God’s Provisions

Philippians 4:10-23

We are finishing the book of Philippians today… Paul is writing from prison in Ephesus and is describing his visit from Epaphroditus.

10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Philippians 4:10

After what had seemed a long time, as he sat there in prison in Ephesus with only a few friends and colleagues looking after him, suddenly Epaphroditus had come to town looking for him. He brought news of the church in Philippi; they were facing suffering and various difficulties, but they were firmly loyal to Jesus, and still deeply grateful to Paul for all that he had given them in bringing the gospel to them. As a token of it, they were now sending him this gift of money—presumably a quite substantial gift, since it would hardly have been worth while sending a messenger with a small amount.

Was Paul happy to see Epaphroditus?

Why did Paul say the Philippians were always concerned about him? What is he referring to? Had they helped Paul before? see Philippians 1:3-8 Philippians 4:14-15

11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. Philippians 4:11

There’s something about each one of us that desires to—-say—- live in a different location, have a different kind of parent, to be in a different situation———something in all of us that longs for change. Advertisers capitalize on this, parading a endless stream of of images before us that say, “this is the house you want to live in, this is the car you want to drive, or this is how you want to look.” as they pull on the strings of discontentment that plague us all. The key is to learn to be content.

what does it mean o live contentedly?

what is the key to contentment?

12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:12-13

Let’s look at Bible character who weren”t content: starting with a guy named Korah. Numbers 16

Numbers 16 NLT

1 One day Korah son of Izhar, a descendant of Kohath son of Levi, conspired with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, from the tribe of Reuben. 2 They incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all prominent members of the assembly. 3 They united against Moses and Aaron and said, “You have gone too far! The whole community of Israel has been set apart by the Lord, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than the rest of the Lord’s people?” 4 When Moses heard what they were saying, he fell face down on the ground. 5 Then he said to Korah and his followers, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show us who belongs to him and who is holy. The Lord will allow only those whom he selects to enter his own presence. 6 Korah, you and all your followers must prepare your incense burners. 7 Light fires in them tomorrow, and burn incense before the Lord. Then we will see whom the Lord chooses as his holy one. You Levites are the ones who have gone too far!” 8 Then Moses spoke again to Korah: “Now listen, you Levites! 9 Does it seem insignificant to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the community of Israel to be near him so you can serve in the Lord’s Tabernacle and stand before the people to minister to them? 10 Korah, he has already given this special ministry to you and your fellow Levites. Are you now demanding the priesthood as well? 11 The Lord is the one you and your followers are really revolting against! For who is Aaron that you are complaining about him?” 12 Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, “We refuse to come before you! 13 Isn’t it enough that you brought us out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us here in this wilderness, and that you now treat us like your subjects? 14 What’s more, you haven’t brought us into another land flowing with milk and honey. You haven’t given us a new homeland with fields and vineyards. Are you trying to fool these men? We will not come.” 15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not accept their grain offerings! I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, and I have never hurt a single one of them.” 16 And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers must come here tomorrow and present yourselves before the Lord. Aaron will also be here. 17 You and each of your 250 followers must prepare an incense burner and put incense on it, so you can all present them before the Lord. Aaron will also bring his incense burner.” 18 So each of these men prepared an incense burner, lit the fire, and placed incense on it. Then they all stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron. 19 Meanwhile, Korah had stirred up the entire community against Moses and Aaron, and they all gathered at the Tabernacle entrance. Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to the whole community, 20 and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 21 “Get away from all these people so that I may instantly destroy them!” 22 But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground. “O God,” they pleaded, “you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Must you be angry with all the people when only one man sins?” 23 And the Lord said to Moses, 24 “Then tell all the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” 25 So Moses got up and rushed over to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed by the elders of Israel. 26 “Quick!” he told the people. “Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don’t touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, you will be destroyed for their sins.” 27 So all the people stood back from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, together with their wives and children and little ones. 28 And Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things that I have done—for I have not done them on my own. 29 If these men die a natural death, or if nothing unusual happens, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord does something entirely new and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have shown contempt for the Lord.” 31 He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them. 32 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the men, along with their households and all their followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned. 33 So they went down alive into the grave, along with all their belongings. The earth closed over them, and they all vanished from among the people of Israel. 34 All the people around them fled when they heard their screams. “The earth will swallow us, too!” they cried. 35 Then fire blazed forth from the Lord and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense. 36 And the Lord said to Moses, 37 “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to pull all the incense burners from the fire, for they are holy. Also tell him to scatter the burning coals. 38 Take the incense burners of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and hammer the metal into a thin sheet to overlay the altar. Since these burners were used in the Lord’s presence, they have become holy. Let them serve as a warning to the people of Israel.” 39 So Eleazar the priest collected the 250 bronze incense burners that had been used by the men who died in the fire, and the bronze was hammered into a thin sheet to overlay the altar. 40 This would warn the Israelites that no unauthorized person—no one who was not a descendant of Aaron—should ever enter the Lord’s presence to burn incense. If anyone did, the same thing would happen to him as happened to Korah and his followers. So the Lord’s instructions to Moses were carried out. 41 But the very next morning the whole community of Israel began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!” 42 As the community gathered to protest against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tabernacle and saw that the cloud had covered it, and the glorious presence of the Lord appeared. 43 Moses and Aaron came and stood in front of the Tabernacle, 44 and the Lord said to Moses, 45 “Get away from all these people so that I can instantly destroy them!” But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground. 46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Quick, take an incense burner and place burning coals on it from the altar. Lay incense on it, and carry it out among the people to purify them and make them right with the Lord. The Lord’s anger is blazing against them—the plague has already begun.” 47 Aaron did as Moses told him and ran out among the people. The plague had already begun to strike down the people, but Aaron burned the incense and purified the people. 48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped. 49 But 14,700 people died in that plague, in addition to those who had died in the affair involving Korah. 50 Then because the plague had stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

Many other philosophers speak of contentment. They usually, though, develop the idea in terms of self-sufficiency. You should find resources within yourself, they said, so that you could smile at the troubles life threw at you. Paul has a different view: I am strong enough for anything, he says—because of the one who gives me strength see Philippians 4:13

14 Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. Philippians 4:14

Paul ends this book commending the Philippians: at last we understand the full extent of why Paul is so grateful for the partnership in the gospel which they have exercised. It isn’t just that they have now sent him money, with Epaphroditus as their willing messenger. It is that this has continued a habit which goes back right to the beginning. This, we see, is why the whole letter has the warm tone, the sense of deep trust and affection, that we have sensed throughout.

15 You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone. Philippians 4:15

-12When Paul says ‘as the gospel was getting under way’ (verse 15), he is clearly referring to his ministry in Greece. Sometimes he writes as though the move to Greece (described in Acts 16:9-12) marked a completely new beginning; although he had been preaching and planting churches in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) for some while, he seems to have had a sense that when he came in to Europe he really was in new territory, and that if the gospel took root here it would prove in a further sense just how powerful it was. These, after all, were the Macedonians and Greeks, who had given the world one of its greatest cultures to date! And the Philippian church was the first of those churches on Greek soil.

It was the first and only church, in fact, to continue supporting Paul financially after he’d left them and gone on. Thessalonica was the next main place he visited (Acts 17:1–9), and while he was there they sent him financial help. Only when he got down as far as Corinth did he set up shop and work

16 for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs Philippians 4:16.

17 Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. Philippians 4:17

Paul chose to pay his own way (not without some continuing help from Philippi).

He continues here to show both his gratitude lest anyone should think he is really in this business for the money. This continued to be a problem in the early church. There were many wandering teachers and philosophers in the ancient world who would go from place to place selling their ideas, and many of them came to be regarded as crooks and cheats. Paul is concerned, quite naturally, not only not to be that sort but to be seen not to be that sort. He therefore has to devise ways of saying ‘thank you’, and showing his deep gratitude, while making it clear that what matters is the partnership that the gift expresses.

He therefore declares, using the book-keeping metaphor once more, that what’s actually happened through their giving to him is that their own ‘account’—presumably in God’s eyes—has received a healthy credit balance as a result. Paul was not worried about speaking in this way about Christians doing things which pleased God. He wasn’t suggesting for a moment that they were thereby earning their salvation, that they were being ‘justified by works’; rather, that God was delighted that their faith, hope and love were finding this practical expression.

New American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version Chapter 4

18 But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, ba fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.

New American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version Chapter 4

19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters (Closing Thanks and Greetings (Philippians 4:14–23))

To rub the point in, he uses in verse 18 a picture from the Old Testament laws about sacrifices. Again and again the biblical regulations for how to offer sacrifices in the Temple speak of those sacrifices in the language Paul uses here: ‘a beautiful smell, a worthy offering, giving pleasure to God’. Paul would, of course, have agreed with the Psalmist: God doesn’t really smell the aroma that a burning sacrifice gives off, and he isn’t impressed simply by people going through the motions of the Temple cult (see Psalm 50:7–15). What really gladdens God’s heart is the generous spirit which proceeds from love and trust. And all this means that he can promise the Philippians what he himself has found to be true: those who trust God in this way can be certain that he will supply all their needs as well (verse 19

New American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version Chapter 4

20 Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

New American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version Chapter 4

21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you.

New American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version Chapter 4

22 All the bsaints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.

23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.Philippians 4:23

Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters Closing Thanks and Greetings (Philippians 4:14–23)

The letter ends with greetings, grace and glory: greetings to and fro within the church; the grace of the Lord and king, Jesus himself, freely available to all his people; but, as always, glory to the one true God, the father, for ever and ever. Paul adds ‘Amen’, and his hope would be that we today would do so too.

CO