What does First B Jackson teach about philippians 4?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First B Jackson, the teaching on Philippians 4 keeps coming back to one honest observation: contentment is something you learn, not something you are handed. Pastor Ray has worked through this passage more than once, and each time the hinge is Paul's word 'learned.' Paul wrote from house arrest, having already been through beatings, shipwrecks, and snakebite, and what he describes is not a cheerful temperament but a hard-won settledness that came through going through both abundance and want and finding Christ sufficient in both. Ray has used a line from Shakespeare's Henry VI to frame it: contentment is a crown that seldom kings enjoy, and seldom any of us do either.
The famous verse, 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,' gets particular attention in these messages because it gets misread so often. Ray and Nick have both pointed out that the verse sits inside a passage about contentment, not a promise of superhuman ability or personal achievement. The Power Team guys in the nineties put it on muscle shirts while tearing phone books in half, but Paul's actual point is that Christ gives him strength to endure prison, hunger, and hardship. The strength is for steadfastness under real difficulty, not for accomplishing personal goals.
Philippians 4:8 gets treated as one of the most practically useful verses in the whole letter. The instruction to fix your mind on whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and commendable is not a passive suggestion. The teaching here is that you do these things, and then the God of peace is with you, not the other way around. Ray has noted that you cannot be both anxious and grateful at the same time, and Nick has described actually lying awake with fists clenched and trying what the verse says. The Philippians' financial gift to Paul is read not as mere charity but as gospel partnership, their giving adding to their own account before God and their gift described in Old Testament temple language: a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
Taught from Philippians 4:11 · Philippians 4:13 · Philippians 4:8 · Philippians 4:19 · Philippians 4:18
The passage taught · Ephesians 1:15-20
15 For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and the love which you have toward all the saints,
16 don’t cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;
18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- February 18, 2024 My Crown Is Called Content Philippians 4:10-23 explored: contentment in plenty and in need, the true meaning of "I can do all things," and why joy and gratitude travel together.
- February 18, 2024 A Crown That Seldom Kings Enjoy Pastor Ray closes out Philippians, showing how Paul learned contentment in plenty and in want, and why "I can do all things through Christ" is about peace, not strength stunts.
- October 18, 2022 Learned to Be Content Nick walks through the final chapter of Philippians, exploring Paul's secret of contentment, the true meaning of "I can do all things," and fixing our thoughts on what is good.
- February 4, 2018 I Have Learned to Be Content Pastor Ray walks through Philippians 4:10-20, exploring what Paul teaches about contentment, generous giving, and trusting God to supply every need through Christ.