Spiritual Depression Pt. 20: Learning To Be Content

Learning Contentment in Philippians 4

All right, we're up to chapter 20 in the book Spiritual Depression by Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. And we're beginning with the text in Philippians, once again, Philippians chapter 4. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me.

Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. 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. 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. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone. For even in Thessalonica, you sent a gift more than once for my needs.

Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full and have an abundance. I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God, and my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

And that's the text we're going to be looking at, the basis for this whole chapter. Here's his opening paragraph. We have in the words of Philippians 4, 10 to 12, one of those portions of Scripture which always makes me feel that there is a sense in which the only right and proper thing to do after reading them is to pronounce the benediction.

I love the way he says that. Have you ever experienced that? You read the Scripture. Sometimes I do that even in a pulpit. I read the opening Scripture. I say, you know what? Amen. Maybe I'll do that one.

I'll just say, that's it. You got it. One trembles at the very approach of such exalted, noble words, recalling as they do one of the high watermarks in the Christian experience of this mighty apostle to the Gentiles.

Yet it is our business, though we approach them thus with fear and trembling, to try to analyze and expound them. With the end of the ninth verse in this chapter, the apostle has reached the end of the particular exhortations which he was anxious to address to the members of the church at Philippi.

He has really finished with his doctrine, but he still cannot close the letter. There is one other thing he must do, and that is he must express his profound gratitude to the members of the church at Philippi for the personal gift which they had sent to him while held in prison in Rome by the hand of their friend and brother Epaphroditus.

If you just take into account what he opened his whole chapter with, with that paragraph, the fact that Paul spends ten verses thanking the church in Philippi for their gift is something of noteworthy.

It's very noteworthy that we should take and say, you know, why does he take ten verses just to say thank you? I mean, the whole book is not that much longer than its four chapters. So I want you to remember the lesson from last week.

Firstly, requests should be made known to God with an attitude of thanksgiving. Remember, that's what we had looked at in verses six and seven of the same chapter. So be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

So every time we come before God, we have to come with that attitude of thanksgiving. And of course, that would also apply when somebody else does a kindness or something good to us. And so what Paul is trying to do, and why does he take ten verses?

He's trying to strike a balance, okay? And here's what I mean. Being gracious and respectful for the gift, but assuring them that it was not solicited nor expected. And I think that's a crucial thing.

And this is one of the things that we see. If you go through the whole New Testament, everything that Paul wrote, he never was expecting something. When it was given to him, he accepted it graciously and with thanksgiving.

But quite often, if you remember, he even made his own way by being a tent maker. So he never wanted to be a burden to the church, yet when they gave him money, he accepted it and received it with thanksgiving.

Paul's trouble was something like this. He was very anxious to thank the church at Philippi for their kindness. But at the same time, he was equally anxious, if not more anxious, to show them that he had not been waiting impatiently for or expecting this expression of their kindness.

And still more that he was in no sense dependent upon their goodness and generosity. All right, you're following? So here the apostle at one and the same time shows his indebtedness to his friends, but he is still greater indebtedness to the Lord.

Verse, I forget the number of it, but where he says that, My God shall supply all your needs in his riches and glory. And that's what we need to understand. Now God uses second causes, God uses people to supply needs, but we don't then start depending upon people to do these things.

Now notice this flies right in the face of all the Word of Faith people. Because the Word of Faith movement is built upon, you need to send your money to me and that's going to bless you. And it's going to, you know, you're going to become prosperous as you give to me.

I wanted to write back to one of those guys. I got one of those letters in the mail that says, Why don't you give money to me so you can be blessed? But I thought it better of it and I didn't do that.

In other words, how he expresses his gratitude is just as important as of the fact that he is grateful. All right, and that's why he takes ten verses. Even as he expresses his thanks, he is teaching the church at Philippi a lesson.

And you find that with all of Paul's writings, no matter what he's doing, even when he seems to be going on with a certain subject, he's always teaching. He's always in the mode of teaching us something.

Philippians 4 .11, Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. Notice, he says, I'm content. Will I get your gift? I don't get your gift. I'm content. Right now, obviously, this subject of content.

That's the subject of this whole chapter. This is the great principle which the apostle expounds upon as he offers thanksgiving to both the church and to God. So he doesn't not thank them or he doesn't neglect God, but he thanks both in these verses.

So there are two overriding principles that we must look at in this chapter. First, the first condition is the condition the apostle is in. And as we come into this chapter, what is the condition? He tells them he's in a condition of contentment.

That's where the apostle Paul is. Paul is not going through spiritual depression. And one of the reasons he's not going through spiritual depression is he has learned contentment. Contentment is the condition of self-sufficiency.

And before anybody jumps up and down about the word self-sufficiency, let me explain. Not self-sufficiency from God, but because of the relationship with God, self-sufficiency from outward circumstances.

In other words, my state of mind, my spiritual condition is not dependent upon what's going on out there. It doesn't matter what any of you say to me. It doesn't matter if you like me or if you don't like me.

Whether you say, you know, collect an offering because you heard I was a poor preacher or something like that. You know, that was a joke, but it went right over everybody's head. Except the other elder.

All right. Anyway, I'm just going to try to dig myself out of the hole now. So, I'm content. So it's not self-sufficiency from God, but because of his relationship with God, self-sufficiency from outward circumstances.

Put it another way, your condition is not dependent upon the circumstances that you find yourself in. For example, Paul and Silas in Philippi. Interestingly enough, Paul's writing to the church in Philippi, but his experiences there are telling.

In Acts 16, verse 23 to 25, When they had struck them with many blows, remember he's in the prison now, struck them with many blows. They threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely.

Now notice what condition, what is the circumstances of the apostle Paul? He'd been beaten up and just says many blows. All right. And this was not done by the Jews. So this idea of it only being 39 blows, that could have been far more than that.

And he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet with stocks into the stocks. Threw them into the inner prison. That's the inner prison means that's like the worst part of the prison, the most secure.

Nobody escapes from that part of the prison. The stocks is not like you see in New England during the Puritan and Pilgrim time. The stocks would actually put them in, they put their head and their hands in it.

And then they would spread their legs as far as they could and lock them in a stock. So he's sitting down there in this prison, the inner part damp, cold, miserable, no light. And then his legs are spread far apart, locked in that position.

And there he is. All right. That's his circumstances. But about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying, singing hymns of praise to God. That's learning the secret of being content in whatever and every circumstances.

His circumstances should have put him, if you're looking from a secular point of view, should have put him into some sort of depression. Instead, he's singing praises to God. That's the idea. That's the picture of contentment.

First Timothy 6 .6. But godliness actually is a means of great gain. But there's a caveat. When accompanied by contentment. OK. We saw the same principle taught by Jesus in Matthew 6. Remember, we looked at the Sermon on the Mount.

For this reason, I say to you, do not be worried. Remember, that's the word that's often translated anxious or anxiety. All right. About your life as to what you eat or drink, nor for your body as to what you will put on.

It's not life more than food and the body more than clothing. All right. And how does Jesus finish that whole portion out? But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. OK. Now, an important point needs to be made here because we're talking about not being controlled by our outward circumstances, not being anxious about what you're going to wear, what your matters of life.

That's contentment. And there's a big difference between contentment and complacency. Unfortunately, a lot of churches read into this and say, don't be concerned. And they pretty much take away any drive to to get ahead in life.

No, whatever God has for me, it's going to come. And, you know, so I don't have to do anything because God's going to take care of me. That's not the message of Scripture. There's a that would be sitting in complacency.

All right. Not contentment. Contentment is actually a positive thing, not a not an idle or a negative. It's not even neutral. And you see that later on in the second point, which I'll tell you ahead of time, is he had to learn it.

In fact, it says he had to learn the secret. OK, so it's not complacency at all. Complacency is just said, OK, Sarah, Sarah. I can't do anything. So therefore, let God do it all. That's not the message of Scripture.

It does not say that man should be content to remain in poverty, that he should never endeavor to better himself. There is nothing in the Bible that disputes the proposition that all men are equal in the sight of God and that all are entitled to equal of opportunity.

Grievous harm has been done to the Church of Christ because a statement such as this in our text has been misinterpreted in that way. So if you're a driven type, a type of personality, that's not necessarily wrong as long as you keep it in the proper perspective.

Neither does it mean mere indifference to circumstances. That is but a negative resignation of a pagan stoicism and far removed from the Christian position. Contentment doesn't mean that you do nothing.

It means what is your emotional condition, your spiritual condition, while you're in the midst of the trouble. All right. Does everybody understand the difference? Because that's a crucial point. Contentment then means not being controlled by your circumstances.

Complacency, you are controlled by your circumstances. So my life, my happiness, my joy, and my experience are independent of the things that are going on around me and even the things that may be happening to me.

We used to have in our homicide office, we used to have a sign that would indicate something like this. It says, if you can keep your head when all those around you are losing theirs, you obviously have misinterpreted the situation.

But Paul emphasizes the extent of his contentment in the following verse. That's verse 12 of Philippians 4. I know how to get along with humble means. All right. Humble means. And I also know how to live in prosperity.

I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. Notice he's giving the two extremes. Not even having enough food, having an overabundance of food.

And Paul did. We know from his life that he did experience both of those. And so even in the extremes. All right. He still has learned the secret of being content. And by the way, both extremes have their danger points.

All right. Each condition has its pitfall. Remember the words of Agur in Proverbs chapter 30. Proverbs 30, verse seven and nine. Two things I ask of you. Do not refuse me before I die. Keep deception and lips and lies far from me.

Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is my portion. OK, continuing. That I not be full and deny you and say, who is the Lord? That's this is the pitfall of having too much. A wealthy person.

If they're going to sin, usually it's anything. Look what I did. Remember the sin of Nebuchadnezzar. Look, looking at his kingdom. Look what I have built. OK. And what's the pitfall for somebody who is poor?

Being wanton steal and profane the name of my God. So either end of the spectrum, there's pitfalls. All right. But the danger is not just in the extremes. In the middle, the danger is complacency. Of I have enough.

I don't need to do anything else. And so I sit back. Everything seems to be going well. And I sit back and become complacent. All right. I would say this is one of the biggest problems in the church in America today.

More than anything else, it's complacency. OK, so the apostle adds this phrase. In any and every circumstance. In other words, it's the extremes, but it's also the middle. So no matter where you are, no matter what circumstances you're in, no matter what is happening to you, whether it be extreme from one end or the other, or it's just going along in the middle.

All right. He says he has learned to be content in every and all circumstance. Now, Martin Lloyd-Jones adds an illustration that I had to include because I think it's particularly relevant to the condition we find ourselves in in the world today.

There was a good illustration of that in the early days of the last war when the blackout regulations were first imposed upon us. We used to hear of something which was described as the boredom of the blackout.

People found it almost impossible to spend a succession of nights in their own homes doing nothing. They had become dependent on the cinema, the theater and various other forms of entertainment. And when these things were suddenly cut off, they did not know what to do with themselves.

The boredom of the blackout. What are we going through in America today? All right. And one of the things that you're starting to hear now is the increase in psychological problems and everything else, because people are not leaving their homes and not knowing what to do with themselves when they're in their homes.

So we have the same type of problem here. What is the problem? Not understanding contentment and letting circumstances dictate your emotional and spiritual condition. OK. I was speaking to a young fellow who I will not identify, who is telling me that COVID, the COVID lockdowns was the best thing that happened to his marriage.

He says they had a good marriage going into it, but he said that he said the closeness that developed because of the time that they had to spend with the children and with the wife and together. He says a year later, he says, I look back and he's thanking God for the fact that he was subject to that lockdown.

That's they have learned the secret of being content and they were better for it on the other side. OK. Christians can lapse into discontentment by relying on a Christian environment for their joy and happiness.

Martin Lloyd Jones gets into it. He says he says the danger of being dependent upon Christian meetings and conferences. There are people who substitute. Now, don't get me wrong. Let me let me put a big caveat here.

Should we go be going to Christian conferences and Christian meetings? Absolutely. All right. But the danger is if you're substituting attendance at meetings for growing in your sanctification, that's where the problem comes in.

And I've seen Christians become almost like using church and other conferences, like an alcoholic uses AA. Oh, I have a problem. I need to go to a meeting. No, you need to work out your sanctification with fear and trembling.

You know, you learn that you need to learn to understand the secret of being content. All right. And so. So, again, it's the question. It's everything is not just so cut and dry. Yes. Attendance and meetings, conferences.

We should be going to. But if that becomes a substitute for your own sanctification, that's where you run into a problem. OK. You may be cut off from your community during certain times. Many Christians have lapsed into spiritual depression during this pandemic.

Right. This is why you are called to contentment. Again, this this pandemic, yeah, was a difficult time for me. Sure. It was, you know, but for the Christian, we're not controlled by the even the restrictions of the government.

Do we agree with them? No, not all of them. Some of them, maybe. But we don't we don't even know the whole story. I don't think about the pandemic. Doesn't matter. We're not controlled by that. We should be growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior even through the midst of the pandemic.

Which leads to the last point. Probably the most important question. How does one get to the place where they content in all in every place? Just like the apostle Paul said, I have learned the secret.

That's what Paul says. Just the fact that he says it that way. Think about what he's saying. And Paul, Paul was a master of words. Very educated man. There's no misleading here. He's not saying just do it.

He says, I have learned the secret. And by the way, this is like one word in the Greek. OK. And it has the connotation that was also applied to the mystical pagan religions, the secret societies. Now, that's not what he's saying.

It's the same word that he's using. All right. So learning means it doesn't just happen. All right. You can't just sit back and say, OK, Lord, I'm going to pray for contentment. And that's it. You know what happens if you pray for contentment?

He's going to give you trouble. Yeah, I had a friend of mine in the old church and he says the pastor, he said, I learned this a long time ago. I don't pray for patience, contentment anymore. I just pray.

Give me the trouble, Lord. He said, I bypass all of that. You know, just give me the trouble. I know it's coming. And he calls it a secret. The word secret is the same word used in the mystic religions.

And the word also has the connotation of being initiated into something. All right. So in other words, this is something you're going to have to work at. It's not something that you're going to get by osmosis.

Not going to. It's not going to just happen to you. It's not even simply by reading the scriptures. Do you have to read the scriptures? Of course. But it's not going to happen simply by reading the scriptures.

Now, this refers to what we studied last week being put into God's gymnasium. OK. Remember last week we talked about that. What does it mean to be in God's gymnasium? In oversimplification, you learn the secret by the experiences God brings into your life.

Everything that happens to you is meant for your sanctification. It's meant for your good. And so, therefore, you can learn the secret of being content based upon the circumstances that God puts you in.

All right. Paul learned to be content with the thorn in his flesh, which God refused to remove. Oh, the remove is there. It's down in the corner over there. All right. Which God refused to remove. Now, imagine that the Apostle Paul.

Think about who the Apostle Paul was. How many people are saved because Jesus appeared on the road and said, Paul, why are you persecuting me? OK, so he has this face to face confrontation with Jesus in his conversion.

And then at some point in his life, he's given a vision of the third heaven, things that he's not even allowed to write in Holy Scripture. All right. And because of that, he says God gave him a messenger from Satan, a thorn in the flesh.

And when he prays three times. And by the way, when he says praise three times, the connotation there is he prayed continually. Probably was more than just three times when he was praying continuously for this thorn in the flesh to be removed.

What does God say to him? No, my grace is sufficient for you. That's how he that's how he that's one of the ways in which he learned. So when Paul is writing to the church in Philippi, he's taking all of these circumstances and putting them together.

I've learned the secret of being content. You can take that to the bank. And then if you go to Second Corinthians, see the persecution that he suffered, how many times he was beaten, how many times he was left for dead.

He was stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked. I mean, none of us are ever going to probably approach what he went through. And he learned the secret and he's passing that on to us. But it's not experience alone.

Martin Lloyd Jones suggests that the apostles writings in the apostles writing, we find this type of logic or reasoning. Remember, how how do we learn from the scripture? We have to read the scripture, take time, put it into its right context.

Learn what exactly is it saying? What did it mean to the original hearers? How does that apply to us today? And then you have to take the lessons out of it. Bible study is not an easy thing. OK. And it's much more difficult than even learning any of the other academic disciplines, because you have to interpret what's being said and then apply it to yourself.

OK, you can take a geometry course, and as long as you understand what the rules are and how to apply it, you don't have to make any personal application to it. In fact, that would be a problem if you start to make, you know.

I know I can't have my postulate or my theorem, you know. And this is there's I think it's six, six or seven. This is how he says the apostle things. Conditions are always changing. Therefore, I must obviously not be dependent upon my conditions.

This is common sense, isn't it? If if if today is not going to be the same as yesterday, I can't use all the experience that I had yesterday for today because my circumstances are different. You know, you ever I know my I spent eight years working in homicide.

And in those eight years, I had seven different bosses. And every time another one would come in, he was different. I couldn't respond the same way to each of the bosses because they wanted different things.

They were so inconsistent. One of them might have even understood homicide, but he might have. I'm not. So I had to learn how to deal with each individual because they were my boss. And it wasn't always the same.

OK, and that's what Paul is. He's what Martin Lloyd-Jones is saying here, too. What matters supremely and vitally is my soul and my relationship to God. That's the first thing. So as you're walking around, you got some trouble coming your way.

Instead of going out, woe is me. So wait a minute. I have to glorify God in this. How do I glorify God in this? And then what is he teaching me in this? Three, God is concerned about me as my father and nothing happens to me apart from God.

Even the very hairs of my head are all numbered. I must never forget that. We all know what it's like to be a mother or a father or be a child and understand that the dynamic of that relationship. Moms and dads, you know what you would do for your children.

You know, imagine God. The perfect father. And he loves you. And if you're a child of his, will not allow anything to come into your path that is not for your good. Even the bad stuff. God's will and God's ways are a great mystery.

But I know that whatever he wills or permits is of necessity for my good. It is a mystery how God works. Now, who can possibly say that? And God doesn't always work the same way every time. OK, and we see this.

Remember when he sent the disciples and Jesus sent the disciples out the first time? Anybody remember what was his admonition? What was he supposed to take with him? Nothing. Not even extra pair of shoes.

Right. When he and definitely not a weapon, he specifies, don't take a sword. What do you send him out with the second time? Take a sword. You're going to need it. So it's not always it's not always the same thing.

It depends upon your circumstances, how he equips you. But it's all for your good. Every situation in life is the unfolding of some manifestation of God's love and goodness. Therefore, my business is to look for this particular manifestation of God's goodness and kindness and to be prepared for surprises and blessings because his ways are not my ways, neither his thoughts my thoughts.

What, for example, is the great lesson that Paul learned in the matter of the thorn in the flesh? It is that when I am weak, then I am strong. Paul was taught through physical weakness, his manifestation of God's grace.

That's amazing right there. God doesn't do things the way we think, you know, and he loves. God loves to take the weak things, the foolish things that confound the wise. Six, I must regard circumstances and conditions not in and of themselves, therefore, but as part of God's dealings with me in the work of perfecting my soul and bringing me to final perfection.

Whatever my conditions may be at this present moment, they are only temporary. They are only passing and they can never rob me of my joy and the glory that ultimately awaits me with Christ. Look at those seven things and just imagine now what circumstances in life will you find yourself in that these don't apply?

And if we understand that, this is how you're learning the secret of being content. Because God's ways are not our ways. And he's going to bring you through some things where you're going to want to cry out, why God?

And you know, his response is going to be more often than not. My grace is sufficient for you. And you need to learn the secret. Whatever is happening to you is teaching you the secret of being content.

So that you can at some point say with the Apostle Paul, I know what it means to have a lot. I know what it means to have nothing. But in any and all things, I have learned the secret of being content.

That's the lesson that he's teaching us. I suggest that Paul had reasoned and argued it out like that. He had faced conditions and circumstances in the light of the Christian truth and the Christian gospel.

And had worked out these steps and stages. And having done so, he says, let anything you can think of happen to me. I remain exactly where I was. Whatever may happen to me, I am left unmoved. That gives you a little inclination, a little help in 1 Corinthians 15, the last verse.

Therefore be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. There's the steadfast, immovable. The big principle that emerges clearly is that he had learned to find his pleasure and his satisfaction in Christ and always in Christ.

Even though he's thanking the church in Philippi for the gifts, he always comes back to Christ first. And then the conclusion. Finally, I believe that what helped him most to learn this lesson was his looking at the great and perfect example of Christ himself.

Looking unto Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame. Despising the shame, Hebrews 12, 1 -4. Paul looked unto him and saw him and his perfect example, and he applied it to his own life.

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. I have come to learn in whatsoever state I am therein to be self-sufficient and independent of circumstances.

Here's his final words to you. Christian people, can you say that, do you know that state? Let this become first with us. Let this become our ambition. Let us strain every nerve and do everything we can to get into this blessed state.

Life may force it upon us, but even if circumstances do not, the time is bound to come, sooner or later. When earth and every earthly scene will pass away, and in that final isolation of the soul we shall be alone, facing death and eternity.

The greatest thing in life is to be able to say with Christ himself at that hour, and yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. Questions?

This is a hard one. It's a hard lesson. Any thoughts? Yes, Norma. I was actually having a discussion with someone about the health, wealth, prosperity doctrines, because they were basically saying, well, doesn't God want good things for his kids?

And I said, well, again, not necessarily, and the problem with that type of teaching is that it gives you that false sense of hope that you're just waiting for God's perfect timing. You may actually die and not get your prayer answered, like, for example, a reconciliation with a family member or some kind of circumstance.

And that can be anxiety, you don't sleep, you're always worried about it, but if your open joy is in the Lord and thinking about eternal things, not earthly things, that's where you can have that. I mean, you still cry about circumstances, but it's not the same where it's overwhelming you and overcoming you is what I tried to explain.

And that's the problem with that type of teaching is that it gives that person that false sense of hope that eventually, maybe a year from now, this problem specifically will be solved and God's going to do it.

But he may, he can, but he may not, and he's not our genie, so it's like being consent that yes, he may answer you in that way, or he may not.

Sure. Well, as Paul tells us, sometimes the answer to your prayer is no, and that means that that's for our good, which means that that answer is the right answer. Yes, John. Joe, I mean, I'm sorry.

It would seem to me that this takes an extraordinary amount of faith. Yes. To follow all of these, especially the seven ways, whatever it is that you mentioned here. Is that true?

Oh yeah, this, a new believer, I wouldn't even go here with a new believer. This is, remember we were talking about in Hebrews the difference between the milk of the word and the meat of the word. This is raw meat, you know, and that's why you need to, the writer to Hebrews says, you know, you're not ready to learn all of this stuff yet, all the difficult things.

That's why in our discipleship, we start out with the elementary principles of scripture and then work in as a person grows in faith. But God understands that too and will not give the new believer the same tests or trials and tribulation that he gives the mature believer.

Go ahead. I just wanted to basically note that there were two things. One was through circumstances and experiences and then the other one, so that's the one I needed more clarification on. From what I understood, it was learning to apply logic and reasoning that is important for reading scripture.

Okay. Yeah, so in other words, taking the principles of scripture, if you notice in those seven points, each one was taking either something that was just so obvious that it's common sense, like your circumstances are going to change.

Well, the scripture says that too, but the other is where God will not bring anything into your path except for your good. That's direct from scripture, so that's one of the biggest things is learning how to take scripture and interpret it properly and then apply it to your life.

This might be a good opportunity for me to just say this. Whenever I'm asked to counsel somebody, especially somebody who is going through some sort of difficulty, you know, kind of a crisis in faith, one of the first things I do is I give them some instruction on how to read the Bible devotionally.

Again, I'm like Jay Adams, I don't particularly care for the word devotions, but we can read the Bible devotionally, and how is that? And I actually have an outline piece of paper that I hand out to them so they can use it as a guide.

First thing you do is you read the text, however you're working through it, and that can change depending on what your circumstances in life are. So you read the text, and then you ask yourself, what is that text saying?

That's the first thing. If you don't understand what the text is saying, how are you ever going to apply it? So once you learn what the text is saying, you say, what did that mean to the first century or even prior to that?

What did it mean to the hearers, the first intended hearers of this? And that's, you might have to do a little digging to understand that. Then, what does it mean to the church or to me specifically today?