Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20081130.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Philippians: Living God's Great Calling Of Godly Servanthood
Part X: Living In Peace With All Material Circumstances
(Philippians 4:10-23)
  1. Introduction
    1. In the current world economic recession, we Christians like everybody else face possible job losses, pay cuts or general material shortages.
    2. However, for a godly servant of the Lord, as the Apostle Paul exemplified in Philippians 4:10-23, whether times are materially good or bad, they are not to keep him from all he needs to do God's will, and to do so with full contentment in the process (as follows):
  2. Living In Peace With All Material Circumstances, Philippians 4:10-23.
    1. Paul expressed his great joy in the Lord that a financial gift from the Philippian believers had come, for they had previously been unable to meet Paul's needs though they had cared about them, Philippians 4:10.
    2. This statement could seem to make Paul look like he had been languishing for a lack of funds, so he corrected the idea, noting he had learned to be content in times of material need or bounty, Phil. 4:11-13:
      1. Paul quickly dismissed any hint that he had been mentally agonizing over his lack of finances, 4:11a.
      2. He explained that he had learned to be content with all states that he faced in life, Philippians 4:11b.
      3. Specifically, Paul had learned "to live in poor circumstances" as well as to abound, Philippians 4:12a; Theol. Dict. of the N. T., vol. VIII, p. 17-18. He had been instructed in every place and in all circumstances of life both to "feed to the full" and to "hunger" (Moulton & Milligan, The Vocab. of the Greek N. T., 1972, p. 690, 501), both to "have abundance" (Ibid., p. 508) and to "be lacking," Arndt & Gingrich, A Greek-English Lex. of the N. T. , 1967, p. 856-857, Philippians 4:1b.
      4. His capacity to function well physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually in materially bountiful and impoverished circumstances had risen from Paul's learning in all cases and in all locations to rely on Christ to strengthen him to handle every situation, Philippians 4:13.
    3. However, in giving this report, Paul did not want to demean the gift of his Philippian readers, to imply it was not valuable: he added they had done well in sending him a financial gift that would ease his human affliction of poverty, Philippians 4:14; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to Phil. 4:14.
    4. This led Paul to remind his readers of previous godly deeds they had performed in meeting Paul's material needs (Philippians 4:15-16), and Paul reminded them of these things not as a subtle way of begging for more money or for additional contributions, but to encourage them to give for the sake of their own record of good deeds before the Lord, Philippians 4:17.
    5. Indeed, Paul added that his readers' gift to him left him abounding materially, and that it was an acceptable sacrifice to God, one that was well pleasing to Him, Philippians 4:18.
    6. Due to his readers' faithful ministry of giving, Paul shared that God would continue to meet their material needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus, Philippians 4:19.
    7. On this positive note, Paul closed his epistle on godly servanthood, typifying it in so doing, Phil. 4:20-23:
      1. Paul added a final, brief doxology, that God the Father would be glorified for ever and ever, 4:20.
      2. He then thoughtfully urged his readers to greet every believer in Christ Jesus, and sent the greetings of all the believers who were with him to every believer at Philippi, Philippians 4:21.
      3. Indeed, Paul very considerately added that all the believers, especially those who were of Caesar's household, sent their greetings to his Philippian readers, Philippians 4:22. Receiving greetings from these key government people would have special meaning and edifying value to the Philippians who lived in a city with special privileges from Rome due to their unique history, cf. Ibid., Ryrie, p. 1682.
      4. Finally, Paul closed his epistle with the gracious announcement that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ might be with all of his believing Philippian readers, Philippians 4:23!
Lesson: Paul explained that godly servanthood, as in his own example, involved one's so fully relying on the power of Christ, that mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically, he could deal well with either bounty or poverty in all places and at all times with an attitude of true, complete contentment!

Application: May we so rely on Christ that we gain full contentment in all situations as servants of God.