Date: 8/27/19
Lesson #34
Title: Not That He Really Had Need, For He Had Learned Contentment
• “Special Notes” and “Scripture” are shown as endnotes.
• NIV Bible is used throughout unless noted otherwise.
Scripture: (Philippians 4:11-13, NIV) 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, wh
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content either well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Introduction
Many include the verse that comes immediately before our passage, Phil. 4:10: “Now I rejoice in the Lord greatly, because once again you have shown your concern for me. Of course, you were concerned for me but you did not have an opportunity to show it.”
However, since we have already studied verse 10, we will not include it here too.
Commentary
(4:11) I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
Paul generously expressed his gratitude for the gift which the Philippians had sent to him (v. 10). He knew that he had always been in their thoughts but circumstances had up till now given them no opportunity to show their appreciation of him. He did not want his commendation of them to be regarded as a complaint that something was lacking, because, as he says (v.10), he had learned through his many experiences that God had devised and fashioned his circumstances, and therefore, he should be content. The word translated content is also rendered contentment and self-sufficiency in other places. In the philosophy of the Stoics, the word expresses self-sufficiency, not needing any outside help. It is not contentment arising from an abundance of things but an inner adjustment to outer circumstances. In Paul’s case, this resulted from spiritual grace.
It was not that he was dissatisfied with his own state, for he had learned the gift of contentment. Paul uses one of the great words of pagan ethics (autarkies), which means entirely self-sufficient. Self-sufficiency was the highest aim of Stoic ethics; by it, the Stoics meant a state of mind in which a man was absolutely independent of all things and of all people. They proposed to reach that state by a certain pathway of the mind.
First, they proposed to eliminate all desire. The Stoics rightly believed that contentment did not consist of possessing much but in wanting little. “If you want to make a man happy,” they said, “add not to his possessions, but take away from his desires.” Socrates was once asked who was the wealthiest man. He answered: “He who is content with least, for autarkic is nature's wealth.” The Stoics believed that the only way to contentment was to abolish all desire until a man had come to a stage when nothing and no one was essential to him.
Second, they proposed to eliminate all emotion until a man had come to a stage when he did not care what happened either to himself or to anyone else. Epicurian says, “Begin with a cup or household utensil; if it breaks, say, ‘I don’t care.’ Go on to a horse or pet dog; if anything happens to it, say, ‘I Don’t care.’ Go on to yourself, and If you are hurt and injured in any way, say, ‘I don’t care.’ If you go on long enough, and if you try hard enough, you will come to a stage when you can watch your nearest and dearest, suffer, and die, and say, ‘I don’t care.’” The Stoic aim was to abolish every feeling of the human heart.
This was to be done by a deliberate act of will that saw in everything the will of God. The Stoic believed literally that nothing could happen which was not the will of God. However painful it might be, however disastrous it might seem, it was God’s will. It was, therefore, useless to struggle against it; a man must steel himself into accepting everything.
In order to achieve contentment, the Stoics abolished all desires and eliminated all emotions. Love was rooted out of life and caring was forbidden.
(4:12) 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.
In expressing his knowledge of how to be abased and to abound, he uses the Greek word "oida" in the sense of “understanding” or “entering into the secret of.” By being “abased” he refers to the humbling process of having very little. His knowledge of “how to abound” means to “have more than enough.” He amplifies this by saying, “I am instructed,” literally, “I have learned the secret of” how to be full,” that is, to be full of food, and how “to be hungry” as a by-product of poverty.
Paul then repeats what he had just said, that he had learned “both to abound and to suffer need,” this time stating it in reverse order but using the same Greek words. What he is saying is that whether in general circumstances, that is, the place in which he is staying, or the particular situation of his physical supply of food or lack of it, he had learned the secret of peace in the midst of such trials. If in these basic factors of life the apostle was adjusted to the will of God, it would be comparatively easy to accept the will of God in other matters.
(4:13) I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
We can see at once the difference between Stoics and Paul. The Stoic said, “I will learn contentment by a deliberate act of my own will.” Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who infuses His strength into me.” For the Stoic contentment was a human achievement; for Paul, it was a divine gift. The Stoic was self-sufficient, but Paul was God-sufficient. Stoicism failed because it was inhuman; Christianity succeeded because it was rooted in the divine. Paul could face anything because in every situation he had Christ; the man who walks with Christ can cope with anything.
All of this, however, was not accomplished by any special strength that Paul possessed, which others did not, and he was careful to give Christ the credit: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (v. 13). In this statement, the word all is emphasized. The “all” means “not only all the things just mentioned, but everything.” What apparently begins as Paul’s comprehensive claim of self-sufficiency [‘I can do all this’], surprisingly concludes as an expression of his entire dependence upon Christ [‘through him who gives me strength’]. This great affirmation of faith has been of inestimable comfort to countless Christians down through the ages.
Translated literally, verse 13 is, “In all things, I continue to be strong by the One empowering me.” The secret of peace and the secret of contentment are inseparable from the experience of the sustaining power and the grace of God. It was for this reason Paul could be so content, even though chained to a guard, and awaiting trial for his life. The secret which he discovered is what God wants every Christian to know: deliverance from dependence on things and circumstances, but complete dependence on Christ. This, in a word, is peace.
