Listen for God’s word to you from Philippians 4:10-20…
I 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. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I 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. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, 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; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. 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. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
In this passage, I believe Paul gives us three steps to finding contentment. The first step is to rejoice in the Lord’s provision.
In this part of his letter, it seems like Paul is trying to thank the Philippians for their gifts sent through Epaphroditus. Yet, this is an unusual thank-you letter because Paul never actually thanks the Philippians! Instead, he says: “I rejoiced greatly in the Lord…” Paul recognized that the help which the Philippians were providing ultimately had its source in the Lord. Paul recognized the Lord as his primary provider, and he rejoiced in him.
Now, it is true that the Lord uses means to provide for us. God doesn’t usually drop money from the sky. But the Lord does enable us to find employment so that we can put food on the table for our families. The Lord provides friends who support us through the ups and downs of life. Still, it is critical that we recognize the Lord as our primary provider, not ourselves or others. If we don’t recognize the Lord as the ultimate source of our well-being, then we will get depressed when friends don’t come through or we lose our jobs, or we face other difficulties.
My father has always served as an example to me in this regard. In 1952, my father was traveling the world as an evangelist, telling people about the power of Jesus Christ to change lives. After one of his many trips, he returned home to Los Angeles, and while moving some heavy equipment around the garage, his knees buckled. Dad knew something more than fatigue was plaguing him for he was suddenly paralyzed from the waist down. His doctor said it was polio.
My father had received little remuneration for his speaking engagements that year. When he came down with polio, my parents were down to nothing in the bank. Feeling overwhelmed and discouraged, Dad searched the Scriptures for comfort and guidance. At that time, it was Jeremiah 12:5 that touched him: “If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses?”
Dad was challenged by that verse to present his problem to the Lord in prayer. Within days, a partial answer to that prayer came in the mail: a $700 check from a friend, cowboy singer Stuart Hamblen and his wife.
Still, Dad felt there was no way he could go on with his planned speaking engagements for the latter half of 1952. The one he was most disappointed to cancel was an invitation to speak at Moody Memorial Church in Chicago. The meeting was only four weeks away, so Mom wrote a note to cancel. Within four days my father received the following telegram from the leaders of Moody Church: “We believe God will take care of you, continuing to advertise your series. See you then.”
Billy Graham got word of Dad’s condition and asked people listening to The Hour of Decision to pray for him. Dad didn’t leap out of the hospital bed kicking his heels, but he did have a rapid recovery. In less than a month he was home from the hospital, and a few days later he was loaded, wheelchair and all, on a plane bound for Chicago. When he landed in Illinois my father was too embarrassed to use the wheelchair, so with some difficulty he walked off the plane. When he stood up to speak at Moody Church that week, all four thousand seats were filled.[1]
I don’t know what seemingly impossible situation you are facing today. But no matter what is happening in our lives, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can rejoice in the Lord’s provision. God is always faithful.
The second thing Paul teaches us in this passage is that we need to learn to be content in the Lord.
Paul says something amazing here. He says that he hasn’t lacked anything, even before Epaphroditus brings to him the gift from the Philippians. How is it that Paul is lacking nothing, even though he is under house arrest in Rome, and no one else is providing for his needs? Paul says the reason he isn’t lacking is because he has learned to be content in every circumstance.
Did you get that? Paul learned contentment. That is, he learned it from experience, not from a book. Contentment doesn’t just happen. We must learn it. And usually, the only way we learn it is through the lean times.
The Greek word for content literally means to be self-sufficient or contained. I think, for Paul, this means that he was drawing on some inner resources when he was going through his lean times, under house arrest in Rome. What inner resources do we have to draw on in the lean times of life?
I remember one time when I was flying into JFK and the plane had to circle for a long time before landing. One of the passengers got so impatient they called loud enough for everyone to hear, “Bring out the booze!” That’s an example of someone with no inner resources to draw on!
Paul had inner resources. He had learned contentment through times of hunger and times of being filled.
Can you remember a time when you were hungry… I mean … truly hungry? Most of us have probably never experienced hunger like Paul. Most of us know where our next meal is coming from.
It is difficult to handle poverty, but it is also difficult to handle wealth. J. Paul Getty was the richest man in the world at one time, but my father said he was one of the most miserable men he ever met. Getty hoarded his wealth and was paranoid about people trying to take his money or harm his family. When Getty’s grandson was kidnapped, Getty had no inner resources to draw on. He later died a miserable man.
I contrast that with our family friend, Dave Swanson, who, at one time, owned the bakery that produced Thomas’ English Muffins. Dave sold the company for 33 million dollars while he was still a young man and devoted his life to service. Dave was very active in Pro Athletes Outreach, and he would often visit the soup kitchens of New York City and serve anonymously. What was Dave’s secret? A relationship with Jesus Christ.
Paul says, “For all things I have strength in the One strengthening me.” To me that means that if Jesus is living in us by the Holy Spirit, he can empower us to handle any situation.
I used to think this verse meant that I should be able to accomplish anything, succeed at anything I set my mind to do, through the power of Jesus. But that is not exactly what Paul says. I think what this verse means is that we can cope with any situation, be it success or failure, through the power of Jesus living in us. The secret of contentment is Christ in us—relying on the power of his death and resurrection.
A third step to finding contentment is to trust the Lord to meet our needs. Paul says to the Philippians, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Do you believe that?
I believe that the Lord will meet all our needs, though he may not meet our greeds. And I believe that when we are trusting the Lord to meet our needs, then we are freed up to share with others.
Think about it. The Philippians did not have much. But they trusted the Lord to meet their needs and so felt free to share with Paul.
When we are not trusting the Lord to meet our needs then we will be constantly trying to figure out how to meet our own needs. When we stop trusting, we start worrying, as we talked about last week. When we stop trusting, we start clinging—to things and to people.
I am reminded of the first time I went rock-climbing. I was one of the last people in our group to try rappelling. There I was, standing atop an 80-foot cliff. My friend Bill, an experienced climber, got me all hooked up to the rope. Then he said, “Back over the cliff.” I inched my way toward the cliff. And as I got to the edge, everything inside me made me want to cling to that rock. But Bill said, “Stand out perpendicular to the mountain.” I did so, sheepishly. I let out the rope a little bit at a time, inching my way down the mountain. Then Bill yelled down to me, “Let go of the rope.” I did. And the person belaying me from down below pulled the rope tight and I was suspended in mid-air. In that moment I sensed God speaking to me and saying, “I’ve got you. Trust me.” When we trust in the Lord, it frees us up to stop clinging. Jesus says, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:25)
It has been said that one of the key indicators of mental health is the ability to give and receive love freely. I believe one of the key indicators of spiritual health might be the ability to give and receive money freely. Jesus says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21) If we are keeping our treasure all to ourselves, it may be an indicator of self-centeredness and lack of spiritual health.
Someone once said there are three types of givers: the flint, the sponge, and the honeycomb. Some people are like flint: you hammer them repeatedly, telling them to give, and all you get are sparks. Others are like sponges—you must squeeze them to get money out of them. Then others are like honeycombs—they ooze all the time—giving freely what God has given to them.
When we are trusting the Lord to meet our needs then we will be like honeycombs, oozing God’s gifts all the time, displaying more concern for others than for having our own needs met. Paul told the Philippians he was not looking for a gift from them but that he was looking for spiritual fruitfulness to be credited to their account. Spiritual growth in others is what turned Paul’s crank.
When we are trusting in the Lord, then we will give in a way that is pleasing to him. Paul says the gifts of the Philippians to him are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. When we give cheerfully to the Lord’s work, not grudgingly, not looking for human praise, then it is like a sweet smell rising before the Lord.
Giving really is an act of worship. That’s why we have the offering as part of our Sunday worship service and churches have done this since the first century. It’s not just because we need the money. It’s because giving is an act of worship.
The great missionary to China, Hudson Taylor, once said, “When God’s work is done in God’s way for God’s glory, it will not lack for God’s supply.” Paul says, “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
Some people read Paul’s statement and ask, “Why hasn’t God provided for me?” The answer may be because we haven’t met the premise of the promise. The premise of the promise is that we must give to the Lord’s work as the Philippians did.
Notice too that Paul says the Lord will meet our needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Earlier I mentioned J. Paul Getty. Many years after my father worked for Getty, he received a contribution from him for his work with inner city youth in New York. The day my father received the envelope from Getty, he was standing next to the manager of his camp for kids in upstate New York, Miller Fagley. My father said, “Miller, this letter is from the richest man in the world. I wonder what’s in it?” Then my father proceeded to open the letter with keen anticipation. Inside, there was a check from Getty for $25. Quick as a wink, Miller Fagley got out his checkbook and wrote a check for $30 and said, “I want to be able to say I gave more than the richest man in the world!”
What’s my point? The point is: Getty gave out of his millions to support my father’s ministry. He did not give according to his millions. The Lord does not promise to meet our needs out of his riches. The Lord promises to meet our needs according to his riches. And that means a lot more than $25.
Paul says in Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
No wonder Paul responds at the end of our passage for today with a word of praise: “To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen!”
Paul knew how to rejoice in the Lord’s provision. Paul learned to be content in the Lord. And Paul trusted in the Lord to meet all his needs. I believe that the Holy Spirit can help us, by God’s grace, to do the same.
Allow me to close with a story… In the spring of 1864, battle exploded on the outskirts of Richmond, Virginia. After the fighting ended and the armies marched off to grapple elsewhere, small details of soldiers moved onto the battlefield to bury the dead. One party came upon an unknown Confederate soldier. He lay amid the dead in the front of the battle line.Just before burying him on the field, the gravediggers made the usual search of the body. Inside the shirt pocket was a sheet of paper. On it this common soldier, a day or so earlier, had scrawled some thoughts. They were a statement of what life meant to him. As such, the words are an everlasting testimonial to the faith of one simple human being. The soldier wrote…
I asked God for strength that I might achieve.
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked God for health that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy.
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for
But everything I had hoped for…
Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am among all men most richly blessed.[2]
[1] Vaus, Will. My Father was a Gangster: The Jim Vaus Story. Kindle Edition.
[2] https://www.wvtf.org/civil-war-series/2019-12-15/an-unknown-confederate-soldier
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