Today we arrive at the end of the letter to the Philippians. This letter has taken a deep look at joy and rejoicing that comes about as we walk in the Lord. This type of joy and its expression that emanates through our acts of rejoicing is something that is only truly found in us as we walk closely with our Lord. Praise God for His grace in instilling His joy in us!

Last week we discussed unity, rejoicing, gentleness, prayer, peace, thanksgiving, and our thought-life. There was so much good instruction from Paul in these verses on how we are to walk in the Lord. Now Paul wants us to look inward and understand what it means to “do all things through Him who strengthens me”.

Philippians 4:10-13:

10 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.

Verse 13 is one of those verses that everyone quotes (but most of the time it’s quoted out of the context in which it was originally written). I’ve heard many people quote this verse, but more so from athletes after they’ve won the “big” game. I’ve wondered if they studied that verse if they would continue to say it in the same manner on camera to their adoring fans.

In order to study and unpack the meaning of verse 13 ,one of the first questions we need to ask is, “What are the ‘all things’ mentioned in this verse?” The word “all” can be used in slightly different ways. For instance, it can be as an absolute, meaning absolutely everything. Or it can be comprehensively as in capturing all items in a list. The difference can be explained with a simple example. If you were asked to, “Get all things from the grocery store.” What does that mean? Now, outside of any extra context, this would seem to mean that you are required to empty the grocery store of absolutely every item and return home with those items. But if you were previously given a list of 5 items to get at the grocery store then the meaning of this request would be significantly different.

So it is with the “all things” in verse 13. In fact, the NIV translates this phrase slightly differently. The NIV states: “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.” The reason for this translation is that the Greek word for “all things” is penta. However, this Greek word can mean all or every one. To put a finer point on it, instead of “every one” we could say “each one of these”.

Our next question becomes, “What does ‘this’ point to in ‘all this’?” (or ‘these’ in ‘each one of these’). Well, we would need to read the previous verses to understand that. The ‘this’ (or ‘these’) will be found there. In verse 11 Paul states that he has learned how to become content in whatever circumstance he is in. This is our first clue. We know that Paul suffered through many persecutions and rough circumstances. Currently he has been wrongfully imprisoned. If anything, that should cause Paul to be discontented or even angry. I would certainly understand if he were angry but he says he has learned to be content, even in this circumstance. However, this contentment has been learned, not simply bestowed on him once and for all. Paul, having gone through so many other painful circumstances, has learned from these that God is in control, not him. And in seeing blessing flow out of these painful circumstances, Paul is content to be in them if for nothing else to further the gospel message. He has learned that God places him in these circumstances for the furtherance of the gospel.

Paul further defines his contentment in verse 12. Here Paul begins by saying that he understands how to go about life with little and with much. That is, Paul will be content regardless of how much or how little he has. In this statement Paul is talking about having little or much in the way of the necessities of life: housing, food, clothing, money, etc.

We can easily say to ourselves that we can be content with much, but can we say the same of the opposite (when we have little)? With little we are forced to rely on God’s sufficiency in our lives (for a refresher on Christ’s all sufficiency re-read Colossians). However, with much we are tempted to rely on our own strength. We might say I have enough to weather bad times or I was strong enough or smart enough to bring about all of this (when we know deep down it was God’s strength and good blessings all along). Think of all the wealthy people living today. Most of them write and speak about how “they” accumulated their wealth and how “they” have so much. But also look at their lives and their decisions. They are never satisfied, always pushing for more. Always chasing the wind.

Elon Musk is a prime example. He’s a brilliant man who is one of the richest in the world. I too, as an engineer, am constantly amazed at his ability to comprehend tough problems and seek out a solution. But he is constantly searching and working towards almost unattainable goals each and every day. He is not content; rather, he is one of the most discontented and unsatisfied people I can think of.

Consider also the millionaire Bryan Johnson who gained wealth through tech entrepreneurship. He is spending $2 million a year to reverse his own aging. This is essentially a vain struggle to find the fountain of youth, so to speak. Rather than saying, “I am content with what I have now” these ultra-rich are falling deeper and deeper into discontentment with their lives and with what they have. They want more wealth, more companies to control, more time on Earth, more more more. It’s all just not enough for them. Yet, for myself, as one who will never see even a small fraction of their wealth, I do not envy them or wish that I were in their shoes. I am content…Lord help me with my discontentment as I am not perfected yet.

Having it all does not lead to contentment, it leads us away from it, unless Christ is at the center of your life. With Christ as our focus (as it was for Paul) our eyes get off of our knowledge, wealth, and power, or lack of it and on to Christ who is the real sufficiency in our lives.

This leads us into our next question. If sufficiency is not found in much then where (or better yet, who) is it found in? Verse 13 points us to the answer…Christ. Christ is our strength. Christ strengthens us. He strengthens us not only when we are lacking but also when we have much. As we have seen, having much can easily lead us astray; however, Christ’s strength prevents us from going astray when we have much. This allows us to use our blessings for God’s glory and not our own. Therefore, when you have much, seek God as to how to live life contently with what you have been blessed with. Otherwise, you may have many sleepless nights worrying about losing your great blessings.

This is critical to understand, that we cannot do anything apart from Him who strengthens us. Even Christ tells us we cannot do anything apart from Him in John 15:5:

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Apart from Christ and His strength we cannot be content in any situation.

The final question is one of application. How do I go about learning to be content? Again we can go back to the beginning of this section (verse 10) where Paul talks of rejoicing (and he says it twice, so it must be important for us to hear). Trev has even spoken of this several times in his sermons on this letter. He said that to rejoice you must essentially count your blessings. Write them down. Meditate on what Christ has done for you and blessed you with. I try to do this every morning (well almost every morning). Over time your joy will build and displace your discontentment and dissatisfaction.

Knowing this we can look back at those who quote this verse out of its intended context. This verse is pointing to a confident, humble contentment in the circumstances of life both good and bad. Athletes who quote this scripture after winning the big game must also quote this scripture after every devastating loss as well. Otherwise, this verse loses its intended meaning…to glorify God above all through our contentment in ALL circumstances!

Philippians 4:14–19:

14 Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

15 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.

19And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

“Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.” Paul is living out the words he just wrote in the previous verses (verses 11-13), which we just discussed. This, my friend, is contentment. Seeking not the blessing on himself (regardless of how much he needed that blessing) but rather seeking the blessings of God on others.

Furthermore, Paul says in verse 18 that he has everything he needs. Not only everything he needs, but he has his needs fulfilled with an abundance. Again, this is contentment lived out.

Contentment has another side-effect, as it were. To seek the welfare of others. Here in verses 18b-19 Paul explains that he knew that the Philippians’s giving of themselves to supply his needs was a gracious sacrifice. This sacrifice was pure and as such, acceptable and well-pleasing to God Himself. Their sacrifice, although painful, would be a blessing to the Philippians beyond what they could imagine. In other words, God would provide for them, meeting all their needs. More than that, Paul states that not only will God supply all their needs, but that He will supply all their needs according to His riches in glory. I cannot imagine that God’s riches in glory are anything but infinite. Therefore, He has more than enough to supply our needs as we, in turn, supply the needs of others. That is a comforting thought indeed.

Philippians 4:19-23:

20 Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

21 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.

As we finish up the last few verses of this amazing letter we might read through the closing of this letter too quickly. If so, we would miss some important things spoken here. The first is the doxology in verse 20. We’ve heard this verse many times in other verses, in songs we sing, or in teaching/preaching. However, we should never just read through this without considering its place within the whole of this letter.

One big theme of this letter was joy (the noun) and rejoicing (the verb). Other themes were walking in the Lord, contentment, and unity of the body among other things. None of these things can exist or even continue without God and His provisions for us. When non-believers see our joy and our unified rejoicing as we walk a difficult road with our Lord, they begin to see not us but God’s and His great grace and mercy. This outward expression of our faith brings more glory to God than we can imagine. And God’s glory will draw unbelievers to Him.

Philippians is a letter about joy to be sure, but joy is only one piece of the immense puzzle. Once all the pieces are in place the final picture is one of God’s glory, which outshines everything for all eternity!

Paul concludes with an exhortation to greet each and every one of God’s people in Christ Jesus. This is followed by greetings from those brothers and sisters in the faith that were with Paul. First, from those who were immediately surrounding Paul. I would think Timothy and Epaphroditus would be included in this group. Second, from those believers in the church at Rome where Paul was imprisoned. Thirdly, and most emphatically, Caesar’s household, which would have consisted not only of family members but also people of the court, food tasters, musicians, soldiers, etc, etc. I would think that Paul placed special emphasis on Caesar’s household due to the fact that these were more recent converts. Paul would have wanted this group to become more mature in the faith and not fall away or stumble. Having the body of believers welcome these new believers was one way to strengthen their bonds to other believers. It is much easier to drift away from Christ and towards sin if you are alone in the faith but when you are together, surrounded by others of the same faith, it is very difficult indeed to drift away from Christ.

Finally, in the last verse (v23) of this letter Paul leaves us with his wish that the grace of Jesus would be with them. This verse acts as a kind of bookend to Philippians 1:2 where we read essentially the same words:

2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I also pray that God’s great grace and incomprehensible peace would fall on the body of believers at Crossings Church and throughout all God fearing churches. For without this grace and peace how will we be able to truly be joyful and continue rejoicing through contentment in all situations be it in suffering or in abundance? And if we cannot be content, joyful, at peace, and unified then how can we glorify our great God?