Turn to your Bibles to Philippians 4 and we'll go ahead and start in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for preaching class, thank you so much for this
evening, for all the sermons.
Please help fill me with the Holy Spirit to be able to help the brethren in their week.
In Jesus Christ's name we pray, amen.
Start at verse 11, the Bible reads,
Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith
to be content.
I know both how to be abase and I know how to abound.
Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to
abound and to suffer need.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
The title of this message this evening comes from the ending part of verse 11, it says,
therewith to be content.
We as Christians need to be content in our lives.
Now it is hard for some to find contentment because in every aspect, whether it's your
home, whether it's your church or whether it's your work, we can find reasons to not
be content and ultimately to not be content is to in a sense covet that which you don't
have because coveting is the sin of wanting something that you don't have, won't have
or can't have, it's not yours.
The Lord was jealous for Israel's sake because Israel was his rightfully, therefore he was
jealous.
But covetousness is, you know as the Bible teaches that the love of money is the root
of all evil which while some covet it after they have erred from the faith.
So you could see why someone would lie, steal, cheat and do these things for the love of
money through covetousness and turn if you would to Acts 16, we can find in our lives,
in our personal lives how we cannot be content.
You know, let's say you're a child and you want to be an adult now.
You know, are you content with just being a child?
You know, your childhood only comes once in your life and then it's gone and every parent
laughs at that because they think to themselves, oh if I could just be a child, you know, you
miss your childhood.
But children don't understand that, you know, you got to enjoy those times in your life.
People who are not married may not be content with not being married, they wish to have
a spouse or something like that and there's nothing wrong with wanting to have a spouse
but you know, are you content with the way that life is going for you at the moment?
Because contentment is being content with how things are currently and that is the way
things may always be.
Somebody who's married and doesn't have children, are you content with not having children?
Are you content with one, two, three, twenty, however many kids the Lord provides you with?
Some people, you know, want a big family but the Lord blesses them with one or no children.
Can you be content with that?
Is that alright with you?
In your job, you may, you know, want, there's a promotion coming up, you're in a career
driven job and you clock in first, you clock out late, you show up when everyone else calls
in sick, you never call in sick, you go above and beyond in the task and day to day, week
to week, month to month and year to year and the promotion is not given to you.
Are you okay with that?
Are you content for the situation that you're in?
We need to learn contentment in our lives and the apostle Paul actually shows us an
example of this in Acts 16 where it had you turn because being that he wrote down Philippians,
he had to practice what he preached, he had to show us an example of him doing or acting
content and if you would look at verse 22, this is the story of Paul the apostle getting
put into prison falsely and it says, and the multitude rose up together against them and
the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them and when they had laid
many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely.
Now remind you, these people were just in prison wrongfully and beaten for a crime they
were not really guilty of.
Who having received such a charge thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet
fast in the stocks and what was the result of Paul and Silas?
And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and saying praises unto God and the prisoners
heard them.
They were content, they were realizing that the things of this world were not worthy to
be compared unto the things that are to come, that in receiving trials and tribulations
that they counted it worthy and they were able to sing praises unto the Lord in the
jail and we know how the rest of the story goes but if you would, we use a famous passage
in this chapter in verse 30, you know, the jailer brought them out and said, sirs, what
must I do?
In the context of the angel cracking open all the jail doors, him ready to cut himself
and to kill himself, as a result, he was not content, the jailer, he was ready to kill
himself because he understood that these convicts or people who may be in prison, justly so,
may take him out and he is afraid of this angel, he's afraid of the judgment of God
and he, through fear, said what must I do to be saved?
They said believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
That is the goal of us as Christian is to show people liberty, true biblical liberty
through salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now it just wasn't Paul that did this, turn to Acts 5, the other apostles did the same
thing.
In Acts 5, we see an example of the rest of the disciples doing something similarly, look
down at verse 40, the Bible reads, to him they agreed and when they had called the apostles
and beat them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and they departed
and let them go and they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they
were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name and what was the result of them realizing
that it was worthy for them to be beaten for the cause of Christ and daily and in the temple
and in every house they cease not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ.
They were content, they realized that the things that were happening to them, they were
looking down the line and we don't want people to misconstrue the idea of well let me go out
and cause problems and tribulations, you know, you need to find contentment in your life
in every aspect.
Let's say your church and turn if you would to 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
As a Christian, you know, I know that in my life I had to learn contentment and I moved
here to Arizona to study to become a pastor and I don't meet biblical qualifications and
I may never meet biblical qualifications but am I okay with that?
Is it okay that I may never be a pastor?
Are you okay if you may never be a pastor, a deacon, an evangelist?
It's truly that our walk in faith is going to be different from your brother and sister
in Christ.
Not everyone is going to be the head, not everyone is going to be the hand.
There are different members in this body and everything has a function and a need.
Just like when you go to work and you overachieve at your work and you do all these extra jobs
showing up early, leaving late, to never potentially get the raise, to never potentially get the
promotion, are you okay with that?
If you come to Three to Thrive Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening and then
you also come to preaching class, you read your Bible longer than the average, you're
studying another language, you're doing all the things that would get you to become a
pastor, a preacher, an evangelist or whatever but you never get the chance to do it, are
you okay with that?
I mean the way up is down.
We need to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will exalt us in due time
and we find examples of that in the Bible but whether or not you get it or not, that's
the thing.
It's not that you don't strive for it.
Striving for it is good.
You should want to pick up your cross daily and follow after Christ.
You should want to memorize more scriptures, do more reading, serve your church more than
you can but is it okay with just being not seen?
Some people want their glory to be seen or their works to be seen but if they're never
seen you've got to understand what's the saying.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?
So you're better off for it because we're going to be doing it in heaven forever in
heaven regardless so may as well start practicing it now, being obedient and walking into the
Spirit but if you would look down at your Bible at verse 20, but now are there many
members but yet one body.
So we understand that the church is made up of many members but it's one church, it's
one body and verse 21 says, and I cannot say into the hand that I have no need of thee
nor again the head to the feet.
I have no need of you, nay much more of those members of the body which seem to be more
feeble are necessary.
You know people all want to be a great man of God and I've heard it said before in a
sermon, I can't remember the title of the sermon but ultimately and it was referring
mainly to moms and ladies because you know moms don't get up here and preach, ladies
aren't to be preaching at the pulpit, right?
But women are raising godly children.
Now one day a mom may raise a godly man to become a great preacher, to start a great
movement, to get soul saved and to become a full circle Great Commission Christian that
they you know go and preach the gospel, baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son
and the Holy Ghost and teach them to observe all things whatsoever Christ has commanded
them.
But no one maybe saw the mom in the daily struggles and the daily spankings and teaching
and the rearing and the love and the nurture and admonition of that child but she has to
learn contentment in her life and she will get glory in heaven and she will see a reward
for her investment but the world may never look at her and say, oh what a great, look
at all the great things she's done, she has to learn contentment.
We as men need to learn contentment and how we are to serve God and we should ascribe
for more and ascribe to do better and keep pressing towards the mark of the high calling
which is in Christ Jesus.
You know many are chosen, I'm sorry, many are called but few are chosen and we need
to learn contentment so that we can better serve the Lord.
It's great.
I'm going to bow our heads with the word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this preaching class.
I just ask that you help everyone to get home safely and that we continue to serve you in
all our capacity.
In Jesus Christ's name we pray.
Amen.