Untitled Sermon

together gathered by your craving one desire to seek your friend have a bible there should be an extra one in your pew hopefully we we should have some new bibles coming pretty soon new pew bibles if you don't have a bible and there's one in the pew take it please it's yours that's what they're there for we want you to have the word of god available to you i want you to be reading it not just looking at me when i reference something i want you to go find it and see if that's what it says and ask questions of it and if it's if you don't see it there then come and ask me about it later or take it home and and ask the lord about it but spend time in his word so let's look at philippians 4 and we're going to specifically focus on verses

9 through 13 this morning but just to keep it in context again i want to start with verse 1 so follow along as i read if you would philippians 4 1 therefore my brothers you whom i love and long for my joy and crown that is how you should stand firm in the lord dear friends i plead with you odia and i plead with sintachi to agree with each other in the lord yes and i ask you loyal yoke fellow help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel along with clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life rejoice in the lord always and i will say it again rejoice let your gentleness be evident to all the lord is

near don't be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to god and the peace of god which transcends all understanding will guard your heart and your heart and your heart and your heart and your heart and your heart and your heart and your minds in christ jesus and finally brothers whatever is true whatever is noble whatever is right whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such thing whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me put it into practice and the god of peace will be with you 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'm in need for i've learned to be content whatever the circumstances 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 want i can do everything through him who gives me strength philippians 4 we're looking at under the heading of learning to rejoice in the lord rejoicing in the provisions of christ learning to rejoice in the lord is the overall heading for the book of

philippians in our study and in each chapter the book of philippians is the overall heading for the book of philippians there's a specific area that the lord focuses in on here through paul to show us how to rejoice in the lord how to learn to rejoice in the lord and in chapter 4 we're learning to rejoice in the provisions of christ and in the first eight verses we've seen so far first of all the provision of his peace we learn to rejoice in the lord when we learn to rejoice in the provision of his peace now many people don't have peace today and the reason is is because they don't have the lord it's only through the lord that you experience that peace many of you are christians

the lord but you're not experiencing that peace either and it's because satan has you focused on something other than the lord you're focused on the circumstances and you're really a circumstantial christian which is what philippians is written to correct our circumstantial christianity if you focus on the circumstances the circumstances are going to change they're going to be heavy and then they're going to be light and they're going to be heavy and then they're going to be light and you're going to just go with them and you're going to be rejoicing and then down and rejoicing and

He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. And so Paul says, focus on him. Set your heart on him. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ. Set your heart upon him. I want to know him. So as our focus is on him, it doesn't make any difference what the circumstances are. We keep looking unto him as the author and finisher of our faith. We keep seeing the strength that he has for us.

So that's the idea of rejoicing in the Lord, learning to rejoice in the Lord. The provision of his peace comes as we understand and do certain things. And these are the things that are listed here in the first eight verses of Philippians chapter 4. First of all, he calls us to stand firm in the Lord. You won't realize his peace if you're wishy-washy as far as your faith in Christ is concerned.

It's when you stand firm in the Lord. It's when you realize he's called me. I'm his. I'm his bond slave, chapter 1, verse 1. I'm set apart unto him, chapter 1, verse 1. I'm in Christ. Same. And move out from there that you begin to stand firm in the midst of whatever's going on, whatever the circumstances are around you. It's only then that you'll realize his peace.

He calls us to stand firm. Verses 2 and 3 here in chapter 4, he calls us to move towards unity and understanding. We will not experience or realize the fullness of God's peace until, as brothers and sisters, we are really ministering to one another and not separating ourselves from each other because we don't like this or we don't like that. But seeking to minister to one another.

We are parts of the body of Christ. Joints fitly placed together, Paul tells us in Ephesians, that each joint should minister to the other one and each one is supplying the need as they receive it from the head, which is Christ. So we need each other. And so to really experience God's peace in its fullness, we need to maintain that unity and that understanding among each other.

It's essential that we do that. And so Paul tells us that in verses 2 and 3. Then in verses 4 and 5, we saw that there's a need for us to continue to be rejoicing, rejoice, he said, and I'll say it again, rejoice. And we mentioned that that is a purposeful speaking out or a purposeful bringing our thought back to that. No matter what the circumstances, bring yourself back to that fact that I need to be rejoicing.

So rejoice in the Lord. And again, I say rejoice and rejoice and begin to put that in the forefront instead of the circumstance. And God will take your focus again off the circumstance and begin to put it back on the Lord. So we have to do that to experience God's peace. There's a need to rejoice. A need to learn to rejoice in the Lord. And then we saw in verses 6 and 7 that there's a need to pray.

A praying Christian is an empty Christian. A praying Christian is a Christian who's alone. You're not experiencing the blessings of fellowship with God unless you are praying. And so in everything, don't be anxious. The word anxious is to be distracted. Don't be distracted. But in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to

God and the peace of God, which transcends understanding, will guard your hearts, garrison your hearts and your mind in Christ. So there's a need to pray. And we talked about that. Then in verse 8, last time, we talked about there's a need for us to think on such things, to set our mind on such things, to constantly be thinking about these things. Now, these things are all represented in Christ.

So we're to picture Christ, to think about Christ. But we sought to commit this verse to memory last time. Did you do that? You remember that? Remember this verse? Philippians chapter 4, verse 8. Let's say it together. The nine raccoons pray, lifting all 18 paws. The nine raccoons pray, lifting all 18 paws. The nine raccoons pray, lifting all 18 paws. Some of you are going, wait a minute, I don't have that here.

Is this the new zoological version here? I don't have that in my Bible here. Now, that was a mnemonic that we learned last time to remember all those little characteristics of whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. If anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think on those things. And that little mnemonic helped remind us of what those things are that we're to think on.

As we keep bringing our minds back in each situation, what would the Lord do? He would do whatever is true. Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure. So, Lord, help me in that situation to realize your peace. This is something that you've called me to, chapter 3. I'm to rejoice in my calling. So, just help me to be that now, Lord. So, our minds are to think on these things.

Now, as we come from verses 9, study Bibles are great for reference, but they're a mess for context. Because anytime you see paragraphs in bold print, your mind tends to say, end of last subject, new subject. It's not a new subject. It's not subject. It's not subject. It's not something new that he's going to talk about here. He's carrying on the same thought.

Actually, the same thought of learning to rejoice in the Lord has been from chapter 1, verse 1, all the way through here. But don't let your chapter, your little study breaks, break your trend of thought here. He's still talking about what he started with here in chapter 4, in verse 1. This is how to realize the peace and the presence of God. And remember last time I mentioned that both the peace and presence are found here.

Because as you look at verses 8 and 9, as you think on these things, then he says in verse 9, whatever you've learned or received. Or heard from me or seen in me, put into practice and the God of peace will be with you. We see also the blessing of the provision of his presence, not only his peace, but his presence. And those two are interwoven. You will not have the peace of Christ without his presence.

And you cannot have his presence and realize it unless peace has been affected between you and the Lord, between you and God. Because you and I are at war with God until we come to Jesus Christ. So we need the peace of God or peace with God to have the peace of God and the presence of God. But in having his peace, we also. Have his presence. They're interwoven.

And so we come into the second provision of the provision of the presence of Christ as it's related to the fact that we're doing all these things. We're standing firm. We're seeking to maintain unity and understanding. We're rejoicing. We're praying. We're thinking about these things. And Paul then gives us an example of that in verse 9. Nothing different here.

Nothing changing. About the time you see all of this, you go, wow, how do I do that? And Paul says in verse 9, whatever. Whatever you guys. Listen, as you're reading all this. Whatever you have learned. Or received or heard from me or seen in me. Put it into practice. In other words, Paul is saying this is I do this. And so whatever you've learned, whatever you've received, whatever you've heard or seen in me, you do this.

Just do it. And the God of peace will be with you. There's his presence again. The God of peace will be with you. Now you read this. And I've even seen some commentators say, well, that's, you know, Paul's saying that. And it's just so awesome that he'd say that because I couldn't say that. Listen, this isn't just it doesn't just this isn't just applying to Paul.

Paul's gone. You know, we can't see him. So I guess we can't do it. I don't have an example. No, we have the example. The example is the Lord. The example is the life of the apostles that we've seen here. And you're the example. It's not. Well, boy, you know, Paul could say that to somebody, but I wouldn't want anybody. I couldn't say that. That's almost arrogant for me to say to somebody, hey, just follow me and do what I do.

And the God of peace will be with you. That's I mean, I know me. I know the things that I do. I wouldn't want to, you know, the way I get up when I get up on the wrong side of the bed. I wouldn't want them to. To do that. Do you not think Paul ever got up on the wrong side of the bed? Do you think Paul just a new day? I'm ready to go. Follow me. No, Paul's human, just like the rest of us.

Well, did Paul mean that? And whatever you see me, I got to do that, too. You know, I got to. If Paul gets up grumpy, I get up grumpy. No, listen. When have you ever had to learn to be grumpy? When have you ever had to learn how to complain? We have to learn that. That's part of our nature. That's assumed. And listen. When you say, well, I couldn't ever say that.

I wouldn't want somebody following my example. Well, tough luck. People already are. In your household, if you're the parent, you lost. As your kids are following your example, whether you told them to or not. In a relationship, you're picking up from each other's example certain characteristics and certain traits, whether you want to or not. On the job, you're following a leader.

You're following a boss. You're following fellow workers. People are following you. So you can't avoid it. You see, you're already an example. So just realize this is the example I'm to be. I'm supposed to do it. I'm called to disciple, to make disciples. And let me tell you, you will make disciples by what they see you do. David Hawking, in his commentary, says, we cannot teach without example, and neither do people learn without a pattern to follow.

So if you think that just getting up here and spouting off for a while teaches anybody anything, you're nuts. Because unless it's followed by example, unless it's seen in our lives. It'll be forgotten. You have to have a pattern to follow. And you are that pattern for people to follow, for the people you're around. To make a disciple, you tell your disciple, well, we need to be together.

Jesus didn't tell his disciples, we're going to meet together every Thursday afternoon at 3 o'clock for Bible study. And I'm going to make you disciples. No. They lived with him. They walked with him. They saw everything that he did. And they followed that example. And that's what we're doing every day. All the time that you're awake, you are exampling to others.

So just look at this and say, hey, this is how I need to realize that they're following me anyhow. This is the way I need to be so I can say, you want to know God's peace? You want to experience what God's all about? You follow me. Do the things, whatever I share with you, whatever you've learned from me or seen in me, do that. And the God of peace will be with you.

So don't pass it off as just this is Paul's deal. This is us. This is what we are to do. Now, he carries this thought on. So as you go to verse 10, forget your study Bible break right there. This same thought is still going. He's not changing thought or anything. He's still talking about the peace and the presence of God, the provision that God has given us and we can rejoice in.

And so he comes to the Philippian church and they're going, whoa, let me tell you about the problem that they have here. He says, I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you've been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I'm not saying this because I'm in need for I've learned to be content, whatever the circumstances.

I know what it is to be in need. And I know what it is to have plenty. I've 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. OK, there are two very prominent verses here versus verse 11 and verse 13. And most everybody recognizes those.

And you've probably committed them to memory, either in King James or one of the versions. I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances. And then verse 13, of course, is probably one that you have engraved. I can do everything or I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, who gives me strength. But if you just have those verses and you take them out of context here without context, you miss a bunch.

Paul here in verse 10 begins to thank the Philippian church for showing their concern for him. Now, he's still carrying the same thought that he's just been writing about. They need to experience the peace of God. They need to realize the presence. And then they need to get the perspective of God. That's next week, these last verses. He's talked to him about the peace of God.

And he's bringing about their understanding of his presence. And he says to them, yeah, thank you. You know, I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you've renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. They had shown their concern to Paul. And obviously, it was by their sending him monetary support. They had done that before.

And as you go back to the book of Acts, you see where they, being a poor church, were commended by Paul because in the midst of their poverty, their need, they sent him support, ministry support. And he commended them for that, too, as part of God's word forever and ever, as he commended them to the other churches for their generosity, for their giving. And for some reason, and we don't know why, that has been interrupted. And it's been mentioned that it's probably even up to about two years that Paul has not received anything from them.

And we don't know why, for sure, that that happened. But he says here that you have renewed your concern for me. So there's been a break, but now they're sending it again. And we don't know why. I doubt that it was because they got poorer or their poverty was hindering them because they had already learned to give in the midst of their need, in the midst of their poverty.

Chances are that they just lost track of where exactly Paul was and they didn't know how to get it to him. Because it seems like once they found out he was in Rome, in jail, or in custody at least, they had their stuff that they'd gathered and they gave it to Epaphroditus and they sent Epaphroditus. And Epaphroditus came down to minister that. They gave that need to Paul, to give him that monetary support.

And you remember the study from back in chapter 1, I hope. And he got there and he saw the great need that Paul had. And he stayed there and ministered with Paul and ministered to Paul. And somehow got sick as a result of just expending himself for the ministry. And he almost died. And so now Paul's sending him back to the Philippians with this letter. And so he's thanking them for their renewed concern for him.

It's a concern they had. And he says that. He says that here. Indeed, you have been concerned. But you had no opportunity. You had no opportunity to show it. In other words, again, probably they couldn't get it to him for some reason. Now, I don't know if you've ever individually given support to a missionary. As a fellowship, we help support missions and missionaries.

We give quite extensively to different missions and missionaries. But if you've ever done it yourself and maybe things got a little tight or something, or maybe just flat forgot one month. And then you almost feel guilty because you didn't get that done and sent out. To him, because, you know, the need, you know, you know that when you hear from him, there's a need and they just they really thank you for the for the stuff that you're sending.

And here's the need. And you just think, oh, I wish I could send more because there's just so much of a need out there. But then when you forget or you don't get it to him, there's like a burden of guilt that's on you because you feel like, oh, you know, and so there's a chance that maybe these it's not in here. I mean, we're reading between the lines. There's a chance these Philippians felt pressure because they hadn't been able to get it to

Paul to help support him. And now he's. He's in jail. And oh, is he in jail because we didn't get our stuff to him, you know, and how if he's been in jail, how bad has it been since we haven't been able to get this support to him? And so Paul is thanking them, but he's wanting them to realize that it's OK. God meets my needs. You know, I'm not dependent upon anybody.

Now, some organizations today, by the stuff you get in the mail, make you think that if you don't send something, they're going to die. We're going to go off the air. We're going to lose the world unless you send a support. You know, and so they they're trying to write these. Things craftily. So they tug at your heartstrings so that you give to them because, oh, God, I don't want

to lose the world, you know, and you feel like they make you feel like they they are dependent upon you. And unfortunately, when you get hooked into that kind of a begging thing, you feel that as the the receive or you can feel like I'm dependent upon them. And if they don't send it, it's just going to and you feel like you have to try and evoke that out of them. You have to try and pull that out of them because you're dependent upon them.

And Paul doesn't want the Philippians. To feel that way. I don't want you to feel that way. So Paul is saying to them, I appreciate your gift and I appreciate your concern. And you truly wanted to show that. But you couldn't. You didn't have the opportunity. Don't feel guilty. Don't worry about it. Because he says, I'm not saying this because I'm in need. I'm not begging.

I'm not one to touch your heartstrings, for I have learned to be content. You see, I've experienced the peace of God, whatever the circumstances, whatever the circumstances. So Paul was letting them know that he was not dependent upon them. For I have learned to be content. Whatever the circumstances. Now the word content is an interesting word. It's from two different words.

One word is from the word sufficient. And the other word means self. You mean Paul's saying he's self-sufficient. No, that's not what it means. That's an arrogant kind of, I can depend upon myself. I can do it myself. I pull myself up by my bootstraps. I can handle it. I buckle down. I toughen up. I can do it. I grit it out. That's self-sufficiency. No. That's not what this word means.

He means he's sufficient in and of himself, no matter who else is around because of his presence on the Lord. If there's anything Paul is not talking about here, it's an abandoned self-sufficiency. My goodness, you go back to the very beginning of the epistle. I'm a bond slave of Jesus Christ. Verse 21, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. Chapter 2, I want to have the mind of Christ.

Let this mind be in you. Sacrifice to the max of the Lord. Chapter 3, I want to know Him. I want to know Him. That's it. That's my life. The power of the resurrection, the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like-minded unto His death, that I might somehow attain to the resurrection. All Paul wanted to know was Christ, and he's saying, I am sufficient in and of myself because

of His presence. Because His presence is there. You see, so I'm thankful that you gave, and your gift is a blessing, but that's okay. I'm not begging from you. I'm not dependent upon you because I've learned, whatever the circumstances, to be sufficient of myself because He meets my needs. Now, you and I know that up here. There's only one way to know it down here, and that's to live it.

We have to live it. Look, he says in verse 11, let me hit it again, for I have learned to be content. Now look at verse 12. I know what it is to be in need. I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned. He says it again so we don't miss it. I've learned the secret of being content. Okay, I'm going to tell you how to find the logarithm of 2.685 until you sit down and

work through the problem with me. Maybe if you sit down and work through the problem with me, you still may not know. I don't know how to find the logarithm. I don't know what a logarithm is. I've forgotten after all these years. We learn by example and by doing, by example and by doing. Paul learned to be content whatever the circumstances. It wasn't that he saw the circumstance of plenty and he said, hmm, I see plenty over

here. Yes, I see that. I see what happens when people have plenty. Yes, I know that. I see need over here. I see need. I see what happens when people lack. Yes, I know what it is to have plenty and I know what it is to lack. No, you don't. Not until you go through that time of lacking that you know what it is to lack. And all of us experience that. All of us will experience that.

You will experience what it is to have plenty as well. Now, how much is plenty? Enough to make you forget the Lord. God told Israel when they came into the land, you're going to come into the land and you're going to find houses that you didn't build and wells that you didn't dig and there's going to be cattle and sheep that you. Didn't produce. There's going to be a harvest of crops that you didn't plant.

When you come in there, there's going to be a tendency for you to see all of this and for you to say, wow, look at what my hands have done. And for you to forget God. And God said, I'm telling you that before you go in, because if you do that, I'm going to walk you. And what'd they do? They went in and forgot him. So you see, I have to learn what it is to have plenty too, because it's not just, it

doesn't just mean I got stuff that you got to learn how to have it and hold it loose because you ain't going to have it all. All your life. You won't have, you won't have plenty forever. You won't have lack forever. You have to learn what it is to have one and have the other, because in the midst of that, what are you learning? To keep my focus on the Lord, to keep trust in the Lord.

Go back with me to a first Corinthians chapter four, first Corinthians, you're back to your left here. You go through Ephesians and Galatians and then into second Corinthians, go back to it. And then in the first Corinthians, go back to first Corinthians chapter four, Paul wrote this first epistle to the church at Corinth. And it was a pretty abrasive epistle and he wrote it to correct them because they were a church that was spiritually arrogant.

They thought they had it all together. They had all the gifts flowing, they had everything going and they were setting themselves up as exclusive. And so Paul's writing to admonish him. And he says in first Corinthians chapter four, look down at verse eight, he says, already you have all you want. Already you have become rich. You become Kings and that with eyes in Christ, we are weak, but you are strong.

You are honored and we are dishonored to this very hour. We go hungry and thirsty. We're in rags. We are brutally treated. We are homeless. We work hard with our hands. When we are cursed, we bless. When we are persecuted, we endure it. When we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment, we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world, but

Paul was an apostle. Yeah. And he experienced plenty and he experienced need and want. Go you go over to second Corinthians chapter one. Second Corinthians, just right on through first Corinthians to second Corinthians chapter one. Second Corinthians chapter one, Paul writes his second epistle to Corinth and it's not as scathing as the other one. Verse eight, second Corinthians chapter one.

He says, we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about the hardships that we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts, we felt the sentence of death, but this happened. Why? We might not rely on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril and he will deliver us on him.

We have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us. Why did they go through that? Why did they go to the point of almost death? So that they might come to the end of their, of themselves, their self-sufficiency and find that it's only the Lord. That with him, they are sufficient in and of themselves. They couldn't have the Corinthians help them. They couldn't have anybody help them.

It only had to be the Lord and they had to learn that. And you and I have to learn that. And that's part of the calling chapter three of Philippians that we learn to rejoice in. I don't know what your circumstances are. I don't know what it is you're going through right now, but in Christ realize it's part of the calling that he has on your life to bring you to the end of yourself, to bring

it to the end of trusting in yourself and your own abilities. And just being able to see him and to focus on him and to trust him and to watch him supply, to realize the provision of his peace and to realize the glorious provision of his presence. In Ephesians chapter three, Paul prays that we might know that, that we might know that. They praise that we might know the power, you see, of the resurrection.

That's the power that he says here in Philippians, that he wants to come to know more of, that we might learn to be content. That in verse 12, it says, I have learned the secret of being content. That word secret means the hidden mysteries, the hidden mysteries. Paul talks about the mystery of the gospel, which has been hidden from times past until now, but it's been revealed to us.

And of course, it's that Christ came, that the Messiah has come and we have life in him through his death and resurrection. That's the mystery that's been revealed and we can now have Christ in us, him dwelling within us personally. That's been revealed. Well, this is the same thing. Paul has learned the secret of being content. It's been revealed to him as he has had to go through.

Through these experiences, both being in need, both having plenty, both hungry, and yet well fed also. Living in plenty and living in want. He's had to learn it. And so do we have to learn it so that then we can come to verse 13 and say, I can do all things. I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength. That's not just a verse you'll memorize, it's a verse you'll experience after you've experienced

verses 11 and 12. After you've realized that my dependency is not on God. It's not on other people. It's not on this fellowship. It's not on your job. It's not on what? Those are things God has provided. My sufficiency is in Christ. I know that up here, but I'm in the midst of a circumstance where the circumstance looms greater than the knowledge of that. That's fine.

Keep your focus on the Lord because he's going to bring you through that, that you might know that it's God who delivered you and will deliver you. You have to experience. I wish it were different. I wish I could tell you that you just need to memorize that verse and you're fine, but you have to experience it and it will be difficult, but you can rejoice in his presence.

Verse 13 has actually become the addendum or the ending of the Frye law or the Frye model. Remember? You know Murphy's law. If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. Well, the Frye law was similar to that in our household and that is you never just do anything. And I've shared that before. You never, you can't, you will not ever just do it. Would you just take out the Bible?

Sure. That's fine. You go and you pull the plastic thing out of the sack and the whole bottom goes out of it. So you got to sit down and you got to put another stack together and pick it all up, you know, and you got to put it all back in a sack and tie it up and then you take it outside. You never just take out the track. Why don't you go just paint that little thing over the door, would you?

Okay. And you go get the ladder and you get up there and there's this little thing you got to take off before you paint it or so you got to get down and go into your, you know, go your tool thing and you need a screwdriver where you go to get the screwdriver and this whole thing falls off the wall. And so you got to stand there and you got to fix this thing on the wall here before you get your screwdriver. And then you go back and then you take the thing off and then you paint.

So it's never you just paint, you know, you never just do anything. Now it's become such a motto that whenever we talk about doing anything, you got to plant bulbs. Veterans Day. We got to plant bulbs. You don't just plant bulbs. But it can leave you sarcastic and it can leave you kind of negative about what you're doing. And so Ann suggested, well, why don't you make verse 13 your addendum to that?

Add that onto here. You never just do anything, but I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So I've shared enough of the Friday motto that we'll put that on as the addendum. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Now everything I can go out and lift tall buildings. No. See, he doesn't ask you to go lift tall buildings. You have your calling back in chapter three.

I'm to rejoice in the calling that he's given. And he asked me to go through this. He asked me to go through it. That means the loss of my job. He's called me to go through this. Does it mean that my family's going through these rough times and I'm going through this situation with my family? Right. He's called you to go through this and you can do all things.

Not, he didn't ask you to lift tall buildings. He just asked you to trust him in the midst of this time and keep going. And we're going to talk about that in just a second, but you can do it because he gives you the strength to do it as part of the calling that he's called in your life right now. And you can do that. And I, I asked the Lord this week for an illustration and God is so faithful.

God, give me something from the word that I can illustrate all this with. These are two marvelous verses, verse 11 and verse 13, learning to be content in any circumstance and doing off, doing everything that you call me to do, Lord, by your strength. Show me something that I can share. And I listened to a tape this week, an excellent tape by Joe Briscoe, Stuart and Joe Briscoe and he's pastored for 30 plus years and she's been his wife for 30 plus years and, and she is going around the country now teaching with different ladies that you would recognize their names.

Just an excellent speaker. And I listened to this tape and it brought me to tears. And I don't know if it was as much the content of what she shared as much as it was that God was faithfully answering my little prayer for an illustration, but turn with her back to second Kings, old Testament, second Kings, guys going to have to break out your, break out your index or your chapter thing at the beginning. Second Kings chapter four and the first and seconds, remember Samuel is the one that anointed the Kings and they wrote about it in the Chronicles.

So Kings is tucked in the middle of Samuel and Chronicles. Second Kings chapter four. We're just going to look at seven little verses here, but it's a beautiful illustration of this truth that we're learning in Philippians four. Interesting to me that they're both chapter four is you find that all the way through the word of God. Look at the three sixteens.

You like John three 16, look at all the three sixteens in the new Testament. Amazing what you'll find. This is chapter four of second Kings and it corresponds beautifully to Philippians chapter four. Let's just look at these seven verses. The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, your servant, my husband is dead and you know that he revered the Lord, but now his creditor is coming to

take my two boys as his slaves. Elisha replied to her, how can I help you? Tell me what do you have in your house? Your servant has nothing there at all. She said, except a little oil. Elisha said, go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few and then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons pour oil into all the jars.

Just as each is filled, put it to one side. She left him and afterwards shut the door behind her and her sons and they brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. And when all the jars were full, she said to her son, bring me another one. But he replied, there is not a jar left. And then the oil stopped flowing and she went and told the man of God and he said, go and

sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what's left. This is a beautiful story and I, I borrowed the entire outline from Jill Briscoe. It is so marvelous. I will not tell it in the, in the beautiful style that she tells it with her English accent, but I think you'll get the gist of it. She talks about this illustration of a widow and in any story in scripture, in any area

in scripture, God expects us to place ourself in the text. He expects us to identify with those in the text. And so you can read this and initially I want you to identify with the widow as we come to this text and I want you to see certain things about her that will help us understand how we are. How we learn to be content in any circumstance and that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

Some things that we learn about this widow is first of all, she ran out. This widow ran out. She ran out of steam. She ran out of strength. She just flat ran out of any desire at all. She number one was bushed as Jill says in this tape, she was bushed. You look at this text and you realize that she is a single parent. She's a single parent mom with two boys, two young boys.

Because there are boys, they are boys that a creditor could come and take their young boys. So she's a young widow. Her husband died evidently at a young age and she's been left as a single parent back in this culture, back in this day and age, a single parent mom to take care of these two boys and try as she may. And it doesn't tell us specifically what they did.

He was part of the school of the prophets. So he was in the ministry. He was ministering and they probably had some possessions and, but the Lord provided through her husband. He's gone and she has tried and tried and tried to take care of the boys and tried to take care of the house and she is just exhausted. She's literally physically exhausted. She has come to the end of herself.

She is bushed. But secondly, she's also bereft or bereaved because she's lost her husband. There's been a loss in her life, a great magnitude of loss. Her other half of her life has been removed from her life through death. Now maybe you're here this morning and you are bushed. You have run out. You are trying and you've been trying and making the efforts to make the ends meet in

your life, in your marriage, in your job, and you're just flat out of strength. You are physically exhausted. But maybe there's even more in your life. Maybe you have lost someone. Maybe you have lost a spouse through divorce or through death, or maybe you've lost a child or maybe you've lost a parent. Maybe you're, you've been abandoned. And you're just. You just are.

You feel alone and you feel this loss. That's an emotional exhaustion on top of the physical exhaustion. So she was not only bushed, she was not only physically exhausted, but she was bereft. She lost. She felt lost like you do when you lose someone in death and she was emotionally exhausted as well. But thirdly, she was bankrupt. She was bankrupt of physical goods and spiritual.

It says that she, my creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves. She's out of funds. She can't make ends meet anymore and she's going to, the sons are going to have to be sold off into slavery to pay the debt. She is physically exhausted. She's emotionally exhausted. She is physically depleted of funds. She has nothing left fund wise. And she, as a result of those three is spiritually bankrupt.

She has no faith. She's lost all hope. She has run out. So secondly, she cries out. She cries out and she comes here to Elisha and she cries out to him. Your servant, my husband is dead and you know that he revered the Lord. She cries out to Elisha. He was, he was in the ministry. He was one of yours. Why? And through Elisha, he's a man of God. She's literally crying out under God.

She doesn't know where to go. Where do you go when you're in the midst of those areas of loss and pain and you're exhausted? You're, you're physically exhausted and emotionally exhausted and spiritually exhausted. Where do you go? You just cry out. And so through Elisha, she's crying out to God. Why? Why me? Why now? Why this? Why him? Crying out. Why? And Elisha in effect says, why not?

Why not? You see, God wants us as we read about Paul in Corinthians coming to the end of himself that he might depend upon the Lord. That's where God wants us to realize God's provision. And so he doesn't want us to come to that point of, of asking why he wants us to be at that point of when we're in the midst of that, we're physically exhausted, spiritually exhausted.

Not saying why when God's calling you to go through this, but saying how you see, that's what Mary did. The mother of Jesus. And the way this was brought out on this tape was beautiful because I hadn't thought of it this way. And you think of the enunciation as this hallowed moment and it was, I mean, you know, coming into the Christmas season and the angel appearing to Mary, Mary, you know, behold, you're going to be with child and you shall call his name, Jesus, for he shall save his people from his sins.

And I see that as that holy moment. And Jill brought out on the tape. She said, but the angel appeared to Mary and said, Mary, I've come to mess up the rest of your life. You see, you're engaged to this guy, but you're going to be pregnant and people are going to talk. And this guy's going to talk. And this guy's going to wonder how that happened. And he's going to think I ought to put her away quietly.

I mean, you could be stoned to death, but not only are you going to have to live through that, Mary, you're going to bear this child and then your husband's going to die. You're going to have to raise him virtually alone. And his brothers and sisters. And even you. On occasion, you're going to think he's nuts. And when you've given yourself totally for him, when you've, when you've seen him grow

and you've seen the things that God's going to do through him, you're going to watch him die. I've come to mess up the rest of your life. And when God moves in our lives, that's at times how we feel about him. You see, we've got this concept of living for God is running through the meadow with the Lord and that smile on your face and it's no, it's God saying, I have come to mess up the rest of your life.

And Mary didn't say why? She said, if you go to Luke, she said, how, how can these things be seeing as I've not known a man? How are you going to do it? Lord? I'm ready. You know, I'm not going to ask why you're God, but how are you going to do it? And what'd he say? My spirit, my spirit shall overshadow you. My spirit will be with you. Okay. That's the problem.

How Lord, we get to this point and we go, how, how are you going to do it? She was crying out. Why? Elisha wanted to show her how, how he was going to do it. So Elisha says to her here in verse two. Okay. You tell me, what do you have in your house? In other words, what are your resources? Tell me what resources you have. Now, as you read this in English, you don't get the impact of it.

So let me, let me read it with the emphasis that needs to be there. She responded to him. Your servant has nothing at all, except a little oil. And if you're reading King James, I think it says nothing at all, except this little pot of oil. And he says, okay, fine. I want you to take that. I want you to go ask your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few, get all the jars you can get from your neighbors.

Take those and go inside your house, just you and your two sons. And shut the door and lock it. And then begin pouring, pouring the oil into the different jars, pour it into each jar. Of course, the oil in scripture we know represents the Holy Spirit. How? The spirit of God came upon her. Now, the fact that Elisha didn't go in with her is significant because if Elisha had gone

in with her and she'd have seen this, she'd have said, oh, it's Elisha. I need to trust in Elisha. Elisha is the one. But Elisha sent her in there purposefully with just her and her sons. Why? Because he wanted this to be her miracle. She wanted, he wanted her to depend upon the Lord, not upon him. And to do so in front of her sons. To demonstrate that faith as an example in front of her sons.

Whatever you have heard or seen or heard from me or received from me, this do and the God of peace shall be with you. You see? Elisha knew that. He could tell her about it. He could be there with her. She had to experience it for herself. She had to learn it on her own. So she goes into the room and she shuts the doors and she begins to pour. Now those empty jars represent her neighbors.

She had to go to the neighbors to get all the empty jars. And they represent, of course, the lives of her neighbors. The lives of those around her who also were bushed and bereft and bankrupt. Who were physically and emotionally and spiritually exhausted. And Elisha said to her, you have run out and you have cried out. And now I want you to pour out. Because you think you have nothing but you have a little oil.

You have a little pot of oil. My spirit will be with you and I want you to pour out. I don't want you to pour out. I want you to focus on your emptiness. I want you to focus on pouring into their emptiness. I want you to pour out into their lives. I want you to pour out into those vessels around you. I want you to just keep pouring and just keep pouring. And she was bushed and she was bereft and she was bankrupt.

And she wanted to wallow in it. She wanted to drown in that pity. She wanted to drown in those circumstances. And God said, no, pour out, pour out and keep pouring out and keep pouring out. And eventually what was the result? She was still ready to pour. There was nothing left to fill. She poured out into those jars. She poured out into those lives to the extent that she was done.

And what did the prophet say? Now take those and sell them. It'll meet your need and you'll have some left over for yourself. See what a blessing it is when you recognize you have nothing but the spirit of God, but his presence and you are alone and you are beaten down and you're exhausted and you can't go on anymore and you're, you're, you're bankrupt and he just says, pour out, keep telling them about me.

Keep pouring out. Keep ministering. Keep bringing people around you to your neighbors. Just keep pouring out. Keep pouring out. And eventually you're going to realize that the need has been met and you have strength left over. You have more besides. Keep pouring out. Jill finishes this wonderful story. She says that her son now has grown and he's pastoring a church back in the Midwest and

she was coming back to that area to speak and she called and let him know. And he said, well, mom, would you have time to come and share, speak at our Sunday morning service? And she said, sure. And he said, well, what are you going to speak on mom? And she said, well, I think I'll do second Kings four and the widow. And she said her little grandson was there and he's only five and he sat in the front

row and she said that he was drawn with his crayons on the paper through the whole message and she didn't figure he picked up on anything, but when she finished the message and came down, he came up to her and he said, look, grandma, I drew a picture of what you were saying. And he said, sure enough, she had, he had drawn a little picture of, of the widow woman and she was standing there with her little pot. But she said that because she is, she's from England. And so she still has a heavy.

The British accent and her, her son is truly American and, and you know, born in this country and speaks American. And she said he had misunderstood what she was saying. And so if for his little pot, he had written inside the pot, the words, a L L a little pot of, oh, and she said, I thought he'd misunderstood, but I realized he understood perfectly. You see, maybe, maybe this morning you are run out.

You have come to the end of yourself and you are bushed and you are bereft. And you are bankrupt and you don't feel like you can go on. And you're crying out this morning and you're crying out to God and you're crying out, why, why this? Why now? Why me? Why the circumstance? And what God wants you to say is how, how you going to do it, Lord, you've called me

to this. I don't see it. I'm at the end of myself. How are you going to do it? And God's saying to you right now, pour out, just pour out. You got the vessels around you. You got the people around you that, that need me, that need my love, that need my word, my son, that need the truth, pour out, just pour out. Just keep pouring out. Don't look at the circumstances right now.

Just pour out. And when you get to the end of pouring out, there's not going to be any vessels left. And you're going to realize that he has not only met your need, he's given you some extra besides, and then you'll be able to say, I have learned to be content no matter what the circumstances, because I have learned that I can do all things through him who gives me strength. Father.

Each one of us has. Each one of all, if we're believers in Jesus Christ, every one of us this morning, looking at our circumstance, we feel we're run out. We've cried out and, and you say to us, what resources do you have? And we say nothing, Lord, I've got nothing except this little pot of all. And you've told us that I have given you all things that pertain to life and Godliness.

You can do what I've called you to do in the midst of this, because I've given you the power to do that. And I just want you to learn that I want you to trust me through this. Don't trust in anybody else. Don't trust in provision from anybody else. Don't trust in something else happening. Just trust me. Just look into me and pour out, pour out the blessings that are there.

You know me, tell others about me. You know, my love, love others in my name, just pour out. And you'll find when you come to the end, that there's been not only sufficient to meet your need, but you have extra besides Lord, there are those here this morning that need that, that need to know that we all need to learn that, but specifically, there are some here this morning that are in the midst of the crunch and they need that special knowing of your presence. Lord.

In Jesus name. You'd make them aware of that. That circumstances would diminish in the sight of the little pot of all. We ask these things in Jesus name, amen, let's stand together.