Part 12

How content are you?

Your current situation / Salary / house / car / position / retirement / the way that you look? / You need to actually go to gym and use the gym equipment.

• How Generous are you

Do you easily part with your money? / when you see a need / do you give /  tipping a waiter or a petrol attendant, or a car guard /  When it comes to supporting gospel work / missionary / If I stop KFC or coffees from Vida I could support R100-R200 / month.  

Philippians as a letter has lot to say about contentment and generosity. The key to contentment.

• Philippians 4:10-13

¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² 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. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

To help us understand this, it’s good to take a closer look at who is writing this.

Remember in chapter 3 of Philippians, Paul gave his credentials. / He was in a high position /  popular /  rising up in the ranks / grade 11 learners would have probably wanted to job shadow him / intellectual / over achiever / a real asset to the Jews at the time  

The first time we read about Paul, we see him introduced in Acts /  chapter 7. We see Stephen / giving this gospel presentation. Telling the Jews about Jesus. And how they’ve rejected him. It’s a great speech to go and read in terms of understanding the gospel, and understanding more about Jesus / he gets dragged out of the city to be stoned / And those throwing the stones need to put their coats somewhere /So they lay it at the feet of a man named Saul / And we see in chapter 8 vs 1, “And Saul approved of their killing of Stephen.” So here we’re introduced to this man who doesn’t like Christians.

Chapter 8 goes on to say this:

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. ² Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. ³ But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

Paul playing this active role in persecuting Christians. While godly men are burying Stephen, and mourning deeply for him. Saul begins destroying the church. That was Paul’s intention. He didn’t like this new movement, which threatened the establishment that he was a part of. So he goes from house to house, dragging off both men and women, and putting them into prison. And then we get to chapter 9, and he’s still breathing out murderous threats against them. He even goes so far as to ask the authorities for permission letters for warrants to go into the synagogues into Damascus and arrest Christians who are there. A main player in terms of persecution of the church.

On his way to Damascus He meets Jesus. He’s got his letters of permission to arrest Christians who are in the synagogues. But then Jesus confronts him on the way to Damascus.  / He is blinded / “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” / “who are you?” / “I am Jesus who you are persecuting?” / And God sends Ananias to go and heal him / ie. Ananias was someone who Saul was on his way to drag to prison / Scales fall off Paul’s eyes / instead of dragging Christians from the synagogues to prison / sharing the gospel with Jews in the synagogues / Plus he was very convincing / By verse 23 of Chapter 9, the Jews are wanting to kill him.

Paul meets Barnabus / an encourager / Paul has just experienced this rollercoaster / Persecutor at the top of his game / blinded by Jesus / a dramatic conversion / a target for the Jews / now he meets an encourager like Barnabus / they become good friends.

Then he’s targeted again by Greeks for sharing the gospel with them / Throughout his ministry are these ups and downs / a lot of downs actually / often he was a target / whipped / imprisoned / also shipwrecked at one point / people try to stone him

Paul & Barnabas eventually go separate ways after a strong disagreement / this is significant as they had a good friendship / eventually arrives in Philippi / He finds a Bible Study / Lydia is saved / wealthy woman / invites Paul and missionary team to stay with her family / Now Paul & fellow missionaries are living in luxury / a little while later Paul is arrested and somehow ends up in Thessalonica

You can read Acts to find more details of Paul’s road of suffering / His ups and downs / But he had all sorts of experiences / Good ones / bad ones / lived in luxury / lived in poverty / times of peace / times of persecution /

And so after all he’s been through, he can say these words :

¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² 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. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Now I’ve often heard this verse quoted by people, when they’ve got to do something that seems impossible. Maybe they’ve got to go out of their comfort zones. Something that requires supernatural strength. Eg.  Christian sports person is about to participate in a sporting event. And the odds are stacked against them. They may find encouragement in this passage, in this verse. “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. And it’s not wrong to look to God for our strength. It’s not wrong to take courage in the fact that God is with us. But that’s not what the passage is saying. That’s not what Paul is saying. Because if that is the case, then we won’t have a realistic view of doing gospel work. And in fact, we may end up being disappointed. You may even end up feeling let down by God.

So if that’s not what Paul is saying, what exactly is he saying here? Well take another look at vs 12-13.

¹² 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. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

So Paul knows what it is to be in need, and he knows what it is to have plenty. As we’ve seen, he has been in need. He’s been through some tough stuff. Whipped, shipwrecked, imprisoned. He’s had to rely on the charity of other Christians. We’ve also seen that he’s had plenty. He had plenty before he started following Jesus. And even after following Jesus he has had times, where God’s provision for him has been more than enough. But he has learned the secret to being content in every situation. In situations when he’s been well fed, situations when he’s been hungry. Situations when he’s been living in plenty or in want. And here’s the secret to this contentment. Here’s the reason why he can face good times and bad times. Times when he has plenty and times when he has nothing. Vs 13: I can do all this (or if you have an older NIV – I can do all things) through him who gives me strength.

He knows that whatever it is that he is going through, God will take care of him. God will give him the strength to endure it. God hasn’t let him down up until this point. So he can write these words from prison. And he can write these words, confidently saying that he can do all things through Christ who gives him strength. Just think of your situation / your situation of want or need / the struggle that you’re facing. Can you honestly say the same as Paul is saying here. I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength. You can say, I’m going through some pretty hectic stuff right now, but I’m going to weather this storm. And I’m going to do it, because God is going to help me. Christ gives me strength. There are a lot of issues represented in our church. A lot of storms that many of you may be going through. Where do you look to for your strength. You see, I think the key is where you look to for contentment?

The bottom line with Paul is that his contentment was in the Lord /in God /in the gospel. What do I mean by that? He knew that the greatest thing to ever have happened to him was having his life interrupted by Jesus. That trip of his on the road to Damascus, was a trip that he would always be grateful for. When Jesus confronted him on his way to persecute and imprison Christians in Damascus. He knew that was the greatest thing to have happened to him. He realized that he as a sinner deserved the wrath of God, but God had shown him mercy and grace. This made him content. That was where he found his contentment. Not in how comfortable he was. Not in settling down and carving out a good life for himself, and setting himself up for retirement. No, he found his fulfilment, he found his contentment, in the love and grace of a merciful God.

How about you? What is the most important thing to you in your life? Because that’s where you’ll find your fulfilment. That’s where you’ll hope to find your contentment. Remember Jesus said, “where your heart is, there your treasure will be.” Don’t we spend our lives chasing these things that are unnecessary? Trying to find satisfaction and fulfilment and contentment in so many things. When at the end of the day, what matters is finding it in Christ. Being content with what Jesus has given you. Because he has given you everything. And he’s given it to you when you don’t deserve it. as someone who deserves the wrath of God,  he has shown you mercy. He’s shown you grace. He’s given you eternal life. That’s what a loving God does. You just need to submit to him. You just need to accept the offer. Accept his forgivenenss. Put him on the throne.

We need to accept the fact that the reason behind us finding contentment in the wrong places is our selfishness. Our sin. Us just wanting to take care of ourselves. But as we see in a guy like Paul, we see a gospel mindset. We see the mindset of a guy who saw the gospel as all important. A guy who had been so radically changed by his encounter with Jesus. He knew that the world had to know about him. He knew that this message was a message that everybody needed to hear. And he did his utmost to get this message to as many people as possible. And he would do whatever it took in order to get this message across to the world. For him there was no sacrifice too big to take this message to the world. God would take care of him whatever happened. Whether he lived or died. ‘For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain’. And therefore he was content in all situations. Because he had a gospel mindset. And this gospel mindset leads to contentment.

Have you learnt the secret to contentment? If not, you very likely don’t have a gospel mindset. Are you frustrated by how you’re not getting what you want out of this world. Moving up in the ranks. Getting the salary that you want. Living in the house that you want. Driving the car that you want. For you it’s just frustration after frustration. Then you very likely don’t have a gospel mindset. So, to repeat the question that I asked earlier. How content are you? A gospel mindset leads to contentment.

There’s something else that a gospel mindset does. You’ll notice as you read the rest of the chapter, Paul talks about the generosity of the Philippians. They were generous because they had a gospel mindset. Paul had benefitted from their giving. Paul had benefitted from their generosity.

Look at verse 10 & 11.

10 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. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

And there’s this section that we’ve just looked at: but skip to verse 14:

14 Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. 15 Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia,  not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; v 16 for even when I was in Thessalonica, w you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. 17 Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. 18 I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable

Are you generous? Does your generosity reflect a gospel mindset? Are you giving money towards the gospel? Whether into the St Matthews bank account / a missionary organization /  Hands w/ words / Ross / Syd / Brian /  Whether it’s to one of our denominations ministers who work in the townships /

The Philippian church gave out of an understanding of the gospel / a gospel mindset / chapter 1, Paul sees them as partners in the gospel, because of what they were doing. And how God was working in them. So they were giving and they were generous because they had a gospel mindset.

You can only have a gospel mindset, if you know and love God. You can only have a gospel mindset if you’ve understood how loving God is. And you’ve understood what it is that he’s done for you. At a very foundational level / Get to know God /  understand as much about him as you can / Try and grasp how high and wide and deep and strong is the love of God. It will lead to contentment. It will lead to gospel generosity. And if we could all think like that, we will be a church with vitality.

Home Group Questions:

Read Philippians 4vs10-23

1. See if the group can come up with a list of Paul’s highs and lows from what they know about his life?
2. What is the secret of contentment?
3. What does it mean when Paul says: “I can do all this / things through Him who strengthens me.”?
4. Why do you think true contentment will lead to generosity?
5. What are some of the highs and lows within your home group in terms of what people are going through at the moment?
6. During your prayer time pray that God will help you to find contentment in Him in the midst of those highs and lows.