Philippians 4: 10-20, 21-23 – “God will take care of you”
By James Galbraith
First Baptist Church, Port Alberni.
November 19, 2006
Text
10I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show
it. 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,
whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do all this through him who gives me strength. 14Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.
15Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. 17Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. 18I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
20To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
21Greet all God’s people in Christ Jesus. The brothers and sisters who are with me send greetings. 22 All the Lord’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household. 23The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Review
- Paul’s letter has been full of encouragement to a church that is small and surrounded by a hostile majority.
- he has been blessed by them, even while he resides in prison in Rome, and they are a generous, caring church.
- they have had problems with people who want to add unnecessary teachings to the core of the gospel
- Paul condemns this and warns the Philippians to stay true
to the simplicity of the gospel message that led them to Jesus
- and they have had to deal with dissent in the ranks, over issues so trivial that Paul names the fighters without naming the issue!
SO now, after a letter full of joy, confrontation and encouragement, he wraps it all up by essentially telling them that,
God’s taking good care of me, and he’ll take good care of you too!
Let’s take a look at these parting verses.
Introduction
READ VERSE 10-14 - 10I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do all this through him who gives me strength. 14Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.
These verses are a “thank you” to the Philippians for the generous gift that they have previously given to Paul.
Distance made communication difficult, especially when you’ve been travelling from place to place like Paul.
Imagine being locked up in a foreign city, responsible for your own welfare despite being a prisoner. You have no way to earn, yet must pay for food and basic needs if you want to survive!
Then out of nowhere comes a generous financial gift from the Philippians. Paul is grateful, and has saved his full expression of gratitude for the last part of the letter.
This is why you see him say, “I rejoice greatly”. The reason he then uses the term ‘renewed” is because he has received gifts from them before, as the next paragraph reveals. So he is very thankful that circumstances have allowed this mutual giving relationship to be rekindled.
The next verses are meant to demonstrate that Paul is not soliciting another gift by thanking them for this one. They walk that fine line between gratitude for the gift given and assurance that he’s not fishing for more.
He has been “on the road” with the gospel message for years, and has really been in almost every circumstance imaginable. Public floggings, debating the gospel in the intellectual centre of Athens, various prisons, riots, shipwrecks, healings - It’s been an adventurous time - and through it all God has watched over Paul and kept him alive.
After saying that he has learned to be content,
and then that he has learned the secret of being content,
he then lets the secret out in verse 13 - God is watching out for him.
He can cope with whatever comes his way because God gives him the ability to do so.
So these first five verses can be re-said in the following way –
“Thank you so much for the gift you sent - it warms my heart that we can communicate once again. Please do not feel you have to send more - no matter what has happened in the past few years God has always taken good care of me”
PART TWO
Since they are such good friends, he carries on to share deeper what they mean to him, but also what being taken care of by God means to him.
Just to make doubly sure that the Philippians do not hear his words as a snub of their latest offering, he shares with them how important their giving has been to him both now and in the past.
READ VERSES 15-16 15Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need.
The Philippians have been one constant source of help,
ever since he met with them for the first time years ago.
No matter how far he has travelled, they have sought to help him .
Paul never solicited a gift from any of the churches he worked for,
except on behalf of others, such as the impoverished church in Jerusalem.
Yet the Philippians maintained a stream of vital supplies that kept in going as he travelled to do the work of a church planter and missionary.
He wouldn’t have made it for too long on TV with this approach, but look at how his approach to giving and receiving worked to build God’s kingdom.
Compare the worst of the TV guys, pumping millions from their viewers,
while very little ever seems to come from it except more requests for $$$.
Compare that to the Apostle Paul being supported by one small, baby church (without even asking for it) and the gospel begins to infiltrate the heart of the Roman Empire!
The Philippians have certainly done the world a service by helping the Apostle Paul the way they did.
In verse 17 he repeats that he is not looking for more gifts,
but again he does it in a spirit of thankfulness.
READ VERSE 17 - 17Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account..
He wants them to know that he sees there recent gifts as being “credited to their account”. This is business language representing an increase in the interest of an investment.
He wants them to know that their gift is like an investment in God’s work, and that he is looking forward to seeing how their investment goes on to advance the gospel.
That he himself is well taken care of is made clear in verse 18.
18 - I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
“Full payment” is just a continuation of the business language used in this paragraph, and not an acknowledgement of any obligation the Philippians had toward Paul.
He has more than enough to take care of himself, thanks to the generosity of the Philippians.
Paul ends this train of thought by bestowing a blessing upon the Philippians by pointing his heart, and theirs, toward the God they all serve.
READ VERSES 19-20 – 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. 20To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen
This verse is not an incantation or gimmick; it is a prayer with a promise.
A promise that God will take care of the Philippians,
just like he has taken care of Paul. Paul is promising that God will be faithful to them and will take care of them through good times and bad.
It won’t be easy for them, just the same as it hasn’t been easy for Paul.
I’ll bet it was awfully hard for Paul to see God’s watchfulness when he was being publicly flogged.
I’ll bet it was hard to see God’s glorious riches in Christ Jesus when he was being swept off the boat in the middle of the storm.
Having our needs met doesn’t mean we’re on easy street; it means that whatever comes God will see us through.
Sometimes that means hardship, and sometimes that means blessings. But it always means that God sticks with us.
Through it all, Paul stuck to God, knowing that God was stuck to him.
And knowing that this letter would be read aloud when it reached the Philippians, Paul makes some of the last words they hear will be praises to the God that has made all this possible.
“To Our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
That is what drives Paul, that is what sustains him –
Giving glory to his Father in word and deed.
The gifts they sent are testimony to the goodness of God in his life.
The Philippian church itself is testimony to the goodness of God in his life.
What has motivated him to call them to unity ?
What has motivated him to warn them of false teachers?
What has motivated him to call them to Christian maturity?
His desire that God be glorified.
And now, after writing a letter bursting with joy, confrontation and encouragement, he signs of the letter with a final blessing:
VSS 21-23 - 21Greet all God’s people in Christ Jesus. The brothers and sisters who are with me send greetings. 22 All the Lord’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household. 23The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
- making sure that all those in the church, and not just those already mentioned, are properly greeted.
- acknowledging that there are others, besides himself, who are praying for them in Rome
- people even that work right in the Emperor’s home,
showing that the gospel is reaching into the very heart of the empire.
- and making sure his final words put the focus on the Saviour they all serve together.
CONCLUSION
SO what can we learn from all this?
1. It’s a fabulous lesson on gratitude!
It’s a terrific response to a gift - he expresses true thankfulness,
he ensures them that the gift will be well used,
and he very clearly and yet carefully explains that no more is necessary.
Not an easy task, especially since he’s doing it by writing, where the only nuances he can use to communicate with are his written words!
It’s hard to keep gratitude fresh, especially if we are in a situation where people are giving to us on a regular basis.
Paul shows us that in gratitude we cam make sure that we are keeping our eyes what God is doing, rather then always anticipating more.
We can also make sure that we are caring about the giver, and not just taking his or her gifts.
2. It’s also a fabulous lesson on priorities.
Through all this thankfulness and teaching Paul ensures that the power of God in his life remains the number one point he’s getting across in this paragraph.
Paul always seems to keep God in the forefront,
and it’s pulled him through a lot of different situations.
It has been very hard at times, proving that the gospel is not an antidote for difficulties in life.
We’ll still get them, but God will not leave us alone in the midst of them.
He’ll see us through, and may we have the strength to responds like Paul and give glory to God.
3. And finally, it’s a strong lesson in humility.
Paul has had to acknowledge that these gifts he received are what have seen him through this time in prison.
Sometimes we need to rely on the help of others to see us through a difficult time. That could mean financial help, or it could mean help with a physical task.
We all need to rely on others at time; we can learn well from Paul that taking help when we need it is just as important as giving help when we can.
Earlier in this letter, Paul reminded the Philippians of the humility of Jesus, who gave his life in the most humiliating way possible, so that our sins may be forgiven.
He then called the church, then and now, to role model that humility.
If we can learn to accept help, and give it, we’ll be on the right track
We’ll be living lives that will show others what we believe and who we believe in.
We will be living lives that say, “God will take care of you.”
