Bible Study Series: The Book of Philippians
Bible Study Philippians 4.10-13 Learning Contentment in Christ
By Fraser Gordon
Hello Saints! We are in chapter 4 of the book of Philippians. Last time we looked at verses 8 and 9 which was all about food for the mind. Paul encourages us to meditate on all things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report and anything praiseworthy. We should think on these things. Today we're going to look at verses 10-13. Paul goes on to talk about our experience and being content with our lot.
I have learned
Php 4:10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity.
Paul starts by addressing the church. Paul was a tentmaker and at times he provided for himself and other times his needs were met by others in the churches. In this he rejoiced in God, who uses all to be a blessing. There seemed to be a problem with the mail service, for they did care, but they lacked the opportunity to meet his needs.
Php 4:11, Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.
Underline I have learned. This is really important for us all. It's not something that comes naturally and Paul is not alone. Even the Lord Jesus said in Hebrews 5.8 that He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. The Lord Jesus, even though he was born without sin, had to learn. He had to continually yield himself to the will of the Father over and over again. In this way He learned obedience. He learned to do the Father's will by the things that He suffered, culminating in what happened on the cross. His whole life was one of yielding himself to the Father's will. In so doing He learned obedience to the Father's plan. It was the Father’s will for His Son to be born into this world, to die for the sins of the world and to be raised again.
So this is also true of us. Paul said he learned, in whatever state he was, to be content. He had to learn it. It doesn't come naturally. We are not born content. There's always something more we want. You see this in the garden of Eden. This was Satan's mode of attack on Eve. He suggested that God was holding something back, that she needed more, and that there was more she could get that would benefit her. So she was deceived and fell. It's the same with us, no one is born content. We always want more. Better toys, more money, a better house, a better job. Our culture encourages the need for more. You've got to keep up with the Joneses next door and with the styles that are forever changing. We have a job and then think, oh we need to get a better job. We need more money all the time. We upgrade the houses we have till we get a better one and then we have to move towns. More money, more houses, more towns, more toys.
Paul said I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. What is contentment? Some say contentment is having everything you want. But you'll always want more. There was a woman who complained that she wanted five dollars. If only she had five dollars! One passerby felt sorry for her so he gave her five dollars and then sat around the corner and listened to what she said, “Oh how stupid I am if only I had asked for ten dollars”. That's the heart of the matter. We always want more. So what is contentment? It is being satisfied with what you have wherever you find yourself. A Quaker had a sign outside his house which read, This house is free to anyone who can prove to me they are content. Obviously no one could prove it because if they were content they wouldn't need the house. The Quaker knew he would never lose the property. Contentment is being satisfied with what you have and contentment makes a poor man rich.
On the flip side, discontentment can make a rich man poor. We went camping every year to the beach. One year after we were all set up this guy came and parked next to us. I had a Subaru car, and he also had a Subaru but his was a newer, flasher model. I had a Base Camp tent and he did too but his was a lot newer and bigger with a lot more room. I had an old basic tinny and he pulled up with a really flash boat. The kids said to me, “Dad, that guy's got everything you've got but it’s much better than yours”. I looked at it all and thought, “yeah, that guy's got an upgrade of everything I’ve got”. We will never find contentment until we are satisfied with what we have.
Godliness with contentment
1Ti 6:6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. Godliness is the gain, not desiring wealth. He goes on in vs 7 For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. You never see a hearse going to the gravesite towing a trailer. We come into this world with nothing and we leave with absolutely nothing. Verse 6 is a beauty. Godliness, or in other words Godlikeness, with contentment is great gain. If there is any true wealth, any treasure, this is what it is. To live a godly life, pleasing to the Lord and being content with that because He is the greatest treasure we have.
1Ti 6.8-10 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil for which some have strayed from their faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. It's interesting that the writer compares godliness and contentment with the love of money and riches. Whatever path you find yourself on, God has allowed you to walk it. You need to rest and be content.
Hebrews 13.5-6 says Let your conduct be without covetousness. Like me with the guy camping. Everything I saw was better than mine and I desired it. Be content with such things as you have. For he himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”. So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?". The writer is saying that the treasure is God himself. And if we have God, then we have every means to be content. For the Lord Jesus Christ has come to dwell with us and in us.
The Lord is my shepherd
So in every season Christ is my enough. There was once a fisherman who was sitting idly by his boat when a rich industrialist came along and said, “Why are you not fishing? The fisherman replied, “Well, I have caught enough fish for today”. The industrialist said, “Why don't you catch more fish? Then you can get more nets and the more nets you get, the more fish you get. Then you can buy more boats and you can go deeper and further. You can make more money and soon you will have your own fleet and be rich like me”. The fisherman replied, “Then what would I do?” The industrialist replied, “Well, then you could sit down and enjoy life”. The fisherman replied, “That's what I'm doing now. Isn’t it just like that? We often want more. But are we content with what we have?
We all know Psalm 23 A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
Everything about the Psalm is based on the very first verse, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. David writes the same thing as Paul in Philippians 4. David is content, he's in his Shepherd's care. God is responsible to care for His sheep. He leads us to green pastures, He leads us to still waters, and He leads us even into the valley of trouble. Yet David says, I shall not want. Many people interpret this, “the Lord is my shepherd, I shall have more”. But David places himself in the hands of God. It's God’s responsibility to care for and provide what is needed for His sheep. Not only that, but what we all actually need is God as our Savior.
Only Christ can fill the soul of every sinner and bring rest and completeness. And if God is our shepherd, then we can say with David and Paul, “I shall not want, I've learned to be content with His will and His leading”. David and Paul are both saying “I've learned to be content”. Our contentment is because of our relationship with the Shepherd. Back in Philippians Paul writes, I have learned. I'm glad he says that because we also must learn it. It doesn’t come naturally, but through the circumstances of life, and as we rest and lean on the Lord Jesus Christ, we may say with Paul and David, “I have no want, I've learned to be content”.
Christ who strengthens me
Php 4:12-13 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
The word abased means to be humiliated or humbled. How do we cope if we are humiliated and bought low? This is first of all true of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember in Philippians 2.6 Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped (ESV) but He lowered himself and made himself of no reputation Php 2.7. This is the King of Kings, the One who created all things yet when He took on humanity, He made himself of no reputation. He was just a carpenter's son, insignificant, not someone popular, proud, or out in front. He could have been born in a palace, but was born in a manger. He had a normal job until the Spirit of God came on Him for His ministry of three years. How do we cope in situations where we are bought low, thought low of and humbled? Paul learned how to be abased. He learned how to be content when he was in situations where people abused him, threw stones at him, and ridiculed him for his faith.
Paul also said that he learned to abound which is the opposite of abased. He was someone important, and given positions of responsibility in the church. It's one thing to learn how to be abased, but it's another thing to learn how to abound. Once Harry Ironside, a great preacher, was put in the presidential suite of a hotel while on a speaking tour. He protested because it was too comfortable and expensive. He said, “I only need a bed, a table and a lamp to study.” He was told, “This is free of charge, Paul said he knew how to abound and how to be abased. Now you, Harry, are going to learn how to abound”. It's very easy to learn to be abased, but it's really hard for some people to abound. When some are the center of attention and given luxuries they feel guilty. But Paul said both abased and abound. Times of plenty and honour is something we also need to learn.
Php 4.13 is the reason. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. This is one of the most used scriptures, and often out of context. We need to put this verse in the context Paul used it. I couldn't get up on my roof and say, “I'm going to fly like a bird because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”, and then run off the edge and expect to fly away or land softly. I wouldn't put myself in a ministry in which God has not enabled me, anointed me and strengthened me and say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. I also couldn't put a knife in my hand and say, “I'm a surgeon and I'm going to operate on you because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. You would run in the opposite direction. I'd be more like a butcher than a surgeon. I couldn't proclaim to be a mechanic and fix your car when God hasn't given me that ability. These are some of the ways people use this scripture. “I can do that because the scripture says I can do all things through Christ”.
The context is that God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, will strengthen you wherever you find yourself. Paul said in vs 12, I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. This is how we can survive in this world. The Lord will always supply the strength for the task that He leads us to. But we need to be in the will of God. If we are following God’s will then strength will be available to us. If we are poor, he will give us the strength to be content. If we are humbled, the Lord Jesus Christ will give the strength needed to be content. If we abound He will give us the strength needed. If we are suffering, the Lord Jesus Christ will give us the strength needed to be content in the will of God.
Think about Paul who was chained to a prison wall and abandoned by most. He's on his own, apart from being chained to a guard. His life is now in the shadows. He was once a prominent man, but now he's almost forgotten. He’s alone in prison yet he says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He would have been hungry, but the strength was there for him to be content, whether he was hungry or whether he was full. In every season Christ is enough. Paul is not saying he can do whatever he wants and Christ will give him strength. No. When we walk in the will of God we should accept life’s ups and downs and expect the strength of Christ to be with us in all of it.
Father, we thank you for these few verses. We thank you that Paul could say he has learned these things and may we learn them too. May the contentment of the Spirit of Christ work on our hearts and show us that our true need is the Lord Jesus Christ. Godliness with contentment is great gain. That is the true treasure. Father, teach us how to rely on your strength in times of weakness and in times of abounding, in times of need and in times of blessing. We thank you for this wonderful promise and we thank you that strength is always available through the Lord Jesus Christ in whatever situation we find ourselves. We thank you for your promise. Apply it to our lives in Jesus name. Amen.