Seems like everybody's trying to sell you something these days, whether it's on TV or the radio, social media. How is it possible to experience true contentment in a world that is?
So hyper-focused on the latest and the greatest, trying to convince us that we don't have enough. Alistair Begg explores the answer today on Truth for Life as we continue the Encore 2025 series of Listener Favorites. Yeah. Our scripture reading this morning is from the Philippian letter. Paul's letter to the Philippians and chapter 4, and I'm going to read from the tenth verse.
I 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. I'm 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 be in need. 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. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, In the early days of your acquaintance with the Gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, Not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you only. For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.
Not that I am looking for a gift. but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. I have received full payment and even more. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice pleasing to God.
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches. In Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Perhaps you will agree with me that we have a quite staggering and uncomfortable statement which comes.
Configured in largely the same way twice in verses eleven and then again in verse twelve. I'm referring to Paul's statement, I have learned to be content. He says in verse 11, whatever the circumstances, And then in verse 12, he says again, I have learned the secret of being content. And then he says, in any and every situation.
Now the reason one finds it to be so staggering and so uncomfortable, I must confess, is because we're living in a society that is permeated by a spirit of discontentment. And yet Even in saying that, it's far too easy and not closely uncomfortable enough. Because the real challenge is not so much that I live in a society that is discontented. But if I am honest, I am I face discontentedness. in my own heart and mind on an almost daily basis.
That there is that which clamors for my attention. things which others do, honors which others enjoy. possessions which others have And they would seek to rob me of any sense. Of that Mysterious dimension to which Paul refers here in this matter of Christian contentment. Envy And contentment never go hand in hand.
Covetousness, which is a sin, and contentment, which is a grace, never coexist in our lives. And envy, of course, is a dreadful thing, it is a horrible thing, and it will destroy our enjoyment of life on many levels. An envious spirit will begrudge the honor and the advantages that other people enjoy. Just instinctively so. An envious or a covetous heart fails to see that it is God's providence.
that dispenses gifts and honors And abilities. that these individuals that we look around on don't have this as a result of themselves. It is God in the mystery of His purposes who gives these gifts, who disposes of these honors, and who grants to individuals these abilities. Failure to understand that means that the covetous heart is almost always sad at the happiness of others. A covetous heart becomes hostile towards people that have never ever injured us.
It's the dreadful thing about covetousness or about envy. We can hate people we don't even know. People that we have never had a conversation with, that we have only seen from the other side of the car park, that we have only encountered on an elevator somewhere, and somehow or another, why is it that I find this individual so distasteful? And when I trace it to its ugly root, I discover it is because of covetousness. And I realize that what fuels my covetous heart is a lack of contentment with what I am.
Who I am. What I have, and the honour, whatever, that has been bestowed upon me.
Now, I have found these verses distinctly uncomfortable, and I'm of the opinion that if I spend the week being uncomfortable, there is no reason why you should get out of it on the Sunday morning.
So, for those of you who think that somehow or another I spend a week in tranquil bliss. Just waiting for the opportunity to make your lives as wretched as I possibly can, and then to run for the cover of darkness. Don't misunderstand what's taking place here. These sermons must first be passed through my own heart and mind and experience, if they are to come with any sense of pungency to you who in turn have the privilege and responsibility of listening to them. This is distinctly uncomfortable.
And peculiarly challenging. I have learned. The secret Says Paul of being Content. Every so often people say to me, you know, if you could put that in a bottle, you could sell it. And here is one of these occasions.
If you could somehow or another grab this and market it, people will say everybody would want this. And the spirit of discontent which pervades our culture is such that that's exactly true. People long for contentment and they think that they will find it down these various avenues, and of course it leaves them high and dry.
Now, the 20th century is not unique in this respect. The Puritan writers had a great deal to say about the absence of contentment in their day. Writing in the seventeenth century, Jeremiah Burroughs picked up Penned a wonderful treatment of this, beginning with an exposition of Philippians 4:11 and following, when he wrote a book entitled The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. And in the course of that, he makes this remark. The mystery of Christian contentment is the duty glory and excellence of a Christian.
That's interesting, isn't it? Because I think That I'm not far wrong in assuming That if we were to try and choose a word or a characteristic that would be representative of mature Christianity. That would be marked by excellence and by honor and by duty. I'm not sure that the first word that would come to mind would be the word contentment. And yet, says Burroughs in his day, if you want to see a Christian that has progressed in godliness, let me tell you what to look for.
Look into their jewelry box, as it were, and see if you find there the rare jewel of Christian contentment. contentment is seldom valued and considered in this way. Contentment is an undervalued grace. And perhaps it is because contentment cannot be discovered and cannot be displayed as a result of five easy steps. You're almost guaranteed to sell your book if you can call it seven steps to or six easy steps to or five keys to or twelve keys for or whatever else it is that because everybody is so concerned that they will get the perfect body that if they can get it in seven easy steps they're prepared to invest.
If they can become instantaneously financially secure, they're prepared to try the five easy programs or whatever it is. And so the same is true in Christian living. And we have all these Christians scurrying around, asking their pastors and asking their leaders, just tell me the five steps I need to do, tell me the five things I need to do, and I'll start them now, and hopefully by tomorrow morning I will have managed it once and for all.
Well, the good news and the bad news is this, there are no five easy steps. And I think that's one of the reasons we're tempted to ignore this. Essential Christian grace in favor of more accessible characteristics.
Now, in order to deal with this, Without unearthing it from the text, which would be unhelpful. We need to understand the setting. And the secret and the significance. And those are the three coat hangers on which I'm going to, or the point hangers if you like, that I'll use to trace a line through this material. First of all, let me just say a word or two about the setting, because we are studying a real letter written by a real man at a real moment in time to a real church in the then known world.
Philippi was about the same distance away from Rome as Chicago is from New York, about 800 miles or so. Paul, who had established the church in Philippi down by the riverside on the day that he met with a group of women, Lydia being the key individual who was a worshipper of God and yet whose heart was opened to receive the truth that Paul conveyed, and she was baptized and became a founding member of the church in Philippi. He was now distanced from this by all these miles, and he was in the jail in Rome. The church in Philippi loved him as much as he loved them. And so they determined that it would be profitable to send somebody to Rome on behalf of the church to convey their love for Paul and also to carry with him gifts that they had put together in order to be a source of encouragement to him.
And so this man by the name of Epaphroditus had by various means of conveyance made his way to Rome. And this is referred to in verse 18, where we read, I have received full payment, and even more I am amply supplied now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent.
So that's the context. The man from the church in Philippi had shown up in Rome, had brought these gifts, and while he was there, he had become dangerously, gravely ill. God had brought him back to health and strength, which was a relief to Paul, and he was now sending Epaphroditus back to Philippi. with this letter which which in part was his thank you note. And he was glad to be able to do so because he figured that the return of Epaphroditis would make them glad.
That the good news of Paul, even though the Strangeness of his circumstances would also make them glad, and also that he would be able to give them guidance concerning the peculiarities that were confronting them as a church and about which he had learned from Epaphroditus and doubtless others too, and that he would be able to convey his gratitude to them for all of their kindness.
Now you get all of that in Philippians chapter 2 and in verse 26 and following. You can read it at your leisure, but verse 28 says, Therefore, regarding Epaphroditus, I'm all the more eager. To send him so that when you see him again, you may be glad. And I may have less anxiety. You ever notice that little phrase there?
I may have less anxiety? This is the Apostle Paul. This is the one who in Philippians 4 says, Do not be anxious about anything. But in everything with prayer and supplication, let your request be made known to God. Does that ring any bells for you?
In light of how I introduced our subject? You see, it's not that Paul is coming out of some rarefied zone. With Words of exhortation to these Christians who live in a different zone. But rather it is he who understands the inroads of anxiety to his own life, understands the problem with preoccupations, his concern for the church in Philippi, his concern for Epaphroditus, I hope he gets better again, his concern to see him safely on his way, his genuine interest in the gladness of the church in Philippi and so on. He says, I've got to get Epaphras out of here and back to you, and that'll make you glad and frankly it'll relieve me of a measure of anxiety.
Now when he tackles this issue of their kindness to him beginning in verse 10. He does so with great tact.
Well you say well What about the little phrase there, at last? I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last. You have renewed your concern for me.
Now I'm putting emphasis on it there by my tone of voice. Is this what he's saying? Is this like your auntie who or your grandmother who writes to you and says sends you a postcard from her vacation and says, I'm glad that you finally got round to sending me a thank you note for your birthday? And it's kind of like, mm. He said, okay, fine.
And the parents are going Try and write the thank you note. Before you have another birthday, please, so we don't have your grandmother writing one of those notes again. Is it that? I don't think so. I don't think so at all.
I think that Paul, the whole inference here is. I rejoice greatly in the Lord that after all this time you've renewed your concern for me, when the time has long passed when I might have thought that you'd forgotten me, when I might have seriously considered the possibility of you disbursing gifts in another direction. After all this time, you still send me stuff in Rome. Man, thank you so much. That was so kind of you.
I love you in the Lord. You're my joy and you're my crown. Or it may even be that they had said in sending this stuff to him, We're glad at last that the opportunity has coincided with the desire, and that that was their phraseology. And so when he writes back, he simply quotes them and he says, I'm glad, like you're glad, that at last this has taken place. But if you read the verses with care, as I'm sure you're doing, You will notice that there is a sensitivity here which needs to be here.
In relationship, To the disbursing of funds or the giving of gifts to those who are in a unique way in the service of Christ. Because there is a constant danger That the servant of God, in this case Paul, may create the impression that he's in it for the money. Haven't you heard people say that about folks who are involved in Christian service? Oh, I think they're just in it for the money. Or I think they're just in it for what they can get out of it.
Or, I think it's just so that they can get these big gifts that come their way. And so he stresses, verse 11. That he wasn't in need. He says, I'm thankful that you've shown your concern. I know that you would have done it sooner, but desire has not combined with opportunity.
And then he says to himself, or maybe to his secretary, after he's penned that verse, he says, You know, I don't want to give anybody the impression here that I've been sitting around in this dungeon just waiting for this stuff to show up. Let's write another sentence. Write this. I'm not saying this because I'm in need. In other words, I don't need this stuff.
And the reason I don't need it He's going to go on and tell them. He didn't need anything, really. Because he had learned the ability to be contented with or without the provisions. You say, well, is this some kind of otherworldly existence? No, it's not.
Paul, when he writes his swan song in 2 Timothy, again in the dungeon in Rome, says, Could you please come, my dear friend? I long to see you. Try and get here before winter. I'm lonely and I need friendship. Could you bring my cloak because I'm cold and I need to snuggle up?
And could you bring my parchments because I'm bored and I want to read? That's the same guy who's saying, I don't need this stuff. Say, well, wait a minute. He says he needs the friendship, he needs the cloak, he needs the parchments. He wants them.
But he'll be fine if they don't come. Because he has learned the secret Of being content whether his needs are met or whether they're not met, whether they're met in abundance or whether they are met frugally. He has entered into a dimension of living which is a real man in a real environment. It's not funny stuff.
Now, let's just turn this and view it from the other side for a moment, because here we have the servant of God, and he is concerned that nobody thinks he's in it for the money. That's essentially his predicament. I don't want you thinking that I'm sitting here, verse 17, waiting for a gift. Yeah, I'm really looking for credit to go to your account as a result of giving the gift, he says.
Now there is a perverse but not unusual way. In which the people of God may respond to this expressed concern of God's servant. And it goes something like this, and you may have heard it in committee meetings for a missionary society or for the city mission or for whatever else it is. And some bright spark will say, well, we'll make sure that brother so-and-so or sister so-and-so never has to face that challenge. We'll make sure he never has to be concerned about that, never has to express that sensitivity.
And the way we'll make sure is we'll give him nothing. I will send him no gift. And we will allow him to remain focused. Because after all, we wouldn't want the servant of God to lose focus, would we? Despite the fact that some of these fat heads are in the committee, have long since lost focus.
They got money sticking out of every orifice. of their jackets. But if determined That since God's servant Mustn't be focused on the wrong thing. They will prevent him from being focused on the wrong thing because they won't give him anything.
So, don't give him a car. Give him a bicycle. Because if he gets a car, he might like a car. You mean he might like it like you like it?
Well, I'm not mentioning me at the moment. No, I know you're not mentioning me, but I'm mentioning you at the moment, Clothiers. Where do you get this double standard? You see?
So, the sensitivity of the servant of God is to move to the position where, if he has given up potential financial remuneration in the service of Christ, has given up the opportunity for advancement in the service of Christ, it is the responsibility of the servant to ensure that he is no longer ingratiating himself with people in order to receive gifts or to receive resources that will then float his boat. The flip side, of course, is that the people of God, we who have resources to disperse to those who are in peculiar need, who have gone to the other side of the universe for the case of the gospel, who have put themselves in penurous situations for the things of Christ, that we who have resources do not respond in this perverse way. But rather, that we recognize that, as Singler Ferguson says, even if we cause embarrassment to those to whom we are generous. We must respect their sensitivity. We must also be given the opportunity to discover that it is more blessed to give than to.
Receive. And what becomes fairly obvious, not only from here but from the whole of the Bible, is that the Lord uses generous Christians to help needy Christians. That one Christian has enough because another Christian has been generous. That's the body of Christ at work. That's exhorting, encouraging, and caring for one another.
That the abundance that one enjoys is not so that we may become smug and hard-hearted, but it is in order that we might be able to share with those who don't enjoy the same abundance.
Now that then is the setting. Let's go to the secret. What is this secret? What is this mystery? What is this mysterious principle?
Well, verse 12 gives it to us. I know what it is to be in need. And I know what it is to have plenty. I've learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether I'm well-fed or whether I'm hungry, whether I'm living in plenty or living in want. In other words, his life experiences were such that he had known what it was to be warm and fed, and he knew what it was to be cold and naked.
Not everybody is able to say that. Not everyone has lived on both sides of the street. Not everyone knows, if you like, how the other half lives, but Paul did. There must be a secret to this. To be able to do this and to do this, and yet to have your contentment.
Calibrated by something other than those two experiences. That's the challenge. Isn't it? You're listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life. We'll hear more tomorrow about Christian contentment.
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Download the free e-book and the study guide today. Simply go to truthforlife.org slash name, or if you're listening through the app or on our website, click the Name Above All Names image in the bottom of the home page. We are glad you joined us today. Tomorrow, we'll learn more about finding contentment in both the highs and lows of life. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life.
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