Paul's Thankfulness for Partnership and Support - Part 2

Alright, take your Bible and turn to Philippians chapter 4. We are going to be in verses 14-20 because this is a part 2. We will finish up verses 14-20. And just like last week I am going to ask you to turn to another portion of scripture, 1 Corinthians chapter 8. 1 Corinthians chapter 8, the first five verses there. We will get to that a little later on in the message. Now we are getting close to wrapping up the book of Philippians. That is obvious. And tonight we are going to finish up this last major block of scripture here. And the last major block is considered to be verses 14-20.

And next week we will finish up the book by examining verses 21-22. That is more powerful than you know. And then I have some concluding remarks I want to make. So next week we will finish up the book. Now I know I have said this, but we must not make the mistake of overlooking the importance of what we have here in these verses. What happens is this, when we are in a long study like this we get towards the end and we can lose steam, we can lose gas, or we can look you know for the next study. But we must be diligent because of how powerful this teaching is. Let me show you what I mean here.

From verses 10-14 Paul shared that he had learned the secret of being content in any and every circumstance that God had put him in. Of course Paul's contentment was related to his circumstances. It was in a Roman imprisonment and it was related to how the Philippians had reconnected with him and the support that they brought his way. That is why understanding the background is so very important, but think about it. Do we need to learn the secret of contentment in our lives? Do we need to learn the secret of contentment? And another question, can believers struggle with being content? Yes.

Like worry, contentment, a lack of contentment can plague us in our lives if we are not careful. And just like Paul learned, that might have surprised you. He learned the secret of contentment. We must make sure that we have learned the secret of being contented people. And not only do we learn that secret, we have to continue to learn that secret all throughout life because circumstances and challenges come our way that challenge that contentment. But think about it. What's the opposite of contentment? Unhappiness and dissatisfaction.

I have known Christians because circumstances didn't quite go their way or the way they wanted them to go, unhappiness and dissatisfaction stepped into their life, despondency and even depression. I have known Christians that they grew despondent and even lingering into depression. Why? Because they struggled with contentment. I have known Christians that they had circumstances that aggravated them and it kept them in this perpetual position of annoyance and even anger because circumstances had not worked out like they wanted. So what I am trying to show you is this. The importance of these verses.

One is contentment and learning contentment and understanding that God expects contentment to be a part of our lives. And then from verses 14 to 17 Paul shared how the Philippians had reconnected with him and also their current support. And he shared how they supported him in the past. So Paul gave this really quick but powerful history how the Philippians had supported him in his ministry. And this can be overlooked but it must not be. We have what I see as the greatest example of ministry partnership in the scripture. Maybe I am wrong. If you know of one that is better please show me and I will retract that statement.

But this is what I see as the best example of ministry partnership in the scripture. And this is important for us because this is what we should strive for. Healthy ministry partnerships. We should strive for healthy ministry participation between us and other churches, other pastors, other missionaries, and brothers and sisters in the pews there. I automatically think of bad examples from my past. I can remember being in churches where we had missionaries come in partnerships with churches and they looked good at first but then they turned out to be bad.

I can think of church circumstances where they were partnerships that maybe seemed good but they didn't last. Paul and his partnership with the Philippians was good at the beginning and it lasted. So I think about some of those bad examples. And I am also thinking about our opportunity with Grace Life Church of Cenotovia this summer, Pastor Chris Twilly. We will talk about that here pretty soon as some of those details are finalized. Now last week we started verses 14 to 20. Again this was a part one. Paul's thankfulness for partnership and support. Paul's thankfulness for partnership and support.

We covered verses 14 to 17 last week and I left off there and left verses 18 to 20 for us tonight. But this is what I want us to do in the message tonight. I want us to read the verses. I want to quickly review verses 14 to 17 and I am going to make a few additional comments and then we will divide verses 18 to 20. So let's read the verses. Verse 14 to verse 20. "Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel when I left Macedonia, no other church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving except you only.

Even in Thessalonica you sent me help from my needs once again." We see that pattern there once again. "Not that I seek the gift but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment and more and I am well supplied having received from a Papariditis the gifts that you sent me. A fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for forever and ever.

Amen." Now last week we looked at verses 14, 15 and 16 separately but yet they all go together and we saw the Philippians current support of Paul and their past support of Paul. Notice he worked backwards. He worked from the current circumstances to the past. Number one we saw the Philippians current support and it can be overlooked just in verse 14.

Remember I said that is kind of a transitional verse and if we're not careful we'll miss that but Paul referred to their current support by saying, "Yet it was kind of you to share in my trouble." Paul was truly saying that the Philippian believers had done an excellent and honorable even a beautiful thing and reconnecting with him in sharing with his trouble and in supporting him in his circumstances. And then number two we saw the Philippians past support. It was a rather lengthy teaching part of the message that was in verses 15 to 16. Here Paul did not just reference this past support. He was brief but he gave a great description.

He said, "And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel," in other words when all of this started, "when I left Macedonia no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving except you. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help from my needs once again." See that? It was a pattern. And out of these verses we learned quite a lot about the Philippian church which should serve as a model for us, a model for us to look to and strive towards. And to me the Philippian believers and their church there, they are a model in two ways. First they gave like we see here when they were in their infancy.

When they were a newly born church, I use this term "jumped." They jumped at the chance to support Paul and all of those who were traveling with Paul and the entire ministry. Right after they left Philippi they were in Thessalonica. That's still a part of Macedonia and they were in need. So they jumped at the chance to partner with Paul and to support Paul as he left them. And right after they left Philippi they were in Thessalonica. Paul was in need. So they jumped at the chance to partner in that ministry there. And it seems that their support enabled Paul to continue down to Athens, to Corinth. They funded Paul's ministry in those cities.

And it seems that 2 Corinthians 11 tells us they even funded Paul's ministry in Corinth. And there is a very big lesson here. This is a great, great, great example in giving to support others the size of church does not matter. And the age of the church does not matter. You see? They did this when they were a small, young congregation. So age doesn't matter and size doesn't matter. Number 2 or 2nd, they gave like we see here when they were more established. After 10 years they were more mature, a more established church. Paul wrote this letter 10 years after the church was born so he was writing to a much different congregation.

The same congregation but they had changed dramatically. They were much different in that they were not a new church. They were the same in that they had that same giving spirit it was still alive but it had grown. And the lesson here is great as well. It is one thing to be a giving people and even to give rightly. It is another thing to continue to give and to partner rightly for years and years and years. How many churches give and partner well but only for a little while? Only for a little while. Now there is something else I want to revisit here before we move on.

I am revisiting these things because I think these are things we should make sure we get. In verse 15 Paul said, "No church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving." Here we learn that Paul was using business language, accounting language. Scholars tell us that this same language was used in lots of other extra biblical language of the day and writing of the day. The legacy standard Bible says in the matter of giving and receiving. And I explained that this word matter in the original and this phrase giving and receiving in the original language and in their day this was business language. It was common accounting language.

This word matter it was sometimes translated accounts. A.T. Robertson says that no other church opened an account with Paul. That resonated with me. So Paul was literally saying that no other church opened up a ministry account with him but the Philippians. I explained that this giving and receiving it can be translated as credits and debits, accounting language. And this truly spoke of giving and receiving of physical and spiritual things between them. And I explained and elaborated on these things by saying the Philippian church opened up this ministry account with Paul.

They met Paul's material needs, sometimes certain ministry needs such as sending Paul help like a Paparidus. They encouraged Paul emotionally and spiritually through all of their love and their support. So they met many different needs in Paul's life and ministry. The Philippian church opened up a ministry account with Paul and Paul met many needs in their lives. The best example of how Paul met needs in their lives is this letter. He wrote to them and he met many different emotional and spiritual needs in their church through the letter. Paul also met needs in their lives and how he sent a Paparidus back to them to minister to them.

So Paul met many different needs in the lives of the Philippian church and those individual believers. And the Philippian church opened up this ministry account with Paul and Paul agreed to all of these things. He agreed to this arrangement, this partnership, this participation. And through their fellowship, through their partnership, through this participation in gospel ministry together, they all received quite a lot. They all received notice spiritually from God. And to me, we have to see this expectation. We have to have and see this kind of an expectation and partnership in ministry.

We should expect ministry partnerships and participations where we give and we receive. Think about the giving of material resources. That may be one way. In our Anchored in Truth partnerships, you know the larger churches, it's a lot of one way. And what I mean by that is, Grace Life Church of the Shoals, Shelby, Villemills, Baptist Church, those are larger churches. There's a lot of one-way giving. They give a lot of physical things. They don't receive a lot of physical things. Why? Because of how God has grown them and equipped them. But the giving of spiritual resources and blessing, it goes both ways.

Because when those churches give to people like us, they get spiritual blessing in return. I know that when Matt Fowler came down here and ministered to us, we blessed him. He blessed us. It was this mutual blessing going both ways. Lots of credits, lots of debits, lots of giving, lots of receiving. Sometimes it's hard to put our fingers on, but we see it and we know it when we see it. So in these verses, 14 to 15, we saw quite a lot that was going on in their partnership. We can see it like this. Yes, we see a partnership in ministry, but we see true ministry partnership and what that looks like.

We see what constitutes true ministry partnership. We see that which is at the heart of true ministry partnership and participation. And I promise you, I'll come back to these verses in the future. But before we move on, I want to quickly glance at Paul's motivation. This will be rather short. We covered this last week. Number three, we saw Paul's motivation in their support. Verse 17, Paul said, "Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit." Now this is rather simple, but it is profound. Simply Paul's motivation was not centered on the gift and gifts that were given in their relationship.

Paul's motivation was in fact centered on the giver of the gifts. Listen to the Amplified. I think it helps capture the meaning here. It reads, "Not that I seek the gift itself, but I do seek the profit which increases to your heavenly account the blessing which is accumulating for you." And again we see Paul using accounting language. He is saying that this type of giving which comes from the work of the grace of God in them, this type of giving turns into spiritual interest accruing to their account. Now my question for us is rhetorical here, but think about it. How have you been enriched by giving and receiving?

How have you been enriched in your spiritual life by giving and receiving? Do we even know what this looks like? Giving and receiving that enriches both parties spiritually. We should, this should not be foreign to us. And is this something that we know and something that we enjoy in our life, being enriched by giving and receiving? I'll give you an example. I have kept this example in my office drawer for several years. This giving and receiving. Several years ago, 2020, I got a little Christmas envelope and when I opened it up it was a check.

At the top of the little flap it said, "Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching." It's a quotation from 1 Timothy 5, 17. And it said at the bottom, "Merry Christmas passing on the blessing." It was a check for a thousand dollars I remember. And it paid bills. But in responding to the person, the family who gave that to me, I gave them a text. Thank you. But I wrote down what they text back. He said, "Our pleasure. We love y'all and you have our full support.

Thank you for your faithfulness." When I read, "You have our full support," that meant more to me than that check because there had been a lot of people in the life of our church who did not give me their full support. I cried, not because of the check. Giving and receiving. Giving and receiving spiritually. And I keep that in my office drawer and every now and then I just look at it, thank the Lord. Thank the Lord. And I'm not going to tell you who wrote it so don't ask. Now let's jump into verses 18 and 19, verse 20 as well.

Verse 18, "I have received full payment and more and I am well supplied having received from a Paproditis that gives you sent me a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God." Verse 19, "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus, to our God and Father be glory for forever and ever. Amen." So number four, we see out of verse 18 Paul's contentment in their support. Paul's contentment in their support. Now here Paul continues to use business or accounting language and he continues to really just elaborate on what he's been dealing with in all these verses.

This is all about Paul's thankfulness, his gratitude for their support, their partnership and the spiritual fruit. He's thankful for the spiritual fruit, the spiritual dividends, the positive spiritual consequences as a result of all of these things. Now here I want to zero in on a few things that Paul says here. First he says he received full payment. Here Paul is using an accounting phrase by saying that he received full everything in full.

And scholars tell us this very language was used in extra biblical writing in their day and it meant I have received and they say it's a technical term and it gives the sense of I have received and this is my receipt. And the point here is this, Paul was saying that he had received full payment and all of these things are my receipt and to me this hints at what they owed Paul. Remember the Philippians had opened up a ministry account with Paul and in doing so they were saying that they would support Paul. So Paul was not saying you owe me. He was saying that the Philippians had committed these things.

He was saying that the Philippians had committed to these things so from their side they are saying they owed him. So Paul was saying that he had received full payment of what they had agreed to. And there is a really big lesson here. When we make a commitment to spiritual and financial support in ministry we are saying that God has led us to those things. If we can't say that we shouldn't do it. When we make a commitment to spiritual and financial support in ministry we are saying that God has led us in those things and in doing so we are saying that this is what we owe. Think about it we do this in the world with a lending institution.

We go to the bank and we borrow money for a house or a car right? So we are entering into an arrangement, an agreement we are saying I owe this and I will pay this and if we don't pay it. Well when we are saying that God has led us to commit to spiritual and financial support in some kind of a ministry we are saying that God has led us to do these things so we are saying that we owe this support. You see? Then second he says that he had an abundance. Here Paul says that he has received their full payment and more. And if we are not careful we can overlook what Paul was saying here.

Simply this word more that we see in the English Standard Version it comes from a word in the original which means to exceed a fixed number of measure, to be left over above and beyond a certain number or measure. Simply it means excess overflowing. Well Paul was saying that what they said they owed and what he received was in full, it was in abundance, it was overflowing. I love what William McDonald says here. Meaning you have his commentary.

He says and I am quoting it seems strange in this day of 20th century commercialism to hear a servant of the Lord who is not begging for money but who on the contrary it means having sufficient needs met. The unrestrained begging campaigns of the present day are an abomination in the sight of God and are approached in the name of Christ. They are completely unnecessary. And I think about the contrast that McDonald gives us and I say this, Paul was content in what God gave him through God's people and the support that God had arranged for him. Paul did not beg for money.

He was content and very thankful in what God gave him through God's people and through that support and he understood that God led them there and they felt they owed that. There is a huge lesson for us here. Be content in what God has given us and if we are content and we see what God has given us the way we should, chances are we will see that our needs are met and even in abundance. And then third he says he was well supplied. Paul said I have received full payment and more. I am well supplied. The new American says I am amply supplied. The King James says I am full.

And the King James translates it this way because this phrase literally speaks of being filled up completely. And the English standard translates it well supplied because that is what Paul was saying. He was well supplied. He was saying his supplies were filled up. His supplies were in abundance. But a question what were these supplies? If we continue in the verse we can see that Paul tells us he says I have received full payment and more. I am well supplied having received from a Paparditis the gifts. Plural you sent. So we can see that all that Paul received from the Philippians through a Paparditis was there full of payment and more.

All the Philippians sent to Paul through a Paparditis that was even in abundance. But what did they send to Paul through a Paparditis? Actually we are not told many details. From chapter 2 verse 25 and here in verse 18 of chapter 4 we know that the Philippians sent a Paparditis to Paul. And from verse 25 we know that Paul said that he was a messenger sent from the Philippians Philippian church to Paul to minister to his needs and Paul called him a brother, a fellow worker and a soldier. And we see that he almost died in his service to the Philippian church to Paul into that ministry partnership.

But we do not know the details about what he brought to him. We can certainly speculate that it was money. That money was a part of it. And that any money sent to Paul through a Paparditis would have meant any and all of Paul's expenses both physical, personal needs and ministerial needs. He needed food, he needed clothing and he had ministerial needs. In 2 Timothy 4.13 we can see where Paul speaks about his clothing needs and the needs for books and parchments. Those were ministry needs. So the point is this.

Paul says that from the Philippian believers and through a Paparditis he received what the Philippians owed him from their commitment to God in the ministry account they had set up with Paul. His needs were met and even more. He had an abundance. He was filled up with all that he needed. And there is a lesson here. Those on the front lines in ministry they should be amply supplied. Don't ever let this lie come into your mind that those who are in front line ministry should stay humble and you keep them humble by just keeping them poor. We don't have that attitude here. But there are churches that have that attitude.

I have pastor friends who suffer. They're not in the Anchor and the Truth network. But what we have here is this front line ministers. They should be amply supplied with money, manpower, spiritual and emotional support in any and all support that they need. Those front line ministers should be amply supplied. I don't know but I'm a betting man here. I bet you as much as anything the emotional support that Paul received through a Paproditis from the Philippians was as valuable as anything. Remember the envelope that I read from? Our pleasure. We love y'all and you have our full support. A Paproditis came with that kind of heart.

A Paproditis spoke to Paul, spoke for the church and he was saying we love you. We have, you have our full support. I'm telling you that was as valuable as any check. Fourth, he explained how God saw these things. Look back at the verse. I'm in the English Standard right now. Paul said, "I have received full payment and more. I am well supplied having received from a Paproditis that gives you sent a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice and pleasing to God." Now here Paul changes language. He moves to Old Testament sacrificial system language.

He simply says that the gifts that the Philippians sent him were a sacrificial act of worship to God. These things were well pleasing to God, acceptable sacrifices to God. And the lesson here is this. Under the Old Covenant, God required animal sacrifices. But in the New Covenant, these are the types of sacrifices that God expects and requires. What we see here. Romans 12.1 says that by the mercies of God, we are to present our bodies dedicating all of ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and well pleasing to God. This is a rational, logical, intelligent act of worship. That's what we see at a Paproditis in the Philippians and Paul.

They were living sacrifices. And here, what does he say? All of this was beautiful in the sight of God. These were acceptable sacrifices pleasing to God. So here we see that Paul was very, very content with their support. He was very grateful and thankful for their support. And everything that came with that support, he even tells us that not only was he content in these things, but they had paid what they said they owed him unto the Lord. They met his needs and even more. And again, this should be our model. These things should be our goals. This should be our example. We should desire to be just like what we see here.

And then number five, Paul's confidence that God would meet their needs. Paul's confidence that he would meet their needs. In verse 19, here we have a verse that many believers have looked to and leaned on. Here we have a promise that countless believers have looked to for comfort. And sadly, many have abused this verse. Isn't it sad? Some of the best verses people abuse. But before we dig into the verse, we must remember the background of this verse. I have shared several times the background of the context of these verses, but one thing I don't think I've emphasized enough comes up here.

Simply this, the Philippians partner with Paul and supported Paul's needs, not out of an abundance, but out of great poverty and great suffering. Here's where I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 8. Now the context of those verses right here, simple, Paul's writing to the Corinthian church. Now the Philippians was a model church. Well, the Corinthians was definitely not a model church, a problematic church. I see some of you chuckling there. But he's writing to the Corinthians. Remember now, the support that the Philippians gave Paul enabled him to minister to Corinth. The Corinthians. Notice what he says.

"We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the church of Macedonia." Let me pause there. Macedonia was the region, not a city. Well, what churches were in the region of Macedonia? The Philippian church, the Thessalonica church, the Berean church. Verse 2, "For in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part." Scholars believe that he's primarily talking about the Philippians. "For they gave according to their means," as I can testify, "and beyond their means of their own accord." Nobody had to ask.

"Begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints." And this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God. Scholars tell us they were begging to send support to Jerusalem. And basically what we have here is this. The churches in Macedonia, the church at Philippi was one of these churches, and really the leader of those churches, these churches gave, they gave generously, they gave abundantly, and they gave even when they were facing great, great affliction, and they even begged to give more.

But notice how they gave out of a severe test of affliction, out of their abundance of joy, out of their extreme poverty, out of their wealth of generosity, simply they gave generously, sacrificially of their own accord, and they begged to give more. Right there, this is where Brother Jeff Noblet will say, "You can build a church on these people." Well, that's what we have. And it was to this church and out of these circumstances that Paul said with confidence that God would meet all of their needs. But notice how he breaks this verse down. This will be rather quick. He says, "My God," this is personal.

Paul knows God, and he knows that God can and will do these things. Paul says, "My God, speaking of the fact that any and all of their needs will be met by God personally." He says, "Will supply." This is a promise that these things will be met. Needs will be met. Every need. This is a promise to meet some needs. They know every need that they may have according to his riches. Now, it seems like I'm playing a word game here, but we need to see that God meets these needs not out of his riches, but according to his riches.

MacArthur says that, I'm quoting, "His giving to them would be relative to the immensity of his eternal wealth." McDonald says, "If a millionaire gave a dime to a child, he would be giving out of his riches. But if he gave $100,000 to some worthy cause, he would be giving according to his riches." Do you see the difference? Now, the point is this. God meets the needs of his people at times even abundantly according to the immensity of his eternal immeasurable wealth. Then in glory, one commentator said, "This is the address of the bank." Simply God's eternal immeasurable wealth is not found on earth. Oh, he owns all that too.

But this wealth is found in glory. And then also in Christ Jesus, simply God's eternal and immeasurable wealth is found in glory in Christ. He, thus Christ, is the source of all of God's riches. So Paul was presenting to these Philippian believers his confidence in God in all these things. He was saying to these believers, "My God will liberally supply, fulfill until it's full your every need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Simply, Paul had just said that God had met all of his needs liberally through them, even with great abundance. And now he is saying that God would in turn meet their needs.

Now, what's the lesson for us here? If we were to come to a place where we gave to true gospel work sacrificially, even to the point where some could say, "We are out of balance in our giving," Paul says here, "My God will liberally supply, fulfill until full your every need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Question, were the Philippians and the other Macedonian churches out of balance in giving like this? Think about that. Would we say, "Hold on a minute now, y'all might not should give like that. Y'all have a lot of poverty among your church." I mean, were the Philippians and the other Macedonian churches out of balance?

By our standards, yes, but by Paul's standards, no. By Paul's standards, no. But we need to see this promise. He says to the Philippians, what is he saying? God will meet these needs. But another question, is this kind of a blanket promise? Is this a name and a reclaimment? No, but the promise is true. Now, I don't have quite as much time here. You know, I have shared my testimony of conversion. I've shared my testimony of being called into the ministry, but there's a lot of my story in ministry I've not shared with you. Not hiding it. But there is a part of my testimony that proves this to be true.

When God led me to take Noah, I didn't make much money. I never asked. It didn't matter. I never asked. And I worked bivocationally to try to pay the bills, and I always worked a job where I could keep the church first. And I want to tell you something, there were some times it was really hard, but I knew what God called me to do. And the Lord is my witness and my wife is my witness.

I always said to her, if we keep the church first, and the call that God has on my life, and the call that God has on our family, and the call that God has on our lives, if we keep that call first, keep that call first, and we keep the church first and his work first, God will take care of it. It will all catch up. I said that thousands of times. Sometimes when we just had to stretch a dollar to pay the bills, and he has met all of our needs, and then some. As a matter of fact, during some of those times when we were trying to stretch a dollar, my wife was good at stretching a dollar and she'd find steaks on sale at the pig.

And we ate steaks like a king. Now I could elaborate more on that, but we've lived that. We can testify to it. And it's not me bragging, it's me bragging on him. Because there were some times when I kind of didn't quite have the faith, and I kind of wallowed in pity. Now I want to close this message by simply going to verse 20. Paul has given us what I have titled, Paul's Thankfulness and Partnership and Support, verses 14 to 20. But actually, I'm not sure if that title does it justice. I thought about some different titles even this afternoon. We could call these verses the best example of ministry partnership.

We could call these verses How a Church Should Give to Gospel Ministry. There's a lot of titles we could give here, but I think I'll stick with this one. Paul's Thankfulness for Partnership and Support. But one thing before we close, one thing before we close, let's look at the verse. Verse 20. What do we see? "To our God and Father be glory for forever and ever. Amen." How's Paul closing? In all these things, he's just praising God. He's just praising God. He begins with God, he ends with God, and God's in the middle. He begins with God, he ends with God, and God's in the middle of all these things. So let's pray.

Let's commit these things to the Lord, and then we'll look at some prayer needs.