Philippians 4:19-20
19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
What the Lord is Saying:
Our pastor gave this message on October 23 and I decided to take a deeper dive into analyzing the texts and also looking at some of the other texts leading up to this one. I started looking at this the day after and now it is a month later and I still am not finished with it. I taught Sunday School yesterday and this is what I taught on or really spent time with the class, wrestling through it and what this text really means to me, at this point in my life and then asking the class for their opinion on it.
To start with, I find it amazing that Paul has written these texts from jail as he was apprehended for sharing his faith. He speaks of being content and speaks of having an abundance - in prison. I wonder if in prison it is easier to see those types of things because your needs are perhaps less. Your responsibilities are less. Your necessities are less maybe in that situation.
This letter has been described as a thank you to the church at Philippi. He is thanking them for their kindness in reaching out to him while he is in prison. And also thanking them for other times in which they ministered to him. I was reading about the conditions of Philippi at this time. So the people that he was saying thanks to were not well to do or rich or having a plentiful amount of things. Yet they lived in a military colony, a thoroughfare between Asia and Europe - most likely a traveling destination. The church there was young, having started through the conversion of a few. There was a small remnant.
And thinking about people with little, they have much to give. I remember driving down a road and seeing a man in a modest truck reach over and grab his jacket and hand it to a homeless man begging for money on the corner. Yesterday, a man was asking for money where I was eating with my brother and our response is that we will buy him a meal. He clearly wanted money, not a meal, not food. My brother went and bought him food. He came out and admitted, he wanted money for a beer. He was homeless, but articulated well. He was nice. His name Eric. I told him about places to go, to try out. Things he could do to try and get work. I gave him ideas. I think he was making excuses. You could tell there was some comfort in his condition, a matter of fact way of life he lived. There was an apprehension to move beyond that.
In verse 3 of chapter 1 of Philippians Paul starts by saying, "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you." This following week is the week of thanksgiving and I am challenged to take time to simply thank God for one another.
As I come back now to this text, there is a tension I suppose in reading this. I wonder, what is it that God does in taking care of all people's needs in an equal manner. Or does he? Does it really mean this that everyone's needs are equal? Because the verse is specific to a person - "your" needs. The fuller meaning of this verse is God will fill-up all your needs. Yet there is a context to this verse. It is a promise and our pastor described it as a conditional promise. The conditional promise is found in the preceding verses and it is based upon the hearer or the church and their giving. The idea is that when a person gives, then they receive what they need. There is a return to their giving. Paul actually says in verse 18 that he has an abundance and in verse 17 the issue is not that he needs but that people need to give.
The tension I have in this lesson, is this promise. And perhaps how it applies to every Christian. My dilemma is the people I have in my life. Not the people that are the "have's" but rather those that "have-not." The people that are in need. At last what I perceive as being in need.
The idea of fill-up is the dog desiring to fill up your need. Dogs. Dogs provide me so much in life. They have this unconditional love. Our dog is at the door when you arrive. And he makes these noises when you arrive. He barks and is simply so excited you are home. It does not matter what kind of day I have had. I could have been mad at him the night before for getting into the pizza box and snagged a slice of pizza. It doesn't matter. He loves to see me. And Paul I think is telling us the same thing here. God will fill-up all your needs - down from His riches.
As I look at the Bible, I see a God that has taken care of people throughout history. And there are many ways in which He has provided for us, materially. "Go to the Land I will show you." This took a while. not through Moses did it happen, but rather Joshua. And He provided the land. Along the way, it was not all easy. It took hundreds of years and in that time there was starvation, difficult times. The people that enjoyed the provision eventually were many, but along the way others died.
Prior to this message was a message from a guest speaker from 2 Peter and in those verses I saw how he talked about His or God's promises (2 Peter 1:4) but I left the message wondering what these promises were exactly. Here is the text:
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
The promises mentioned were not clear to me. It seemed like a general statement that Peter's audience maybe knew and understand. Now, this week the lesson is His riches. "God will fill up all of our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." I see a similar theme here - God's providence.
The providence of God to me is a huge lesson in Scripture. Throughout scripture we have lessons of God's providence - or something He did for us, basically simply because He is God and He loves us.
How is that God will fill up everyone and fill up their needs? I read an article on Madagascar recently and the fact that this country is one of the countries that has the least amount of money. The life expectancy of this country is 63. And many there make the equivalent of $100 a month. Nigeria is another place where the average wage of people is about 130,000 Naira which is about $90. These are third world countries, so I wondered, for these people, how is it that God is supplying their needs. Do they get to experience this promise. How is that myself and others that are in Christ and live such different lives can their needs filled up?
I asked my Sunday School class to discuss this and offer suggestions. One thing people said in the class and I see as well is the focus of the text is actually on giving rather receiving. Verse 17 is a key verse in that we need to give. So there is a promise in receiving and it is often found though in giving. But people also mentioned a need to have gratitude. And also that we need to remember our focus and maybe our needs for each person are a little different. They also mentioned that in verse 11 Paul talks about being content and he even mentions a contentment of suffering need, of having little as well a contentment of having much. So there must be a contentment that even a person that may from my vantage point of having little economically, that person can still be content.
There is a thought that God grants us to have a peace. That we recognize what Paul said in Philippians 1:21, "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain." And in Philippians 4:13 in response to the words in verse 12 of the secret of living in every type of circumstance - being filled and going hungry -- that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
This doesn't mean that me as a person is not to give. I am to give. I am to seriously consider the people around me and their needs. I believe I do. A homeless guy came up to me on Saturday. I bought him a meal when all he wanted was change for a beer. He admitted. I also showed him how he can actually get a job - showing him all the steps and giving him a road map to this. I think there is a responsibility we have in this - to help others. But it isn't my responsibility to solve all of the needs of this world. So even as I am helping, there is also me trusting God through this.
In Chapter 4, there is a new paragraph that begins in verse 10 and continues through verse 20. Paul mentions that he has "learned to be content in whatever circumstances" he is in (v. 11). Whatever circumstances then would mean poor or rich, having things or not. Being sick or not sick. Having a job or not having a job. Being in prison rather than being free. He has learned "the secret of being filled and going hungry" (v. 12). There is a secret. This is a verb or an action. He also mentions having "abundance and suffering need." Thus, this contentment is not based upon what we have or don't have.
As such, the next verse -- "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" is speaking about "whatever circumstance." It is not necessarily speaking of what I am accomplishing in the future, but rather it is speaking to my present circumstance which may include hunger and suffering need. Thus, when I read the verse the most compelling part is not doing all things but rather Him strengthening me.
I took a moment and looked at the interlinear Greek word for word on this verse. It says, "all things I have strength in the [one] strengthening me." Christ is not written in this verse, but inferred. 2 Corinthians 1:9 has the same Greek word with the [one]. The word is dative masculine singular. Scholars believe this is pointing to Christ as the one giving strength. Philippians begins 1:1 and ends 4:23 with Jesus Christ. Thus the one points to Jesus Christ. We find strength because of our relationship in Christ. I do all things not because of my own strength or capability, but Christ's strength - that in an amazing and somewhat secretive way passes onto me.
Christ took on a strength in living a perfect life, responding to temptations not with sin, but fleeing from them, seeing people and what they are feeling on the inside, and ultimately going to the cross to die on it in order to redeem mankind for their sin. His death transfers his righteousness to mine and my access of this is by faith. This is all that the Word of God says and speaks. So if His righteousness can transfer over to Me, then so can His strength.
Thus, being in Christ transcends the events of my life. Because of His strength which strengthens me. That's the point of verses 10-13. Verse 14 mentions then Paul having been encouraged by the Philippians believers. They have come alongside Paul in the affliction and being in prison it would seem would be the affliction. There was sympathy. There was sending someone to visit him. There was a sharing. Paul was not left alone. The people came to him. We are not islands, but instead we are people to help others and be there for them. Thus, Christ strengthens people, but the people of God also strengthen people.
And with Paul in prison, what he received was a gift to meet the needs that he has. Verse 16, "you sent" and also in verse 18 "what you have sent."
And so in verse 19 is Paul's conclusion that God shall supply all your your needs or in whatever circumstance you are in because of being "in Christ Jesus." Thus verse 19 helps speak to the idea of verse 13 and Christ being the One who strengthens. It is all about being in Christ Jesus.
We are in Christ and that gives us strength but we are also a part of a community that provides for one another. God supplies our needs through His Son Jesus and His strength and through other people. This is the supply. God works in Christ and works through others.
Every need is an opportunity to trust God.
Every provision is a reason to worship God.
Every blessing is a call to Give Him Glory.
This is how the pastor on that day ended the message.
Prayer: God, thank you for these lessons, for taking me through them. For your journey with me this entire year. I have been low but thank you for picking me up and not letting me waste this trial I have been in. Keep helping me help others. Keep me aligned with others and what is going on with them. Help me to know how to meet their needs and when to step back. O God, you are rich. I know I am rich in comparison to them. Give me a peace that transcends it all.
