The Secret of Contentment, Part 1 (Philippians 4:10–12) John MacArthur

What a joy it is now to come to the time of the  study of the Word of God. Open your Bible with me,   will you, to Philippians chapter 4. We come  in this last chapter in Paul’s letter to the   church at Philippi to a new section, really  the last large section of thought before some   final conclusions that he brings at the end.  We come to what is a very important section   in these verses which will occupy us this  Lord’s day and the Lord’s day to come. Now,   as we approach this fourth chapter, I  want to draw your attention to verses   10 through 19. I want to take that section  as a unit because I believe it is a unit of   thought. And as we explain the meaning  of the Word of God, I believe you’re   going to find this extremely practical in  your life, as I have found it in my own. By way of introduction, let me say that  contentment is a very, very rich word and that   is the word I want to focus on in this section.  In fact, if I were to title the message I would   call it, “The Secret of Contentment.” Contentment  is not only a rich word but it is also a biblical   word. In fact, the Bible has quite a bit to say  about this matter of being content. Paul said   in 1 Timothy 6:6, “Godliness with contentment  is great gain,” and then in verse 8 he said,  

“And having food and clothing, let us be content.”  The writer of Hebrews in chapter 13 verse 5 says,   “Be content with whatever you have, for He  said I will never leave you or forsake you.”   The Bible then not only identifies contentment as  a virtue but speaks of contentment as a command.   You are to be content with whatever you have.  You are to be content with food and clothing.   You are to be content with your wages. You are  to be content because you understand that an   utterly, and totally, and infinitely, and  supernaturally resourceful God will never   leave you or forsake you. Contentment  is a virtue; contentment is a command. Frankly, most people don’t experience it. Most  Christians don’t experience it, obviously,   to the degree that God desires us to. We tend  to be a very discontent people. And I have this   sort of personal theory that the more you have,  the more discontent you become. If that is true,   then this must be one of the most discontent  societies in the history of the human race. We   are called to contentment. We are called to be  satisfied. We are called to say I have enough.  

Most of us don’t experience that. Paul did. Paul was a satisfied man. He was a  contented man. Let’s read about his contentment   starting in verse 10. “But I rejoiced in  the Lord greatly that now at last you have   revived your concern for me. Indeed, you were  concerned before but you lacked opportunity.   Not that I speak from want, for I have learned  to be content in whatever circumstances I am.   I know how to get along with humble means,  and I also know how to live in prosperity.   In any and every circumstance I have learned  the secret of being filled and going hungry,   both of having abundance and suffering need. I  can do all things through Him who strengthens   me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with  me and my affliction and you yourselves also know,   Philippians, that at the first preaching of  the gospel after I departed from Macedonia,   no church shared with me in the matter of  giving and receiving but you alone, for even   in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once  for my needs, not that I seek the gift itself,   but I seek for the profit which increases to your  account. But I have received everything in full,   and have an abundance; I am amply supplied,  having received from Epaphroditus what you sent,   a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice  well pleasing to God and my God shall supply   all your needs according to His  riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Now, when you read that, it becomes  immediately clear to you that this   man Paul knew what it was to be  content. He is a contented man.   And if we look very closely at this  particular portion of Scripture,   as he shares his own contentment, we can find  the secret to our own contentment as well. Now, let me put it in context a bit. Most of  us, when we write a letter to someone we deeply   love will include at one point or another some  expression of thanks for something that they   have done for us. That’s fairly reasonable,  fairly common part of the letter. And that   is the case here. The apostle Paul, before he  concludes this letter to the Philippians whom   he loved very deeply, wants to express at some  length his gratitude to them for their kindness.   They have loved him ever since the beginning.  Recently, they had opportunity to share that   love with him by sending Epaphroditus who  is mentioned in verse 18, and along with   Epaphroditus they sent some gifts to meet his  needs: perhaps some money, perhaps some food,   perhaps some clothing. They sent to him the  things that he needed. And this entire section   from verse 10 through 19 is really his thanks for  what they sent. The whole text is intended as a   final statement of gratitude for the generous  gift received at the hands of Epaphroditus.

Now, remember, Paul when writing this letter is a  prisoner. He is chained to a Roman soldier. He is   incarcerated in some probably small apartment  in the city of Rome. He is in isolation. He is   unable to move about. He has lost the freedom  to work and minister at the capacity that he   once had it. He is therefore much in need,  probably existing on bare subsistence level.   He is afflicted with the difficulty of being  a captive. And in the midst of this need the   Philippians having heard of it have sent to meet  his necessities. This is, no doubt, the saddest   part of the life of Paul up to this point, being  chained to a soldier, able to touch only a few   friends who could find him, anticipating a trial  before Nero which could result in his execution,   made it a very difficult time. FB Meyer wrote a  number of years ago, “Deprived of every comfort,   and cast as a lonely man on the shores of the  great strange metropolis with every movement   of his hand clanking a fetter and nothing before  him but the lion’s mouth or the sword.” End quote.

A very trying time. The low ebb, as it  were, when he had little or nothing of   what this life considers benefits. And these  dear Philippians, having heard about his need,   had sent gifts and he expresses gratitude to  them. So, that the primary intent of these   verses is an expression of thanksgiving. But  very typically Pauline and certainly typical   of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, beneath  the surface of the expression of thanks is the   vision of a contented man as the Spirit of God  goes deeper than what we read initially to show   us something that is profoundly impactful in  our own lives. Here we find a contented man;   therefore, we find the example of contentment  which we so desperately need if we are to follow. Now, remember in the first nine verses of  chapter 4 we talked about spiritual stability.   And in verse 9, Paul set himself as the example of  that stability when he said, “What you’ve learned   and received and heard and seen in me, practice  these things.” Let me be your example of spiritual   stability. That was a direct statement. Now, in  an indirect way, as we see him here expressing his   thanks, we learn that he is also an example not  only of spiritual stability but of contentment.   Notice verse 11, he says it there, “I have learned  to be content.” Through experiences in life,  

through the provision of God, he had been  put in to a process which was now completed,   and he had learned to be content. What  a tremendous thing that is to learn.   Here then is the testimony of a contented  man. And there’s no better way to see that   contentment than to see how he deals with  his own distress and the gifts that some   people give to him. It gives him the perfect  environment to demonstrate his contentment. By the way, let me comment at least briefly  on the word “content.” It’s a marvelous word.   It goes way back to the Greek term  which meant to be self-sufficient,   to be satisfied, to have enough. The term  actually indicates a certain independence,   a certain lack of necessity for aid or help.  In fact, it was used in some places outside   the Scripture to refer to a person who  supported himself without anyone’s aid.   Paul is saying, “I have learned to be satisfied,  I’ve learned to be sufficient in myself, and yet   not in myself as myself, but in myself as indwelt  by Christ.” He had come to spiritual contentment.

This particular self-sufficiency had been  made a virtue in Greek culture by the Stoics.   The Stoics believed that this concept of  contentment was reached when you had come to   the point of total indifference, when you were  indifferent to everything, then and only then   would you be content. In other words, you sort of  thought yourself into an “I don’t care” attitude.   One ancient writer, Epictetus said, “Begin with  a cup or a household utensil, if it breaks say,   ‘I don’t care.’ Go on to a horse or a  pet dog, if anything happens to it say,   ‘I don’t care.’ Go on to yourself and if  you’re hurt or injured in any way say,   ‘I don’t care.’ And if you go on long enough and  if you try hard enough you’ll come to a state   when you can walk your nearest and dearest  suffer and die and say, ‘I don’t care.’” Now, that is the contentment of indifference.  That is the Stoic contentment that abolishes   feeling and abolishes emotion. As another writer  said, “The Stoics made of the heart a desert and   called it peace.” That’s not what Paul is talking  about. When he talks about contentment, he may use   the same word, autarks, that the Stoics used but  he means something very different. He does not   mean passionless carelessness. He does not mean  indifference, for he was deeply compassionate,  

he cared greatly. But he was still content. So,  he takes the idea of contentment much further than   it was taken even in the Greek culture where  the word found its meaning. Paul was content. Notice again in verse 12 he says, in the middle  of the verse, “I have learned the secret.” This   is a fascinating verb; it is a verb that is used  to speak of being initiated into the mystery   religions, of being initiated into the pagan cults  which held certain secrets for only the initiated   to know. Paul borrows that word and says, “I have  been initiated into the secrets of contentment,   I have learned the secret of living a  contented life.” Truly the peace of God,   in verse 7, was his portion. Truly, the God  of peace in verse 9 was his portion. Truly,   he was experiencing verse 6, he was  anxious for nothing. He was content,   he was satisfied, he was adequate,  he had enough, he was sufficient.

What a marvelous statement. “I’m content.”  Why, Paul? “I’ve learned the secret.”   You say, “Paul, would you do us a favor?” “Sure,  what?” “Share the secret.” What is the secret of   contentment? That’s what we’re going to learn in  these verses. We are going to learn the secret of   contentment, he shares it here. It comes right out  of his heart. And I am so thrilled with what God   is teaching me in this passage and I know you  will be as well as you begin to see it unfold.   Beloved, we live in a very discontent society.  This society is so discontent it is diseased   with discontent. We are more discontent than  deprived societies. There are reasons for   that. And we’ll discuss some of those this  morning. We need to learn how to be content. Ask yourself, “Can I say in whatsoever state  I am I am content?” Can I say that I’m content   no matter what the circumstances are? That  I am perfectly at peace, satisfied, I have   enough? If you can’t say that, then you have not  obeyed the command of God to be content. You say,   “But how?” Let me give you the strands,  if you will, in the fabric of contentment.

Strand number one, confidence in God’s providence,  confidence in God’s providence. Look at verse 10,   “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now  at last you have revived your concern for me;   indeed you were concerned, but you lacked  opportunity.” Let me give you a little   background. Ten years have passed since  the last Philippian gift was sent to him,   ten years since he arrived in Philippi, ten  years since he preached the gospel there,   ten years since he was thrown in jail, ten years  since the earthquake released all the prisoners,   ten years since the Philippian jailer was  converted to Christ and all of his household, ten   years since he moved from there to Thessalonica  and the Philippians gave him some support,   ten years since he left Macedonia for Achaia, the  cities of Athens and Corinth and the Philippians   sent him another gift after he had left. Ten  years since the last expression of their love. He   was the founder of their church, they had a love  bond, but for ten years there had been no support.

That was all right with Paul. He understood  that. And he says I know it wasn’t because you   weren’t concerned, it was because you lacked what?  Opportunity, the end of the verse. You just didn’t   have the opportunity. The word is kairos, it means  the season. You never had a time, an opportunity,   not chronological time. You never had that moment  when it could happen. We don’t know why that is   true. We don’t know why they hadn’t done it.  We don’t know whether it was their poverty,   or whether it was the fact that they didn’t know  what Paul’s needs were, or couldn’t locate Paul.   But for some reason they had not sent to him any  support for well-nigh ten years and he simply says   to them, well, you didn’t have an opportunity to  do that. I don’t hold that against you. I don’t   reprimand you for that. I understand. You had no  opportunity for that until recently. And he says,   “But I rejoiced,” when? Well, when Epaphroditus  came after ten years with a gift from the   Philippians, that was a happy moment. “I  rejoiced in the Lord greatly,” he says.   His joy was extensive as this expression of love  came, “That now at last after all this long wait,”  

is implied in the at last, “you have revived  your concern for me.” That’s a beautiful word,   that word “revived;” it’s a horticultural term  that means to bloom again. Your love has flowered   again. Your love has bloomed again. It’s always  been there but it just didn’t have an opportunity   to bloom because blooms are seasonal and you  haven’t had the season. Oh, he says in verse 10,   “You were concerned,” and the implication is all  along, I know you were concerned about me, I don’t   want you to misunderstand me, I know you were  concerned. But you just never had an opportunity. You say, “What’s the point?” The point is this:  the apostle Paul had a patient confidence in God’s   sovereign providence. You see that all through is  life. He could do without and waiting on the Lord   be content. He knew it was all in God’s hands, and  if God gave a proper season, and a proper time,   and a proper opportunity, then those things that  should be expressed would be expressed. There was   no panic in heart; there was no need to manipulate  people. There was no turning of the screws,   as it were, to get what he thought he wanted or  needed out of someone. He was certain that God,   in due time, would order the circumstances so  that his need would be met. He knew that there  

was nothing really between he and the Philippians  that was at all negative, and so he didn’t feel   any responsibility to resolve conflict. He just  waited patiently until the Lord made it happen. Beloved, I would just take this simple little  verse and sort of catapult it into this concept   of providence and say look, the reason this  man was content was because he knew that the   times and the seasons and the opportunities  of life were controlled by a sovereign God.   And until you learn that, you will never  be content, until you come to the place   in your life where you understand that God  is sovereign and is ordering everything for   His own holy purposes, and is working all  things after the counsel of His own will,   and is making all things work together  for good. Until you understand that,   you will always be discontent because you will  take on the responsibility to organize and   order your own life and you will frustrate  yourself if you can’t control everything.

Paul has an amazing contentment. And  it built on the idea that there never   was given an opportunity. In other words,  God never providentially made it possible.   There is a quiet calm in that kind of faith.  If I believe that God is sovereign, and He is,   if I believe that God orders all circumstances  to accomplish His own holy purpose, then I can   be content in anything because everything is  under control. Discontent comes when we want   to control everything. That usually is a  direct result of a failure to understand   that everything is already under control, and  somebody better than you is running it. God. See,   Paul was fully confident that God was in charge  and would order the events to meet his needs. Providence, we call it. Let me explain what  it is. Providence is a term to indicate that   God provides, is connected to the term provide.  That God provides, but it really means more than   that. It means that He orchestrates everything to  accomplish His purpose. Now, let me show you what   it means by contrast. There are two ways that  God can act in the world. One is by miracle,   two is by providence. All right? If God wants to  do something, let’s say, in human society which,   of course, He’s doing at all times, He has two  opportunities to do it. One is miracle. What is a  

miracle? Here you have the flow of natural life,  the natural course of things. God just walls up   both sides, stops the flow, and injects a miracle.  It has no natural explanation. It has nothing to   do with what is normal. He raises someone from  the dead. He heals someone. God can intervene   in history, stop the flow of normal history, do  a miracle. And then, set the flow back in motion,   just like stopping the Red Sea until His people  could walk across. He stops the natural course   of things, injects what is supernatural, and  then let’s the flow go again. That’s a miracle,   an invasion of the natural that causes the natural  to cease and be invaded by the supernatural. Providence, secondly, the way God acts is  to take all of the diverse elements of the   normal and orchestrate them to accomplish His  own purpose. Now, which would seem to you to   be the most difficult? Personally, I believe that  providence is a bigger miracle than a miracle. It   must be easy for God to just say, “Hold it, I want  to do this,” and do it. Much easier than to say,   “Let’s see, I’ve got 50 billion circumstances  that I’ve got to orchestrate to accomplish  

this one thing.” That’s providence. But when you  come to understand that a sovereign God is not   only sovereign by supernatural intervention,  but He is sovereign by natural orchestration,   you have confidence and you have contentment.  The contented person is the person who knows   that God is ordering everything for  His own holy purpose. You’re content. Paul’s not frustrated. He says you just didn’t  have an opportunity, which means God never made   it happen. And if God didn’t make it happen, it  didn’t happen. If God wanted it to happen, it   would happen. It’s not fatalism. It’s a confidence  in providence. Read the story of Joseph.   One of the great stories of God’s providential  orchestration of circumstances to effect His   own purpose. Read the story of Esther, another  evidence of God’s providence. Read the story of   Ruth, another evidence of God’s providence. And  Scripture is replete with such illustrations.

Paul was fully confident that God was in  charge. And as long as God was in charge,   and God was ordering everything for His own  purposes, everything was going to be fine. So,   he was content. Beloved, let me tell you: this is  where contentment starts. You will never know a   contented heart until you believe that a sovereign  God is ordering everything for your good and His   glory. And once you come to that conclusion,  and it finds its way into how you live,   you will experience contentment, not until.  As long as you feel that things are out of   control and you’ve got to get a hold of them  and make them happen, you’ve got a problem   because you’ll frustrate yourself in the process. You work as hard as you can and you’re content  that God is in control of the results. That’s   contentment. Paul had that. It shows up time and  time and time again. He knew that the God whom   he loved was ordering all the events of life. And  that truth just barely sneaks through in verse 10.   But it is foundational to contentment. Every time  I see a discontent person, my first reaction is to   give them a lesson on the sovereignty of God.  Not to try to patch up their discontent with   some kind of counsel, but to talk about the God in  whom they evidently do not trust, or do not know,  

who is ordering everything according to His own  plan. And that is why all things work together   for good to them that love God and are the called  according to His purpose because He’s in charge. Let me give you a second principle, a second  strand in the fabric of contentment. Paul was   content, number one, because of confidence in  the providence of God; number two, because of   satisfaction with little, of satisfaction with  little. Look at verse 11. This is a quick kind   of disclaimer after verse 10. He says, “Not that  I speak from want,” in other words, “Oh I rejoiced   when your gift came, I rejoiced so much when  it came,” not that I needed it, “not that I’m   speaking out of my own want. For I have learned  to be content in whatever circumstances I am.” Well, what is this telling us? This is telling  us that he was satisfied with little. He had   bare subsistence. His need was deep and great,  but he didn’t acknowledge any discontent. He was   so at peace with the providence of a sovereign  God that he was content. He was so satisfied   with very little that it didn’t matter that he  was a prisoner, in the sense that it took his   contentment, it didn’t. It didn’t matter  that he was chained to a Roman soldier,   that he ate with bare subsistence, that he  stayed in a place that was greatly lacking   in comfort. That didn’t really touch his  contentment; he was satisfied with little.

Now, beloved, I want you to know this really hits  this particular culture in which we live hard.   We live in a culture that is not content  period, with little or much. And my theory   is that the more people have the  more discontent they are. I mean,   if you want, typically, if you want to  meet a miserable, unhappy, wretched person,   find a rich man somewhere. The attitude of  people today is their needs can never be   met. People are compelled to the meeting of  needs and it’s a consuming passion and they   never get their needs met. The attitude of people  today is anything but satisfaction with little. We have developed need, I think, as maybe the  number one value in the American system. Now,   I could talk a lot about this, but  I’ll just talk a little bit about it,   just to kind of give you a frame of thinking.  We are developing a concept of life that says   “the whole of life is a process of man meeting  his needs.” Where does that come from? Freud,   Maslow, other psychiatrists. It comes from  humanism. Since there is no God and man is   ultimate, the all of existence simply is not to  satisfy God but to satisfy whom? Man. And so,  

when you start with a humanistic premise that man  is ultimate, and that man should be fulfilled,   and that the whole of life is to meet the needs  of man, now you have set man on an impossible   course. Now he’s going to spend all his life  trying to meet his needs. That would be fine   with the exception of one fact, where does he find  out what his needs are? Because it’s obvious that   he hasn’t stopped with food and clothing. Who now  is defining his needs? The culture is. The culture   is now defining his needs. This is so different  than Paul. Paul was satisfied with so little   food and clothing, a place to sleep.  And that’s exactly what the Bible said,   I read those scriptures to you, “Be content with  your wages, be content with food and clothing,   godliness with contentment is great gain and  realize that the one who has all the resources   will never leave you or forsake you,” so be  content with the bare necessities of life.

Paul was there, so he was content, because he  was so satisfied with little. When he says,   “Not that I speak from want,” what he means  is, “I really don’t have any needs that aren’t   met.” Maybe they aren’t met as fully as I  would want them to be met but they’re met.   He is so sensitive to this that it’s  amazing to me. When he wrote 1 Corinthians,   he says in chapter 9 to the Corinthians, he  says, “Look,” he says, “I have a right to   live of the gospel because I preach the gospel,”  which means to make my living off of preaching I   should be supported by churches. He talks about  soldiers being supported when they fight wars,   and why shouldn’t preachers be supported  when they preach messages, and he says I   have a right to that. But he says, “Look, I’m  not going to take anything from you ‘cause I   don’t want to charge you for what I do.” So, he  says, I work with my own hands, I don’t want to   make the gospel chargeable to you; I don’t want to  cloud your thinking about my motives, so I work.

To the Thessalonians he says, chapter 2 verse 9,  “You recall, brethren, our labor and hardship,   how working night and day so as not to be a burden  to any of you we’ve proclaimed to you the gospel   of God.” Here comes the preacher preaching to  the Thessalonians and in order not to have them   support him he works night and day. And when he  did receive an offering, to show you his mindset,   when he did receive an offering, in chapter 11  of 2 Corinthians he refers to it, verses 8 and 9,   he says, “I robbed other churches, taking wages  from them to serve you.” When other churches   did support him, he saw it as a robbery. Isn’t  that strange? He really did not like to do that.   He says, “When I was present with you and was in  need, I was not a burden to anyone, for when the   brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied  my need and in everything I kept myself from being   a burden to you and will continue to do so,” he  says to the Corinthians. I don’t ever want to be   burden, I am content with very little. Some other  dear friends came and met my needs so you don’t   have to and I feel like I robbed them. Boy, he  would make a lousy televangelist. I mean, this   guy is really hesitant about asking for money,  support. Why? Because he was so confident in the   providential care of God. He was so confident that  God would meet his needs, and because he didn’t   want people to misconstrue his motives and because  he was so satisfied with little. He was content.

“I have learned,” emphatic I, “I have learned,”  points to the fact that this lesson is in the bag,   folks, I’ve got this one down, “to be content,  to be satisfied, to be self-sufficient in   Christ in whatever circumstances I  am.” The word “content,” by the way,   is the same word in 2 Corinthians 9:8 translated  sufficiency. I’m sufficient, I’m self-contained,   I have no needs that aren’t met. He’s not denying  difficulty. He’s not denying hard circumstances.   He is simply content in God’s providential care  and he is satisfied with very, very little. How different that is from today. How different  that is. People today who preach the gospel   think that gives them a right somehow to live a  lifestyle that is way beyond the life of others.   How different than those today who focus  incessantly on their needs. Paul says,   “Needs? I don’t have any needs, I don’t have any  wants.” Somebody might say, “Paul, you’ve got to   get in touch with your needs, man. You don’t even  know what your needs are. Oh, you’re in bad shape,   don’t you know that?” “No, I thought I was in  pretty good shape, actually. I have a little food,   and a little drink, and a place to  lay down and have a warm blanket.”   You see, the culture in which we live is just  propelled by need because the definition of man  

is, man is ultimate, therefore the satisfaction  of man is the ultimate goal of life, therefore   man must meet all of his needs. Now, what is  really strange about this is how man defines   his needs. There’s a book out called “Need,  The New Religion.” I read it the other night,   written by Tony Walter. He makes the major point  that the key difference between Christianity and   humanism arises with the question of whether  human beings are alone in the universe. “In   Christianity we are not. We look beyond  ourselves to the creator. Humanism claims   we are alone in the universe and grossly  restricts our horizons and our experience   by focusing on human beings and their needs.” End  quote. That is the new religion, meeting needs. In fact, you see it on the television. The  whole idea of television in one fell swoop is   to produce in you discontent. Okay? That’s the  whole idea. I don’t know if you realize this,   do you understand what television is all  about? Do you understand that the goal of   television is to make you discontent so that  you think you need something you don’t have?   You understand that? Do you know that the goal  of television is not to put programs on? The   goal of television is to make you buy things  so that the primary issue on television is the   commercials and the programs are only to get  you there so you can see the commercials. And   if the program doesn’t get you there to see the  commercial, the program is off the air, because  

the whole idea is to appeal to your discontent,  create a need you didn’t know you had, and drive   you by that need to buy something. The program  is incidental. The commercial is the capstone. Now, what makes this so insidious is this: you  will never see a commercial on television that   tells you to go to the store and buy food  because you need it. You know that. You   will never see a commercial on television  that implores you to drink water, to sleep,   to get something warm when it’s cold. You know  that. And men will always find their basic   necessities. They did in every generation prior  to this one. Now, we have a whole new approach. I remember when I grew up as a kid hearing my  Dad preach a lot on the fact that the problem   with a lot of Christians is they’re not content  with having their needs met. They’re trying to   get their wants met. Have you ever heard that  kind of thing? Sure. You must be content with   having your needs met and not your wants because  I remember him saying, “Our wants always exceed   our needs.” Do you know that’s been reversed? Do  you know we now live in a society where our needs   exceed our wants? You say, “What in the world do  you mean by that?” Follow this kind of thinking.   Television doesn’t appeal to us on the basis that  “wouldn’t you like to have this?” It appeals to us  

on the basis that “you need this.” So, now what  I’m finding is that I need things I don’t even   want. Have you noticed that? I didn’t want them in  the past, I don’t want them now, but I need them.   That’s a whole new ballgame.  I can’t say in a sermon,   “You can’t allow your wants to exceed  your needs.” That isn’t true anymore. Everything is a need. Do you know there  were millions of women who didn’t want to   be liberated and then they found out they needed  to be liberated? Did you know that? Did you know   there were millions of young people who didn’t  want to live in sexual liberation until they   found out they needed to live in sexual liberation  or they would wound their repressed egos? You see,   the whole thing is perverted. Once you have a  humanistic base and you say the goal of man’s   life is to meet his needs, you give the devil  everything he needs to move out and then he just   redefines what all your needs are. Homosexuals  need to be free to live like homosexuals.   Young people need to have unending sexual  encounters to liberate their repressed egos.   Women need to revolt against the suppression of  their husbands and they need their own careers.   Women don’t want children, they need children.  And your children don’t want certain things,  

they need to express themselves. They need to be  freed up from the bondage of parent repression. See, the society then starts defining  everything as a need. So, where does it   stop? Because the premise is we’re going to  meet needs because that’s why we are here,   to get all our needs met. And what does  Christianity do? Stupidly, blindly, ignorantly   blunders into the same thing and says, “Oh, oh,  so that’s the theology.” And comes up with health,   wealth, and prosperity and says, “Good, since  we all need to be rich and we all need to be   successful and we all need to be liberated  and we all, that must be what the gospel is,   so we’ll chase that.” So, what do you get out of  it? An utterly discontent culture and an utterly   discontent church. The whole idea of this thing  is to produce discontent. It’s really tragic. But, you see, Paul knew this. Paul knew that  the chief end of man was not to meet his needs,   but the chief end of man was  to worship and enjoy God.   Paul knew that it was not the meeting of human  need that was the issue, but it was living to   the glory of the God who created him that was  the issue. And so, he was content with very   little of this earth stuff, only what he really  needed. And that was enough to satisfy him.

People, it’s not easy to pull ourselves out of  this, not easy at all. But when the worst of it   is when you start redefining the gospel, and you  make God this big need-meeting genie. You know,   you’re going to rub your lamp, He’s going to  jump out and give you everything you need,   positive confession, whatever. You see it in the  psychology of today; everybody is running to talk   to the counselor because, “I have these needs  that aren’t being met in my marriage.” What?   Your husband is not feeding you? It’s not warm in  your house? “Oh no, I have need for expression and   all these needs.” I didn’t even know I needed  horned owls until the Sierra Club came along,   now I need horned owls. I also need green space; I  didn’t know I needed green space. A lot of people   in New York don’t know what green space looks like  but they need it. You’ve got to preserve the green   space, I need that. I don’t know, who is telling  me what I need? All of a sudden this culture   is translating everything that it wants into a  need by definition and then saying to man: you   must meet this need or you haven’t fulfilled your  life. Get out of my way. I’m going after my needs.

How in the world are you going to get Christians  in the middle of this to say, “I don’t really care   if I have little, I don’t care if I have much,  I’m perfectly happy, all I need is God?” Now,   we’ve lost that. We’ve lost that satisfaction  with little that Paul knew. I’ll tell you,   folks, you will never know real contentment  in your heart until you have a total trust,   a total confidence in the providence of God who is  ordering every circumstance of life for His glory,   and you don’t need to manipulate, and you don’t  need to lose your mind in trying to control   everything. And, secondly, you’ll never know  contentment until you are satisfied with little   because your satisfaction is not dependent  on what the world defines as what you need. Let me give you a third strand, just in closing.   A third strand in the fabric of contentment we’ll  call independence from circumstances, independence   from circumstances. Now, he already alluded  to it in verse 11 when he said, “In whatsoever   circumstances I am, I’ve learned to be content.”  Now, he wants to expand on that in verse 12,   so he says, “I know how to get along with humble  means. I also know how to live in prosperity,   in any and every circumstances.” That’s the  key idea. “I have learned the secret of being   filled and going hungry, both of having  abundance and suffering need, or lack.” So, what is he saying here? He’s saying, look,  the third element that you see coming out of   his heart here in this contentment is that he  was independent of circumstances. He says “in   whatever circumstance,” in verse 11, and then  in verse 12, “in any and every circumstance,  

I’m the same. I’m the same.” It’s the part  of contentment that is utterly indifferent   and independent of all circumstances. Beloved,  let me tell you, the one thing that steals our   contentment most frequently is bad circumstances.  Right? And we crumble, and we lose our contentment   in the sense of sufficiency, satisfaction and  peace because we are victimized by circumstances. What does Paul say? “I know how.” He says it twice  in this verse, “I know how,” and a little later,   “I also know how. I know how, I’ve learned  it.” He says, “I’ve got the secret, folks,   I’m living it here, I know how.” What do  you know how to do, Paul? “I know how, one,   to get along with humble means.” What do you mean  by that, Paul? “I mean, I’m talking about physical   things.” He’s talking here about food, clothing,  daily necessities. I know how to get along with   humble means, poverty is what he has in mind.  I know how to be poor. I know how to have very,   very little of daily sustenance. And this is very,  very basic, just the basic needs of life. Then,   he says, “Also, I also know how to live  in prosperity,” or to overflow, perisseu,   to abound, to be filled. And he’s talking  again about earthly goods and earthly supplies.

“Hey, I can get along with poverty;  I can get along with prosperity. In   any and every circumstance I’ve  learned the secret.” And then,   he goes on. What secret? “The secret of being  filled.” Well, that’s an interesting word,   chortaz, it was used of foddering animals. It’s  used of feeding and fattening animals. Hey,   I know what it is to have a big meal. I know  what it is to eat well. I know what it is to   eat sumptuously. I know what it is to be well  fed. And I also know what it is to what? To be   going hungry. He had times of great deprivation.  He had times when he didn’t have enough food to   eat. He knew that. He experienced that.  And then, he closes verse 12 by saying,   “And I know what it’s like to have abundance,  and I know what it’s like to suffer lack. But   the point is: in everything I’m content because  I live independent from the circumstances.” Wow. He was never a victim of the circumstances.  He had such faith in God’s promises. He knew what   Jesus said. “You may have to weep now,” remember  this in Luke 6:21, “but you’ll laugh later.   You may have to be hungry now but you’ll be  full later.” His eye was in the right direction,   he was looking for the future glory. He never let  the circumstances of this life devastate him. He  

had suffered greatly in the physical, greatly.  And by the way, he is the worst imaginable   illustration of prosperity gospel. He is the  worst. I never heard anybody who advocates   that ever preach on Paul. You couldn’t do it. I  mean, he had a miserable life. I mean, if you were   trying to sell Christianity on the experience  of Paul, you wouldn’t get many takers. I mean,   it sort of goes like this, Acts 14:19, the Jews  came from Antioch and Iconium and having won over   the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged  him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.   Now, somebody today would say, “Well, he  failed to bind them,” you know. Chapter 16,   chapter 16 of Acts talks about Paul and Silas,  they seized them in verse 19, dragged them into   the marketplace, brought them before magistrates,  verse 22, the crowd rose up together with them,   the chief magistrates tore their robes off,  proceeded to order them beaten with rods. When   they inflicted many blows on them, they threw  them into prison commanding the jailer to guard   them securely. And he having received such a  command, threw them into the inner prison and   fastened their feet in the stocks. Chapter 17  verse 13, “When the Jews of Thessalonica found   out that the word of God had been proclaimed  by Paul in Berea also, they came there likewise   agitating and stirring up the crowds.” Chapter 18  verse 12, “While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia,   the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul  and brought him before the judgment seat.”  

Chapter 20 verse 3, this is how the whole  story goes, “And there he spent three months   in Greece when a plot was formed against  him by the Jews.” That’s a plot to kill   him. “He was about to set sail for Syria,  he determined to return through Macedonia.” One thing after another. He finally goes to  Jerusalem in the sequence of the book of Acts.   They get him in the temple. They take him and slam  him in jail. And he winds up in prison in Caesarea   for a prolonged period of time. They ship him all  the way to Rome. He winds up in prison in Rome.   The man had a very, very difficult life. He was  deprived many, many times. He suffered lack many,   many times. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, in verse  11 he says, “We who live are constantly being   delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake.” He lived  on the edge of death all the time. And then, in   chapter 6 he says, kind of chronicling his life,  chapter 6 of 2 Corinthians, he says in verse 4,   “In much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships,  in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in   tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger,”  that was his life. And then, in chapter 11 of 2   Corinthians, you know that record, he says, “Look,  in far more labors, far more imprisonments, beaten   times without number, often in danger of death,  five times I received from the Jews 39 lashes,   three times I was beaten with rods, once I  was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked,  

a night and a day I spent in the deep, I’ve been  on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers,   robbers, countrymen, Gentiles, cities, wilderness,  sea, false brethren. I’ve been in labor, hardship,   through many sleepless nights, hunger and  thirst, often without food, cold and exposure,   and then I’ve got the daily pressure  on me of concern for all the churches.” This guy didn’t live out any fantasy. This guy  lived out a nightmare. This man knew what it   was to be in difficult circumstances but he  lived above them. And that is essential to   contentment. How can you live above them?  Because you’re looking and setting your   affections on things above and not on things on  the earth, because you count it all joy for the   privilege of suffering for the sake of Christ.  In other words, you have a heavenly vision,   you have an eternal perspective. You’re looking to  your eternal reward. He summed it up when he said,   “This light affliction is not worthy to be,” what?  “Compared to the glory which is to come.” I live   in the light of the glory to come, not in the  light of the pain here. Here was a contented man.   Why? Because he was confident in God’s sovereign  providence, he was satisfied with very little,   and didn’t buy into the need values of  his culture, and he was independent of   circumstances because his affections were  on another kingdom. Well, let’s pray.

Father, thank You so much for the  reminder this morning of the need   to be content in whatever conditions  we find ourselves. Help us, O God,   to trust in Your sovereign providence. Help  us to be satisfied with little. Help us to   rise above the circumstances, to live, as it  were, in the heavenlies. Lord, make us content,   minister to us with Your Spirit to grant  us contentment for the Savior’s sake. Amen. You've been listening to John MacArthur,  Bible teacher with Grace to You. For free   access to all of John's lessons and a listing  of study Bibles and books available for sale,   visit Grace to You's website at gty.org.  John MacArthur and Grace to You reserve   all copyright protection under applicable  law. Our copyright policy is available at   gty.org or and it includes instructions for and  limitations on duplicating this digital file.