Well, once again, may the Lord
be gracious to us and bless us as we meditate in the Epistle
of Paul to the Philippians, and the fourth chapter, and this
evening we'll read verses nine, 10, and 11. The Epistle of Paul
to the Philippians, chapter four, and reading verses nine, 10,
and 11. Those things which ye have both
learned and received and heard and seen in me do, and the God
of peace shall be with you. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly,
that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again,
wherein you were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. not
that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever
state I am therewith to be content. The Apostle Paul points us to
the example of which he has set before the Philippians in the
words that we have already read together in this epistle. And
he tells them those things which he hath both learned and received
and heard. You see, the apostle had instructed
them, he had spoken to them, they had received it, and now
he's reminding them and wanting them to not forget, but to continue
in them. And he adds, and seen in me do. Well, what a great blessing that
is, to be able to be a doer of these great truths. Because the
apostles covered many things, and of course, not only in this
letter to the Philippians, but as we read together in that letter
to Timothy, as many words of instruction, admonition, direction,
May we take these things to heart and realise the relevance of
them. And so he says, those things
which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in
me do. not just to read them and forget
them, not just read them and pass over them, but to be doers
of the Word and not hearers only. James speaks about that, doesn't
he, very solemnly and instructs us that we must be and should
be doers of the Word of God and not hearers only. Some people
think they can just settle down with hearing because doing is
far more difficult. But nonetheless, we are to follow
the Word of God. And he says, and the God of peace
shall be with you. That directs us to hearing what
the Apostle says and doing what the Apostle says and believing
then that the God of peace shall be with us, as we spoke about
last Tuesday. In the seventh verse we read,
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep
your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. This is something
that we should covet, the peace of God. And here we have then
the instruction that we should do those things and then know
the blessing of the peace of God which shall be with us. Again it's a promise, again it's
an encouragement to us to heed what the Apostle says. And then
he tells us, personally he comes and says but I rejoiced in the
Lord greatly, that now and at last your care of me hath flourished
again.' Quite clearly they'd been parted. The Apostle was
in Rome, a long, long way from Philippi and Macedonia and the
Philippines, and so they hadn't been able to send him perhaps
the gifts and the help that they had been accustomed to. But now
they've been able to do this. And therefore the effect Paul
tells us on himself. He says, I rejoiced in the Lord
greatly. He was so pleased again to receive
benefit, gifts and news of the Philippians. that now at the
last, your care of me hath flourished again, wherein you were also
careful, but you lacked opportunity. But now as opportunity had presented
itself again, they were very keen and very desirous to send
help to the apostle as he was in prison in Rome. And so we should recognise that
such words as this are encouragement one to another, as we're able
to help each other, may not always be able, there may be hindrances,
There may be difficulties, but we should always endeavor to
be helpers and not hindrances. And so he says, but I rejoiced
in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care of me had
flourished again when you were also careful, but you lacked
opportunity. Well, what a blessing that is
then. And then the 11th verse, the
apostle says, but, sorry, not that I speak in regard of want,
for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. Yes, that was a great blessing
that the apostle had received, to be content. Whatever position
he was in, wherever it was, content to believe it was God's will
and God's purpose to him. And in that chapter, the sixth
chapter, the first of Timothy, we read a couple of times about
contentment. And in the sixth verse, the apostle
says, but godliness with contentment is great gain. something to be
coveted, contentment. It tells us it's great gain. See, it doesn't stand by itself. It's linked with godliness. And what a good thing and mercy
it is if we are found walking in a godly way, in a right way,
in a God-honouring way. and in the way that the Lord
leads us and directs us in. And in that path, we should be
content. And as the apostle says, in that
path with contentment is great gain. He goes on to say, for
we brought nothing into this world. and it is certain we can
carry nothing out. Well, it's very obvious, isn't
it? But it's good sometimes just to be reminded of such a truth
as this. We brought nothing into this
world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And therefore,
he goes on and says, and having food and raiment Let us be there
with content. Well, the Israelites traveled
through the wilderness, didn't they? And what did they have? God provided them with food and
God provided them with raiment, provided them with clothes. And
we know that those clothes didn't wear out all those 40 years they
were in the wilderness. And they had to be content with
them. And so the apostle really follows
that thought and brings it to the attention of Timothy so that
he might be able to remind the people of the importance of contentment. Contentment brings with it a
godly peace. And we should be very thankful
if the Lord does indeed bless us with a godly peace in doing
these things, to be content with all that the Lord has given to
us. You know, when the Apostle wrote
to the Corinthians and towards the end, right near the end of
the second epistle, in the 13th chapter, he tells us, finally,
he already had a finally in the Philippians, but here's a finally
to the Corinthians. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect. Be of good comfort. Be of one mind. Live in peace. And the God of love and peace
shall be with you. Very similar words, aren't they,
really, to those that we've just thought upon, but they should
be a comfort and an instruction to us. And also, in an earlier
verse in that letter that Philip wrote, Paul wrote rather, to
Timothy, and in the first chapter, he warns them about turning aside
from the example that he's given them. And he tells us in verse
five, now the end of the commandment is charity. out of a pure heart. Charity, of course, is love out
of a pure heart and of a good conscience and a faith unfeigned,
from which some, having swerved, that means turned aside, have
turned aside unto vain jangling, that's vain words, desiring to
be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof
they affirm. Well, the Apostle gives us good
advice to turn away from such situations and to follow that
which is good. And so he says, those things
which you both learned and received and heard and seen in me do,
and the God of peace shall be with you. But I rejoiced in the
Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished
again, wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of
want, For I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. What a blessing if we have learned
these things and we have learned to be content with those things
that God has given to us and the blessings that we've received.
Bless him for all these things. and understand what he says in
whatsoever state I am therewith to be content.