0:0 - Lord God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be pleasing and honorable to you, O Lord, our God, our Rock and our Redeemer.
0:9 - Give us eyes to see and ears to hear things freshly.
0:14 - Give us the words that you would have and the mission that you would have for your church.
0:21 - Amen.
0:24 - All right, we're taking a short break from Luke this morning, we're going to reflect on some of Paul's words in the book of Philippians.
0:32 - So we'll start by reading the text, which comes from Philippians 4, verses 10 to 13.
0:39 - Philippians 4, verses 10 to 13.
0:41 - This is in the middle, it's actually nearing the end of a letter that Paul has for this church, it's a short letter.
0:48 - He once again mentions that rejoicing, that was covered earlier in verse 4, that we said as part of our call to worship this morning.
0:55 - He says, I have rejoiced greatly in the Lord, that at last, you renewed your concern for me.
1:0 - Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.
1:5 - I am saying this because I am in need, for I have, sorry, I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances.
1:19 - I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.
1:26 - 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.
1:36 - I can do all of this through him who gives me strength.
1:46 - So Paul says, I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.
1:58 - And it's that line that I want to focus on this morning.
2:3 - The secret of contentment.
2:7 - Paul doesn't say here, notice, he doesn't say, I'm content in every situation because that's a basic thing to do, to be content.
2:14 - And it's kind of easy to be content, and therefore I am content.
2:19 - No, he says, it's a secret.
2:23 - So it's not obvious.
2:25 - And secrets are typically hidden.
2:27 - Secrets need to be found.
2:30 - And so we together will spend some time searching and pondering this secret this morning.
2:37 - And notice, Paul also doesn't say, I was born with this astounding ability to be content.
2:44 - Like he's boasting about some gift that he has.
2:46 - No, he says, he learned this secret.
2:52 - That means that there was a time in Paul's life when he was not content.
3:0 - And we actually know this to be true because our Bibles are full of a lot of stories about Paul.
3:6 - We know a lot about his life.
3:9 - And so I'm going to remind you of a story where we can see how he's different, where we can see a lack of contentment.
3:16 - Okay, so here's kind of the context for the story.
3:19 - So Paul, who was previously named Saul, remember, he was a religious leader and he was a Pharisee, actually.
3:27 - And the Pharisees were educated elite leaders and they taught the Jewish people on the laws and the religious rituals.
3:36 - That was their role in the community.
3:38 - And so naturally, the Pharisees were super against these new followers of Jesus.
3:46 - In fact, they hated Christians in the early church because they were in direct opposition to the teachings of Judaism, or at least that's what they thought.
3:56 - And so in Acts chapter five, we learn about a conflict between the Pharisees and the Christians.
4:2 - So there's these Christians and they're preaching about Jesus in the temple, and then the Pharisees who have authority, they actually have them arrested.
4:9 - And then these Christians escape from prison, and they immediately go back to the, they don't hide, they immediately go back to the temple and they start preaching again.
4:17 - And so the Pharisees arrest them again, and then they put them on trial.
4:22 - And they ask these Christians, why are you not respecting our authority?
4:27 - Why aren't you doing what we're telling you to do?
4:30 - And the Christians, as Christians sometimes do, they use this trial as an opportunity to preach.
4:36 - And so they start in this trial talking about the gospel and Jesus Christ.
4:41 - And you can just imagine how upset this would have made the Pharisees.
4:45 - And they get together and they start talking about what they should do.
4:49 - And they have this idea that they should just kill them all.
4:52 - They should put an end to all of this.
4:55 - And as they're debating this, a wise leader of the Pharisee, one that's greatly respected, his name is Gamaliel.
5:3 - He stands up, or maybe he sits down, in that context.
5:6 - That's what you did when you had something to speak, something to say of value.
5:10 - But anyways, he gets everyone's attention.
5:12 - And he says something to all of his colleagues.
5:16 - He says, folks, we've seen rebellions like this in the past.
5:21 - And every single time the leader ends up getting killed, and when the leader is killed, the rebellion dies out.
5:29 - And so we know that their leader is Jesus, and we crucified him.
5:33 - So just leave these people to make as much noise as they want, and let the rebellion run its course.
5:40 - Because if this isn't from God, it'll fade away.
5:46 - This will disappear.
5:48 - And even today, we can hear the wisdom in these words from Gamaliel.
5:53 - And it prevents the Pharisees from taking lethal force, and they decide to listen to Gamaliel.
5:58 - But I'm sure many of them, or at least some of them, were not pleased with this.
6:4 - And for one, I think, he doesn't specifically say this in the text, but I think Saul had a real problem with this advice.
6:14 - And I think we can see that from how the story carries on.
6:19 - Saul is not at all content to just let this run its course, or to listen to these wise words, even though we know that Gamaliel was a mentor to Saul.
6:30 - Paul, actually, later in the Book of Acts, in Acts 22, he says this.
6:34 - He says, I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of the ancestors.
6:39 - So this is someone that Saul respected.
6:43 - But it's not good enough advice for him.
6:45 - He's not content, he's not at peace with just letting this uprising happen.
6:51 - So Saul takes matters into his own hands.
6:53 - He sets out on his own and he hunts down and he kills Christians.
6:58 - And we know that he was supervising at the stoning of the famous Christian Stephen.
7:3 - And he gets permission from the high priest to hunt down, arrest, and kill Christians.
7:9 - And in fact, he kind of makes it his life mission and purpose to wipe out these followers of Jesus.
7:17 - This is not the sign of a man who is content in all things.
7:24 - He sets out to single handedly take down this rebellion.
7:30 - But in our context, the text that we just read, Paul says that he is content in all circumstances.
7:35 - So what happened?
7:38 - What changed for him?
7:42 - There's two major things that we're going to talk about and look at this morning.
7:46 - Two major factors in what changed Paul.
7:51 - And as a hint, a bit of foreshadowing, I'll just say this, justification and sanctification.
7:57 - Okay?
7:57 - Two things.
7:59 - Okay.
8:0 - So the first factor to Paul's change, it's a big one and it happens in a single moment.
8:6 - All right.
8:6 - So this is another story.
8:7 - Actually, it's a carry on from the story I just told, because Saul is out there and he's killing Christians, and he's not content to just do it in his own neighborhood.
8:15 - I mean, he's like traveling to accomplish this goal that he has.
8:20 - And so he's on his way to a town called Damascus.
8:26 - And as he's on this road towards Damascus, the big moment happens.
8:33 - Paul or Saul at that time has an encounter with Jesus Christ.
8:40 - The risen Jesus shows up on this road and speaks directly to Saul and he changes him.
8:49 - He calls him into mission.
8:52 - He asks him to set down his sword, to let go of his hatred and to follow Jesus, the one that he is persecuting.
9:1 - And this, in a moment, changes, God changes his name from Saul to Paul, but it also changes his heart.
9:10 - It changes everything about him.
9:13 - And so Paul becomes an advocate for the truth of who Jesus is, overnight, because he's encountered him in his life.
9:22 - So the first big change, it's a huge contributor.
9:26 - It's central to Paul's growth in contentment.
9:31 - In a moment, his heart changes.
9:32 - But, okay, we'll get to this.
9:36 - But first, I'd like to point out that this is something we all understand.
9:42 - This is a moment that is had by all Christians.
9:46 - It's a moment that we call justification.
9:51 - It's God claiming us and saying that we are righteous and holy, that we're his children, and that he has good purposes for us.
10:0 - Now, is this moment tangible and known by everyone?
10:4 - Well, not exactly.
10:6 - For some, the moment is tangible and known.
10:9 - For others, they're unsure when or how this exactly happened.
10:13 - And there's some mystery here.
10:15 - For others, they may point back to the baptism that they had when they were only a few weeks old.
10:22 - But it's a one time thing that happens to all those who are followers of Christ.
10:32 - You have been claimed by Christ through his death and resurrection.
10:37 - And he has claimed you as his own child if you are a Christ follower.
10:43 - You have encountered God and he's rescued you and he's washed you and he's claimed you through his victory over sin and death.
10:54 - So that explains why all of you here this morning are perfect.
10:59 - That explains why you never make any mistakes, right?
11:5 - Not exactly, right?
11:7 - We're still sinful people.
11:10 - We still make mistakes and we still mess up.
11:13 - And this is true about Paul as well.
11:17 - He still has a relationship with sin.
11:20 - He still makes mistakes.
11:21 - So Paul wasn't changed completely overnight.
11:25 - There must be more than just this encounter for Paul to move from discontent to content.
11:34 - It doesn't just disappear.
11:37 - So while his conversion is central to the secret of contentment, it's not the full answer.
11:47 - And there's more to the secret that Paul has found.
11:52 - So the first half is justification.
11:54 - It's his conversion.
11:55 - It's where Christ found Paul.
11:59 - And the second half of the secret is sanctification.
12:5 - It's another big church word.
12:8 - And it goes together hand in hand, inseparable really, from justification.
12:13 - Justification is a one time event.
12:16 - And sanctification, on the other hand, is a one million time event.
12:20 - Or maybe a better way to say it is, it's an ongoing and continuous process.
12:28 - Now, what exactly is sanctification?
12:30 - Well, the word to sanctify, that basically means to clean, to be washed.
12:35 - And we're justified by God once.
12:38 - He says, you're holy, you're righteous.
12:41 - That is your identity.
12:43 - That is who you are.
12:47 - But we don't fully understand it.
12:51 - We don't fully believe it when God tells us this.
12:55 - And so we go on living a shadow of the new life and the new faith that is being offered to us.
13:1 - And we make mistakes that continually hurt ourselves and hurt others.
13:6 - And so God uses the daily experience of life to wash us clean, to remind us of our identity in Him.
13:19 - And He does this in a lot of different ways.
13:23 - He does this through His word.
13:25 - He does it through community, through fellowship with other believers.
13:29 - He does it through creation.
13:31 - He does it also through life's circumstances, the blessings that we receive, the goodness, the overwhelming abundance that we have, but also through life's circumstances that show up as consequences, the struggles, the hard things, the reality of living in a world where hurt people continually hurt people.
13:56 - And so I want to focus on that this morning, because we can't cover it all.
14:1 - I want to take a look at those hard things that are used to form and shape us, because I think it's a big part of Paul's learning of this secret.
14:13 - I think Paul learns contentment because his life was a series of challenging circumstances.
14:22 - Paul had to suffer in his life as he pursued a relationship with Jesus, and God uses all of those circumstances to teach Paul a new way of being.
14:37 - And God actually talks about this right after Paul's conversion.
14:42 - God is talking to another Christian in a vision, someone he wants to send to Paul, and this person knows who this Saul is and says, I don't want to go.
14:51 - This guy is a bad, bad dude.
14:54 - And God reassures him, and God says to this Christian, this man, meaning Paul, is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and the people of Israel.
15:9 - And then it says, God says, I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.
15:19 - Now, we know a lot about the life of Paul after his conversion, and he did suffer a lot.
15:27 - In his letter to the church in Corinth, he himself gives testimony to this.
15:30 - This is what he says there.
15:31 - He says, five times I received from the Jews, the 40 lashes minus one.
15:36 - Three times I was beaten with rods.
15:39 - Once I was pelted with stones.
15:41 - Three times I was shipwrecked.
15:42 - I spent a night and a day at open sea.
15:44 - I have been constantly on the move.
15:47 - I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea, and in danger from false believers.
15:57 - I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep.
16:1 - I have known hunger and thirst and have gone without food.
16:4 - I've been cold and naked beside everything else.
16:7 - I have faced the daily pressure of my concern for all of the churches, which sounds like anxiety, worry.
16:15 - Not sure exactly.
16:18 - Paul struggled, and he's learned contentment as a consequence for living through every type of circumstance.
16:31 - That is a sanctification process where God uses things to train us and equip us.
16:37 - But this on its own, okay, just the hard circumstances, doesn't just lead to contentment.
16:45 - Because if you think about it, there's plenty of people who've lived a hard life and have experienced a lot of tough stuff, and it hasn't led them to contentment.
16:53 - It's led them to bitterness.
16:57 - And this is why justification and sanctification go together and cannot be separated.
17:6 - Paul grows in contentment even as life gets hard, because Jesus Christ has reached into Paul's life, showing him that he's loved by the creator of heaven and earth.
17:19 - And Paul begins living a life that seeks deeper and deeper relationship with the creator, advocating that others know this same truth and reality.
17:33 - So Paul's goal is not to grow in comfort or luxury.
17:38 - It's to know Christ and make him known.
17:42 - It's sanctification through justification.
17:47 - And the secret of contentment that Paul talks about here, it's not even that contentment is the goal.
17:55 - Contentment is actually a natural blessing or even a byproduct of living in relationship with Jesus.
18:4 - One where we grow and learn every day where we're sanctified and cleansed by God over and over again.
18:12 - Contentment is a gift from God as we seek to know him and make him known.
18:21 - All right, so now it's time to talk about how this might relate to us here this morning.
18:29 - First, I'd like you all to think about your level of contentment in your own lives.
18:36 - Not your circumstances, but your level of contentment.
18:41 - And then how satisfied are you with your circumstances?
18:46 - Whether you're in a season of life where you're flourishing and thriving, or whether you're in a challenging season.
18:53 - How pleased are you with where Jesus has you right now?
19:0 - How comfortable are you with your job?
19:3 - With the amount of money that you have, with the amount of friends that you have, with the way that you spend your time, the things that fill your days.
19:16 - Are you pleased?
19:18 - Are you satisfied?
19:20 - Are you content?
19:23 - Are you settled and at peace with where you are?
19:32 - And as you think about that, I'd like you to think about this.
19:37 - What is your life's aim?
19:41 - What is your goal?
19:46 - Do you seek to find contentment?
19:50 - Are you living selflessly, recklessly, almost to know Christ and to make him known regardless of your circumstances?
20:2 - Are you chasing contentment for the sake of contentment?
20:8 - Or are you seeking relationship with Jesus, regardless of how that sets you up financially, regardless of how much of life's comforts you are afforded right now?
20:24 - I think, if we're honest, at times we get our priorities mixed up a little bit.
20:32 - We don't see Christ, or we don't seek Christ come what may.
20:37 - Often we seek contentment like it's the goal.
20:42 - We seek it through financial security or a good job or a safe future, or a large retirement fund, or all these different things.
20:53 - This morning, you were encouraged to participate by sitting somewhere different.
21:2 - And it was an opportunity for you to have a practical example of all of this.
21:11 - I'm hoping that even though it may have been a little uncomfortable to sit somewhere different, you might have been challenged to see something new.
21:22 - That if your goal is to make Christ known, this change doesn't make you bitter or frustrated, although that's real, and that happens.
21:33 - But it might open you to an opportunity to learn something about God or yourself.
21:40 - Now, there's nothing wrong with comfort in this life.
21:44 - In fact, it's often a blessing from God.
21:48 - But we have to ask ourselves, is this the number one goal?
21:52 - Is this the thing at the top of our list?
21:55 - Are we seeking comfort or are we seeking Christ?
22:6 - I want all of us to be comfortable here in this place.
22:10 - It's important that we feel like we belong, that we feel like this is a good place to be.
22:18 - But sometimes it's worth asking, what's giving us that feeling of comfort?
22:26 - Is it the temperature in the room?
22:30 - Is it how comfy the chairs are?
22:34 - Or is it maybe your reputation in this community?
22:39 - Maybe it makes you to feel good to be part of an upstanding group of Christians in society.
22:45 - Now none of those things in and of themselves are bad.
22:49 - It just shouldn't be what we're looking for.
22:52 - It's a blessing and byproduct of what happens when we seek Christ and we're sanctified through life's circumstances.
23:2 - So Paul is calling us to something bigger and something deeper here.
23:7 - It's relationship with God the Father, by his son and in and through the Holy Spirit.
23:13 - If we understand that, then we can stand alongside Paul in Romans 8, where he makes this proud and bold profession.
23:22 - He says these words and part of this is wrapped up in the blessing I use at the end of the service, but he says this, who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
23:30 - Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or the sword?
23:36 - As it is written, for your sake, we face death all day long.
23:40 - Now we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
23:42 - No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
23:51 - For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
24:14 - That is a profound profession to be able to make, regardless of circumstance.
24:21 - And that church helps us to understand our purpose, to know Christ and then to make him known.
24:31 - Another tangible example that isn't now but is down the road is one that our church will go through as we enter a season that might be a little bit unsettling.
24:42 - It might be a little bit challenging.
24:45 - Our plan is to sell this building and to begin building a new one back there, but that requires a bit of juggling and those don't line up perfectly, and that will lead to a season of displacement.
25:1 - Our comforts that we have long had will be gone for a season.
25:9 - We'll have to remind ourselves where our true comfort comes from.
25:14 - What our true purpose is that as a church, it's not our own comfort, but communion and community in Christ that we should be seeking.
25:24 - So what can we learn in this upcoming season?
25:28 - A season of what we could call church homelessness, if we put and place our comfort in this building.
25:38 - What can we learn that will teach us about who God is and who he is calling us to be?
25:44 - Because God can use this circumstance to sanctify us.
25:49 - This process of selling, moving and building, it's gonna force us to learn new things about who God is and who he says we are.
25:59 - And then we can grow in our ability to know Christ and to make him known.
26:5 - Because that's it.
26:7 - That's the goal and the aim.
26:10 - And then if you are able to realize that, no matter what circumstances life throws at you, you will grow in the knowledge of who God is, then you can be at peace with whatever this world throws at you.
26:26 - You'll gain greater understanding of how you are a child of God and that you are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God Almighty.
26:38 - And how can you not be at peace and satisfied inside the hands of our Father?
26:46 - Amen.
26:46 - Let's pray.
26:52 - Dear Jesus, thank you for your word and your scripture.
26:56 - Thank you for the testimony of the life you lived.
26:59 - Thank you for the stories we have of the early church of proud and powerful leaders like Peter and Paul, who have shown us how to live, but also what that looks like as fallen and unfaithful human beings from time to time.
27:19 - God, thank you that you restore us, that it's through your Holy Spirit, that we have any ability to accomplish anything at all.
27:26 - Lord God, thank you for partnering with us and continue to go with your church in the season ahead.
27:32 - In your name.
27:33 - Amen.