Southern Hills Baptist Church
March 16th 2003
“The secret of contentment”
Philippians 4:10-13
By Pastor Mark Hensley
10I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I 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. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4: 10-13
Introduction: (1474-1521) Juan Ponce de Leon, known by schoolchildren everywhere as simply "Ponce de Leon" was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. He was the first European to explore Puerto Rico, Florida, the Florida Keys, and parts of Mexico.
The driving force behind much of Ponce de Leon’s exploration was his obsession with tales of the Fountain of Youth. This mythical fountain was reported to flow with water that cured illness and granted the drinker eternal youth. Perhaps equally important to Ponce de Leon, it was also rumored to sit amidst a wealth of gold and silver.
Throughout his career, Ponce de Leon was plagued by rebellions from the natives he conquered. The Puerto Rican inhabitants stood up against his rule in 1511 during his brief governorship of the island. In 1521, during his second trip to Florida, Ponce de Leon found himself again faced with a rebellion. He was wounded by a poison arrow in this battle and, despite being transported to Cuba for medical treatment, died in July of that year. Ponce de Leon is buried in San Juan Cathedral in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was 47 when he died!
Transition: Every seven seconds someone in America turns 50. That process will repeat itself through 2014, when all 76 million baby boomers will be over 50. Aren’t you excited that you came to church today!
If you were able to stumble on the fountain of youth that eluded Ponce Deleon would that bring you contentment? To be able to move through the day pain free, to have energy and stamina?
George Burns a comedian from another generation once sang a song titled
I wish I was 18 again
At a restaurant in Dallas an old man chimed in,
And I thought he was out of his head.
Just being a young man I just laughed it off
When I heard what that old man had said.
He said I’ll never again turn the young ladies heads,
Or go running off into the wind.
I’m three quarters home from the start to the end.
And I wish I was 18 again.
I wish I was 18 again.
And going where I’ve never been.
But old folks and old oaks
Standing tall just pretend.
I wish I was 18 again.
Now time turns the pages
And oh, life goes so fast.
The years turn the black hair all grey.
I talked to some young folks,
Hey they don’t understand
The words this old man’s got to say.
I wish I was 18 again.
And going where I’ve never been.
But old folks and old oaks
Standing tall just pretend.
I wish I was 18 again.
Lord, I wish I was 18 again!
The Apostle Paul will help us to understand the secret of contentment it’s not found in a fountain that provides perpetual youth, or being 18 again or in money or success… but in the Lord!
10I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I 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. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4: 10-13
We can be content when we:
Show concern for others.
When we realize we all struggle
When we rely on the strength of the Lord.
I. Show concern for others. 10I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it
When Paul writes of the renewed concern of the church at Philippi he uses a term that has the idea of a budding flower! Their thoughts of him had been revived! Like a sprout shooting up, the concern exhibited by this church moved the Apostle! Their concern blossomed into activity again! He notes that they had always been concerned, but hadn’t had opportunity to show or demonstrate it.
There is something to be said about really caring for people. It’s easy for us to fain consideration to seem to care to give the appearance of compassion. Does our care for one another mimic a flower that is budding are, are actions of empathy so real that the one being cared for likens it to the new beginning of a sprout, reaching up to the sun?
It’s been said: If you live in a graveyard too long you stop crying when someone dies. Traditional.
When we are inward, focused on ourselves it’s easy to become cold and cynical and callous!
We must take the initiative to do something kind for someone else! We find contentment in ministering to other people. I want to encourage you to ask God to put someone on your heart this week to write or call or visit…you will be glad you did, and your concern will be like a flower blooming to them! 10I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.
Take the opportunity to show others that you care!
We can be content when we:
Show concern for others.
II. When we realize we all struggle 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I 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. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4: 10-13
Paul is stating that He knew what it was like to have to get by on a meager income. Paul knew suffering and was the target of unfair attacks on his character from churches that he had helped establish. Churches in Corinth and Macedonia had been quite critical of him, suggesting that he was somehow using the Gospel for financial gain.
In 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verses 11-14
11If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?
13But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. Don’t you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? 14In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
And so he reminds the church at Philippi I know what it is to have to get by on just a little bit! Am I speaking to someone today and you too know the pressure of a tight financial budget? Paul is encouraging us to look to the Lord for our real source of comfort!
For most of us, getting our circumstances just right is one of our main preoccupations. Why? Because most of us believe the only place we’ll be able to find joy is in the midst of ideal circumstances—when everything, or almost everything, is going our way.
As a result, since we live in a world full of difficult or puzzling circumstances and events, we end up assuming that satisfying joy is difficult, if not impossible, to come by.
Following Jesus Christ and growing in amazement over His grace involves many discoveries. One such discovery is the realization that authentic, abiding joy is Christ-centered and it transcends circumstances. Christ’s joy doesn’t necessarily mean a smile. His joy can be experienced in the darkest of situations. 12I know what it is to be in need!
Notice: He knew what it was like to have plenty.
12I 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.
Plenty here means an overflowing abundance!
I believe that prosperity can often present a more difficult challenge than adversity!
John G. Wendel and his sisters were some of the most miserly people of all time. Although they had received a huge inheritance from their parents, they spent very little of it and did all they could to keep their wealth for themselves.
John was able to influence five of his six sisters never to marry, and they lived in the same house in New York City for 50 years. When the last sister died in 1931, her estate was valued at more than $100 million. Her only dress was one that she had made herself, and she had worn it for 25 years.
The Wendels had such a compulsion to hold on to their possessions that they lived like paupers. Even worse, they were like the kind of person Jesus referred to "who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:21). Daily Walk, June 2, 1993.
We can be content when we:
Show concern for others.
When we realize we all struggle
III. When we rely on the strength of the Lord. 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. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
He uses a Greek verb, ischuros that means to be strong, or to have strength. He is saying, "I am strong enough to go through anything because of Him who infuses His strength into me." in those extremities of life where I have no more human resources, I am infused with the strength of Christ.
The Bible says, "To him who has no might, He increases strength." And Isaiah says in chapter 40, that great and familiar thirty-first verse, "That when we would faint and grow weary, we automatically feel the power of God and mount up as wings as eagles."
*I can do, is the word that is translated in Acts 19:16, "overpowered." It is translated in Acts 19:20, "prevailed." It is translated in James 5:16 "effective," or "powerful prayer of a righteous man." It’s a word of strength, it’s a word of power. And Paul is saying, "I have the power to go through all things." By the way, in the Greek the "all things" is in the emphatic first position. When the Greeks want to lay the emphasis, they put that word first.
All things I have the power to endure.
And what is he talking about?
What do you mean all things? Well, you have to go back in the context, all things is pretty generic if left by itself. And you just go back to 11 and 12 you know what he’s talking about...circumstances, he’s talking about being filled or going hungry, having abundance of material things, or suffering material need. That’s what he’s talking about.
He’s saying, "Look, I have the strength to go through all things, all deprivations, all difficulties in the material world, all times of prosperity," he’s talking about the material world. "I have the ability to deal with any kind of material circumstance because of my spiritual strength.” I can endure all of that on the outside because I am so strengthened on the inside.
See, when you get to the point where you are at the end of your resources and you’re dependent on the Lord and you see the movement of His power, you will find contentment. *From the sermon “the secret of contentment by John McArthur
