Please turn in God's word to Philippians chapter four, Philippians chapter four. We're gonna be reading verses four to 13. If you're using the pew Bible, you can turn to 1,663, 1,163, I apologize, 1,163. The Apostle Paul is currently under house arrest in Rome. And this is not a particularly wealthy congregation. There might be a few in the congregation who are able to give of their abundance. So they don't always have the means to supply Paul's needs, but they do have love for him and they do desire to help him in any way that they can. I'm gonna be focusing particularly on verses 11, 12, and 13. 11, 12, and 13 of the passage. We'll be looking at contentment, cultivating it, and a garden enclosed. So let's give our reverend attention then to God's holy, infallible, inerrant word. Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again, rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all, the Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put it into practice, and the God of peace will be with you. I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 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 all this through Him who gives me strength. The Puritans in their day looked at Paul's words here in verses 11, 12, and 13, and they saw something very deep and very profound. Thomas Watson had put together a book called The Art of Divine Contentment. Jeremiah Burroughs, in his book, which is a compilation of his sermons, called it, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. And you could just tell by the titles, the names that they give to their titles, the titles of their books, you know, how significant this idea, this concept, this biblical teaching is, the art They see it as an art, a rare jewel. Not very common, right? Jeremiah Burroughs defines it this way, Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious posture of heart freely submitting to and taking deep satisfaction in God's wise and fatherly will in every condition. And then he adds a picture to go with the definition, part of the definition. This kind of contentment is like a green tree in the middle of the desert, bearing fruit in a wasteland. Very helpful, very helpful. I would like to liken it to a garden enclosed. That garden enclosed being your heart. In the Bible, gardens are often depicted as enclosed spaces. They're often walled private spaces that symbolize purity, intimacy, and above all, the sacred presence of God in the midst. The walls of the garden make it feel like a temple. In fact, if you follow this idea throughout the Bible, there's a garden motif. Or we could extend it and say it's a garden temple motif that is all throughout the scripture. The Garden of Eden is a place where God was dwelling with Adam and Eve. It's a place where the water of life flowed freely. It's a place that was abundant with such fruit. and all kinds of flowering things. So we think of the idea of the garden, and we think of the plants, we think of the flowers, we think of the fruit, and then we realize what God is doing. He's painting a spiritual picture for us, that there is to be a renewed garden, and that even in the temple, in the tabernacle, you had engravings and embroiders, embroidered into the fabric, flowers and palms and pomegranates. So we see the significance of this, where God meets us here on earth. Furthermore, A Garden Enclosed better describes the Greek word that Paul uses in verse 11, which is translated to be content. This is one of only two places in the Bible, in the New Testament, where this word is used. And it literally means, Believe it or not, self-sufficiency. Not as we commonly understand it, but it has the suffix auto and then the word which is commonly translated content or sufficient. And so it's self-sufficient in the sense that what we have is entirely God-produced and we find God sufficient. It is a divine contentment in you. You are the new creation in Christ Jesus. Paul, that other reference to this word that I mentioned in 1 Timothy 6, verse 6 says, Godliness with contentment is great gain. So if we were to break that down, we would say godliness is absolutely necessary, right? There's gain in godliness. We have to be godly. But he says godliness with contentment is great gain. And so there's this same idea of the art. It's the same idea of the rare jewel. Contentment, you know, He's got to think about the Apostle Paul and how he operates. He's not saying to them, look, I'm an apostle. Contentment came along with the gift of the apostleship. He had to learn it. He had to cultivate it himself. And he presents himself as that example for the Philippian believers. And praise God that we have that word for us today. He's an example for you and for me. You are to tend the garden enclosed in your own heart. So what we see here in our passage is that Paul, as a devoted disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, has successfully cultivated contentment in his own heart. And he has done so in three distinct ways. So first of all, he instructs his heart with the knowledge of Christ. Verse 11. He influences his heart with the wisdom of Christ. Verse 12. And he invigorates his heart with the strength of Christ. Now I'm going to go ahead and add something to each one of those points. And I'm going to do so because you can't separate this idea of the knowledge of Christ, the wisdom of Christ, and the strength of Christ from the fruit of the Spirit. It's impossible. So let me say it again. He instructs his heart with the knowledge of Christ and cultivates love. Verse 11. He influences his heart with the wisdom of Christ and cultivates peace. And he invigorates his heart with the strength of Christ and cultivates joy. Verse 13. So first of all he cultivates contentment by instructing his heart. Cultivate contentment by instructing your heart with the knowledge of Christ. This leads you to say to Him, your love is sufficient. Verse 11, not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. A garden enclosed is a place where God graciously reveals himself with a saving knowledge of himself. I have learned. I have come to realize through discipleship and the transformative power of divine truth, I have acquired knowledge through instruction or through experience See, it implies a process of understanding or comprehending something that was previously unknown. In the New Testament it often refers to the learning of spiritual truths or the teachings of Jesus Christ. I could say it this way. Paul has remained in the yoke of Christ. For Christ says in Matthew chapter 11, verses 28 to 30, come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. What does that mean? A burden that has weight to it. But it's light. It's not heavy. It's like you're in the ocean and you're drowning, right? You're drowning and someone throws you something with weight, a life preserver. Are you going to deny it? I will not. I will take it. It has weight to it, but it is the weight that will save you. We speak of the triple cure. when we consider the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The garden motif in scripture unfolds the eternal plan of God to engraft our lives into his through the triple cure of his beloved son. Jesus's threefold office as prophet, priest, and king is a divinely revealed solution to the threefold disease that we have. As prophet, he cures our ignorance. As priest, he removes our guilt. And as king, he delivers us from our corruption. Jesus is the only mediator of the covenant of grace. In the Garden of Eden, the first Adam and Eve said, not your will, but mine be done. And in the Garden of Gethsemane, the second Adam cried out, not my will, but yours be done. And the evidence of the curse, the thorns, were wrapped around his head and on the cross he bled that our sins might be atoned for and that we might have a righteousness with which to stand before the Lord. Hallelujah. There's an awesome book. If you are a mom or a dad, you have children that you want to teach these things to. I was at my daughter's house and we ended our time with me reading a book to the kids. I was blown away. It was so good. It was theologically sound and it was just beautifully and artistically illustrated. The book is by Carl Laverton, illustrated by Catalina Echeverri. The Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross. And just to simplify it, So when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God set up the cherub at the entrance, right? And in the book it's called the warrior angels. It was like a huge do not enter sign because of their sin against the Lord. And that That idea was woven into the curtain. It was embroidered into the curtain. The same cherub, right? The same warrior angels that was keeping humanity away from the presence of God. Do not enter. Do not enter. And then the cross where the blood of Christ removed that sign, right? Upon his death, what did God do? He tore up that sign. The curtain was torn from top to bottom that we might have free access into the presence of the Lord. Paul is speaking about his own heart. He's disclosing it to the hearers at Philippi and through the Holy Spirit to us today. A garden enclosed is a place amply supplied, we might say, with the early and latter rains of God's love. Paul is saying, I am satisfied living in the fullness of God's love in Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus in John chapter 15 verses 9 to 10 said, as the Father has loved me, so I love you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. Jesus is saying, quite simply, the perfect love, the perfect love that the Father and I have, I give to you. That's what he's saying. Abide in my love. So use the ordinary means of grace to be ravished by the extraordinary love that is revealed in the will of God for our lives in the knowledge of Christ. In 1 John 4, verses 9 and 10, we read, And in this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. So to instruct your heart in the knowledge of Christ means to actively and intentionally allow the teachings and the truths about Jesus Christ to deeply penetrate your emotions and motivations. Going beyond just the intellectual understanding to a place where your heart is truly moved and transformed by your faith. Leading to a life aligned with his teachings. I was reading someone and he basically summed the two most important prayers that you can pray to God. He said, first of all, pray, teach me to love you above all else. Teach me to love you above all else. And the second, cause me to want what you want. Cause me to want what you want. Another way to look at it is think about the thief on the cross. Why did God record that for us in the scriptures? Well, there's a lot of reasons that we can reflect on, right? But I think one way that it deals with us is that it strips away everything that's not important. What is the most important thing? This execution, this style of execution in the days of the Roman Empire was brutal. The Romans themselves avoided it. They didn't want to discuss it in their day-to-day conversations. It was so, so despicable. But here we have, here we have a beautiful garden enclosed hanging on a grotesque means of execution. And here we hear him. We hear the thief on the cross saying, all I need to know is him, that man. His love. What he has said to me, I am satisfied knowing him. I find his love sufficient for me. And this is actually a great segue to our second point this morning. Because if the Roman emperor were to give this thief at that very moment a stay of execution, Right? The soldiers come and they take him down. You got a full pardon. Right? How would he have spent the rest of his life? He would have spent the rest of his life seeking to please God in any and every circumstance. And that's what Paul says in verse 12. We are to cultivate contentment by influencing our heart with the wisdom of Christ. And this leads you to say, your peace is sufficient. Verse 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. The secret is in the Greek used by the false cults of their day to be initiated into a deeper knowledge, a secret knowledge to have insight. Paul is using it. in a metaphoric sense to disclose this process of learning spiritual truths. And so Paul is saying the wisdom is the applied knowledge of Christ. That's what wisdom is, applied knowledge. So he's saying whether in any situation, right? Good times, bad times. He's well fed, he's hungry. It doesn't affect him on the inside. Contentment is not affected by either one of them. The circumstances of life, the back and forth, the up and down, do not affect him. Now, obviously, right, when you know this, when things are going well, you can't really tell whether you are a discontented person. But when things go bad and you're facing trouble, well, it's a little easier to see your discontented spirit within you, right? But Paul is saying he's presenting himself in that balanced way for pedagogical reasons. He's presenting his life as an example to be followed. And so, you know, when he is being attacked and the apostleship is being attacked, he'll go to a list of ways that he has suffered for Christ. He does not do that here because he wants to present himself as an example to be followed. And he says in verse nine, what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you. Another way to look at it is to think of homeostasis. What is that? What is homeostasis? It's a state of balance within the body's systems, allowing it to function properly. The body uses feedback loops to detect changes and initiate corrective actions to maintain body temperature, blood sugar levels, and fluid balance. Well, there's a spiritual homeostasis. When a Christian maintains a balance in life, it is called spiritual homeostasis. It refers to the ability to regulate its internal environment, that garden enclosed, keeping it relatively constant despite the changes in the external environment. So, I have learned to maintain spiritual homeostasis, Paul is declaring. A garden enclosed not only is amply supplied with the early and latter rains of God's love, but has rivers of his peace running through it. So Paul is saying, I am satisfied. living in the fullness of God's perfect peace through Jesus Christ. There's a passage in the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 26 verse 3, where again, keeping up with the temple motif, Not so much the garden idea, but the temple city motif, where the city is the place where God dwells, which is what makes it that idea of a temple. God is there. You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. In the Hebrew, that phrase, perfect peace, is actually the Hebrew word repeated twice. Shalom, shalom. And so we can very easily see how there's that internal, that spiritual homeostasis that has been met there. God is saying to his people, the perfect peace I have in myself I give to you. You know the beautiful song, like a river glorious is God's perfect peace. And that second stanza really says it all. Hidden in the hollow of his blessed hand, never foe can follow, never traitor stand. Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care, not a blast of hurry. Touch the spirit there in the garden enclosed. We may trust Him fully, all for us to do. They that trust Him wholly find Him wholly true. So use the ordinary means of grace to be regulated by the extraordinary peace that comes from being kept in the will of God. What does he say earlier in the passage? He says, do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your request be made known unto God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep or will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Surpasses all understanding. And this emphasizes that this peace is not dependent upon our ability to comprehend it. It's a gift. Furthermore, we don't need to understand the difficulties that we're going through. What does Paul say in Romans chapter 8 verses 26 to 28? Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought. But the Spirit himself intercedes with us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the spirit because the spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. So to influence your heart, with the wisdom of Christ means to intentionally shape your thoughts and emotions and desires by actively aligning them with the teachings and values found in the Word of God. Guarding your heart, cultivating your garden enclosed. And you do actually see this wisdom and the peace that flows from it Flowing from, right? The short remainder of the thief's life. He applied the knowledge of Christ in his response to the other thief. He didn't do anything wrong. We deserve this. The response can only come from a heart. at peace with God through the wisdom of Christ. The psalmist says in Psalm 91 verses one and two, I'll summarize it, that those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High remain stable and fixed, relying on Him for strength and vigor. And that leads us to our third point for this morning. Cultivate contentment by invigorating your heart with the strength of Christ. And this leads you to say, your joy is sufficient. Verse 13. Some translations say, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. And you know how often that is taken out of context. You see it on coffee mugs, on t-shirts. But we can't do that. We can't take it out of context. And that's why the NIV is actually, even though it's adding a word that's not there in the original, it's helpful. says, I can do all these things through him who strengthens me. All the things that he has just previously laid out. A garden enclosed is not only a place where God's knowledge and wisdom reside, it's a place where God's power is experienced. It is the strength that enables him to do what wisdom dictates. So think of the idea of germination. Germination is the process by which a seed grows into a seedling. It's a vital part of the plant's life cycle. So there are certain steps in this process of germination. Water fills the seed, activating enzymes that start the plant's growth. And the seed grows, grows a root to access the water underground. It grows shoots that grow toward the sun. The shoots grow leaves and begin photosynthesis, right? Water, oxygen, temperature, soil moisture, cold and frost, they're all factors that affect germination and determine crop yield and crop quality. And now we spiritualize, right? There's a spiritual germination that's taking place. Our Lord provides everything, everything that we need in order for the seed that he has implanted in our hearts, that it should grow in a way that brings joy to his heart. The establishment of a good and healthy crop yield and quality. Now the crop is guaranteed, but you know what our Lord said in the parable, right? What will be the quantity that we give back to him? Now, in the scripture, there's this idea that's a little hard to understand until it's explained to you and then it's kind of easy to understand, right? Luke 7, verse 35, it's this idea of wisdom being vindicated by her children. And wisdom is justified by her children's behavior or deed. Wisdom is proven true, we could say, by the children's decisions and behavior and deeds. So let me put it to you very simply. If you're in the kingdom of light, you're gonna act one way. But if you're still in the kingdom of darkness, you will act an entirely different way. Now, Paul includes this in his message to Timothy. 2 Timothy 4, verses 14 to 18. He's talking about Alexander the coppersmith and how he did him great harm. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first defense, no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me So that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. So if we're in the light, we're going to produce fruit. A garden enclosed not only is amply supplied with the early and latter rains of God's love, and not only has rivers of peace running through it, but produces a healthy crop yield of his joy to give back to God. Paul is saying, I am satisfied living in the fullness of God's joy in Christ. Psalm 16 verse 11, you make known to me the path of life. This enabling grace is given to the believer. And in your presence there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Jesus said in John 15 verse 11, these things I have spoken to you. I am the one who sustains you and gives you life. I am the one who's speaking with you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. He says in John 17 verses 13 to 15 in the high priestly prayer. But now I am coming to you and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. And I have given them your word, O Father, And the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. So Jesus is saying, The perfect joy of the Lord I give to you to be your strength. So use the ordinary means of grace to be rejuvenated by the extraordinary joy that comes and that always accompanies the centering of our hearts in the perfect will of God. You know, we read about this well-known passage, Paul in Romans 12, verses 1 and 2, where he is saying to the believers, to the brothers and sisters, by the means of the mercy of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds. that by resting, or excuse me, by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is His good and acceptable and perfect will. And so first, the transforming work, the renewing of our mind takes place, we lay our lives down on the altar of service. And as we do so, we are able to discern what is that will of God for our lives. So to invigorate your heart in the strength of Christ means to renew and energize your inner spirit and motivation by drawing strength from Jesus Christ. Allowing his power to fill you with the renewed purpose and passion for your faith. Essentially finding your strength and vitality through him, through your union with him. What does John say in 3 John 1, verse 4? I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. He's probably an old man by now, and what does he see? He sees those who are relying upon the strength of the Lord, the enabling grace of God, and he sees them bearing fruit. He rejoices in that. Grace and joy. actually etymologically is derived from the same base word. In Greek, the word is char, which means delight. It's threaded through all of these words. Richard Beck does a little word study and he says, stepping back, what we have here is a circle of grace, grace prompting joy, joy-prompting thanksgiving, and thanksgiving-prompting giving, and forgiving. All these words share the same root, which means delight. And so, grace, joy, gratitude, giving, and forgiving. A cascade of delight, he says. So where you see grace enabling, there you see joy abounding. So we need to keep in mind that we're not individualistic here. We're not isolationists. When I talk about you cultivating this contentment within the enclosed garden, the idea, the garden, temple motif is extended to the church. It's always in the context of the body of Christ. And as you heard earlier in the prayer, Paul says, therefore we do not lose heart, though inwardly we're wasting away, outwardly we're wasting away, yet inwardly we're being renewed day by day. And this passage highlights the ongoing renewal of our inner being through faith. In Psalm 131-2, Paul, excuse me, David likens his relationship with God to that of a child weaned from its mother. So he looks at this relationship between the child and the mother and the child has developmentally come to a point where they, The child is able to enjoy the mother for who she is and not for what he wants from the mother. And he looks at this weaned child in the arms of the mother and says, that's me. That's me. in my relationship with God. Like a weaned child, right? What does he say? But I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother. Like a weaned child is my soul within me. The picture of a child. in the arms of its mother has so captivated him. I saw a little exercise that was done and mothers and their children, who obviously are weaned children, but they're very young, they're very young. The child, and they were instructed to do this little exercise and film themselves doing it. And so what you see in the finished product is all the mothers and their babies doing the same exact thing. And so what they were instructed to do was have their child sitting on the ground, and the mother was just simply to come up to them and put her head in the child's lap. And wait, don't do anything, wait for the reaction. It's so beautiful because almost every child, when the mother put her head in the child's lap, put their head, his or her head, on the head of his or her mother. And it was so beautiful because it was so delightful because it It captured in that one moment the joy and the love and the peace that that child was experiencing with the mother, that this child could delight in the mother, enjoy the mother for who she is. And the Father, our Father in Heaven, as it were, lays His head upon your laps in that all his promises to you are yes and amen in Jesus Christ, testified to by the Holy Spirit. Lay your head on his. Enjoy him for who he is. I'd like to conclude with the sights and sounds of contentment. Just a brief word. So the sounds, the sounds of contentment. Let's encourage each other to sing new songs of praise from our garden enclosed. Learning to blend and harmonize the fullness of our love, joy, and peace in the presence of our God. That's the first one. And the second is the sites of contentment. Let's encourage each other to map out the faithfulness of God in our lives and journal our God sightings, and what do I mean by God sightings? Simply this, detailing how God is working in and through our garden enclosed to the praise of his glory. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Gracious Heavenly Father, We do thank you that in Christ Jesus we find the sights and sounds of contentment perfected. And we plead with you, O God, to give us a greater capacity to display this rare jewel. We pray for a greater capability to learn the art of contentment that we may glorify and enjoy you more as we anticipate your glorious return. Amen.