Finding True Contentment in Christ's Fullness

A Christian is a man who has received something of the fullness of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must accept no definition of Christianity which comes in any sense short of death. Belief is essential. Knowledge of what we believe is essential, but even that isn't enough. The Devils believe and tremble. What makes us Christian is that we have received of his fullness. [00:01:18]

The Apostle valued this very highly. You remember that in writing to Timothy, he tells him that there were certain people who misunderstood these things and suppose that godliness is gain. From such, he says, withdraw thyself. And then he adds, but godliness with contentment is great gain. You can be Godly and you can have godliness without contentment. [00:05:46]

The world I say is looking for this and is looking for it in many, many ways. You see, wealth alone doesn't give you contentment. There are people who are very wealthy but are very disturbed, ill, restless, and in order to try to find contentment, they use their money and travel around the world. What they're looking for is contentment, but they can't find it. [00:07:01]

The Apostle tells us that he had found it, and he tells us that in many places, and we have accounts of him in many situations that assure us of this. Think of that lyrical example of it in the 16th chapter of the book of The Acts of the Apostles where Paul and Silas were very wrongly arrested, strangely enough in Philippi, and were not only put in prison but they were put into the innermost prison. [00:08:26]

The Apostle tells us here that it should be the lot of all who are truly in Christ Jesus. Again, I put it to you like this, that this needs no demonstration. What we are actually claiming is that we have received of his fullness and Grace upon Grace. I say it is impossible that we should have received of that in any measure without knowing something about this state of contentment. [00:10:56]

What gives contentment is his fullness and receiving of his fullness and Grace upon Grace. Well now, very fortunately for us, the great Apostle not only tells us that he enjoyed this contentment, but he also helps us to see how we can become possessors of it. Let's consider his teaching, and as we do so, let me exalt you again to examine yourselves. [00:12:00]

It is a contentment which persists in all circumstances and conditions whatsoever. Now, this is again a vital point. You remember we were emphasizing last week that the apostle said in that matter of nervous care and anxiety, be careful for nothing, but in all things, it was all-inclusive. There are no exceptions. It's exactly the same here. [00:13:47]

The moment you receive of the fullness of the Lord Jesus Christ, your desire for these other things decreases. Now, that is automatic. They decrease of necessity. And isn't this something that we've all known in experience? I can't imagine a man as a Christian who doesn't know something about this. The natural man, of course, he lives on these other things. [00:30:53]

The knowledge of him and his fullness gives us complete satisfaction. This is the Mystic Secret. To know him and to possess him and to have fellowship and communion with him gives such complete satisfaction that one doesn't need anything else. Listen to the psalmist saying, he says to God, thy loving kindness is better than life. [00:34:15]

The Apostle tells us here and he tells us this in a most interesting manner. Having said there in the 11th verse, I have learned, and there means, of course, experience. You've come into the Christian Life, you're born again, but you're only a babe, you're only an infant, and you've got a lot to learn, and you will learn. Life with its trials will cause you to learn. [00:36:57]

The saint when he is abased is driven the more to seek the face of Christ. You see, when things are going well, we tend to forget him, and when we forget him and depart from him, we begin to experience these needs, these lacks, this dryness, and become subservient to circumstances. But everything goes against us, and we are bereft of all these things. [00:39:43]

The saint is a man who is always driven back to him, and adversity has often led the Saints to some of their most glorious and wonderful experiences. We had it during the last war, as we've always had it. People under the tyranny and oppression of Hitler, they testified, every one of them, these Christian saints, that they had a period of joy and contentment and happiness in prison that they had never known before. [00:41:26]