Secret To Win (Philippians 4:10-13)

Secret To Win (Philippians 4:10-13)

 ¹⁰ But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. ¹¹ Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: ¹² I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. ¹³ I can do all things through Christ^[b] who strengthens me.

 

Intro)

1. In Art of War by Sun Tzu, there is an advice to win which is “If you know your enemy and know yourself, you win 100 times out of 100 battles.” We need to know more about our enemies.

 

2.

Everyone! Who are we? We are children of God. We are God’s people. We are his workers and disciplines. We should not forget who we are. Whether we are here or in heaven. We must be aware of who we are at all times, and live. How is it to you? Do you live this world in pride? Are you excited that you are God’s people? Or are you proud that you are children of God? We must know there is a secret to win. When we know ourselves truly, true victory will be obtained.

  

3. Today’s verses’ main character, St. Paul, was like this. If he still lived he would be a citizen of the US, probably well educated, with a good degree from a university. He would probably be someone well-known with a good reputation. He is a person who knows how to achieve victory in his life. At that time, Christianity was despised, He was on the front line for hating Christians, but he failed and was blinded. However, God loved him, so he gave him the opportunity to have a successful life, where he could win.

Then how was his life changed by God? St. Paul sent a letter to one of his favorite disciples, Timothy. It says:

^“7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

How can we say that with confidence? What is the secret to win? Let’s learn the way of St. Paul.

 

Body)
A)Secret to keep self-sufficiency (11)
 1. Let’s read today’s verse, Philippians 4:11-13.

¹¹ Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: ¹² I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. ¹³ I can do all things through Christ^[b] who strengthens me.

 It shows what a true victory is, and what to do in order to earn that victory. Words in this verse mean we need to satisfy in faith and be thankful. St. Paul materially had everything. However, after he accepted God and Jesus, and became a saint, he gave up all of his greed. In Philippians 3:8, it says ‘⁸ Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ’ St. Paul advises us “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” If we pray and thank God like this, we will have true victory. But if we do not know how to be thankful, and keep our self-sufficiency, we will always end up with blame and hatred.

 

2. Israel people stayed in the wilderness for 40 years, what did they eat to survive? They ate manna and bird. When they first ate these as food, what did they think of it? They thought it tasted like snack mixed with honey. But some time later, they said it tasted like snack with oil. At the end, they said it tasted like light bread . They didn’t Like any more of it. God loved these people, so he gave them food. At first they were appreciative, but at the end they blamed God for giving them the same food that now tasted like light bread(No good bread). God sent a fire snake to those who blamed God. How sad is this?

 

Pastor Spurgeon speaks like this about thankfulness. When we are thankful for God’s mercy, God’s mercy becomes richer. When we are thankful for our hardship, we see our hardship disappear. Thankfulness is the honey of life that can be harvested by Holy Spirit, flower of grace, and God’s guidance.


B} Humbleness is the secret to win (11)
St. Paul was always humble in prayer before God. He had humble attitude to learn, this one of the secrets to earning victory. Jesus told us to learn humbleness and peacefulness.  This is because that is how Jesus won in this world.

 

 Augustine, a Father in early church era, had disciples asking him a question. They asked, “Teacher, what is the best virtue as Christians.” He replied, “Humbleness.” They asked him what the second best virtue is, and he again said humbleness. They asked a third time and his response was the same, humbleness. The disciple asked, “What is the meaning of arrogance?” He replied saying arrogance is thinking that one is awfully humble. Being arrogant is easy, but staying humble is difficult.
C)Adapt to 2 faces of life
 

St. Paul said, ¹² I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
In our life there are many changes and curves. There are times we have no worries and live richly, but there are also times when we live very poorly and we experience suffering. Even in Watertown where we live, sometimes there is no rain for too long. Our grass becomes dark and dies. During the daylight it is hot, but during night it is very cold and we need to cover our body with blankets. These are the 2 faces of life. 

St. Paul said he learned the secret of unity, being one. What does this mean? It means whether one is rich or poor, one must have resistance not to change in their faith life, living as one who cannot be shaken, who is strong in the Lord.

One of the authors of Proverbs prayed like this in 30:8, ⁸ Remove falsehood and lies far from me;
Give me neither poverty nor riches—
Feed me with the food allotted to me;
But Paul said, ¹¹ Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: ¹² I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

In our life there is always up and down like this. Like Paul, we must be able to have strong faith to be thankful and pleased in all circumstances in Jesus.

 

D) We must be in Jesus, who gives ability. (13절)
This part is the most important in the secret of victory. During the Puritan Revolution in England, Oliver Cromwell who succeeded the revolution, wanted to lead the Puritan faith to freedom but continually lost. He lost his son, and he was filled with darkness believing his life was over. But one day he was reading the Bible, Philippians 4:13 that says ¹³ I can do all things through Christ^[b] who strengthens me.. So he had confidence he could go forth in God. He began to work again, but he knew the revolution was not his work alone but the work of God. Our ability is not reliable, we may succeed at times and we may fail at times. But we have ability in Jesus that will not fail.

Let’s think about Moses’ case. Moses had power in Egypt for 40 years. But God didn’t want to use Moses at all during the time of Moses’ power. God made Moses run off into the wilderness, and God used him. Moses’ life changed, and his path to victory began. Even Paul when he had his worldly power had failed, but when he met Jesus his life changed. Even Jesus who was son of God worked humbly. When he was spreading the gospel, he did not do it as he wanted. During day he worked, during the night he prayed to God. Therefore he won when he was on the cross. He was victorious, because he was with God. A few years ago, a judge asked a robber, “Which house is hardest to rob?” He replied, “The house that has many windows, two locks in one door, a house with good security. Also when people are acting normal, making conversation.” In our lives we face many difficulties, but when we pray and rely on God, we have nothing to fear.

 

Conclusion)

Our enemy, Satan, is always seeking the chance to knock us down to earn his victory. How can we defend ourselves from his temptation? We must always be prepared to fight, being spiritually awake. The way we learned today, how to remain self-sufficient, remain humble and have peace. God will give us the power to fight back. If we continuously live in preparation we will have a hope like St. Paul said, so we must hold today’s verse and live and fight the world for another week until we return back. Hallelujah!

070917 by Ik sun Ahn