May it please Almighty God once
more to be with us and bless us as we meditate further in
the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians, the fourth chapter, and this
evening we'll read verses 15 to 18. The Epistle of Paul to
the Philippians, chapter 4, verses 15 to 18. Now, ye Philippians, know also
that in the beginning of the Gospel, when I departed from
Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving
and receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica ye sent
once and again unto my necessity, not because I desire a gift,
but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all,
and abound. I am full, having received of
Epaphroditus, of things which were sent from you, an odour
of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to
God. So the Apostle now turns to speak
to the Philippians about how they had been a blessing to him. And he says, Now you Philippians
know also that in the beginning of the Gospel, when I departed
from Macedonia, you may remember, he'd gone over to Macedonia by
the command of Almighty God, He'd been in Macedonia and there
were two outstanding situations which occurred at Philippi, which
of course is in Macedonia. The first was when Lydia was
converted and the Spirit of God came upon her so that she believed
the things that were spoken by the Apostle. And then, of course,
also when he was jailed because of preaching the gospel in Philippi. And the result was that the Lord
graciously came and opened the prison. The jailer thought that
all the prisoners would have escaped, but he was told by Paul
they were all there safe and sound. And then he desired to
know what he must do to be saved. And the Apostle was able to speak
those glorious words, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shalt be saved. So the Apostle had good cause
to remember the occasion when he was in Philippi. And yet when
he left them, he tells us, no church communicated with me as
concerning giving and receiving, but ye only." So here he's able
to speak one of the Philippians and tell them how they'd been
used and how they were the only ones who had communicated with
the Apostle. No one else had as concerning
giving and receiving, but ye only. And of course, although
he doesn't precisely say so, He had of course given to them
by the preaching of the Gospel, the good news of the Gospel,
and they had received it and they had been forthcoming in
communicating with him. For even in Thessalonica, he
went of course from Philippi to Thessalonica, he said once
and again unto my necessity, Well again we're not told what
Paul's necessity was. What we are told was that these
Philippians even though he wasn't with them anymore yet and they'd
gone he'd gone a long way to Thessalonica now they had sent
for his needs and again unto my necessity. What a blessing
that was for the Apostle. But then he goes on to tell us
the relevance of such things and how he desired God's favour. And he says, not because I desire
a gift. These things were a gift to the
Apostle and he was thankful for them. But he says, not because
I desire a gift, but more importantly, I desire fruit. that may abound
to your account. He really desired that they might
be spiritually blessed. There might be that spiritual
fruit which might abound. That was the Apostle's concern
quite clearly. He'd gone, he'd preached the
Gospel, and now they'd supplied his natural needs, His great
concern really, his great desire was that the fruit may abound
to your account. I'm sure that's true with preaching
the gospel today. The great concern is that there
may be fruit following the preaching of the word. And the word may
not fall upon dry or stony ground, but it may fall into good ground
where it springs up and bears fruit. That was the Apostle's
true desire. And then he just goes on to say,
but I have all and abound. He didn't pretend that he lacked
things. He's very grateful for what he'd
received. But he tells them, but I have
all and abound. I am full, having received of
Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour
of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable and well-pleasing
to God." Well, what a mercy it was for the Apostle that he had
received these things and he abounded with this supply. As he desired, the Philippians
might abound in fruitfulness from the preaching of the Gospel
He now tells them, but I have all and abound, I am full. Every need that he had had been
supplied. He tells them who had brought
it to him, Epaphroditus, the things which are sent from you. An odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice
acceptable, well pleasing to God. Well, I'm sure we can remember
that in the Old Testament, dispensation, the offerings which were placed
upon the altar brought a sweet smell of acceptance to Almighty
God. And surely one of the things
that was the sweet smell was the obedience of the children
of Israel as they journeyed to bring an offering of thanksgiving
an odour of a sweet smell, and truly that's what the Apostle
no doubt desired to observe, that true heart of thanksgiving,
which would be a sweet smell. A sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing
to God. We touched on this word of thanksgiving
in the chapter that we read in that 61st chapter of Isaiah. And he speaks there about it
as trees of righteousness. That's what a prophet says, he
says, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment
of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees
of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be
glorified. See, that's what the apostle
desired in these words, really, the fruitfulness, the evidence
of it. He knew that the planting was
of the Lord, but he desired there might be the evidence of it,
that the Lord might be glorified. Well, what a blessing that is,
a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God. You see, he puts the right emphasis
well-pleasing to God. And you know it'd be good, wouldn't
it, in our little lives, as we journey on, to be able to acknowledge
the goodness of God to us, which would be an acceptable sacrifice
and would be well-pleasing to God. how sad it is in the day
and age in which we live, though so little really of true thankfulness
to Almighty God, so little true acceptable sacrifice, and very
little which is truly well-pleasing to God. Well, the Apostle was
able to list these things to encourage the Philippians, and
may we be encouraged in these words to us this evening.