Philippians chapter 4 beginning at verse 10. And here we hear the Apostle Paul's words, I rejoice 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 and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. This is the word of the Lord. And you may be seated. Well, in this letter, the Apostle Paul repeatedly encourages the saints to emulate godly examples, and he offers himself as an example of someone who's fully committed to following Christ and therefore worthy of being followed. The Apostle Paul lives what he preaches. And as he has instructed this congregation to rejoice in the Lord always, as he has instructed them to live temperate and consistent lives before others, as he has commanded them to diffuse their anxiety by submitting everything to God in humble and thankful prayer so that the peace of God would guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus and that they fill their thoughts and minds with godly virtues and renewing their minds upon his word. Well, the Apostle Paul shows us what all of that looks like. If you want to find out how to practice what he has said, examine the life of the Apostle Paul. And the Apostle Paul is telling us in this passage that someone who lives this way has learned the secret of being content in every situation. He had experienced the highs and the lows of living in a beautiful yet fallen world. He knew how to live with a contented heart, whether he was being humbled or whether he was being exalted. It didn't matter whether he was hungry or full, whether he had little or much, whether he was being ridiculed or respected, whether he was in peril or whether he was protected from harm. His situation, he says, is irrelevant. And that's his testimony of living a contented life in Christ. Now, last week, we considered what Paul says about contentment in his very balanced instruction we find from 1 Timothy chapter six. False teachers, of course, is the context in which Paul broaches this subject. They had corrupted the gospel. They had claimed that godliness is a means of financial gain. But Paul says no. That version of godliness is a pretense. It isn't godliness at all, because true godliness is not self-seeking. It is God-centered. It is reverence for God. It is submission to God. It is devotion to his will. It's living in a way that reflects his character. And rather than inflaming our appetite for material wealth then, true godliness results in contentment no matter the situation. Such godliness with contentment, Paul says, is not just gain, it is great gain. It is the highest gain. True and lasting treasure is godliness accompanied by the contentment that flows from knowing that God's grace is always sufficient. Paul goes on to explain why godliness with contentment is true wealth, why it is true gain. We came into the world, he says, with nothing, and no matter how much we amass in this life, we will leave just as we arrived, with nothing. Therefore, true wealth can't be grounded in this life. It must transcend this temporal age. And this is why Jesus tells us to lay up treasure in heaven. Since material wealth is so transitory, all we really need, Paul says, from the cradle to the grave is food, clothing, and shelter. He said if we have these things, we should be content. That's all we truly need. And then Paul identifies the core problem. The problem is not with having earthly riches, but it's with the inordinate desire to acquire those earthly riches. And Paul's language is very clear. The danger is in aspiring to be rich, making it your goal. And people who would be rich, it tends to be that which drives them every moment of every day. Those who are obsessed with amassing wealth, Paul says, fall into temptation. It's a trap, he says, that will entangle them in senseless and intense desires, lusts that are harmful. It's a trap, he says, that will plunge them into ruin and destruction. And those adjectives that he uses are so important. Those desires are senseless because whatever we accumulate in this life will remain here when we die. It's senseless to amass all of this only to leave it to who knows who, right? And that's why the writer of Ecclesiastes calls this pursuit of wealth at all costs vanity. It's futility. And then such desires, Paul says, are harmful because, after all, they engender selfishness and pride within us. That's the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit. And then such Aspirations are destructive because they drive people to waste their life on worthless endeavors, and it distracts them for what truly matters in this life. Well, just as wealth itself is not the problem, it's being obsessed with having it. Money, Paul says, also is not the root of all kinds of evil. It's the love of money that produces this profuse crop of evil. Paul sadly recalls, he says, what happened to certain professing Christians in his day. He says their ravenous craving for wealth has drawn them away, away from the people of God, away from the true faith. And he says they have suffered self-inflicted wounds, wounds that have brought them great distress. And as he says in chapter one, they have made shipwreck of their faith. Later in chapter six, Paul continues his very even-handed approach of this subject. He isn't lauding poverty, nor is he condemning wealth. That's a mistake people often made by reading this without carefully considering what Paul says. Paul isn't lauding poverty as if it's somehow more spiritual and condemning wealth as if it's not. He's commending contentment and denouncing covetousness. So you see the difference. He's not saying that poverty is godly and wealth is not. He's saying contentment is godly and covetousness is not. That's the point. And so he does tell us then what to do if we find ourselves being rich. Now, I mentioned this last week and it's something I need to say again because every one of us are rich. Everyone in this building, according to the biblical definition of richness, are rich. We have an abundance, we have more than we need, and that's the definition. So we mustn't be haughty, but humble. You know, wealth often gives people a false sense of superiority, but Paul mentions here that death is the great equalizer, doesn't he? Listen, the poorest pauper in the mortuary is just as wealthy as the richest tycoon who's lying beside him. Because both of them at that moment have no material assets to their name. So what's more, Paul says, our earthly possessions, he says, are transitory. They're uncertain. In other words, they can vanish in a moment, long before we find ourselves headed to the cemetery. So Paul says, Don't trust in those uncertain riches. Trust in God, he says, who graciously supplies all that we truly need. And that being said, Paul counters then the mischaracterization that God wants us as his people to be sullen and humorless ascetics, people who just deny themselves of any kind of pleasure at all. God is not a miser who wants us to be miserable. I mean, on the contrary, what Paul says here is God richly provides us with everything to enjoy. It is not a sin to enjoy God's material gifts. The sin is in not enjoying them properly. Paul is correcting extremes here. You know, God made fruit in the garden beautiful and tasty, nutritious and appealing, but we mustn't exalt food over the God who gives it. This is important. Therefore, we should avoid these extremes. We shouldn't just eat to live, treating food as mere fuel, treating God's goods, good gifts as a utilitarian necessity, as it were, no. Yet on the other hand, we mustn't live to eat. That's the idolatry of gluttony. So you see the two extremes? One of them is we just eat to live, that's all. Not enjoying that, it's just fuel, that's all we need. No, God wants you to enjoy that good meal, but he doesn't want you to be a glutton. He doesn't want you to worship the food over the one who gives you the food. And that's the problem, you see. That's the problem with everything that God gives us to richly enjoy. We begin to enjoy it too much, and therefore, we would prefer it over our relationship with the God who gives it. That's where the problem is. And so indeed, in any case, what the Apostle Paul tells us then is that if we have an abundance, we have a responsibility to be generous and ready to share. We are to use our material resources for good works that we might store up treasure for ourselves in heaven. Listen, the assets of this life will all remain here when we're gone. And everything that we've ever had and anyone else has ever had will be burned up whenever he ushers in a new heavens and a new earth. But if we're good stewards over the assets we have in this life, it can be an investment in the age to come. And that's what we're told. So it doesn't matter whether we have much or little in this life, that's not what makes one rich as God assesses wealth. Godliness with contentment, that godliness with contentment that comes from knowing Christ Jesus as our Lord, that's true wealth, that's true riches, that's the highest gain. Jesus himself is the priceless treasure that can satisfy our souls. Well, as we go back to Philippians chapter four then, that was a rather expanded view of what Paul says about contentment. And I thought it important for us to have that in mind as we continued on. But as we go back to Philippians chapter four, we come to perhaps today one of the most abused and misapplied verses in all of scripture. And I'm talking about especially in evangelical circles today. What am I talking about? Verse 13, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. You know, I think today it may well rival the popularity of John 3.16, another verse, by the way, that's often poorly interpreted. But I think what it is, we live in a day that has made Paul's statement ripe for exploitation. And what do I mean by that? I'm talking about the unprecedented wealth of this age and it has fostered in this society a sense of entitlement. We've come to believe that we deserve whatever we have and whatever we want that we don't yet have. We are told we ought to have it and that we're worth it. Let me tell you, you're not worth it. I'm not worth it. The only value we have is that God has set his love upon us and we are made in his image. We have nothing in and of ourselves that is worth anything at all. We're just dust, and when we die, we return to the dust from which we came. Now, our value is that we were created in the image of God. But you see, we live in such an age of prosperity that We begin to believe we deserve what we have. We live in an age of such opportunity that it's difficult to recognize our limitations. We're told that the world is our oyster. Make your dream a reality. That's what we're told. And technology has given us an illusion of greater ability than we actually possess. There are programs and technological aids that give us the illusion that we're far more capable of people than we really are. There are people who could not make change were it not for that calculator that is there on the cash register, right? Don't tell me that we are advancing. I think we're going the other way. But nonetheless, these are all illusions in our society, the illusion of wealth, the illusion of opportunity, the illusion of technology, that we are more capable than we are. And you see, this age in which we live in, I think, has become fertile ground for abusing and misappropriating Paul's words. It just makes sense. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. In any case, I see this verse everywhere. Philippians chapter four, verse 13 is plastered on bumper stickers, bookmarks, t-shirts, ball caps, paperweights, right? Wall plaques. I've seen it engraved on jewelry. I've even seen it on people who have had that verse tattooed on a conspicuous part of their body, claiming it's going to be a witnessing tool. You know, it's a verse that a lot of athletes in our day, they will put it on the articles of their gear. You know, you sometimes see it written on that eye black that they put under their eyes so that the sun doesn't blind them. And they look to this verse for confidence and inspiration. It's the fourth quarter. There's three seconds left. They're four points behind, and they're 50 yards away from the game-winning touchdown. And so as the quarterback takes the ball and he fades into the backfield to make his pass, he's thinking in his mind, I can do this. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And then the receiver who's running down the field with all of his might and turning back and looking at the ball says to himself, I've got this. I can catch that ball. I can make that touchdown because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It's the verse that comes to mind when it's the bottom of the ninth. There's two outs and two strikes, and there's a home run needed for a walk-off win. And the batter stands in the batter box, and ever he's getting ready to see that next pitch that may decide this game. And he says to himself, I can knock that ball out of the park because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I'm not making this up. I've heard athletes actually say those kinds of things. Don't think that this is not happening. It is. And I've heard stories of salesmen who recite this verse over and over before trying to close a big deal. They'll go into the restroom and look at themselves in the mirror, psych themselves up to get ready to make their sales pitch. You can do this. You can close this deal because you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. I've heard of Christians brazenly applying for jobs that they're nowhere near qualified for, and they justify their actions by reciting this verse. I have no idea how to do this job. I may have been trained for it, but it doesn't matter. It's a good job, and I want the job, and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I just have to have enough faith, and that job will be mine. Folks, that's not faith, that's fantasy. And you know, it's this sort of nonsense, and I'm not using that word lightly, I mean nonsense. It is this kind of nonsense that often fuels the world's ridicule of Christians. And I don't want you to misunderstand me. It's one thing to, as Paul puts it, to be a fool for Christ, to be ridiculed as a fool for Christ, to be considered a fool because you're being faithful to the gospel of Christ and him crucified and risen from the dead. It's one thing to be considered a fool for Christ because you bless those who curse you, because you are kind in your response when you're slandered, because you endure persecution without retaliating, because you live your life for the age to come instead of this life. Those are all valid reasons for being ridiculed by the world, but it's quite another to subject ourselves to ridicule because we're being ridiculous. It's another thing to subject Christianity to ridicule because we're being shallow, because we're being self-absorbed, because we're displaying such a profound ignorance of the scripture we claim to believe. You know, I've seen skeptics who have a firmer grasp on what scripture actually says than many Christians who claim to be mature in the faith. It ought not be so. I recently saw a coffee mug, by the way, with a clever inscription that I believe sums up the problem quite nicely. On the side of this coffee mug it said, I can do all things through a verse taken out of context. There it comes. Context, right? It's that pesky wet blanket principle of biblical interpretation that so often rains on our parade. What do you mean it doesn't mean what I think it means? Read the context, right? I mean, what's the old saying, ignorance is bliss? Well, in this case, I think this kind of ignorance borders on heresy, if not outright blasphemy. Listen, to take God's word and twist it in such a self-serving way, to distort it so that it ends up saying the opposite of what is meant, I would say that that's fairly close to blasphemy. Because we're talking about God's word here, not man's word. As Peter says, there are those. who twist the scriptures and they do so to their own destruction. Listen, the only way you can possibly justify interpreting this passage in such a self-serving way is to take it out of context, to read it as if it's a standalone promise. You know, far too many Christians don't seem to know how to read the Bible today. It's as if whenever they professed Christ, their brains suddenly were drained of all common sense. You know, they treat the scriptures as if the rules of literary interpretation simply don't apply. Well, God gave us his word in literature. It sets the standard for much of literature throughout history. And so, indeed, we need to read it as it was given. The scripture isn't a secret code that has to be deciphered. It means what it says. Whenever we are told that the eyes of our understanding must be open, it doesn't mean that we suddenly look in the scripture and see a different message than the words of scripture are declaring. What it means is we're opened in our minds, in our eyes, to be able to believe what is plainly declared by those words of scripture. That's what divine illumination is. You can read the word of God, and you can be reasonable, and you can deduce what it's saying, the message it's saying, but not believe it at all. Illumination is believing it, understanding it, knowing it, that it's a part of you. The Bible isn't then a random collection of inspirational mottos. It's not an encyclopedia of motivational maxims. And this verse isn't some absolute unqualified universal promise that we can simply apply to any and every endeavor, thereby guaranteeing our success. That's simply not what the verse is saying. The verse isn't saying we can do anything and everything we want. Listen, God hasn't promised to give me the wisdom and insight needed to fix every problem. You know, Paul the apostle learned to be content while enduring many of his problems. He didn't fix them, he endured them. God hasn't promised me the power to remove every obstacle. Paul wasn't content because he was able to free himself from prison, that was seemingly an obstacle. No, he was content because what seemed to be an obstacle actually turned out to be an open door for the gospel. Listen, God hasn't promised me the ability to evade every difficulty of life. No, as Paul tells the Romans, we are more than conquerors, not over our trials and troubles. We are more than conquerors in our trials and troubles. That's what the scripture says. And then God hasn't promised me the skills to do whatever I want to do, whatever my dream is. No, we are called to do God's bidding. Make no mistake. Our God is not some genie at our beck and call. He isn't beholden to us, we are beholden to him. This is a powerful verse, but not if it's abused, if it's robbed of its meaning. So what is Paul saying? Well, I can tell you that he isn't promoting mind over matter, which much of that is what it seems to be. I know this isn't reality, but you know what? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It's not going to work if you step off a cliff and say, you know, I can do this. Well, you can, but you're going to end up at the bottom, right, of the ravine. No, you have no ability to survive it. You have the ability to walk off, go ahead, walk off all day long, right? But you have no ability to survive it. That is presumption. That's exactly what Jesus was talking about when the devil came to him and tempted him. He says, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. And that's what that is. And so the apostle Paul isn't saying, just think positive thoughts and you'll be able to do great things. No, what he's not saying is clear enough, not only from the immediate context, but from other things he says in this very letter. Paul is not saying that he is empowered by Christ and that means he is now omnipotent. He's not saying he can do all things without exception. Listen, there were many, many people healed under the apostle Paul's ministry, but when Epaphroditus fell seriously ill while he was ministering to Paul, the apostle was deeply troubled about this. He was concerned that Epaphroditus might well die. Paul, where's your faith? If you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, then raise him up, right? But that's not what happened. Paul doesn't put himself into this at all. He says, we are told by the scripture, by the Apostle Paul, that the Lord had mercy upon Epaphroditus. The Lord raised him up. You know, on another occasion, and it really does puzzle me how the health wealth preachers of today seem to miss this, but the Apostle Paul left a helper of his named Trophimus behind in Miletus because he was sick. That's what Paul says. I left him behind. He was sick. And what's more, Paul himself suffered from an illness that sometimes delayed him in his travels. That's what happened in Galatia. He wasn't planning on preaching the gospel there. But God, in his providence, caused the apostle Paul to have to slow down because of an illness, and there he preached the gospel. Wasn't Paul's plan, but it was God's plan. And we're told that the people graciously took him in and cared for him. Nonetheless, Paul also tells us that his illness caused them great difficulty. Well, Paul, why didn't you just heal yourself? You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, right? No. Clearly Paul isn't saying he can do anything and everything. So what about the immediate context? That's the broader context, but what about the immediate context? The Apostle Paul has just told us that there were times when he had plenty and when he enjoyed abundance, but there were also times when he had very little and he had to do without. And there were times whenever he was humbled and times whenever he seemed to flourish. But notice, Paul didn't say, I was able to turn times of hunger into times of plenty, or I was able to take those times of humility and turn them into times of flourishing. He didn't say, I know how to live contently in every situation because I have learned a fabulous secret. I have the power to change my circumstances. That is not what he says. He doesn't say, I've learned to turn poverty into riches. I've learned to turn pain into pleasure. I've learned to turn trouble into triumph. No, that's not what Paul is saying. And not only does the context rule out this self-exalting interpretation of this verse, the words themselves have a completely different flavor. The Greek words that Paul uses don't have the same broad semantic range as our English words that are used in this translation. You know, the English word do has a very broad sense of ability. What do we do with the word do? Nike, just do it, right? What is it they're talking about? You always have to have a context to know what they're talking about because to do anything, right? It's a broad term, but Paul's word is more limited in meaning. It's more subdued. In other words, we could just as easily translate this verse, in all things I am strong. I am capable in him who strengthens me. And so you see, Paul is saying, basically, I can handle all situations. I can endure all situations. I can withstand them, whatever they may be. I can cope with whatever I have to face, and I can be content with such extreme situations, such astoundingly diverse circumstances that are up one day and down the next. I can do it. I can bear up under them. Why? Because I am united to Christ, and he is my strength. That's what he's saying. And this is similar to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12, 10. I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, calamities, all of it for the sake of Christ. He says, for when I am weak, then I am strong. You see, Paul's contentment wasn't contingent upon his present conditions. Whether he was being humbled, or whether he was flourishing, whether he was hungry, or whether he was full, whether he had little, or whether he had much, he was content because God's grace is always sufficient. Again, the Apostle Paul wasn't self-sufficient, he was God-sufficient. Paul had learned that if God didn't supply it, he simply didn't need it. He was content in every situation because he was united to Christ, and it's Christ who strengthens him for every situation. Paul had learned to be content in every situation because he wasn't facing it alone. This is important. He was yoked to Christ. That's the yoke that Jesus talks about when he says, all who are weary and heavy laden, come, take my yoke upon you. It's a yoke that makes our burdens light. Why? Because if we're yoked to Christ, who do you think is going to bear the brunt of the burden? Not me. That's for sure. And so the Apostle Paul, he can endure every situation with contentment because the Lord who had called him on the road to Damascus was right there with him always. You know, before we close this morning, I need to say something about the victorious Christian life because this verse is often used to support what people call the victorious Christian life. My problem is I fear that those who use that term so often have no idea what it really means. Paul did, but his life didn't look anything like the so-called victorious Christian life heralded by the health-wealth preachers of today. Listen, the victorious Christian life is not one without weaknesses. It's not one without limits. It's not one without trials or troubles or conflicts. As Jesus promised, In this world, we will, not might, will have tribulation. But we are to be at peace. We are to be courageous. And we can be content because He has overcome the world. That's what He tells us. And Paul understood this. So as we've seen, the secret of being content is not found in this world. The secret of contentment is not in getting what I think I want. It's not in getting what I think I deserve. It's not settling for what I already have. And it's not closing myself off from this world and finding sufficiency in myself. No. The secret of contentment is realizing that I am in Christ and He is in me. And it's Christ in whom I live and move and have my being. He is the one who is orchestrating all things for God's glory and my good. It's Christ who strengthens me for every situation I must face, and therefore I can be content no matter what comes my way because my trust is in the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. I can bear up under any and every situation with contentment because Christ, my Lord, is with me. and He is the one strengthening me. And He will never leave me nor forsake me. This is what it means to be content in every situation. I can bear up under all things. I can endure all things. I can continue on and not be derailed no matter what I face because it is Christ who strengthens me. Hallelujah. What a Savior. And to Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.