Paul Commends The Philippian Church

I invite you to turn with me this morning to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. Once again this morning we are going to read verses 10 through 20. Last Sunday morning, you remember, we considered verses 10 through 13. As Paul began this final section of his letter, giving thanks to them for their gift, the Philippian believers' gift, Then he goes off on a bit of a necessary tangent, a teaching tangent, to explain contentment in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he returns again to speak about that gift. So we're going to consider together verses 14 through 19 in a particular way, reading verses 10 through 20 as we hear now the Word of God. I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been 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 everything 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 again and again when I was in need. Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. I have received full payment and even more 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 His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, what is the greatest, most precious, valuable gift you've ever been given. But no doubt, because we are of all ages, that would be something different for each of us. But even the boys and girls, no doubt you have received some sort of gift that meant more to you than anything else. And when you did, what was your reaction to it? I trust you said thank you. Maybe even in some way you showed your thanks to the one who gave you the gift. But for the believer, I also trust that we know that there is truly only one answer that we can give to this question, and it's not an answer in terms of material things. And it may sometimes seem like even a trite answer to you and me as believers, but there is only one answer that you and I can truly give, and that is salvation. With all that is included in it. The forgiveness of all of our sins, every last one of them. Being given, handed to us, placed upon us, credited to our account, the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. And that ought to be amazing in and of itself, again, as we consider the law of God and we are reminded of our sin, the difficulty we have walking in the right path. That we are freely given the righteousness of Christ and God now sees us as righteous for the sake of Jesus Christ. Having been delivered from eternal torment in hell and given the hope, the guaranteed hope, of eternal life in heaven. That is the greatest, most precious gift that anyone could ever receive. And beloved, when you and I understand what it is we have been rescued from and what it is we have been rescued for, then we will also understand that our relationship to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not simply begin and end there, but we have also been given a great responsibility. We have been given the awesome privilege of participating in the work of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ and His saving love. In fact, that is the most important calling. In the life of each and every child of God to support the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And of course we know that that's done in different ways. For example, as a congregation, even as we see the Lord's table prepared before us, we look forward to coming together around the Lord's table this morning. As we do so as a congregation, we participate, we support the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Paul said, for as often as you eat this bread and you drink this cup, you proclaim what? You proclaim the Lord's death till He come. We also participate in the support of the Gospel in many other ways as a congregation, but also personally through our personal testimony and witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. But probably the most practical way we do so as a congregation is by giving. By supporting those on the front lines. And beloved, that is so important because the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is the only thing that any person, that every person, really needs. And the Philippian believers understood that. And out of gratitude, they took this call seriously. And for this, Paul commends the Philippian church. And he commends the Philippian church, first of all, for their generous gift. In verse 18, he says again, I am amply supplied now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering and acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. But we also notice in this text that this was not a one-time gift. It was not a first gift. Instead, they had shown their generosity. It had been poured out from the very beginning. Going back to verses 15 and 16, Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out for 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 again and again when I was in need. And beloved, this says volumes. You see, in a short amount of time, maybe only a matter of a couple of weeks, in a short amount of time with relatively few people, including Lydia and the Philippian jailer and the slave girl out of whom Paul cast the evil spirit, In a short amount of time and with relatively few people, God established a church in Philippi through Paul and his companions. And almost immediately, Paul says, the church begins to support Paul. To give to him. To support his physical needs. He says, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, as if to say, just as soon as you came to know the Lord Jesus Christ, He says, as soon as you came to faith in Him, you began to give. Why? Well, very simply because of what the Gospel, what the good news meant to them. What it meant for them. They understood. And their support, as Paul makes clear, was generous. And it was continuous as long as they were able, as we pointed out last week. Truly, that congregation was a benevolent church. But their generous support was also unique. As Paul says, at one point, they were the only one to share with him, but it was also unique in another way, in that this support was accepted by Paul. You say, so? What's the big deal about that? Why wouldn't he accept their gift? But we know that Paul did not accept help from everyone. Because there were those that said that Paul was one of those who were in the ministry for the money. You know, those ministers only work one day a week. And even at that, it's only a couple of hours. And Paul wanted the easy life. And therefore, he simply wanted to live off of others and he used the gospel to get what he needed. But you see, beloved, if there was any hint of that kind of thinking in a congregation, Paul would not accept their help. He would not compromise the gospel. He mentions Thessalonica. The church there, we know, was much wealthier than the church's Philippi. Yet, Paul says that while he was in Thessalonica, it was the Philippian congregation that sent him aid again and again. And in 1 Thessalonians 2, verses 1-10, he explains to the Thessalonian congregation that he doesn't want to be a burden to them. Verse 9, We work night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preach the Gospel of God to you. And the same thing was true in Corinth. In 2 Corinthians 12, verse 14, he writes, I will not be a burden to you because what I want is not your possessions, but you. But you. The salvation of their souls was much more important to Paul than any gifts they could give to him. But with regard to the Philippian congregation, he accepted their gifts because their generous gift was proof of their partnership with Paul, as he said earlier in this letter, their partnership with Paul in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's interesting, Paul uses business language here, the language of giving and receiving. The idea of debits and credits, but not in the sense that Paul says, now I gave to you, now you owe me. I'm keeping track of it on a ledger. And I'll mark down as you make payments and I'll let you know when it's paid in full. If there was anything of that nature, it was more on the other side that the Philippian church, they themselves recognized, they kept a ledger of what Paul had done for them. And they felt indebted to him. But instead, Paul points out that they were partnering. They shared together with each other in a common goal. And that was proof that they had been transformed. The Philippian believers had received from Paul, indeed from God through Paul, they had received that greatest gift. They had received the good news of Jesus Christ and His saving love. They were born again. They enjoyed new life, eternal life. They enjoyed a new status before God, no longer guilty, but seen as righteous. They enjoyed that new righteousness, a righteousness of Jesus Christ, perfect righteousness. They enjoyed a new hope, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. That's what the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is all about. They were indebted to Paul in their minds, not because Paul said so, But these believers recognized that Paul was a tool in the hand of God the Holy Spirit to win them to Jesus Christ. To nurture them in their faith. And these believers, beloved, recognized that there was no other work as important. There was no other work as important. And that's not at all to say that our callings in life are not important, but for believers, our first calling in life, no matter what our occupation, no matter what means God has given to us to fulfill our first calling, but our first calling in life is to serve the purpose of advancing God's kingdom. Paul commends the Philippian congregation for their generous gift. It was proof of their partnership in the gospel and as well of knowing their place in that partnership. Not everyone is called to preach or to teach or to go out in the mission field or to work in some distinctively Christian organization. But there are those who are called to support. And the Philippian congregation understood that their place was to support the Lord's work through Paul by providing for his material needs even while he was in prison. They made it possible for Paul to live and to continue the work that he was called to do. they gave not because Paul expected it, not because he said they owed him, but because of hearts of love transformed by the Holy Spirit. And Paul's response, beloved, is not keep it coming. Keep it coming. His response is you did good. You did a beautiful thing. Your gift is a fragrant offering, pleasing and acceptable to God. You see, as we began to consider last week in verses 10-13, Paul teaches here in this passage that those in Christ Jesus by faith find contentment with little or much. It's not the things that give them contentment, but the fact that they are sheep in the pasture of the Good Shepherd who provides for all their needs. But he also makes it clear in this passage that Jesus Christ provides them by using means, the means of His people. And we have a beautiful illustration here of the communion of the saints. But having said that he himself did not need anything, he also goes on and teaches that he was not independent of human aid. He was not above human aid. And he will in no way insult the Philippian believers or their gift. He was profoundly grateful for it. Beloved, we too are partners in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are partners with each other. We are partners with ministers and missionaries of His Word. And therefore, we ought to ask ourselves and seriously consider the question, what kind of interest do we take in the work of ministry, in the work of missions, beyond coming together here on Sunday? What kind of interest do we take in the work of the ministry of Jesus Christ, and the work of missions, what is our response as individuals or as a congregation to that great gift that we claim to have for ourselves? See, beloved, this is a generous congregation. And I've come to know that over the years, there are so many who have benefited from your generosity. We are generous in putting money in the offering now bags. That's so easy, isn't it? It's so easy on Sunday morning and evening simply to put our tithes and offerings in the plate, in the bag, and not give one single thought about the cause for whom the money is being received. About how it will be used. Not one single thought. It's easy to do that. But why is it that when a missionary visits, For example, a couple of weeks ago, we had a missionary on the pulpit. He gave a presentation afterward. Why is it that during those times of presentation, only a small percentage of the congregation stays to hear about the work? To hear about what God is doing with the gifts that you and I have given. And I am so guilty myself, I don't want to stay half the time. I have a thousand excuses that I could give for not staying. But we need to consider that question. And why is it that our missionaries and legitimate Christian organizations like our faithful seminaries always have trouble meeting their budget, making ends meet? People of God, God has enriched us, materially speaking, so generously. But not that we might enrich ourselves. Not that we might store up and hoard for ourselves. Yes, God calls us to be responsible, just as He calls missionaries and Christian organizations to be responsible. But we spend so much on luxuries. Things that we have turned into needs. We invest in order to get more for ourselves. Yet we need to remember that the greatest investment that you and I can make is those who have received that greatest gift that costs us nothing. The greatest investment that you and I can make is in the gospel of Jesus Christ and in the eternal investment of others. God has given for His people to share. And the truth is we should desire to give to the work of the Lord first and abundantly. The deacons of this congregation should never have to look at a negative balance in the general fund, ever. Our missionaries should never have to ask for more help. Can our missionaries that we support, for example, say with Paul that they have been amply supplied? In the text, there is the idea that the Philippian believers gave so abundantly that they almost gave too much. That they were in danger of depriving themselves. Yet Paul reminds them too that they had the comfort of verse 19 that God will meet all your needs. And for us too, beloved, certainly the God who is fully supplied for our eternal need in Christ Jesus, He will also fully supply. He's able and He will fully supply for our daily needs. Paul commends the Philippian believers for their generosity, but also in the second place, he commends them because of their demonstration of faith. Verse 17, not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. Paul's concern was not the gift and the relief that he might receive from it, but his concern was for the giver and the blessing that they would gain. He speaks of their demonstration of faith from a proper motive. Notice verse 18 again, I have received full payment, and even more I am amply supplied now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering and acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. You see, the ultimate recipient of their service to Paul was the living God. And Paul knew that. And that's why Paul was able to accept their gift. He knew that they gave with a proper spirit. He knew that they gave with a spirit of faith and love and gratitude to God. He describes their offering as a fragrant offering. Pleasing. and acceptable to God. Now that is the finest thing that Paul could have said about that gift. We think of Noah under the rainbow. The sacrifice that he offered was not a means of his salvation. It was not a means of earning God's favor, but it was an expression of gratitude for the salvation that he had just enjoyed through the flood, from the flood. His offering was a sacrifice of thanks and praise. And in Ephesians 5 verse 2, Paul speaks of Jesus' death as a sacrifice of atonement, but also an expression of loving obedience to His Father. And therefore, Paul calls it a fragrant offering to Him. Oh, how wonderful it is that our God condescends to His people. I mean, you and I know how pleasant something is that smells good. How pleasant it is to us. and God condescends to His people and says that in effect that's what an offering of praise and thanksgiving offered to God from proper motives is to Him, a sweet-smelling offering. The Philippian believers' gift to Paul was a thank-offering to the Lord. It was pleasing to God. They knew that they could never give to Him, give to God, that which they owed Him. And therefore they could sing with the psalmist in psalm 116 what shall i render to the lord for all his benefits to me how shall my soul that soul by grace restored how shall my soul give worthy thanks oh lord to thee paul commends them for their demonstration of faith as he he looks forward he looks toward their future benefit he speaks of that which might be credited to your account and the idea there is that of accruing interest again this business language accruing building up interest but again not he's not talking we know he's not talking about earning anything with god he's talking about what what happens in response to that great gift of salvation he's talking about that which will be evidence on the day of christ jesus of genuine faith he's talking about evidence of fruitfulness that fruitfulness for which he prayed in chapter 1 beginning at verse 9 and this is my prayer that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of christ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through jesus christ to the glory and the praise of god you see their generous gift which served paul's physical health health served more significantly as a testimony to as evidence of their spiritual health, of what God had done for them and was doing in them. It was proof that they are indeed sheep in the fold of the Good Shepherd. They are those of whom Jesus will say one day, I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was naked, I was sick, I was in prison, and you filled my need. And therefore, as He talks about that which might be credited to your account, He's looking forward and knowing that for them, they will not hear from the lips of Jesus one day, depart from me, for I never knew you. But they will hear, well done, good and faithful servant. Theirs will be a reward of grace for good works. A reward of grace for good works that we confess in the High Libre Catechism. Beloved, an inactive Christian in the work of ministry is an impossibility. It's a contradiction in terms. Again, just as a great gift draws the response, or ought to, of thank you, how much more that greatest gift of salvation. And those who truly understand that gift can't help but to say, I can do no other, for God loves a cheerful giver. Paul commends the Philippian church for her generous gift. He expresses joy for the demonstration of faith, but also He commends them with a promise of God's blessing. Verse 19, And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Wonderful promise of God's blessing in response to their offering. You see, beloved, God blesses faithfulness. The faithfulness of His people demonstrated in response to such a great salvation. God blesses that faithfulness, not just in the future, but also for today. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 6, whoever sows generously will also reap generously. The writer of Proverbs says in chapter 11, a generous man will prosper. He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. We must understand that as we give, we are giving first of all to the Lord, and therefore if our gift is withheld because of neglect or because of anger or because of petty differences or for any reason, that gift is being withheld from God Himself first. but for those who give in faith. What a glorious promise for all their needs. Now, this is not a health and wealth gospel that is often preached. And I hope you don't think that I'm heading in that direction. Paul is not preaching a health and wealth gospel as we hear by so many today. But is there a greater health and wealth promise? a greater spiritual health and wealth promise than God promising to supply for all your needs. No. You see, we cannot hear these words of Paul, and my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus without hearing the bounty of God's promise. God, the supplier, is Himself the owner of all things. It's His already. And he will supply according to his glorious riches. You see, boys and girls, the glorious riches of God far exceed the greatest wealth you and I could ever imagine. If you've seen that show Deal or No Deal, you hear about how $200,000 is going to change someone's life. Maybe. Or we hear about the wealthiest people in Forbes. It doesn't even compare to the glorious riches of our God. He is the one who supplies and He shall. Paul says it's a guarantee. God will keep His Word and He will meet. And the same idea is that that we find in verse 18 when Paul says, I am amply supplied. I am full. And Paul is saying that God will supply you and me to the full till we want no more. all of our needs, no limit. But herein is where we find a difficulty, isn't it? All your needs. Not your luxuries, not your wants, not even the things that you and I think are our needs, but the things that He knows are our needs, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. In poverty, He will supply our material needs, or maybe not in the abundance that we think we need them, but according to what he knows. And as Paul has already addressed in this letter, in suffering opposition, as he addressed in chapter 1, God will provide steadfastness, joy, and encouragement. He calls His people to have the same mind for advancing the faith. We see that in chapter 1, in chapter 2, in chapter 4, and He will provide grace and humility. In chapter 4, we also see that God will provide His very own presence and the presence of His peace that passes understanding in place of grumbling, chapter 2. In place of anxiety, chapter 4. Beloved, we can be confident in the words of David in Psalm 37, verse 25. David says, I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. That's God's promise. For whom? For those who are in Christ Jesus. It's not just for anyone. It's not for everyone. But for those who are in Christ Jesus. And that's why that Gospel ministry of the Word of God is so very important. Because it is through that Gospel ministry that God brings more and more to Himself. It's only for those whose eternal need for salvation has been filled by Jesus Christ, by His righteousness and His perfect sacrifice. But it's for all those who look to Him in repentance and faith. What a glorious promise. A promise that you and I can take to the bank, as it were, because our God is a God of His Word. And we must also remember, beloved, that we cannot out-give God. He has already proven that through the cross of Jesus. We cannot out-give God. In John 3.16, we know the verse, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to those and for those who had nothing to give in return. And our Lord Jesus Christ gave His life as He took upon Himself the unimaginable punishment of God for our sin to rescue us from an eternity of horror that we might enjoy an eternity of glory. Beloved, we have such a great message to tell. The only message. The only one that is needed. The only message of hope and salvation. This morning the Lord's table is prepared before us. We have looked forward to it throughout this past week in a particular way. and this table is a table of God's blessing. At this table, our God promises to nourish our faith, see proof that our God keeps on giving to His people. This table, as well as a visible demonstration of all of our needs, spiritually and physically being met. This table is a table of participation in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, as our Lord nourishes us at His table, may we respond with grateful hearts. Hearts that desire others to know the greatest joy of salvation. And may God be pleased to equip us and use us in His kingdom as He continues to build His church and to prepare His bride for her bridegroom to come. Amen.