©1999 Larry Huntsperger
Peninsula Bible Fellowship
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9/26/99
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Philippians Farewell
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Philippians 4:20-23
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9/26/99 Philippians Farewell
After nearly three years
with Paul's letter to the Philippians
providing the home base for our Sunday
morning studies,
we come today to the final four verses of
this remarkable little letter.
When we began our study of this letter
back in January 1996
I would never have dreamed
Philippians was destined to become
such a significant part of our time
together.
For those of you who have shared
many or most of these studies with us
you have grown accustomed to hearing me
say
that, in a unique and powerful way,
Philippians is a book
given to us by our Lord
for the hard times in our lives.
It is one of Paul's most deeply personal letters,
not written primarily to share doctrine
so much as to share
how his doctrine plays out
in the sometimes brutal realities of
life.
It is one thing for Paul to write
in his glorious doctrinal treatise to the Romans,
And we know that God causes all things to
work together for good to those who love
God, to those who are called according to
His purpose...
and to hear him boldly proclaim that nothing...will
be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But it is another thing all together
to see how Paul lives out those truths
when faced with the possibility
of his own imminent execution,
and the serious illness of his close friend
Epaphroditus,
and the loneliness and isolation
that comes with years of imprisonment.
Philippians enabled us to do just that.
We heard him begin this letter
with the affirmation that...
Phil. 1:6 ... I am confident of this very
thing, that He who began a good work in
you will perfect it until the day of Christ
Jesus.
Along the way we talked a great deal
about the way in which
Paul refused to fall victim
to the temptation to allow His
circumstances to define for him
who his God was.
No circumstances could ever remove him
from the hand of his God.
No circumstances could ever prevent his God
from continuing His perfect work
both in Paul and through Paul.
There were times when evil intruded into Paul's
life,
when the sins,
and the hatred,
and the cruelty of others
caused him pain.
But he knew he would find
the love of His Lord sufficient for him
no matter what circumstances
intruded into his world.
Until we studied this book together
I must admit that I had a rather superficial
relationship
with this amazing little letter.
Somewhere along the way
I had been told that Philippians
was the "JOY" epistle.
I don't remember who told me that,
but I can understand why they said it.
The letter is seasoned
from beginning to end
with these obviously spontaneous
and exhilarating bursts of Joy...
We heard Paul begin this letter in 1:4
by telling his readers that he was
...always offering prayer with joy in my
every prayer for you all...
A few verses later
when he talked about some of those
who were preaching the gospel
from selfish or twisted motives he said
Phil. 1:18 What then? Only that in every
way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ
is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes,
and I will rejoice...
Then in chapter two
his proclamations of joy became
even more bold as he said,
Phil. 2:17 But even if I am being poured
out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice
and service of your faith, I rejoice and
share my joy with you all.
Phil. 2:18 You too, I urge you, rejoice in
the same way and share your joy with me.
And as we reached the third chapter in our study
we heard Paul saying,
Phil. 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in
the Lord. To write the same things again is
no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for
you.
And just so his readers would not forget,
one final time in the fourth chapter
Paul once again proclaims:
Phil. 4:4 ¶ Rejoice in the Lord always;
again I will say, rejoice!
It is obvious to see
why I was told this was Paul's "Joy Epistle",
but whoever offered me that title
did me no favors
when they failed to tell me
about the circumstances in which
this letter was written.
If I would have known
that Paul wrote this letter from prison,
anticipating his own execution,
at a time when his circumstances
were miserable
and his future was bleak at best,
it would have dramatically changed
my perspective on this book.
This is not Paul lounging by the side of the river,
eating his picnic lunch,
dozing in the warmth of the sunshine,
jotting down occasional affirmations of
the goodness of God.
This is Paul
up to his ears in the most brutal battles of life
boldly affirming the absolute goodness
and kindness
and adequacy of his God
for his needs
no matter what the
circumstances.
Which brings us back
to where we left off our study
five verses from the end of this letter
in Philippians 4:19...
Phil. 4:19 And my God will supply all
your needs according to His riches in
glory in Christ Jesus.
I know we've already spent eight weeks
studying this single statement,
but I will not let it go
until I offer one more parting comment
about it.
This verse was given to us by Paul
to provide us with the perfect mirror
in which we can see reflected
how correctly we see our God.
The night before I wrote these notes,
about 11:00 o'clock at night,
I had just dozed off to sleep
when I suddenly woke up to the sound
of the voices of two young men
on the street outside our house.
They were screaming and cursing at each other,
one of them accusing the other
of having hit him on the back of the head,
both of them filled with rage,
and fear,
and fierce determination
to defend their rights
and protect themselves and their
interests against the attacks of the other.
After several minutes of their screaming back and
forth
I heard a car door slam
and a car roaring down the road.
For the next hour I just laid there in bed,
praying for those two young men
and thinking about the nature of life without
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Most of us don't get pulled into the kind of
rage-driven screaming battles
like the one I heard outside my window that
night.
But all of us are faced with our own brand
of the same type of battles.
Someone or something hurts us,
and that hurt makes us angry,
or frightened,
or determined to protect ourselves,
or defend ourselves,
or run away,
or get even with the one who hurt
us.
There we are,
all by ourselves,
having to protect,
and guard,
and defend our little empires.
Some of us fight back
by becoming the biggest,
or the strongest,
or the smartest,
or the best at something.
Some of us fight back by running away,
or by perfecting subtle,
powerful manipulation techniques.
But the truth is,
being a created being
separated from our Creator
in a world in which
we cannot control
the circumstances of our lives
is a terrifying business.
Most people
spend most of their lives
looking for answers in all the wrong places.
"If only I was smarter..."
"If only I was richer..."
"If only I was stronger..."
"If only I was older..."
"If only I was younger..."
"If only I was prettier..."
"If only I'd had different parents..."
"If only I'd had different children..."
"If only I was married..."
"If only I was single..."
While all the time
what we're really longing for
is the living reality
of a Creator God
who loves us deeply, eternally,
and Who, because of that love,
has chosen to involve Himself
every day,
in every detail of our lives.
Phil. 4:19 And my God will supply all
your needs according to His riches in
glory in Christ Jesus.
As we leave our study of Philippians
I want to reaffirm once again
as clearly and simply as I know how
that everything we have heard Paul say
to us through this book
is rooted in the brutal realities of "real life" at its
most REAL.
There is nothing sugar-coated,
nothing even remotely close to any kind of
man-made religious facade
in what we have seen here.
I don't know what your circumstances of life are
right now,
just as you don't really know what mine are.
I do know, however,
that you can and you will find your God
abundantly adequate for your needs
in those circumstances.
He may not change the circumstances.
He probably will not change them on your time
table.
But He can and He will show Himself strong both
for you
and within you.
I mentioned a few minutes ago
that I see Paul's statement that
... my God will supply all your needs
according to His riches in glory in Christ
Jesus...
as being the perfect mirror
in which we can see
the accuracy of our own perspective
on both ourselves and our God.
By that I mean simply
that when I find myself saying,
"I REALLY don't need THIS right now!"
or
"I REALLY do need THAT, and I don't have it!"
I am saying far more about myself
and my own distorted understanding
about myself and my own needs
than I am about my God.
For, you see, when we see
both ourselves and our God accurately
we will see that He is doing perfectly
what He has promised to do -
He is providing for us
just exactly what we need
for His work both in us
and through us.
We have four verses left
in our study of the this short epistle,
and we are going to find within them
a powerful illustration
of this central theme of Paul's letter.
Now, the next thing Paul offers
following his affirmation that
my God will supply all your needs
according to His riches in glory in Christ
Jesus...
is a spontaneous outburst of gratitude to God.
He says,
Phil. 4:20 Now to our God and Father be
the glory forever and ever. Amen.
And I hope you noticed
the two separate titles Paul used
to address God in that burst of praise.
He called Him both our GOD
and our FATHER.
Only the true child of God has that privilege,
and yet it is a privilege
every human being longs for.
We need to know that He is our GOD
in the fullest sense of the word.
He is all-powerful,
always present with us,
without limits,
without equals.
But we also long to know
that He is our FATHER,
that He not only created us,
but that through Christ
He also adopted us,
drawing us to Himself,
sheltering us in His deep personal love
as only a Father can do.
Those of you who have been around here for a
while
have allowed me to share with you
my own ongoing discovery
of what it means to be a father.
You've listened to me ramble on
about my longing to know
how I can best protect
and nurture
and guide
and love my Joni Sue.
But do you know what the glorious fringe benefit
of my adventure in parenting has been?
It is discovering that my God feels about me
the way I feel about my daughter.
He has chosen a union with me
in which He is well pleased
to call me His son
and to allow me to call Him Father,
a union in which He has committed Himself
to protect,
and nurture,
and guide me throughout life.
Now to our God and Father be the glory
forever and ever. Amen.
Then, following that outburst,
Paul adds two verses in which we find
a special little treasure.
He says,
Phil. 4:21 ¶ Greet every saint in Christ
Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet
you.
Phil. 4:22 All the saints greet you,
especially those of Caesar's household.
We've talked at length in the past
about that word "saint",
about the fact that it means literally
"holy ones",
about the realization that it is God's
favorite title for the Christian.
We've talked about how uncomfortable it is for us,
and how even the Bible translators
were more comfortable masking the true
meaning of the word
through the use of the word "Saint".
You see, God can never tell us anything other than
the truth.
And the truth is, through Christ
we are now and forever absolutely holy and
pure and perfect in spirit.
We are His HOLY ONES.
We sometimes have trouble
living out the reality of that holiness,
but it doesn't change who we have become in Christ.
But that, of course, is a whole other study.
But the little treasure I promised you
is found in that verse 22:
Phil. 4:22 All the saints greet you,
especially those of Caesar's household.
The book of Philippians was written
less than 30 years after the resurrection
and departure of Christ.
What began with just a handful of disciples
of an itinerant country Teacher
in an obscure part of the Roman Empire
in less than 30 years
had penetrated into the very household
of the most powerful political leader in the
world.
And what Paul could likely
never have accomplished
had he gone to Rome as a free man
he had been used by God to accomplish
through his imprisonment.
We don't know the details
of who he came in contact with
as a result of his imprisonment
and his approaching trial
and his preparation for his defense.
But we do have a little glimpse into the results.
All the saints greet you, especially those
of Caesar's household.
Do you ever wonder why God has chosen
to put you where He has put you?
Do you ever secretly
or maybe not so secretly
think maybe He just might have made some
mistake?
Do you ever look at your abilities
or your gifts
and thought perhaps
if you had just been somewhere else
you could have been so much more effective?
Can you imagine how Paul must have felt
as he sat month after month after month
under house arrest in Rome,
knowing what he could be doing
if only he would have had his
freedom?
And yet Paul understood
perhaps better than most of us ever will
that God's ability to live through him
could never be hindered
by what other people chose to do to
him.
And so, after two years under house arrest in Rome
Paul could write,
...The brethren who are with me greet
you...All the saints greet you, especially
those of Caesar's household.
And then, finally, Paul leaves us
right where we met him at the beginning of this
letter.
Phil. 4:23 ¶ The grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ be with your spirit.
Do you think those simply sound like nice,
meaningless parting words,
sort of like signing a letter, "Sincerely Yours"?
There are no meaningless words in the Word of
God.
In his final, closing phrase
Paul reminds us once again
of the one thing that has the power
to transform a human being.
It isn't a confrontation
with the moral law of God.
We know the standard all too well,
and we know, too, how far short of it we fall.
It isn't a confrontation
with the threat of God's judgement.
The nation of Israel
lived under that fear
throughout most of their existence
under the Old Covenant,
and it had no power to change their lives.
The one thing that has the power
to transform a human being
is our discovery of the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ -
to discover that the One we have been running
from,
and hiding from,
and terrified of our whole lives
is the One who loves us more deeply
than any one else ever has or ever will.
The book of Philippians contains
what I personally consider to be
the greatest single concise statement
of true Christianity
ever expressed
by any human being who has
ever lived.
It describes better than I could ever hope to
how the human spirit responds
when God is finally able to communicate to
us
the true nature of His grace
as offered to us through Christ.
I can think of no better way to conclude our
study of this book
than by reading that passage for us once again.
Phil. 3:7 ¶ But whatever things were gain
to me, those things I have counted as loss
for the sake of Christ.
Phil. 3:8 More than that, I count all things
to be loss in view of the surpassing value
of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, and count them but rubbish so that
I may gain Christ,
Phil. 3:9 and may be found in Him, not
having a righteousness of my own derived
from the Law, but that which is through
faith in Christ, the righteousness which
comes from God on the basis of faith,
Phil. 3:10 that I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection and the
fellowship of His sufferings, being
conformed to His death;
Phil. 3:11 in order that I may attain to the
resurrection from the dead.
Phil. 3:12 ¶ Not that I have already
obtained it or have already become perfect,
but I press on so that I may lay hold of
that for which also I was laid hold of by
Christ Jesus.
Phil. 3:13 Brethren, I do not regard myself
as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing
I do: forgetting what lies behind and
reaching forward to what lies ahead,
Phil. 3:14 I press on toward the goal for
the prize of the upward call of God in
Christ Jesus.