THE MYSTERY OF CONTENTMENT
THE MYSTERY OF CONTENTMENT
Sunday Evening Service
November 9, 2014, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
After preaching this on Sunday evening, On Monday morning, I was “hit” with a test of the Word. I cannot say that I have attained to this word or live in the fullness thereof. However, I continue to pursue that not only I, but the whole Body of Christ attain the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ and the completeness found in Him, as we are joint-heirs with the rich treasury of His glory.
Eph. 3:9: “To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.”
Col. 2:2: “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.”
Eph. 1:9: “Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he has purposed in himself.”
A carnal heart will not be content with the things of this world for his portion. The carnal heart lusts for more and more to fill his discontent. A gracious heart says, “Lord do with me what you will – not my will but yours be done.”
A soul that is hungry for God can be filled and satisfied with nothing else but God. Though the contented heart can use and enjoy all things of the world, these things cannot be the source of contentment or happiness. Carnal hearts think without reference to God and seek more and more thinking they will find contentment in the “more”: adding house to house, barn to barn, car to car, foreign trip to foreign trip, etc.
Whatever God may give to a Godly gracious heart, unless the Lord gives Himself, it will not bring contentment. A godly heart will not only have the mercy, but the God of that mercy as well. So whether we abound or abase with the things of the world, it is enough that we have God’s Holy Spirit, His omnipresence, and He fills our heart with Himself.
Philippians 4:7; 9: “The peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus… Those things, which you have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do; and the God of peace shall be with you.”
The peace of God shall keep you.
The God of peace shall be with you.
The peace of God is only part of the blessing unless we have the God of that peace resident in us.
A carnal heart could be satisfied if he might have outward peace, (drama and pressure free life). Peace can be a place like living alone in a cabin on a mountain surrounded by snow with no one but solitude with God. For the godly heart, outward peace is not enough. I must have the peace of God. Will that not quiet my soul? No, I must have the God of peace.
In order to be fulfilled, I must enjoy that God who gives me the peace. I must have the cause as well as the effect. I must see from whence my peace comes and enjoy the Fountain of my peace, as well as the stream of my peace.
“Do I have health from God? I must have the God of my health to be my portion, or else I am not satisfied. It is not life, but the God of my life. It is not riches, but the God of those riches, that I must have; the God of my preservations, as well as my preservation.
A gracious heart is not satisfied without this. Our soul must have the God of mercy as well as the mercy of God.” (J.B.)
Ps. 73:25: “Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon the earth that I desire beside thee.”
There is nothing in heaven or earth that can satisfy me, but God Himself. If God gave us not only earth, but heaven, that we could rule over sun, moon and stars, and have the rule over the highest sons of men. Unless we had God Himself, it would not be enough to satisfy us.
Those things that will satisfy the world will not satisfy anyone until that heart is filled with God himself. Anything else that fills our heart can only be an overflow of that great grace.
Mark 4:11: “Jesus said unto them, unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but unto them who are without, all these things are done in parables.”
Ec. 2:22: “For what has man of all his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he has labored under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief, yea, his heart takes not rest in the night. This is also vanity.”
We will not find the place of contentment in God or better said, him find His place in our heart by adding to what we have, but rather by subtracting from our desires. When God becomes the desire of our heart, then we are no longer driven by our carnal desires.
A carnal heart measures contentment by possessions and security. But contentment does not come in that way. A heart that has no grace and is not instructed in the ways of God knows no way to get contentment, but to have his possessions raised up to his desires. Christians bring their desires down to their possessions, and so attains contentment.
The stumbling blocks of the carnal heart are lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life.
Martin Luther in his comment on Galatians 17:5, says, “Christian becomes a mighty worker and a wonderful creator, that is, he says, ‘to create out of heaviness-- joy; out of terror--- comfort; out of sin--- righteousness; and out of death--- life.’ He brings light out of darkness. It was God’s prerogative and great power, his creating power to command the light to shine out of darkness. Now as a Christian, we are a partaker of the divine nature. The Scripture says grace is part of the divine nature, and, being part of the divine nature, it has an impression of God’s omnipotent power, that is, to create light out of darkness, to bring good out of evil --- by this indwelling creative power, a Christian comes to be content.
Col. 1:27: “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Grace has the power to turn afflictions into mercies. If a man had the power that Christ had, when the water pots were filled, he could by a word turn the water into wine, then you might be contented---at least you would be famous. The Scriptures declare we have received this power from God to work miracles. If the God of miracles is in us, then miracles will flow from us. It is the nature of grace to turn water into wine; that is to turn the water of our afflictions, into the wine of heavenly consolation.
Two men may have the same affliction; to one it shall be gall and wormwood, yet it shall be wine, honey, delightfulness, joy, advantage and riches to the other. This is the mystery of contentment, not so much by removing the evil, as by metamorphosing the evil, by changing the evil into good.
What is the duty of the circumstances God has put me into? Indeed my circumstances have changed. Let’s use an example of a man who has lost his wealth. He may think, ‘Oh if I had it again, I would do better than I did before. I would honor God with my possessions and my increase’. The Lord’s grace allows us to repent and start from that moment on and begin to serve God in our present circumstances. From that place of grace we will find contentment in the midst of our circumstances.
“There is a remarkable scripture concerning David, of whom it is said that he served his generation. Acts 13:36: “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep…” The word translated for the “will” of God means the counsel/purpose of God. “For David, after he had served God’s will and purpose and counsel in his own generation fell asleep” (Amp). Oh that it should be the care of a Christian, to serve out the will, counsel and purposes of God.” (J.B.)
What is the counsel of God? His word, His way, the circumstances I am in, God has put me into by his own counsel, the counsel of his own will. Now I must serve God’s counsel in my generation and in my circumstances.
Luke 7:30: “The Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. The Lord said, whereto then shall I liken the men of this generation? And to what are they like?
“A gracious heart is content by the melting of his will and desires into God’s will and desires. This is a small degree higher than submitting to the will of God. The content Christian has gotten beyond this. We can make God’s will and our will the same. To be so yielded that what God desires, I desire as well. I will not only yield to it, but I will have it too. When God’s will abide in me, then his desire becomes my desire. This goes beyond what God commands us to do, but makes the providential will and operative will of God to be our will too. Whatever God works, we will, as well as what God commands.”(J.B.)
Acts 17:28: “For in Him we live and move and have our being….” When he acts, we act. When he commands, we move. When he speaks, we speak. When he purposes, we become the action of His purpose.
When we melt our will into God’s, then if God has glory, I have glory--- God’s glory. Therefore God’s will is mine. If God has riches, then I have riches. If God is magnified, then I am magnified. If God is satisfied, then I am satisfied. God’s wisdom and holiness is mine and therefore his desire "must needs be” mine and my desire “must needs be” his. Ps. 47:4 “O Lord, you shall choose our inheritance for us.”
Does that make us equal with God? Absolutely not! It makes us co-heirs with Christ Jesus.
Eph. 3:9: “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.”
Col. 1:26 “Even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints.”
Every good thing we the people of God enjoy is in God’s love. Grace shows a man that what he has, he has free of cost. The right that the saints have is a right of purchase. It is paid for, and it is our own. We may in a holy manner and holy way claim whatever we need. A child of God has not a right merely by donation; but it is his own through the purchase of Christ. Every bit of bread we eat, if we are a Godly man and woman, Jesus Christ has bought it for us. The children of God are not beggars and we are not to dishonor the high price paid for us by begging.
We go to market and buy meat and drink with our money. Jesus Christ gave us the means to earn the money. Christ has bought our provision and security at the hand of God the Father with his own blood.
If through grace the Lord gives more to one than to another, then we become stewards of that grace. That does not mean that those who are “slack” in the ethic of “work” should get a free meal at the hand of those who are faithful laborers.
The slackers have the same privilege to receive this great grace if they will receive the salvation so freely offered by the Blood of Jesus. Our Lord will then direct the circumstances of their life to bring them into the fullness of the rich treasures of His glory resulting in contentment and happiness---no longer beggars for the goods of the world.
This only touches the tip of the mystery of contentment which is wider, deeper and higher than one can cover in many books.
1 Ti. 3:16: “Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Romans 11:25: “I would not brethren that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles come in.”
Rev. 10:7: “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he has declared to his servants the prophets.”
Romans 16:25: “Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.”
I will continue in this series through the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church
Scripture from Amplified and K.J.V. – I quoted from Jeremiah Burroughs and Martin Luther as indicated. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those who I entered into their labors.