"I Have Learned"

Saturday, November 25, 2023

by Dr. Paul Chappell

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

Philippians 4:10-12

Paul wrote to thank the church at Philippi for their generous financial support while he was a prisoner in Rome. A number of years had passed since Paul had first preached the gospel in this city, but the church he had worked to plant here had not forgotten him. Their help at this time was especially important while Paul was unable to work his own tent making job that he used to support the work of his ministry. No doubt, there were many ministry needs that continued while Paul was imprisoned. Additionally, in the Roman prison system, Paul would have had to pay for any personal needs out of pocket.

But as Paul wrote to thank this church for their sacrificial gifts, he told them that he had learned to be content regardless of his circumstances. In fact, it was not his circumstances at all that dictated his contentment. When Paul wrote that he could be content whether he was impoverished or had plenty, whether he was hungry or satisfied, he was not speaking figuratively. He had often suffered hunger, privation, and need for the sake of the gospel. Paul's contentment came from an understanding that God could be trusted in every situation.

God is not just good when we have plenty of food in the house and plenty of money in the bank. He is just as good when times are hard. Faith teaches us to be content in Jesus because He never changes.

Today's Growth Principle
Taking our focus off of our circumstances and putting it on God leads to true contentment.

Old Testament Reading

Ezekiel 24-26

CHAPTER 24

¹ Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ² Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day. ³ And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it: ⁴ Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones. ⁵ Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein. ⁶ Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it. ⁷ For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust; ⁸ That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered. ⁹ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great. ¹⁰ Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned. ¹¹ Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed. ¹² She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire. ¹³ In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee. ¹⁴ I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.

¹⁵ Also the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ¹⁶ Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. ¹⁷ Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. ¹⁸ So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded. ¹⁹ And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so? ²⁰ Then I answered them, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ²¹ Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword. ²² And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. ²³ And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another. ²⁴ Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD. ²⁵ Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters, ²⁶ That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears? ²⁷ In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

CHAPTER 25

¹ The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, ² Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them; ³ And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; ⁴ Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk. ⁵ And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couchingplace for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. ⁶ For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel; ⁷ Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

⁸ Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen; ⁹ Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Bethjeshimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim, ¹⁰ Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations. ¹¹ And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the LORD. ¹² Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them; ¹³ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. ¹⁴ And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD. ¹⁵ Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred; ¹⁶ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast. ¹⁷ And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.

CHAPTER 26

¹ And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ² Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste: ³ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. ⁴ And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. ⁵ It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations. ⁶ And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD. ⁷ For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people. ⁸ He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee. ⁹ And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers. ¹⁰ By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach. ¹¹ With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground. ¹² And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water. ¹³ And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. ¹⁴ And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

¹⁵ Thus saith the Lord GOD to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee? ¹⁶ Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee. ¹⁷ And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it! ¹⁸ Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure. ¹⁹ For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee; ²⁰ When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living; ²¹ I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD.

New Testament Reading

1 Peter 2

CHAPTER 2

¹ Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, ² As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: ³ If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

⁴ To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ⁵ Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. ⁶ Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. ⁷ Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, ⁸ And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. ⁹ But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: ¹⁰ Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. ¹¹ Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; ¹² Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

¹³ Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; ¹⁴ Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. ¹⁵ For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: ¹⁶ As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. ¹⁷ Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. ¹⁸ Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. ¹⁹ For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. ²⁰ For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. ²¹ For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: ²² Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: ²³ Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: ²⁴ Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. ²⁵ For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Proverbs Reading

Proverbs 25

¹ These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out. ² It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. ³ The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable. ⁴ Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. ⁵ Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness. ⁶ Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men: ⁷ For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen. ⁸ Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame. ⁹ Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another: ¹⁰ Lest he that heareth it put thee to shame, and thine infamy turn not away. ¹¹ A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. ¹² As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear. ¹³ As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters. ¹⁴ Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain. ¹⁵ By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone. ¹⁶ Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it. ¹⁷ Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee. ¹⁸ A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow. ¹⁹ Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint. ²⁰ As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart. ²¹ If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: ²² For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee. ²³ The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue. ²⁴ It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house. ²⁵ As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. ²⁶ A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring. ²⁷ It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory. ²⁸ He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.