Providence

To Live Is Christ • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

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A mature Christian shares everything, his or her very self, gifts, talents, time, tithes for the work of Christ, to share the troubles of others, for these gifts are to his or her credit. Everything comes from Christ's infinite supply.

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Summary and Joy

The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians in order to express his appreciation for their concern for him, his well-being (after hearing he’d been imprisoned) and his ministry for the gospel of Jesus Christ. They encouraged him with gifts brought by their pastor, Epaphroditus, who nearly died during his mission to encourage Paul. Paul encouraged the Philippians to continue growing in maturity in Christian faith through faithfulness to Christ and his gospel mission.

Paul warned them about posers, people who present themselves as being awesome in Christ, but who actually take people away from the gospel by adding things to Christ, saying, “You need Jesus for salvation, yes, but you also need, circumcision, or church attendance, or giving money.” Their message was, “You need Jesus and something else.” Paul’s consistent message is, “Jesus alone.” Paul says he has found everything, all his desires, all his cares, all his needs in Christ alone. And that is our challenge also! We are bombarded with messages, on television, the radio, social media, everywhere, to aspire to certain status, economics or health. But Paul offers a different message: joy in the Lord.

Paul expresses his joy in the Lord, his happiness and appreciation for the ways that the Philippian church has consistently demonstrated their love for him. He reminds them of their generosity during his ministry in Macedonia—they alone supported him. He was especially thankful for sending Epaphroditus to him and blessing him with their gifts and encouragement.

Learned Contentedness

He does make it clear, however, that he in no way expected nor felt any right to receive a blessing from them. He simply acknowledged that their gift brought him great joy and encouragement. He had learned the secret of contentedness in any circumstance. At various times in his ministry, he had been blessed with abundance, and at other times he had been blessed with need. Whatever the circumstance, he’d learned contentedness, the secret of contentedness.

How did Paul learn this secret? He learned it through his conversion to Christ, his many difficulties, beatings, shipwrecks, hunger, thirsts, being left for dead, had the effect of drawing Paul closer to Christ. Paul grew in his love and appreciation for Christ. Paul understood Jesus’ love for Paul, his power in Paul’s life and that true contentment is found in Christ. Contentment in Christ is the greatest of all riches.

Paul isn’t content based on his own efforts. He is content because he knows that Jesus supplies all his needs, according to Jesus’ riches which are limitless resources. In this way, Paul could have been starving to death physically, but spiritually he was full. His spiritual health and welfare superseded his physical welfare, so that rather than, as often happens, the physical distressing the spiritual, the spiritual calmed the physical.

I’m sure we’re all familiar with situations, whether experienced by ourselves or others, that cause us to question God’s love for us. Illness, depression, addiction, financial woes, loss of work, ruined crops, break ups, ruined relationships, weather, wars, and more can all cause us to question God’s love. We’ve learned, inside the church as well as outside it, that good things are blessings, bad things are curses. Even though we’re living in the new covenant with Christ, we still operate according to the Old Covenant.

The Old Covenant says, “Obey, keep the commandments faithfully, neither going to the right or to the left. If you do not keep these things perfectly, God will punish you by removing you from the Promised Land, removing the comforts of life from you, removing opportunities, causing you hardship, pain, and sorrow, so that you will repent and try harder to obey.”

The New Covenant in Christ says, “I (Jesus) obeyed perfectly for you. The cause and effect of your obedience no longer matters. I am the righteous one, I have given you righteousness, power and strength, everything you need to be obedient, not because you have to, not because you’re afraid of losing what you have, or in order to get more, but because you love me and want to show your love and thankfulness through obedience.”

In this new covenant, we realise that we have everything we need spiritually first, then physically, or not, in this life, and in the life to come. Even if all things were stripped away and we were as destitute as Job, who lost his family, his fortune and his health in a matter of days, we’d still be content, because through it all, we still have Christ. That’s the secret of contentedness, grabbing hold of, and finding total joy and delight in Christ.

That’s the context of the phrase, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The context is learning the secret of contentedness. It is not the context of being able to pray so powerfully and faithfully as to move mountains. It is not so that I can suddenly become the best athlete, business person, rock star, student, stay at home mom, or whatever. It is the ability to do all things with the contentment that is found in Christ alone.

And the When Paul saw their gift to him, he saw Christ in them, working to bless him through them, he saw them sharing in his ministry.

Sharing in Ministry

And so, we find ourselves like the Philippians, sharing in ministry. They consistently sought to bless and encourage Paul in his ministry by giving him prayer support, financial support and emotional support by sending people to him. Paul’s letter makes it clear that the Philippians were prevented from helping Paul on many occasions prior to sending Epaphroditus, but they finally succeeded. Their efforts are a credit to them. Their gift truly was a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

By giving themselves to Paul and Christ’s gospel ministry, they shared in that ministry. They were partners with Paul, not only in Philippi, but also in Rome. Paul not only shared their gifts with those around him, the abundance of their giving would have allowed him to do so, he shared their story with others. As he shared, he would have said, “See how Christ is at work in our brothers and sisters in Christ in Philippi! Jesus is giving you this food, through them! See how Christ has increased their account through their generosity! See how brightly Christ shines in them, as they think less of themselves, in order to think highly of me, and by extension, you! Even though they don’t know you, they bless you and encourage you through their gifts.

Receiving in Ministry

There’s a second part of ministry that sometimes gets overlooked, but Paul demonstrates it well here. Often, when we think of ministry, we think of doing, not receiving. Receiving ministry from others is vitally important. If no one had needs, if everyone was self-sufficient, then those whom God gifted to give would have nowhere or no one to give of their gifts.

I occasionally experience this on hospital visits. Oftentimes people will tell me, “I don’t mind being in the hospital, but I’d much rather be visiting someone else, than being stuck here.” I then gently remind them, that if there’d been no one for them to visit, they wouldn’t be able to use their gifts. Now that they have a need, others are able to bless them with their gifts.

Do you see what I mean? If we, as a congregation, are always self-sufficient, then how can we possibly care for one another? If we need nothing from anyone else, then what will we do with the gifts God has given to us to give to others around us? The truth is, we’re not self-sufficient. God has purposely made us insufficient in all our needs, so that we can be blessed by him, through His people. When you have a need, express it. But I know it’s not easy, that’s one reason why we’re working hard to create community groups. The purpose of community groups is so that we can care for each other, and have our cares met. It’s where we live out some of the “one another” passages in scripture. The Philippians were one of Paul’s community groups who cared for and met his needs, through Christ.

And if you’re wondering where all the power, strength, and finances for meeting others’ needs come from, well they come from God who supplies all our needs, according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Glory to him for ever and ever.

Greetings and Grace

Paul demonstrates his love for God’s people through his greetings. He calls them the saints in Christ Jesus. If we have put our trust in Jesus, we are saints—holy ones, set apart for God’s work. The fellow workers with Paul also send their greetings, especially those in Caesar’s household. Paul casually name drops here, not for his glory, but for Christ’s—the power of Christ, through the Holy Spirit knows no boundaries, for even those in the emperor’s household received the gospel. Who in your household, your family, your community, neighbourhood, workplace might be receptive to the gospel? Share and you’ll find out! The Holy Spirit knows no limits! Trust him to give you the words, when you need them.

Paul’s parting words are grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace grants us access to Christ. Christ willingly walks with us, every day, to the end of the age. So where you go, home, school, work, wherever, know that Christ is with you, with your spirit. And knowing this, pray that you will be open and ready for opportunities to serve Christ, as he makes them known to you! Amen!

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