A New Year's Wish
(No. 3231)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 1911.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"But my God shall supply allyour need according to His riches in Glory
by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19.
THE Philippians had several times sent presents to Paul to supply his
necessities. Though they were not themselves rich, yet they made a
contribution and sent Epaphroditus with it, "an odor of sweet smell, a
sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God." Paul felt very
grateful–he thanked God, but he did not forget to also thank the
donors–he wished them every blessing and he did as good as say, "You
have supplied my need, and my God shall supply yours. You have supplied
my need of temporal food and raiment out of your poverty. My God shall
supply allyour need out of His riches in Glory." "As," he says, in the
18th verse, "I have all and abound: I am full." "So," he adds, "'my God
shall supply all your need.' You have sent what you gave me by the hand
of a beloved Brother, but God will send a better Messenger to you, for
He will supply all your need 'by Christ Jesus.'" Every single word
sounds as if he had thought it over and the Spirit of God had guided
him in his meditation so that he should, to the fullest extent, wish
them back a blessing similar to that which they had sent to him–only
of a richer and more enduring kind!
Now, on this New Year's Day I would desire, somewhat in the spirit of
Paul, to bless those of you who have supplied, according to your
abilities, the needs of God's work in my hands, and have given, even
out of your poverty, to the cause of God according as there has been
need. I count myself to be personally your debtor though your gifts
have been for the students, the orphans, the book and track
distributors and not for myself. In return for your kindness, after the
manner of His gracious love, "my God shall supply all your need
according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus." This verse is
particularly sweet to me, for when we were building the Orphanage, I
foresaw that if we had no voting, and no collecting of annual
subscriptions, but depended upon the goodness of God and the voluntary
offerings of His people, we would have times of trial and, therefore, I
ordered the masons to place upon the first columns of the Orphanage
entrance, these words, "My God shall supply all your need according to
His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus." The text, therefore, is cut in
stone upon the right hand and upon the left of the great archway! There
stands this declaration of our confidence in God–and as long as God
lives, we shall never need to remove it, for He will certainly supply
the needs of His own work! While we serve Him, He will furnish our
tables for us!
I. The text might suggest to us a field of gloomy thought if we wished
to indulge the melancholy vein, for it speaks of "all your need." So,
first, behold A GREAT NECESSITY–"allyour need." What a gulf! What an
abyss! "All your need." I do not know how many Believers made up the
church at Philippi, but the need of one saint is great enough– what
must many need? It would not be possible to tell the number of God's
children on earth, but the text comprehends the need of the whole
chosen family, "allyour need." We will not ask you to reckon up the
wonderful draft upon the Divine bank account which must be made by all
the needs of all the saints who are yet on earth–but just think of
your own need–that will be more within the compass of your experience
and the range of your meditation! May the Lord supply your need and
allyour need!
There is our temporal need and that is no little matter! If we have
food and raiment, we should be content, but there are many of God's
people to whom the mere getting of food and raiment is a wearisome
toil–and what with household cares, family trials, sickness of body,
losses in business and sometimes the impossibility of obtaining
suitable labor, many of God's saints are as hard up as Elijah was when
he sat by the brook Cherith. If God did not send them their bread and
meat in a remarkable manner, they would surely starve–but their bread
shall be given them and their water shall be
sure. "My God shall supply all your need." You have, perhaps, a large
family and your needs are therefore greatly increased. The declaration
of the text includes the whole of your needs–personal and relative!
After all, our temporal needs are very small compared with our
spiritual needs. A man may, with the blessing of God, pretty readily
provide for the needs of the body, but who shall provide for the
requirements of the soul? There is need of perpetual pardon, for we are
always sinning. And Jesus Christ's blood is always pleading for us and
cleansing us from sin! Every day there is need of fresh strength to
battle against inward sin and, blessed be God, it is daily supplied so
that our youth is renewed like the eagle's! As good soldiers of Jesus
Christ, we need armor from head to foot–and even then we do not know
how to wear the armor, or how to wield the sword unless He who gave us
these sacred implements shall be always with us. Warring saint, God
will supply all your need by His Presence and Spirit. But we are not
merely warriors, we are also workers. We are called, many of us, to
important spheres of labor, (and, indeed, let no man think his sphere
unimportant), but here, also, our hands shall be sufficient for us and
we shall accomplish our life-work. You have need to be helped to do the
right thing, at the right time, in the right spirit and in the right
manner–your need, as a Sunday school teacher, as an open-air preacher
and especially as a minister of the Gospel, will be very great, but the
text meets all your requirements–"My God shall supply all your need."
Then comes our need in suffering, for many of us are called to take our
turn in the Lord's prison camp. Here we need patience under pain and
hope under depression of spirit. Who is sufficient for furnace-work?
Our God will supply us with those choice Graces and consolations which
shall strengthen us to glorify His name even in the fires! He will
either make the burden lighter, or the back stronger–He will diminish
the need, or increase the supply.
Beloved, it is impossible for me to mention all the forms of our
spiritual need. We need to be daily converted from some sin or other,
which, perhaps, we have scarcely known to be sin. We need to be
instructed in the things of God, we need to be illuminated as to the
mind of Christ, we need to be comforted by the promises, we need to be
quickened by the precepts, we need to be strengthened by the Doctrines.
We need, oh, what do we not need? We are just a bag of needs and a heap
of infirmities! If any one of us were to keep a need book, as I have
seen tradesmen do, what a huge folio it would need to be! And it might
be written inside and out and crossed and re-crossed, for we are full
of needs from the first of January to the end of December! But here is
the mercy–"My God shall supply all your need." Are you put in high
places? Have you many comforts? Do you enjoy wealth? What need you have
to be kept from loving the world, to be preserved from wantonness and
pride and the follies and fashions of this present evil world! My God
will supply your need in that respect. Are you very poor? Then the
temptation is to envy, to bitterness of spirit, to rebellion against
God. "My God shall supply all your need." Are you alone in the world?
Then you need the Lord Jesus to be your Companion and your Companion He
will be! Have you many around you? Then you have need of Grace to set
them a good example, to bring up your children and manage your
household in the fear of God. "My God shall supply all your need." You
have need, in times of joy, to be kept sober and steady. You have need,
in times of sorrow, to be strong and act like men. You have needs in
living and you will have needs in dying–but your last need shall be
supplied as surely as your first! "My God shall supply allyour need."
Come, then, Brothers and Sisters, and look down into this great gulf of
need and exultingly say, "O Lord, we thank You that our needs are
great, for there is then more room for Your love, Your tenderness, Your
power, Your faithfulness to fill the chasm!"
That first thought, which I said might be a gloomy one, has all the
dreariness taken out of it by four others equally true, but each of
them full of good cheer! The text not only mentions a great necessity,
but it also mentions a great Helper–"My God." Next, a great supply– '
'My God shall supply all your need." Thirdly, an abundant store out of
which to draw the gift–"according to His riches in Glory." And lastly,
a glorious Channel through which the supply shall come–"by Christ
Jesus."
II. So, for our enormous needs here is A GREAT HELPER. "My God s hall
supply all your need." Whose God is that? Why, Paul's God! That is one
of the matters in which the greatest saints are no better off than the
very least, for though Paul called the Lord, "My God," He is my God,
too! My dear old Friend who sits yonder and has nothing but a few pence
in all the world, can also say, "and He is my God, too! He is my God
and He is as much my God if I am the meanest, most obscure and weakest
of His people, as He would be my God if I were able, like Paul, to
evangelize the nations!" It is to me delightful to think that my God is
Paul's God, because, you see, Paul intended this–he meant to say,
"You see, dear Brothers and Sisters, my God has supplied all my needs
and as He is your God, He will supply yours." I have been in the Roman
dungeon in which Paul is said to have been confined–and a comfortless
prison, indeed, it is! First of all you descend into a vaulted chamber
into which no light ever comes except through a little round hole in
the roof. And then, in the middle of the floor of that den, there is
another opening through which the prisoner was let down into a second
and lower dungeon in which no fresh air or light could possibly come to
him. Paul was probably confined there. The dungeon of the Praetorium in
which he was certainly housed is not much better. Paul would have been
left well-near to starve there, but for those good people at Philippi!
I should not wonder but what Lydia was at the bottom of this kind
movement, or else the jailer. They said, "We must not let the good
Apostle starve." And so they made up a contribution and sent him what
he needed–and when Paul received it, he said, "My God has taken care
of me. I cannot make tents here in this dark place so as to earn my own
living, but my Master still supplies my need! And even so, when you are
in straits, He will supply yours."
"My God." It has often been sweet to me, when I have thought of my
orphan children, and money has not come in, to remember Mr. Muller's
God and how He always supplied the children at Bristol. His God is my
God–and I rest upon Him. When you turn over the pages of Scripture and
read of men who were in serious trouble and were helped, you may say,
"Here is Abraham, he was blessed in all this and Abraham's God will
supply all my need, for He is my God. I read of Elijah, that the ravens
fed him. I have Elijah's God and He can command the ravens to feed me
if He pleases. The God of the Prophets, the God of the Apostles, the
God of all the saints that have gone before us–"this God is our God
forever and ever." It seems to be thought by some that God will not
work, now, as He used to. "Oh, if we had lived in miraculous times,"
they say, "then we could have trusted Him! Then there was manifest
evidence of God's existence, for He pushed aside the laws of Nature and
worked for the fulfillment of His promises to His people." Yet that was
a rather coarser mode of working than the present one, for now the Lord
produces the same results without the violation of the laws of Nature!
It is a great fact that without the disturbance of a single law of
Nature, prayerbecomes effectual with God! And God being enquired of by
His people to do it for them, does fulfill His promise and supplies
their needs. Using means of various kinds, He still gives His people
all things necessary for this life and godliness! Without a miracle, He
works great wonders of loving care–and He will continue to do so!
Beloved, is the God of Paul your God?Do you regard Him as such? It is
not every man who worships Paul's God. It is not every professing
Christian who really knows the Lord at all, for some invent a deity
such as they fancy God ought to be! The God of Paul is the God of the
Old and New Testament–such a God as we find there. Do you trust such a
God? Can you rest upon Him? "There are such severe judgments mentioned
in Scripture." Yes, do you quarrel with them? Then you cast Him off!
But if, instead thereof, you feel, "I cannot understand You, O my God,
nor do I think I ever shall, but it is not for me, a child, to measure
the Infinite God, or to arraign You at my bar and say to You, 'Thus
should You have done, and thus ought You not to have done.' You say,
'Such am I,' and I answer, 'Such as You are, I love You and I cast
myself upon You, the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob–the God of
Your servant Paul. You are my God and I will rest upon You.'" Very
well, then, He will "supply all your need, according to His riches in
Glory by Christ Jesus." Just think of that for a minute!
If He will supply you, you will be supplied, indeed, for God is
Infinite in capacity! He is Infinitely wise as to the manner of His
actions and Infinitely powerful as to the acts themselves! He never
sleeps nor tires. He is never absent from any place, but is always
ready to help. Your needs come, perhaps, at very unexpected times–they
may occur in the midnight of despondency or in the noonday of
delight–but God is always near to supply the surprising need! He is
everywhere present and everywhere Omnipotent and He can supply all your
need, in every place, at every time, to the fullest degree!–
"Remember that Omnipotence has servants everywhere"–
and that whenever God wishes to send you aid, He can do it without
pausing to ask, "How shall it be done?" He has but to will it and all
the powers of Heaven and earth are subservient to your necessity! With
such a Helper, what cause have you to doubt?
III. The next point in the text is, A GREAT SUPPLY. "My God shall
supply all your need." Sometimes we lose a good deal of the meaning of
Scripture through the translation. In fact, nothing ever gains by
translation except a bishop. The present passage might be rendered
thus, "My God will fill to the fullest all your need." The illustration
which will
best explain the meaning is that of the woman whose children were to be
sold by her creditor to pay the debts of her late husband. She had
nothing to call her own except some empty jars–and the Prophet bade
her set these in order and bring the little oil which still remained in
the cruse. She did so and he then said to her, "Go among your neighbors
and borrow empty vessels, not a few." She went from one to another till
she had filled her room full of these empty vessels–and then the
Prophet said, "Pour out." She began to pour out from her almost empty
cruse and, to her surprise, it filled her largest jar! She went to
another and filled that, and then another and another! She kept on
filling all the jars till, at last she said to the Prophet, "there is
not a vessel more." Then the oil stopped, but not till then! So will it
be with your needs. You were frightened at having so many needs just
now, were you not? But now be pleased to think you have them, for they
are just so many empty vessels to be filled! If the woman had borrowed
only a few jars, she could not have received much oil–but the more
empty vessels she had–the more oil she obtained! So the more wants and
the more needs you have–if you bring them to God, so much the
better–for He will fill them all to the brim and you may be thankful
that there are so many to be filled! When you have no more needs, (but
oh, when will that be), then the supply will stop, but not till then!
How gloriously God gives to His people! We needed pardon once–He
washed us and He made us whiter than snow! We needed clothing, for we
were naked. What did He do? Give us some rough dress or other? Oh, no!
But He said, "Bring forth the best robe and put it on him." It was a
fortunate thing for the prodigal that his clothes were all in rags, for
then he needed raiment and the best robe was brought forth! It is a
grand thing to be sensible of spiritual needs, for they will all be
supplied. A conscious need in the sight of God–what is it but a
prevalent request for a new mercy? We have sometimes asked Him to
comfort us, for we were very low. But when the Lord has comforted us,
He has so filled us with delight that we have been inclined to cry with
the old Scotch Divine, "Hold, Lord, hold! It is enough! I cannot bear
more joy. Remember I am only an earthen vessel." We, in relieving the
poor, generally give no more than we can help, but our God does not
stop to count His favors–He gives like a king! He pours water upon him
that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground!
IV. We must pass on to the next thought and consider for a minute or
two THE GREAT RESOURCES out of which this supply is to come. "My God
shall supply all your need, according to His riches in Glory." The
preacher may sit down, now, for He cannot compass this part of the
text. God's riches in Glory are beyond all thought!
Consider the riches of God in Nature–who shall count His treasures?
Get away into the forests–travel on mile after mile among the trees
which cast their ample shade for no man's pleasure, but only for the
Lord. Mark on lone mountainside and far-reaching plain the myriads of
flowers whose perfume is for God alone. What wealth each spring and
summer is created in the boundless estates of the great King! Observe
the vast amount of animal and insect life which crowds the land with
the riches of Divine Wisdom, for "the earth is the Lord's, and the
fullness thereof." Look towards the sea–think of those shoals of fish,
so countless that when only the fringe of them is touched by our
fishermen, they find enough food to supply a nation! Mark, too, the
sunken treasures of the ocean which no hand gathers but that of the
Eternal. If you would see the wealth of the Creator, cast your eyes to
the stars–count their numbers if you can! Astronomy has enlarged our
vision and made us look upon this world as a mere speck compared with
innumerable other worlds that God has made and it tells us that
probably all the myriads of worlds that we can see with the telescope
are a mere fraction of the countless orbs which are in infinite space!
Vast are God's riches in Nature. It needs a Milton to sing, as he sang
in Paradise Lost, the riches of the creating God!
The riches of God in Providence are equally without bound. He says to
this creature, "Go," and he goes, and to another, "Do this," and he
does it, for all things do His bidding. Think of the wealth of God in
Grace. There Nature and Providence stand eclipsed, for we have the
Fountain of Eternal Love, the gift of an Infinite Sacrifice, the
pouring out of the blood of His own dear Son and the Covenant of Grace
in which the smallest blessing is infinite in value! The riches of His
Grace! "God is rich in mercy"–rich in patience, love, power,
kindness–rich beyond all conception!
Now your needs shall be supplied according to the riches of Nature, the
riches of Providence and the riches of Grace! But this is not all–the
Apostle chooses a higher style and writes "according to His riches in
Glory." Ah, we have never seen God in Glory! That were a sight our eyes
could none at present behold! Christ in His Glory, when transfigured
upon earth, was too resplendent a spectacle even for the tutored eyes
of Peter, James, and John–
"At the too-transporting light"–
darkness rushed upon them and they were as men that slept! What God is
in His Glory do you know, you angels? Does He not veil His face even
from you lest, in the excessive brightness of His Essence, even you
should be consumed? Who among all His creatures can tell the riches of
His Glory when even the heavens are not pure in His sight and He
charges His angels with folly?
"His riches in Glory." It means not only the riches of what He has
done, but the riches of what He could do, for if He has made hosts of
worlds, He could make as many myriads more–and then have but begun!
The possibilities of Omnipotent God, who shall reckon? But the Lord
shall supply all your need according to such glorious possibilities.
When a great king gives according to his, riches, then he does not
measure out stinted alms to beggars, but he gives like a king, as we
say. And if it is some grand festival day, and the king is in his state
array, his largesse is on a noble scale. Now, when God is in His Glory,
think, if you can, what must be the largesse that He distributes–what
the treasures that He brings forth for His own beloved! Now, "according
to His riches in Glory," He will supply all your needs. After that,
dare you despond? O Soul, what insanity is unbelief? What flagrant
blasphemy is doubt of the love of God! He must bless us; and, blessed
by Him, we must be blest, indeed! If He is to supply our needs
"according to His riches in Glory"–they will be supplied to the
fullest!
V. Now let us close our meditation by considering THE GLORIOUS CHANNEL
by which these needs are to be supplied–"According to His riches in
Glory by Christ Jesus." You shall have all your soul's needs satisfied,
but you must go to Christ for everything. "By Christ Jesus." That is
the Fountainhead where the Living Waters well up! You will not supply
your needs by your own care and fretfulness. "Consider the lilies, how
they grow." You are to be enriched "by Christ Jesus." You will not have
your spiritual needs supplied by going to Moses and working and toiling
as if you were your own savior, but by faith in Christ Jesus! Those who
will not go to Christ Jesus must go without Divine Grace, for God will
give them nothing in the way of Grace except through His Son! Those who
go to Jesus the most, shall taste of His abundance more often, for
through Him all blessings come! My advice to myself and to you is that
we abide in Him for since that is the way by which the blessing comes,
we had better abide in it! We read of Ishmael that he was sent into the
wilderness with a bottle, but Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-Roi. And it
is wise for us to dwell by the Well, Christ Jesus, and never trust to
the bottles of our own strength. If you wander from Christ Jesus,
Brothers and Sisters, you depart from the center of bliss!
All this year I pray that you may abide by the well of this text. Draw
from it. Are you very thirsty? Draw from it, for it is full! And when
you plead this promise, the Lord will supply all your need! Do not
cease receiving from God for a minute. Let not your unbelief hinder the
Lord's bounty, but cling to this promise, "My God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus." I know not how
to wish you a greater blessing. If you are enabled by the Holy Spirit
to realize it, you will enjoy what I earnestly wish for you, namely– A
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 2 KINGS 4:1-7; PHILIPPIANS 4.
2 Kings 4:1. Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons
of the Prophets unto Elisha, saying, Your servant, my husband, is dead
and you know that your servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is
come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. It is sad for anyone
to be in debt and yet there may be circumstances under which even a man
who fears the Lord may die in debt and leave no provision for his wife
and children except a large portion of sorrow. In the case of this poor
widow, it was not long before she cried to Elisha, "The creditor is
come." He generally does come pretty quickly and he had come to her to
take away her two sons whom she needed to support her–to make them
bondmen–slaves, to serve him for a certain number of years till their
father's debt was worked out. And this hurt the poor woman's heart, so
she came to see what the Lord's servant could do for her. She could not
bear to see her sons taken away to serve as bondmen to a stranger
through no fault of their own and, possibly, through no fault on their
father's part.
2. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do foryou?Elisha was probably
about as poor as she was, so what could he do for her?
2. Tell me, what have you in the house?"Whatever there is in the house
must go towards this debt, so 'tell me what have you in the house?'"
2. And she said, Your handmaid has not anything in the house, save a
pot of oil Her husband had been a Godfearing man, a true servant of
Jehovah, yet he had died in such dire poverty that his widow had to say
to Elisha, "Your handmaid has not anything in the house, save a pot of
oil." Those were indeed bad times for the sons of the Prophets for, in
those days men cared more for false prophets and for the priests of
Baal than for the servants of the Most High God!
3. Then he said, Go, borrow vessels abroad of all your neighbors, even
empty vessels; borrow not a few. [See Sermon
#2063, Volume 35–THE FILLING OF EMPTY VESSELS.] "Get as many empty
oil jars as you can, it does not matter how great nor how many they
are, but they must be empty."
4-6. And when you are come in, you shall shut the door upon you and
upon your sons, and shall pour out into all those vessels, and you
shall set aside that which is full So she went from him and shut the
door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and
she poured out And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that
she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her,
There is not another vessel. And the oil stopped [See Sermon #1467-
A, Volume 25–THE OIL AND THE VESSELS.] There was no reason why
"the oil stopped" except that there was "not another vessel" to receive
the flowing stream!
7. Then she came and told the man of God. She must have understood that
the oil was to be used for the payment of her debt, but she was a woman
of delicate sensitiveness, with a tender conscience–as honest people
usually are–so she wanted full permission from Elisha before she would
dispose of the oil. She regarded it, in some sense, as his oil–as it
was through using the means that he had directed that her little store
of oil had been so miraculously multiplied. So "she came and told the
man of God."
7. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt, and live, you and
the children off the rest What a merciful deliverance that was for the
poor widow and her sons! And there have been many other deliverances in
the experiences of God's people which, if they have not been quite as
miraculous as this one, have, nevertheless, been very remarkable–
although God has appeared to work them the common way in which He is
constantly working. Yet they have been uncommon mercies all the while.
Now let us read Paul's letter to the Christians at Philippi who had
been the means of supplying his necessities, though not in the
miraculous manner in which the Prophet Elisha had supplied the needs of
that poor widow.
Philippians 4:1. Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for,
my joy and crown, so standfast in the lord,
my dearly beloved. [See Sermon #1959, Volume 33–THE WATCHWORD FOR
TODAY–STAND FAST.] Paul had a very warm affection for the Church at
Philippi. You remember how that Church was established–first with the
baptized household of Lydia and afterwards with the baptized household
of the jailer. These saints at Philippi were, in a special sense,
Paul's spiritual children. They were very generous and kind to him, and
his heart was very warm with love to them, so he called them, "my
brethren dearly beloved," and then again, "my dearly beloved."
2. I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same
mind in the Lord.These two women had fallen out with one another. They
evidently differed upon some question or other so that they were not
"of the same mind in the Lord," and Paul thought it so important that
there should be perfect unity and love in the Church at Philippi, as
well as everywhere else, that he beseeched these two women, of whom we
know nothing else, that they would be "of the same mind in the Lord."
Notice that he beseeches each of them in exactly the same way–"I
beseech Euodias, and beseech Syn-tyche." He has a, "beseech," for each
of them! Perhaps, if he had written, "I beseech Euodias and Syntyche,"
the latter lady might have fancied that he was not quite so earnest
about her as he was about Euodias, so he puts it, "I beseech Euo-dias,
and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord." Have
any of you fallen out, my dear Friends? I do not know of any of you who
have done so, but if you have, I say to all of you, men or women, "I
beseech you, that you be of the same mind in the Lord." There is
nothing like perfect unity in a Christian Church! If there is even a
little division, it will grow to something much worse, by-and-by, so I
beseech you, "be of the same mind in the Lord."
3. And I entreat you, also, true yokefellow–Their minister–
3. Help those women which labored with me in the Gospel, with Clement,
also, and with other of my fellow laborers, whose names are in the Book
of Life. They helped me, and they have helped you, so help them with
encouraging words and in every other way that you can.
4. Rejoice in the Lord always. Not only now and then, on high days and
holiday, have a time of joy, but, "rejoice in the Lord always."
4. And again I say, Rejoice. [See Sermon #2405, Volume 41–JOY, A
DUTY.] He had said this before, as you will see in the first verse of
the third Chapter, which begins, "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the
Lord." Now he writes it again and repeats it in the same
verse–"Rejoice. Rejoice." It is so important that Believers should be
full of joy that Paul writes three times over in a short space,
"Rejoice in the Lord." "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say,
Rejoice."
5. Let your moderation be known unto all men.Be men who are
God-governed, because God governs those who run to excess in nothing.
Some go to excess in one way and some in another, but all excess is to
be avoided! "Let your moderation be known unto all men."
5, 6. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing. This is not a good
translation of the original–it does not convey the sense of the Greek.
It should to, "Be anxious for nothing." Of course you ought to be
careful about everything. You cannot be too careful, but you never
ought to be care-full, you must care to be right with God, yet you must
not be filled with care about anything. "Be anxious for nothing." Do
not fret, do not worry, do not make other people miserable by your
fretting and fuming and fueling.
6, But in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let
your requests be made known unto God [See
Sermon #2351, Volume 40–PRAYER, THE CURE FOR CARE.] Ah, this is the
way to find the cure for all your anxieties! Take all your trouble to
God with a prayer and with a song. Do not go without either the
thanksgiving or the prayer, but bear your burden at once to God and ask
Him to bear it for you.
7, 8. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep
your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever
things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just,
whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things
are of good report; if there is any virtue and if there is any praise,
think on these things. If anything is true, honest, just, pure, lovely,
of good report–be on that side. A Christian is on the side of
everything that makes for purity, chastity, honesty or that is for the
good of men and the Glory of God! Whenever anyone is making out a list
of those who will fight for everything that is right and good, every
Christian should say to the man writing the list, "Set down my name,
Sir."
9, 10. Those things which you have both learned, and received, and
heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of Peace shall be with you. But
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me
has flourished again; wherein you were also careful, but you lacked
opportunity You see that Paul did not really mean, "Be careful for
nothing," for he says here that these Philippians had cared for him and
he praises them for being careful of him. They had lovingly thought of
him who was their spiritual father–and when they knew that he was shut
up as a prisoner in Rome, and suffering need, they took care to send
something to relieve and cheer him.
11. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned, in whatever
state I am, therewith to be content [See Sermon
#320, Volume 6–CONTENTMENT.] "I have been initiated-for that is
the word–"among those who are content with such things as they have."
12, 13. Iknow both how to be abased, andIknowhow to abound: everywhere
andin all things Iam instructed both
to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can
do all things through Christ which strengthens me.
[See Sermons #345 and #346, Volume 6–SELF-SUFFICIENCY SLAIN and
ALL-SUFFICIENCY MAGNIFIED.] "I can be poor, or I can have abundance, if
you send it to me, but these things make no real difference to me. I
have been made invulnerable either to suffering or to abundance."
Blessed is the man who has got as far as that! It is a wonderful work
of Divine Grace when a man can truly say this!
14, 15. Nevertheless you have done well, thatyou shared with my
affliction. Nowyou Philippians also know that in
the beginning of the Gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no Church
shared with me as concerning giving and receiving, but you only.I
should not wonder if it was Lydia who was at the bottom of that giving
and receiving and, per-
haps, the jailer. They were evidently thoughtful and grateful people.
They remembered the Apostle's sufferings and needs and did all they
could to help and cheer him.
16, 17. For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again unto my
necessity. Not because I desired a gift, but I desire fruit that may
abound to your account.He did not look at it as merely something that
would ease him, but he looked at it as a token of gratitude for the
spiritual blessings they had received through him! It showed that they
loved the Gospel which he preached and that they also loved him for
having been blessed by God to their souls–and this cheered and
delighted him. But, to show that he was not asking for more, he says–
18. But I have all, and abound: I am full I do not suppose that it
amounted to much, but it was all that the Apostle needed–and so he
says to them, "I have all, and abound: I am full."
18, 19. Having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from
you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to
God. But my God shall supply allyour need according to His riches in
Glory by Christ Jesus. I am sure that when they read this verse, they
all felt glad that they had had a share in the subscription to relieve
the Apostle's needs.
20, 21. Now unto God and our Father be Glory forever and ever. Amen.
Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. "Give them all my love and tell
them how grateful I am to them."
21, 22. The brethren which are with me greet you. All the saints salute
you, chiefly they that are of Caesars house-hold.Exposed to the
greatest perils and yet brave to confess Christ! They may have been
nothing but poor kitchen maids, or they may have been among the
Praetorian guards who watched and guarded the palace and the prisoners,
but they must have their title set down in the letter, "chiefly they
that are of Caesar's household."
23. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.