This is the manuscript version of a lesson I taught to the adult Sunday School class at the Bible Church of Buena Park on June 29 2003.
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There is a familiar verse in the Bible which reads, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Now, here’s a little test. Without saying anything this morning, without raising your hand, I want you to think to yourself. Do you know where in the Bible this verse comes from? Do you know who said it and most importantly do you know what its immediate context is? Think about it. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
Did these words issue forth from the mouth of Noah when he faced the daunting task of building, and then living in, a boat large enough to house representatives from all the created order? Or was it Abraham when he stood over Isaac, ready to sacrifice his own son? Or how about Joseph when he was sold into bondage and then imprisoned on a false accusation? Was it Moses when he stood before the Red Sea with an army closing in behind him or was it Joshua leading Israel into battle against Jericho? Was it the youthful David when he faced the Philistine giant or Esther as she came unbidden to confront her husband and king? Was it Elijah as he positioned himself against all the prophets of Baal or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego as they stepped into the fiery furnace? Perhaps it was Daniel as he descended into the lion’s den or John the Baptist as he stood before Herod to confront him for his immorality. Was it Stephen as he testified before the high priest or was it Peter or Paul enduring beating and imprisonment? The list could go on and on through thousands of years of biblical history.
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” While these simple words have broad application, and may well have been thought or uttered in any of the monumental instances I’ve mentioned, these words are recorded for us in a far different context. They are not intended to encourage us primarily in the face of flood or famine or fire or giant or sword or stone. They are instead intended to equip us for battle against a much greater and far more deadly foe, namely the enemy of discontent.
I’ve entitled this morning’s message, Learn to Be Content, and I hope that it will be a reminder for us that contentment is not optional in the Christian life. It is commanded. Philippians 4:4 tells us to “Rejoice in the Lord always”, and I don’t know of any way to rejoice in the Lord with a heart full of discontent. Contentment is not optional, and neither is it something that just happens to us. It is a learned discipline, like reading or writing or praying. I think we can all agree with the proposition that the human heart, whether it has much or little, is bent on discontent. The grass is always greener on the other side.
Turn with me if you will to Philippians 4:11 and we’ll plug the verse we’ve already contemplated back into the context from which it is so often pulled. We read in verse 11.
Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through HIm who strengthens me.
In verse 11 you see the basis for my title, “for I have learned to be content”. If Paul had to learn contentment, then so must we. It is no easy endeavor and it does not happen overnight. The first thing we should notice is that Paul’s contentment is totally independent from the circumstances that surround him. “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.” The world knows nothing of such contentment, nor can it, and yet this is the only contentment which can stand firm amidst the turbulent and often devastating changes of life. So where does such contentment come from? Paul has learned the secret and he shares it with us. The secret to being content with much or with little, the secret to being content in famine or in feast is to learn and forever meditate on the implications of one profound principle. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” I can even be content! For those of you in this room who knew that this verse was referring to contentment, the ability to rejoice in any circumstance that comes your way, congratulations, you did better than I. It wasn’t until I recently started memorizing portions of Philippians that I really started to dwell on the fact that this simple declaration offers much more than just encouragement in the face of some unusual trial. It offers the secret of contentment. That’s huge. Philippians 4:13 is not a special-circumstances verse, it’s an everyday verse. The battle to be content, to learn contentment, is fought everyday.
After considering a variety of texts on this topic of contentment, I am going to present you with five points, the implementation of which, I think are essential for living a life of contentment.
I - Be United to Christ in Salvation
This should be obvious, but since union with Christ is our absolute foundation in the struggle to be content, we would be remiss to start anywhere else. True contentment is simply not available to the unbeliever. Period. Why is this true? Because no matter what the unbeliever bases his contentment on, it will one day be taken away. And not only will it be taken away, it will be replaced with eternal torment so that even the most stoic philosopher and the most unshakable optimist will be utterly incapable of finding even a moment’s contentment amidst eternal damnation. What is the alternative to seeking contentment in that which can be taken away? Paul tells us in Philippians 3, starting in verse 7. Let’s look at it together.
But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
I want you to notice, more than anything else, the tone of this statement. Does Paul sound like a man dejected or a man excited? Is he lamenting the loss of “all things” with a “woe is me” type despair, or is he rejoicing at what he has gained? To me, it’s obvious that the tone is joy. There is nothing in all of existence more valuable to Paul than His Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because Jesus has given him a righteousness not his own, one Paul could never attain in his own efforts, and therefore Paul is acceptable to God, on the basis of faith, and will one day attain “to the resurrection from the dead.” When you couple that reality with the promise of Romans 8:38,39 (that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God), how could Paul be anything but content? The only thing that mattered to him could never be stripped away, and all that actually was being stripped away was “rubbish” in light of the “surpassing value of knowing Christ”.
The encouraging portion of this text is that, for those of us who are in Christ, our eternal condition, which is the basis of our contentment, is just as secure as Paul’s. Nothing can separate us from He who is supremely valuable, and nothing that is separated from us has any comparative value at all. The discouraging portion of this text, for me at lease, is that despite my condition in Christ, I struggle to be content, and I’m quite sure that I’m not alone in this room. I think Philippians 3 was written on a very good day for Paul, when God’s promises were paramount and the appeal of the flesh was small. I’ve had days like that, but I’ve also had a lot of Romans 7 days. “Who will set me free from this body of sin?” (7:24) “For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish.” (7:19)
Let us remember the message of Philippians 4. Contentment is learned. It is a discipline. But for those of us who are united to Christ in salvation, the only sufficient foundation for lasting contentment is in place. Let’s rejoice in that fact and build on it.
II - Consider What You Were Saved From
Last week I came across some verses that are so good, on so many levels, that I wonder how I’ve missed them all these years. Perhaps I haven’t been spending enough time in Lamentations. The verses I want to highlight are Lamentations 3:39, 40, but I’m going to include 37 and 38 as well since they’re such great “sovereignty of God” verses, verses that should shut the mouths of those who worship a small and containable god.
Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth? Why should any living mortal, or any man, offer complaint in view of his sins? Let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to the Lord.
