In his sermon 'God Shall Supply,' Jason Dohm explores Philippians 4:10-20, emphasizing God's role as the ultimate provider. Paul commends the Philippians for their partnership in the Gospel, highlighting the mutual care and support that have spanned over a decade between them. This partnership is shown to be a two-way street, with both parties benefiting. Paul teaches that true faith manifests in acts of care, where giving results in spiritual gains for the giver, the receiver, and glorification for God. The sermon stresses that gifts should evoke gratitude rather than reliance, with believers encouraged to trust God's provision. Dohm emphasizes that contentment in all circumstances is a form of worship, as believers learn to trust God's sovereignty in both poverty and abundance. Giving should be done fearlessly and joyfully, reflecting the sacrificial love of Christ, whose ultimate sacrifice makes all offerings acceptable. The sermon encourages believers to give without fear, trusting in God's continuous provision and the spiritual returns that follow.

So the sermon text for today is Philippians chapter 4 verses 10 through 20. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last your care for me has flourished again, though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well that you shared in my distress. Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed from Macedonia No church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed, I have all and abound.

I am full, having received from Epaphroditus The things sent from you, a sweet smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God, and my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father, be glory forever and ever. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this text that you have us in.

We pray that you will help us to be content, that you will help us to be content, that you help us to be thankful and grateful for what you have given us. Pray that you will be with Jason as he delivers your word to us. Pray that you will send your Spirit upon Him and upon us and help us to hear your Word and help us to apply it to our lives. In Jesus' name, Amen. Feels sort of abrupt that we're at the end of Philippians.

There's today and there's next week, and then we're gone. We're out of Philippians. So it's been good, but we're at the end. The title of The sermon this morning is, God shall supply. It's three words that I plucked right out of the text.

You see those three words in verse 19. Verse 19, Paul is applying it to the Philippians in their situation. He's promising them that God will be faithful to provide the things that they need. But the whole text is that all provision is this. If you have provision, it's because God supplied it.

God for His people is the faithful provider of His people. So if you have something, you can know where it came from. God shall supply. God does supply. God has supplied.

So that's really what is in view today. In our text, Paul wants to address what precipitated this letter. Why is he writing? Well, he's writing because the Philippians sent Epaphroditus, this brother in the Lord, part of the church in Philippi. They sent him to be a source of encouragement, but also to bear a financial gift to help provide for his needs.

This is exactly what we saw in chapter 2 verse 25. If you look back to chapter 2 verse 25, Paul writes, yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need." So now we're getting a little more detail about that. He was the messenger of the Philippians. He was carrying the gift, but he was also a messenger of encouragement. To be sure, this brother came and encouraged Paul in his imprisonment in Rome.

So Paul is now addressing the circumstances that surround the sending of this letter. They're a gift to him. I don't believe that this text is significantly dependent on what came before it, so I'm going to spend almost no time linking it to the last text. The last thing that we saw was that Paul said, follow me, follow my pattern of life, and then this section begins, but I rejoiced, in other words, But there's something exemplary in your lives also, and now he begins to describe it. There are 11 verses in our study of Philippians.

I don't think we've bitten off a chunk nearly this big. The last two weeks have been on two verses. So now this week is 11 verses. So I'm not going to go verse by verse today. What I'd like to do is to draw out five propositions that I think are certainly true from what Paul writes in our text.

So as we go to these propositions that come out of the text, let's ask the Lord to help us. Our God, I thank you for how you have made a people from those who were not a people. You brought us into fellowship. We weren't in fellowship, but because of your mercy, because of your hand in our lives, you have made us into a people. You've knit us together.

You've given us different gifts, and you've made us an important part of each other's lives. This never would have been the case except for the work of your spirit in our lives. So We want to begin by coming to give you thanks for this. You really, in a way, have given us each other as a gift to each other. How intertwined we are and how interdependent we are is pleasant to us, Lord.

Thank you for that. I pray that you would make it much more so in the coming weeks and months and years. Teach us to be your people, to minister to each other in very practical ways as we see in our text here. Maybe so in Jesus' name, Amen. Well the sermon text has been read, but I want to read it again just for the sake of repetition.

So hopefully your Bibles are still open and your finger is in chapter 4. I'm going to read verses 10-20 again. Paul writes, But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last your care for me has flourished again. Though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content.

I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well that you shared in my distress. Now you Philippians Know that in the beginning of the Gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving, but you only.

For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed, I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus.

Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. There's so much more to say in these 11 verses than will be said, but there are time limitations. I'm drawing out five propositions, and I hope you find them helpful. Proposition number one, partnership in the Gospel is beautiful.

It's a beautiful thing. If you're filling in blanks on the handout, it's partnership. Partnership in the Gospel is beautiful. We have seen this throughout the letter. Paul hasn't waited until chapter 4 to introduce this.

We actually saw it in chapter 1. Just flip back to chapter 1. This is how Paul begins this letter, chapter 1 verses 3 through 5. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making requests for you all with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now." So not only does he not wait until chapter 4, he begins it in chapter 1. This is how he begins the letter.

I pray for you all the time. When I pray, I thank God for you. What do I thank God for specifically? Your fellowship in the Gospel. We have a decade-long partnership in the Gospel that we've enjoyed from both ends of it.

That's really the sense of what he's saying in chapter 1. Now he picks up on that theme in chapter 4. When we look at the historical account of Acts, the book of Acts, of Paul and his interactions with the Philippians, We see in Acts 16 that Paul and his companions bring the Gospel to Philippi. Through the rest of Acts, we see repeatedly that multiple times, Paul and and companions go back through Macedonia. Philippi is in Macedonia.

He goes through Macedonia again and again in order to strengthen the churches there. We know of three churches. There's Philippi, Thessalonica, and there's Berea. In Acts, when we see that he goes back through Macedonia to strengthen those churches, surely Philippi is one of those stops in Macedonia. We also see that there have been multiple repeated gifts of support sent from the Philippian Church to Paul.

He references it here. He says, Even when I was in Thessalonica, That's where he was right after he left Philippi. So in Acts 16, he comes to Philippi, he preaches the Gospel, then he goes to Thessalonica, that's his next stop. He says, even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent once and again to supply my necessities. And then he says, after I left Macedonia, you were the only church who participated with me in giving and receiving.

Over this 10 year period, again and again, there have been gifts of financial support. So You get the picture of the two-way street. It's not one way. It would not be right to say the care was all in the direction from Paul and his companions to Philippi. They brought the gospel, they preached the gospel, there were people who were born again, and then they come through several times to strengthen the churches in Macedonia so that the care has been only from Paul to those people.

Nor would it be right to say that the care was only from the Philippians. They got the Gospel, they were happy about it, and so that caused them to remember him, and they kept sending gifts, but there was really nothing. It's two-way, it's bi-directional care. It is mutual care that has stretched for longer than a decade. All the time markers would say that that's true.

Paul's imprisonment at Rome is more than 10 years since Paul originally brought the Gospel. Mutual care, bi-directional care, Two-way care between Paul and his companions and the Philippians. Verse 14 says, You have done well that you shared in my distress. So That's more than money. He's talking about the Epaphroditus coming and encouraging him and bringing money.

But when Paul talks about it, it's so much different than just a financial transaction. The financial transaction represents something that's a lot different than just money. You're sharing in my distress. You're participating with me. It's a continuation of the partnership in the Gospel.

This isn't just money Western-unioned across the Roman Empire, and there's nothing else that goes with it. It is actually a sharing in the distress. It is a partnership in the Gospel. It is a bearing of one another's burdens, even at great distances and great expense, undoubtedly. Human expense and the expense of resources.

And Paul is rejoicing in it. Verse 10 begins, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly. So he attributes it to God. I rejoiced in you, I rejoiced in the Lord. God ought to be thanked for your care for me.

I thank God for your care for me, because I know it originates with God. That's why I should be thanked. I rejoiced in the Lord greatly. This is a great source of joy in my life that you've remembered me, that you've entered into my distress by sharing with me. God brings His people together for mutual care as we labor together to lift up Christ.

This is what we get. God has brought us together, but not just us. He brings all of His people together, sometimes spanning great distances. Do you have any affection for anyone in Malawi? Do you have any idea how far Malawi is from here?

God brings His people together for mutual care as we work together to lift up Christ across the globe. Maybe just across the town, but also across the globe. Mutual care as we labor together to lift up Christ. In this case, it's spanned a wide geography and a lot of years. This is what God has in mind for His people, that our mutual care of each other and our mutual partnership of the gospel, in other words, we're pulling on the rope in the same direction and pulling it hard, it's not isolated to a small geography, it is expanded to a large geography.

It's not isolated to a small period of time, it's expanded to a long period of time. Great geography, a long period of time, and we work together and we mutually have two-way care for each other. I hope you can imagine either side writing this letter ten years from now, Us writing to our brothers and sisters in Malawi who were getting to know better and better and more of them year after year. I hope you can imagine us writing this letter to them about thanking them for their care for us ten years from now. And I hope you can imagine them writing us this letter.

Who knows who will be the one writing the letter? It could be us writing the letter thanking them for their care for us over a decade, even though we live a world apart. That's proposition number one. Partnership in the Gospel is beautiful. It is on display in the Philippian letter.

Proposition number two, everyone gains from these gifts. If you're taking notes and filling in blanks on the handout, it's gains. Everyone gains from these gifts. There is not a single beneficiary of the gift. There are three.

In other words, the Philippians send cash to Paul. It's not right to say Paul is the single beneficiary of that. Paul is the only one who gains. No. The argument is being made here by Paul that there are actually three parties who are gaining from the one gift.

First, Paul is encouraged and supplied. So He is getting the money, along with Epaphroditus' fellowship. He is getting the encouragement and the money that they sent. So Paul definitely is gaining. It's right to say that he's gaining, it's just not right to say that he's gaining alone.

Paul casts this in terms of care, not just money. You have renewed your care for me. The money represents care. The money represents care. The money represents affection and a practical application of care.

In this case, cash equals care. Sometimes, financial giving is done in such a way that cash doesn't equal care. There's nothing personal about it. It comes and goes, and no one gets the care with it. But that is not the situation here.

Here you have repetition, you have a decade long, you have interactions going in both directions, and clearly care is coming along with the cash, or better said, the cash represents affection and real practical care. Paul is saying, I'm encouraged by it. And, his needs are supplied. Look at verse 18. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent for me.

I have everything I need because of what you sent. So Paul gains. He gets the encouragement. He gets the message, you care. That's the message that comes with the cash.

You care. I got the message. Thank you for the encouragement and his needs are supplied. He is full, having received from the papyridontists the things that they sent. Second, the Philippians gain.

The Philippians have an avenue for practicing their faith, and they get credit from God. So alongside Paul, the Philippians are gaining from their financial gift. They're giving, but they get at the same time that they're giving. They have an avenue for practicing their faith, which is very important. And God is putting something into their account for it.

Now, turn to James 2. We're not far, so just go further in your Bibles to James 2. In James 2, James is talking about the two kinds of faith. A live faith, a real faith, a saving faith, and a dead faith, a counterfeit faith, a type of belief that doesn't save at all. He actually brings it into the realm of giving and receiving in an interesting way that I think has a bearing on our text.

Look at James chapter 2 and I'll be reading verses 14 through 17. What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works. Can faith save him? Many translations add the word such. Can such faith, can a faith like that, save him?

If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to him, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give him the things which are needed for the body, What does it profit? Thus also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James is talking about a live faith and dead faith. He says There's a kind of faith, a kind of belief, that doesn't bear fruit at all. So he brings an example from the realm of giving and receiving and says, what if you become aware of a real need, someone who really needs food, someone who really needs clothing, and you just say, I'll pray for you brother and send them on their way, and that's the end of that.

Is that real faith? James says That's not real faith. Here, the Philippians are aware of a real man who has real needs. This becomes an avenue for them to practice their faith. To demonstrate that there's something real there.

Not just a dead kind of believing that doesn't flower into anything, but there's a real root there that flowers. And In fact, this is actually the terminology that is used in our text. The beginning of our text says, But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last your care for me has flourished again. This word that is translated flourished is a plant term. So Plants look dead all winter.

Are they dead? No, they're not dead. They're dormant, and the leaves are gone, and they look dead, but they're not dead. As soon as spring comes, they flower. That is the Greek word.

That's why it's translated. Your care flourished for me. And he says, not that you didn't care, but you didn't have opportunity. It was winter, and so it could have looked from the outside like you didn't care, but either I was too far away, or you weren't aware of my needs. But now, when the time came, when spring came, the sap was there, the tree was alive, and it demonstrated itself in a flowering of your care.

It was just like a bursting forth of green and flowers in spring. That was their care. Knowing Paul and knowing that he had real present needs became an avenue for them to just demonstrate that there's a real, lively faith there. There's life there. This is not just an intellectual agreement with certain truth propositions.

Heaven forbid that that's all the gospel is to us. An intellectual agreement to some truth propositions. Yes, Jesus died on the cross. Fine. No, no, no, no.

It's meant to...if there's life there, it produces real care for other people, not always believers. It doesn't need to be believers. Listen again to Paul in verse 17, Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. So, Paul is happy for the gain that the Philippians get from giving, as he is from getting the gift. Paul is like, I'm not after your cash.

I'm not after your cash. I'm as happy for the benefits to you from giving as I am from getting my needs met. This is exactly what Jesus taught. Turn to Matthew 10. You have to see Jesus teaching this.

He teaches it repeatedly. I'm going to take you to two places actually. Matthew chapter 10. In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus is sending His disciples out for the first time. He tells them to rely on provision from others as they go out preaching the kingdom of heaven.

And here's what he says about those who will be supplying their needs. This is Matthew chapter 10, the Sending chapter. And I'll be reading verses 40 through 42. Follow along. Matthew chapter 10, verse 40.

Jesus says, He who receives you, receives me. Now just stop there. So now do you gain when you give? To a worker for the kingdom, do you gain when you give? To a worker for the kingdom, do you gain when you give?

If you receive them, you receive Jesus. Is there a gain here to be had? I think there is. We are just getting started. Listen to what Jesus says.

He who receives you, receives me. And he who receives me, receives him who sent me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple assuredly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." What Jesus' teaching applied to the Philippians is that they have put themselves in the path of a prophet's reward and a righteous man's reward by giving to Paul, by supplying his needs.

That's a good idea. It is a good idea to put yourself in the path of a prophet's reward and a righteous man's reward. Turn to chapter 25, Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25, Jesus is teaching a very famous parable. You'll recognize it immediately.

Matthew chapter 25. I'm actually going to read 31-40. Jesus says, Matthew chapter 25-31, Let's read from Matthew chapter 21-40. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in.

I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me." Then the righteous will answer him, saying, "'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?

And the king will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me." Here the voice is from the judge who separates the sheep from the goats. And to this group on his right hand side, to the sheep, he says, Come, you blessed of my Father, the kingdom is made ready for you because you have served your brethren in these ways. You have put yourself in the path of eternal blessing. Come, you blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom that has been made ready for you." What is being taught here is that givers are gainers.

This is how it works in the Kingdom of Heaven. There is not a single beneficiary when there is giving and receiving within the people of God. No, no, no. The givers are gainers. Who got more out of this transaction in light of what Jesus is saying?

Who got more out of this transaction? It's easily argued that the Philippians gained more than they gave. Even though their gift is precious, this is not devaluing their gift at all. It's just to say There's something beautiful about the Kingdom of Heaven here that when you give, you instantly have put yourself in the path of gaining. Third, so first, Paul is encouraged and supplied.

Second, the Philippians have an avenue for practicing their faith, and they get credit from God. Something goes into their account for their having given. And third, God is glorified. God is gaining. Not in the sense that God needs anything, or that you supply something that God is wanting.

God needed a loan and you gave Him a loan. No, heaven forbid. But God does desire to be glorified and God is glorified when His people supply each other's needs, when there is mutual care in the body. And even when His people supply the needs of those who are outside the kingdom, we are to do good to all, especially to those of the household of faith. This is not exclusive to the people of God.

God is glorified. We have it right here in verse 18. I'm back in Philippians 4, verse 18. A sweet smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. Paul is just starting to draw on the Old Testament language of a sacrifice that is acceptable to God, a free will offering that rises up to God and is pleasing to Him.

It's like a fragrant sacrifice to God. When God's people care for each other, it rises up before Him as a fragrant offering. The Old Testament sacrifices are done away with forever, and yet, when we care for each other in very nuts and bolts, practical ways, real life, just very practical ways, The guy is in prison, so we send him some help. Then, it rises up to God as a fragrant offering. It's an acceptable sacrifice to Him.

He's well pleased by it. Listen to Hebrews 13 verse 16. Hebrews 13 verse 16, But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Same thing, Don't forget, do good and share. God has given you resources, share them.

Why? For with such sacrifices, God is well pleased. When out of something that God has given to me, I make a sacrifice and give some portion of that to supply the needs of another one of His people, another one of His children. God is pleased. It makes him happy.

He delights in it. Here's what the Expositors Bible commentary says, Paul helps them to see their relationship with him in the context of their relationship with God. It is not a bilateral, but a trilateral relationship right on. Meaning, it's not a two-party relationship. It's a three-party relationship, so that when you give to me, God is honored and pleased.

There's another leg on this stool. Not just you and me. It's God and He's pleased. It's an acceptable, well pleasing, fragrant sacrifice to Him when we care for each other. Also listen to 2 Corinthians 9 verse 12.

In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul is talking about gifts that were given because there was a famine in Judea. So the believers in and around Jerusalem were suffering because there was a famine. And believers from far outside that, really, from Macedonia, are giving to supply the needs of those where the famine is. Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 9 verse 12, for the administration of this service, not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God." sort of a complex sentence, not unlike Paul at all. So what does that mean?

That means that there is the obvious. They gave money and it supplied the needs of the saints. And that in and of itself is a good thing. It's God's people showing mutual care for each other, and that's good. But Paul is saying that there is an added benefit.

That thanksgiving to God abounds when that happens. So how does that work? Well you're in a place that's ravaged by famine. And here comes the supply from the Lord's people from far away. You receive.

Your needs are met. You have neighbors who are suffering because they don't have the supply that you have in God, in Christ. What happens next? You thank God. Thanksgiving abounds.

You marvel that God has been so kind to knit a people together who were never a people. Why would a Macedonian be the supply line for a Judean? Why? Christ. Christ, that's why.

So they see this knitting together, the making of a people, of people who have no business being joined together, but God made it His business to join them together in Christ. And thanksgiving abounds to God. God gets the glory of His people caring for each other from a long way away over a long period of time. God gets glory. Paul gains, the Philippians gain, And in the sense that God is glorified, God gains.

Proposition number three. Gifts should result in gratitude, not reliance. That is definitely a proposition that is taught here. If you're filling in blanks on the handout. Gratitude, reliance.

Gifts should result in gratitude and thankfulness, not in reliance. It is important to Paul that he communicate two things. In other words, Paul doesn't want this letter to end until he's made two things perfectly clear. One, thank you very much. I got it and I'm really thankful that you would care for me in this way.

Thank you. Two, my trust is in God. I trust God. I appreciate the support, but I rely on God. That's what he's saying here.

I'm thankful for the support, but I rely on God. And these are not disconnected to Paul. In other words, these are not two separate things to Paul. They're one thing. He's saying, I relied on God and He supplied my needs through you.

You're the answer to my faith in God. I do trust in God, and this isn't new. I have been trusting in God and in various ways He supplied my need. Right now He's raised you up to supply my needs. So I thank you And I thank God.

This is why Paul rejoices in the Lord for their care. That's the book-ends. Thanksgiving to God for their gift to Him is at the beginning and at the end. Verse 10, But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that your care for me is renewed. I rejoiced in the Lord.

I'm praising God for your gift to me. Verse 20, the other end of the text, now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Paul does not say, I can do all things through the Philippian Church who financially supports me. I can do all things through my financial supporters.

Thank you for your generous gift. What does Paul say? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I trust Christ. I am thankful for your support and your gift.

I trust Christ. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Let's pause on this verse. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Let's pause on this verse.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Often this is understood as, I'm a Christian, I can do anything. I have superpowers because Christ is in me. And there is a sense in which that is true. I actually don't want to diminish that too much.

But this needs to be kept in context. This needs to be understood in its context. It actually means, I can flourish and be fruitful in poverty and hardship. That's what I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me means I can flourish and be fruitful for the kingdom of God in poverty and hardship. Right in the middle of poverty and hardship.

And on top of that I can be happy. Rejoice in all things. Paul's eyes are on Christ. He's happy to have brethren. And he's happy to have the care, to receive the care of brethren.

But his eyes aren't on his brethren. His eyes are on Christ. Christ. Christ. He might receive the gift from me, he might receive the gift from you, but he's not going to trust me or you.

He's going to entrust himself to Christ. And he's found Christ to be faithful. That was proposition number three. Gifts should result in gratitude, not in reliance. We rely on God.

He is the source of our trust. Proposition number four, contentment is worship. If you're filling in blanks on the handout, it's worship. Contentment is worship. Contentment is a form of worship.

I want to read Philippians 4, 11-13 again. 11. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere, in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Paul's priority is not alleviating need. Does this mean that Paul doesn't have needs? No, of course not. He has needs. Does it mean he's not mindful of his needs?

No, of course not. He's mindful of his needs. He actually takes things into his own hands and works and makes tents and labors night and day to supply his own needs when it's necessary. So Paul's not oblivious to his needs, but alleviating his needs is not his priority. It's secondary to Paul.

Why does he not prioritize alleviating his needs? Because need has been so valuable in his life. Verse 12, I have learned, verse 13, I have learned, Back to back verses, the exact same thing said, I learned something. Verse 13, twice, I know, Paul knows because he's learned. This, a loving sovereign God has sent him hunger and has sent him abundance at different times in his life.

Same God, sovereign over both. In other words, God wasn't sovereign in my poverty, he was sovereign in my abundance. This is how we think. Things are a mess if I'm lacking, but God is on his throne when I have an abundance. No!

No! God is king! God sends different things into your life at different times because He is wiser than you and me. He knows better what I need than I know, times a million. He knows better what you need than you do, times a million.

It turns out that need has been very instrumental in the life of Paul to help him to become what God was making him, to conform him into the image of Jesus Christ. Paul never could have been conformed into Jesus' image without need, without times of suffering and want in his life. What did God teach him through need? That he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him. This is proven by experience in the life of Paul.

But Paul is not giving us life theory. Paul is giving us life experience. Meaning, the all things that he is speaking of has to do with poverty and abundance. All the range of things that life brings to your doorstep, that God brings to your doorstep in your life. God brought it to your doorstep.

And across the whole range, Christ can sustain you and cause you to bloom like a flower in the desert. Do you know that Christ can do that? Christ is so sufficient that in the middle of a desert there is nothing else on the landscape except burnt sand. You can flower there. You can flower there.

Christ is sufficient for that. And it's proven. This is not theory to Paul. Paul's been cold and hungry. Paul's been shipwrecked.

Paul's been flogged. Paul's been in prison. Paul's been stoned. This is not theory for Paul. This is experience for Paul.

Christ sustained him and allowed him to flourish in the middle of stoning. They thought he was dead, he got up and went back into town and preached. Paul can do all things through Christ who strengthens him. The translation doesn't do that justice by the way. I can do all things.

What has been rendered I can do there in the Greek is I am strong to. I have power to. That would be a much more literal translation. I am strong to do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I have power to do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Listen to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9. And God said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." In other words, Paul, you never would have known my strength coursing through your veins unless I had made you weak. My strength is made perfect in weakness. Here's what Paul says right on the heels of that. St.

Corinthians 12.9 again, Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me." Paul knew the power of Christ surging through his veins primarily through being shown his weaknesses, being brought into humble circumstances, times of want. This is godly contentment, and it full contentment, not joy less contentment. You don't have to forfeit your joy just because God brings you into a season of poverty. You can experience joy right there. Sometimes more joy.

You know that the joy is Christ sustaining you. It can't be anything else because you're in poverty. What has he already said in Philippians? That I may know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. He's unfolding that for us in this text.

God is glorified. God is worshiped When we know how to be abased, and we know how to abound. Listen to Proverbs chapter 30. You can Turn there if you'd like. Proverbs chapter 30.

It's probably worth turning there. Proverbs chapter 30, be reading verses 7 through 9. It comes at poverty and abundance from the other side. You'll see what I mean when I read it. Proverbs 30, verses 7 through 9.

Two things I request of you, God, Deprive me not before I die. Remove falsehood and lies far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with my food allotted to me. In other words, just give me just what I need.

Not too much, not too little. Verse 9. Lest I be full and deny you, and say, Who is the Lord? Or, lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God. Proverbs 30 is speaking about poverty and abundance, but It's teaching about the traps associated with both.

When Paul and Philippians say, I know how to be abased. I know how to live in poverty. I know how to abound. I know how to live in abundance. He's saying, I know how to be in both of these circumstances and stay clear of these traps.

I know how to be abased. Have you learned how to be abased without falling into the traps? What are the traps of poverty? Stealing is one of them. Fixing your poverty yourself through taking what doesn't belong to you is one of them.

It's named in Proverbs chapter 30. How about grumbling? Is that a trap of poverty? You better believe it. God is being unkind to me.

Grumbling is a trap of poverty. Paul actually could live in impoverished circumstances without being gobbled up by the traps. He knew how to live, abased. Have you learned how to abound without falling into the traps? What are the traps of abundance?

Well, forgetting God. That's named in Proverbs chapter 30, lest I forget God. I don't even need to ask Him for my daily bread. I've got a thousand days of daily bread. What do I need to talk to God about?

That is a trap of abundance. Or how about pride? I did this. I did this. What should you do if you have fallen into a trap of poverty or of abundance.

Learn. Paul learned. He learned. And If God has sent you poverty or abundance, that is why. This is one of the reasons why.

I'm not saying there's a single reason for it, but He's teaching you how to live in that life circumstance without being gobbled up by the trap. The saint, the believer, a saint is a believer and a believer is a saint. Period. No more to know on that topic. If you're a believer, you are a saint.

The saint who has been fully trained is content to be in the hands of his or her sovereign God. What's happening to me today is happening because God has determined this is good. And you don't have to understand it to say that. In fact, you're free to confess. You have no idea how this is wise, but you know it's wise.

The fully trained saint is content to be in the hands of God, whether he brings poverty or abundance, knowing that all things work together for good. Romans 8.28. Romans 8.28, to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purposes. God is glorified when we're fully trained like that. That's worship.

When God brings us into a season of poverty, and we say, God I don't know what you're doing, but you are wise, and I'd rather be with you in poverty than to have an abundance and have you not near. God is worshiped. God is honored. That was proposition number four. Contentment is worship.

Proposition number five. Believers can and should give fearlessly. If you're filling in blanks, if you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, it's fearlessly. Believers can and should give fearlessly. The Philippians parted from their resources.

So I put there in quotations, because if you're a believer, everything you have is God's. God bought it with the blood of His Son. Lock, stock and barrel. And everything you have, He gave you, and he can lay claim to any or all of it at any minute. He is Lord.

But, God had really given them real resources and it was at their disposal. They chose to part with and they chose to part with some of it. Question, did they give out of abundance or did they give out of poverty? So it's my favorite answer, the text doesn't say. But, If you turn to 2 Corinthians 8, we do know about some of their giving.

We don't know specifically about this circumstance. Turn to 2 Corinthians 8, because I'm going to actually look at a short section in chapter 8 and in chapter 9. 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verses 1 through 4. This again 2 Corinthians 8. This again is about pooling resources in order to help the Judean Christians who are in famine.

It's the same topic. 2 Corinthians 8 verses 1 through 4. Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. So we're talking churches of Macedonia. Philippi, Thessalonica, and Borea.

That in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints." What's happening? The Judean Christians are in trouble. They are living in famine. The Macedonian churches, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Ica, said, You're not leaving us out!

Even though they themselves were impoverished, they weren't about to be left out. We know from this week's text that of the Macedonian churches, the Philippians were the givers. When no church participated in giving and receiving except for the Philippians, the Philippians were the best givers. But here in 2 Corinthians 8, it's clear that the Macedonian churches together, though they were impoverished themselves, weren't about to be left out of the giving, and their joy welled up in giving beyond their ability. It is certain that the Philippians were not afraid to give even out of poverty.

It's certain. From the authority of 2 Corinthians chapter 8. They weren't afraid to give even out of poverty. There is always this question when there's a need. Should I give?

What if I end up needing it? We don't know what tomorrow brings. We have no idea what the financial demands of tomorrow or next week or next month will be. We don't know. Don't you feel this at least a little every time the opportunity is there?

Like, should I part with this? What if I need it next week or next month? Paul answers this question in chapter 9. Hopefully you are still in 2 Corinthians chapter 9. I'll read verses 6 through 8.

But I say this, 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verses 6 through 8. But I say this, He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you always having all sufficiency in all things may give an abundance for every good work." Paul is drawing a circle here. It's the circle.

It's God giving to you so that you abound and can give. And that circle never ends. It just keeps going. If God has given you above your current needs, He has given you an abundance to share. Look at verse 8 again.

God is able to make all grace abound towards you. God is able to give to you that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. God gave you an abundance to give. He gave you above and beyond so that you have something to give out of. If you have more than your needs today, you have an abundance from God.

Here in 2 Corinthians 9, verses I just read, we have the two great principles of giving. These are it, the two giant towers of giving. Cheerful, sacrificial. Period, amen. Cheerful, sacrificial.

What I won't do is come here and say, I just don't have a cheerful heart about it, So I won't give. You can do that, but Paul started by saying where that lands you. You sow sparingly, you reap sparingly. You can say, because cheerful giving is required and I don't feel cheerful, therefore, God doesn't require me to give. That's sort of a twisted logic that ends you up not having anything.

You'll reap exactly what you sowed there. Calvin rebukes all of us in his commentary. I'm just going to summarize what he says. Because I think this strained English won't help. And he includes himself in the review.

Here's what Calvin says, God makes us priests. Who were we? Gentiles, sinners, enemies of God. And He made us not just slaves, but children. Not just children, but priests.

He gave us a position of honor. And He even puts the sacrifice in our hands. And we won't offer it. We keep it back because we're afraid or we keep it back because we want something more for ourselves or we keep it back because we want a big house. God has made you a priest and put the sacrifice into your hands and you won't offer it.

You won't offer it. And Calvin's not exempting himself from this. He then just goes into sort of this moaning about the condition of his own heart. Why are we so stingy? God makes sinners into priests and then puts the offering in their hands on a silver platter and they hold it back for themselves.

Calvin says, I like that. I see that in my own heart. Friends, let's be a church who give out of our joy. We're cheerful givers. Let's be a church full of people who give sacrificially, not always and only out of plenty.

Let's be a church full of people whose giving is not constrained by fear. I might need this next week. No one knows the future. One final thought. And this is not an afterthought in any way.

I probably should have introduced it much, much sooner so that it doesn't seem like an afterthought. Don't let this be an afterthought. It's probably the most important thing that will be said. Ephesians 5 verse 2. Listen to Ephesians 5 verse 2, here's what Paul says, Walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma.

The same words are used here, of Christ and His offering Himself up for us, as is used of the Philippians and their gift to Paul. An acceptable sacrifice, something that is well pleasing to God, a fragrant aroma to God. But in Ephesians 5, it's not us giving to each other, which is wonderful. Mutual care magnifies God. That's wonderful.

I'm not demeaning that at all. I'm just saying, in Ephesians 5-2, it's linked to something a lot bigger and sweeter. That's Jesus laying down his own life. He really is the burnt offering from the Old Testament that goes up to God as a sweet-smelling aroma. Listen to the verse again.

Walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the footing for all of our sacrifices. It makes them acceptable. Do you understand that? The thing that made the Philippians' gift to Paul acceptable and well pleasing to God was not their own motives, not even the sacrificing of their own resources, was that it was in Christ.

Without Christ, even that goodwill gesture from one part of mankind to another is unacceptable to God. Unbelievers give all the time, sometimes very cheerfully, sometimes very sacrificially. It is not acceptable to God. It is not in Christ. The footing for all of our offerings, all of our giving.

Is Jesus offering Himself up for us? That's what stands at the base of all what Paul is writing about in Philippians chapter 4. Applications, there are three of them. 1. See beyond the secondary causes to the primary cause.

What does that mean? It means Paul should see right through the Philippians to God. God is the ultimate source of the provision that came through the Philippians. Every morsel of daily bread that we've ever eaten, taken into our mouth, has come from the hand of God. There's been an intermediary.

You have a job. I know you work. But at the beginning of the chain is God. God didn't need the intermediary. Please don't say, if I lose this job, I'll never eat again.

Only If there's a God not in heaven, and you're His, you'll be fine if you lose the job. Don't let that diminish heartfelt gratitude to the secondary cause. Don't let God, being the primary cause, the real reason that we're supplied things, diminish our heartfelt gratitude to the secondary causes. In other words, it wouldn't be right for Paul to say, because God is really the source of this gift, I don't need to thank the Philippians. It's really God.

It is really God, but it shouldn't diminish our thanksgiving to whoever God raises up to be sources of provision for us. That's not right. And That's not what we see modeled by Paul at all. That's not the pattern of his life. Paul is a thankful man, even though he knows God is really the source of these things.

Have you ever had that happen? I have seen this. The theology that God is really the source makes someone almost not even acknowledge that God raised up someone to provide for them. That's not Paul. He's actually expressing his gratitude and his thanksgiving for the Philippians.

Number three, give fearlessly. If your giving has been constrained by fear, Don't let it be constrained anymore. Good luck out giving God. Good luck. Good luck with that proposition.

The domes over 25 years have only one testimony, and that is the more we give, the more we get, and it's not always in the category of money. Often it's in a different category. I don't care. Do you care? Do you care if the game comes back in a different category?

No, if I give money, I want money back. That's weird. Stop it. Oh God, thank you for the book of Philippians. It has been a sweet time here.

It's hard to think that we're down to one week, but we do give you thanks for bringing us here and setting before our eyes the rich truths that are here. I pray that you would bless our learning of these things. Help it to be long lasting learning. Things that would be so well established in our lives years from now. We've forgotten all about this text and this sermon that the truths would be established in our lives.

We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.