. Come what may. God may not give us what we expect, but he always gives bountifully. And you can be sure that he will give strength to do his will. And I think that's one of the temptations we face when our circumstances are painful. We use them. We're tempted to use them as an excuse to not obey God. Oh, God can't expect me to obey him. Things are so difficult. He can't expect me to obey him. This situation has to become about me now and how I feel. It's interesting, why does Paul say, I can do all things through him who strengthens me? Why does he not say, I can do all things through him who comforts me? Why does he use the word strengthen rather than comfort? He uses it because life is about more than being comforted by God. It's about being strengthened by him what? To do his will. To glorify him. And even in our difficult straits and circumstances, that's where our minds should be. Someone has written that contentment is dwelling gladly in the present moment. I think that's a pretty good description. Contentment is dwelling gladly in the present moment, knowing that you can do all things through Him who strengthens you. In 1 Timothy, we read part of 1 Timothy 6 this morning, Paul urges contentment with money, which is one of those basic things, godliness with contentment, beware of greed, be contented. In 1 Timothy 4, he urges contentment with food. He says be grateful, don't be picky, don't make a big issue out of food, be grateful for what God provides. Those two little examples provide pretty good case studies, I think, in miniature of contentment. A couple of weeks ago, I was telling some people about this. I found myself at 54th and Madison entering an Italian restaurant called San Pietro. An acquaintance of mine from California, a businessman, said, I'm going to be on the East Coast. I'll be in Manhattan. You want to come down, have lunch on me? I always like an excuse to go to Manhattan. Sure, I'll come down and have lunch with you. And what a lunch. As we're eating, I'm thinking, I could get used to this. This was the best Italian food I have ever had, no question about it. And as I'm thinking that, I'm also thinking, I'm glad I'm not paying. I'm glad I'm not picking up the tabloids. Well, the funny thing was, the next day, I'm back here. I have to get food for a meeting. So I end up at Subway. And I'm getting Subway for the meeting. Quite a gap there. San Pietro and Subway. I think a Christian says, I'm grateful for food, but it's only food, whether it's San Pietro, or Subway, or leftovers at home, or a wonderful meal cooked at home, which my wife often does. It's only food. Life is not food. Be grateful for food. Use the strength to serve God, because that's what life is about. The issue of money reminded me of a couple I knew many years ago and spent some time talking with them. And it's not uncommon in marriages. I just remember them as a particularly keen example of it. I will call them Mrs. Frugal and Mr. High Quality. And their debates about money went round and round on that axis. Her philosophy of money was never spend any if you don't have to. When you do have to buy something, you always spend the least. You always buy the cheapest possible purchase. His response was, wait a minute. That's not necessarily the best value. I'm willing to pay more for quality. So in a way, for her, life in that situation had become about pinching pennies. And for him, it had become about spending pennies. And in a sense, they were both missing the point. They were both missing the point. Life is not about pinching pennies, as much as we can make that sort of part of our righteousness, nor is it about spending pennies. Right. It's only money. That's all it is. Life is not about money. Life is about praising God. Glorifying Him, yes, being grateful for the money you have and using it to that end. Well, I hope those two little case studies help. You could plug just about anything into those examples. You could talk about the house you live in, whether you want a better one, or you don't think it's good enough, or your job. You can plug just about anything into it. And I say those are kind of a model that Paul gives us from this passage. We are not prisoners. of our circumstances or our felt needs, we are prisoners of the Lord. Life is not about our circumstances and about our comfort. It's about praising and glorifying God. And by His strength, through Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit, He gives us grace to dwell gladly in the present moment. That is the remedy for grumbling and complaining. May God give us all grace to learn the grace of contentment. I think it's wonderfully encouraging, by the way, as I close, that Paul says, I had to learn contentment. He didn't say, I'm an apostle, so it's automatic. It's you people out there. You need to learn contentment. I automatically know it. No, I love the fact that he says, I've learned it. And he learned it in many different situations And if I'm reading him correctly, he still learns it. As he faces a new situation, he's got to remember that. He's got to remember where his contentment comes. It's not about these circumstances. It's not about food. It's not about money. It's not about my felt needs. It's not about the job. It's not about the house. That's not where my contentment comes from. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. I think it's wonderful that he says, I've had to learn it. And I can learn it. And the same thing is true of you. It's a learning process for all of us. But God can help us, can enable us to have the grace of contentment and dwelling gladly in our present moment, being freed from bondage to our circumstances and our felt needs. May God make it so in our lives for His glory and for our good. And let us close then.