Tonight, obviously, the team in Mexico is also meeting. This was mentioned before, but in case you don't know it, because Pastor Juan Carlos was not ordained before, they did not celebrate communion in that church. Well, he was ordained this morning. And so if you go on the church's Facebook page, you can see the pictures from this morning and the ordination. And so tonight, the same time that we are doing communion here, they are doing it there. And that's really remarkable. To have a relationship with a church like this, where you're actually doing an ordination service in the morning and doing a communion at night, and there's real relationship there between our pastor and the teams that have gone and the people that are there and the churches that are there. You can see the picture of Christian. in there. You can see Felipe in there and Alan Nelson, Pastor Alan and Pastor Jonathan. It's just wonderful to see them all together, gathered together for that purpose. It's fantastic. Praise God for the work of FIRM and what's happening there in Mexico. Tonight, this is actually like a third part of a message I'm doing, or a series I guess, on contentment. If you remember, I preached on Philippians 4 a while back, I think it was in the fall, on contentment. We had a morning sermon and an evening sermon. I think it was right before Communion. And so here's another one on contentment. And this is not my material. It's original to me. I've edited it quite a bit so that it's more palatable, I guess, to 21st century ears. It's Jeremiah Burroughs' book, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. If you have not read that, I would encourage you to read that. This is part of that. This is part of the early chapters of that book. And it has to do with characteristics of contentment, what is it to be content? You want to talk about wrestling with God, that's something we probably wrestle with, is this idea of contentment, being happy with the things that we have in our lives as they are given to us from a sovereign God. Being content and being willing to say, you know, I'm happy here. This is something I think, you know, I talked about the last time that we were looking at this, was that I had this tendency, I talked to Pastor Randall about it this past week, like every five years my feet get itchy and I want to go somewhere else. And that was like a lot of what was going on with the Canada thing. Like, okay, well, just Gotta go do something, you know, and get hyper. But that's not a character strength, that's a character flaw. And it's just learning to rest in the circumstances that you find yourself in. The gospel primarily is dealing with our sin, right? It's dealing with the fact that we're sinful people. And our lack of contentment is part of that. Our lack of ability to trust God in the circumstances that we find ourselves in. I believe this is something that we should be looking at in light of the Gospel. And so I'm going to just go through some of these ideas and make some observations here. Primarily these are characteristics of contentment. What contentment looks like. Burroughs in this particular section says, contentment is a sweet, inward heart work. You remember when Pastor was preaching that sermon, I think it was Proverbs 15, maybe it was verse 13, on heart work. And I thought it was interesting, he says this here, it's a sweet inward heart work. The quote that he has here is a work of the Spirit indoors. A work of the Spirit indoors. Let's start by looking at Psalm 62 for a second. Psalm 62, we are going to jump around. this evening. Psalm 62. Look at verse 1 and verse 5. For God alone, my soul waits in silence. From Him comes my salvation. I'm just going to read down to verse 5. He alone is my rock and my salvation. My fortress I shall not be greatly shaken. How long will all of you attack a man to batter him? like a leaning wall, a tottering fence. They only plan to thrust Him down from His high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah. For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him. I'm going to read down to the Selah. He only is my rock and my salvation. My fortress, I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory. My mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in Him at all times, O people. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. Selah. So in verse 1, it says, For God alone my soul waits in silence." And then again, for God alone, oh my soul, wait in silence. He's saying, look, the soul must be at peace. The soul must be at peace. And if the soul's at peace, Burroughs says, then your tongue's also going to be silent. If your soul is resting in Christ, You're not just going to be, your gums aren't going to be flapping because you are discontent. And that's what it will look like. You're going to have silence, even while in these circumstances and the context, people are attacking you. You feel like a leaning wall, a tottering fence. There's this attack going on, but in your soul, you're just waiting, and you're at peace. And Burroughs uses the example of an opposite. He's saying, look, Judas Iscariot is a good example of the opposite. On the outside, he betrays Jesus with a kiss, right? When he betrays Christ. But on the inside, his soul's a mess. I mean, he's an absolute mess. He ends up killing himself. So, it can look great on the outside, but on the inward side, people's hearts can be totally wrecked. Psalm 32, verse 3 is another reference to look at here. Psalm 32, verse 3. This is what it's like for a lot of people when they're being silent on the outside. You might think, oh, everything must be good, right? I mean, they must be content because they're not saying anything. But when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. So on the other hand, don't be deceived when someone is just silent when they're going through things. There are some people that are wired that way. that they'll just be quiet and stoic as they go through anything, but you don't know what's going on in the heart. And so just be mindful of the fact, it's a fact, that people can be smiling even on the outside, be silent, but on the inside they can be going through the worst depression you can even imagine. And then you hear about some tragedy where they've destroyed themselves. They've committed suicide or something. And so be mindful of the fact that that exists as well. Now, he goes into this section and he says, there are certain things that contentment does not oppose. So he says contentment is not opposed to being sensible of your own suffering. It's not being discontent to be aware of the fact that you're actually going through real suffering. We're not stoic. We're not people that just ignore our own suffering. After all, even Jesus said that we take up a cross and come follow Him. So even Christ is recognizing that there's pain involved in that. It's a cross and it means death. And so it wouldn't be wrong for a martyr, for example, to be sensible of the fact that this is a painful death. It's not opposed to that. And the other thing that we have to keep in mind is that we are allowed to make our complaints known to God in what Burroughs said is like an orderly manner, as well as to Christian friends. It's not wrong to go to a Christian friend and say, hey, would you pray for me? I'm going through a difficult time. That's right and that's good. We should be bearing one another's burdens. We're called to do that. And you look in the Psalms and you see many examples of the psalmist going before God in a godly manner, crying out to God. It's not wrong to cry out for those things. And it is not wrong to seek deliverance from things in your life that are bad or painful by lawful means. In other words, prayer, obviously we've already mentioned, but medical help. If you've got some kind of illness, it's not wrong to go to a doctor. You're not being discontent because you're doing that sort of thing. If you're financially strapped, it's not wrong to look for a job. It sounds kind of extreme to even mention some of these things, but there are people who kind of go that far. Contentment does not oppose these things. True contentment does oppose murmuring against the hand of God. If you're truly content, You're not going to be murmuring against the hand of God like the Israelites in the wilderness or something. That's not contentment. It's not contentment when we fret about things. Look at Philippians 4.6 for a second. Philippians 4.6. Do not be anxious about anything, but everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Contentment does this in the midst of difficulty. We cry out to God, prayer and supplication, but it's important to remember that we also let those requests be made known with thanksgiving, being thankful for the things that we do have, even if things aren't quite right the way that we like to see them that way. True contentment does oppose a spirit that is just torn apart and tumultuous. So what do I mean by that? I talked a little bit last time, I think, about emotions. And that our emotions, only you can really know what's going on between your ears, I guess, when it comes to emotions. True contentment does not let your emotions dictate and drive the whole way that you think. We have to learn to preach the Word of God to ourselves. We need to learn to rein those things in. And true contentment opposes distraction from our duties to God and others over every silly thing. That's not Burroughs' word, that's mine. It's silly to be distracted from the duties that we owe to God and to other people. We're to love God and walk in obedience to Him, do what He's called us to do. And a great example of that comes from Nehemiah. You go back to Nehemiah 6, verse 3, and you see how Nehemiah dealt with distractions. He was being distracted from the work that he was called to do in building the wall. And there's these opponents, Sanballat 2 and Geshem. It says, Sanballat and Geshem sent to me saying, come and let us meet together. Wow, there's a name. Hacephirim in the plain of Ono. But they intended to do me harm. I sent messengers to them saying, I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you? He says, there's no way I'm going to be distracted from what God has called me to do. And so contentment will say, if we're truly content, when we look at emotions that rise up and they distract us, we look at situations that come up, and we find ourselves consumed with these distractions, and it causes us to be distracted from what God has called us to do towards Him or towards other people. then that we need to oppose. We should oppose anything that would diminish the primacy of Jesus in our hearts, is what Burroughs says. He said the Word should take full possession of our hearts. The Word of God should take full possession of our hearts. And our hearts should be so consumed with that that we just don't even really care that much. Anything that would diminish from that, we want to kind of block that out of our thinking and our lives. Of course, Hebrews 4, verse 12 is the classic verse. It's the one that Burroughs points to when he says the Word of God should take possession. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. I'm going to read it. because I'm tired and I don't trust my memory. Hebrews 4, verse 12, For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Our being consumed with the word of God should be so much that we're consumed ultimately with Christ, and we will not allow that to be disrupted in any way. He says, a great man will permit common people to stand outside of his doors, but he will not let them come in and make noise in his bedroom when he's finished the business day. You're not just going to let anybody come into your house and disrupt your peace and quiet at the end of your business day. They can stand outside all they want, but don't come in to my space that's reserved for Christ, is what he's saying. And if we have that commitment, it's the right attitude to have regarding contentment. The other thing that godly contentment, true Christian contentment will oppose are sinful plans to get help. Sinful plans to get help. Sometimes we get so desperate in our lack of contentment that we will do something that actually dishonors God and goes against His Word. Some compromise, some alliance that's ungodly in order to get the help that we need. This is a real problem when it comes to Christians seeking out psychiatrists, psychologists, who are actually teaching the exact opposite of what scriptures say and are encouraging people to depend upon chemicals and things like that to bring them along. These people are actually enemies of the gospel and they've been educated to be that way. Let's look at several verses in 2 Chronicles to get this idea. 2 Chronicles 16 verses 7 and 8. By way of example, with the people of God. At that time, Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, because you relied on the king of Syria and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you." Verse 8, "'Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, He gave them into your hand. God is able. Do not ever forget that what we believe regarding God's power and His ability to deliver and to save, these things are true. They're still true even if we're talking about emotional issues. God's Word is able to deliver you without the things that the world goes running off to. And that applies to so many different things. Another example is over in chapter 20, 2 Chronicles 20, verse 35. It's along the same lines. After this, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, joined with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who acted wickedly. So you've got this alliance. Verse 36, he joined them in building ships to go to Tarshish, and they built the ships in Azion-Geber. Then Eliezer, the son of Dodavahu of Moreshah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made. And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish. God cares about these alliances. And so we must reject any sinful plans to get help from this morning. Remember the whole story with Jacob and Rebekah. They're lying to Isaac in order to get the birthright and the blessing. They do all of that. They take things into their own hands to try to accomplish what God had already promised them would happen. reject sinful plans to get help. True contentment does that. and then just flat rebellion against God for help. And what Burroughs says is that this can happen sometimes when affliction goes on for a very long time. It's not a matter of small compromises, but when it goes on for a very long time, people get worn down and they say, forget it. I've tried this God thing. I prayed. God didn't come and deliver. I'm done. I'm done. And I'm going to go and do whatever it takes to get relief in this situation that can happen. Guard against it. You get into a situation like that, look for help. You're thinking it. If it even crosses your mind. Pray, first of all, but then look for help. Come to people in the church and say, hey, I am really discouraged. I feel like I'm going to give up. Kind of like what I was alluding to this morning about the veneer. You can come to church with a veneer that everything is good when your soul is in absolute turmoil. Don't pretend like everything is great when it's not great. I know that it's almost like accepted or considered spiritual to always say the same thing whenever we say it to each other. How are you doing, brother? Oh, we're doing good. It's easier than trying to get into the details. But when we're not doing good, this ought to be a place where we can say, I'm doing lousy. I'm doing terrible. Things are bad, right? And if we care, we'll ask why. And so we should love one another that way. The other thing, another major characteristic of contentment is that, and he uses the phrase frame of spirit. You know what a frame is, right, on a building? It's just the whole exterior shell of the building. That's the frame. And what he's saying is that contentment defines itself as a quiet, gracious frame of spirit. And what he's saying with this is that contentment will spread through our whole being. That it won't just be like one part of us and not the rest. To give you an idea of what I think he's talking about, the Bible says that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. That's a way of saying every part of our being. Our heart is the center of our intellect, our emotions, and our will. And then our heart, soul, that's all the inner being that is within us. Our mind, the way that we think. every part of it, even our physical bodies, every bit of ourselves we're supposed to love God with. What he's saying is that when we're truly content it's going to spread through our whole being as opposed to like you could be going through a trial and be be thoroughly depressed, and you might hear a message like this and mentally say, yes, that is right. So with your mind, you're saying, yes, that is right. But when it comes to the rest of your being, you're still depressed. And what he's saying is when we are really understanding it, then that's not how it's going to be. Our whole frame, our whole being is going to be transformed by this idea of contentment. Go to Psalm 42 for a moment. Psalm 42. Burroughs suggests when you're going through these times, Psalm 42 is a great psalm to meditate on, to pray, Psalm 42, verses 5 and 6, we'll focus on those for a moment, and then we'll come back to verse 1. Psalm 42, verse 5, why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me. Therefore, I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mazar." So, he's asking these questions. He's preaching to himself. You've heard that phrase before. You're not crazy if you talk to yourself. Why are you cast down, O my soul? Sometimes you have to stop and ask yourself when these emotions are going crazy, why are you thinking like this? What is causing these emotions? By the way, a what question is always better than a why question when it comes to asking these kinds of questions. What specifically is it that's causing me to have these emotions? And evaluate that emotion, test that emotion by the truth of God's Word. You say, even if you're feeling it, this crazy emotion, you have to at least start with mentally rejecting it. And then look to the Word of God where it deals with this kind of thing and go there. Go there and cry out to God and remember what God has done. So it spreads through the whole soul. This peaceful resting in the soul will bring about a spiritual contentment. He says outward remedies won't help. And he also points out that there are some people that have a very calm, natural quietness about them, and it's not really because of anything that has to do with God. Like some people are wired the way that they are, that they don't freak out about anything. They're just very chill. No matter what happens, they're chill. You can even know unsaved people like this that are not affected by things. They don't get depressed or excited. And the giveaway is that they're just as chill when they're sinning against God blatantly. So you know it's nothing to do with the Spirit of God. It has nothing to do with the Word of God. But they're just chill because that's how they are. And when they're doing it, even when they're sinning against God, that's an indicator it has nothing to do, whatever, with Christ. But someone who is content in Christ, on the other hand, will show some excitement and passion for the things of God. On one hand, yet his heart is still quiet. When all of this is right regarding contentment, he can get excited and fired up for the things of God, but he still has the ability to be quiet and resting in Christ. That's a good goal to have when it comes to this issue of contentment. And when we're truly content, we have the freedom to rejoice in God's sovereign actions." I like the way he phrases that. The freedom to rejoice in God's sovereign actions. When someone is truly free from being enslaved to their emotions and the circumstances of life, and they're free from all that, and they're resting in Christ, it does not take much convincing when something terrible happens. Pastor Randall says it this way, the Christian ought to be the calmest person in the room. When you are really focused on Christ, you don't have to get all kinds of counseling and all this kind of stuff. When it comes up, you're like, oh, OK, this thing happened. I'm trusting a sovereign God. I'm not going to be freaked out by this thing. It's not going to be something that's forced. When it's forced, we often have to get people to settle down if we see it in someone else. Brother, you have to be content. Settle down in this thing. We shouldn't have to do all that much for one another if we are where we should be in this. But if we're not, we do need encouragement. It should be natural. We are all being sanctified, but it should be our goal. And one thing he does point out is our contentment should not be based in ignorance. You shouldn't be just calm and content just because you're dumb. You're just not aware of what's going on around you. It's like being on an airplane that's going down, and you've got your earbuds in, and you've got your sleeping mask thing on, and you're not aware that the plane is crashing. It's not because you're just super spiritual and content. It's because you're dumb. You don't know what's happening around you. And he points out, like, look, this ignorance is bliss thing. That's not contentment. Contentment ultimately, I think this is where we'll stop, contentment ultimately takes pleasure in God's sovereign decrees and actions. When we look at these things, we say, well, God is doing this thing. I'm going to take pleasure in that. I have a hard time with this. But we have to go with what the scriptures say. Psalm 119, verse 71. Psalm 119, verse 71. Several verses we'll look at here, we'll wrap up with this. It is good for me. that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes." That is the right attitude. We take pleasure even when affliction comes, because in that we can learn better the statutes. Not just knowing them by word perfect, like we've memorized it exactly right with the words, but actually learn what they mean and apply it to our lives. So there's that one. Proverbs 15, verse 6. actually taking pleasure in what God is doing. Proverbs 15, verse 6, In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but trouble befalls the income of the wicked. The big question a lot of Christians seem to have is why is God blessing people who are wicked? Why is it that the wicked prosper while the righteous don't have very much? Well, in the house of the righteous, whether you see it or not, there's much treasure because they're righteous. They have the Word of God. They have Christ. They have what Jesus did on the cross for their sins. But when it comes to the wicked, even though they have all kinds of income, trouble ultimately will befall them. Maybe not in this life, but judgment day is coming for them. And so if they're wicked, they'll be held to account. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 10. 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 verse 10. I'll go back to verse 8. The second part of the verse, it says, for we are treated as imposters and yet are true, as unknown and yet well-known, as dying and behold we live, as punished and yet not killed, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing everything. We have the Apostle Paul traveling around preaching the gospel. like we've talked about in 1 Thessalonians on Wednesday night, making tents, things like that. And sometimes the business is successful, sometimes it's not. Sometimes they go in and preach and people hear the gospel and they repent and believe. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes they face persecution, sometimes they don't. But no matter what it is that they're always going through, no matter how bad it is, like in verse 10, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing. Sad about some things, but when you're truly content, you can find something to rejoice about. And for us as Christians, that thing that we rejoice about is what we're gathered here tonight to honor. No matter what the circumstances are, no matter where you are in your life right now or what things are coming against you, when you come here tonight and you take the Lord's table, you are reminded. that your Savior laid down His life for sinners, that He really died, the broken bread symbolizing His broken body. He really became a man in the form of man. He really died. He really shed His blood. That was all motivated by love. And again, like we were reminded of this morning, has nothing to do with anything other than grace. You don't in any way deserve, what I don't deserve, what we are taking tonight. And so be reminded, contentment really is a gospel thing because no matter what's happening around you, this, if it's real for you, you repented and believed the gospel, this always remains the same. And you can put up with a lot. That's the testimony of church history when you know that you're right with God.