Introduction
Two weeks ago we studied the last part of chapter 3 where Paul said that he had not yet obtained the resurrection or perfection in the presence of God, which is the goal which God has set before us. We have not yet obtained these things; but, like Paul, we’re to press on to take hold of these things; and we’re to forget what is behind us; and we’re to strain towards what is ahead. If the Christian life is pictured as a race, we’re not to bow out of it and we’re not to go backwards, but we’re to keep going forwards to what lies ahead, which is eternal life in the presence of God, where we will be made perfect so that sin will no longer be present in our lives; and we’ll love God as we should with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength. So, we’re to press on to obtain these things in the life to come.
But we’re not to think that the life to come is all that matters and what we do in this life is unimportant. While we go on living in this world, we’re to take care how we treat one another. And so, in the passage we read last week, Paul pleaded with two members of the church in Philippi to agree with one another. And by appealing to them to agree, he made clear to us that we’re to protect the peace and unity of the church.
And then he went to say that we’re to let our gentleness be evident to all. I explained last week that there are indications in the text that the believers in Philippi were suffering for their faith. And whenever we’re suffering, it’s very easy for us to become anxious. And when we’re anxious, it’s easy for us to become irritable and short-tempered and impatient and to fall out with one another. And so, we can turn on one another, instead of being gentle with one another. But God’s people are not to treat one another that way. Instead we should rejoice in the Lord, because he’s our Saviour who can help us when we’re facing opposition and trouble. And instead of being anxious, we should go to God in prayer to seek his help. And he answers our prayers by giving us his peace to guard our hearts and minds against anxiety and fear. And with God’s help, we can display the Lamb-like gentleness of our Saviour, who prayed for those who persecuted him. With his help, we too can be gentle towards one another.
And when we think about our fellow believers, or when we talk about them, we’re not to focus on their faults and failings, but we’re to focus on whatever is good and praiseworthy in them. We should look for the evidence of God’s grace in their lives; and we should admire all the ways God has begun to renew them in his image.
How we treat one another matters. That was the overall message from last week’s passage. Today we come to the end of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, where he thanks his readers for the gift they sent to him. And in the course of giving thanks to them, he writes to us about the secret of being content in any and every situation. So, being content when we are well fed and when we’re hungry; being content when we’re living in plenty and when we’re in want. There’s a secret to be content and Paul has learned it. And if he learned it, then so can we.
Thanksgiving
Before we get to that, let’s take a look at Paul’s thank-you to the Philippians.
And he tells them in verse 10 that he rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last they have renewed their concern for him. He’s referring to the gifts which Epaphroditus brought to him from them. You might recall from chapter 1 that he expressed his gratitude to God for their partnership with him in the gospel. And when he referred to their partnership with him, he was referring to the ways they had supported him in his gospel ministry. from the time he first preached the gospel to them, right up to the time when he wrote this letter. And he refers to all of this in verses 14 to 18 of today’s passage, where he says that it was good of them to share in his troubles, because they had sent him gifts to help him while he was under house-arrest in Rome.
And in verse 15 he refers to how they supported him from the early days of their acquaintance with the gospel. Right from the very start, when they first heard the gospel and believed, they have been willing to support him in his work. In fact, they were the exception, weren’t they? Take a look at verse 15 where he says that when he set out from Macedonia — which was where Philippi was located — not one church shared with him in the matter of giving and receiving except you only. They alone supported him in his ministry. And he remembers the time he was in Thessalonica and the believers in Philippi sent him aid again and again. So, they didn’t send him help once, but they did it repeatedly.
And, according to verse 18, he says that he has received full payment. He’s using business or commercial language to commend them for their generosity. We might say they had paid him in full. In fact, you’ve given me everything I needed and even more! I couldn’t ask for or expect anything else from you. And he says that he has been amply supplied. So, he is filled up to overflowing. And he’s filled up to overflowing, because of the gifts they have sent him. Imagine someone who had eaten a big meal and he’s eaten so much that there’s no room for any more. Well, it seems to Paul that they have filled him with their gifts and there’s no room for any more. That’s how generous they had been.
I should explain that when he says in verse 10 that they have renewed their concern for him, he doesn’t mean that they had stopped being concerned for him for a time and had only recently become concerned for him again. He means they were always concerned for him. However, for a while they didn’t have the opportunity to demonstrate it. So, they wanted to send him a gift, but they had no way of getting it to him. He makes that clear in the second half of verse 10. But now the opportunity had arisen once agaain and they were able to send Epaphroditus to him to present him with their gifts.
And look how he describes their gifts in verse 18. He describes their gifts to him as a fragrant offering and as an acceptable sacrifice which is pleasing to God. In Old Testament times, the Lord’s people would bring their offerings to the temple and offer them to the Lord, not only to seek his forgiveness for their sins but also to give thanks to him for his kindness to them. However, now that the Lord Jesus Christ has offered himself to God as the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice for sins, we no longer offer animal sacrifices to God. All of those Old Testament sacrifices were for the time-being only and they were to make do until Christ offered himself for us as the perfect sacrifice. So, we no longer offer animal sacrifices to God. And yet the New Testament continues to use sacrificial language to refer to our service to the Lord. So, in Romans it says we’re to offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices. In other words, we’re to devote the whole of our lives to God and we’re to live for his glory. And in Hebrews it says we’re to offer our praise to God as a sacrifice. Just as animal sacrifices were made to God every day, so we’re to praise God every day. And then, according to today’s passage, the money we give away to support gospel ministry is a kind of sacrifice which is pleasing to the Lord.
When we give our money to support gospel ministry, we’re giving our money to the Lord. And by describing it as a fragrant offering, Paul means God is pleased with it. In the past, God used to smell the smoke of an animal sacrifice and the aroma was pleasing to him. And now, it’s as if our gifts also give off an aroma which is pleasing to the Lord.
And Paul says our gifts are an acceptable offering. The Israelites in Old Testament times couldn’t bring to God any old animal. They could only bring certain animals to God and they had to be the best. And now, our gifts to support gospel ministry are the kind of gift which is acceptable to him.
And the reason the Israelites had animals to sacrifice to God was because of God’s kindness to them in the first place. He gave them their bulls and goats and sheep to enjoy and they were able to take some and offer them to God. And Paul re-assures his readers in verse 19 that God will meet all our needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. So, we can look to him to provide us with what we need. But he doesn’t provide us with what we need so that we’ll keep it all to ourselves. He doesn’t give to us so that we can be selfish and greedy with our money. He gives us what we need so that we’re able to give some of it away to support gospel ministry.
And Paul adds this doxology in verse 20: ‘To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever.’ When we use our money to support gospel ministry, then we are glorifying God. We’re glorifying God, because we’re making clear that God is more important to us than ourselves. If we regarded ourselves as more important than God, then we’d want to keep our money for ourselves. We’d only be thinking about what I need and what I want and what I can get for myself and what I can do and enjoy with my money. But by giving away some of our money for God’s work in the world, then we’re making clear that God is more important to me than I am. I’m willing to give up some of what I have for him. And so, we should seek to glorify God with our money. We should be willing to use what we have for his glory. And that will mean giving some of what we have to support gospel ministry.
Not all of us can be preachers. Not all of us can be missionaries. God does not call everyone to be a preacher or a missionary. But all of us can share in the work of preachers and missionaries by giving some of our money to support them. And in this way, we bring glory and honour to our great God and Father and to Jesus Christ his Son.
Contentment
And so, Paul gives thanks to the Philippians for their generosity towards him and for the ways they’ve supported him in his gospel ministry.
However, you’ve probably noticed that while he clearly appreciated their generosity, Paul was also careful to make clear that he wasn’t looking for a gift from them; and he’s not looking for more gifts from them. Take a look at verse 11 where he says that he’s not writing to them because he’s in need. And then in verse 17 he says that he’s not looking for a gift from them. So, he’s not like one of those tele-evangelists, who always have their hands out and they’re looking for people to send them money. And he’s not like those people we sometimes come across who are always ready to tell us their hard-luck story in the hope that we’ll feel bad for them and offer to help. He’s been very clear with them: I’m grateful for your help, but I don’t want you to think that I’m in great need.
And there are perhaps a number of reasons why he wants to make this clear to them. For instance, perhaps he wants to make this clear so that the believers in Philippi won’t feel bad about not having the opportunity to send him a gift earlier. When we can’t send help to someone straightaway, we sometimes feel guilty about it. Or perhaps he doesn’t want to become a drain on them. In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul refers to the extreme poverty of the churches in Macedonia. Since Philippi was in Macedonia, he may have been talking about them. Sending money to Paul may have been a real sacrifice for them. And so, Paul may not want to burden them.
But most of all, he makes clear that the reason he’s not looking for a gift from them is because — as he says in verse 11 — he has learned to be content whatever the circumstances. And in verse 12 he says that he has learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. So, while he’s grateful for their gift, he doesn’t need anything more from them, because he’s learned the secret of being content. He knows the secret for being content in every situation.
So, in whatever circumstances he finds himself, he’s able to be content. According to verse 12, he knows what it is to be in need and he knows what it is to have plenty. And he doesn’t just mean that he’s been in need and knows what it’s like; and that he’s had plenty and knows what that’s like. He’s not just saying that he has experienced these contrasting states. When he says he knows, he means he knows how. He knows how to be content when he’s in need and he knows how to be content when he’s in plenty. And he knows how to be content when he’s well fed and when he’s hungry and when he’s living in plenty and when he’s in want. Whatever the situation, he knows how to be content.
It might strike us as odd that he mentions needing to learn the secret of contentment while having plenty and being well-fed and living in plenty. We can understand that the person who is in need and who is hungry and who is in want may not be content and needs to learn its secret. We can understand that easily enough. But surely the person who has plenty is already content? Surely people who have everything they need are happy people? Why would they not be content when they have all that they need?
But think about it: there are plenty of people in the world who have everything they need and much more besides and yet they’re still not content. We’ve all heard of celebrities and successful people and rich people who are not happy. There seems to be an emptiness to their lives and a sense of despair even and a sense of meaninglessness. And perhaps they’ve gone through multiple marriages or multiple careers, because they’re looking for contentment. Or perhaps they turn to drink and drugs to deal with their discontentment. Or other people try one form of therapy after another because they’re unhappy with themselves and they’re hoping for contentment. And I’m sure you’ve had that experience when there’s something you want and you think about it all the time; and maybe you have to save up for it, but you’re willing to save up for it, because you’re sure that this thing, this object of desire, will make you happy. And then you get it. And instead of being delighted, you’re disappointed. It didn’t satisfy you the way you thought it would. You’re still not contented. And so, you begin to want something else; and you hope that it will bring you the contentment you’re looking for.
Seneca, the Roman politician and philosopher, said that everyone wants to live happily… but they are in the dark when it comes to seeing what it is that makes a happy life. Everyone wants to be happy, everyone wants to be content, but they’re in the dark when it comes to seeing what makes us happy. And very often we think that the thing that will make us happy and content is to be well fed and to live in plenty. If we can avoid being hungry and in want, and if we have what we want, then we’ll be happy.
That’s often what people think. And so, in a book I read this week (Goheen, Introducing Christian Mission Today), the author quoted someone who said that consumerism is the religion of the modern world. While people who don’t believe the gospel like to think they’re not religious, the truth is that all of us are religious and everyone believes in something, because that’s how God made us. And in the modern world people believe we can make a better world for ourselves through our knowledge and expertise and our technological know-how; and through these things, we’ll be able to spread wealth and prosperity throughout the nations. And when that happens, then everyone will be happy, and there will be heaven on earth because of all the goods and services we’ll be able to consume and enjoy. That’s what people in the modern world believe in. And yet, all you have to do is look around the world and you’ll see that contentment seems to elude the rich and the famous who have everything.
The good news, though, is that Paul says he has learned the secret of contentment. So, it’s a secret which most people don’t know, but it’s a secret which can be learned. And we know it can be learned, because Paul learned it. And because Paul learned it, he was able to be content when he was in need and when he had plenty.
And when Paul says he has learned the secret of being content, he’s using a Greek word which means ‘initiate.’ We’re to think about secret societies and how new members have to be initiated into the secret society. And when they are, then they are told things they did not know before. They are let in on the society’s secrets. And Paul has been initiated into the secret of being content in every situation.
And the Greek word he uses for being content is an interesting word, because it’s a word which the Stoic philosophers used to use. Presumably the members of the church in Philippi were familiar with what the Stoics believed and taught. The Stoics regarded contentment as the most important of all virtues, because the person who had contentment was unaffected by circumstances. Normally we’re affected by our circumstances: if we’re hungry, we’re in a bad mood, but when we’ve eaten something tasty, we’re in a good mood. But the Stoics wanted to reach a point where they were unaffected by circumstances. One writer says that the Stoics taught that we should be sufficient unto ourselves for all things; and we should be able, by the power of our own will, to resist the force of circumstances (Vincent in O’Brien). The happy man, said Seneca, is content with his present lot, no matter what it is, and is reconciled to his circumstances.
That sounds like Paul, doesn’t it? Paul had learned the secret of being content in every circumstance. He was reconciled to his circumstances and not troubled by them. However, there’s a massive difference between Paul and the Stoics. The Stoics thought we should be self-sufficient. By the power of our own will, we should resist the force of our circumstances. We’re to use the power of our own will and the power of our own reason to master our emotions. Our ability to remain content comes from within.
But Paul tells us that our ability to remain content doesn’t come from within. It comes from outside us. It comes from God. Paul is not self-sufficient. He is God-sufficient. God enabled him to be content. That’s what he tells us in verse 13 where he says that he is able to do everything through him who gives me strength. Who is it who gives him strength? It’s God.
Verse 13 is often misunderstood. I saw a tweet this week from a Paralympic champion who is a Christian. And she was pictured holding up a medal she had won; and under the picture was the Bible reference ‘Philippians 4:13’. But Paul doesn’t mean that, if you rely on the power of God, then you can win a medal at the Olympics. He doesn’t mean you can do anything you put your mind to if you trust in Christ. No, when Paul says he can do everything, he means he can do everything he’s already mentioned in the previous verse. So, he can be in need; and he can be in plenty; he can be well-fed; and he can be hungry; he can be living in plenty; and he can be living in need. He can be all those things and be content at the same time. He can be all of those things and still be content, because God gives him the strength to be content in all of those situations.
So, the secret of contentment, the secret of happiness, is looking away from yourself and your stuff and looking to God the Father and Christ your Saviour and to the Holy Spirit your Sanctifier: the Father who loved you and sent his Son to die for you; and the Lord Jesus Christ who loved you and gave up his life for you; and the Holy Spirit who loved you and entered your life to renew you in God’s image. And since God loves you like that, then he will help you today and every day; he’ll help you in every circumstance. He’ll give you the strength you need to be content.
One of the commentators (Johnson) quotes from Jeremiah 17 where it says:
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose trust is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.
And the commentator asks how can a tree keep its leaves green in the summer heat? How can it bear fruit in years when there is no rainfall? It’s not because the tree itself can generate water. It’s because the tree is planted by a stream. And we’re to be like that tree. We cannot generate contentment by ourselves. We’re to rely on God the Father and Jesus Christ our Saviour and on the Holy Spirit our Sanctifier. We’re to be reach out to God by faith and we’ll receive from him all that we need from him to be content.
And when Paul says he has learned the secret of contentment, he means he has learned it over time. We don’t learn it all at once, but throughout our life we learn from the experiences we have: the bad experiences of being in need and the good experiences of having plenty. We learn from all those experiences to rely not on ourselves, but to rely on God to help us. He is the Everlasting God who has promised to love us with an everlasting love. And because of God’s everlasting love for you, the Lord Jesus was willing to give up his happiness and to suffer and die on the cross to pay for your sins so that you can have peace with God and the hope of everlasting life. And because you have peace with God, you can look to him for the strength you need to be content in this life. And because you have the hope of everlasting life, you can look forward to experiencing perfect and everlasting contentment in the life to come.
And just to wrap the two halves of this sermon together, since our contentment doesn’t depend on what we have, then we’re able to give away part of what we have to support gospel ministry in the world.
Conclusion
In the book I mentioned earlier, the author said that since the religion of the modern world is consumerism, then the church needs to be a ‘contrast community’. We need to stand out as different and provide people with an alternative way to live. And we can do that by practising self-giving love in a world of self-interest; and by practising generosity in a world of consumption; and by practising simplicity in a world of excess. When I think the secret of contentment is to consume and enjoy more and more goods and services, then I’ll want to keep all my money for myself. But since I know that the secret of contentment comes from God, then I’ll be willing to be generous with what I have and to use what I have for God’s glory.
Sermons and Stuff 