We turn again to God's Word,
turning to the book of Philippians, or Epistle to the Philippians,
in chapter 4, and that text is found in verses 11, 12 and 13.
Philippians chapter 4, verses 11, 12 and 13. Not that I speak in respect of
want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased
and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things. I am instructed
both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer
need. I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me. As we take account of the context
here, we see that Paul is speaking of himself and that ministry
that he was receiving from the believers at Philippi. He speaks of their care for him. In the previous verse, verse
10, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at the last Your care
of me hath flourished again, or hath revived again, as the
Imogen says. He administered to them the Gospel,
he administered to them the spiritual blessings of the Gospel, and
they had shown their appreciation and their great love towards
him for this, as they ministered to him in respect to temporal
things. From the very outset, when he
had first gone amongst them preaching the gospel, they had shown to
him something of their gratitude. In verse 15 he says, Nagini Philippians
know also that in the beginning of the gospel, he's not referring
to the gospel in the sense of that full and final manifestation
of it with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but he is
speaking of the gospel beginning with them, that he had been there
at Philippi, as we read in the 16th chapter of Acts, that was
the beginning of the gospel for them. Now you Philippians know
also that in the beginning of the Gospel, when I departed from
Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving
and receiving, but ye only, for even in Thessalonica ye sent
once and again unto my necessity. It is in Philippi, as we read
in the sixth chapter of the Acts, and then We see how in the next
chapter, chapter 17, he moves on to Thessalonica and then in
chapter 18 we find him going on to Corinth. And these are
the days that he is referring to in these two verses, 15, and
16, how they were constantly sending after him, ministering
to him as he pursued those missionary journeys, preaching the word
of God, proclaiming the gospel of the grace of God. They ministered
to him then, he says, when he was in Thessalonica, and we know
also how they ministered to him when he moved on further to Corinth
in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. And there at verse 9 he is pouring
right into the Corinthians, he says, when I was present with
you and wanted I was chargeable to no man for that which was
lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia. That was
the Philippians. That's where Philippi is in Macedonia,
the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied. they ministered
to him then constantly, they were ever caring for him. But what is Paul saying in this
portion that we've read as our text, when he reminds them that
whatever state he finds himself in, whatever condition the apostle
is in, he has been taught and he is being taught constantly
the grace of contentment. Isn't that the subject matter
that we have in these three verses that we've read as the text tonight. Not that I speak in respect of
one, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased
and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things I am instructed
both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer
need. I can do all things through Christ
which strengthens me. He doesn't despise their care
of him. In fact he rejoices in the fact
that that care has revived again, they have ministered to him again. But in all of these things he
would remind them of the importance of that grace of contentment
as he says to Timothy in the other portion that we read in
the last chapter of 1st Timothy, Godliness with contentment is
great gain. And this is the subject matter
then that I want us to consider as we turn to this portion in
Philippians chapter 4. And first of all to say something
with regards to the necessity of contentment, how needful it
is for the Christian to be one who is content. Look at what
Paul says in verse 11. Whatsoever states in whatsoever state I am. Various experiences come into
his life. He knows the different vicissitudes
of life. The life of faith is a life that
is very much full of changes. The Christian's experience in
that sense is an in and out, an up and down. sort of experience
in verse 12 he uses a number of words he speaks of how he
was a vice and yet he also speaks of abounding again he makes mention
of being full and yet within a few words he also speaks of
being hungry And then he makes mention of having plenty, but
in the next breath he tells them that he knows what it is to suffer
need. He has this variety of differing
experiences. This is what makes up the life
of the Apostle. This is part of the paradox,
is it not, of his experience, and in a sense we have to say
that he's the experience of all the godly. as he says in the
opening chapter of 1st Timothy, is the pattern to them which
should hereafter believe. And there was much in Paul's
life and in his experiences that was clearly paradoxical. He certainly writes of these
things to the Corinthians there in the second epistle to Corinth. In chapter 6 and verses 9 and
10 he writes of himself as unknown and yet well known, as dying
and behold we live, as chastened and not killed, as sorrowful
yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having
nothing and yet possessing all things. It is that in the life
then of the Christian that is strange, mysterious, a paradox. And Bunyan, of course, shows
that in his famous allegory in the Pilgrim's Progress. He says there, a Christian man
is never longer to ease. When one trial is gone, another
doth him save. This is the life of the godly
man then. It's a life that keeps on changing. Remember how in the 55th Psalm
Swami speaks of the ungodly man who has not changed. Because they have no changes,
he says, therefore they fear not God. That's the ungodly man.
In contrast, the godly man feels that his life is always changing. And so Paul, you see, here is
his situation. As a child of God, he has these
different experiences, these contrary experiences. Not that I speak in respect of
want, he says, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith
to be content, whatever my condition, external or internal, whatever
my state, I have learned to be content. submissive to the sovereign
will of God bowing to his sovereignty in all these things. The necessity
of contentment, it's necessary of course to be content when
one is abased. I know how to be abased, Paul
says. And though he was abased how
he was treated with indignity, even with contempt, how he was
a man who was very much despised again. We see that as he writes
in that second epistle to the Corinthians, and there in chapter
11, Verse 24 following he says, Of
the Jews five times received I forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods,
once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck. The night and the
day I have been in the deep, in journeyings often, in perils
of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen,
in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false
brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often in hunger
and thirst, in fastings often in cold and nakedness. How he
had to experience these things, how he was many times abased
in the midst of all those things that came upon him. He was troubled
on every side, he says elsewhere. And here he speaks of how in
these things he suffered great needs. At the end of this twelfth verse
he doesn't only speak of being a base but how he had to suffer
needs. To suffer needs. Literally there
the word means to come short. To come short. Come short of
what? while coming short of what were considered by some to be
the necessities of life, yet to do without the necessities
of life. But isn't that what Christ calls his followers to?
If a man will come after Christ, the Saviour says he must deny
himself and take up his cross and follow the Saviour. The Lord's
life was a life of self-denial, was he not? He was a man who
was much abased in this world. He comes to his own, his own
receiving might. He's a man of sorrows. He's a
man who's rejected by other men. And it's interesting that this
word that is used here, I know how to be abased. It is literally the same word
that is used previously in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember
in the second chapter we have that great portion that speaks
of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, one of
the great Christological passages that we find in Paul's epistles. And what did he say of Christ
in chapter 2 at verse 8? Being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. He humbled himself, he abased
himself. It is exactly the same word that
Paul is using here in verse 12. I know how to be abased. I know
how to be humbled. The Christian is to be a follower
of the Lord Jesus, and this is what Paul wants. Be ye followers
of me, he says, as I am of Christ. He is only the pattern believer
as he is following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
this is his desire and he expresses it, does he not, here in chapter
3, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and
the fellowship of his sufferings be made conformable unto his
death. Oh, in all this abasement, you
see, he will be like Christ. and like Christ he will be content
with his lot and it's not only Paul it's the believer he says
in the opening chapter to these Philippians unto you it is given
in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but also to
suffer for his sake that saving faith that brings into the soul
the blessed experience of salvation. That faith, of course, is the
gift of God. It is given. It's given in Christ's
behalf, that they believe on Him. But not only is the faith
given, but also the trying of their faith. Not only to believe,
but also to suffer for His sake. Here, in the midst of these suffering
juices, How important is that grace of contentment. All the
Christian desires that spirit of meekness,
the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. I have learnt,
in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content, says Paul. But contentment is not only applicable
when the Christian is being humbled and devised, when he is suffering
need, when he is hungry, when he is in great want. The Christian
must also learn contentment when he abounds. I know both how to be abased
and to abound. Everywhere and in all things
I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound
and to suffer greed. See how twice here he speaks
of abounding. At the beginning and then again
at the end of the verse he uses this word and he also speaks
of being full. in some respects, plenty might
be said to be more difficult than poverty. Certainly the wise man recognises
that fact in the book of Proverbs. Solomon says there in chapter
30 verse 8, remove Far from me vanity and lies give me neither
poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient
for me. The margin tells us that Hebrew
is literally food of my allowance. God gives his people each day
their daily bread removed. Far from me vanity and lies give
me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient
for me lest I be full and in ivory and say who is the Lord
or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain. There is danger you see either
side. So the Christian doesn't really
want to have great plenty. We read those words did we not
in that last chapter of 1st Timothy. which also speaks of this grace
of Christian contentment. We brought nothing into this
world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Having food
and rain, let us be there with contentedness. There is danger,
I say. Greater danger in some respects
when there is a great abundance. Why do I say that? Well, man's
heart, man's sinful heart is really insatiable. It's never
satisfied. The more a man has, naturally
speaking, the more the man desires. He cannot obtain sufficient of
the things of this world Again there in Proverbs 13 and verse
15, the horse leech hath two daughters crying, give, give.
There are three things that are never satisfied. Jay, four things
say not it is enough. The grave and the barren womb,
the earth that is not filled with water and the fire that
set not, it is enough. All around us you see. We see
that it is insatiable, always wanting, always asking to be
given. Again in Ecclesiastes Solomon
says, all the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full.
And all that comes into a man's life, it cannot satisfy the man's
life. And why is that? Because man
of course in his creation was made in the image created after
the likeness of God. in that sense he is made to know
God, to enjoy God and he seeks to fill that great void that
is within him as a fallen sinful man with the things of this world
and they can never satisfy him it was Augustine was it not who
said thou hast made us for thyself and our souls are restless till
they find their rest. Only in God is there that blessed
satisfaction. And so the man has to learn to
be content even when he comes to abounding and to being full. Abounding fullness, you see,
does bring with it certain temptations. The guidance we read there In
that last chapter of 1 Timothy, they that will be rich, Paul
says fall into temptation and the snare. There are temptations
that come. Again in that same chapter, and
at the end of the chapter, Verse 17, there's this charge
that Paul gives to young Timothy, charge them that are rich in
this world, that they be not high minded, nor trusting on
certain riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all
things to endure. That they do good, that they
be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate. Here is the temptation you see,
where there is great There is that temptation to be proud,
to be high-minded. There is that temptation to a
certain kind of security where there is great plenty also. That
man of whom the Lord speaks in the Gospel, who has his bonds
full of good things, what does he say to himself? Thou hast much laid up for many
years. Take thine ease, eat, drink and
be merry. There is a certain kind of security
and God comes and says, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall
be required of them. But there is the temptation,
you see, the temptation not only to be high-minded and to be proud
and to be trusting in these uncertain riches, but also the temptation
to a certain carnal security, to think that all is well. And
then also there's that temptation to look down upon others, to
despise others. James says, do not reach men
oppressed. Oh how we need, friends, to be
taught by God that grace of contentment. Contents not only when we're
abased, not only when we're suffering the need and hungry, but also
contentment when in God's goodness we are abounding and when we
find ourselves to be full. There is a need, I say, for Christian
contentment. And that's what Paul is saying
as he gives these various exhortations at the end of this epistle to
the Philippians. This is necessary. Necessary
not only for Paul, but for those to whom he is addressing himself
in the epistle. Let us, having said something
with regards to the necessity of the contentment, in the second
place examine something of the nature of this Christian contentment.
And we see and it centres in the Lord Jesus Christ. From whence
does it come? Paul says quite plainly in verse
13, I can do all things through Christ who sheds the earth. If
we would know this contentment we must obtain it from Christ. We must learn it of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And doesn't Paul say that was
what his experience was? He says in verse 11, I have learnt
in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. And then he goes on in the next
verse to speak how he knows this. I know both how to be abased
and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things
I am instructed, he says, both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need. He's learned it, he's been
instructed, and so he's come to this knowledge. And from whence
is it that he has had this teaching? It all comes from the Lord Jesus
Christ. He says, take my yoke upon you
and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who
must teach. This is the very nature of discontentment,
it is not something that is natural to men, it is a spiritual grudge.
And so it comes from God himself. Isn't this true with regards
to all real Christianity? We cannot educate ourselves and
make ourselves Christians. Only God can make a Christian.
Joseph Hart said, only you who make the world can make a Christian. It is a great work of God when
God makes a soul over a nerve. We have to learn. We have to
learn from God Himself. It is written in the Prophets.
And they shall be all taught of God. Lord Jesus there in John
6 quotes the words of Isaiah 54, the Prophet. They shall be
all taught of God. Every man therefore that has
heard and learned of the Father, Christ says, cometh unto me.
That's what it means to be taught of God. To hear God. to learn of God and what is the
outcome where there is that teaching, that instructing why the man
comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the point and the purpose
of God's teaching and I say it is the work of God, it is the
work of the Father, it is the work of God the Holy Spirit. John in his first epistle speaks
of that anointing, or that unction. In chapter 2, 1st epistle of
John, chapter 2 and verse 20, he says, But ye have an unction,
or an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things. He means all spiritual truths. He repeats himself, you see,
at verse 27, but the anointing, it's the same word, the unction,
which they have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not
that any man teach you. But as the same anointing teaches
you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it
hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. This is what the Spirit
teaches, is it not? the necessity of abiding in the
Lord Jesus Christ without learning, Christ says, ye can do nothing. How we have to learn of the Lord
Jesus Christ and receive from the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, turning
again to what Paul is saying here in verse 12 with regards
to how he had learned this Christian contentment he uses the word
instructed in all things he says I am instructed it's interesting
because that particular verb to instruct is closely related
to the noun mystery literally it means to instruct into the
mystery, or to initiate into the mystery. Remember we have
the word used in 1 Timothy 3.16, without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. That is the mystery of religion,
real religion. And what is the mystery? God
was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world. received up
into glory, all the mystery centres in the Lord Jesus Christ, His
coming into this world, the great work that He accomplished, and then His glorification. And here Paul says that he was
instructed in what? In another mystery. There is
not only the mystery of godliness, we know there are other mysteries.
There is that mystery of the calling of the Gentiles. Paul, of course, was the great
apostle to the Gentiles. That was his particular calling. In Ephesians 3, he speaks at
verse 2 of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given
him. By revelation He made known unto
me the mystery, as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye
read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which
in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is
now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that
the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs unto the same body, and partakers
of His promise in Christ by the gospel. Here is the mystery. that has come with the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that salvation is not now simply for
the Jew. In the Old Testament God would
say of Israel, you only have I known of all the families of
the earth. They were God's peculiar people,
His special people. But they are a typical people.
Israel in the Old Testament is a type of the spiritual Israel
of the New Testament and the spiritual Israel is made up of
Christians, converted Jews and converted Gentiles. And this
is the calling that Paul had to go and preach the gospel to
the Gentiles. And it was a mystery that was
now being revealed, he says. But it was what God had purposed
from all eternity, the calling of the Gentiles. Oh, there are
these mysteries here. There's the mystery of the incarnation.
Christ is the mystery of God. God was manifest in the flesh.
There is the mystery of the calling of the Gentiles. And there is
also the mystery of Christian contentment. And where does it
come from? It comes from God. God only can
instruct in this blessed grace of the Spirit to make a sinner
content. This was Paul's experience. Not
that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever
state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased
and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things. I am instructed
in the mistress. instructed both to be full and
to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. And how was he taught these things
by God? How was he made to come to this attitude? He is writing sincerely as one
who is altogether content. But how did God teach him this?
Well, he was taught it in his experience. As he said in verse 9, those
things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen
in me, do, and the God of peace shall be with you. It wasn't simply the things that
He said in the course of his ministry, his preaching, those
things that they were hearing from him and receiving from him,
and learning of him, it was those very things that they could see
in him. It was the grace of God in him.
All doctrines must ultimately be taught to us in that fashion.
It must all be taught to us in our experience, or there's no
profit in it. It is important, as we said this
morning, to know that principle of a sound mind. That was the problem with those
two on the road to Emmaus. Christ said that they were fools. They were not thinking a lot.
They were not perceiving things a lot. Oh yes, God does deal with us
in that fashion. He addresses us through our mind
because that's how he created us. But it's not just a sound
mind. What does he say? Oh fools and
slow of heart to believe. It must also affect the heart. And this was so with regards
to the apostle and discontentment. He learned it from the Lord Jesus
Christ and it leaves as he as he is learned from Christ, so
it leads to the Lord Jesus Christ. I can do all things, he said,
through Christ which strengtheneth me. He had to look to Christ. He had to know that help and that
enabling that comes from Christ. Now how would he look to the
Lord Jesus Christ? He must come in that way of complete
and utter dependence, he must know the life of prayer. And he says it here, you see,
verse 6, be careful for nothing. But in everything, by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known
unto God. We must be led to Christ, we
must receive all these things from Christ. Without Christ we
cannot do a thing. as, if we're the Lord, is a life
of complete and utter dependence. Any graces of the Spirit from
whence do they come? They come from the Holy Ghost,
but how do we obtain them? We have to plead with God for
them. And how do we plead with God? We pray in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And because we know Christ, you
see, that we'll know that contentment. Why? He is Jesus Christ, the
same yesterday, and today and forever. It is interesting, we were reminded
of this simple truth this afternoon at Hedge End under the ministry
of Mr Paul Tyler. He quoted those words from Hebrews
13 and he made that simple observation that it doesn't say yesterday
and today and then tomorrow. It says much more than that.
It is Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever. He is
always the same. And there is the Christian's
contentment. He is content in the Lord Jesus Christ. He receives
all from the Lord Jesus Christ. He looks to the Lord Jesus Christ
for everything. He can do all things through
Christ who is the one who strengthens him. He learns of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And as he is being taught of
God, so he is being constantly led to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And what does he do? He keeps on leaning upon the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's the life of Christ. Oh, he is content simply to rest
in Christ. And he finds all his strength
and all his satisfaction in the Lord Jesus. Whom have I in heaven
but thee, he says. There is none upon earth that
I desire beside thee. And if he has Christ he has all
things. And he abounds. This is that
godliness that Paul would commend to Timothy there in that last
chapter of his first epistle. Godliness with contentment. His
great gain, the mystery of godliness. that God who was manifest in
the flesh, to know Him, to know the Lord Jesus Christ, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. For this is life
eternal for the Christian. Or that we might be those friends
who know something of this contentment, this Christian contentment, the
spiritual thing. Not that Paul is saying that
he was able of himself to be content. No, it must all
come from and through the Saviour. Not that I speak in respect of
want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased,
and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things I am instructed,
both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer
need I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Well the Lord help us, the Lord
bless his word to us for his name's sake. It's now seen in the hymn number
247 and it's in Daniel verse 124. O Lord, I would delight
in Thee, and on Thy care depend, to Thee in every trouble, my
best, my only friend. Hymn number 247. O Lord, I would delight in Thee,
and of Thy care depend, to Thee in every trouble flee, my best,
my only friend. May I with this be satisfied
and glory in thy name. who has a fountain near, a fountain
which will ever run with water sweet and clear. No good in creature can be found,
but may be found in thee. I must have all things and abound,
for God is good to me. Oh, that I had a stronger faith
to look within the veil To credit what my Saviour said, whose words
can never fail He that has made my heaven secure
will here all good provide. While Christ is rich, I can't
be poor, what can I want beside? O Lord, I cast my care on Thee,
I triumph and adore. Henceforth my great concern shall
be to love and praise the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you
all. Amen.