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Philippians Chapter 4
Paul is at the point in his letter where he's going to offer his final encouragements and greetings to this church. He's offered a prayer of thanksgiving and promise and a blessing on the church. He's also briefed them on his condition and his prospects of being freed from prison. Paul has shared his dilemma of wanting to be with Christ or staying on and continuing his work with them. From these personal remarks he moves on to the core issue of his letter Which is an exhortation to continue believing that salvation comes by a system of faith and not a system of lawkeeping, rule keeping.
Now his goal is to point the way to a more mature experience and expression of the Christian faith. These people are already good Christians. He has nothing negative to say about them. But he wants to push them to go further. There's more to do. There are other heights to reach.
Maturing in Christ has certain features that can be seen in a Christian whose faith is growing and Paul gives them five examples of Christian maturity.
The five are:
The mature Christian stands firm in the faith, not moved away from belief by false teaching or adversity. Christian maturity not moving away from what we’ve been taught. In the Churches of Christ there is this AD 70 movement promoting the idea that Jesus has already come. A lot of people were talking about this and debating it and so on. There are always fads and ideas that work their way into the church. It's a cyclical thing. It's happened since the beginning and it continues even in our day today. Paul is saying a mature Christian isn't moved away from the faith, from the Gospel, by every fad and idea that happens to run through the church.
The mature Christian imitates Christ in his denial of self in order to be molded in the image of the Lord.
he mature Christian rejoices in trial, knowing that trials are a way of growing and measuring faith. Some people confuse this with masochism. I'm not happy that there's a trial. I'm not happy that the roof just caved in. But the trials don't destroy our hope. The trials don't destroy the joy we have knowing the promise that we have in Christ.
The mature Christian seeks the righteousness that comes as a result of faith in Jesus and not righteousness through law keeping.
In this final section Paul is going to describe the mature Christian in terms of lifestyle. The idea being the mature Christian demonstrates his growth in Christ, with his lifestyle, by living righteously. So after making this point, he's going to close this letter with some kind greetings and a blessing on the church.
Paul’s final point about the mature Christian. The mature lives righteously.
In verses one to nine, three ways Paul mentions that individuals or the church as a group demonstrate their righteous lives and thus their maturity in Christ.
Philippians 4:1-9
"Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. 3 Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."
First by living in harmony. Living righteously requires living in harmony. He says therefore my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord my beloved. Note Paul's great affection for the brethren. He says the word beloved twice and he yearns for them. He longs to see them.
He mentions the word joy. Their existence and their growth brought Paul joy. If you have children and you see them mature, you're proud of them. We love to see our children grow and mature. They marry, they begin having their own families. We love seeing them growing up to be good Christians. Paul is the same way for this particular congregation. He sees them crossing different milestones of maturity and he loves them and it encourages him. He talks about them being his joy and crown. They were a credit to him in God's eyes. He took a righteous pride in them.
He exhorts them a second time concerning the matters that he mentioned in the previous passage. In other words, stand firm in the faith and don't be moved by the false teachers.
In Verse two and three, he says "I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the Gospel. Together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life."
There is a discord here but it is not at the church level but between two female disciples. Paul considers both at fault because he gently admonishes both women to live in harmony before the Lord. Paul cannot simply say, "well it's just two members" ignore it. Two members becomes more members because when people are in a dispute with one another and they're not resolving it, usually they gather supporters to their cause and it can cause a lot of problem. They're written in the book of life which is just another way of saying, they're going to heaven.
Paul does not want their dispute to grow and provide a poor witness for the church and lead to eternal consequences for those women should the situation continue. He recalls a time when these women, along with another one of their number Clement worked in harmony with themselves and other workers. Paul is saying, "hey remember back in the day? We all worked together, we were all in harmony."
There may be a gentle reminder here to get busy in the Lord's work as a way of remedying the dispute that they're having.
Mature Christians have disagreements and disputes from time to time but they don't let these destroy the bond of fellowship that they have nor do they allow their dispute to cause division in the church. In Ephesians chapter four Paul writes, "therefore I the prisoner of the Lord implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love. Being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace."
Our calling is that we've been summoned to go to heaven. As people who have been called to go to heaven, we ought not to be fighting with each other down here. Paul says, walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. Paul in this passage elaborates on the importance of maintaining unity in the church.
He begins by reminding them of who they are and what is expected of disciples of Jesus. Again, we've been called to live as He lived. We've been called to be mature in Christ. We're going to heaven.
Note also, the attitudes and virtues necessary to maintain peace and unity among those who have been forgiven for sin and set for eternal live but still inhabit a sinful body here on earth. These situations are not resolved by force or argument, by scheming or creating factions and divisions in the church. The goal in a dispute is not to win the argument, rather, it's to maintain the unity while we work out the differences.
We always want closure. If you've lived any amount of time, you've learned the hard way that there's a lot of stuff that happens in life that never gets closure. It stays and just nags at you for for years sometimes. So among ourselves as Christians the goal again is not to win the argument. We want to discuss the things and kind of work things out and maintain the unity. Achieving that requires the mature Christian to possess virtues of humility. Humility is having a true measure of oneself.
Someone who doesn't have a true measure of themselves might think that they're always right and never need to be corrected. Humility is having gentleness, seeing both sides of a situation. Not self-willed. It's not a my way or the highway thing.
Patience is the willingness to bear under difficulty and trials and misunderstandings without losing one's composure or bearing.
Tolerance for one another. Recognizing the failings and weaknesses of others and not being provoked by these to unkindness or unchristian-like behavior. Tolerance does not mean anything goes. We cannot tolerate sinful behavior such as immorality and unchastity. Christian tolerance is recognizing that other people have weaknesses And understanding that we also have weaknesses.
All of these virtues are being motivated by Christian love. Wanting what is best for the other person because of your faith and not because they deserve it. That's the difference between regular love and Christian love. Regular love offers itself to a deserving individual who usually sends us some love back. Christian love loves those that don't even deserve our love. Jesus epitomizes Christian love. He hung dying on the cross and He asked God to forgive the ones that just murdered Him. He saves a convicted thief that was earlier insulting and reviling Him. That's Christian love.
Paul says in verse three that mature Christians are diligent to preserve unity. Why are they diligent to preserve unity? Because it's hard, that's why. We're all sinners, we all have pride. We get crossways with each other. We say things we regret after saying them or we say things not even realizing how hurtful they may be. That's why we have to be diligent to preserve unity among believers because exercising the virtues noted in verse two in a dispute situation isn't easy and it requires emotional and spiritual strength.
It's easy to be patient when nothing goes wrong. It's much more difficult to be patient under duress.
When Christian character comes out, under duress it is a very public demonstration of Christian maturity. It's visible as believers openly interact with one another. This is the ability to maintain harmony and peace despite differences and disputes that arise from time to time. The mature Christian demonstrates righteous living in another way by living in harmony.
Another way to demonstrate Christian maturity is living in confidence. How does a mature Christian build and demonstrate confidence and assurance as a child of God? Certainly not by bragging or showing off one's skills or wealth or position. These are worldly ways of promoting assurance and confidence in one's skill and success.
Paul describes the person who has confidence not in himself or his abilities but rather confidence in the one who provides all that is needed here on Earth and promises heaven as well. That's confidence in God and not in self. We're confident in the one who saves us, who provides for us. That's where true confidence is.
He says in verse four, "rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice. Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
This section reveals the way that a Christian builds and maintains spiritual confidence
So we start with verse six, “Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Building confidence begins with prayer. Confidence building requires first and foremost the understanding that God is the one who provides all that we need, not self. We are stewards, we're developers, we're consumers of these things but God is the provider of all we have. Knowing and trusting in this reality removes the anxiety that naturally exists in us when we think we are ultimately responsible for providing for ourselves and others.
We get up and go to work, but God provides the work. He provides the strength. He provides the health. He sustains our strength. He provides the country with the economy that provides the opportunity for work and earning a living. God doesn’t do the work for us, but He provides the ways and means for us to provide for ourselves.
Mature Christians do not worry about how they will obtain what they need. They invest that emotional and spiritual energy in prayer, gratitude and the work of the church. God doesn’t want us worrying about the things He is in control of. God wants us to invest our spiritual energy into things that matter. He wants us to have a dynamic and active prayer life where we look to Him for our emotional and spiritual strength. God wants to be the source of our confidence.
Verses 4-5, "rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice. Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near."
The true mark of confidence is joy, not bravado or bragging. A Mature Christians recognizes that the God is present and active in their lives. The gentleness, humility and confidence are to be seen. God wants us to demonstrate these qualities. Gods desires himself to be seen in us through the lives we live. When someone looks at a Christian, God wants to be seen in him or her. It's our confidence in Christ replacing our confidence in ourselves and is a powerful witness to other people.
Verse 7, "and the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
So what does this confidence produce? This confidence produces peace of mind. A kind of peace that surpasses reasoning. Some people who are wealthy and/or powerful have peace to a certain degree because they can see and count the resources they have that protect them from harm or poverty/ They may have money in the bank. They may have a big house with a big fence in front. They have things that protect them and it gives them a degree of peace or self security.
Mature Christians on the other hand have peace beyond understanding because with God as their provider and savior, their peace of mind is guaranteed because no matter what happens in this life, their resurrection and eternal life are guaranteed through Jesus Christ. That is peace beyond understanding.
Non Christians worry about keeping what they have. They check their bank accounts. They worry about the economy and check the stock markets. They worry about their stuff. Do they really have peace? What are they really thinking about? They are worried about their possessions, their riches.
Our Confidence and peace are based on our faith in God and not possessions. Our confidence and peace are based on Jesus Christ and not earthly things. The mature Christian demonstrates righteous living, but he does it by living in harmony, living in confidence, knowing that the Lord provides.
The mature Christian lives in confidence, in harmony with others and in purity.
Verse 8-9, he says, "finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you."
In his effort to equip the Philippians for mature spiritual living, Paul provides them with a kind of list that will help them determine if what they think and say and do are spiritually acceptable and worthy of mature Christians who are living a pure life.
"whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute"
Paul wants them to NOT have confidence in themselves and the world and to lay that burden on God and now he gives them what he does want them to concentrate on.
Let’s draw a comparison here between God and His children and earthly parents and their children. As parents, we don’t want our children to worry about the things we provide for them. We provide the roofs over their heads, the protection from the world and the food on their plates. We worry about transportation and school and we work to provide them with a safe and secure atmosphere to grow up in so they can be what? We want our children to grow up to be honest, upright, true and pure and with good reputations. We want our children to work on these qualities and grow up to be goods humans. We don’t want our kids to worry about providing the basic necessities required for day to day living. We want to handle that. We want our children to grow up good and right.
Similarly, God wants us to depend upon Him for the things He is in control of. Government, economy, work opportunities. For farmers he wants them to depend on Him for the rain. For carpenters He wants them to Depend on Him for the houses to build. And just like us with our children, God wants His children to grow up to be righteous, humble, true and pure. He wants us to grow up and be a walking, breathing, living testament to Himself. He wants to be glorified through us.
We want to be proud of our children. We want them to be a reflection of us. We want the world to see our children and be able to see we were good parents. God wants His children to do the same. He wants us to set out there in front of the world and for the world to see what an awesome father He is. He wants to be proud of us and He wants to be seen through us.
When a Christian is in the world, the world can see God in Him.
Paul now goes to his closing remarks
Philippians 4:10-14, "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 14 Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.
He begins with praise for the Philippians. We know that this congregation had helped Paul in the past and had sent a gift to him with the request to know his circumstances which prompted the writing of this letter. Paul acknowledges their gift as well as the fact that they had helped him in the past. He also recognizes the fact that they have always been willing to help but they lacked the opportunity.
Their opportunity to help was limited by his constant traveling. The difficulty of communications of the day. Paul had been in prison both in Judea and now in Rome. Before prison, Paul was traveling a lot on His missionary journeys. The fact that they knew where he was in jail there enabled them to organize something and send him a letter and send him a gift.
In verse 11, he says "not that I speak from want for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means and I also know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry. Both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction."
He tempers any worries they may have by providing them with insight into his emotional condition. He doesn't want them to think that he is discouraged by his situation. He had just finished telling them to be confident in the Lord, now he is putting his own words into action. And their gift is helpful and needed but it isn't what is going to keep his spirits up. What keeps him going as a mature Christian is that he has learned to be content.
The Greek word here means enough, or sufficient. Paul learned to be content in whatever circumstances he finds himself in whether he has a lot or not a lot.
In verse 12 he answers the question his readers would naturally ask at this point. How are you able to be content with little or much? And his answer is brief but all-encompassing.
His contentment is derived from the fact that Christ strengthens. The Greek word there means to enable or empower. In other words, Jesus enables him to live with much without falling into worldliness and lust and Jesus also empowers him to survive with little without becoming discouraged and questioning God's will.cHe says the same Lord who enables me to enjoy the good times without losing my head also helps me bear under the hard times without being completely defeated
Isn't that what life is like? We all go through the good times, not so good times. We learn to live with what we have. Paul’s contentment is not based on what he has but rather who he believes.
Paul is using his own situation, a Godly man wrongfully imprisoned and suffering from incarceration for four years as an example of what mature Christianity looks like. Paul has stood firm in the faith. He has imitated Christ in his conduct. You don't hear him whining and complaining. He has rejoiced despite his difficult circumstances and he has taught, sought and modeled righteousness by faith to them from the very beginning.
Paul's own development as a mature Christian has ultimately brought him to the point in life where he can truly be content in any circumstance or situation. Now what's understood is that this level of contentment is not reserved for only Apostles. It's available for all Christians who increasingly depend on Jesus Christ and seek him out.
There's nothing that can destroy us. There's nothing in this world that can defeat us.
Paul adds an additional line thanking them in order to underscore his appreciation. He's commending them for doing a good deed. He raises their act beyond simple charity by saying that with their giving they have shared in his suffering by sacrificing to help relieve his suffering they've in effect, shared in his suffering.
Philippians 4:15-20, "You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; 16 for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. 17 Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. 18 But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. 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.
Paul continues his comments concerning their gift by reviewing past instances where they helped him financially. Especially at times when it was crucial because no one else was helping him. He not only appreciates their history of giving but also the blessings that the Philippians receive on account of their generosity. Paul is happy because God is going to bless them for having blessed him and he confirms that their recent gift, delivered by Epaphroditus, one of his helpers from the church at Colossae, has more than fulfilled all of his material needs
Verse 19 he says “and my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever, amen.”
The result of their kind action of caring for Paul's needs is that he prays that God will provide for all their needs in the future. This reaches back to the previous thing Paul said is that God will always provide what they need and that God can and does do this for them and by extension for us as well.
Philippians 4:21-23, "Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. 22 All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit."
He sends personal greetings to the church in Philippi. Those with Paul, Luke, Epaphroditus, Timothy and others also send their greetings through his letter. Paul had converted other prisoners, Onesimus for example, Philemon's runaway slave.
Many of Caesar's elite bodyguards, the Praetorian Guard. Many had heard the Gospel through Paul and were telling Paul to say hello for them as well. They're guarding Paul and they want to be included in his letter to the brethren. Now THAT’s Christian behavior. How encouraging that must have been.
Verse 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
God is happy when we are blessed. Striving for Christian maturity leads to contentment and peace. Maturing in Christ is the learning process that brings us to that point of spiritual development where we are able to fully depend on Jesus to empower us for every situation.
The great reward for arriving at this level of maturity is that it creates in us the marvelous state of contentment that Paul speaks about here. This contentment is what he describes in verse seven. The peace that surpasses understanding. There is no earthly reason to be this content because you're depending on somebody that no one sees. And yet, God is there.
And finally, we learn that God wants to bless us and He is happy when He does.
We are happy when our earthly children do right and it just thrills us to give them blessings because of that. Similarly God wants us to do well, to grow up and be beacons of His greatness. And when we do that, He is just as happy to bless us as we are to bless our children when they do the same.
The primary lesson for us through this letter is that as Mature Christians, we are to look to God for our material needs and to realize that He is in control of our lives and that we need to reach the point in our lives that we understand that if we will make it all about God, he will make it all about us.
It a family thing. God our Father and We his faithful children.
This student of God's word gratefully acknowledges the work and scholarship of James Burton Coffman and Mike Mazzalongo's lessons on Paul's letter to the Philippians.
