Learning to be content 

Philippians 4:10-12 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. 11  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12   I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

Paul’s thanks to the Philippians:

     When Paul expresses his thanks to the Philippians, he does so in such a way that shows his appreciation for the gift, but also his dependence upon God and not the gifts.  He tells them in such a way that he was not sitting waiting for their support or wandering why they had not sent anything prior to it. He wants them to know how grateful he is but also that his happiness is not dependent upon it.

      Paul said that he learned to be content – independent of circumstance, or conditions or surroundings; having sufficiency in oneself. Paul

Knowing and trusting

Psalm 9:10   And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

Knowing the name of the Lord:

      God’s names are important, for they tell us about Him and His relationship to us and all of mankind. When Mary proclaimed, “God my Savior”, she was not only referencing Jesus as God, but also acknowledging that God is our Savior. There was not a struggle to persuade God to save mankind by Jesus and the Holy Spirit. God loves His creation and desires that all come to Him in repentance (2 Pet 3:9). To Isaiah, God announced His name (Isa 42:8) declaring He would not allow an idol to receive the glory belonging to Him.

 Jehovah is the most commonly known name for God, meaning the self existing One. He was before there was time or anything, He is presently and He will be eternally after this thing we know as time has vanished. (Rev 1:8, 11; 21:6; Isa 41:4). God was here before there was anything and He will be here after all is gone. There is none like Him and there will never

1 Timothy 6:20  O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:

Positive and negative:

     Paul charges Timothy with both positive and negative instructions. The Christian walk and life is a combination of both the positive and negative. There are things we must do as Christians and there are things we need to avoid. “Keep” is a military term which carries the idea of isolation or being on guard duty for the rest of the people. “Avoid” means more than just turning away from, but an active and willful rejecting or turning away. Paul taught Timothy by example as he took Timothy with him on the mission journeys and also instructed him through his letters.

Keep:

      Timothy is to guard that which has been committed unto him (1 Tim 5:22). When we are saved our hearts and lives are purified by the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:9) and Paul admonishes Timothy to guard that experience (1 Tim 3:9). Peter tells us that purifying of the soul involves obedience (1 Pet 1:22).

      Jesus instructed the disciples to guard His words (Jn 14:15, 23). In the parable

Judging others

Matthew 7:1  Judge not, that ye be not judged.

Familiar maxim:

     Often we hear this verse quoted by unbelievers or carnal Christians when someone will say something about them, their actions, dress, etc. It is used as a rebuke to those whom they regard as intolerant to them or their ways. These are the words of Christ and they are given as a warning to the self-righteous condemnation of others with whom they disagree on the basis of superficial criteria.

Differing words:

      Matt 7:1 – krino:  ”to pass judgment; to sentence”

      1 Cor 2:15 – anakrino: “question; examine; evaluate”

      1 Cor 11:31 – diakrino: “make distinction; weigh thoroughly”

      Gal 6:4; 1 Jn 4:1 – dokimazo: “test; examine; interpret”

      2 Cor 13:5 – peirazo: “examine; to prove; to try”

Discerning and judging:

      The command of Jesus not to judge does not relieve us of our duty to be a discerning and examining people. We are to evaluate beliefs, actions and spirits in light of Scripture. Matt 10:16 is a directive from Jesus for us in this world of wickedness.

      It is important for us to know the difference between a judging

Judging one another

James 4:11-12  Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

Two types of sin:

     Christians commit two types of sin in the area of criticism – they are too harsh in criticizing others; and they get offended if they are criticized. Criticism can be good and/or bad. If it is designed to help a fellow Christian in their walk with the Lord, then it can be very beneficial. If it is too harsh or extreme and spoken in the wrong manner, it can become very bad, even sinful, because it enters into the realm of judging which only God is qualified to do.

Results of criticism:

            Criticism, even constructive, can generate resentment, quarreling and enmity. It can damage the character of the critic as much as the recipient. It can build walls between Christians (Prov 18:19) and cause divisions. The

The invitations of God

John 1:39  He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.

Invitations from Jesus

      Our text is the first invitation of Jesus to “come” to Him. On this occasion, right after His baptism by John the Baptist, He invited two potential disciples to come with Him to His dwelling place. It is very likely that Jesus stayed as a “street Person” because on one occasion He said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” (Matt 8:20) One night abiding with Jesus made a deep impression upon these two and they became His disciples. 

      Later Jesus issued another invitation to them (Mk 1:17); first Jesus invited them to come to see Him and begin to get to know Him, then come along with Him as He goes out to win the lost. The promise to them in this invitation was that they would become fishers of men.

      Another wonderful invitation is to those who are burdened and weighed down

In time of trouble

Psalm 27:5  For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

David’s confidence in God

            David says that even though his enemies came to destroy him (2); in spite of the danger he looks to God for safety (1). David is trusting in God for his earthly salvation as well as his eternal salvation. But why was it that God would preserve David?

David had a heart for God

            David was declared by God to be a “man after His own heart”. This means that David sought after the things of God and desired God’s honor. When David went against Goliath his concern was for God and His name(1 Sam 17:26, 45-47). David was concerned about God’s anointing upon Saul when Saul was trying to kill him (1 Sam 24:6). In this Psalm David speaks of his desire to seek God (4, 8, and 11).

It is God’s nature

            By His very nature God hates evil and extends grace to His own. God is here pictured as a warrior conquering the

In the fullness of time

Galatians 4:4-5  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

God’s time

      When something happens to us suddenly like the strike of lightning or the eruption of a volcano or an earthquake, we think of God and His power. We think of God coming suddenly in the affairs of man and earth. It seems to us as if there was no warning – just all of a sudden “boom”.

      God can and does come suddenly upon us and the world, but more likely it is probably the opposite. We see God in nature and His working in our lives and that of others, but we see perhaps only the climax of His workings and not the process.

      Throughout Scripture we see God revealing Himself not all at once, but over years of progressive revelation as He builds upon that revelation thru His prophets and the events of life. God told of His coming to earth thru the prophets and each had

What if Christ had not come?

John 15:22  If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.

Effects on mankind:

      Man would not have the possibility to gain heaven. The only way to enter heaven is to have our sins paid for and we cannot pay for our own sin and live. Heaven would be closed to mankind and God would remain separate from us. Man would abide forever under the curse of sin. There would be continual sacrifices being made.

We would be telling time as the Jews – 6,023 or something like that. There would be no hope for a lasting peace on earth.

There would be no Christmas season to celebrate. No decorations, carols, or nativity.

There would be no church, no communion or Easter, no great hymns. There would be no New Testament; no new covenant. The story of man would end in a curse Mal 4:6. The bridge from God to man would be incomplete.

God without honor:

      Bethlehem vindicated God’s promise of a Deliverer in Genesis. The announcement of “a child is born . . . a son

How to know the truth

John 7:17  If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

Ever learning:

      Paul writes about certain philosophers in 2 Tim 3:7 saying that they were unable to come to the knowledge of the truth. In the next verse, Paul tells us why they cannot – even though they are highly intelligent or well educated – they resist the truth. Resist means to oppose, set against, to withstand. They could not learn the truth because they were not willing to believe it or obey it when they learned it. An example of that today is the controversy among Christians about the Genesis account of creation. The written text says six days and there are those who say that it means six literal twenty-four hour days and others who say it means thousands, even billions of years. Often the unbelief or unwillingness to believe the plain reading of Scripture comes because of man’s contrary teaching and supposed evidences opposing what the Bible says.

      The difficulties in this as well as in other doctrinal difficulties are a basic unwillingness to

Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Leviticus 20:13  If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Abomination to God:

      The word used for abomination is toebah and literally means “a disgusting thing, abomination” and in every occurrence it is either translated as abomination, abominable thing or just abominable. When a person commits the sin of homosexuality it is also called “going after strange flesh” (Jude 7); the word strange is also used in relation to other gods (Josh 24:23), and also a foreign woman or a prostitute or temptress (1 Ki 11:1; Prov 6:24).

Called sodomy:

      The name sodomite comes from the city of Sodom where this prevalent sin is recorded in Scripture was that of homosexuality (Gen 19:4-5). This was not their only sin because there was much wickedness in it (Jer 23:13-14; Eze 16:48-50).

      The practice of sodomy was associated with false gods and the worship of them (Jud 19:22; 1 Ki 14:24). This along with other cultic practices were part of

Holy Spirit fruit – longsuffering

Ephesians 4:2-3   With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;   Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

If our relation to others is shown in these three characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit, then it is fitting that it begins with longsuffering.

Longsuffering:

      Longsuffering is patience, constancy, perseverance, endurance and steadfastness. The fact that “suffer” is part of the word means that there will be some suffering on our part in regards to others. Longsuffering is a quality of God written by the prophets and others (Ex 34:6; Psa 103:8) and with it goes the idea of not easily angered or not retaining anger long.

      Paul also talked about “forbearing” or enduring, literally hold oneself erect and firm. Through the power of the Spirit we are enabled to be right and righteous even in the face of ornery and testing people. Paul says the purpose of longsuffering and forbearance is so that we keep the unity of the Spirit in peace.

      Longsuffering is something that we go through not the other; it means to keep sweet in face of opposition, disagreement

Luke 19:37-40 And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;  Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.   And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.  And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

            On what we call Passion Week Jesus entered into Jerusalem for the last time in His human body taken on in the incarnation at our Christmas celebration. He would be tested with severe questioning each day and finally arrested and crucified. Then on the third day He would rise from the dead and have a glorified human form (similar to what we will have in the resurrection – Phil 3:21).

            On this occasion of His entry into Jerusalem He makes an interesting statement to the leaders when they call for Him to rebuke the people

Romans 5:1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Three-fold aspect of peace:

     The Bible presents a three-fold aspect in the area of peace – peace with God; peace of God and peace on earth.

Peace with God:

Peace with God (Ro 5:1; Eph 2:14-17), the peace provided between the sinner and God through the work of Christ, entered into by faith. Sin is in direct opposition to God and when we sin or align with sinners we are in an enemy relationship to God (Jam 4:4; Isa 48:12; 57:20-21). Sin keeps us from God and hides His face (Isa 59:1-2). When Christ died for our sins He took away that barrier between us and God and all who admit they are sinners and seek forgiveness can now enter into peace with God (2 Cor 5:18-19).

Peace of God:

Peace of God (Phil 4:7), inward peace, the state of the soul that has through faith entered into family relationship with God (Lu 7:50). The state of the soul when one has given their anxieties to God in prayer with thanksgiving in supplication and petition (Phil 4:6). There is also the peace

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Christian character:

      Christian character is more than mere moral or legal correctness, but possession of the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit, manifested in our lives. The nine fold expressions of the fruit of the Spirit can be divided into groups of three, each representing an aspect of our character. Love, joy and peace are inward qualities of the Christian. Longsuffering, gentleness and goodness express our fruit toward our fellow man. Faith, meekness and temperance as character qualities toward God, all representing the moral portrait of Christ. Taken together they present the explanation of Paul in (Gal 2:20)  “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

      Exemplifying this nine-fold expression of fruit of the Spirit is possible only as Jesus outlined in Jn 15:1-8; and can be exhibited only when three criteria are followed. First, there must be

1 John 4:13  Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

John’s word use:

     John uses the phrase “hereby know” eight times in his first epistle. The phrase means by this we understand, perceive or know and is the opposite of many belief systems that strand the follower in doubt and uncertainty. John emphasizes that we can know and do know by the way he uses this phrase in this epistle.

His eight uses of it:

      1 Jn 2:3 – John says we can know that we do actually know God by our lifestyle. To keep His commands is to attend to carefully; to under go something. The word “submit” relates to that; as part of the definition – to submit under. We live our daily life closely in subjection to God’s commands.

      1 Jn 2:5 – Here John equates attending to carefully; undergoing something to God’s entire word logos (portions of God’s word are recorded as rhemas), but logos means the entire word of God. David said that God’s entire word is a lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path, thus

Matthew 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

            Jots and tittles:

      Paul taught that all Scripture is “God breathed” and reliable and profitable. Jesus taught that even the smallest Scripture (portions of letters, words and phrases) are also inspired. In numerous portions of Scripture the teaching rests on a seemingly insignificant component of the word or phrase.

      For example: Paul used a differing tense of a verb to speak to the Galatians about their relationship with God Gal 4:9. Jesus used a past tense and present tense together to declare His deity Jn 8:58. Paul also used the singular to proclaim Christ Gal 3:16; Gen 22:17-18. Similarly, Jesus used present tense to correct the error of the Scribes concerning the state of those who die in the Lord Matt 22:32.

      Jesus reprimanded two disciples after His resurrection because they did not believe all Scripture pertaining to Him Lu 24:25, 27. The Psalmist said (Psa 119:89)”For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” They are the words of God and they can never

Deuteronomy 4:2  Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

It is truly God’s Word:

            Various Scriptures declare that the Bible is authored by God – Moses wrote what God told him to say and wrote to the people (Lev 1:1). Jeremiah spoke and wrote what God told him (Jer 1:4). John wrote what he was instructed to write as given to him from the resurrected Lord (Rev 1:1). Paul wrote that all Scripture is breathed out by God (2 Tim 3:16). Paul also told the Thessaloian believers that they were receiving and believing the very word of God (1 Thes 2:13). If we try to say that portions of the Bible are untrue or myths, then we have to say the whole is that way, because it is declared to be wholly given by inspiration – God-breathed.

            Warning about the Word of God:

                        God gives us four such warning about tampering with His word.

            Deut 4:2 – Adding to God’s word by saying more than it says – Eve did