Who doesn’t want that? Problem is that we all have stuff going on in our lives that seems to rob us of contentment. Okay, so perhaps God wants you and me to be content. But some days, that just feels like mission impossible. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE Today we’re going to head off on a journey with the Apostle Paul that’s a bit of a mission impossible. Paul was a guy who, in the first century had persecuted Christians. That was, until he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. That meeting totally changed his life. To the point, where he went out and started sharing the Good News of Jesus with the rest of the world … a complete turnaround. We’re going to pick up some of the story today as he recounts it to his friends in Corinth. Now, Corinth was a racy place, a busy city at the intersection of a couple of major trade routes from east to west. It was a city full of immorality and so even though there was a church there in Corinth, a large, thriving church, they were into a lot of stuff – reflective of the culture in which they lived, which was far from godly. So the Apostle Paul wrote them a letter, we call it 1st Corinthians, these day’s it’s one of the books in the New Testament of the Bible. And it’s a pretty harsh document. A tough going over for the Corinthians. But we’re going to pick up the story in the second letter that he wrote to them, 2nd Corinthians, because in it, he shares much of the story of his journey thus far. And I have to tell you, it was seriously a case of mission impossible, or so it seemed from a human perspective. Especially when it comes to experiencing contentment, which is what we’re talking about in this series of messages The Road to Contentment. So, let’s join the apostle Paul. We’re going to read 2 Corinthians, chapter 4 from beginning to end. Paul writes: Look, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we don’t lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled to those who are perishing, in their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we don’t proclaim ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But listen, we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it might be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and doesn’t come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying the death of Jesus in our bodies, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So, death is at work in us, but life in you. But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture – ‘I believed, and so I spoke’ – we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we don’t lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look at not what we can see, but what we can’t see; for what we can see is temporary, but what we can’t see is eternal. So, do you get the picture here? Paul and his ministry team weren’t having a particularly easy time of it, were they? That’s an understatement. They were doing it really tough. When was the last time that you were feeling afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, struck down? Paul is out there proclaiming the truth. He’s forsaken the shameful things, the sins of his past; he’s not proclaiming himself, he’s not building an empire for himself. He’s not building a reputation for himself. No. He’s proclaiming Christ. He’s doing all the right stuff. Out there on the road, telling people about Jesus and yet he’s facing this onslaught, this barrage of persecution to the point where he’s in fear for his very life. So when all this happens, is he complaining about it the way that perhaps you and I might? Is he trying to wish it away? Is he trying to avoid it? Is he dreaming of a better, easier life? None of those things. Instead, he downplays it all, calling it a momentary affliction. See discontentment is when we want our circumstances to change, so that things will be better for us so that then … this is what we think to ourselves … then we can be content. But Paul is completely content. Completely. He wouldn’t change a thing. He’s out there getting about God’s business of winning souls, completely focussed on Jesus; completely focussed on what Jesus has called him to do. Completely. That’s the secret. Jesus is his contentment. The promise of what is to come is his contentment. His body is being tried and tested on the outside, but on the inside he’s growing richer, more powerful in his faith, more content with what the Lord’s called him to do. My friend that’s the secret. That’s the answer. Paul is living his life … listen to this … in glad submission. I’ll say it again … in glad submission to Jesus. The moment we gladly give ourselves over to the Lord, we stop wishing that we could change this or change that, because those things cease to be important. I can tell you from personal experience that in moments of selfishness and weakness, which we all have, contentment evaporates. But when I spend time with Jesus, when I get back to who He is and what He’s done and what He’s calling me to do, can I tell you, the rest of what’s going on, the things that I have to tolerate sometimes and suffer … they cease to matter. Contentment returns. THE POWER OF REPENTANCE What are the nasty little sins that you’re hanging onto in your life? You know … you’ve given everything else over to God, except … except just this one. It may be something like gossiping and complaining, something that’s evident to all. Or, it may be something that you do in secret – sexual immorality – that nobody except God and you can ever see. Whatever it is, there is no such thing as a small, insignificant sin. If that one thing you’re holding back from God were the only sin in all of human history, Jesus would still have come to die for you, because the penalty for that one little insignificant sin is eternal separation from God. No sin is small to God. And as things turn out, no sin is too small for Satan either. Because it gives him a foothold into your life. In fact, he doesn’t even need a foothold, just a toehold will do. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 27 tells us that we shouldn’t make room for the devil. And there’s a reason for that. When I was in the military studying tactics and strategy for war, one of the things they taught us was that if you were invading a piece of land from the sea, the first thing that you had to do was establish a beachhead. A small piece of land that you’d secure by putting your forces on the ground, so that you ...

Released on 4 Jan 2022