Sin of Discontentment 15 May 2011 Dr Paul Ferguson

Singapore has just elected a new Government. A phenomenon that was particularly manifested by many people in the newspapers and blogs was a spirit of discontentment. We now live in a world that people are increasingly more discontent. Advertisements feed this craving by attempting to make us dissatisfied with our looks, our position, and our circumstances. The multimillionaire John D. Rockefeller was once asked how much money would be enough for him. He thought before replying, Just one more dollar. The dictionary defines discontentment as a longing for something better than the present situation. It was said that a hundred years ago the average person had about 70 things he desired to have. Today, similar surveys reveal that he has nearly 500 things he desires to have. This discontentment feeds into all kinds of sin such as adultery, theft, gambling, and running up unmanageable debts. Many Christians sadly are chronically dissatisfied with their families, their churches, and their lives. No matter how many blessings the Lord has showered on them, nothing is ever good enough for them. There is always a fly in the ointment that if they did not immediately recognise they search till they found it. True contentment is rare today even amongst Christians. Root Causes of Discontentment Covetousness, discontentment, and murmuring are natural to us. It lurks in each persons heart and is rooted in pride and covetousness. Our first parents Adam and Eve were also discontent with Gods perfection in the garden. They wanted to be like God. Discontentment is the spirit of Lucifer who fell because he was discontented in his pride with Gods sovereign appointment for him. It began in his heart when he reasoned, For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:13-14) God delivered the children of Israel from the bitter bondage of slavery, yet they spent the next forty years murmuring and complaining in the wilderness. In the book of Esther we read of a man called Haman, who was an Amalekite yet rose to effectively second in position to the king of Persia. Haman is a profound illustration of the dissatisfaction of the things of this world. He boasted to others of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king (Esther 5:11). Haman had everything he wanted but he admitted he still craved more, Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate (Esther 5:13). Considering he was an ethnic minority, this man should have been humbled with his incredible rise to power among the Persians. But as one writer puts it, Haman couldnt stand the thought of this one mans refusal to obey him. Like a bubble, the more an ego swells the more fragile it becomes. By this point, Hamans ego was so inflatedand fragilethat Mordecais action drowned out the applause of the crowd. Those who live like Haman, in deliberate pursuit of self-importance, will live perpetually on Hamans emotional roller coaster. Soaring high when honoured, bottoming out when not, Haman and all those like him will forever be enslaved to the whims of others. They can never have the security of joy and peace that Jesus promises us in His kingdom. Remedy for Discontentment The world seeks contentment in all the wrong ways, so we must deliberately avoid its example. Discontentment will always arise when we live for self and seek fulfilment in the things of the world. Paul warns that things such as riches are not to be trusted expressed thus, Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17).

Remember, contentment can be an elusive pursuit, but it is a command in Scripture. Let your conversation (conduct) be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews 13:5). The inspired writer directs us to be content by remembering to keep our eyes on God as He is sovereign in all our circumstances. Keep reminding yourself that God has promised that He is in control, that He is our Provider, that He is the all-sufficient One. In Philippians 4:10-13, the Apostle Paul was writing from an uncomfortable prison where he was facing the death penalty because of false allegations made against him. In Philippians 4:11, the Apostle Paul testified how to find contentment when he said, .for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. The verb to be is in the present continuous tense, as this was Pauls consistent manner of life. According to church tradition Paul was held at the Mamertine prison in Rome. It was basically a dungeon deep in the ground that the prisoners were put down into by a rope through a hole in the ground. Prisoners were continually chained and were forced to sit on the same filthy spot continually. A Roman historian Sallust, writing a century before Paul, said of this dungeon, its appearance is disgusting and horrible, by reason of the filth, darkness and stench. So, Paul is not handing out advice here from an ivory tower, as he does not say he has simply heard but that he had learned this principle. He does not say that this came naturally to him but was a principle he learned, as he walked this pilgrim life by faith. As Matthew Henry puts it, We have here an account of Pauls learning, not that which he got at the feet of Gamaliel, but that which he got at the feet of Christ. Paul learned this at the School of Christ through much tribulation and suffering, expressing it thus, Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. (2 Corinthians 11:23-27) Pauls confidence was not based upon indifference to his sufferings or on mere stoicism. He gained the mastery over his circumstances not from denying the pain but by rising above the circumstances. Paul was acutely aware that God has placed him in the prison cell. He refers to himself as a prisoner of Jesus Christ (Philemon 1:1) and sees the providential wisdom of God in his imprisonment that .the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel (Philippians 1:12). Paul lived out Romans 8:28 by believing and living that whatever God determines is always the best. Paul also was content as he was depending on God and not self for everything. This dependence on God is what Paul reminded his Philippian readers, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Philippians 4:13). Paul expressed it well to the Corinthians, But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me (1 Corinthians 15:10). Conclusion Paul was a contented Christian in the worst of circumstances. Are you? If you had to audit your level of contentment, what kind of grade do you think God would give you right now? There is no point singing immortal, invisible, God only wise if you start by denying this by doubting the sovereignty of God. Let God be God in all of your life this day. No matter how bad things may be or things may look, never question the truth that God is in control.

Life is continually changing and we must be prepared that it will take twists and turns that dont match up to our expectations. If you can improve your circumstances by Gods sovereign provision without compromising the Scriptures then you may do so. But continually pray, Lord, give me a heart that is always contented with my present circumstances that you have appointed for me. With such a God-centred perspective allowed Martyn Lloyd Jones to write, My life, my happiness, my joy and my experience are independent of the things that are going on about me, and even on the things that may be happening to me. Someone once put it so well, When our desires and our circumstances do not perfectly match, the condition or state of mind it produces in us is discontentment. We then struggle to change the circumstances to order them according to our desires so that we might achieve the state of contentment. This is precisely backwards to what God would have us do. Tengah member, do not seek contentment in possessions but rather in a Person. And that Person is none other than Christ! Even the great Apostle Paul had to be taught how to be content. Paul learned that Christ was all he had and that Christ was ultimately all he needed! We must be content to live in plenty or in poverty and we must be content to climb the mountain peak but also to walk through the valleys. Then will you see and agree with Paul that, Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6). William Cowper penned a hymn to remind us of Gods view:

If thou of murmuring wouldst be cured, Compare thy griefs with mine; Think what my love for thee endured, And thou wilt not repine. Tis I appoint thy daily lot, And I do all things well; Thou soon shalt leave this wretched spot, And rise with Me to dwell.