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As we come to look in the word, once again there’s that wonderful indispensable principle of Bible Study and life, we need total reliance on God’s Holy Spirit. Before we go to prayer I want to begin with Psalm 73:25,
“Whom have I in heaven but You, and beside You I desire nothing on earth.”
Basically, that’s the theme of Philippians, “Whom have I in heaven but You, and beside You I desire nothing on the earth.” That’s not a hyperbole and just some figure of speech; that’s literal, and that’s how the Lord wants us to live, just desiring nothing but Him. With that in mind, let’s commit our time to the Lord.
Father, thank You again that You have drawn us together, and we just pray, Lord, that as we focus on our dear Lord Jesus, that You might burn into our hearts whatever revelation of Him You want us to see. I ask You, again, to protect Your people, if I were to give something from my own mind or just something that is not Your truth. We thank You for Your protection and thank You that we can be taught of God, and You will be the teacher. We commit this session to You in the matchless name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Welcome again to our meditation of the Lord Jesus through the inspired writing of the Apostle Paul, and we’re in the book of Philippians. It’s one of the most personal of all of Paul’s letters. You see that beginning at Philippians 1:6,
“I’m confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ. For it’s only right for me to feel this way about you all because I have you in my heart, since in my imprisonment and in defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partakers with me. Verse 8, he says, “God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.”
He really loved these Christians, and they loved him. So, it’s a very, very personal letter.
We are now in our fourth lesson. I gave two lessons on the theological background, and then we were going to give the historical background. The theological background is important because it helps us to see how Jesus is revealed in this book that no other book in the Bible reveals Him in the same way. It’s an amazing book because it’s a personal letter. Theologians have meditated on those verses for centuries, Philippians 2:5-11,
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of man, being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
And then we add the exaltation,
“For this reason, also, God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are heaven, on earth, under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
If you were writing a personal letter, my guess is that you wouldn’t include a passage like that because it’s so profound and so theological. We have never come to the end of it. Verses 5-8 present His stooping love, and then in verses 8-11, the highly exalted One.
The reason for the theological background is because it answers the question, “Why did He become man?” Though the Bible gives several reasons, the one in Philippians is that He became man to live as God intended man to live. Adam blew it, so He became the last Adam, the second man. He lived the life, and these verses describe it. He laid aside who He was by nature, He determined to never reach back and rely on that which He willingly laid aside, and instead He depended 100% on His Father who lived inside of Him. By doing that He put Him on display, and if you saw Him, you saw the Father. That is what we call “the exchanged life”. According to verse 5, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was in Him.” He’s calling us to live the same way, as God intended us to live. So, we take those principles, and we lay aside who we are by nature, and we determine never to reach back and depend upon it. Philippians 3:3, no confidence in the flesh; we’re not going to ever depend on our own strength and wisdom and might, ingenuity or anything, and instead, we’re going to trust the One who lives in us, the Holy Spirit; our Lord Jesus lives in us (actually, so does the Father—all of God lives in us.) When we do that, as God intended us to live, we put Him on display. He created us in the image of God, and the image of God is Christ. He created us to put Him on display, and then redeemed us, so that we might live that way. That’s the first part of the theological background, that He came to live as God intended man to live.
Here is the second part, His super-exaltation, that He was given a name above every name, God raised Him from the dead, that every tongue would confess Him, that every knee would bow, that He’s over all power and principality and authority in this age, the age to come, and everything on earth, under the earth, and in heaven; He’s Lord in His humanity. He was always Lord, but now in His glorified humanity, He’s been exalted Lord of all. Why does Paul tell us that? It’s because that’s the One that lives in your heart, that’s the One that lives in my heart, the One who is exalted Lord over everything. And that’s the message, the prevailing revelation of Christ in this book.
I told you in an earlier lesson when I went through my commentaries, I was surprised because I was trying to nail down the theme. There’s as many themes as there are commentaries. Someone says the theme is joy, and another says it’s suffering, and another says it’s joy in suffering, and another says you can’t read chapter 2:5-8 and not see the theme is humility, stooping love, another says the theme is unity (settling an issue between Syntiche and Euodia), another says it’s strength and doing all things through Christ, another says it’s peace because of the peace that passes understanding, another says it’s missions, even the Praetorian Guard heard and the saints from Caesar’s household greet you, another says it’s prayer, in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.
One of my commentators opens that chapter by saying, “Philippians is the book of many themes.” It is not the book of many themes. There’s one theme—Christ, “For me to live is Christ, that I might know Him.” That’s the theme, and these are outworkings; these are by-products. This is fruit. He’s in all of us, but if I’m entering into the Christ that lives in me, if my heart is seeking to know Him, I have no one else in heaven, and nothing else of earth, just to know the Lord, everything else will fall into place. When you are looking to the Lord as He is in you, Lord of everything, how can you be anxious and discouraged? How can you not have peace? How will your heart not overflow in prayer. If you’re looking to Christ and I’m looking to Christ, we’re one; we’re united. You couldn’t pull us apart with a team of horses, and that’s what Paul is saying. All these things he mentions in his letter aren’t the theme; they’re the by-product of the theme. The theme is Christ, the revelation of Christ and the Christ that lives in you. He lived as God created us to live, and now He lives in us, and we can live the same way.
In our last lesson I showed you not only how Paul taught the exchanged life, but the first part of the historical background. I gave you the theological background. Now the historical background, he mentions that first day, “From the first day until now..” Philippians 1:4,
“Offering prayer with joy in every prayer in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day.”
Acts 16 tells us about the first day, and it was a very memorable day. Paul is showing that long before he wrote the message, he lived the message. He was enjoying the message that he then put down in print that we have in the book of Philippians; how he arrived in Europe for the first time, met Lydia and that demon possessed girl is all background. And the Roman jailor was a memorable day in his life. Some days you remember more than other days—Pearl Harbor and 911 are days that you remember. In our own lives, Lillian and I can tell you days of supernatural provision, and supernatural preservation (should of died, and we didn’t die). Those are memorable days. There are anniversaries and graduations and weddings and funerals. Some days you are just not going to forget. I remember one day I was on my way to an exam, and I was not a student in Bible School; I was underwater, and that’s below sea level. I found a verse in my devotions that morning, Psalm 119:99, and I met my professor and I was about to take his theology exam. I said, “I found a great verse this morning,” and we were walking together from the parking lot to the class. He said, “What was the verse?” I said, “I have more wisdom than all my teachers.” He just looked at me and said, “Don’t count on it,” and actually he was right.
There are some days that you remember; somebody has an accident or someone gets a doctor’s report, or someone has a divorce or someone goes bankrupt. There are days we remember. I’m going to touch on a verse, and I’ll refer to it later. One of the days I remember the most, Paul talks about his first day with the Philippians, and I remember my first day in Chicago. I was so thrilled. I got accepted to Moodie Bible Institute because I was a liar. I wrote a testimony that was not true. I was trying to convince them to let me into the school. They did. So, I was going to Moodie Bible Institute and I was thrilled. I got off the Greyhound Bus, and I’m in my blue suit, and I’ve got a suitcase and I’m on my way to a Bible education. I was going up Clark Street, and a guy was standing in the doorway. He said, “Hey, come here.” So, I did. I got mugged. I’m telling you, that’s a day I’m not going to forget. My suitcase was all over, and everything was out. I only had change in my pocket; I didn’t even have a dollar bill. After it was over, I got up and my face was bleeding, and so on. I staggered into Moodie Bible Institute, and they saw me and brought me to Dr. Colbertson who was the president at that time and brought me to his office. He welcomed me to Moodie, and he said, “Did you get the handbook that we sent? I said, “Yes.” He said, “Did you read it?” I said, “Well, no.” He said, “Because it says, ‘Do not go on Clark St.’” That was in the book. I just didn’t happen to read that.
My point is Paul is writing about a day he never forgot. His background, the message of Philippians, was in his life before it was in his hand where he wrote the book. That brought us to the immediate background, which is what we’ll look at today, the historical background. I’m only concerned with the historical background that becomes the occasion for this epistle. If you study the Bible, you are going to be offered much background, but some of it doesn’t tie into what you are looking for. I feel responsible before the Lord, so I do a lot of donkey work and I read that background, but you should thank the Lord for not giving it to you. It’s just a lot of stuff. I want the background that’s going to help us know Jesus. I want the background that ties into the message of the book.
I don’t think you care that Alexander the Great founded Philippi in 42 BC. I don’t think you care very much that it was named after Philip the second of Macedonia. That’s background and it ties in but not to the message of the book—the fact that it had become a Roman colony and retired military people were living there is interesting, but that’s not going to help us. Or that it was the capital of Macedonia; that’s really not going to help us either. We know it was Roman, but it was Greek. They spoke the Greek language and they had Greek architecture, and the religion was Greek with idolatry, and there wasn’t much Jewish influence at that time. That’s all background, but does not tie into the message.
What I want to give you now is the background, the history that became the occasion for Paul writing this book. It has to do with Paul’s first imprisonment. Please be patient with me because I’ll give you a little background; I think it will help you understand the book. When Paul wrote this letter, and we’re talking about the first day, but when he wrote the letter, that was ten years later. He didn’t write Philippians for ten more years, but did he have contact with them in between that? We know four times in scripture that he had contact. The first time was with Lydia, and the demon possessed girl and the jailor. Five years later, he wasn’t going to Philippi; he was going somewhere else, but he had to pass through Philippi, so he stopped to give a visit. Then on the way back, he said, “Well, I’m coming through, and I might as well stop.
We have a dear sister, and in fact it happened this week on Monday. They have a home up north, and they have a home in the south, and on their way back and forth, they stop for one night, and we have wonderful fellowship together. That’s what Paul did. He met them the first day, and five years later on his way somewhere else, he stopped, and five years later he came back, and then this letter. Were there other letters? We don’t know; I want to just give you what is in the Bible. There are other letters; Polycarp wrote a letter to Philippians, and so on like that.
After these ten years, Paul writes, and he’s now in prison. He’s in prison because he lived the message. People hate the message of the indwelling Christ. They hate the message of the exchanged life. To the natural heart, that just goes against them. Paul is very familiar with prison. In Acts 16 he was in prison when he went to Philippi. In Acts 21 he was put in prison in Jerusalem. In Acts 23&24 he was two years in prison in Caesarea, and from there he went to Rome where he had a prison experience. Then he was let out and they rearrested him, and then from there he was martyred. So, he knows about prison.
I’m going to give you the background of the first Roman imprisonment, he got out and then got rearrested. In order to do that, I think it’s helpful, not needful, to know that there were two kinds of Roman imprisonment. The first kind was pretty cruel and brutal. That’s the kind we read about that Peter experienced in Acts 12:4,
“When they had seized him, they put him in the prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending that after Passover to bring him out before the Apostles. He was chained twenty-four hours a day to Roman guards.”
That was pretty cruel. In Acts 12 it says,
“On that very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. Guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.”
That’s Roman imprisonment; you don’t want to go there. Paul and Silas experienced that side of Roman imprisonment when they went to Philippi. Acts 16:23,
“And when they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailor to guard them securely, and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in stocks.”
Stocks are not just chains to hold you in place; they are instruments of torture; they were tightened in order to make sure you had cramps that went up your calf and into your legs.
So, that was one kind, but there’s another kind of Roman imprisonment; it was still confinement, but a lot more lenient, and it was not quite so cruel. It was managed by a military guard which was called the Praetorian Guard. This is the most likely scenario, if you connect the dots to get to Philippians. Is it 100%? No, I’ve got commentators that argue, but to me this is the most logical, as far as I see. At certain times, even in this more lenient custody, there were hours that they were chained to guards; they say it was about 4-6 hours a day. But in the off time there was a huge military complex, and the Praetorian Guard had barracks, and closely connected to the palace. Upstairs over the barracks there was a big hall divided up with many rooms, and those rooms were for visitation; you could visit the prisoner at certain hours and times. Those rooms had to be rented; you had to pay, either the prisoner or family had to pay. The prisoners were held in what was called “free custody”. In other words, they had already been arrested, and already been accused, but the sentence hadn’t been handed down; the governor’s final decision wasn’t made yet. The reason they didn’t make it is that they are earning money renting the rooms. For example, listen to Acts 24:26,
“At the same time,” this is Felix, the governor, “that money would be given to him by Paul. Therefore, he used to send for him quite often to converse with.”
He kept calling Paul, hoping Paul would give him money. I can’t imagine in those days that a politician would be paid off with money! Here we read Acts 24:23,
“He gave orders to the Centurion for him to be kept in custody, and yet have some freedom, and not to prevent any of his friends from ministering to him.”
He’s already been in prison in Caesarea for two years, and he had been transferred to Rome, and he’s going to be there for another two years. He’s in prison but he has a lot of liberty. Felix said, “Let his friends come,” and according to the full record, his friends did come. Epaphras came from Colossae to visit him, and Aristarchus came from Thessalonica to visit him, and Tychicus came from Asian Minor to visit him. I did a study one time that was very interesting on the prison experiences of Paul because I wanted to learn what it meant to be a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I suggest that is very instructive to read that. Anyway, Mark came, Demas came, Justus came, Luke came, Timothy came, Onesimus came, and they had a lot of visitors. He would hold Bible studies. He would rent a room and hold Bible studies.
Before I give the connection, I’ve got to give a personal testimony about connecting the dots. There’s a verse in Acts that applies to Philippians, and it’s the closest thing I ever had to what they said “a call of God”. Did God call you here or call you there, into this ministry? This is the closest thing I ever had to a call of God, and it’s describing Paul in his first Roman imprisonment, Acts 28:30-31,
“He stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God, teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness unhindered.”
I don’t want to bore you, but this testimony has moss on it; it’s fifty-three years old. This took place in 1973. At the time I was pastoring a little church, a Navy Church, a conservative Baptist Church in Rhode Island. I was so burdened by pastoring that church because of the pastoral responsibility. I was the ex-officio member of every committee. We had outreach and I was to oversee that, and the Sunday School, and board meetings and all kinds of stuff. I wanted to study the Bible to know Jesus, and I didn’t have time. So, one day I just felt like that maybe God had something else. So, I got Lillian, my guard dog. You don’t know her as a guard dog, but she knows if the phone rings, I don’t get it, and someone at the door, I don’t get it, unless it’s a real emergency. She asked, “Where are you going to go?” I said, “I’m going into my study and I’m going to lock the door, and I’m not coming out,” I thought I was so spiritual, “until God greets me and tells me what’s going on because I am frustrated.” She agreed and I went into my room. I figured God guided people in the book of Acts, “I think I’ll read Acts, and maybe He’ll guide me in Acts.”
Those of you who have walked with the Lord, you know God’s ways. So, I had to come to the last chapter and the last verse in Acts before I got any word from it. I was reading and there was nothing, nothing, nothing. Then I came to that at the end, “He stayed two full years in his own rented quarter, was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God, teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness unhindered.” At that time Paul was in pre-custody as they called it, and he’s still in prison. I came out and I guess I was glowing; I was happy in my heart. I felt like God gave me a word. Lillians says, “What are you doing?” I said, “I’m calling the deacons.” “Why?” “I have to resign from the church.” “Today, tonight?” “Yes, tonight.” It was just before Christmas, bad timing, by the way. I called all the deacons and the elders, and I said, “We’ve got to get together tonight. There’s something on my heart I want to share with you.” By the way, I had no problem with the church; they loved me and we loved them. It was a painful, tearful time because there was no disunity. Anyway, the reason I say it was bad timing is because it was just before Christmas and one of the deacons stood up and said, “Before you tell us what’s on your heart, we’d like to give you this,” and they gave me a Christmas card “from your flock” with a generous gift in it. Then they said, “What’s on your mind?” It was bad timing. All of that to say that I resigned that night, and I gave my year notice. If you get a pastor next week, “I’m gone,” or next month. Unfortunately, they never looked for another, and I did leave after a year.
Back to the Apostle Paul, Paul was under Roman custody, and he had this great leniency, and that’s what Acts 28:30 is all about, and he was renting one of those rooms during his two year stay, and he held Bible studies, and many people came. I’m wondering if one of the worst assignments a Roman soldier could have had is to be chained to the wrist to the Apostle Paul, because you know you are going to get an earful, if you are chained to him four to six hours a day, but we read that many of the guards came to the Lord. We read in Acts 4:22,
“Many greet, saints, from Caesar’s household.”
Many of Caesar’s family came to the Lord.
The Bible doesn’t tell us how much it cost to rent that room, but here’s the question. Paul had been in prison for two years in Caesarea, and now he’s in prison in Rome, and he’s renting this room. Where did he get the money? Felix knew he was getting money from some place. That’s why he kept calling him, hoping he’s going to get some money. Where are you getting these funds? The answer is they came from the church at Philippi. Philippians 4:15,
“You yourselves know, Philippians, at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter giving and receiving, but you alone. Even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs, not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit that increases to your account. I have received everything in full, and have an abundance, and I’m amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.”
When you read the book of Philippians and all the glorious things in the epistle, all about peace and love and unity and strength and missions and the humility of Christ and the exaltation, you wouldn’t think that this is a thank-you note. That’s what it is. The book of Philippians, the occasion was to say thank-you for the money, so I could rent the room and hold Bible studies. That’s the whole purpose of the letter. If I wrote a thank-you note, and I’ve written a lot, I’m not going to include the whole counsel of God, and that’s what the Apostle Paul did in this wonderful letter. That’s the occasion, “You provided the rent money, and I want to say thank-you.” This was not a one-time offering. Philippians 1:4
“Always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.”
They had been providing love offerings for ten years to the Apostle Paul. We don’t read this la, la, la.
Now, in Philippi, Macedonia where they are, and where Rome is, is about 800 – 1,000 miles. Remember, in those days they didn’t have mailmen, and they didn’t have FedEx and you couldn’t wire a gift. So, it had to be delivered on foot by those who were called couriers. According to the Bible record, I tried to trace it out, Paul had three trusted couriers/mailmen, his friends in Christ. One was Tychicus, Ephesians 6:21,
“That you may know about my circumstances and how I’m doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful ministry in the Lord, will make everything know to you. I’ve sent him to you for that purpose, so that you may know about us.”
And he also sent him to Colossae, Colossians 4:7,
“As to my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant, fellow bondservant in the Lord, will bring you information. I’ve sent him to you for that purpose.”
That was one of his mailmen.
Another one was Onesimus. I think you are familiar with the book of Philemon, Colossians 4:9,
“Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your number, will inform you about the whole situation here.”
But when you come to the book of Philippians, it wasn’t Tychicus or Onesimus, but it was Epaphroditus. Evidently, he was saved out of an unsaved background because his name Epaphroditus comes from the goddess Aphrodite, belonging to this goddess of love and beauty, and so on. Philippians 2:25,
“I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who also is your messenger, and minister to my need. He was longing for you all and was distressed because you heard he was sick. Indeed, he was sick, to the point of death. God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow.”
This one that Paul called “brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, your messenger, ministered to my need”, he was the mailman, and he had to go at least 800 miles, and part of that voyage was by sea. He had to cross the Aegean Sea because the Adriatic was between Macedonia and Italy. Part of it was by sea. Most of the trip was on foot. Don’t forget, he’s carrying a lot of money. I’m trying to illustrate Epaphroditus was sort of a target. That was a dangerous trip for highway robbers by land and pirates by sea. He had to go 800 miles besides the fact he had to face the fact of being robbed on the way. Maybe he travelled more at night and off the beaten path. We don’t know about that, but it would take between 6-8 weeks to make that trip on foot. That’s a long trip and the weather could have been a problem. They didn’t really have passenger boats back then. He had to find a cargo ship and then pay to get on board the cargo ship. It was dangerous. It was a thousand years later when the compass was invented.
Anyway, to go 6-8 weeks, there are so many possibilities; where are you going to get food, where are you going to get water, where are you going to stay for the night, what if you get exhausted, what if you get sick, what if you get hurt, what if you get dysentery or dehydration? Anyway, he did get sick. Philippians 2:27,
“Indeed, he was sick, to the point of death. God had mercy on him.”
The point is to be the mailman, to deliver that love gift was a sacrificial offering by Epaphroditus; he risked his life to be that courier and go back and forth, and Paul knew it.
Here is Paul in prison, and he’s getting a wonderful ministry because of their gift, and he just wants to say thank-you, but he’s got a problem. He wants to say thank-you for your love gift, and he wants to say thank-you, Epaphroditus for your sacrifice, and he wants to say thank-you for the love you have to remember me over and over all of these years. That’s the background of this epistle, and it’s not an ordinary thank-you because Paul has a message, “For me to live is Christ.” His message is Christ. His message is, “That I might know Him.” The Apostle Paul was living in the reality of that; we saw that already. The One who is Lord of all, the One who is exalted, whose name is above every name, before whom every knee will bow and every tongue confesses, overall power and all authority; that One was living in his heart. Because of that, Paul had a little bit of a problem.
When I introduced this epistle, I called attention to the difference between a goal and a by-product. The goal is Christ, and everything else is by-product; it’s fruit. If you are looking to the Lord, all the rest will follow; you’ll have joy and unity and peace, and so on. If I’m trusting the indwelling Christ, everything is going to fall into place. So, here’s Paul’s problem. Matthew 6:25-34,
“Do not worry, then, saying, ‘What shall we eat, what shall we drink, what shall we wear for clothing?’ The gentiles eagerly seek these things. Your heavenly Father knows you have need of these things. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”
The problem Paul had was he had to say, “Thank you for providing my needs, but I didn’t need it.” That’s a hard letter to write because he did need it, but he didn’t need it. Do you understand where we’re coming from? There’s a goal and there’s a by-product, and he said, “Because I’m looking to Christ, I have no needs. I have a need to look to Christ, but I don’t have needs because if I’m looking to Christ, all my needs are provided. That was his problem. How do you say thank you to someone who is actually ministering and providing your needs when you want to get the message across that if you look to Christ, you don’t have any needs?
Paul wasn’t one of these that would send out a prayer letter and say, “I just want you to be aware of the need, and then you can pray about it, and if God guides you…” The church has a black eye and so many people have their hand in your pocket and purse, and they’re constantly trying to get your money. Paul wasn’t like that; he didn’t send reminders and he didn’t tell people of his need. The only need I can see Paul said, “Pray for me that I might be presenting the message simply and boldly.” He wasn’t asking for money. I’m not judging some whose hearts are right, but Paul wasn’t one to say, “The Lord is my shepherd; I lack $450 a month.” Man raises money; God lowers it. There is a great principle, to just trust the Lord. If I don’t have it, I don’t need it. If I need, He’ll provide it. Just one focus, on the Lord. This is the One living in Paul’s heart, Psalm 145:15,
“The eyes of all look to you; You give them their food in due time; You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.”
God is a Provider, and He lives in my heart. If He wants me to rent a room, He’ll arrange it, which He did arrange. Psalm 104 speaks about God’s provision. We won’t read it but trust me, he mentions, “He provides for every beast of the field, cattle, man, trees, birds, wild goats, rabbits, lions, fish,” and it’s all in that chapter. God is the Provider. Psalm 104:27, “They all wait for You to give them their food in due season. You give to them and they gather it. You open Your hands and they’re satisfied with good.” The One living in your heart is your Provider; you don’t need to trust men, and you don’t need to high price your people to sound spiritual and to give you any kind of money. Paul didn’t try to do that.
Paul had long ago sent the letter to the Romans 8:32,
“He who did not spare His own son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not with Him freely give us all things.”
Paul knew who the Provider was; it was the Lord. But he had to thank the human instrument. So, he was in this little spot, but he wanted to remind them that the One who lived in him lived in them. So, he said, “God used you to provide for me, and my God shall provide for your needs. He’s trying to get them away from, “This is a thank-you note.” It is, but he’s trying to show them that provision is a by-product of looking to the Lord. In 1 Peter 1:6,
“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now, if necessary, will God provide my needs but if necessary, you’ve been distressed by many trials.”
What is your need? What if you need many trials? He’s faithful and is the Provider; He’s going to provide everything you need.
Do you realize that you can work at cross purposes against the Lord because of your generous heart? You see somebody has a need. You better be spirit led because God might have brought financial pressure on them, so they trust the Lord, and then you come along and relieve it. I think we’re going to answer some day for our stinginess and our generosity, if it’s out of the will of God.
All of that to say that Christians all have one need, and that is to know the Lord Jesus intimately, progressively, more and more. Paul knew that with every fiber of his being. All the needs are included in that one need. If you are in reality looking to Christ, you don’t have to worry about anything. Everything is going to be provided. God knows what you need. If they didn’t provide it, somebody else would. If somebody else didn’t, then God will use another way to get to the Praetorian Guard and the household of Caesar. The Lord knows. So, understand, as we come to the close, what I’m trying to say. The occasion for Philippians is a thank-you note, but the thank-you note is a Christ centered thank-you note.
Recently we had a family in Vermont who sent a financial gift to the ministry, and I was supposed to say thank you, so I did. I wrote a letter of thanksgiving, and I tried to be Christ centered, not that much, but to point them to the Lord. She sent back a verse from 1 Chronicles 29. I’m going to quote it. It says,
“From Thy hand have we given Thee.”
She wrote back and she said, “From His hand to our hand to your hand and back to His hand.” That’s exactly right; that’s giving. He uses them.
I want to say one more thing before we close. He did not say, “My God will supply all of your needs out of His riches.” He didn’t say, “Out of His riches.” He said, “According to His riches.” If I had a million dollars, and I gave you a thousand, I wouldn’t have a million anymore; I’d have a thousand dollars less. I love poetry; let me read this;
His wealth is never diminished by giving
Nor is He made poorer by granting a plea.
The infinite stores of His riches in Jesus
Are never depleted by giving to me.
The sea would be smaller, less one drop of water
The universe dimmer if one star would die,
The spectrum reduced if soft hue was missing,
But nothing can decrease His endless supply.
So, the Lord wants to provide all of your needs by His riches in Christ Jesus.
Lord willing next week we’ll actually begin in chapter one.
Father, thank You for this wonderful thank-you letter, this inspired epistle, so we know what a goal is and what is a by-product. We pray, Lord, that You would instruct our hearts how to be focused; we want to have a single eye only on You, that our eyes would ever be on the Lord, and we would be running the race looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Work this is our hearts, we pray. Thank You that every other need that we might ever have will be abundantly supplied. We praise You in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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