Philippians Chapter 4 Commentary

    1: Therefore my brethren dearly beloved and longed for my joy and crown so stand fast in the Lord dearly beloved ^{Philippians 3:20-21}  2: I beseech Euodia and beseech Syntyche ^{[pronounced Suntuka]} that they be of the same mind in the Lord  3: And I intreat you also true yoke-fellow assist these women who labored with me in the gospel (with Klemes also and with other my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life) [1] 4: Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say Rejoice 5: Let your moderation ^{key word “moderation (temperance)} be known to all people The Lord is at hand [2] 6: Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God 7: And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus 8: Finally brethren whatsoever things are true ^{Alt: Transparent—not hidden} [3] whatsoever things are honorable [4] whatsoever things are [righteous] just [5]  whatsoever things are pure [6] whatsoever things are lovely [pleasing or pleasant] [7] whatsoever things are of good report [8] if there be any moral goodness or excellence and if there be any praise think on these things [9]  9: Those things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do and the God of peace shall be with you [10] 10: But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care of me has flourished again wherein you were also [before] minded but you lacked opportunity 11: Not that I speak in respect of lack for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content 12: I know how to be abased and I know how to abound Every where and in all things I am acquainted with how to be both full and hungry both to abound and suffer need 13: I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me 14: Notwithstanding you have done well that you did communicate with [me in] my affliction (meet my need) 15: Now you 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 you only 16: For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again to [meet] my needs 17: Not because I desire a gift but I desire fruit that may abound to your accounts 18: Now I have all and abound I am full having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you an odor of a sweet smell a sacrifice acceptable well-pleasing to God 19: And my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus 20: Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever Amen 21: Salute every saint in Christ Jesus The brethren which are with me greet you 22: All the saints salute you chiefly they that are of Caesar's ^{(Nero Claudius Caesar)} household 23: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all Amen

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[1] Paul made certain to remind the Church at Philippi, about the importance of the work Euodia and Suntuka [phonetic spelling] had done, and who these women had worked with. Laboring in the Gospel includes preaching and teaching, and nothing in the Bible commands women to discriminate against men when it comes to leading men to the Lord and helping them to grow in the Word (that, in a nutshell, sums up the work of the Gospel). When Paul’s words are added to those of Jesus, in John 13, where he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you You call me Teacher and Lord and you say well for so I am If I then your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet you also ought to wash one another's feet For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you,” then we understand that all Christians are commanded to humbly serve and assist one another—regardless of sex. Add to that, Acts 2:17 and 1 Peter 5:5 (AV TR), and we have more witnesses (not limited to these) that the scriptures are egalitarian, and not complementarian. We see in these examples that complementarian teaching contradicts scripture in that: A.) God calls both women and men to preach the Gospel and as leaders within the churches, and B.) Grudem’s teaching, that women were created only to assist men and not the other way around, is patently false. Euodia Suntuka were women of some import in the Church at Philippi. These two leaders must not have seen eye to eye on something as Paul was begging for unity between them. But despite their disunity on a certain issue, he still instructed the entire congregation (not just the male members) to assist the two as they labored in the Gospel.

[2] Paul looked for the appearing [in his day] of the the Lord Jesus Christ to raise the dead and catch up the living ^{Philippians 3:20-21} (the word, rapture, is in the Bible. The term comes from the Latin Vulgate Bible). Paul wrote of Jesus return to earth with his saints to destroy the AntiChrist, but he looked for Jesus coming in the air for his saints. We see this in virtually every letter he wrote. Paul defined what he meant by his many references to the coming of Christ, when he wrote 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, and 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. He was joined in watching for the resurrection/rapture by John, Peter, and James. Effectively, every writer of the New Testament affirmed a belief in the rapture of the Church (Christ coming for his saints). 

[3] Whatsoever things are true would be those things we can be grateful for and depend on to bring us peace and victory in [and over] every situation, beginning with knowing Jesus—the way the TRUTH and the life, belting on the TRUTH of God’s Word in every situation, knowing that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. And that is just for starters.

[4] List 3 people, or deeds that you consider to be honorable, and explain why

[5] Just could also mean: things that are acceptable to God; righteous people or deeds; justice in the legal and moral sense. What would be the difference then, between things that are honorable and things that are just?

[6] God places a high premium on purity. God’s love is a pure love. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Learning the meaning of “pure,” leads to great personal and spiritual benefits, and thinking on things that are pure leads to supernatural peace of mind. 

[7] Focus on things that are pleasing, pleasant, that bring joy and happiness. This is not simply a distraction tactic. It is something with a Heavenly promise of peace of mind attached to it. 

[8] Who will believe the report of the Lord? 

[9] Verses 4-9 are powerful. Thinking on the impure, remembering the offense, remembering the lie, remembering the unfairness, remembering the ugliness, and focusing on that which is less than excellent leads to crippling bitterness, unforgiveness, immoral behavior, abusive behavior, and addictions to many things that lead to destruction. The good news is, that with God’s help, and with the washing of the water of the Word, Christians can rejoice in Him and commit to obedience by thinking on everything that is good. Christians are commanded and empowered to take control of their thoughts. Yes, our thoughts. If it were not possible, God would not require it. But with God all things are possible, and the weapons of our warfare are not natural weapons (yes, it is part of spiritual warfare to take our very thoughts away from the control of the enemy and submit them to Christ). The weapons of our warfare are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, for casting down imaginations, and for bringing every thought into the obedience of Jesus Christ. The promise for doing that is peace. Isn’t peace mental health? Isn’t peace emotional freedom? Peace can even lead to better physical health—science has long made the correlation between mental health and physical health, confirming the the scriptures that say bitterness eats the bones, and laughter is good medicine…Selah.

[10] Paul had difficulties, but he had peace in his heart. He faced death by execution, but he had peace in his heart. In the midst of adversity, danger, persecution, betrayal, physical need, and hunger, Paul had peace, and did not hesitate to say, “Let me be your example in this!” Christians should both be examples and find examples.

Power to get wealth

We have to have it, and there is no doubt that not having enough money is not only a source of great distress to many, but poverty is known to be a significant source of emotional and physical health problems as well—poverty is even known to cause death—sometimes on a massive scale (that is not to say that there are many happy and healthy people who may also happen to be poor). 

That being said, no one can deny that having more than “just enough” money does indeed make life easier and sometimes a bit happier for some, while not necessarily so for others.

Most have heard the saying found in the Bible: “The love of money is the root of all evil.” How do we reconcile this saying with another in the Word of God which says: “But thou shall remember YAHWEH ELOHIM for it is HE who gives you power to get wealth…THAT HE MAY ESTABLISH HIS COVENANT (Deut 8:18)?”

The first, we see, is self oriented, and the second God oriented. When we are after all we can get for ourselves, others always suffer—one way or another. But when our focus is on God, others always benefit, because God is love. We are told that there are three things we have access to, now, that will transcend time and follow the Christian into eternity. Those three things are faith, hope, and love, and Bible tells us that the greatest of these, is love. 

How do we apply this truth to money and provision? To most people money is a highly personal matter. They take their money very seriously—one way or another. And the Bible has much to say about money. So it behooves us to understand how we can rightly discern the Word of God on this very important subject. Thank God, the Bible, on the subject of money, is really very simple.

Christians live in every conceivable financial strata. Some are rich (the majority are not wealthy, though plenty are), and some are poor. And most will fall somewhere in between. All, at some point in their lives, will know what it feels like to experience financial need. But we can be comforted by the words of Christ when he said, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things will be added unto you.” 

Does this mean that we devote our lives to only spiritual pursuits to the exclusion of everything else? Of course it doesn’t, we know that would be foolish—unless, of course, we are specifically called of God to do such a thing—and some are. Let’s balance this statement of Jesus with the passage that says, “Consider the ant you sluggard consider her ways which having no guide or ruler provides her food in summer and gathers her food in harvest.” And also with the verse that says, “They that do not work do not eat.”

There is no denying that we see a clear parallel in the Bible between work and financial provision. Even the apostle Paul referred to his work as a tent maker. But what about those who cannot work? And when we look around us, we also see that there are many hard working people who struggle financially. 

Why is that? 

One reason for financial difficulty, to the hard working Child of God, is debt. Many have struggled financially for that very reason, in spite of the fact that the Bible explicitly admonishes the Christian to avoid debt by owing no one anything but to love them. Another reason for financial struggle to the hard working Child of God, is that we live in a fallen world. The enemy of our souls is determined to overthrow our faith--even our lives—If he can. God knows how to add to our income when it is not enough to make ends meet. And he counsels us through His word to build our knowledge and faith in the area of His provision—note that I just said KNOWLEDGE and faith. 

The Word of God illustrates for us examples of how our attitudes towards and treatment of our money and possessions can affect all parts of our lives—for the good or for the bad—and not just the financial parts. Our money can serve as a god for us—separating us from the intimate counsel of the one true God. Or it can serve as a way to bring us closer to God, as it does when we worship him by his Spirit and by his Word of Truth when we obey his commands to give—to both God and to the poor and needy. 

Nabal is an example of a man who allowed his possessions to create a gulf between him and God. David and his band of armed men had a need to eat. Nabal was so hateful and greedy with his food (of which he had in an over abundance), that he died of a stroke when he found out that his wife, Abigail, had gone behind his back in taking food to David and his army. 

Abigail knew she was married to a fool who would get them all killed if he had his selfish way. You can read about this in the 25^th chapter of 1^st Samuel. It is fascinating.

Psalm 41:1-3 Promises that if we consider the poor (in providing for their needs, including giving them money), we can be assured of God’s provision and deliverance in times of trouble and calamity (all calamity is not money related). When sickness strikes, we have a promise of healing that is directly related to giving to the poor. Read about it. Psalm 41:1-3 contains that amazing promise to God’s people. 

Speaking of the Nation of Israel, God said, “I will abundantly bless her provision I will satisfy her poor with bread.” He also said, and I will paraphrase here, “If you love and serve me I will bless your food your water your children your garden I will take away all sickness from the midst of you and you will not die before your time.” Read it. It is found in Exodus 23:25-27. 

Serving God includes giving money.

But that is Old Testament you say? We agree. The Children of Israel had a fantastic Covenant with their God—who also just happens to be our God—the God who is the same yesterday today and forever. And doesn’t it say in the book of Hebrews that although the Old Covenant was good, the New Covenant is even better, as it is based on even BETTER promises? That’s Bible!

God said through the prophet Malachi, that if we are selfish and stingy with our money, and do not allocate God his portion, that we are robbing God. Haggai wrote that, “You have sown much and reaped little you eat and you are still hungry you drink and you are still thirsty you have clothes but they are not warm enough you earn wages and put it in bags with holes—Thus says the LORD OF HOSTS—Consider your ways!

Strong words. 

There are many ways we serve God. The most important is to know His Son. After that we build on our foundation of faith in many ways. One of those ways is looking at our money in a new and a better way. 

Every good thing we have comes from God. Money is a blessing to most. It is a curse for some. God warned that too much money is a curse to all. How about that? Consider this, when ancient Israel demanded a King, so they could be like all the nations surrounding them, God gave them what they asked for, but He warned their Kings, because he knew they would be in the best position to accumulate wealth, not to “greatly multiply” that wealth to themselves. 

God is not a respecter of persons. If the Kings Israel were commanded not to do it, then we can rest assured, that greatly multiplying financial wealth to ourselves cannot be a good thing for any of us.

Remember, we balance the command not to greatly-key word, greatly—multiply our personal financial wealth against many conditional promises that God indeed wants us to prosper and get wealth. So obviously there is a difference between the prosperity of God—which can include financial wealth—and the love of money (which is the root of all evil) which would cause some to GREATLY multiply money to themselves. 

God never said money was evil or that having it makes us bad, although it can tempt some who have it to use it in ungodly and unhealthy pursuits. The Bible promises that God loves us and will provide all of our needs according to His riches in glory. We are admonished to do the work God has given us to do, whether it be a secular job, or a ministry job—or both. God’s word says it is God will for us to be in good health and to prosper—and to trust God in all things. 

The writer of Proverbs said it well when under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he penned the words, “Give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food just right for me lest I be full and deny thee and say Who is the LORD or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain.