Telling the Truth

Guest (Male): How can you demonstrate through your life that Christ alone is sufficient for you? This is Telling the Truth, and today, we'll hear a powerful message from Stuart Briscoe about the secret to demonstrating the sufficiency of the gospel in your life. It's all about being content. That's coming up in a moment, but first:

In their two-message series Worry Less, Stuart and Jill Briscoe help you break free from worry and experience the joy and peace God wants for you. We'll send you a copy of this resource plus Jill's booklet, Me Worry? as thanks for your gift today to help others experience life in Christ.

This special offer ends today, so don't wait. Call today to request your copy of Worry Less and Me Worry? 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, here's today's teaching from Stuart.

Stuart Briscoe: The conclusion in answer to the question, well, how do you conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel, whatever happens? The conclusion we'll come to today is we conduct ourselves in a manner that shows we know how to be content. We know how to be content. So let me read to you from Philippians chapter four, commencing with the tenth verse.

Paul says to the Philippians, "I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been 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 everything through him who gives me strength."

Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only. For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.

Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. I have received full payment and even more. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gift you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

This is really a letter written from a missionary to his supporting church. You remember that the Apostle Paul had visited Philippi and had actually planted a church there. He was not there very long before he was run out of town in very dangerous and difficult circumstances. He went to other regions of Macedonia, but wherever he went, those who were hostile to him chased him, and he was literally on the run from one place to another.

Eventually, he went to Thessalonica and spent some time there. We're really not sure how long he was there, but Paul does say that while he was there, the Philippian church repeatedly sent him financial and other means of support, and he was very, very grateful to them for this. So he is expressing appreciation to a supporting church for the way that they have cared for him while he's been engaging in his missionary activity.

There's an interesting insight here into how a missionary can write back to a supporting church. However, there's something that's really quite fascinating about this passage, for Paul has two things in mind. On the one hand, he wants to express appreciation to the Philippians for being supportive of him, but on the other hand, he wants to teach them that he's not dependent upon them.

How can he tell them gently that he's not dependent upon them and yet at the same time not give them the impression that he isn't grateful? That's the challenge of this particular passage of Scripture, and it's a challenge for us as we try to understand what he is saying. Why is he going to all this trouble? Why is he making such a point of saying, look, I'm not asking for a gift? Why is he saying that I have learned in whatever state I am to be content?

Why is he going to such a great length here? The answer is that he wants the Philippian Christians to realize that it is possible for a Christian in all kinds of circumstances to have a measure of sufficiency and adequacy and contentment that is not dependent on other people. Now, that's a challenge, and it's a powerful thing.

For the Apostle Paul is actually saying, look, there have been times when I was hungry and I didn't know where my next meal was coming from. On the other hand, there have been times when I've lived in relative abundance. There have been times when things were going extremely well for me, and quite frankly, there were times when things were going very, very badly for me indeed. In fact, even as he writes, you remember, he is in prison, and he will eventually be executed while he's in that prison.

Yet he says, whatever the circumstance, I have learned to be content. I want to get this across to you Philippians so that you will really grasp the significance of this. What it means, whatever happens, to be content. You'll notice that he says, "I have learned to be content," and then he repeats himself a few minutes later and says, "I have learned the secret of being content at all times."

I would suggest to you that this is a lesson that's hard for us to learn in the affluent West. Are we even remotely interested in being content? Or are we caught up, as the Apostle Paul said on one occasion, in a continual lust for more? A continual lust for more. Well, this is the challenge of this passage. Now remember the whole point is this: whatever happens, Paul says, learn to be content. Whatever happened.

This is one of the ways in which we demonstrate a lifestyle that is commensurate with the Christian gospel. The first thing that we need to ask then is: how do we learn the secret of contentment? That's what Paul says. I have learned to be content. I have learned the secret of contentment. It's encouraging, incidentally, to notice that he had to learn it too. It does not come naturally, neither does it come easily, but he learned the secret.

Well, if we've got to learn the secret of contentment, then let's assume that if it is a secret in the biblical sense, it is something that God has revealed to us. Because that's what a biblical secret is. It is not something that is hidden; it is something formerly hidden that has been revealed. Paul says, "I have learned the secret of contentment." If you're going to learn the secret of contentment, then I suppose you've got to be clear as to what the secret is.

Let's look at it. The Apostle Paul says the secret of inner contentment that I enjoy is unrelated to circumstances. That's the first thing. The secret of contentment that I enjoy is unrelated to circumstances. He's quite specific. I know what it is to be in need, I know what it is to have plenty. I have known what it is to be living in plenty or in want, I know what it is to be well fed or hungry. It is independent of those things.

The question then is, well, what is it, Paul, that you have grabbed onto that I haven't yet figured out? Because as far as I'm concerned, when I am dissatisfied, when I don't have enough of anything, I leave no stone unturned until I've got more of what I don't have enough of. I'm assuming if I can get more of what I don't have enough of, then I'll be satisfied. Paul says no, that isn't how it works.

How it works is this: I have learned the secret is not related to my circumstances and is not related to externals. There's a very, very important point here. He uses a slightly different word at this point than he used a little early on. I don't want to get technical here. The second word that he uses was a very common word in philosophical debate at the time that Paul was alive and ministering, and he borrows this philosophical term.

It was a term used by the Greek philosophers called the Stoics. Now, we talk about people being stoic today. What we usually mean is they don't say much and they just get on with it and they just grit their teeth and they manage somehow or other. They're stoic, we call them. The Greek idea of Stoic philosophy was this: human beings have it in themselves to be self-sufficient.

Because they have it in themselves to be self-sufficient at all times, they will demonstrate self-sufficiency, adequacy, and accordingly, contentment. So whatever is going on, these guys are always self-sufficient and content. Paul borrows their word, but he does not share their philosophy. His point, however, is this: dear Philippians, I am so grateful for the way that you've cared for me and been assisting me, but my sufficiency is not outside me.

My sufficiency is inside me. My contentment is not determined by what is going on around me; my contentment is related to what is happening within me. So he uses the philosophical word but gives it a slightly different slant. He is not talking about self-sufficiency; he is talking about inner Christ-sufficiency.

Guest (Male): Stuart Briscoe with his message Be Content, here on Telling the Truth. In just a moment, we'll bring you more from Stuart, but first: anxiety, fear, and worry can keep you in a painful state of uneasiness and limit you from truly experiencing the incredible joy and peace God wants you to have. We want to help you break free from worry and embrace God's abiding peace with Stuart and Jill Briscoe's encouraging two-message series Worry Less.

This powerful series shines a critical light on the root cause of worry and gives you practical guidance on how to rule your anxieties instead of having them rule you. It's fresh encouragement straight from God's Word to help you overcome the stresses of life, whatever they may be, so you can start living with more joy. We'll send you the Worry Less series as well as Jill's booklet, Me Worry? as our thanks for your gift today to help you share the healing truth of God's love with people around the world through the resources and teaching of Telling the Truth.

But this offer ends tonight, so don't miss out. Call now to request your copy of these resources when you give. 1-800-889-5388. 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. Use your phone to make a spiritual connection with the free Telling the Truth mobile app. Listen to daily programs, read and comment on devotions and relevant study plans, and share your thoughts and prayers on the community wall.

Get the Telling the Truth app through your App Store today, and remember you can give to support Telling the Truth right on our mobile app. Now, let's get back to Stuart's message.

Stuart Briscoe: Inner Christ-sufficiency. So notice what he says quite specifically, "I rejoice again in the Lord." There's his favorite expression, "I rejoice again in the Lord that your care for me has blossomed and flourished like a tree in springtime." That's basically the way he puts it. Now notice he rejoices in the Lord.

When Paul is hungry, he doesn't just say I'm hungry; he says I'm hungry in the Lord. When he has an abundance, he just doesn't say this is great, I've got abundance here; he says I've got abundance in the Lord. When he's in need, he says I'm in need, but I'm in need in the Lord. And when he says I have all that I want, he says I've got all that I want, but it's in the Lord.

Then he goes and makes it even clearer and he says this: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Now, we often have a tendency, a rather dangerous tendency, to lift that verse totally out of its context and apply it in situations that Paul never intended it to be applied to. When Paul says, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength," he is not saying, "Hey, I'm Superman and I can leap off tall buildings or I can swim wide oceans or I can fly."

Of course he isn't saying that. The everything that he is talking about is in the context of what he is talking about. The context is this: in all kinds of circumstances, I have discovered an inner sufficiency in that I'm living in the Lord and the Lord is living in me. And he gives the Lord a new title. This is the title in the original language that he gives. He talks about the Lord as being the one who continually infuses power into me.

Sometimes in our prayer times, we say to people, "Call out your favorite name for the Lord." Oh, he's the truth, he's the vine, he's the good shepherd, he's Jehovah, he's Jehovah-Tsidkenu. You get all these different names. Here's a new one for you. This is a title that Paul gives the Lord: the one who continually infuses power into me. That's the way he phrased it.

So he says, "I can do all that is necessary to live sufficient and adequate and content in all circumstances for one reason and one reason only: because of the relationship I have with the one who indwells me, who infuses power into me." There's the secret. I have learned the secret in all these circumstances: how to be sufficient, adequate, to have enough to do all that I need to do, and to be content. And the secret is the one who continually infuses power into me.

Think of this for a minute. This is the kind of contentment he's talking about. What he is saying is this: I have discovered the secret in all kinds of circumstances of having inner resources through Christ who infuses power into me, so that at all times there's this sense of enough is enough and I'll be content. I don't know about you. I find that an incredibly challenging concept that is fundamentally contrary to the conventional wisdom of our day.

Paul is laying it on us in no uncertain terms. Now, you'll notice that's the first point. Actually, I've left some of that out. It's not all the first point, but I do have two more. I want to slightly change it now, because you'll remember that at the beginning of this talk, I pointed out to you that this is really a letter from a missionary to his supporting church.

Remember that he's walking a tightrope. He wants to express appreciation, but he doesn't want them to miss the point that our sufficiency is in the Lord within us rather than a dependency upon other people. Now, this is something important because he then talks very warmly to the Philippians about the way that they have supported him. I want you to notice something that I believe is really quite fascinating. It is this: that people who are not content rarely share.

I'll give you that again. People who are not content rarely share. You know why? Because they never have enough. If you never have enough, why in the world would you give anything to somebody else? So reverse that. One of the evidences of contentment is a desire to share.

Guest (Male): This is Telling the Truth, and that was Stuart Briscoe. We'll wrap up his teaching in a moment, but first: life is full of stressful situations, so it's no surprise that so many of us these days struggle with things like anxiety, fear, and worry. That's why Stuart and Jill Briscoe created their two-message series Worry Less to help you take hold of the peace and joy God intends for your life.

It's our thanks for your gift of support today, but the offer ends tonight, so don't miss out. These encouraging messages uncover the root cause of worry and give you practical guidance straight from God's Word on how to overcome worry so that it doesn't overwhelm you. Plus, when you give today, we'll also include Jill's booklet, Me Worry? as an extra thank you.

Generous friends like you keep broadcasts like this one going, reaching others with God's healing love so they can experience God's peace and the joy of life in Christ. So if you haven't given before, consider a gift today to help keep God's Word going out around the world to you and many others. But we want to remind you that today's your last chance to request your copy of Worry Less and Me Worry? when you call and give. Just call 1-800-889-5388. 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org.

One of the evidences of contentment is a sharing attitude, and that's what Paul is commending the Philippians for. Now remember, when he talks about abundance, he is not talking about our kind of abundance. The kind of abundance that we regard as normative was totally unthought of by Paul and his contemporaries. When he is talking about having enough, it would probably be barely above the poverty line by our standards today.

Stuart Briscoe: We need to make that adjustment. These are relative terms that he's talking about. The point, however, is this: that these Philippians and the Christians in Macedonia, they had a sense of a desire—in fact, in another place, he talks about them insisting on sharing and doing it out of their rock-bottom poverty. How in the world would people in rock-bottom poverty insist in sharing to meet other people's needs?

How in the world would they do that if they hadn't discovered that even in their situations, there was a degree of contentment and they wanted to share? The Apostle Paul even goes further than this, and he said, "Look, this way you've supported me, it is absolutely a fragrant offering. It's an acceptable sacrifice. It is pleasing to God." Three expressions he uses to describe it. Listen: when we reach out from a sense of contentment and gratitude for all that we have in Christ.

And we see a need and we grasp an opportunity, we've got to elevate it. We're not just giving some money to a program. What we're actually doing—listen carefully—we are making a fragrant offering. We're making an acceptable sacrifice. We are doing something that pleases the Lord, or if you like, it makes God's heart smile. Who wouldn't want to be part of that?

Who would want to be caught up with this leaching sense of discontent and dissatisfaction? Who wouldn't much rather say, "I want to be caught up in the richness of resources that I have in Christ, in being part of all that he's about"? And in being part of all that he's about, recognizing that what I'm doing is to him a fragrant offering. It is an acceptable sacrifice. It is deeply pleasing to him. It makes his heart smile.

By the way, he says, "Listen," Paul says, "Listen, I'm not writing asking you to send me another gift. That's not what I'm after." He says, "I tell you what I'm after: I want something to go to the credit of your account." Think of that. So Philippians are chomping at the bit, saying, "Paul, you keep telling us you don't want us to support us, but you've got to let us do it. You keep saying you don't need it. Maybe you don't need it, but we need to give.

Maybe you're trying to impress upon us that you are self-sufficient in the Lord, but you've got to understand that so are we. And we need to have an opportunity to express it. So let us go on supporting you, please." And he says, "All right, all right. But remember, I'm not dependent on you." We know you're not dependent on us, Paul. We understand all this contentment, but you've got to let us show that we're content, too. The way that we do that is by supporting you and encouraging you with a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, that which pleases the Lord.

Guest (Male): That was Stuart, concluding the teaching for today. Before we go, just a reminder that for today only, when you give to support Telling the Truth broadcasts like this one, we'll send you the Briscoes' two-message series Worry Less and Jill's booklet, Me Worry? These encouraging resources will help you start to worry less and live with more joy.

The offer ends tonight, so request your resources right now when you call 1-800-889-5388. 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. Thanks for being with us today. Come back next time for more biblical truth to encourage you and help you experience life in Christ, right here on Telling the Truth.