To Encourage You

Philippians 4:11 “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. “

There may be no better description of what it is to have reached a condition of maturity in the Christians faith than that expressed by the apostle Paul in the verse above.  It’s a statement that Paul made in his letter to the church at Philippi. He was writing from a Roman prison, and he was addressing the fact that the Philippian church had sent him a financial gift because of their concern for his plight.  Paul is grateful for their gift, but not for the reasons we might expect.  Listen to what he says in context: “I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.”

You see, Paul was most grateful not that they were supplying some need that he lacked, but that their giving was a testimony to their love and that that love was a demonstration of the spiritual fruit that God was producing in their lives.  So, what was the key to Paul’s contentment in the face of his suffering in prison?  It was surely the fact that as a mature believer, Paul’s contentment was rooted in the fact that he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that because he was “in Christ” he had everything he would ever need. 

In Colossians 2:9 Paul put it this way in his letter to the church at Colosse: “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,and you have been filled in him.” Paul could tell the Colossians that THEY had been filled in Christ because he knew that HE had been filled in Christ.  Note that he didn’t say that he and they would EVENTUALLY be filled in Christ. Rather, it was the condition that they were already in.

So, what does this mean? It means that because Christians are “in Christ,” that everything He possesses is already theirs.  Jesus IS love.  Therefore, anyone who is in a saving relationship with Him is loved to the full. In other words, they can’t be loved any more than they already are.  Jesus reinforced this truth with the following words, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13) and that is exactly what He did for us.  In John 15 Jesus told His disciples that the things He had taught them were with the purpose that “my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).  Paul knew that He had once been a persecutor of the church, nevertheless he had full and complete forgiveness in Christ.  Paul knew that because God loved him with a supreme and infinite love that everything he ever needed would be provided if and when he needed it, even if he found himself in prison. Listen to these wonderful words as he expresses the joy of this truth: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).  And so, Paul encourages us to fill ourselves with these truths.

In his final words to the Philippian church, Paul said this: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9).  But does every Christian live in a condition of perfect contentment and peace? Does every believer live in the knowledge that they can’t be loved any more than they already are? Does every believer live free of fear that their needs will be met?  If you are like me, you know the truthful answer to these questions is “No.”  But it’s not because we can’t be.  It’s because if at any point we are not content, it is because we don’t believe the truth about what God has said to us.  It’s because we haven’t yet learned all the lessons that Paul had learned. We haven’t yet grown in our faith to the degree that we can fully enjoy the reality of what we have and are “in Christ.”

May God help us to grow in our faith, so that we can more fully enjoy the wonders of what Christ has done for us. May we learn to believe this One Who is the most truthful being in the universe. May we learn to live in the contentment of the truth of what God has done for us and believe that we are loved like He has assured us that we most assuredly are.