Philippians chapter 4, beginning at verse 10, the Apostle Paul says, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty in hunger, abundance in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. This is the word of the Lord. And you may be seated. Well, the Apostle Paul's discourse on contentment I think is especially pertinent in our age, as I said a moment ago, of excessive discontent. Now, of course, as I mentioned also a moment ago, all of humanity has been chronically discontent from that moment in Eden when Adam and Eve sinned. But we live in an age that has to be one of the most privileged generations in all of history. Yet, ironically, discontentment seems to be a plague. It's more acute than ever. Ours is an age of perpetual restlessness, a society of insatiable dissatisfaction. It's true, isn't it? In all of history, there has never been a time of such promise for the prospect of contentment, an age of exponentially more opportunity, more convenience, more comfort, more entertainment. But that may well be the very reason why discontentment is so pervasive. It's because we have such great expectations, even though time after time, the world fails to deliver. Still, people continue in this endless cycle of hope and disappointment. This next thing will make me content. Then they get it and they realize, no, it won't. You know, it seems the insanity of fallen humanity knows no bounds. Isn't that one of the definitions of insanity? You just keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. That's the world. And that's the way of this world. They will forever be seeking contentment and never finding it because they're looking for contentment where it cannot be found. Since we're created in the image of the infinite God, only he can satisfy the longing in our souls. And the world is not enough. It never will be. It was never intended to be. Now, of course, as we go through this, we need to always remember the context. It's such an important aspect of our understanding of the scripture. And so as the story goes, as we find the episode unfolding before us, Paul hadn't heard from the Philippians in years when suddenly he receives a generous and sacrificial gift from these saints. So this letter to the Philippians is his response. Paul knows, he says, that they had a desire to help him that never waned. It was the extenuating circumstances surrounding his long and chaotic incarceration that made it difficult to make connection. But he's now in a Roman prison, and at long last, it seems that opportunity has aligned itself with their desire to help, and these Christians seize upon the moment. They elect Epaphroditus, one of their own congregation, to send to Rome with the gift for Paul. And the apostle rejoices in the Lord, not so much for the gift itself as for the love and concern that is demonstrated by the gift that they send. Now, Paul has instructed these saints just previously, if you look at the context, just previously in chapter four, Paul has instructed these saints with four very important commands. They are to rejoice in the Lord always. They are to live calm and measured lives of self-control, being even-keeled, if you will, in the accomplishment of God's will. He tells them not to be anxious, but take everything to the Lord in humble, thankful prayer so that God's inexplicable peace would stand watch over their hearts. And they're to guard their thought life. Rather than fill their minds with the anxious thoughts of this world, they're to turn their thoughts to all that is true, all that is honorable, all that is just, and pure, and lovely, and commendable, and praiseworthy. In other words, they will set their minds on God and His word that they may know Him in an even greater way. And this is Paul's long quest that he mentioned in chapter 3, to know Christ in the fullness of redemption. We've talked about this, but knowing Christ is the great treasure, the only treasure that ultimately matters. And knowing Christ is the goal of the course which we run, to know him. Well, the Apostle Paul practices what he preaches. He has given them these instructions, and he's encouraged them to follow his godly example. And so the Apostle Paul, as he commends these saints for sending their gift of heartfelt care and concern, he actually uses this as a teaching moment. He wants them to see in his own life what those admonitions he has given look like. He has a particular situation in which he is not anxious, in which he is striving to live even and keeled and self-controlled. There is a sense in which there is plenty of room for anxiety, but the Apostle Paul is a man of prayer. And of course, he keeps his thoughts where they belong, not on his situation, but upon the God who directs all things. And so what we find is, in the context of this letter, the Apostle Paul says, I'm content. I'm content. Now there he is, chained to a guard with very few resources, facing a possible death sentence. What's there to rejoice about, right? How can you remain calm, Paul? How can you remain even-killed and carry on under such duress? I mean, if ever there was a time to be anxious, surely this is it, right? But he's not. He says, I'm content in my circumstance, and for good reason. As we've learned already in this book, his chains haven't hindered his gospel ministry. They've actually opened a door for the gospel to reach an entirely new segment of society. He's content even though he faces a possible execution because he's in a win-win situation. If he lives, the gospel ministry that has been commissioned to him will go on. But if he dies, his race will be over. He'll be promoted into heaven. There's no way to lose. And he's content because he is living a disciplined life as a servant of Christ and he's not allowing the circumstances of life to prohibit that. He doesn't allow the circumstances he faces to sideline him. He doesn't sit down and look back and bemoan what has befallen him. He looks ahead and presses on. And though he is in prison without resources, He isn't anxious about what he'll eat or what he'll drink or what he'll wear. He isn't worried in the least about his situation. He's content with whatever he has and wherever he is because he humbly commits all matters to the Lord in prayer. You ask how I know that because he doesn't mention it specifically right here in this context. Just read the Apostle Paul. You know that's true for so many of his letters. are peppered with prayers to God. This is a man of prayer, who not only tells us to take everything that would make us anxious before the Lord, it's what he does as well. So he's content, because having taken these things to the Lord in prayer, the peace that surpasses all understanding is guarding his heart and his mind in Christ Jesus. And so the apostle Paul tells them, yes, I'm rejoicing, in the Lord, but not over your gift, necessarily. I have learned in whatever situation I am there with to be content. It's not your gift that now makes me content, you see. No, not at all. The Apostle Paul doesn't obsess over his hardships. He dwells on the goodness of God. Now, as we saw last week, of course, and we need to remember this before we move on this morning, As we saw last week, this contentment of the Apostle Paul's is an absolute because there is a sense, as we found in chapter three, in which he is not content. And he won't be until his course is finished and he's in the glorious presence of the Savior. In other words, Paul's not content with his present state of sanctification. As he says in chapter three, he hasn't arrived. He's not yet perfect. Now, this is what I would want you to remember this morning. is that if the Apostle Paul was not content with his level of sanctification, what gives us the right to think we ever should be? I should not be content with how far I've come because there is so much farther yet to go. The Apostle Paul knew this. So there is no place, Paul knows, on this journey where he can say, I've come far enough. I can sit down. He kept his eyes on the finish line. He saw Christ and he continued to run. And so the Apostle Paul, as he tells us elsewhere, he knows that the inner man is being renewed day by day, but that's a continual renewal. And at the same time, he also knows that the outward man is perishing. And so Paul will not be content with his sanctification until he is finally delivered from this body of death, this old man, this rotting corpse that he drags about, Romans chapter 7, right? He'll not be content until he's in the presence of the Lord and having seen Christ face to face, he now becomes fully like the one who saved him by his grace. Well, keeping all of that in mind, this morning we want to look more closely at verse 12. There Paul says, I know how to be brought low, I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. Now, the Apostle Paul's choice of words in this particular verse has prompted a lot of debate. There are two particular words in this paragraph that were very common in the Greek speaking world of Paul's day. And those two words are contentment and secret. Evidently, there is a secret to learning to be steadfastly content in every situation. And it's a secret that Paul himself had learned. And so I want to look at these two words. and understand what they may be telling us about this passage. In the Greek, learned the secret is actually the translation of one single verb in the Greek, and it's a verb that corresponds to a word that most often in the scripture is translated mystery. It was a technical term used by the mystery religions that were so common in the first century. If you're not familiar with those mystery religions, they were very Gnostic. In other words, they were religions that you had to be initiated into in order to be a part of. And the mystery of these mystery religions was supposedly going to provide you a glimpse behind the veil, insight into the meaning of life, a sort of cosmic behind-the-scenes understanding of how the universe works. It was something, of course, you couldn't discover on your own, and so you had to be initiated before you were told the mystery, and in these mystery religions, then you had to take a vow of silence. You weren't to tell anyone else who wasn't initiated about this truth, about the meaning of life, about how everything works. The mystery was only for the insider. Well, Paul, he makes use of this term, but he corrects it. and he invests it with a whole new meaning. And so I think we need to take a moment to think about Paul's use of the word mystery because the word secret here is to learn this mystery, the secret of this mystery, if you will. And this mystery for Paul refers to God's purpose. That's what it refers to. And it was a mystery, as Paul terms it so, because it was hidden in times past. In other words, in the Old Testament, there were all sorts of types and shadows and prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. But as we are told, they didn't understand it. They couldn't put it all together. It was, in some sense, hidden from them, even though once your eyes were opened, you look back at the Old Testament and everything makes perfect sense. But to them, at the time, the missing key was Christ, was God incarnate. And until he came, they really couldn't figure this out. That's the mystery. And the mystery Paul writes about is the true secret to understanding the meaning of life and everything else. It's Christ, the Messiah. He is the mystery. It's his work of redemption. That's the mystery that unlocks the meaning of life. And that tells us the purpose of history. Everything revolves around God, the Son, the word made flesh, the incarnate deity. As Hebrews 1.3 says, he upholds the universe by his powerful word. There you have the meaning of life. He upholds everything by his powerful word. Or as Paul says in Colossians chapter one, Christ is before all things. He is eternal. And by him, all things hold together. In him, he says, dwells the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form. And he came to reconcile the whole universe to God by making peace through the death on the cross. This is the meaning of life. It's not some philosophical answer. It's not something that fulfills you in and of yourself with the things of this life. No, the meaning of life is Christ and he alone. So Christ is the mystery. However, in this particular passage, Paul is going to Give this a tighter definition, if you will. But before we get there, I do think we need to correct some other thoughts about this mystery. Christ is the mystery. But unlike the mystery religions, this mystery isn't to be kept a secret. No. It is to be shouted from the housetops. It is to be preached. And yet, at the same time, There is still a sense in which that nuance that this belongs to a select few is also true. It does belong to a select few. The glorious mystery of the gospel, as we are told by the Apostle Paul, turns out to be a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. Now, this is the point I want you to see. It's not as if they can't understand the words of the gospel, this mystery revealed. They can understand the words, but they don't see it. They don't believe it. So if it's hidden, it's hidden in plain sight. That's the mystery that has been revealed. And so it's a mystery that makes no sense to those whose eyes of the understanding have been darkened, those who walk in the futility of their own mind. And this is the sense in which then the gospel remains a mystery. How can you know the depth of a love that surpasses knowledge? It's what the scripture says, but how can you know that, right? How can you comprehend a peace that surpasses understanding? Well, this is the wondrous mystery of the gospel. It is only grasped by faith. It's only grasped by faith, and that faith is the gift of God. He must open our eyes to see. He must give us ears to hear. And this is how the apostle Paul uses the word mystery. He takes a popular word used by the mystery religions, and he invests it now with true meaning so that we will understand. And yet, as I said a moment ago, Paul's use of the term isn't quite that broad in our passage. There is a very specific secret he shares, but it does have these nuances. It's the secret of steadfast contentment, a contentment that turns out to be independent of external circumstances, a contentment that rises above the ever-changing situations that we encounter in this temporal evil age. But again, there's a sense in which while this secret can be told to others, it isn't for everyone in the world. In other words, the secret isn't some formula that will simply work for anybody who practices it. You know, one of the great heresies today among the health wealth gospel is that God has these principles he set out within the universe and anybody can use them. That's a lie. These promises of God are for God's people. Now, there are certain aspects of wisdom in the scripture that because you're created in the image of God, if you obey those aspects of wisdom, very simply, like the book of Proverbs, if you're not foolish with your resources, chances are you're going to have them when you need them, right? But then again, you may not, because moth and rust corrupt. These break through and steal, right? And so these aren't principles you work. You don't work God. You don't manipulate God. And so there aren't some four or five universal principles of contentment that you can just tell everyone and they can apply them. No. This contentment is exclusive here. This is only for the elect of God because only they can understand the source of true contentment. So this secret of contentment can only be learned by those who have been illuminated by the Holy Spirit to understand it. And it is a contentment that rightfully belongs to all who are in Christ. Now, while we can't discover this secret on our own, though it can only be known by revelation, it is also a secret that comes to be known in our lives progressively. In other words, it's not intuitive. It's not a simple formula or principle, once again, that you can memorize and suddenly you're just content no matter what happens. It doesn't work that way. Paul makes this clear by having used another word for having learned this secret in the previous verse. In verse 11, he uses a different form of the word to learn. And this one comes from the word to disciple. So we might translate The previous verse this way, I have been discipled in being content in whatever situation I find myself. I have been discipled in being content. Remember, discipleship is not merely academic. It's not amassing information for knowledge sake. It's learning not only by the relating of knowledge, but also by observing how that knowledge works in action. And it is also a part of this discipling process to see how you should practice it in your own life. That's what a disciple does. It's apprenticeship. It's on-the-job training. And so Paul has renewed his mind with God's promises and the Lord's revealed purpose, and he's experienced the grace of God in situation after situation, and he has been trained to be content no matter the conditions. And that's something only the people of God can come to understand because it is a secret. So I don't want you to make a mistake here. The lessons that Paul learned along the way, they were not always easy. In fact, I would have to say that most of the time they weren't. Do you remember what he told the Corinthians? He says, because I have been entrusted with such wondrous revelation, I've been given a thorn in the flesh. You remember Paul saying this? And he says the thorn is a messenger of Satan that given to harass the apostle. Now that language is very important. This thorn was given to keep him humble. It was given to him. Who gave him this thorn? Yes, it certainly wasn't the devil, was it? It's not the devil's plan to keep you humble, right? Humility is fruit of the spirit. Now this was God's doing, and this was for Paul's benefit. This was so Paul would grow in the grace and knowledge of our Savior. It was a learning moment for Paul. But here's the point I want to make. The apostle didn't learn how to be content in this situation right away. He tells us. What does he do? He repeatedly pleads with the Lord to remove this thorn until he finally learned this wondrous lesson. Right? And what was this lesson? God's grace is sufficient. Yes, God's grace is sufficient. This thorn, Paul, may make you weak in the flesh, but God's power is made perfect in our weakness. Right? So you see, this didn't shake Paul's faith. It made it more secure. It didn't weaken his character, it strengthened it in Christ. And he found then that he could be content even with this harassing thorn because God's grace is sufficient. He was content to go on and have to face the harassment of this thorn because this is for his good. In the same way, through plenty of times where he had an abundance and other times when it was dearth, right? Through moments of comfort and days of pain, he's learned to be content regardless of the situation. He knows his life is in God's hands, and as Paul tells Timothy at the end of his days, he says, I know the Lord in whom I've believed, and I'm convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. Yes, we can trust this Savior. You know, this is just simply another way of saying what he told the Philippians in chapter one, verse six, what he tells all of us, even today, if you will, We can rest assured that if the Lord has begun a good work in us, he will finish it, and it will be finished when Christ returns. That's what he tells us. Well, that's the secret then, the secret. It has to be learned, and it's learned through discipleship. It's not learned just simply by learning principles or truths. It's by learning how those truths affect our lives day by day as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Savior. Well, just as the word secret had worldly connotations that Paul thought necessary to correct, so did the word content. The word itself simply means to be sufficiently supplied, and actually, a literal translation, self-sufficient. But you are so much content that you're satisfied with what you have, and therefore, you are, in some sense, independent of circumstances. That's the meaning of the word here. The point is, you need nothing. But here's the problem. In Paul's day, the word contentment was largely associated with a sect of philosophers known as the Stoics, right? And they had given this word a particular nuance that had found its way into popular culture. You know, sometimes these lofty ivory tower academics have a great impact on society. They've done that today. How much pop psychology does just about everybody in the United States know? None of them have a degree in psychology as if that's worth anything. But nonetheless, everybody's an expert. They have all of these pop psychology terms that they know and so forth. You see, it's found its way into our culture and it's changed the nuance of words that we use. Well, the Stoics, they had such an influence on society that the word contentment had come to bear a lot of baggage. So with the Stoics of that day, their idolatrous God was what they called the divine reason that they claimed governed all of nature. This was an impersonal force, if you will, divine reason that governs the universe. So if you're not familiar with Stoicism, It's a philosophy that defined wisdom as living in such harmony with this divine reason that governs the nature, that one becomes indifferent not only to the vagaries of fortune, but also indifferent to pleasure and pain as well. They spurned pleasure and they denied pain. They considered contentment to be the essence of all virtues. but that's because their philosophy was man-centered, right? According to scripture, what is the essence of all virtues? It's God's holiness, right? That's the essence of all virtues. Well, in any case, for the Stoic, the wise man then was someone who cultivated an attitude of such contentment that he became independent of all things and all people. The Stoic claimed to rely only on himself. It was the contentment of individual self-sufficiency. And so the Stoic thought that by sheer power of his own will, he could stand unmoved by any circumstance. And so he endeavored to live his life in a detached manner, aloof from the influences of the world. Seneca, one of the philosophers, put it this way, the happy man is content with his present lot, no matter what it is, and he is reconciled to his circumstances. So for the Stoic, contentment wasn't so much a sense of satisfaction as a spirit of resignation that's detached from all passion. They considered themselves above pleasure, and they considered themselves impervious to pain. Well, you know, in the 1960s, a different Paul, Paul Simon, captured the sense of stoic philosophy in his song, I Am a Rock. Do you remember the song? Just listen to some of the lyrics. I've built walls, a fortress, steep and mighty, that none may penetrate. I have no need of friendship. Friendship causes pain. It's laughter and it's loving I disdain. I touch no one and no one touches me. I am a rock and a rock feels no pain. I am an island and an island never cries. Sad, isn't it? None of my circumstances touch me. I'm shielding myself from pain. But at what cost? How devastatingly lonely, how hollow and meaningless an existence, right? And this is a degradation of who we were made to be. This doesn't make you more human, it makes you less human. We are not independent and self-sufficient beings. We were not created to be so. Yes, we were created in God's image, and yes, God is independent. God is self-sufficient, but that's a part of his incommunicable aspects of his being, right? He's the self-existent one, but we're not. We're mere creatures. We're only images, and without the God we're made to image, what are we? Nothing, right? If we're images of God, without him, we're nothing. However, Though God is self-existent, He is also an eternally relational being. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have always existed in a relationship eternal of ever-circulating love. And this is the way we were made to image Him. We were made for Him, and we were made for one another. Listen, distancing ourselves from others and denying the reality of our circumstances doesn't make us content. It just makes us numb. And there is also an important thing to remember about pleasure and pain. They're important, especially in a fallen world. Especially in a fallen world, pain reveals our need for relief that can ultimately be found only in God. If we never felt pain, Would we be seeking God? How much better do you pray when you're hurting? Isn't it true? It's true. It's a part of our nature. It tells us there is something we need that we don't have. And we go looking to the source, don't we? And then God created pleasure. Why would you want to be devoid of pleasure? At his right hand are pleasures forevermore. Pleasure is only a problem when pleasure becomes your idol, whenever you begin to seek it apart from the God from whom all blessings flow. Well, in any case. The Stoic then claimed he was sufficient for himself in every situation. I don't need anyone. He believed he was able to resist the force of his circumstances by the sheer exertion of his will, but it was much more an illusion of mind over matter than true power over his circumstances. This is not the secret of contentment that Paul had learned, not at all. Paul's contentment was of a different stripe. He was no stoic. He didn't have an attitude of detached apathy toward others and his circumstances. Listen, he wasn't indifferent to the situations he faced. I bet that he felt every blow when he was beaten with rods, right? Every sting of the 39 lashes of the whip whenever he was scourged. His body ached, I'm sure, whenever he was pummeled with stones and left for dead. And whenever he was shipwrecked, he felt the sting of the rain, the power of those gale force winds and the violent waves of the sea. Now, the Apostle Paul, he knew pain, the pain of hunger. He also knew what it was like to shiver in the cold. And as far as relationships as a potential for pain are concerned, Listen, this is the apostle who tells us to bear one another's burdens, isn't it? To rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep. This is the apostle who would gladly pour out his life as a drink offering for the saints in Philippi. This is the apostle whose daily concerns were about the churches for which he prayed. The Apostle, he says, I daily deal with pressure that I feel over the concern for the churches. You see, the Apostle Paul hadn't learned to be content by ignoring his situations and living aloof from others. This is the Apostle Paul who had learned the secret of steadfast contentment in every situation. And when he says that, he isn't putting himself up as some kind of spiritual giant to be followed. He's not saying, look at me, I'm super spiritual. Nice of you to send the gift, but I'm above all that. You could have forgotten me, and it wouldn't matter in the least because I don't need you either. That's not the Apostle Paul. And that's not spirituality, not in the least. Now, Paul was content in every situation because he had learned that God's grace is always sufficient. Always. He knew that God would provide whatever he needed in every situation. Now, I didn't say that God would provide everything he wanted. We're the ones who confuse that, aren't we? How many times do we say, I need this? No, we don't. Right? I mean, you're alive. You have clothes on your back. We're in a nice place. You have everything you need, right? You don't need any of that stuff. It's what you want, right? Well, the apostle Paul, he knew the difference. He knew the difference. If he didn't have it at that moment, it isn't something he needed right then. He trusted God and God would provide. So Paul wasn't self-sufficient. He was God-sufficient, and therein is the difference. The Stoic thought contentment was being self-sufficient, but true contentment is relying on God for everything, right? So the secret Paul had learned is that contentment isn't ignoring your circumstances and relying on yourself, and it certainly isn't found in what you can obtain or what you're able to achieve. Biblical contentment is found in knowing the love of God and his redeeming grace. It's knowing that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, that until the moment that he calls us home, nothing can touch us. And then when it's time to come, God will use whatever means he sees fit, and we are the most vulnerable of creatures. But know this. that we can have every confidence and be content because we are in God's hands. No need to fear what the future may hold, for we know the one who holds the future in his hands. And so, true contentment is trusting that in every situation God is working out all things together for good. This isn't just a mental exercise. This is meant to be lived. This is meant to be believed. He's working out all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose, right? So Paul never complained about what he had or didn't have or what situations he was facing. He always found a way to rejoice in what God was doing. He was at peace no matter his circumstances. It was the peace of having committed everything into the hands of the God who loved him and gave himself for him. He had learned the true source of contentment and security, and it isn't the shifting sands of this world. It's the solid rock of our Savior, Jesus Christ. So my prayer this morning is may God grant us the grace of learning the secret of such contentment, for it's ours. It's ours. It's a part of our heritage. It's a part of our inheritance. To be content because we are in the hands of a God who loves us and cares for us. And he's working out his glorious purpose in you and in me and in all things. That's the confidence we have. And to him be glory forever and ever.