Technicolor JOY: Philippians 4:10-13
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
09-17-2023
Red Diamond
In 1990, a farmer in Brazil needed some water for his field. He noticed a rock covered in mud and picked it up to examine it.
He had no way of knowing that he had just found the largest red diamond in history - 13.9 carats!
Diamonds are uncommon but red diamonds are incredibly rare. It was cut into a 5.11-carat triangle now known as the Moussaieff Red Diamond and sold in 2001 for 8 million dollars.
In 1648, Puritan pastor Jeremiah Boroughs’s sermons were collected into a book after his death entitled, “The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment.”
In it, he makes the case that contentment is rare but is more precious than any gem ever discovered.
This morning, we are going to explore his definition of contentment as we study these verses in Philippians 4.
Turn with me to Philippians 4:10-13.
Prayer
Paul’s Joy
“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.”
Let’s remember where Paul is as he writes these words. He is under house arrest in Rome, chained to a Roman soldier. He is awaiting trial before Caesar which could either result in his execution or being set free.
When a prisoner was under house arrest, they were responsible for their food, the rent for the house, and even blankets. Nothing was provided.
They got word that he was in jail in Rome and they sent Epaphroditus the eight-hundred-mile journey with a love offering for Paul.
This led Paul to do what he had been doing the entire letter - exploding with JOY! The Greek word is preceded by mega. He had mega joy when Epaphroditus arrived with the gift.
Let me remind you, one more time since this is the last mention of joy, that happiness depends on outward circumstances while joy is found in following, loving, and serving Jesus.
Philippians is only 104 verses, about 2,400 words, and takes about ten minutes to read but it is dripping joy in every verse from a man who was in prison!
Jesus…Others…You. If you get that in the right order, you will discover joy through Jesus and through the little book of Philippians.
What was Paul so joyfully thankful about? He was overjoyed that the Philippians had at last renewed their concern for him.
The word “renewed” or in your translation, “revived,” is a beautiful word picture of flowers blooming again after a long winter.
Their love for Paul wasn’t in hibernation. They might have been poor but they were hilariously generous.
This is something that we have called to have - open hearts and open hands. Let’s be hilarious and generous in our giving like we did when we sent over 700 dollars to the churches in Hawaii.
But was this a backhanded compliment? “Thanks for the love gift but where have you been for the last five years?!”
Not at all. In fact, he wants to make sure that they don’t take it that way. He affirms that he has never been far from their hearts but they had no opportunity to show it.
The Philippians were the first church to support Paul financially after he left Philippi and went to Thessalonica. But, after years passed, they lost contact with Paul.
Once they found out where he was, their generosity and love for Paul overflowed into a financial blessing.
They might have lacked opportunity but not concern.
We support three missionary families and the Hope Center. We want to make sure that they know that we love them, are concerned for them, and will celebrate and support their ministries.
How can you do that? Make sure you are on their mailing/email list. If you are not, we can make that happen. Pray for them, every day, by name, for protection and open doors of opportunity for the Gospel. Write birthday cards. Send gift cards. Call them.
As a small church, we have the opportunity to be hands-on and very supportive of our missionaries.
How are you doing in this area?
Paul’s Education
Paul continues:
“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.”
Again, this could taken wrong. Paul is not saying, “Thanks for the gift but I don’t need it.” It’s not a “thankless thanks.”
Paul is thankful for the gift and the food and blankets it will buy. But he was content before the gift arrived and he will be content when all the food is gone.
Paul writes that he has learned to be content whatever the circumstances. He isn’t subtly implying that they need to send more money.
The word content literally means “self-sufficient.” It’s a word picture of a country that has all the natural resources that it will ever need and doesn’t need to import anything from the outside.
It’s a word taken from the Stoics. By “content” the Stoics meant a state of mind in which a man was absolutely and entirely independent of all things and of all people, a state in which a man had taught himself to need nothing and to need no one.
This was accomplished through a man’s will.
For the Stoics, contentment was a human achievement.
This is not what Paul is teaching. But isn’t it strange that Paul uses “self-sufficiency?” Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
What does Paul mean? To Paul, contentment meant being completely reliant on God and seeing everything else as “rubbish.” (See Phil 3:8)
Paul has learned to be content. This means several things.
It is not natural. Contentment is not something automatically downloaded into our hearts at salvation.
It is learned over time. The word means that we learn from past experiences that still have benefits in the present.
Not everyone has learned it, yet. It is a product of sanctification, becoming more and more like Jesus. We are all in process but some people don’t learn the lessons quickly so God has to repeat them again.
There is a sense in which we should have a holy discontentment in relationship to our spiritual growth.
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” (Phil 3:12)
Contentment can be learned. It is possible, if you are weak in this area, to grow in your contentment.
It doesn’t depend on external circumstances.
Let me start out our discussion of contentment with a question - how content are you?
Very content
Somewhat content
Content
Somewhat discontent
Very discontent
Let me ask you a few more questions.
Do you ever wish you had her hair, his smarts, her looks, his wife, her job, his house/car?
Do you ever grumble? Have you ever “vented” on social media?
Are you always thinking about moving on to the next thing?
Are you quick to judge and critical of others motives?
Are you impatient in traffic?
If you answered yes to any of these, you might need to grow in contentment. If you answered yes to all of these, you might need a nap!
One hundred years ago, people were asked what things they needed to survive. They listed a total of 70 things. They redid the survey recently, and the respondents listed 500 things!
Advertising is designed to make us discontent. Here’s an example. I don’t know why, but I keep getting ads on FaceBook for silk underwear. When I first saw them, I laughed and said, “Nope. That’s not something a guy would be interested in wearing.” But I’ve now seen this ad again and again and I told Maxine that I might actually buy some to see what they are like. What?! How did that happen?
We are bombarded constantly by messages that tell us we need a bigger house, nicer car, or thinner/more muscular body. And all of us are susceptible to feeling like we “need” these things to keep up with the culture.
I remember vividly one of the first times that my jealousy meter went off the chart.
My senior class party was held at Helen Sheit’s estate. Notice I didn’t say house. It’s an estate that covers an entire city block.
I drove up to the gate and I was buzzed in. I drove a long, winding drive to a huge beautiful house. I knocked on the door and a maid, in a uniform, answered and said, “Miss Helen is in the back.”
I walked around the house and the first thing I saw was one of the most beautiful pools I’ve ever seen. It had stone lions pouring water out of their mouths into the pool. There were classmates playing on the basketball court and tennis courts.
There was a tree line and beyond that another house, just as big, where her sister and brother-in-law lived.
You could have fit my house in their living room. I wasn’t mad at Helen. I just felt poor and not enough and those feelings have haunted me most of my life.
In all vulnerability, I’m not very good at the contentment thing.
I wish I was taller. My father taught me from a very little boy that “tall people rule the world.” The opening speaker at the conference I was at this week was Dr. Jason K. Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is 6 foot six inches and is a commanding presence when he walks into a room.
I want abs, but not enough to starve myself to get them.
I feel “not enough” when I’m in environments like the conference because almost everyone has a doctorate and I don’t.
There are times I’ve been jealous of my son’s Tesla, my friend’s house, or an artist’s talent.
My theme song could be U2’s song, based on Ecclesiastes, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”
I’m not where I want to be in the area of contentment so this sermon has been as much for me, or more, than for you.
So what can we learn this morning together that will help us grow in this area?
Let’s start here. Christian contentment is not optional. It is commanded of us.
At the end of the book of Hebrews, the writer gives this command:
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Heb 13:5)
What is it?
Jeremiah Burroughs defines Christian contentment as “that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and Fatherly disposal in every condition.”
Sweet as opposed to bitter
Inward as opposed to outward acting
Quiet as opposed to someone who has to have the limelight
Gracious as opposed to having to try to muster up contentment in our own strength.
This person understands that God is a wise Father and everything that comes to us comes through his loving hand first.
They delight in God’s providence and submit to his plan and purposes for their lives, no matter what that may bring.
David Platt updated the language of this definition:
“Contentment is the sweet, inward state of perpetual joy, peace, gentleness, and strength in every moment regardless of circumstances.”
Let’s be honest, It’s hard to be content and joyful when
others mock us
when we are lied about
when the medical tests come back and there is an issue
when a situation doesn’t turn out like we had prayed
When the bill collectors come calling
When the investment turns out to be a dud
When a spouse says I don’t love you anymore
So how do we learn it? The same way Paul learned it, through the ups and downs of life.
Paul writes that he knows what is like to be in need and to have plenty, well-fed or hungry, living in plenty or want.
Paul knew what it was to live in misery:
"I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.” (2 Cor 11:23-27)
Corrie Ten Boom wrote, “You will never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.”
How do we grow in our contentment in times of great need?
John Piper gives six steps from the letter of Philippians:
Acknowledge with joy and tears that this misery is from God’s loving hand.
Call to mind with confidence the truth that God can use all misery for good.
Call to mind that Jesus is to be desired more than all this world can give
Make all your longings known to God in confident, thankful prayer for whatever you need in this season of suffering.
Trust God that He will fulfill his promise to give you the peace that passes all human understanding. (See Phil 4:7)
Rest in your fellowship with Christ, knowing that whether the present misery leads to life or death, you are content.
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:21)
I heard a story this week about a pastor who was voted out because the church thought he was too old.
One of the young men he had mentored walked him to the car and asked him in tears, “What are going to do now?”
He answered, “I’m going to heaven.”
This answer worried the young man and he said, “I don’t mean later. What are you going to do now?”
The older pastor smiled and repeated, “I’m going to heaven.”
Seeing that the young man didn’t understand, he stopped, put his hand on his shoulder, and said, “I am sad that the vote turned out the way it did. Do I know what’s next for me? No. But listen to me well. All of this is trivial. I’m going to heaven!”
As we used to say in student ministry, that’s the mashed potatoes and everything else is just gravy.
Paul also knew what it was like to abound, to have plenty, to be well-fed. He grew up like Helen, with a prosperous family and the best schools. There were times when he enjoyed the fellowship of wealthy Christians who fed him and gave him an honored place at the table.
It may be as hard, or even harder, to experience contentment in abundance.
Charles Spurgeon wrote:
“There are a great many men that know a little how to be abased, that do not know at all how to abound. When they are put down into the pit with Joseph, they look up and see the starry promise, and they hope for an escape. But when they are put on the top of a pinnacle, their heads grow dizzy, and they are ready to fall.”
Alexander the Great, who conquered the known world, wept when he discovered there were no more worlds to conquer.
John Rockefeller may have been one of the richest men in the history of the world. In 2023 dollars, he was worth over 300 billion dollars. He was asked by a reporter how much was enough to which he famously said, “Just a little more.”
We have watched very wealthy people end up in prison because they weren’t content with riches that the normal person couldn’t even imagine.
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (I Tim 6:6-10)
How do you stay content when in a season of abundance? Piper gives three steps:
Freely admit to God that you don’t deserve this abundance and realize it is all by grace.
Call to mind the supreme, all-satisfying value of Jesus
Constantly count your abundance as rubbish compared to Christ.
This is why the prosperity gospel is so dangerous. God can give abundance but He gives it out of grace so you can be hilariously generous not because you deserve it. And He can just as quickly take it away.
“Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.” (Proverbs 23:4-5)
Research tells us that the vast majority of lottery winners are bankrupt within five years.
Paul writes that he has learned the secret of content. This is a strange word from Paul’s culture that meant an initiation into a secret society. It’s the secret handshake. It’s the secret sauce.
What is the secret of contentment?
He answers this question with one of the most famous and taken-out-of-context, verses in all of the Bible.
Paul’s Strength
“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
When the boys were younger, we took them to see the Power Team. This was a troupe of ridiculously muscular men who would do amazing acts of strength and then share the Gospel.
Their theme verse was…yep, Philippians 4:13.
So, “all things” means that you can rip phone books in half and bend crowbars with your bare hands? Nope.
When I ran my marathon in Champaign, I noticed several signs that had this verse on it to encourage the runners.
So, “all things” means that we can all go out this afternoon and run 26 miles? Nope.
No matter how many times I’ve quoted this verse, I still can’t dunk a basketball.
What does Paul mean by “all this?”
Remember that to take a text out of its content turns it into a pretext. In other words, people take verses out of context and make it say whatever they want it to say.
In this context, Paul is saying that he can be content in every circumstance - whether well-fed or hungry, whether in need or in plenty.
The word “through” really should be translated “in.” I can do all this in Christ.
If you haven’t put your faith in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, you have no possibility of knowing this kind of contentment because it is only found through treasuring, loving, and serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
And, unlike the Stoics, we don’t have to try and pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and look within to find the strength to be content in Christ.
I can do all this in Christ who strengthens me. It is not our strength. In fact, our weakness is what gives us access to Christ’s strength.
Paul asked God to take away his thorn in the flesh and God answered:
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:9-10)
Jason Lehman wrote a poem that sums up life without contentment:
Present Tense?~ by Jason Lehman
It was spring, but it was summer I wanted,?the warm days, and the great outdoors.
It was summer, but it was fall I wanted, ?the colorful leaves, and the cool, dry air.
It was autumn, but it was winter I wanted, ?the beautiful snow, and the joy of the holiday season.
I was a child, but it was adulthood I wanted, ?the freedom, and the respect.
I was twenty, but it was thirty I wanted?to be mature, and sophisticated.
I was middle-aged, but it was thirty I wanted, ?the youth, and the free spirit.
I was retired, but it was middle-age, that I wanted, ?the presence of mind, without limitations.
My life was over,?but I never got what I wanted.
By the way, Jason wrote this at 14 years old and it was printed in Dear Abbey in 1989.
Do you want to be content? How can we sum this up?
True contentment comes through trusting God’s sovereign plan.
Charles Spurgeon wrote:
“God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.”
2. True contentment comes when we see Jesus as a far greater treasure than a red diamond.
3. True contentment is not something we achieve by our own strength but comes through surrender to the Savior who gives us supernatural strength.
Ending Song: In Christ Alone
