Please take your Bibles and open them up one more time to the book of Philippians.
We're here on the last Sunday of the year. We're bringing our series in Philippians to a close.
And so our passage this morning is going to be chapter 4, starting in verse 10,
and going all the way through the end of the chapter.
And our goal every week that we come together in worship is that we would see and hear from the Word of God.
And so I would love for you to have a copy of the Word open in your laps.
There's Bibles there in front of you if you didn't bring your own.
And if you would, when you found it, Philippians 4, verses 10 through 23,
let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word this morning.
Paul says,
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me.
You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.
In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Yet it was kind of you to share in my trouble.
And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the Gospel, when I left Macedonia,
no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving except you only.
Even in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs once and again.
Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.
I have received full payment and more.
I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent,
a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
And my God will supply every need of yours, according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus.
To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Greet every saint in Christ Jesus.
The brothers who are with me greet you.
All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, Lord.
As we bring this book to a close, we pray again.
Father, would you take your holy word and would you plant it deep within our hearts this morning?
Help us, Lord, as we consider these eternal and glorious truths.
God, help us to see Christ as worthy.
Help us to see Him as enough for us.
Lord, help us to be content in Him.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
You may be seated.
We just sang a new song.
Hopefully you knew it.
It's only 101 years old.
You realize that's relatively new in the span of church history.
Great is thy faithfulness.
Morning by morning, new mercies I see.
All I have needed, my God has provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.
Thomas Chisholm authored those words about 101 years ago.
And the church has sung it often over that century.
And for good reason.
We sing that song often because we need to be reminded often of the faithfulness of God.
Not only in good times, but also in hard times.
We need to be reminded that God is at all times and always faithful.
And we need to be reminded that whether we have what we think we need, whether in times of abundance or lack, in health or in sickness,
God has truly already provided everything we need.
We've been walking our way through the book of Philippians.
And now we're 10 weeks into this series.
We're bringing this book to a close.
And what we see here is that in closing out this letter,
Paul wants to assure the church in Philippi of these truths that we just sang this morning.
His message to them and his message to us this morning as we look to our text is this.
God is enough.
That's the message.
God is enough.
God is faithful.
And God will provide exactly what his people need.
That's the message this morning as we close out the book of Philippians.
But, you know, I'd better qualify that real quick because I need to be clear.
This is not a blank check.
It's not a promise that God will give you whatever you want or even whatever you think you need.
This is a promise that God will provide for his plans.
God will provide for his mission.
God will give to his people whatever it is that they need to be about his work.
And what is his work?
What's God's plans?
What's God's mission?
God's aim, his mission, is to bring glory to his name in all the earth.
God is committed to his mission to magnify the glory of his name in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And so that's the mission of the church.
That's the mission of every individual Christian.
That's the mission of our church.
That's Paul's mission as he goes and proclaims the gospel.
And it's our mission.
And so here he assures us again this morning to that end, God will provide exactly what we need.
And so let's look to our text.
We'll see it in three ways this morning.
This will be our outline this morning.
We'll see three ways God provides for his people as they go about his mission.
Three ways God provides for his people as they go about the mission.
First, Paul says God provides contentment in all circumstances.
First way God provides here.
Look there to verse 10 with me.
Paul says,
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me.
You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.
I wonder if you've noticed as we've gone through this letter together over the past 10 weeks,
this theme of joy running throughout the letter.
Have you noticed that?
Some 16 times in just these four chapters, about 16 times that term either joy or rejoice
appears again and again and again and again.
This whole letter is marked by joy.
And so it's really no surprise, is it, that as we come to a close this morning here one last time,
Paul is rejoicing.
And what's he rejoicing in?
Look there again.
He is rejoicing just as we saw in chapter one, that the Philippian church, they've been faithful
partners with Paul in the gospel.
They have prayed for him.
They have encouraged him.
And now again, as they've done before, they have supported him financially.
Epaphroditus has come with a substantial gift, a financial gift.
It's a sacrificial gift from the Philippians to come and to help meet Paul's material needs.
And Paul says, I rejoice in the Lord in this.
I greatly rejoice in this gift.
Thank you for the gift that you've given me.
And yet, he says, verse 11, he gives a qualification here.
Not that I am speaking of being in need.
You see that?
In other words, he's saying, I am so thankful for your support.
Thank you for the gift.
I rejoice in it.
I thank God for it.
It's helpful for me.
But I want you to know I don't need it.
And we just had Christmas.
And you all know somebody like this.
Some people are just not good gift givers, are they?
They try, but they're not really great at knowing what people want or what people need.
Maybe they're just not thoughtful.
They try.
But other people, you all know people like this too, they're not great gift getters.
Now, you work hard to give them a gift.
You think about it.
You pay for it out of your own pocket.
You give it to them.
They just don't know how to receive a gift.
They don't know how to act.
I mean, could you imagine if you have thought and planned and invested your own money,
you sacrificed your own funds to buy a gift for somebody.
And they say, thank you so much for this gift.
But I want you to know I don't really need it.
That's what Paul is saying here.
And what he's doing, though, is he's walking a thin line here.
Between on one hand, he's showing how grateful he is to receive the gift.
Thank you for the gift.
And on the other hand, he's trying to teach them something important about God's provision.
What's he teaching them?
The lesson here is that, yes, it's good to give, and we're going to get there in a minute.
It's good to give, but the Christian ought to be content with or without the gift.
The Christian ought to be content with many, with plenty, or with lack.
The Christian ought to be content with God himself.
God provides contentment in all circumstances.
Sometimes God provides a big wad of cash and a lot of encouragement from your friends.
And sometimes God may choose not to provide in that way.
But regardless, Paul says, I am content in him.
Here's the weird truth about Christians.
The Christian's joy, the Christian's satisfaction, the Christian's level of contentment is not tied up with their circumstances.
You remember Paul's circumstances here as he writes this letter?
What's going on?
Paul is writing this letter from a Roman prison.
Things are not going well for Paul.
Paul doesn't even know if he's going to survive this whole thing.
He may well be put to death after this whole thing is over.
These are not great circumstances.
And yet, Paul says, I'm good.
I'm okay.
I'm content.
How in the world can he say this?
Paul, he says, he has learned an important secret.
Look there to verse 11 again.
He says, I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
I have learned how to be brought low and I have learned how to abound.
In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
And everybody, as they hear this letter for the first time, ought to be on the edge of their seat asking,
Well, Paul, what's the secret?
Verse 13.
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
That's his secret.
I thank you for this gift.
I rejoice in it.
It truly helps.
It's a help to me.
And yet, I want you to know that no matter what I have, I have Christ.
And for me, that's enough.
Ask yourself this morning.
When you strip away all of these earthly goods, all of your material blessings, when you strip away all of your comfort, when you strip away all of your resources, when you strip away all of your freedoms, could you be content?
Only having Christ.
This verse.
But, this verse.
Philippians 4.13.
I'd be willing to bet that everybody in this room has heard this verse.
Right?
Everybody in this room is familiar with this verse.
And I would be willing to bet that each one of us has heard this verse ripped out of its context and misapplied.
This is one of the most popular and misunderstood verses in all of the Bible.
I looked it up this week.
BibleGateway.com.
Philippians 4 was tied for the most read chapter in the whole Bible this year on BibleGateway.com.
And Philippians 4.13 was number 33 on the list of most popular verses read in the whole Bible this year on BibleGateway.com.
I just wonder how many actually get it in its context here.
I used to own a pair of basketball shoes and somewhere on the heel of the shoes it said 4.13.
There's a reference to this verse.
I tore my ACL in those basketball shoes.
I just want you to know.
Okay?
You've probably seen football players with eye blacks.
Right?
Underneath their eyes.
And it says Philippians 4.13.
Right there written on their eye blacks.
It's become sort of a mantra for all the great things you can do with just a little bit of help from God.
It's become sort of a sort of personal inspiration that maybe you can do whatever it is that you set your mind to.
For a lot of people when they take this verse out of context, I can do all things through Christ.
It means to them you can reach new highs.
You can accomplish big goals.
You can do something difficult and great.
Hopefully you see this in its context.
That's not at all what Paul is talking about, is it?
This message isn't about personal achievement.
It's about personal contentment.
It's not really about how high you can climb.
It's about how low you can go and still be satisfied.
It's not really about how much you can accomplish with God's help.
It's about how much can you have ripped away from you and still be able to say and mean it,
I am good.
I am content.
All that I've needed, God has provided.
I'm good.
That's what this verse is about.
This verse is about whether or not your heart is satisfied only in good circumstances
or whether you are satisfied in a good and faithful God, regardless of your circumstances.
It doesn't mean, of course, that you love every circumstance of your life.
Of course not.
It doesn't mean that you don't care what comes and what happens to you.
It doesn't even mean that material goods, material blessings, material gifts aren't good and helpful and needful for you at times.
But it does mean that there is a secret to true and lasting satisfaction that is not tied up with what you have.
What's the secret?
It's the presence and the power of an unchanging and glorious, faithful God.
God has provided everything you need to be fully content in Him no matter what circumstances come tomorrow.
Do you believe that, church?
We need to ask ourselves and be honest.
Are we content with only Christ?
Or do we feel like we need Christ plus, you fill in the blank for you, what is that thing?
Christ plus, Christ plus some more comfort and I'm okay.
Christ plus peace in my home and my family and I'm okay.
Christ plus some more money in my bank account and I'm okay.
Christ plus a little bit better health and I'm okay.
Again, it's not that these things are bad in and of themselves.
But ask yourself, is my satisfaction rooted in my circumstance?
Or is my satisfaction anchored to a faithful God?
Second.
Paul recognizes, of course, that true contentment is in the Lord no matter what you have.
But he also recognizes at the same time the honest truth is that ministry, it does often cost money.
And so he says, second, God provides all resources needed for the mission.
God will provide all resources needed for the mission.
Now it's interesting.
I think he says, I'm good.
I'm content.
I don't need anything but Christ.
You take everything away from me and I am fine.
But then he sort of gives sort of a theology of giving and generosity here in verses 14 through 18.
He says, I'm good no matter what.
But then he encourages them to give.
There to verse 14.
He says, yet it was kind of you to share in my trouble.
And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel when I left Macedonia,
no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving except you only.
Even in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs again and again.
Not that I seek the gift.
There's another qualification there.
Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.
I've received full payment and more.
I'm well supplied having received from Epaphroditus the gifts that you sent.
A fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
There's an underlying assumption here in these verses.
Do you see it?
It's almost so obvious that I feel like I don't need to say it, but I have to here.
There's an underlying assumption here, and it's this.
The truth is that ministry often costs money.
The Philippians understood this clearly.
And so they joined Paul's mission by being financially supportive of his work.
And not just once or twice.
It seems like this was an ongoing partnership here where Paul benefited financially from the Philippians' support.
Ministry often costs money.
It requires financial generosity.
And it requires financial sacrifice.
William Carey, you might know that name.
He's known as the father of modern missions.
And he urged his brothers to give generously so that he and others could devote their full attention to the spread of the gospel in India.
And so he famously wrote in a letter to his friend Andrew Fuller.
He said, I will go down into the pit if you will hold the rope.
And so Carey, he went to India, and Fuller stayed back.
And as Carey went about the work of spreading the gospel there in India, William Fuller stayed.
And he went around raising funds to support Carey's work so Carey could give his full time to the ministry.
Ministry often requires money.
We need rope holders.
You know this.
Our church has a budget.
And we have facility costs and ministry costs and personnel costs.
Our church has a budget.
All this to say, some 2,000 years later, separated from the book of Philippians, the truth is the same.
Ministry often requires money, which requires generosity from the church,
which requires each and every one of us to think and to pray and to plan for how we might give generously to the advance of the gospel.
So Paul gives three reasons here.
Three reasons.
There's three reasons here to give in these verses that he wants us to understand as we think about our own giving.
Think about these three reasons.
Layer number one.
The basic layer here is that we give because it blesses the recipient.
And that's the most obvious, right?
Paul's needs were met.
He says their giving has met his needs.
In fact, he says in verse 18, I've received enough.
I'm well supplied.
They've been generous and they've taken care of Paul.
That's the most obvious layer.
But there's another layer here in verse 17.
He says, not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.
You could read it like this.
He says, I seek the profit that accrues to your account.
Now, how in the world does that make any sense?
The money comes out of the Philippian bank account.
It goes into Paul's pocket.
And yet he says, they're the ones that are gaining interest here.
You are gathering riches in your account.
How?
Well, it's because Paul knows that there are riches that go beyond just simple physical material wealth.
There are riches that go beyond just dollars and cents and money.
There are blessings beyond just material and physical blessings.
There's a kingdom that's greater than this earthly kingdom.
And Christians are to seek it and invest in it and leverage everything that they have in this life for it to the glory of God.
And when they do, they are blessed in their giving.
So in other words, the second layer here, Paul says we give because it actually in turn blesses the one who gives.
It blesses the giver.
It is better to give than to receive, Jesus tells us.
You know, there's a reason why Jesus warned us about the dangers of wealth.
And the difficulty of the rich man entering the kingdom of God.
Wealth in and of itself, it's a blessing.
It's neutral.
But it can be incredibly alluring and deceptive.
It can very easily become a God.
And it has become a God for many in our culture.
Listen, Paul understands that when you loosen your grip on earthly treasures,
it is evidence that your heart has laid hold of a greater treasure.
When you loosen your grip on your earthly treasures,
it's evidence of God's grace at work in you.
When money becomes less of a God in your heart and more of a good,
more of a tool that you can leverage for the mission,
when you seek first the kingdom of God, there's blessing.
We're told, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be added unto you.
Financial generosity is proof positive in Paul's mind that they have renounced the earthly kingdom
and its systems of value and worth, and in its place,
they've embraced a greater and truer and more lasting kingdom above.
Give because it blesses the giver.
But ultimately, ultimately, he says, layer number three,
we give because it blesses God.
Verse 18, he says,
The gifts that you sent are a fragrant offering and a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
This gift that the Philippians sent, ultimately, he says,
is a sacrifice unto the Lord.
Now, let me tell you something that you already know.
God doesn't need your money.
God isn't begging for your dollars.
He doesn't need your money.
He's not broke.
He has no bills to pay.
God owns everything.
God doesn't need your money.
But it honors him when we open up our hands and say,
You've given me all that I have.
It belongs to you, and now I entrust it to you.
Would you use it for your glory?
It honors him.
But not just in the sheer act of giving.
It honors him when we give from the heart.
It honors him when we give as a sacrifice of worship.
Now, listen, if you hear these words and it just sounds like some sort of tax, you've missed it.
God loves a cheerful giver.
He doesn't need your money.
He wants the glory and the honor of seeing his children value him and his kingdom more than they value money.
And I do also want to say this before we move on.
If you hear this and it's overwhelming to you because you don't have much money, listen, again, the Lord knows your heart.
And remember the widow who only gave two coins.
What did Jesus say?
She gave more than the rich man with all of his wealth.
God will provide exactly what's needed for his mission.
And one of the primary ways he does this is through the generous, sacrificial giving of his people.
And again, as we turn the calendar to 2025, right now is an excellent time for us to plan and to pray and to strategize and to think about how you will give and honor God with your resources this year.
Paul says God will provide contentment in all circumstances.
He will provide resources needed for the mission.
But let me close here in this third point by asking one last question.
And it's an important one.
Where in the world does all of this come from?
Where in the world does all of this radical service and radical generosity and total contentment come from?
How in the world does Paul muster up contentment in a prison cell?
And how does the church in Philippi give and give and give and give and give again and again and again sacrificially?
All of this comes from a confidence that God will provide.
And in fact, a confidence that God has provided already everything that we need in Christ.
Look there again to verse 19.
Third and finally.
God has provided ultimately everything we need in Christ Jesus.
Paul says as he brings this book to a close.
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus.
To our God and Father be glory forever and ever.
Amen.
You wonder how in the world can Paul be content with his life on the line?
You wonder how in the world can the Philippians give and give and give and give?
How in the world will you and I learn to be content in all circumstances?
How in the world will you and I stop treating money as a treasure to be kept and more as a tool to be leveraged for his sake?
Here's the secret.
Paul truly believes that God has provided already everything he needs in Christ.
Do you believe that, church?
Does that sound like an exaggeration to you?
It's not an exaggeration for me to say that every single need you have has been met already in Christ Jesus.
Every single need you have.
If you can, by the grace of God, get yourself to the point where you are truly satisfied in Christ,
then you will be satisfied, period, in every circumstance.
If your satisfaction is rooted and anchored in somebody who is unchanging and glorious beyond anything in this world,
then you will be able to say with Paul that in any circumstance, in plenty or in lack, in comfort, in affliction, in trouble, in security,
God is all I need.
God's provided everything I need in Christ.
You'll stop gripping your earthly treasure so tightly and you'll find yourself being generous.
You'll desire to give because you realize you can't lose anything that truly matters.
You see, generosity and contentment both flow downstream from the heart of somebody who truly believes the gospel of Jesus Christ to be true for them.
The gospel is the good news that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor,
so that you by his poverty might become rich.
This was our Christmas Eve text just a few nights ago, and it teaches us, again, church, what it means to be truly rich.
You realize Christians know what it means to be truly rich.
And it has absolutely nothing to do with whatever's in your bank account.
To be truly rich is to know that you have everything you need in Christ.
The Christian knows that Christ, the King of glory, came and became poor so that poor sinners like me might become truly rich.
So that even if we have nothing apart from him, we know that we have everything in him.
And Paul says, if you know Christ, friend, you are rich.
And God will meet all of your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
So church, let's close this morning by considering all the riches that Paul has shown us that we have in Christ throughout this letter.
I just want to recap this beautiful letter to the church in Philippi.
He has shown us that in Christ Jesus, we have the riches of justification.
Would you rather have a few billion dollars or be righteous in the sight of God?
Paul says we are saints in Christ Jesus.
We are partakers of grace in Christ Jesus.
In Christ Jesus, our sins are washed away.
And even more than that, we have received the imputed righteousness of Christ credited to our bankrupt account.
Our sins are forgiven.
Our debt is washed away.
And we are credited with all of his righteousness.
In Christ Jesus, we are born again by faith in him.
And we are regenerated to new life.
And with that new life comes new purpose, new identity, a new ambition, a new boldness.
We can say with Paul, for us to live is Christ and to die is gain.
In Christ, we can truly live for something that's going to last into eternity.
In Christ, we're given renewed minds and renewed hearts so that we can really approve what is excellent.
And so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.
We can think upon and practice those things which are true and honorable and just and pure and lovely and commendable.
In Christ, we are being sanctified, being made ready for our eternal inheritance.
We have the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
And we have the assurance by his spirit in us that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ.
And we have the power for holiness.
It's not in us.
It's God who works in you to will and to work for his good pleasure.
In Christ, we have been adopted as daughters and sons of the living God.
We are brought into a new spiritual family where we share one spirit and one mind where we strive side by side for the faith of the gospel in Christ.
We have a true and lasting, worthy Lord of our lives.
No longer do we serve ourselves.
And no longer do we serve our sin.
No longer do we serve the enemy.
May we have a true and better king who has laid down his life, come down to us in humility, who has died for us, who has risen for us so that the confession of our tongue will be Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
In Christ, we have freedom from the slavery of self-righteousness.
In Christ, we put no confidence in the flesh.
We have his righteousness by grace, not our own broken righteousness by effort.
In Christ, we have a new belonging, a new citizenship.
We have a certain hope of glory ahead of us.
Our citizenship is in heaven.
And from it, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
In Christ, we have joy and peace unshakable.
The peace of God guards us.
The God of peace goes with us.
In Christ, we have the secret to contentment.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
In Christ, church, do you see?
You are truly, truly rich.
We have everything we need.
Because Christ himself is everything we need.
Friend, if you are in need this morning of love, forgiveness, acceptance, reconciliation with God, of peace, fellowship,
would you come to Christ?
Would you turn to him?
God is prepared and ready to give you everything you need in him.
Church, this is my prayer for you as we begin a new year.
That you would truly be able to sing as we did this morning.
But truly mean every word.
Hallelujah.
All I have is Christ.
Hallelujah.
Jesus is my life.
All I have needed, my God has provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.
Let's pray.
Lord, we thank you, Father, that you have met our every need in Christ Jesus.
And we thank you, God, for the many ways that you have provided and continue to provide for us.
And, Father, we pray that we would give ourselves completely to you.
Give ourselves completely to your mission with the confidence, God,
that you will give us everything needed for the task of bringing glory to your name.
We love you, Father.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.