WEBVTT - The ConTENtment Commandments 0:00:01.600 --> 0:00:02.840 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.880 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.960 --> 0:00:07.800 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.680 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:12.920 Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:13.600 in your life. 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:14.720 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:20.800 My subject today is contentment. You've heard of the Ten Commandments. 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:28.360 You heard of them, You've broken them. You've heard of 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:31.120 the ten Commandments. This is not the ten Commandments. My 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:36.800 sermon today is called the content mint Commandments. I want 0:00:36.840 --> 0:00:38.920 to speak on the subject of contentment and what it 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:40.839 takes to live in a place of contentment. And I 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:45.720 was so mad at Abby's softball, t ball, whatever you 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:49.080 call it, the one where they don't keep score. She 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:51.960 takes all the fun out of it for me. I 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:54.360 was so mad at her game. Yesterday. There was this 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:58.040 eighteen month old and that baby just had me furious 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:03.360 because he was so good and so happy. And it 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:09.399 caused me to contrast how my children behaved at age 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:14.080 eighteen months. And I looked at my oldest son and 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:17.560 then my middle child, and I said, do you see 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:20.480 that baby that is the opposite. 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:21.440 I asked the. 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:25.319 Mom, I said, is he always like this? And she 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:28.800 said yeah, And I said, I hate you for it. 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:32.760 She said, he's just always content. And I told Elijah 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:36.080 and Graham, I said, you were the opposite of always content, 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:38.560 whatever the opposite was. If you would have been like that, 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:41.080 Holly and I would have had twelve disciples. We would 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:45.200 have just kept populating the earth. One of you is 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:50.720 equal to twelve of those. And the reason I wanted 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:53.320 to choose Philippians for is because there's one verse I 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:53.840 want you to. 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:54.480 Listen for it. 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:58.480 It describes Paul toward the end of his journey in 0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:04.480 serving Christ. He describes a state of contentment that on 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:08.959 the surface seems natural to him because he's Paul after all. 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:14.200 To somebody say he's Paul after all. But I would 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:17.200 suggest to you that Paul is describing a kind of 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:21.840 contentment here that is not a disposition you are born with, 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:25.920 but a decision that you make. Because when I think 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:28.880 about Paul, I don't think about somebody who just low 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:32.959 key laid back and waited to see how things turned out. 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:36.040 This is the dude who was not content just to 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:37.840 preach to the Jews. He had to take the Gospel 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:42.200 to the Gentiles mess everything up, wasn't circumcising them. Had 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:44.560 to confront Peter because Peter was kind of prejudiced, but 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:46.600 didn't want to act prejudice unless he was around his 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:51.640 prejudice friends. He was never content just to maintain the 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:55.679 status quo. And yet the most famous verse about contentment 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:57.720 in the whole Bible came out of his mouth. And 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:01.640 that was interesting to me, almost like he's describing contentment 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:06.760 not as a disposition, but a skill that can be learned. 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:08.560 How many of you would love to learn to be 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:12.440 more content in your life? If your hands up, you're 0:03:12.480 --> 0:03:15.880 over thirty five, because still then you just want more stuff, 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:18.120 more stuff, more stuff, more stuff, more stuff, more stuff. 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:20.240 And then you realize you've been drinking ocean water all 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:24.800 your life and it only made you more thirsty. And 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:28.720 the greatest skill in life is not accumulation, but contentment. 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:30.160 And Paul's going to. 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:32.520 Illustrate that here in the fourth chapter of the Book. 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:34.360 Of Philippians, which is a letter to a church that 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:37.000 he found it. Now, we don't know exactly where Paul 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:40.120 was when he wrote this letter. We know that he 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:44.760 was in prison somewhere. I don't even know if it's 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:49.320 important that we know where he was physically as much 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:55.480 as we study where he was emotionally and spiritually. And 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:57.320 so here's what he says some of the last words 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.880 of this letter to a church that he fathered a 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:03.720 decade earlier. He says, I rejoiced greatly in the Lord 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:07.920 that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:11.240 you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:14.720 And I'm not saying this because I'm in need, for 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:18.000 I have learned to be content. 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:20.920 I wasn't born this way. 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:26.400 I was born screaming my head off, but I have learned. 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:28.719 It took me a little while. 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:32.359 I had to have God say yes to some things 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:35.960 that weren't best for me, so I could learned the 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:39.440 hard way to trust him that what He's given. 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:42.160 Me is enough. But I have learned by now. I'm 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:44.960 an old man. I bear on my body the marks 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:49.839 of the Lord Jesus, and I have learned to be content. 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:59.440 Whatever the circumstances, slow, Wi Fi, shipwrecks, you name it, 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:04.400 I've been through it, and I have learned to be content. 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:07.920 I know what it is to be in need, and 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:11.560 I know what it is to have plenty. I know 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:13.320 what it is to be in a Hundai. I know 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:16.600 what it is to be in a Mayback. I've learned, though, 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:19.040 that it is not my situation that. 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:20.600 Regulates my satisfaction. 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:27.480 So I have learned. Watch there's a phrase again. I 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:31.440 have learned you notice a theme here. I had to 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:37.719 go to school. I have learned the secret of being 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:44.760 content in any and every situation, whether well fed or 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:50.000 whole thirty, whether living in plenty or in want. I 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:54.560 can do all this through Him who gives me strength. 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:57.600 Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, 0:05:57.640 --> 0:05:59.960 as you Philippians know, in the early days of your Queen, 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:02.840 and it's with the Gospel. When I set out for Macedonia, 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:05.000 not one church shared with me in the matter of 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:08.440 giving and receiving except you only for even when I 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:11.680 was in Thessalonika, you sent me aid more than once 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:16.000 when I was in need. Not that I desire your gifts. 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:20.960 Touch somebody, say I'm good. That needs to be your 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:24.359 opening line. If you are single and dating people, before 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:26.599 you get deep into the conversation, look at them and 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:31.120 say I was good before you got here. So if 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:35.279 this works out, I'm good. If it doesn't, I'm good. 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:37.719 Look at your neighbor one more time and say I 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:40.720 was already good before they seated me next to you. 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:49.320 I was already good. What I desire is that more 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:52.720 be credited to your account. I receive full payment and 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:59.240 have more than enough. I am amply supplied now that 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:03.400 I have received from epaphroditis the gifts you sent. They're 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:08.039 fragrant offering and acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:14.600 God will meet all your needs. How did the passage 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:18.720 that started out talking about Paul's imprisonment in talking about 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:27.160 their needs? We're going to find out today the contentment commandments. 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:30.680 I think the misunderstanding that a lot of people have 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:34.400 about the nature of God in our relationship with him 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:38.120 is that he is a god of restrictions. I've come 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:41.920 to see him more and more as I study the 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:45.360 written word and the way that his spirit moves, and 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:47.840 just observe general creation, that he is a god of 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:48.960 endless permission. 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:52.440 Even the rules or. 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:55.680 Regulations that he gives to his children are designed to 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:58.600 bring us into maximum freedom. 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:01.920 When the children of Israel. 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.880 Were coming out of Egypt, which was a land of bondage, 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:07.840 or as Exodus twenty calls at the House of Bondage. 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:09.440 One of the first things that. 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:11.960 God did after leading them through the Red Sea, drowning 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:15.120 Pharaoh behind them, and getting them out of Egypt, was 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:17.280 to begin the process of getting Egypt out of them, 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:22.960 because that's the hard part. It's the hard part, not 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:25.160 to bring you into freedom, but to teach you how 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:29.440 to live in it. For many of us, true freedom 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:33.640 doesn't feel familiar, and we would rather stay in something 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:39.280 that enslaves us, that is predictable, rather than embrace something 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:42.400 that is new and good and true and pure. So 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:46.080 we will go back to familiar addictions, We will go 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:49.040 back to familiar mindsets, We will go back to familiar 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:56.200 toxic emotional states because it feels normal to us, and 0:08:56.240 --> 0:09:00.560 we will choose normal over new. When God took up 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:02.920 on Mount Sinai to give him those ten commandments that 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:05.880 we referenced a moment ago, it was in an effort 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:06.640 to teach his. 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:09.960 People how to live in freedom. 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:14.560 Look at your neighbors, say God wants you free, I mean. 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:18.280 Really really free, Tell him really really free. Free from 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:19.160 what people. 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:22.040 Think about you, free from the need. 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:24.319 To have more stuff, free. 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:28.040 From the free from the need to be appreciated by others, 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:33.720 because your dials of validation are internalized, and the Holy 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:37.760 Spirit is your judge and arbitter and vindicator. God wants 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:45.240 you free, be free, be free. So by the time 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:47.920 you get into all the thou shalts and thou shalt nots, 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:51.360 what you're really hearing is a God who wants his 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:55.880 people to be free. And it seems to me that 0:09:55.920 --> 0:10:03.320 the Bible is a master course in living in freedom. 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:06.800 Starts with those ten commandments, but then by the time 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:11.040 you get over to Paul, he's teaching true freedom in christ. 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:13.520 Isn't it interesting. 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:17.960 That God used somebody who was in chains to teach 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:24.480 his people about freedom. Paul is writing a theological discourse 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:26.800 on freedom from a prison cell. 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:29.760 Sometimes God will. 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:35.120 Call you to exemplify or demonstrate something that is directly 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:40.360 contradictory to what you feel, that is directly contradictory to 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:44.560 what your life is manifesting in that season. So when 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:47.360 you come to the Book of Philippians, you might expect. 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:50.000 A treatise on justice. For Paul has. 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:54.400 Been the victim of a great injustice, sentenced to trial 0:10:54.520 --> 0:11:01.040 before Caesar, treated by the way as a common criminal 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:02.920 when he was indeed a Roman citizen. 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:05.240 But what you find when you come to the Book 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:08.880 of Philippians is not Paul advocating for. 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:12.440 His rights as much as he is speaking of his freedom. 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:17.040 And it's kind of interesting because it seems like Paul 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:24.760 in chains is more free than a lot of us. 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:27.960 We'll make our own decisions and live our own lives. 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:32.040 What's interesting, though, is by this point in the Book 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:35.439 of Philippians Philippians chapter four, Paul has pretty much said 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:37.400 everything he wants to say to this church he founded 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:41.880 a decade ago. He's expressing several freedoms. You can look 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:47.160 at these sometimes when you're not busy. I know you're busy, 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:49.439 but if you get a chance, go look at chapter one. 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:53.080 He'll tell you about his freedom from fear. This is 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:55.839 one of the greatest freedoms that God desires to grant 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:58.719 to his children, freedom from fear. In fact, for him, 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:00.679 it's gotten so severe by this point he said, I 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:04.079 don't care whether I die or live. Is he suicidal? No, 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:10.000 he's free. He's free. He really believes this stuff. So 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:13.800 by this point he's like, kill me. I'll see Christ. 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:17.040 There will be a parade when I get to Heaven 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:19.480 of all of the people that I let to Christ 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:21.800 while I was on the earth. So it's kind of 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:24.120 cool because I'd like the party with Jesus. Take me out, 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:28.480 But if you leave me here, I'll keep working so 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:30.280 the party will be bigger when I get there. 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:34.480 What would it mean to be free? 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:38.400 He uses a construct called weather or it's like. 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:39.760 Saying it doesn't matter. 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:43.080 It's like he's got his priorities so fixed that he 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:44.960 is free from fear. 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:48.000 Then if you want to look at chapter. 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:50.800 Two, you'll see how he's free from his flesh. Oh, 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:54.200 I'd love to be free from my flesh. I would 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:57.839 love to be free from my feelings. I would love 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:01.680 to be free from this manadgment system of my moods 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.640 that dictates to me how my day is gonna go. 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:07.520 Paul said, I don't have anything to prove at this 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:10.520 stage of my life. I'm not showing off, I'm not 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:13.400 showing out. I'm just showing up and doing the will 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:16.800 of God. And that's all I gotta do. Because I'm free. 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:21.520 Throw your hands back, say I'm free. Can only go 0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:28.120 so far, I understand, crowded auditorium. Freedom from fear, freedom 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:32.120 from flesh, freedom from pride to imitate the humility of Christ. 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:37.080 And then something interesting happens. He's done with this letter. 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:38.880 He had to straighten out some people who are fighting. 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:40.280 In the church. He calls them out by name. 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:44.679 How would you like to get in the Bible that way? 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:51.400 And then he says, oh, yes. And it's not in 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:55.280 the English translation. The translators didn't think it beneficial to 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:55.840 include it. 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:59.120 But it's almost a PS. Isn't that weird? 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:03.440 Because the passage I read you features two of Paul's 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:08.199 most famous verses in all of the Bible. You remember them. 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:11.559 Philippians four thirteen. That's the weight room verse. I can 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:16.680 do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. Every Christian 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:20.560 high school. The squad rack. That's the verse with an 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:25.920 eagle in a bodybuilder. And then there's that one in 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:28.080 nineteen that you were supposed to shout over, but you 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:28.680 were sleepy. 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:37.080 It said, and my God shall supply all your needs, 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:46.520 financial ones, spiritual ones, invisible ones, tangible ones, all. 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:49.560 Your needs according to his glory stretches in Christ. And 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:52.280 those two verses, which are two of his top five 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:56.720 most quoted verses, were in the PS section of his 0:14:56.800 --> 0:15:00.560 letter to the Philippians almost called this message the power 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:01.720 of a PS. 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:04.600 Because it really. 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:07.680 Represents watch this a PS is a prospective shift. 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:08.520 Wow. 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:10.640 And he says this. 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:15.640 He says, oh yeah, by the way, thanks for the gift. 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:20.200 Apparently they had sent a paphroditis. If you're looking for 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:23.760 a baby name, might I suggest a paphroditis. 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:25.880 It means handsome. 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:31.840 They sent this handsome messenger with a gift for Paul 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:35.480 to help him perhaps with this mounting legal defense. If 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:38.040 he's writing it from Rome, he's got to keep paying 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:40.640 the bills because he's on house arrest and he's waiting 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:43.600 for his trial. And if that's indeed, the situation is 0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:44.920 going to be very expensive. 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:47.040 He already has a lot of travel bills. 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:49.640 This is a church that he founded, and they send 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:51.480 him a gift, and Paul says, oh yeah, by the way, 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:54.720 now that I straightened you out on freedom from fear, 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.480 Now that I straightened you out on freedom from what's 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:00.600 the other one, freedom from fear flesh? And now that 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:02.320 I got your pride out of the way, and now 0:16:02.360 --> 0:16:04.480 that Yode and Synike have been. 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:05.680 Called out in my letter. 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:07.520 Oh, by the way, now that I told you to 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:11.520 rejoice in the Lord, I Verse ten rejoiced greatly in 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:14.960 the Lord. Are you ready for the first contentment commandment? 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:17.400 Are you ready? You want to write these down and preach. 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:20.160 Them back to your spouse, because your spouse is impossibly 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:25.000 miserable sometimes. And the first one is this, thou shalt 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:36.120 remember to rejoice. Thou shalt remember to rejoice. That staff 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:39.960 member who took the offering at Valentine said he was forgetful. 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:42.200 I don't know if you heard him. He said, I 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:44.720 tend to be forgetful. I forget my keys, I forget 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:47.680 my wallet. That's not the worst thing you can forget, Zach. 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:50.520 The worst thing you can forget is what he's done 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:54.320 for you, and how he's blessed you, and how he's 0:16:54.440 --> 0:17:01.000 kept you. Y'all look kind of forgetful today. Sometimes you 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:03.000 come to church and you remember to brush your teeth, 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:04.320 but you forget to bring your praise. 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:05.240 You forget to stir. 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:09.080 Up your spirit. And that's what the worship leaders do. 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:11.720 The team does it. They say, come on, let's lift 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:16.359 our hands. They're reminding you that God is worthy of 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:24.800 your surrender. Real maturity, real contentment, comes when nobody has 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:31.080 to remind you to rejoice. I didn't tell him this 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:35.480 last night, but y'all are deeper. He just told them, 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:41.359 rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, rejoice. 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:43.119 Why'd you say it again? 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:50.560 Because it's crazy how quick you forget. It's interesting how 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:56.720 selective your memory is. But a selective memory can actually 0:17:56.760 --> 0:18:02.199 work to your advantage if you remember in order to rejoice. 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:08.240 So when you evaluate any given day or any given 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:11.240 period of time in your life, when you evaluate a year, 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:13.320 if you come to the end of one year in 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:15.840 the beginning of the next, you will make. 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:18.400 A movie in your mind of how this year went. 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:24.560 Some scenes you will delete, some scenes. 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:25.120 You will enhance. 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:34.399 God has given you editing software in your spirit to choose, Jeremiah, 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:38.680 what you call to your mind and what you recall 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:43.000 to your mind determines the revelation that you will have, 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:46.200 and the faith that you can walk in, and the 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:48.960 contentment that you will enjoy. 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:57.639 Where are my rejoicers? You understand the power of this. 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:02.840 In Hollyod what they call it final cut. It means 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:05.880 you can shoot the scenes, but somebody has to decide 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:08.760 which ones go on the big screen. And I want 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:10.880 to tell you God has given you final. 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:11.880 Cut over your life. 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:14.639 When you open your mouth and bless the Lord at 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:18.480 all times. I'm not blessing him in site of the battles. 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:22.600 I'm blessing him because of the battles. That's what gave 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:26.200 me Grooven assurance of his spirit. 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:28.800 Lock it down, Lock it down. 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:37.560 Oh yeah, Paul said, thanks for the gift. Almost forgot 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:40.760 thanks for the gift. I want you to watch because 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:43.040 Paul is awesome at theology, but he is terrible at 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:48.720 thank you notes. His mom raised him right in a 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:49.399 lot of ways. 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:50.040 You know, tribe of. 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:53.160 Benjamin, Pharisee, of Pharisee, send him off to study with Gamalia, 0:19:53.280 --> 0:19:57.800 all that, But the boy he needs some help on 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:00.560 this thank you note. Now, let's just let's just. I mean, 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:03.720 he's a human, right, He's not Jesus Christ. And I 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:06.040 know it's the Bible, but come on, Paul, listen to this. 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:08.600 How would you like to receive this thank you note? 0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:12.359 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last. 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:22.359 You send me a little something. Now, school is school, school, 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:25.960 I mean, I know, it's just he said. 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:31.399 Indeed you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:31.720 show it. 0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:36.160 See what he did, There was a period of silence. 0:20:35.720 --> 0:20:38.200 Where the people who should have been helping Paul weren't 0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:41.760 helping Paul, and he could have interpreted that in one 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:47.280 of two ways. They don't care about me. Nobody cares 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:52.520 about me. Nobody is there for me, and I loan 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:55.080 them money, and now I need some money. You know 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:58.760 these little things you tell yourself, the interpretation, the assumption. 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:06.359 How do you interpret silence? How do you interpret the times? 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:10.720 Here's the key to contentment. It's the second key. You've 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:16.720 got to refuse to resent. Wow. I don't know whether 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:20.480 Paul was in prison in Cesarea or whether he was 0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:23.479 in prison in Rome, but I can tell you what 0:21:23.560 --> 0:21:26.520 prison he refused to live in the prison of resentment. 0:21:28.400 --> 0:21:31.600 And there is no prison like the prison of resentment. 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:39.520 There are no windows, only bars when you lock yourself 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:45.120 into your situation. I'm looking at some of you right now, 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:47.119 and I know enough about you to know that you 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:49.280 could have resented your situation. 0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:52.840 That's the good thing about being the pastor of the 0:21:52.920 --> 0:22:00.720 church and not some little guest speaker. I know what 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:01.600 some of you. 0:22:03.440 --> 0:22:11.800 Could interpret your situation to mean. Or Paul said, I 0:22:11.960 --> 0:22:17.320 choose to assume that you wanted to help me but 0:22:17.400 --> 0:22:20.960 you couldn't. That's a decision, and it is a key 0:22:21.320 --> 0:22:25.639 to contentment. If you don't resist and refuse resentment on 0:22:25.760 --> 0:22:29.600 every level, you will be locked inside a prison of 0:22:29.640 --> 0:22:31.560 your mind's own design. 0:22:32.119 --> 0:22:33.959 And look, this isn't just people. 0:22:34.280 --> 0:22:37.280 Sometimes in life you're making decisions about how to view 0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:39.760 the support you were not given at a young age. 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:42.200 There are two ways to view it. You can live 0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:44.760 in resentment or you can live in contentment. 0:22:45.160 --> 0:22:46.359 Those are your choices. 0:22:46.880 --> 0:22:50.160 You can say to yourself, you know, it wasn't right 0:22:50.280 --> 0:22:52.919 that I didn't have, and it wasn't cool that I 0:22:53.000 --> 0:22:55.600 didn't get and I could be so much further along. 0:22:55.800 --> 0:22:57.960 But that is a prison called resentment. 0:22:58.320 --> 0:23:01.480 God wants his children free. You can look at your 0:23:01.520 --> 0:23:04.639 brothers like Joseph and say, it doesn't matter why you 0:23:04.720 --> 0:23:05.680 threw me in the pit. 0:23:06.119 --> 0:23:09.680 God got me to Egypt anyway, and now I'm here. 0:23:09.480 --> 0:23:14.080 To save your life because I'm free. 0:23:14.640 --> 0:23:17.679 The only one really free was the one who was 0:23:17.720 --> 0:23:25.040 in prison. He sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives. 0:23:25.359 --> 0:23:27.480 That's what Jesus said. What does that mean? 0:23:27.720 --> 0:23:31.760 I will not live another day in my life resenting 0:23:31.840 --> 0:23:35.399 what they did, what they said, what they didn't do. 0:23:35.760 --> 0:23:39.119 Who I'm not what I can't be is over. I 0:23:39.240 --> 0:23:41.439 refuse to live in resentment. 0:23:41.760 --> 0:23:49.040 When Christ died for sent me free, I'm. 0:23:48.800 --> 0:23:50.040 Done with this prison. 0:23:53.000 --> 0:24:01.400 Okay, thou shalt what's the first one? Thou shalt remember 0:24:01.480 --> 0:24:06.000 to rejoice, refuse to resent, and you're going to love 0:24:06.040 --> 0:24:13.640 this one. Thou shalt appreciate all seasons. A little technical 0:24:13.720 --> 0:24:16.119 nuance when he says you renewed your concern for me, 0:24:17.520 --> 0:24:20.520 it doesn't give the image that is behind the language. 0:24:21.640 --> 0:24:25.760 The point a Greek is an expression here that says 0:24:26.280 --> 0:24:30.640 you cause your concern to bloom or blossom again. Wow. 0:24:31.400 --> 0:24:34.800 So what Paul is doing. He's saying there are seasons 0:24:35.359 --> 0:24:37.800 to life. 0:24:36.800 --> 0:24:39.520 And I made it through winter, and I'm grateful that 0:24:39.560 --> 0:24:44.560 spring is finally here. Is how important this is to 0:24:44.720 --> 0:24:47.640 discern the seasons of your life if you are going 0:24:47.720 --> 0:24:50.439