Transcription
Amen. If you will turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Philippians, chapter 4.
Uh, this is one of the first times in years I've ever used water, but it was sitting here, so thank you.
Philippians 4, verse 10. You know, as we come to conference, there are such a vast array of needs, concerns, challenges, and conditions of heart and life.
What I want to preach on this morning may not be considered a sexy topic, one that shouts at you from every page of scripture, but it is so critical nevertheless.
Philippians 4, verse 10. A lot of focus right now is on Washington, D.C., and the transition of power. I actually was not aware of this, at least in detail, but my brother and the company he works for have been the purveyor of all the seafood in the executive residence and the White House.
He said anytime that I want to go, via the head chef, I could have some kind of tour, and so that's an incentive.
But beyond that, Washington, D.C. is filled with very interesting and important museums. The Smithsonian Museum, which you actually need days to fully appreciate. Then you have the National Gallery, the Holocaust Museum, and the Museum of the Bible that they have built in Washington, D.C.
But there is one museum that you and I cannot get into because it is the secret museum of the Central Intelligence Agency. It's located at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, approximately 11,000 square feet dedicated to all kinds of historic memorabilia, spycraft, unusual weapons, and only the employees of the CIA are admitted into it.
It confirms a simple fact that as the capital of the United States of America, Washington is a city of top secrets and classified information.
One of the hopes with the incoming administration is that a lot of things that have been classified and kept from the public, all the issues of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and other things like this, are going to be declassified.
I mention that because God has secrets as well, and sometimes He declassifies them. That's what I want to look at with you this morning because there is one secret ingredient that, when it's present in your life and ministry, unfortunately, it will probably take you your whole life to learn.
But when it's present in your life and ministry, it will help you whatever, whenever, wherever, and however. Without this, you are cut off from so much of God's help and benefits.
I want to look at Philippians 4, the message I've called "Do You Know the Secret?" beginning in verse 10.
"But I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity to act. Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret—say that—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."
We must learn the secret this morning, so let's talk about God's secrets for a moment.
In Deuteronomy chapter 29, Moses is now older, and he summons all of Israel together and begins to recount and review with them the terms of God's covenant. The book of Deuteronomy means "Second Law," so he is going over these things for a second time with the goal of the people renewing their commitment to God.
Moses is a man very passionate about God's word, about God's way, and about His will. In Deuteronomy 29:29, it says, "The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that He has revealed to us so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions."
Christianity is a religion of revelation. Apart from revelation, we cannot know God, we cannot know His will or His ways.
This morning, in the word of God, we have the treasure of what He has revealed to us. The Bible is a collection of 66 books inspired by God to guide the life of every believer in Jesus Christ, written by over 40 people over a span of 1,500 years. Each character in each story helps point to one person, and that is Christ Jesus and His act of redemption for you and me.
Along with that, He has given us, as Pastor Lamb spoke on, the helper, which is the Holy Spirit. John 16:13 says, "When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak of His own, but will tell you what He has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever He receives from me, and all that belongs to the Father is mine. This is why I said the Spirit will tell you whatever He receives from me."
So we're talking about an incredibly rich depository. God is a God who reveals to us His secrets. That is a beautiful picture where He brings us into His presence and begins to make you and me privy to His word and to His ways.
Psalms 25:14 says, "The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant." As a friend relates intimately with another friend, He will show His secrets to those who fear Him.
Isaiah adds to this. He says, "I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness, secret riches. I will do this so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name."
Now that promise was spoken in particular to King Cyrus, but it's applicable to you and me. God is a God who reveals to us His secret riches of revelation.
Isaiah 55:8 reminds us, "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord, "and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."
All of this came to fullness in the coming of Jesus Christ, the fullness of the Godhead now bodily dwelling in Jesus, the Son. He gives a clear picture in His parables. Matthew 13:31 says, "You are permitted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but others are not."
Do you understand this morning that what you and I have received are priceless and precious treasures, the secrets of the kingdom of heaven?
But even with all of this, there is one secret that even Jesus, in His humanity, was not privy to. Matthew 24:36 says, "However, no one knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son Himself. Only the Father knows the precise time of the return of Jesus Christ."
It is a secret known only to the Father.
Now, I mention all of this to come to our text because Paul is responding back to the Philippians in the wake of their continued and renewed concern and support for his life and ministry. He explains to them that he knows how to get along with very little and also how to live in prosperity.
Let's translate that. He said, "I know what it is to stay in five-star resorts with abundant supply and the finest cuisine, but I also know what it is to live almost destitute."
He repeats these opposites: "I know how to be filled and to go hungry, having abundance and suffering need."
So the question is, why or how have you learned this? In verse 12, I want you to focus on this: "I have learned the secret."
Now, in English, that's comprised of five words, but in the original Greek, it's only one word. It is the only place in all the Bible this word is found, and I'm not a Greek scholar to pronounce it correctly, but it is "mueo," and it literally means to be initiated into the mysteries.
If you research, many of you know the Greek mystery religions that existed at this time. To become a member of any one of those, to become a candidate, you had to go through a specific kind of initiation, a ritual that initiated you into the secrets of that religion, followed by a vow of silence.
Paul chooses, in this case, to use that word: "I have learned the secret. I have been initiated into this mystery."
The word was also used during what's known as the Second Temple period, and the word was used to describe top-secret information, information that the king had issued involving a war, the movement of troops, matters of national security—top-secret information.
Paul is saying, "I have learned something that is top secret, that previously had been classified information—one of God's best-kept secrets—and He has revealed it to me."
So let's look at this and what he's referring to, and that is specifically the jewel of contentment.
Now, let me pause here because the word "content" or "contentment," as it's used in the Bible, is often misunderstood or misapplied.
Too often, when people hear the word "contentment," they default to this idea of living passively, someone who has no real goals or initiative, someone who's not driven.
We think of contentment as becoming complacent or unintentional, so that a person who's content is viewed as someone who doesn't take any risks, doesn't have real innovation or initiative, and their life is all about playing it safe.
I was actually fellowshipping with a brother recently from Tucson, but he lives in another state. He was visiting, and we were having dinner. He was talking about wanting to have faith to believe God for bigger things in his life, and he said, "You know, I don't want to become too content."
And so that's what I'm talking about—that this idea of contentment almost seems contradictory to the innate human desire to be productive and to see increase.
In the parable of the talents, it was the steward who invested the Lord's resources that were those that He was pleased with if they were faithful.
Sometimes this idea of contentment seeps into people's thinking that can actually make them feel guilty if they're doing too well. You know, "Maybe I shouldn't be blessed to this degree."
So I'm going to try to help you understand biblically what contentment is all about, keeping in mind that two things can be true at the same time.
The simplest definition for contentment is quiet joy. It's something that the Puritan preachers and writers would refer to frequently.
More recently, a pastor named Eric Redmond wrote a book called "Chasing Contentment," and he said these words: "Contentment is the inward gracious quiet spirit that joyfully rests in God's providence."
Contentment is the inward gracious quiet spirit that joyfully rests in God's providence.
Now, Pastor Lamb talked about how Paul's description of love shoots us all out of the water in the first two words: "Love is patient, love is kind."
When it comes to contentment, this is not something that we innately understand or possess. In fact, if this is going to be our possession, we're going to have to head immediately to God's classroom.
Twice in our text, Paul says this: "I have learned." This is a lifelong lesson. "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I have learned."
In other words, this didn't come to him intuitively. It is the result of a learning process, living in the classroom of life.
How many know God has lots of ways to teach us His will and His secrets? This is a learning process.
As I said, it doesn't come naturally. In fact, if we would be honest, this is something that is very, very hard for us to learn because discontentment is something that's always pulling at us all the time.
It is very easy to fall into discontentment. It is much more difficult to learn a godly contentment.
So if we dig deeper, the word that he uses here is "autarkes," which means self-sufficient.
"I have learned the secret of being content" is self-sufficient in the best possible sense.
He's saying that his joy, his sense of purpose, was the same whether he was in the palace or whether he was in the prison, which is actually where he was writing from as he penned the book of Philippians.
"In whatever state I am, therewith to be content." My joy and my purpose are independent of the circumstances of life.
It is the quiet joy of knowing that the eternal God is our refuge and that underneath are His everlasting arms.
It is Psalms 23: "The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need." In other words, I have enough. If I have the Lord as my shepherd, I have enough.
Because whether or not we have everything we want is not what's at stake; we have Him.
Oh, homeboy knows. Ah, this is a yes.
See, this is fragrant with just a hint of rose. Uh, thank you, Leonard.
It's as painful for me as it is for you, but he's not saying that in every season of life we have all that we want, but we have Him.
Having Him makes us independent or self-sufficient of the circumstances of life.
Maybe let me try to apply this a step further. If we truly are learning ongoing contentment, then we can be just as satisfied in a one-room apartment as we are in a three-story mansion.
We are content in being single as well as being married. You don't want to marry someone who is just discontent about being single and has never become a whole person and developed their relationship with God.
It's actually ironic that when I first broached this subject, I had the same problem with my voice. I don't know if it's me or the message, but a lot of times those things can throw you off, and then the rest of the whole sermon is like, you know, trying to find your bearings.
But I got an email from Rod Gibson in Australia. He said, "Just finished listening to your secret of contentment sermon. Had to respond. I dare not attempt to call from the jungle of Papua New Guinea," this is where he's writing from, "where the wind, clouds, and rain must align to get online. Your message has too many layers of encouragement to share in the text. I'm in a quote hotel room, boiling water, killing bugs, wrestling gastro, contending for network signal, genuinely content. These people have almost nothing, and I get to bring the hope of salvation, healing, deliverance, and the Holy Ghost."
Paul said, "I've learned a secret that's always been viewed as a real jewel, and that is contentment."
Where it's often found and where it converges in the scripture as one of those secret ingredients is when it comes to the subject of money.
Now, I know that there are no pastors, no evangelists here who have any concerns whatsoever involving money. There's no church conference center that there are any kind of financial concerns that you brought to this conference, but humor me for just a little bit.
Because we may discover people like the ones in the Bible that needed to hear this.
I'm not trying to give the whole corpus of the Bible's teaching on money, which is very comprehensive, but in the context, Paul is saying the secret that I have discovered came to light after the Philippians' sacred partnership, their world evangelism pledge and support that, like a perennial, has blossomed once again.
They've sent to him an offering to sustain him there in prison. The context had to do with money and financial provision.
You know this; it is still true that in a lot of places in the world, whether you're in jail or you're in the hospital, if you don't have people on the outside helping you, they might as well just bury you now.
So Paul is in a Roman prison, and the Philippians' concern has blossomed and put forth once again.
In 1 Timothy 6, he is standing against false teachers, and he says, "These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy. Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can't take anything with us when we leave it. Our entrance into this world and our exit is going to be empty-handed. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content."
Now, he's not talking about that I have no drive. He's not saying or putting a stamp of approval on a poverty spirit.
But he is saying, "Whatever circumstance I find myself in, I have learned to be able to live independently of that."
Again, Hebrews 13:5 says, "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'"
In other words, contentment is possible because we will never ever be abandoned, no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in, and we will never be without His supernatural help or His supernatural aid.
Paul said, "I have learned this secret that has made all the difference in the world in my life and ministry."
Just a little bit of nuance: Paul didn't say he had learned contentment, but he did say he had learned the secret of contentment.
One of the Lord's secrets is that God has a secret code that unlocked contentment, and Paul had discovered over time that unlocking that code is as simple and sound as Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
Now, that one verse has made the difference in countless lives and people in every imaginable situation, circumstance, place, and predicament down through the ages.
Paul said, "I've learned the secret of whatever state I'm in to be content, for I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
One translation of this said, "I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me."
JB Phillips says, "I am ready for anything through the strength of the one who lives within me."
The Amplified Classic says, "I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me. I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses inner strength into me. I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency."
Now, we need to correctly apply this because this is a verse, however popular, that has been misused and misapplied.
He's not saying you can do anything you want through Christ who strengthens you.
"I have this hairbrained idea, and without seeking anyone's counsel or any kind of wise sounding board, I'm going to go running off half-cocked because Jesus will strengthen me."
It's called presumption.
He's not saying you can do anything without qualification, and Christ will strengthen you.
Just put this on a t-shirt. Athletes put it in their eye block that they'll wear when they go onto the field. They'll have Philippians 4:13. Others will stitch it into their sneakers on the basketball court. Some will even tattoo it on their bodies: Philippians 4:13.
Well, listen, there's not going to be any way in this life that I'm ever going to be able to slam dunk at 6'3" on a 10-foot hoop. A slam dunk is probably beyond my skill level.
This verse is not saying you're guaranteed to make millions and millions of dollars. You can get into the cockpit of an airplane without any training and just say, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
Step into a surgical suite with a patient lying on the table and before anesthesia is applied, "Doc, have you done this before?" "No, but I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
"Are you a doctor?" "No, but I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
You get the point.
Paul said, "The secret that I've learned is whatever and whenever and wherever."
Whatever represents His will for my life. Whatever He sends me in life, whatever He sends me to in His service, whatever He calls me to do, all to endure if it is His will and His way.
He strengthens me for it.
Meaning, and you know, I know that some of you have traveled all the way around the world to hear this—that the secret, when all is said and done, is Jesus Himself and the strength He brings into our hearts in any and every situation.
"I can do all things through Christ who infuses me with strength."
It is a lifelong lesson. Some of you are no longer the proverbial spring chicken. You're having to learn things that you never thought you would ever have to learn.
One man said, "Whatever the circumstances, in any and every situation, I can be self-sufficient. I can be resilient. I can be unbreakable and undefeated and victorious in my attitude. I can make the most of things under the harshest of conditions through Him who enables me to do that. He infuses me with strength for this very thing. He strengthens my ability to remain resolute and positive whatever happens."
Whatever, whenever, and wherever, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Which brings us all back to the same place: the Christian life is nothing short of a miracle from its start to its finish, from its inception to crossing the finish line.
It is through Christ who strengthens me. It is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Apart from that, there is no hope in any of our lives, but through Him, whatever, whenever, and wherever, He will help me to learn the secret.
And that secret is, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
It's the same when Paul wrote that from a Roman prison to you and me sitting here in January 2025 in a Bible conference.
The jewel that so many discard or don't view as being valuable, which is contentment, because we misunderstand it, is that dynamic, that quality that makes us, whether in the penthouse or in the prison, self-sufficient through Him who strengthens me.
Let's bow our heads in prayer this morning.
We're going to ask the Spirit of God to seal His word and His working this morning.
In all of the seminars, I always marvel at God's orchestration. Every message preached this morning, in one way or another, deals with pastoral soul care—the things that go into strengthening and making you as a Christian, as a disciple, as a pastor, pastor's wife, as an evangelist—the things that go into making you fruitful and productive.
The Trinitarian miracle that God's aim and goal is to come and to make His home in you, and that the ability to have faith and to have love comes from His indwelling presence.
To be able to deal with worries and troubles that none of us are exempt from, but to escape the trap that those troubles and that worry can bring us to, where we're no longer relying upon God's sufficient grace for today, but concerned about yesterday or tomorrow intrudes.
Then Paul is writing to this beloved church that had distinguished itself as the one church that partnered with him through thick and thin.
He wasn't discounting their generosity; he wasn't minimizing it. But he took this as an opportunity to let them know that whether in the palace or in the prison, God has been revealing to me one of His deepest secrets, and that is the secret of contentment.
I think sometimes in the ministry, if we're not careful, we can get our wires crossed. It's not a question of either/or. We need to push ourselves. We need to be people who are inspired by and are reaching forth to that which is before us, inspired by vision.
But at the same time, we must learn the secret of possessing genuine contentment and how this factors into long-term fruitfulness in life and in ministry.
We're going to open these altars in just a moment. I really, and I'm not exaggerating, there's been a very deep working and probing of the Spirit of God all morning, where the Lord, our physician, is seeking to bring His healing balm to our pastoral soul.
I want to sing a chorus together with you in worship, and I just trust that all morning God has been speaking to you.
The way that is fitting to end is we're going to stand together and worship. I want to open these altars. You respond to the Lord, your helper, your savior, your physician.
"God, heal my soul. Teach me Your ways and show me Your paths. Lord, these secret things belong to those that fear You, and Lord, I pray that You would help me to learn and to apply to my life."
Some of you may be just filled with discontentment as you've come to conference. The problem is that discontentment can metastasize, where we become malcontent, and then even we can hold in contempt things that used to be near and dear to us.
How do we guard against that? We need to allow the Lord, our physician, to have access to our soul.
As we sing this, cry out to Him right here at the altar, at your seat. Lift your voice to Heaven.
"Lord, You speak to me those things that I need to hear right now that I can start applying them to my life and to my ministry, to my particular situation before I leave this building."
Let's sing this together this morning.
Hallelujah, peace, peace, wonderful peace, flowing down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray, in fathomless billows.
Oh, sing it again: peace, peace, wonderful peace, flowing down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray, in fathomless billows of love.
This morning, that verse is part of those four chapters that Pastor Lamb spoke of in the Gospel of John, where Jesus said, "My peace I give unto you."
This isn't just any peace; this is my peace. "My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
He said, "In the world, you shall have," that is a promise, by the way, "you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer, be encouraged, take courage. I have overcome the world."
And that is why contentment is one of the overcoming realities of our deepening relationship with Jesus Christ.
We're going to sing that one more time and just give God praise as our brother comes to take the service.
Stand right where you are. Let's sing it: peace, peace, wonderful peace, peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray, in fathomless billows.
Oh, let's just thank Him this morning.
God, we are grateful that You have made provision for our lives for every need imaginable.
I pray that You will strengthen men and women in this assembly, God, in their fields of labor and service.
Lord, I pray the peace of God that passes all understanding would keep and guard their hearts and their minds through Jesus Christ.
Oh God, that deep work of Your Spirit and Your grace dwelling in our hearts and dwelling in our lives.
Lord, amen. We are grateful.
We are grateful.
Jud says, "God, every time I have spoken, and I have spoken, I am aiming my word to my heart. As I open, I speak to you the words toing."
God, I am speaking a word in due season. I am speaking unto a people that I have for such a time as this.
God, He says, "Lord, and you will listen carefully to the words that I am speaking unto you, even in this time, in this hour. I am to bring redemption, the beginning, even from the first time and the first life. I desire relationship, and even now in this hour, there is great work yet to be done."
And you would say, "What shall be done? What is it that you are to do in the earth even now?"
And my word is this: that you would represent me in all of the earth, that every nation would have representation of my word.
My church shall stand in this generation as a witness, as my Son completed and showed that obedience be served.
I shall complete my work in the church, God. And even in this day, look at the nations of the earth, even those that I am challenging at this moment. Would you not obey my word?
For my word obeyed brings redemption, and my word obeyed brings... and yes, it is my desire that none should perish, but all come to salvation.