Letters from Lockdown

Well, we're gonna have our reading from the book of Philippians. So if you wanna take your bibles or you can read the words behind us, it's Philippians chapter 4, and we're gonna read verses 10 to 13. Let's hear what God says. I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned but you had no opportunity to show it.

I'm not saying this because I am in need for I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstance I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. I was speaking to a 6 year old recently who said to me, of course, Jesus isn't real. If you are cynical 10000 pounds.

You don't get it. Do you? And I said to him, alright. Ask me for 10000 pounds. And his eyes lit up slightly at the wild prospect, very wild prospect or being given 10000 pounds by me.

And I said, no, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna give you 10000 pounds. Now am I real or not? I think the apologetic argument was a bit lost on him because he sort of turned away from me and moments something about me being crazy. But I was struck by a couple of things by that brief exchange. First of all, that 10000 pounds was the biggest number that this kid could think of.

I was like just wait till you get your university built mate. Second of all, what on earth would he spend 10000 pounds on? You could probably spend about a hundred pounds and stuff they wanted better after that. I mean, why why would you want 10000 pounds in the first place? But thirdly, I restructured that we have this innate kind of self centered perspective on life, that God would only exist if he did something nice to me.

You know, never mind that other people might have 10000 pounds because plenty of people have 10000 pounds, but if I haven't got 10000 pounds or whatever it is that I want, from him. Then, of course, he's not real. Now, that was reasoning from a child. But I think that actually this reasoning continues into adulthood for a lot of people. We still have this idea of a god whose existence is purely there to make us happy or to make us successful in the thing that we wanna be doing at that moment in time.

We think that if God is real, then he exists to give us that thing. And this text in verse 13 of this chapter is the verse that flies on the flag of that kind of thinking. It's the go to Christian text when we want to motivate ourselves to accomplish something. Isn't it? You know, it's the Christian version of Monday motivation, if you haven't heard of Monday motivation.

We see things all over the social media, particularly sort of in work circles and LinkedIn and places like that, Monday motivation. Hashtag monthly. I'm gonna slay Monday. I'm gonna just absolute boss it. That's what I'm gonna do.

For Monday, we get quotes that come up like today is the opportunity to build the tomorrow you want. Or the distance between today and your dreams is called action, or I can do all this through him who gives me strength, Philippians 4 verse 30. There's a great video on YouTube about a Christian Alexa. I wanna say they're too loudly in case it sets off. All of Steve Sims millions of Amazon devices.

But the Amazon personal assistant -- Yep. -- a Christian version of that or the Google 1 or the Apple 1, whatever you like. The idea is it's quite funny because the idea is this little voice pipes up throughout this guy's day just sort of keeping tabs on him almost like some over the shoulder angel in a sense. And so he's texting this girl at 1 point, puts a kiss on the end. And then as soon as he sends it, the little device pipes up and says, are you sure that's guarding her heart?

And he's like, what? And then he takes a little bit later in the day. He takes something caught out of the microwave. It's hot, so it's cold. He's about to swear.

And then the little device pipes up and says, let no 1 wholesome talk come out of your mouth. And then the best sort is I open a jar on some a jar or something. It's like jam or something. It's really struggling. He's like, and then the little device pipes up again.

And says, Philippians four:thirteen, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And then he just he pops open the bottle of joy. Suddenly he's got the strength that he needs to open this jar. And now I like that video because it's really silly, but it I think it knows it's it's quite silly. But the other interesting thing about it is I think it actually does lift the lid a little bit on the way that a lot of people or or some sometimes we interpret that verse.

Definitely how we treat that verse, the way that we will throw it around to 1 another. We tend to bring it out. Don't we? When we need the strength to accomplish something that we're trying to do if we're going through a particularly difficult time. And now look, It is true that Jesus gives us the strength that we need to get through the day sometimes.

And it is true that the Jesus will give us a strength to start a new business. We'll do something entrepreneurial creative. But that is not what this verse is talking about at this point in time. The verse is talking about the strength that we are given to be content in Jesus. To have the shalom of God, the peace of God, whatever situation we're in.

Or to follow the threat of the sermons that we've been going through recently. This verse is talking about the strength we are given not to be anxious in whatever situation that we're in. I mean, just think about Paul who's writing this verse now. Think about the life that he's had so far, the difficulties, the sufferings, the anxieties. Think about where he is as he writes this.

He's in prison. He's in lockdown. He's in self isolation. And yet, he says in verse 11, I have learned to be content. And in verse 12, I have learned the secret of being content.

In other words, I have learned how to deal with my anxiety tease and to be content in every situation. And how is it that he's been able to do that? Well, he says invest their team. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. And actually, this translation of the NIV helps orientate the meaning of this verse.

A lot more I think because some translations say, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And that's the little Alexa popping up, oh, sorry, Steve. The little device popping up saying, I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. Yeah. And if you if you take that statement sort of as a stand alone, kind of universal truth.

And of course, you can apply it to anything you like. You can be standing there trying to get the lit off jar and you'll hear it and you'll go, oh yeah, and then you'll pop it off. But this translation, I can do all this through him who gives me strength. I can do all this. You immediately have to ask, don't you?

Or what? What is it he's talking about when he says, all this? What does he mean? What is he talking about? And here, he's talking about being content in every situation, not being anxious in anything.

But the peace of God being with him in everything. And now look, as by kind of way of a little footnote, This is not a kind of apathetic, you know, we're just sort of serenely smiling, we're content with life, we're just letting things drift by. We don't mind. We love how things. You know, we're not bothered to achieve anything.

We're not just like I'm at peace with the world. It's not that. This is not the tranquilizer of God. This is the life giving peace of God. When we go out there, we live our life, we strive to live for Christ and to love others and to do good things in this world.

But we do so with peace in our hearts, the peace of God. So this morning, we're going to look at the shortest self help book ever written. That's actually not a self help book at all. It's a Jesus help book. And the title of this Jesus help book is called the Secret of being content.

So for us who are anxious, for those of us who are discontent, for those of us who think that, you know, I'm not happy now. I'm not content now, but I know I'm so close. If I can just go around that corner and get that 1 thing, you know, whether it's physically or emotionally, maybe it's health wise or spiritually or professionally you know, n will be content. If I can just go around that corner and get that thing, achieve that thing, arrive in that place, then I'll be content. So for those of us who who that There is a book on Amazon already called The Secret of Bean Content.

It's a hundred and 26 pages and it's 25 pounds. Or we can look at Paul's version here, which is 4 verses and completely free. So let's look at Paul's copy of the secret of being content. So this book has 3 chapters. I just made that up, but this book has got 3 chapters.

We're gonna look at that Each chapter, it's sort of in detail. So, chapter 1 of this book, Paul's copy of the secret of being content from Rags to riches, rags and riches. Look at verse 12. I know what it is to be a need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether wealth fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

So Paul has experienced both sides, both ends of the spectrum of life. He has experience being well fed, sitting comfortably in the presence of his friends, of laughing, joking, feeling safe, feeling comfortable having a good time. He's lived in plenty, but he's also experienced object poverty. Going hungry, being shipwrecked, being whipped to an inch of his life, being imprisoned and isolated from all of those people he loves, not forget where he's writing this very verse. Now the world would say poverty, discontentment, bad, but richness, contentment, good.

So poor. You poor. Work, work, work, brother. Get yourself back to richness and then you'll be happy again, then you'll be content. But Paul has understood Proverbs 30, which says this.

Keep falsehood and lies far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches. But give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say who is the lord, or I may become poor and steal. And so dishonor the name of my God.

So this proverb actually says that riches are a kind of faltered They they're kind of a lie in a sense because the riches might declare to him, who is the lord? Who? Why do you need him? Look at everything you've managed to achieve on your own steel. You have everything you need.

Why would you need any gods to look after you? And so like nebuchanesa, you might end up saying, is not this the great Babylon I have built as my royal residence? By my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty, riches make us too comfortable in this world. You know, when the world went into lockdown, there was suddenly a surge of internet searches for prayer. House to pray, praying for corona, thousands of people suddenly were searching on Google about prayer.

When it all seems well in the world, we kind of get on with our little lives. Don't we we can all god because we don't really need him. We depend on ourselves. Things are going well. The richness kind of levels us into this false sense of security that we've we're in control we don't need anyone to look after us.

We've got this. But there's suddenly a crisis hits. And then overnight, the world becomes a prayer warrior. We know it from our own lives, don't we? How much more intensely do we pray when a crisis suddenly hits us.

Suddenly, people turn to God and cry out to him for help. And so the problem says, keep falsehood and lies away from me. Don't give me riches. Don't give me the riches or else I'll disown you. You know, riches are not the answer to to life giving peace and contentment.

They cannot do a single thing against a pandemic, can they? So clearly, the secret of being content is not wealth. And so Paul says, with the proverb, keep them away from me. Keep it away from me. So is that thinking in your psyche?

Do you think that if I had just x amount more money. If I just had a little bit more money, you know, if I could pay for this and have that payment covered, then I would be content. Then I could relax a bit more. Then I could enjoy my life a lot more. I think most of us probably think a little bit like that.

Don't we? But the secret is not in poverty. It's not in riches definitely, but it's not in poverty either. This proverb swings the pendulum from don't give me riches to don't give me poverty either because I don't wanna have to then sort of steal and survive by scratching and stealing things and in in so doing, dishonor the name of God. And interestingly, if you look very closely at the warning against poverty, it's actually the exact same warning against riches as well.

Because in riches, you might forget that it's God who's given you everything. God is the 1 who's provided you. With the things that you have. And so you'll depend on yourself. And in poverty, you think, oh my goodness.

I don't have anything. God's not looking out for me at all. It's completely down to me, so you end up depending on yourself again and stealing therefore. So don't God, please let us fall into either trap. Don't give us a a contentment in riches because it's false.

Don't give us a kind of despair attitude and poverty that we would think that you are not in control. I know what it is to be a need process in verse 12, and I know what it is to have plenty. Keep faltered of plenty, keep the lies, of poverty away from me. Just give me my daily bread and make me know the secret to be content in everything. And look, this is good news because most of us probably will never be millionaires watching this.

You know? And if if you are a millionaire, then you're probably disappointed by it, to be honest. Carrie used to nanny for a family. In Barnes who had a million pound house and they hated it because they were like, we have a million pound house but it just looks like an average house on this street. You know, it doesn't get you particularly far, does it a million pounds in certain places of London?

So they were millionaires, but they were discontent. So I don't ever think being a millionaire will make you content. So that's chapter 1. Of this little book, the secret to being content. That's chapter 1.

Rags and riches. They're not the secret. Chapter 2. The secret. Look at verse 12.

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether wealth fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. So what is the secret to being content? To living this life free of anxiety, to having a life of satisfied satisfaction in where we are, whatever situation that We're in, how is it that we can rejoice in the Lord always? I'll say it again, rejoice. How do we get there?

Well, like any good book, If you skip to the end and read the last page, you'll be able to find out. So the last page of this little book, verse 13. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. That is an amazing statement. It's just so loaded with meaning as well.

So the secret to Paul's contentment is that in every situation, it's not that he's any better than me or you. It's not that he's learned some some principles that, you know, on his own, he's able to apply to his life. Like he's he's he's found a book called the 7 habits of highly content people and then applied them, and therefore, he's content. The secret really isn't even a secret at all. It's a person.

Paul can do all of this, he says, through Jesus who gives him strength. Jesus, who died in Paul's place for his sins, to clothe him in righteousness, to dwell within him by the holy spirit, to bring him into glorious inheritance that will that will last forever and to make the church, the people, his brothers and sisters, his crown and glory. That Jesus has elevated his estate so far beyond his earthly situations that poverty and riches have just become virtually the same thing for him. Listen to what he says in in chapter 3 verse 7. But whatever would gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.

What is more I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my lord. For whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ. So riches have become like garbage to pull because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. That is the secret.

He is the secret. And when you find something that is greater than any situation you possibly being in this world, that is how you're content in any situation in this world. Jesus illustrates this in Matthew 13. He says the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found 1 of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and brought it.

Everything that was previously worth for this person, sold. Everything that this person once thought valuable the years of collecting these different piles thrown out badly in order to acquire this most beautiful pearl. Which is the joy of knowing the lord Jesus Christ. And then look poverty, riches, suffering, joy, all of it blends into kind of like 1 heap of garbage. It's not to say that it's insignificant.

It's not to say that the suffering is good. Well, the joy is insignificant, but it is vastly surpassed. Vastly surpassed by the worth of knowing Jesus. And so really the secret is not that Paul can do this at all. When he says, I can do all this.

He's not really saying I can do all this. The secret is that it is Christ in him who's doing it. Because when you know Christ, you're not going to look for contentment enriches. You're not even going to look endlessly at those who are richer than you. When you're in Christ, you will always be able to rejoice in the Lord, even when you're in lockdown because you're so taken up with who who Christ is, who you are in Christ, who Christ is going to make you to be, that you you look at yourself in lockdown and you think.

My suffering aren't worth comparing to to the glory that is gonna be revealed. When you know Christ, you're not gonna be anxious about anything. Because you know he wants you to bring your anxieties to him. So you're not gonna keep hold of them. You're gonna go badly take them to him and leave them with him.

That is the secret of being content. The secret is knowing Christ. That's chapter 2. A secret knowing Christ. Chapter 3 then.

Last little chapter, learning the secret. Chapter 3 of this little book is about the fact that this is a secret and that it has to be learned. Interestingly. Paul says, I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. I've learned the secret.

And he says this towards the end of his life, doesn't it? If you if you think back to his conversion on the road to Damascus, and then sort of the early days and weeks when you began preaching and things. You wouldn't have known this at that time. But the Lord said at that point, I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. And so this is something that we need to be shown This is something that we need to learn.

God doesn't just download kind of contentment directly into our psyche, into our brains when we become a Christian. It's not like the matrix where they're, you know, remember that scene where they need to know how to fly a helicopter. So this guy just types into whatever it is and presses enter and she sort of flocked his eyes out there a bit. And she's learned how to fly a plane, a helicopter instantly. That's not how God works.

Instead, he reveals himself. This is how he's done it. This is how it brings him joy to do it. It reveals himself slowly to us through his word. As we open up the pages of scripture, the holy spirit gets to work in our hearts.

He opens our eyes more and more to see the lord Jesus. And as we see Jesus more and as we're taken up with him, more and more, then the things that happen in everyday life have less of a hold of us. You know, our contentment will be dictated less and less by the annoying niggles that we come across. We'll even actually be sort of less enfrode by the pleasures of this world. We won't be we won't be kind of on a rollercoaster ride depending on how our day goes.

That is not gonna be the source of our contentment. Our contentment is going to be knowing Jesus, to be being found in him and being part of his people, which is constant. That fact will not change if you are a Christian. Now look, we're still gonna fulfill There are still gonna be things that will change our mood because we've fallen and we are sinful still. But the peace of God will begin to take root in our hearts.

And so even when we start getting swayed by the wind of this world, we'll be able to say to ourselves why my soul are you downcast? Why are you so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God. For I will yet praise him, my savior, and my God. We'll have to keep teaching ourselves that we'll have to keep preaching and speaking to ourselves.

As you know, interestingly, even though Paul says he has learned the secret, being content. The phrase that he says of being content has kind of a wait to being continuously sort of being content. It's not like he's just reached the state of Nirvana. Where he says, oh, I have learned the secret to be forever content. And now I am sat cross legged and you can see the aura of my contentment coming off me.

It's more of a continuous sort of being content, discontent because of sufferings in the world, but reminding himself. Knowing Jesus, soothing the discontent, being content in Christ. If I said to you that the secret to not being hungry is to eat, You wouldn't assume that I I would mean just eat 1 meal and then you'll have to be hungry again. And so in the same way, the secret to being 10 is to constantly and in the growing sense, know Christ more and more each day. Escrowing sense of of Jesus and his strength in you.

So there's gonna be ebbs and flows to to your life, Christian. But If you feel discontent, if you're constantly anxious, if you find yourself actually caught up looking at the pearls of this life, then look, take a look at the gray poll that we have, the poll of greatest reality. Which makes all the other pearls that you get so fascinated by and look like garbage. Then who's Jesus Christ, the great pearl? And he's the mystery made known.

He died for you to give you an inheritance that will not spoil or fade. And so finally on that, the secret, why is it called a secret? Well, the mystery which is Christ, is a mystery that's made known. This is not a secret that's to be kept just by people within the organization, you know, like some kind of pyramid cult where, you know, once you get to certain level, then we tell you the secret. To agree.

You wanna be you wanna know the secret to being content, well, you know, come on, pay some money, do these things, and then you cannot work your way upwards, and then we'll tell you. It's not like that. God is a god of revelation. And this secret is now proclaims to the world. That Christ died for sinners.

To buy them back, to give them life in all its fullness. So you don't need to buy a book for 25 pounds. And read a hundred and 26 pages to find the secret of being content. Here, Paul lays out in 4 verses. It's for free.

It's not a secret. Anymore, I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Christ is the reason. Christ is the strength. And if you don't know Christ and you want to be content in every situation that you find yourself in life, perhaps you are very discontent with your life.

Perhaps you are very anxious in your life. And perhaps you think that you're gonna find it enriches, but actually perhaps this this certain has made you think twice about that. Then look come to Christ who is the pearl above every other pearl. If you think there is something in this world that is worth living for, how much more are you going to enjoy loving, living for Jesus if you come to him and you get to know him. He's the 1 that you could be contented regardless of what happens to you in this world.

And if you're battling away, Christian, you're battling away with anxiety, with dissatisfaction, with discontentment, then look, preach this to yourself. Why oh my soul are you downcast? Take your eyes off the garbage pearls of this life and look at the great pearl that is Jesus. Delight in Him. Look at your brothers and sisters around you who remember, as Paul said, of the crown that we will glory in the present of the lord Jesus delighting them.

Don't settle for discontentment. Don't settle for a life of anxiety. Preach to yourself. Listen to Jesus' words. And remember, this is continuous.

This is not just a Zen moment that you suddenly arrive at, get So don't be discouraged if after even years of being a Christian, you still battle away with these things. Keep going. Keep on walking with Christ because he is the secret to being content. But we need to constantly listen to him. He's the secret to being content.

We need to know him more, love him more, be taken up more and more with him. And as we do that, then then we can join with Paul and say we can do all these things through Christ who gives us strength. Take a minute, pray and think those things through. And then we will pray together at the end. Father with thank you for the Lord Jesus.

Thank you for the mystery of the ages that has been made known to us. It's not a secret anymore. It has been proclaimed from the rooftops. You have not left us in darkness. You have revealed your son to us.

Help us to consider all things, all the little pearls that we get so fascinated by and we chase after in this world help us to consider them garbage in comparison to knowing Jesus. Would we not look for contentment in this world apart from him? Aside from him. So forgive us when we're so easily swayed by the circumstances and the things that happen to us in our life. Please cause us by your holy spirit to look upwards and see our fixed position in Jesus.

So that in all things in richness and poverty and suffering and joy, we would know the secret to being content. The Lord Jesus, and we would be able to rejoice in him always. In his name, we ask our man.