Philippians 4:10 13

The Support of the Church and God’s Timing

Some of you might be wondering why I'm wearing a t-shirt this morning. I usually do not wear a t-shirt to preach in on Sunday mornings. But this morning was a bit of a special situation with a special shirt.

This shirt right here is something that we purchased as a family to to support this young child in Florida Grayson that I've posted about and many of you have been praying about him. I just wanted to give you a bit of an update.

I wore this shirt in support of him. His family is struggling Josh. His father is on staff at the church that supports and helps Us as a church plant and I just want you to continue to keep him in their prayers.

We did have an update. He does not need a breathing tube at the moment, but he is on a special breathing Machine that is helping him and hopefully it will strengthen his lungs. And so just continue to pray for that family.

Victoria and Josh are the parents and they are exhausted.

They are.

They are beat down. You can imagine. Emotionally physically and and so just keep them in your prayers and keep little Grayson in your prayers. We continue to pray for him. So that is why I'm wearing this shirt this morning.

I was hoping that they would still have the shirts available and I would tell you where to go to be able to purchase them. But apparently it is. It has already run its course. But you can keep praying.

Well, go ahead and open up your copy of God's Word. We are going to be in Philippians chapter 4 verses 10 through 13 today and as you're turning there I want to extend a challenge to us because we're getting near the end of our study through Philippians after over six months in This book.

We have one more week after today and so I wanted to challenge each and every one of you if you've been a part of this study at all throughout this process is.

To.

Open this book this week and read through it in its totality from front to back the book of Philippians every day at least once. That seems like a lot. I know to some people like I don't read that much but it's just four chapters.

It's very simple. Forget the chapters forget the verses just read through it as if it was a letter from the Apostle Paul because that's what it was and after being in this book, I Think you'll be amazed at just how rich and an amazing God's Word is gonna pop out to you and And be used in your life as you read through that letter and just be reminded the Holy Spirit will do a work in there.

So challenge you every day at least once this week as we get ready. Hopefully next week will be done. We'll be all the way through the book. Well, let's look at our verses today. Philippians chapter 4 starting in verse 10.

Paul says I Rejoiced in the Lord. Greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger. Abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Well, that's a familiar verse, isn't it? Every time I read through it. I feel like I'm getting ready to score the winning touchdown. There's a familiar verse and we're gonna talk through that a little bit.

But before we do let's go to the Lord in prayer one more time and ask that the Holy Spirit would Illuminate our minds and hearts to his truth. Dearly father. I would come to you once again. We know and we acknowledge our desperate need for you to do a work in our hearts and in our minds.

For you are the one that renews our minds through your word and and you are the one that does the work in our hearts and in our lives through convict conviction through encouragement. God and we. We just want to acknowledge that and our frailty in it.

God, I pray that you would illuminate our hearts and minds to this truth today. That we can see what the Apostle Paul is saying here in these few verses and that you would use it to sanctify us and Grow us as we become more in the image of our Savior Jesus Christ in Jesus name.

I pray. Amen. All right. So who in here has ever been on a family road trip? Those are fun, aren't they a family road trip? So pretty much everybody's been on a family road trip. So everyone can tell me what the four Universally repeated words from the backseat are.

Are we there yet? Right? Are we there yet? It's it's every single time We'll leave to take a trip to Florida and one of my four kids before we cross the Mississippi Bridge is asking Are we there yet? You know, I'll look at Erica.

I'm like this can be such a long trip. I Don't find contentment in that process, but it's funny that the base instinct and the base Default of every single child is one of discontentment with their whereabouts.

Have you ever noticed that it's discontentment with their whereabouts you take a kid and you make them stay inside. Where do they want to be? I want to be outside. You take you tell them they have to be outside and what do they do?

They stand at the door? It's hot out here. I want to be inside. They're always wanting to be somewhere else as any of my four kids hit around two years old I realized all they want is for me to open all the doors and all the gates and all the boundaries.

Because they want access to everything at all times. Whatever they feel like because they're not content with their certain situation and whereabouts as to where they are right now.

And.

It's easy to pick on the kids a little bit because it's obvious in their lives because they don't have the self-control. Built up to be able to at least mask their discontentment as opposed to us. We've learned how to hide it a little bit even though sometimes we feel exactly how they feel.

But the kids they're easy to pick on. But you know that our natural default is discontentment. That's the the natural sinful default of every human. There should be discontent with our situation. Look at what had happened with Adam and Eve.

They were discontent with what God had told them. They had everything but yet they still Sought for more so it's naturally built into our DNA it's ingrained into our sinful nature. But then to make things worse we now in our culture and our time period live in a society of instant gratification don't we.

Everything is instant everything is now and our culture feeds on this discontentment that the entire marketing community is based around humanity's discontentment. And they feed off of it almost everything in our world is cashing in on this driving desire of ours.

This driving desire in each person to be there now. I want to be there now. I want to achieve this now. I want this now. If I want this then I want it now and everything is built around. Cashing in on this and there's no other time in history where we've had such quick access to everything.

Anything in everything we want we can have at the drop of a hat. We can have it instantly. I mean my internet went out the other day for a short amount of time and I thought my world was crashing to a halt.

I thought I can't live life. This is unbearable. What do we live in a third world country? This is absurd and. And I realized that's discontent in my own heart. I'm losing my mind over not having internet for a moment.

But it's because I think we live in a the net the Netflix generation, don't we? The Netflix. I notice that my kids when they're watching on their iPads. They can watch their show that they want to watch and they don't comprehend commercials.

We have no commercials. We have no schedules. All we have is binge-watching. At our fingertips anytime we want. Anything we want and so it's feeding this natural default of discontentment in our hearts.

It's funny. Economists actually have a term for this. They actually have a phrase about this very thing and and it's called the law of diminishing returns. Which basically just means the more of something I have The less satisfaction I get from it.

Well that sums up humanity, doesn't it? The more of something I have the less I get. I get satisfaction from that thing. I can't be satisfied with something if I have more of it, so if I have All the information accessible to me at any time I can google anything if I have all the entertainment accessible to me that I could possibly ever want if I have all the comforts in the world.

If I have all the Facebook followers that I could possibly imagine. Then why am I still asking? Are we there yet? Why are we still asking this question? It doesn't does it it never satisfies. I mean think about it with all these things in our life.

What is it that you think in your mind is? A guarantee or a promise of Satisfaction and contentment. Usually most people have something in their mind. Maybe it's winning the Powerball if I could just win that 300 million dollars, then I could be content.

I wouldn't have any worries anymore. Well, I think the Evidence is there that that doesn't ever work. Does it that never brings any satisfaction? Nothing will. Well What's gonna allow us to say I have arrived.

I Am there. I'm at the destination that I want to be at at this very moment. Because just like Brenda mentioned just a second ago. There's only one Answer to that question and it has nothing to do with this world.

A Puritan. Thomas Brooks wrote about this. He said a man might have enough of this world to sink him. But never enough to satisfy him. Our desire to be content Causes us constantly to grab a hold of things that cause us to sink.

It's as if we're out floating in the ocean and We look around and we see that steel pipe over there and we think if I grab that that'll help me float. That'll help keep me up. But all it ever does is it causes me to sink because nothing in this world can satisfy so If only there was a secret to contentment.

There was a secret. If that's my natural default. Should shouldn't there be some sort of thing out there some secret that I can do. Well Paul puts this secret in plain sight for us in these few verses.

In these four verses. I actually want us to see four things That I think are in plain sight for Paul and sometimes we just skip right over them in order to read that verse 13 before we go and play a basketball game.

But these four things that I want us to see is first the support second the shaping. Third the surrender and lastly the secret. I'm gonna make you wait to the end for the secret. All right. So let's look at the first one the support.

Look at verse 10 with me. Paul says I rejoiced in the Lord. Greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. So the church at Philippi we all know if you've been in this study at all. You know that they have sent a man by the name of Epaphroditus With I guess a bag of money.

To help support the Apostle Paul because in Paul's imprisonment in Rome at the time you had to support yourself. So if you didn't have money for food if you didn't have someone on the outside to help you if you didn't have resources.

They just threw you into a dark hole until you starved to death. That was your imprisonment. So Paul had to have some help, right? And so this church is obviously That they they're supporting the Apostle Paul.

They're bringing help and they're helping him and what he says he says I rejoiced in the Lord.

Greatly I.

Have to make note when Paul keeps repeating a word. Are you are you seeing and hearing as we go through this book rejoice? He's constantly reminding them to rejoice he's always referring to rejoicing in these four short chapters.

He actually says this phrase seven times He keeps repeating this rejoice and this particular instance this rejoiced is in the past tense as if Paul Has had a moment where he just says I have rejoiced I rejoiced in The Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me and he goes on and he says you Were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.

So what does he mean by you had no opportunity? This church has sent help. What what how did they have no opportunity before that? Well, it doesn't tell us. So hence it doesn't matter. But I think we can we can see a few things.

I think what Paul is saying here is that God himself Our sovereign all-ordaining God did not give them the opportunity To support the Apostle Paul. Here's here's why I think that is Number one. Paul knows who's ultimately in control.

We've already talked extensively about that Paul knows who's in control. God controls every minor little detail in everyone's lives. Including the Church of Philippi including Paul including ours, right?

So he knows who the God that he worships. But secondly because of the beginning of the verse that we just talked about rejoicing in the Lord. Because Paul didn't say I rejoice in your gift. He didn't say I rejoiced in you the gift that the people that have brought me the gift.

No, Paul says I rejoice in the gift giver. I Rejoice in the Lord the one that is in control of all of these Circumstances because ultimately this is not support from the church at Philippi. Or should I say just the people in the church at Philippi?

This is support from the Lord himself who is using his body the church. To carry out his will in his perfect timing. Are you seeing what I'm saying here? You trekking with me. This is the Apostle Paul affirming to the church at Philippi that they are the ones that have physically given the help That had been delayed for some period of time.

Remember he planted the church about a decade before so there's a gap in there somewhere and now they have come and he says you did not have opportunity to you didn't have opportunity and the reason you have opportunity is because God didn't give you the Opportunity because he wanted to bring this gift at this specific time at this specific need.

Because I can guarantee you the church at Philippi wanted to help Paul the entire time. They love this man. They they dearly love this man. He planted that church. They they probably wanted to help him and and who knows maybe they didn't know where he was in this time period between then and they Didn't know where to send help.

Maybe they were hurting financially so much because of the persecution within their own church that they didn't have the means to help. But whatever means that is it was God. Ordaining the fact that they could not give the help that they obviously wanted to give him because Paul affirms.

They wanted to give it to him, right? So they could not do it because because God had stopped them. Because God always gave Paul just as he does all of us exactly what he needed. At exactly when he needed it.

Amen. This is the God that that Paul knows that he worships. And so with this help from the church at Philippi this help is ultimately from God and he's using his bride. He's using the church to carry it out in his timing.

So my question to us is is have you ever found yourself? Discontent. Because you felt that you weren't being supported. Have you ever found yourself in a position of? Frustration. Discontentment with your situation because you are not being supported by a family member.

Because your friend isn't supporting you emotionally.

Spiritually.

Or maybe your church isn't supporting you the way you think you should be. Simple. Maybe you're not getting the support that you think that you need. Well, I would say that. Maybe God is teaching you and he's teaching me in those times.

To not seek contentment in anything But him in his Providence in his perfect timing.

Amen.

Is that's what we know of our God. Maybe God is molding us. Maybe God is shaping us which leads us to our second point the shaping. Look at verse 11 with me. Paul says not that I am speaking of being in need.

Well, hold on just a second. What? What not that I'm speaking of being in need. Think about the position he's in. He has no means to go out and provide for himself. He has no ability To to to eat if somebody doesn't bring him food.

He has no ability to make the money. He has no ability to do anything. He's trapped. He's in prison. He's chained to a Roman guard in isolation and he's saying Not that I have any need. If anyone has need it's Paul right now, right?

It's Paul in this particular moment. But he's telling them that he doesn't have any need and I think he's telling them this because he doesn't want them to confuse his thankfulness to them with desperation.

He said in an example for them, he doesn't want them to go. Oh man, thank goodness for us. Giving him the gift because he would have been totally destitute without it. He wouldn't have been able to survive if we hadn't given him the gift.

He's thankful to them for it, but they should not mistake that thankfulness for for him being desperate and in need. Because he says not that I'm speaking of being in need. He goes on he says for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be.

Content this.

This phrasing that Paul uses here and learned is interesting to me. It's interesting. Remember our natural default is discontentment, right? We talked a moment ago about children are not able to control themselves on a on a road trip.

But in contrast think of us as adults. We've had experience. We've been on road trips. We know how long the road trip is. We've had to learn in the process to be content with the situation that we're in in the moment.

If you travel with me, you probably learn I'm not super content in a road trip. But I let's pretend I'm an adult for right now. So but we've learned in the process to be content on that road trip. And I think that's kind of what Paul is saying here is he's saying that he's learned in whatever.

Situation.

He's had to learn this process because of his default just like ours is discontentment. Then something has to change that default something has to change his mind. Something has to shape him into becoming someone that is content and that had to happen in Paul.

He says in whatever situation. Think about that for a second. Paul's had some good situations, but Paul has had some doozies, too. Paul has been shipwrecked. Paul has been beaten. Paul has been stoned.

Paul has been near death. Paul's been in prison. Paul has Starving to death. Paul has been in terrible difficult Situations that I am gonna go out on a limb here and say that none of us in this room have ever experienced.

But these situations is what he's saying is he's learned in whatever situation good or bad. That he is to be content that he's to find contentment that he is to to To override his default discontentment.

And I find it interesting here look at the passage. He says in whatever situation. He says I am to be content. So so he's learned in whatever situation He is required to be content. It's not an option.

Paul doesn't say I've learned in whatever situation That it's better to be content. I've learned in whatever situation that it's that's advised to be content. This is something that God has has told me that that man It's gonna be better for you if you can learn to be content.

That's not what he says. He says I am to be content. This is this is an imperative. This is this is direct from Paul saying God has Commanded me to be content in this situation, but I've had to learn it and I've had to learn it through situations.

I've had to learn it through these life processes and through these these Things that sometimes are difficult that God is using in my life to reset my sinful default. So Paul here has learned to be content and it requires shaping and it requires shaping through experience so I would say that we as believers should follow Paul's example, obviously and we Should actively be praying That God Would give us contentment.

It's kind of like praying for patience, isn't it? What happens when we pray for patience? What does God give us? He gives us situations to show patience. It's never easy is that it's always a scary thing.

I'm I'm that guy that reluctantly prays for patience, but we should be praying for contentment. We should be praying that God would make us to To follow the example of the Apostle Paul ultimately to follow the example of our Savior because our Savior was the one that was ultimately content with his situation with his Condescending from heaven and taking on the form of man and being beaten and being killed.

That was perfect contentment in that process. So we need to follow that example and to be like that. It's gonna take God using Circumstances and situations to shape and mold us into that contentment. Because contentment can't just happen in us.

It's just not it's just not there. It's just like patience patient. We don't just wake up one day. I'm gonna be a patient person. You can't wake up one day and say I'm just gonna be content. I'm gonna pull myself up by my bootstraps and we're gonna go to work and we're gonna be content in whatever situation.

It doesn't work like that. Does it? As a matter of fact, I found when I try and do that I'm less content because now I'm discontent with my discontentment and I'm just losing it's a spiral and I just start to Seek I start to sink because I'm grasping for other things.

It's like.

Declaring I am I am content. I Don't know if there's any office fans in here. Michael Scott comes out. He's hurting financially and he says I declare bankruptcy. No, I got a few office fans in here somebody tells him they're like it doesn't work like that you can't just say it.

He goes I didn't just say it. I declared it. The same way with us we can't just declare it just be. I'm gonna be content. It doesn't work like that. It's gonna take shaping. It's gonna take God working in our hearts and in our lives and giving us situations and and they're gonna be hard.

Some of them are gonna be hard, but I can tell you too. There's gonna be some of them. They're sweet. Beautiful and easy and we'll talk about that here in just a moment. But what I do want to say in this moment before we continue to go even further is I want you If you were in Christ do not be discouraged.

About your current discontentment right now. I feel that this is necessary for us to say do not be discouraged with your content discontentment at this time right now. If you find yourself discontent with where God has you and you're struggling and you know, it's sin and you want to overcome it.

Hold on to the promise that Paul gave us back in chapter 1 verse 6. That he who began a good work in you will see it to completion. He's working in you it takes time. Sanctification is a slow process.

He's making us in damage of his son and it just it it feels like it creeps along sometimes. I Try and remind myself with as we're planting this church that that as I look around At everyone's lives to remember to look at all of our lives including my own in chunks of decades not chunks of weeks.

Because that's how sanctification works, doesn't it? Slow but there is change and God is going to finish that work in us and we have ultimate peace in the fact that that at the day of Christ Jesus because that's what he says you began a good work and you will see it to completion of The day of Christ Jesus at that day of Christ Jesus if you're in Christ each one of us are gonna find.

Perfect.

Perfect contentment. We're gonna finally be able to rest in Christ completely but yet with that Needs to be said Do not. Do not just rest in your discontentment while resting in the merits of Christ. Let us press on.

Let us let us seek to be content. Let us seek for Situations to make us content. Don't just sit back and laugh at lax and and say well I'm discontent by default and Jesus has paid for my sins. And so ultimately I'll be content one day.

So it's okay that I'm discontent. There's a balance there, isn't there? That's a difficult one but ultimately it's all about resting in the merits of Christ and the work that God is doing in you and In that resting it allows you to press on doesn't it?

It allows you to press on towards him. So we've seen the support in verse 10 the shaping in verse 11 and now in verse 12 I want us to see the surrender at least the first part of verse 12. Says I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound.

It's interesting how Paul puts this he doesn't say I know how to be low. I don't he doesn't say I know how to have lows. He says I know how to be here again, this is this is active. This is God. This is Paul saying God is the one that brings me to this difficult circumstance.

God is the one that is bringing me into that low. I can't help but think of Job.

Remember.

God gives Satan the the the ability to kill Job's Children to take his livestock to remove all of his wealth and the only thing he's left with in the moment is a nagging wife and As he's speaking to her as she tells him just curse God and die Job.

What does he say to her? He says he says shall we receive good from God all of the blessings that we've had the children that we had the wealth that we had all of the Blessings that God had bestowed on us and shall we not receive evil in that moment.

Job is telling his wife God is in charge of all of this. God is the one that has brought me here. God is the one that has brought me to this low and he's brought me to this low for a reason. And here's the beautiful part is when you fully grasp that Then and only then are you gonna be able to have any level of contentment in that low.

Because that's the only beauty that comes out of it is the fact that our sovereign God has brought you there. So Paul's acknowledging that he's been brought low, but then he says and I know how to abound.

I Think it's interesting that Paul puts this in there because when we think of discontentment we think of discontentment only in our lows. When we're low, well, that's when I need contentment. That's when I'm gonna be discontentment, but Paul says that he's had to learn contentment not only in the lows.

But when he abounds. When he's abounding you can hear Paul surrender to God's shaping here. Can't you it's why does he have to know? How to abound in the highs. Shouldn't he should or to be content in the highs.

How shouldn't he be? Okay. We think about it in our own lives. We abound in excess.

Yeah.

I would I would venture say that everyone in this room struggles with contentment in the midst of our excess and here Paul says That he had to learn how to be content within abundance. Why is that. Why do we have to learn?

Well bear with me for a second. I think we have to learn in our abundance because of our our propensity to make an idol in our heart of Self, I think it was Calvin that said our human heart is a is an idol factory.

It's this.

Producing an idol all the time I think of a conveyor belt my heart is just producing idols and I may if I'm really standing firm in the faith I'm staying at the end of that with a baseball bat. Crushing those idols as they come.

But the moment I crush one another one's coming down and I have to stand there and crush it and I've stand there and crush It and my entire Christian life is one of guarding my heart while crushing idols down the conveyor belt and so if our natural propensity is Towards making an idol of self and the fact that we want to gratify the flesh.

When we make a god out of anything other than the one true God We're left wanting we can't be content if we accept that idol of self then we can't be content because we are not putting our hopes and our our Faith and our trust in the one true God the only one that can bring true contentment the only true God and This is especially dangerous our idol producing hearts are especially dangerous in the midst of excess and abundance.

Why is that? It's because we forget our need of him. As a matter of fact turning your Bibles over to Proverbs chapter 30. Proverbs chapter 30 verse verses 8 and 9. Some of you are probably familiar with this passage.

I want you to see what the writer of this proverb says here. This is this has been a prayer of mine for years since I saw this proverb and it is it is Meant very much to me in my fight. Yeah Proverbs chapter 30 starting in verse 8.

This is this is the writer basically praying this prayer to God. He says give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me. Lest I be fool and deny you and say.

Who is the Lord? Who is the Lord?

And he goes on there and he says or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. Don't you feel this in your own life? Abundance is as dangerous to the Christian life as as difficulty. As a matter of fact, I would say in our certain circumstances.

Within our culture the sheer amount of abundance that we have is probably more dangerous to us. Because when we're in the valley when we're in that moment of of difficulty, what do we do? We know I have no hope.

It's dark down here. God help me.

I.

Know my need of you because I'm in the swamp and I'm gonna drown and I can't do this on my own and I look To God in my moment of difficulty. But what happens when you're on the mountaintop experience when everything is going smooth everything in your life is good.

Your bills are paid you have excess you can eat what you want. You can do what you want. You can wear what you want. You have anything that you could possibly want. What is gonna happen? You forget your need of him.

Because your idol. Producing heart and so Paul is saying here in our passage back in Philippians that he's had to learn In whatever situation to be content both in the lows and in the abundance. When we forget our need of him, we open ourselves up to worship other things and in this moment We have a difficult time remembering who we truly need and that's what Paul's saying here.

It's because nothing other than the object of our faith can satisfy. Amen. Nothing can satisfy. So we must surrender to God's shaping. How do we do this? How do we surrender to God's shaping in our lives?

Well, we've seen the support the shaping and the surrender. Finally we've gotten to our last and final point the secret. Look at the look at the passage with me. Look at the the second half of verse 12 he says in any and every Circumstance the any basically just affirming again that it's whatever situation He says I have learned there's that learned again the secret.

Here's a secret he put out in plain sight for all of us to see remember. He says I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger abundance and need. So what is that secret look at verse 13? I can do all things through him who?

Strengthens me. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. This verse is not about scoring a touchdown. Is it? It's not about Getting that promotion at work. It's not about you. It's not about what you can get out of it.

I saw a t-shirt actually one day had that verse up there says I can do all things Through a verse taken out of context. It's so true. That's not what Paul is saying here when he says I can do all things through through him who strengthens me.

What Paul's saying is how can I face? Anything. How can I face the lows? How can I face the highs and still keep my attention on Christ? How can I be content? What's the secret? Because he hit the spectrum of all of it didn't he he says I've learned facing plenty.

I've had excess. I've had abundance. I've had to face hunger. I've had to face this abundance and I've faced need. He just confirms all of this and in every one of these situations. There's a secret. How do I face it and still find contentment?

Because of my sinful discontent heart Through him you thought you were gonna get some special little insight here, didn't you? I'm just gonna tell you what you already know because that's what you have to be reminded of.

It's what I have to be reminded of. I.

Can do all things through him who strengthens me. It has nothing to do with Paul's power. Has nothing to do with Nathan's power. Has nothing to do with your power. Has everything to do with the one that is dwelling within us.

Has everything to do. This is the same power that Paul refers to over in Ephesians chapter 3 if you want to you can turn There. I'll read it Ephesians chapter 3 verses 14 on. He says for this reason I bow my knees before the father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

That according to the riches of his glory. It's for him, right? According to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened With power through pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. It's not what he says is that you may be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inward being that indwelling of the Holy Spirit God in You because of your oneness in Christ and now your oneness with the Holy Spirit and your oneness with the father and your oneness With each other because of that indwelling you now have the power and the strength to overcome Whatever sin comes your way and that includes your natural default of discontentment.