18 I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
20 To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Paul begins our verses for today by expressing appreciation for the gifts received from the Philippian believers. To him, their kind offering supplied his needs yet to God, their generosity demonstrated much more - the fruit of grace flowing from their lives. The actions manifested in their bodies glorified God. This sacrifice on their part the Father commended and accepted as both well pleasing and fragrant in His sight. Believers are to develop Godly habits which express God’s glorious grace. This points others to Jesus. Paul encourages these sweet souls that God would also provide for them as they sought to follow Him in faithful obedience. Whatever needs they had, God would and could meet them, having both the desire and the power. I am reminded of the prophet Isaiah’s words:
18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)
Paul also writes in Romans:
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:31-32 (NIV)
God desires to provide for His faithful followers today as well. He meets our needs – not necessarily our wants - according to His perfect timing and inexhaustible riches. The psalmist declared:
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. 12 O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you. Psalms 84:11-12 (NIV)
God loves to give to His children just as we love to give to ours. Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount:
11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matt 7:11 (NIV)
“God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.” Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Indeed, King David beautifully writes in Psalm 23:
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. Psalms 23:1 (NIV)
Admittedly, some of us need to have our “wanters” readjusted. We often wrongly mistake our wants for needs. Paul writes of God’s sufficiency regarding our needs in 2 Corinthians:
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Cor 9:6-8 (NIV)
When we trust in the Lord, we will act as in the Philippian believer’s case. They believed God and responded in giving selflessly and sacrificially. God credited this to them as a righteous act, not a filthy rag. Trust is a prerequisite for receiving God’s richest blessings. We live what we believe. Ultimately, Christians can dispense only what they have received be it materially or spiritually and their good work is accomplished motivated by love of the Master and through the Holy Spirit’s enabling power.
“Ultimately the man who comes to obey God will love Him first...Let us therefore learn that the love of God is the beginning of religion, for God will not have the forced obedience of men, but wishes their service to be free and spontaneous...Lastly we learn that God does not linger over the outward sign of achievement but chiefly searches the inner disposition (motive), that from a good root good fruit may grow.” John Calvin
Interestingly, on the reverse side of the coin, anything merely done in the flesh motivated by pride or works and apart from the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling, prompting and producing, will be burned up – it is not eternal and does not redeem our time. Jesus tells us in John:
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” John 15:5-6 (NIV)
“God does not honor men and women and their deeds or their books or their organizations. The Father in heaven delights to honor His Son. It is only the Life of the Lord Jesus - His activity, clothed with you and displayed through you - that ultimately will find the approval of God.” Major Ian Thomas