And if you would, turn your Bibles to Philippians chapter 4. I'm going to look at verses 10 through 13 a little more in depth, and maybe we'll all walk out as super chiefs. So if you're able, would you stand with me in honor of the reading of God's Word? In our theme verse for our studies, Philippians 4.4, let's say this one together. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. Then our text this morning, Paul the Apostle says, 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'm speaking of being in need, For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low. I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Father, we pray this morning for Your help and Your wisdom and Your guidance in dealing with Your Word, that we would recognize it as the proclamation of truth. It is for our benefit and for Your glory. It is to give us instruction to keep us on the right track, as Brother Ed shared with our children. Father, give us guidance and equip us with Your Holy Spirit that we may clearly understand how to apply this precious Word in Jesus' name. Amen. So, we're coming into the holiday season in our calendar year. We have Thanksgiving coming up and we're putting together Thanksgiving baskets and that's all coming together. We've got Christmas right on the heels of Thanksgiving. This time of year it also gets cold. People, amen? It gets cold. People require heating for their home. They travel to see family. There are all kinds of circumstances that begin to take place in the individual lives and lives of families. And our church, small as we are, will begin to get the calls here shortly of, hey, I need you to help pay for my Thanksgiving. I need you to buy my kids Christmas. I need you to help pay my light bill. I need you to pay my gas bill. I need you to pay my phone bill. I need you to buy groceries. In our day and age, this holiday, seasonal outpouring has come to be expected in our society. The church has become viewed, not as a center for gospel preaching, but as a social haven in which there is an expectation of financial outpouring. So let me break that down for you. People no longer see the church as a place to hear the gospel and find forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. They see the church as a social hand that is solely there to provide for them in a financial obligation. Basically, in America by and large, our country has become an entitlement based society. And people have come to expect and to rely on the church to do what actually they themselves are responsible for. This is dangerous in two ways. One, people expect someone else to pay their way. People say, hey, I need somebody else to pay my way instead of getting out and finding some sort of work. Even if you don't like it. Did you hear me? I've heard it often said, and I've had people tell me this, don't ever take a job that you don't enjoy doing. That's nonsense. If you don't work, you don't eat. So even if you don't like the job, if it puts bread on the table, we do it. Instead of finding steady work, people have come to the expectation that, well, I don't have to and I won't because somebody else will. And this is the expectation that has been set in our society. Someone will help. Someone will pay the bill. Someone will buy the groceries. Someone will buy my kids toys for Christmas. Now, I want you to notice something here. I want you to notice where the problem actually is. I did not say that people sometimes have to rely on others for help. That's not what I'm saying. I want to make that clear. I said the problem is that people have come to expect it. That's the problem. Their expectations are this. If I don't do anything, someone else will eventually do it for me. So this is the first danger. The first danger is an expectation that the church is responsible for your well-being while you sit and do nothing. That is a false expectation. It is a wrong expectation. And so the second danger. People expect the church to meet their personal spiritual needs. Now, I want to make sure that I'm clear and careful on this point. Our role within the church is indeed to meet the spiritual needs of the people. And we do this in various ways, we preach the word of God, we have Bible studies and small group studies, Wednesday night, Sunday night gathering together. We pray corporately and privately. And so through the preaching of the Word, through Bible studies, and through prayer, we indeed do meet the spiritual needs of people. But remember what I said the first danger was? An expectation that the church is responsible for you. This also is the root of the second danger. If the church is responsible for your physical well-being, that you're in danger of thinking that the church is also responsible for your spiritual well-being. Therefore, if the church is responsible for me physically, well, then the church should take full responsibility for my soul. The church is responsible for whether I go to heaven or not. The church is responsible for whether my kids hear about Jesus. The church is responsible And they have come to expect that. Because that's what the modern day church has become. And do you see the problem here? In this mindset, if they don't have hundreds of dollars worth of Christmas presents under the tree and a bountiful feast put before them, then it's the church's fault. Likewise, if they are outside of Christ and their soul is condemned to hell and they stand in judgment of God, they say, well, it's the church's fault. No one ever did these things for me. You know, there was once a man who desired to become a monk. So he went to a monastery and he spoke with a head monk and the head monk said, you must take a vow of silence. And in this vow of silence, you can only say two words. every 30 years. The man agreed. He could say two words after every three years. Is that funny? Actually, it is kind of funny. So, after three years, he goes to the head monk And the monk says, you've been faithful in your vow of silence. You've been faithful in your studies as a monk. And he said to him, what are your two words? And the monk said, food, cold. So three more years went by and the head monk called him in and said, hey, you've been faithful another three years. You've kept your vow of silence. You've been faithful in your studies. Now you can say two more words. What do you say? Robe dirty. Three more years went by and the head monk once again called him in. And he said, you've been faithful in your vow of silence. You've been faithful in your service and in your studies. You can say two more words. He said, I quit. And the head monk replied, you know, I'm not surprised. And your whole time here, you've done nothing but complain. You see, church, this is where many in the modern day church find themselves. They rarely, if ever, say anything. And when they do, it's always complaining. What a spirit of discontent. The only time you ever open your mouth is with a harsh word or a convicting word upon someone else. I think we have a great fellowship. I really don't struggle with this within our fellowship, but I see it all around. They want someone else to be responsible for them. They don't want to act on their own. They only want to sit back and complain. They want somebody to be responsible. Somebody responsible for them physically. Somebody responsible for them spiritually. And there's only one problem with this. Neither of these approaches are biblical. Neither one of them. And I want us to look at these four verses in Philippians this morning. While we look at these four verses, we must also understand and trust that all Scripture is breathed of God and is profitable. And I want us to see what the Lord has to say about being content and the mystery behind that contentment. Well, first and foremost, in verse 10, there are times when the church comes to the aid of others. There are indeed times when people need help and where the church can be there to help. Listen to verse 10 of Philippians 4. He says, 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. Now, for the one who is always looking for a handout, physically or spiritually, this verse brings them a point of argument. They can look at this verse and they say, see, the church should have concern. The church should be doing. The church just needs an opportunity to help me. However, they seem to forget the relationship between Paul and the Philippian church. So they look at verse 10 and say, oh, well, it says here, Paul rejoiced greatly that the church revived their concern for me. Amen. That we would just revive our concern for those who are in need. But what is the relationship between Paul and the church? Paul says, you have revived your concern for me. So what is the nature of the relationship between Paul and the church? Reflect back on Philippians 1 for those who have gone through the long haul of seeing Philippians, the model church on our church sign for nearly a year. Reflect back on Philippians 1 verses 3 through 5 and note what Paul says, I thank my God always in my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you. That is you, the Philippian church. He says, I thank my God always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy. Why? Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. The church had a concern for Paul because they were partners in the ministry. They were partners in the gospel. That's where the concern came from. It's not just, hey, there's this guy who hates the church and who hates the saints and who spits in the face of Christ. But hey, his light bill needs paid, so we need to run down there and pay it. That's not what Paul is saying here. If we have the opportunity to help someone in need, even though they are an enemy of God, should we do it? Yes. But our first priority is to the brotherhood. It's to the saints. Those of us who are brothers and sisters in Christ. Those of us who are in partnership in the ministry of the gospel. The church had a concern and they were looking for an opportunity in Paul. They were looking. They were partners in the gospel with Paul and they watched the life of Paul and they heard the reports of Paul. And they said, look, there's an opportunity that we can minister to Paul. He's in prison. He's in jail. He may need a cloak. He may need blankets. He may need someone to come and sit by him and minister to his side. And so they gave and they sent. How many of those? who have a spirit of discontent are actually partners in the gospel. And let me be the first to tell you as members of this fellowship that we are all in partnership for the gospel. If you are a member of this fellowship and you are not in a partnership with us for the gospel, then you just need to pack your goods and move on. Being a part of a church fellowship is not signing up to get to heaven. Being a part of a church fellowship is saying, I am partnering with you because I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that there is a Chicago and an L.A. and a track that runs in between. And I'm supposed to be in the will of God doing His work and pulling the load and working for His namesake. That's why you join the church. To say, I agree that I should be working for the sake of the gospel. That I am coming alongside to partner with you, pastor, and with you, Sunday school teacher, and with you, sister and brother, just common lay people and church member. I am coming alongside of you to work for the sake of the gospel. Not just come here and hang out. We are working together. We are laboring side by side for the sake of the Gospel. The result of that is that we have a concern to watch over one another. We have a concern to look at the life of Brother Juan, Sister Valerie and say, what is your need? Because you are partnered with me for the sake of the gospel. To look at Sister Marilyn and say, how can I help? Because she's a partner for the sake of the gospel. To look at the Shrigley family and say, what can we do for you? Because you are a partner for the sake of the gospel. We're partners. We have a concern to watch over one another, to see if there's an opportunity to help in any way that we can, and we will. And the same applies for our missions partners, even those that are not here. The Mexican Indian Training Center, for example, if the brethren in Mexico call, Brother Omar, I told you about Brother Omar. He was here in the United States illegally for years, and the Lord converted him. And he said, I've got to get straight with the Lord. I've got to get legal here. And so he approached every avenue possible to try to find a way to stay here in the United States. And boom, boom, boom, every door closed. He said, well, I guess I'm going to go back home. So Brother Omar and his wife and his kids pack up and they move back to Cordoba. And now he's a student at the School for Pastors. The amazing thing is you helped give him a washer and a dryer. Remember the pictures of the man standing there with his new washer? You paid for that. You helped equip him. He's studying now to be a pastor. He's the same brother that called and said, hey, brother, I need help getting materials to teach my children how to do math. And so we'll make that happen any way we can because he's a partner in the ministry. He's a partner for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You know what the amazing fact in all of this is? Is that when he was converted unto Christ, he started attending a church in Illinois. Maybe it was Indiana. It's one of those I states up there. It's above the Mason-Dixon line. It doesn't really matter. He started attending the church, and he went to the pastor, and he explained his situation. And he said, I've got to go back. I've got to go back home. And you know what the church did? They said, we are going to send you to Mexico as a missionary. Guess who pays for him to go to school at MITC? His church family. Even though he was here in the United States illegally, they saw him as a brother in Christ. They saw him striving to honor God. And they said, you know what? This is an opportunity for us to partner in the ministry and equip a saint. And so whatever he needs while he's in school, we're going to make sure the school has so he can be equipped. So the same applies for our mission partners. because they are indeed in partnership with us for the sake of the gospel. But I want you to understand the mindset of biblical contentment. Are we to help those who are in need? Yes. But here what we see, us helping others, is because primarily they are in partnership with us for the gospel. So we look, we say, are you a partner in the gospel? That's where resources have to be focused, especially when they're limited. But understand the mindset of biblical contentment. Look at verse 11. Now that I'm speaking of being in need, not that I'm speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am, I am to be content. I want you to notice something here. Despite Paul's circumstances, he says, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. He doesn't say, you know, I just had to realize some things I can't change. That's not what he said. He said, I have learned. I have learned to be content. I have been challenged with situations. I have been put in scenarios. And it's important for you to understand here the timeline of Paul's life in early ministry. Paul did not grow up in abject poverty. Paul came from a very wealthy family. He came from a family that allowed Paul to set aside all his daily life business needs for the family. He never had to go out and work the fields. He didn't have to go out and tend the flock. He was able to go to school and be equipped by one of the greatest scholars of that day. It's basically like in our day and age saying, hey, Eric, I'm going to give you a scholarship to Harvard. You're not going to have to pay for it. Just for showing up and daddy's waving goodbye. But basically, Paul wasn't going to have to go down the hard road of trying to work and go to school at the same time. His family was in a position to say, hey, you go and you focus on school. Paul became a scholar of scholars. It says that his peers looked at him and marveled because of what he was able to learn and retain. He didn't have to worry about all this peripheral stuff. He could just focus on his education. And to do that in that day and age, you had to be well off. Because it was almost mandatory, if you had a son, that he had to tend to the family business. That he had to be there and carry some responsibilities within the home. He was the son of a Pharisee, probably a long line of Pharisees. He says, I was a son of Pharisees. He studied under the best teachers of the day. His professors became his mentors. He didn't have to spend time working the fields and tending the flocks. His family had enough financial backing that he could spend time in class without worrying about the family financial stability. But ever since his conversion, things changed. things spun on a dime. He was the son of a Pharisee, yet he went from living the high life and being viewed as one who was high ranking and with authority to becoming the low life, a scoundrel. One who was against the Jewish faith. One who was preaching against everything that the scribes and Pharisees had taught. It's important to note that the Philippians. That this is likely Paul's last letter to a church. And yes, we have the writings of Titus and 1st and 2nd Timothy, 2nd Timothy being the last letter that Paul wrote, but as far as writing and addressing a church congregation, Philippians is more than likely is the last letter he ever wrote to a church body. So let's get a snapshot of what Paul has been through up until this point. Here he is, writing the last letter that he's going to write to a church body. And he's saying, I've learned to be content, regardless of the situation. I've learned to. So what did he go through up until this point? Look back at 2 Corinthians 11, 24-28. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews 40 lashes, less one. 39 licks. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys in danger from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, and toil and hardship through many sleepless nights, and hunger, thirst, often without food, and cold, and exposure, and apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all of the churches. This is way before. This is five to six years before he ever pens a word to the Philippian church. So there is likely a lot more that Paul endured in those five to six years than just what we have accounted for here in Corinthians. And despite everything, despite all of this stuff, Paul is not looking for a handout. He's gone through all of these things and he's not looking at the church and saying, hey church at Philippi, I have been through the ringer. You need to be given. He doesn't say that. He doesn't say, hey church, I'm on hard times here. I need you to step up. He doesn't say that. Matter of fact, he spells it out for us in Philippians 4.11. He said, not that I'm speaking of being in need. I'm not even I'm not even trying to tell you that I'm in need despite the fact of everything that I'm going through. I'm not even going to tell you that I need anything. Why? Because I've learned in whatever situation. I had to be content. He's not looking for anyone to take care of him physically. And he's not looking for anyone to take care of him spiritually. He's not writing to the Philippians to complain about the hard times he has fallen on. And he is not asking them to pay his camel bill or his well water fees. But why not? Why doesn't Paul say, hey, you know, my camel payments coming up. I need you to step up, church. I want you to think about this. This is what the modern day church has become. My kids need sandwiches this week. I ain't got no money, so I call the church and see if they'll bring us some groceries. Light bill's got to get paid. Hey, call the church and see if they'll pay our light bill. This is what the modern day church has become. But yet, despite the circumstance that Paul finds himself in, he not once tells the church, you need to be doing this for me. This is your mandate. He never says that. Matter of fact, so that he was not a burden to the church, Paul carried a job. He says he was a tent maker. He'd get out and he would make tents and he would work. You think he liked that? I don't know. We don't know if he did or not. Maybe he did. Maybe he hated it. Maybe he didn't want to see one more goat skin come across his way that he had to stitch together. But regardless, he says, I did it so that I wouldn't have to be a burden to the church. Why is it that Paul has an attitude of contentment and not an attitude of discontent? I mean, think about that stuff. Think about shipwrecks. Your own people trying to kill you. The other people trying to kill you. You've been stoned. You've been snake bit. You've been shipwrecked. You've been adrift in the water for three or four days. You get out only to find out somebody's trying to cut your head off. Can you imagine a modern day society trying to deal with something like that? Oh, the psychological pressures. I need a therapist. I can't deal with this. I am so discontent." And Paul says throughout every single bit of this, the Lord has taught me, I have learned to be content regardless of the situation, regardless of where I find myself. I'll give you a personal testimony from the pastor's heart. Years ago, it's funny as young as I am to be able to say years ago, But I can I can honestly say this happened years ago. And I was living in Mississippi, me and my wife there and just had our first child. And I was really actually the child was on the way. Josie was on the way and we had just moved back to Mississippi from living in Australia. And it didn't take long before I figured out that the company that had hired me was paying me probably one third or one quarter of what I was actually worth. I didn't know that. All I knew was that we were struggling to keep the lights on. And the guys that were doing the exact same job as me were out buying jet skis and jetting up and down the river every weekend. And while we were struggling to make ends meet, these guys was living the high life. And so I got bitter and began to complain. and gripe and care, it's not fair. So I called my boss. One day I was in a class down in Florida. Came across a man by the name of John Beaver. Don't know where he's at today. Don't even know if he's still alive. But he was a bivocational preacher. Did the same job I did. I wasn't a preacher at the time. I was lost a ball in high weeds at the time. So let me set that precedent. That was last year's Easter egg. Ain't been found yet. So here I am lost, and I'm just complaining. I am discontent. I'm just feeble-minded. I'm self-centered. I'm selfish. It's all about me. I'm not being paid what I'm worth. What an arrogant sense of understanding. And so here I am talking to this preacher, and I'm telling him, me and you work for the same company. We're being paid the same rate when these guys are making four times what we're making. That's not fair." And he pulled me off to the side. And he said, Jody, let me explain something to you. He said, I hear you. He said, but I know who I work for. And he said, I've learned that he supplies every need. And being the lost guy that I was, I looked at him and I said, you're an idiot. I mean, honestly, I just looked at him. I said, you don't know what you're talking about. There's something wrong with you. And now, having been converted unto Christ, having had my whole mindset flipped upside down, I look back and I realize that was some of the most wisest words that anybody has ever spoken in my life. It doesn't matter what they pay. It doesn't matter what you have. Are you satisfied with what you have? Paul says plainly here in verse 12, look at verse 12. I know how to be brought low. I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have, note this, note this right here, learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. This verse is directly tied to Paul's statement, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. So, more plainly put, what Paul is saying is, I have learned to be content because I've been taught the secret. The mystery has been revealed to me. I want to break something down for you and look at the Greek here. Look at this verb in verse 12. It translates, I have learned the secret. It's actually one Greek word there. I have learned the secret. It's only used here in all of the New Testament, it's the only place you find it. It's the only place you find this Greek verb right here. It literally means this, to initiate into the mysteries. That is to bring one into the mysteries. to introduce to things that have not yet been known before, or to learn a secret. And this is the only time in all the New Testament that this word is used. So what Paul is telling us here is that there is a mysterious secret to being content. There is a mysterious secret to being content and relying on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is something that is a mystery. There's a mystery. There's a secret. And a handout is not it. Getting someone else to do your work is not it. Getting someone else to pay your camel bill is not it. Getting someone else to do your responsibilities is not it. Relying on someone else to take care of you physically and spiritually will never, hear me, it will never bring contentment to your life. You will never be satisfied. If you're always trying to get somebody else to do your work, you will never be satisfied. Let me give you another one to make your head spin. If you get out and do all the work yourself, You will never be satisfied. You see, this is where the mystery begins to unfold. Paul has learned the secret. Now, I want to give you verse 12 in the King James. Look at it here. I've got this for you in the King James. I know both how to be abased and how and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things. Look here. Here's the verb. I am instructed. So the ESV translated, I have learned the secret. The King James says I have been instructed. So despite all the stonings, despite all the beatings, despite all the imprisonments, the snake bites, the shipwrecks, something revealed to Paul the secret of being content. He was instructed in it. He learned it. He had the secret revealed. The mystery was exposed. What's the mystery? What's the secret? Verse 13, the secret to gaining genuine contentment is Christ. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. regardless of the circumstance, regardless of the trial, Paul says that he has found genuine contentment in Christ Jesus who strengthens him. Now, this means that Paul has learned or he's been instructed, as the King James says, he's been instructed by the Holy Spirit concerning what is necessary to be at peace with any and every circumstance. He's been taught. He's been learned. Does it make sense now why in verse 7 of chapter 4, when we studied this, Paul says, And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. It's because he's taught me the secret. He's taught me the mystery. Again, in verse nine, he says, what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you. The God of peace will be with you. Why? Because you've learned, you've been taught the secret. The mystery has been revealed. Paul's life. has been changed. He's been born again according to the Spirit of God. He has been empowered and equipped by God to turn from his heart of discontentment and to find complete rest and peace in Christ who strengthens him. You think Paul was ever a man with a discontentful spirit? There was a time where he wanted to murder the Christians. To kill them. He was discontent. He wasn't happy. And when he did speak about the Christians, when he was allowed to say two words, kill them, stone them, chain them, destroy them. And then Paul is converted on the road to Damascus. The Lord Jesus appears to him and says, Paul, Saul, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? This is interesting to note. Jesus appears to Saul on the road to Damascus, and Jesus says to Saul, why are you persecuting Me? Where is Jesus at that time? He's in heaven. He's already ascended. The ascension happened in Acts chapter what? Thank you. The conversion on the road to Damascus happened in Acts chapter 9. It's happened later down the road. So Jesus says, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? How is he persecuting Jesus if Jesus is in heaven at the right hand of God the Father? It's because Saul was persecuting and chasing the church, the Christians, the saints, the believers, those who are one in Christ Jesus. And to persecute the church, to persecute the people of God, is to persecute Jesus Himself. And so Saul is converted. And now, instead of saying, kill them, he says, love them. Now, instead of saying, stone them, he says, stone me. He's now become one. He's gone from discontentment to absolute peace, absolute contentment. Despite everything that has happened to him, He basically is saying this, I have been taught by God that when life gets tough, I can be content with what God has given me and where God has placed me. But this understanding is directly related and based on a decision that Paul had to make. Paul encountered Christ, and if you recall, on the road to Damascus, Paul is forced to make a decision. Will you follow me or will you not? Now, we can argue all day long, God is sovereign and Paul was going to do this regardless, but it doesn't negate the fact that Paul had to make a moral, responsible decision to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. He had to make a decision to be content with what Christ was offering. In churches all over this land, even our own fellowship, we have struggled with people not being content with what Jesus has to offer. The spirit of discontentment has saturated many churches and it has saturated many families. It has infected individuals in many different ways. Some medical problems sets in and it brings a spirit of discontentment. For others, the loss of a job becomes your discontentment. Now, church, it is time you look at your life and you ask yourself the tough questions. And it's time for you to make a moral and independent decision. Are you going to take a step towards Jesus and be content? Or are you going to run to him and curse him? You have to make a decision. You have to make a decision right now. Because I'm forcing you to. The Word of God has been exposed. You will either be satisfied and content in the Lord Jesus Christ, or you will not be. So what is it? What's your decision today? What's your decision right now? Are you going to take that step toward Christ and be content? Are you going to run to Him and have the mystery of contentment revealed to you? You know, it's often been said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with what? One step. One step. One step. And I'm telling you today that if you have a situation in your life that you're not at peace with, if there's something in your life that you're not content with, then do what Paul did and take a step towards Jesus. Take a step toward Christ. Cry out to Jesus in prayer. This is in your bulletin. Cry out to Jesus in prayer and recognize that His grace is sufficient, for I have learned in whatever situation, I am to be content. 2 Corinthians chapter 11, we saw the rundown of what Paul had to endure. Second Corinthians chapter 12. Paul says this. But he said to me. My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect and weakness. And then Paul says, therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weakness. I'm content with insults. I'm content with hardships. I'm content with persecution. And I'm content with calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Are you content? Let's pray.