GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT IS GREAT GAIN

The title for today’s sermon and the title is taken from 1Tim 6:8. Our world is heading into a time of great uncertainty. Fears abound of world recession and loss. We do not know the future but we know the One who holds the future. Many have lost jobs and most have pay cuts. It has been so hard for the poor in the world today. Psalm 19: 7-10. We praise God for His word in the Bible, the book of perfect wisdom.Phil 4:10ff ". . . I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation." This letter was written to all the believers in Christ Jesus. Phil 1:1. So the great truths contained here are not for all and sundry. These promises only belong to children of God. |||| The three ways we will experience godly contentment. ||||BY ENROLLING IN AND ENDURING THE SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS: Few things are worthwhile if they come easy. Salvation is by grace and it is not something we work for. But for progressing in the walk, we must persevere. This requires great effort to know the joy and contentment we long for. In these verses, twice we see the words "I have learned." Paul’s contentment did not ebb and flow. It was constant, because he had been through so many difficulties in life and had learned to be content 2Cor11:23 mentions lashes, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, adrift, journeys, dangers, toiling, sleepless, hunger, cold, daily pressures. Paul had been through the school of hard knocks. If we want contentment, we too need to learn it. Could God not have protected Paul from all this? Could not God have kept His people from Covid-19? So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Cor 4:16-18. ||||BY EXPERIENCING AND EXPRESSING THE ABILITY THAT COMES FROM THE LORD: It comes when we know that nothing will overwhelm us. This boast is not in ourselves but in Him. That is why Paul, after speaking about his contentment, goes on to say in Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Remember what Jesus said: I am the Vine, you are the branches . . . For apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5.Will we buckle under the strain? We know that in our own strength we cannot, but in Him, "we are more than conquerors. So let us learn to be content in all circumstances, knowing that through Him we can do all things. ||||BY EMBRACING IN EXPECTATION THE SUPPLY THAT COMES FROM GOD: Phil 4:19 My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Looking back, can we not all say that He has supplied everything we have needed. But what about tomorrow? What if we become poverty stricken. John Piper would have spoke about future grace. Be patient and look to God. "Be still my soul, your God will undertake to guide the future as He has done the past." His grace is unlimited. God will supply all our needs, not all our greed. In our Christian life we sometimes want things we think we need, but our God know better. We know that all things work together for God for those who love Him. Rom 8:28. |||| I don’t know about tomorrow / I just live for day to day / I don’t borrow from the sunshine / For it’s skies may turn to gray / I don’t worry o’er the future / For I know what Jesus said / And today I’ll walk beside Him / For He knows what lies ahead.