Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey        
June 7, 1998                                       
                                                      Philippians 4:10-13

                   ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH YOUR LIFE?
                   =================================

  I. We live in a discontented age.
      A. Move every 3 years, divorce in 7.
          1) (Fellow Wheaton grads and recent divorces)
          2) We change our jobs, our homes, our relationships, but we're
                still not satisfied.
          3) We feel we need more to be happy.
                Howard Hughes was asked, "How much money does it take
                   to make a man happy?"
                He replied, "Just a little more."

      B. Several ways to deal with discontentment.
          1) Shuffle around lives to keep minds off it.
          2) Let someone else take control of your life.  (cults)
          3) Take the Stoic approach - very popular.

 II. The "I don't care" approach.          [mostly from William Barclay]
      A. Popular religious philosophy in ancient Greece.
          1) Main goal was contentment.

      B. They believed this came from total self-sufficiency.
          1) Any strength they possessed had to come from within
                themselves.
              a) They relied on no one else.
              b) Secret is not possessing a lot, but wanting little.
                  1> "If you want to make a man happy, don't add to his
                        possessions, but take away from his desires."
          2) Much wisdom in this.
              a) However, Stoics took it to the extreme where
                    nothing, and no one, were essential to them.
              b) They just cut themselves off from life.

      C. They tried to eliminate all emotion.
          1) Their aim was to be so unfeeling, they didn't care what
                happened to themselves or anyone else.
              a) They trained themselves to be unemotional.
              b) One of their philosophers said you have to start with
                    little things.
                 If you drop a plate and it breaks, say, "I don't care."
                    After you get good at that, move up to an animal.
                 Maybe your pet dog has something happen to it.
                    Say, "I don't care."
                 At this point you move up to the big leagues.
                 If you yourself are hurt or injured in any way, shrug
                    it off as if nothing has happened.
                 If you train yourself long enough and hard enough, you
                    will come to a stage where your whole family dies
                       in an accident, and you don't raise an eyebrow.
          2) Their aim was to abolish every feeling in the human heart.
              a) Love was rooted out of life, and caring for people
                    was forbidden.

      D. They believed everything in life is predetermined.
          1) Fate controlled all your circumstances.
          2) Circumstances cannot be changed, only accepted.

III. Should we be Stoics?
      A. Many in America are.
          1) Same as being "thick-skinned."
          2) They respond to problems by shutting others out of their
                lives.
          3) They are ones who end up having nervous breakdowns.

      B. Was Paul a Stoic?
          1) He shared their emphasis on "contentment," with a twist.
          2) Paul uses Stoic language of "SELF-sufficiency," but
                radically transforms it into CHRIST-sufficiency.
              a) The Stoic's "sufficiency/contentment" comes from
                    their own inner strength.
              b) Paul's comes from outside, from his being "a man in
                    Christ," on whom he is totally "dependent" and thus
                    not "independent" at all in the Stoic sense.

 IV. Christ is enough.
      A. Two ways to handle pressure.
          1) Bathysphere and deep-sea fish.
             According to Jay Kesler, there are two ways to handle
                pressure.
             One is illustrated by the bathysphere, which is a miniature
                submarine.
             It is used to explore the ocean in places so deep that the
                water pressure would crush a regular sub like a tin can.
             Bathyspheres compensate for the pressure with a steel hull
                that's several inches thick.
             They are small and cramped.

             When bathyspheres reach the ocean floor, however, they
                find they're not alone.
             When the outside lights are turned on and you look out the
                thick windows, you see fish.
             These fish cope with extreme pressure in an entirely
                different way.
             They don't build thick skins; instead, they remain elastic
                and free.
             They compensate for the outside pressure through equal
                and opposite pressure inside themselves.
                                                                    #1865
      B. Application to Christians.
          1) We don't have to be hard, thick-skinned and stoical.
              a) We can have God's power within to equal the pressure
                    outside.
          2) Godly contentment is based on the belief that God loves
                us, and that he is in control of our lives.
              a) It's not a passive acceptance of fate, but a
                    positive assurance.
              b) The Greek word for "strength" is the word from which
                    we get the word "dynamite" or "dynamo".
                  1> A dynamo is something that gives continual energy.
                  2> Paul is saying, Jesus Christ is the dynamo of my life.
                      A> He gives me continuous energy.
                      B> I don't run out.
              c) I am confident and capable to cope with the circumstances
                    of life because I draw on Christ's power.

  V. We are not Superman.
      A. "I can do all things" does not refer to our super-ability.
          1) Context points to our ability to be contented whether
                we are rich or poor.

      B. Christ is not enabling us to DO anything, but to ENDURE anything.
          1) Paul was usually poor.  Sometimes rich.  But didn't matter.
              a) 1 Corinthians 11 and his disasters.
              b) Beat him up, but couldn't touch his soul.
          2) He had a tremendous ability to cope with life's problems.

 VI. Learn to adapt to change.             [adapted from Rick Warren]
      A. How well do you handle change?
          1) Do you get frightened?  Moody?  Angry?  Uptight?
          2) Paul says that one of the secrets of learning to be content
                is the ability to adjust to all kinds of circumstances.
          3) Your happiness in life will be largely dependant upon
                your ability to adapt, adjust, be flexible.

      B. Choose not to be a victim.
          1) No matter what people do to me they are not going to
                control my life.
          2) No matter what hurt, experience or difficulty I go
                through and I have every reason to have bad
                   memories, I will not let it victimize me.

      C. Be independent of circumstances.
          1) That is real freedom -- when you can say I am not controlled
                by my circumstances, I am not manipulated by the external
                   things in my life.
          2) People say "I'm OK, under the circumstances."
              a) Circumstances were never meant to be something you
                    get under.
              b) Get on top of them.
              c) You don't have to live "under the circumstances" --
                    that's a choice.

VII. Do you sense the peace of God?
      A. This peace is knowing that through thick and thin, God is
            working in your life.
          1) Christian contentment doesn't necessarily mean the
                difficult situations will get better.
              a) Some are contented because they have faith God will
                    turn the situation around in a week or two.
              b) This is basing contentment on the situation, and not
                    on God.
          2) Realists know that some situations never improve.
              a) Severe illness, crummy jobs or unfulfilling marriages
                    don't tend to change for the better overnight.
              b) Christians need to learn how to be contented RIGHT NOW,
                    whether the circumstances change or not.

      B. The secret lies in our spiritual life with God.
             Story in "Our Daily Bread" a few years back, about a
                woman who had a retarded child.
             She wrote:

             We would have called our daughter's handicap the greatest
                tragedy of our lives if it were not for the fact that
                   through it we came to know the Lord much better.
             Words cannot fully express our keen disappointment when
                our little girl failed to experience normal human
                   development.
             Yet her condition made us understand just a bit how our
                dear Savior must feel when his children do not mature
                   spiritually...
             We have come through our trials bigger and better Christians
                and with a new and brighter testimony.
                                                                 Tan 6844


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