Philippians 4:10; Rejoice in the Lord Greatly

PastorRodney’s Weblog

09/22 Philippians 4:10; Rejoice in the Lord Greatly; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20240922_philippians-4_10.mp3

Philippians 4 verse 10 moves to a final subject of this letter. He has exhorted them toward a single minded gospel centered unity; he has exhorted them to Christlike humility and self-sacrificial service to others; he has repeatedly spurred them on to joy in Jesus. He showed them through his own example to treasure relationship with Jesus above every other treasure. He has taught them how to battle anxiety through prayer and fixing our eyes on Jesus and the gospel. At the beginning of the letter, he gave them an update on his circumstances in prison, and how God was at work even through these difficult circumstances to advance the gospel.

Philippian Generosity

Now, at the end of the letter, he comes back around to address more fully an issue that he has alluded to several times in this letter; their generosity. He acknowledged their consistent generosity in chapter 1.

Philippians 1:3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Partnership, or fellowship, as he makes clear in this final section of the letter, points among other ways of fellowship, to their financial support. In chapter 2, He mentioned Epaphroditus, their apostle; the one they sent to him to minister personally to his needs, and to deliver a gift to him to help him pay his expenses while in prison. Understand prisons in those days were not long term housing projects funded by the government to provide for the necessities of the inmates; rather prisoners either figured out a way to pay their way, or they had friends on the outside who practically supplied their needs, or they went without. He commends Epaphroditus as worthy of honor,

Philippians 2:30 for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

Paul will acknowledge in this final section that ‘no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only’ (4:15). He is genuinely grateful for their gift, but he doesn’t want them to misunderstand. How does he thank them for renewing their generosity, without communicating to them that he is disappointed in their delay, that what they sent was too little too late? How does he express genuine gratitude without them concluding that this thank you is just a veiled way to ask for more money? And how can he acknowledge their gift without unhelpfully boosting their ego by saying ‘I couldn’t have done it without you’? Paul wisely does all these things and more in this passage. Let’s start by reading the whole section, and then we will look more carefully at things we can learn from the first verses.

Philippians 4:10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. 14 Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. 15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. 16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. 18 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

A Model of Rejoicing

Paul doesn’t start by saying ‘thank you so much for your financial gift!’; rather, back in chapter 1 he said ‘I thank my God in all my remembrance of you’. Here he begins by saying ‘I rejoiced in the Lord greatly’ His thanks is directed toward God, and his joy is in the Lord. Joy in the Lord has been a theme of this letter.

His prayers for them are filled with joy (1:4). In 1:18 he rejoices and will rejoice that Christ is being proclaimed. He lives for their progress and joy in the faith (1:25). Their single minded unity will bring him joy (2:2). Even his being poured out as a drink offering brings him joy, and he invites them to rejoice with him (2:17-18). He intends to bring them joy by sending Epaphroditus back to them (2:28-29). He exhorts them in 3:1 and again in 4:4 to rejoice in the Lord, and he repeats it for emphasis ‘again I will say, rejoice’. He calls them his joy (4:1).

Here in 4:10 he is giving them an example of what it looks like to rejoice in the Lord. Remember, he just exhorted them that ‘What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things’ (4:9). Joy is something that they can learn from his example.

Paul does not expect of them something he is not willing to demonstrate to them. He exhorts them repeatedly to rejoice, but he gives them himself as an example of what it looks like to rejoice.

Great Joy

He claims that his own joy is great joy. This is the only place in the entire New Testament we find this superlative adverb ‘greatly’ modifying the verb ‘rejoicing’. We do find the superlative adjective ‘great’ modifying the noun ‘joy’ in a few places; describing the exceeding great joy of the wise men on finding Jesus (Mt.2:10); in Luke 2:10 the angel announced to the shepherds ‘good news of great joy that will be for all the people’; twice describing great joy at the resurrection of Jesus (Mt.28:8; Lk.24:52); and great joy at the news of Gentile conversions to Jesus (Ac.15:3). This is not just joy; it is great joy. Paul is not just rejoicing; he rejoices greatly. This is emphatic.

Joy in the Lord

Paul’s great joy is in response to the generosity of the Philippians. But note well, he does not say ‘I rejoice greatly in your gift’. He doesn’t even say ‘I rejoice greatly in you because of your generosity’. No, his great joy is in the Lord. This is Godward joy, not donor focused joy. His joy is not focused on the gift or the group or individuals who sacrificially gave; his joy is in God. He has exhorted them to ‘rejoice in the Lord’ (3:1; 4:4), and now he models this for them. Although their generosity provides the occasion for his rejoicing, it is not the object of his rejoicing. His joy is not in the gift, but in the giver of every good gift.

How can he look at a generous gift from people, and respond by rejoicing in the Lord rather than in those people or the gift they gave? We understand that to take joy in a gift we receive, while ignoring the one who gave us the gift, would be considered selfish and rude. But it would also be awkward and inappropriate to receive a gift and turn and thank someone who did not give the gift. When Paul thanks God and rejoices in God, while acknowledging that the gift came through the Philippian church, he is teaching us something important. He is saying that although you delivered the gift, the gift did not originate with you. When you receive a gift in the mail, you may thank the mailman for delivering the gift, but you understand the gift did not originate with the mailman. The Philippians earned the money, collected the money, and sent it to Paul by the hand of Epaphroditus. But Paul looks at the whole Philippian church, not just Epaphroditus as the mailman delivering a gift from another. As James puts it;

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

The Lord says:

Deuteronomy 10:14 Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.

God said to Job:

Job 41:11 ​Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.

And again in Psalm 50

Psalm 50:12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.

Paul declares in Acts 17:

Acts 17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

This is important to remember. You may have worked hard and earned the money, but who put the life in your body and the breath in your lungs so that you could get up and work? Paul understands that everything belongs to the Lord, and every good gift ultimately comes from God, so he rejoices in the Lord.

Now At Length

He rejoiced in the Lord greatly ‘that now at length you have revived your concern for me’. But then he clarifies, lest he be misunderstood; ‘You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity’. He has no doubt about their heart or their motive, he knows them, and their abundant generosity. They were partners with him ‘in the gospel from the first day until now’ (Phil.1:5). Lydia, the first convert in Philippi, insisted on extending hospitality to their missionary group. When the jailer believed, he immediately cared for their wounds, brought them into his home, and fed them (Ac.16:15,33-34). Faith in Jesus led to generous hospitality.

He bragged about them to the church in Corinth;

2 Corinthians 8:1 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

He even tells the Corinthians that ‘when I was with you and was in need’ ‘the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need’ (2Cor.11:9).

Paul precludes an objection before it is asked; I do not think you were negligent; I know your heart, but you lacked opportunity. Epaphroditus provided that opportunity, and you took full advantage of that opportunity.

Your Thinking of Me Blossomed

When he describes their concern for him, he uses the word ‘thinking’ or ‘mind’, a key word in this letter. Literally, he says ‘I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your thinking on my behalf or your mindfulness of me has blossomed; indeed you were thinking of me but it was not the right season’.

He uses this word 10 times in this letter; in 1:7 he describes how he thinks or feels about them – his joyful gratitude because of their gospel partnership, and his confident expectation of God completing the work he began in them.

In chapter 2 he exhorts them to be of the same mind or united in their thinking; think like Jesus who emptied himself, humbled himself to serve others.

Chapter 3 he portrays his own treasuring of the Lord Jesus Christ above all other things, so much that all his former gains he considers as filth in comparison to knowing Christ. And he says:

Philippians 3:15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

At the end of chapter 3, he says the way not to think, the kind of thinking that leads to destruction, the kind of thinking that betrays that you are an enemy of the cross, is to have your thinking fixed on the things of this earth, to treasure shameful things, to bow to bodily appetites (3:19).

And then in chapter 4, he urges Euodia and Syntyche to think the same in the Lord.

Here in chapter 4, he acknowledges their thinking of him as being the right kind of thinking.

Throughout this letter, thinking is used in the context of relationships; his prayerful, joyful, expectant thinking of them, exhorting them to unify in their thinking in relation to one another the same way Christ sacrificially thought of us; mature thinking is treasuring the surpassing worth of relationship with Christ above all else; not fixing our thinking on temporary temporal things, but rather eagerly awaiting the return of our King. In light of these eternal realities, the way we think in relationship to one another, the way we are mindful of one another ought to be unified. He commends them for thinking of him in the context of practically caring for his needs.

Blossoming in Proper Time

He describes their thinking of him, their concern for him, in botanical terms. He says that you were indeed thinking of me, but it was not the right time, not the right season. He speaks of their thinking of him as blossoming like a tree that has been alive but dormant during the long winter months now breaking out into full bloom.

This is the way to think! Thinking that is expressed in compassionate care and sacrificial service to others is the right way for a follower of Jesus to think. Thinking that leads to generous partnerships in advancing the good news of Jesus is the right way to think. Thinking that acknowledges God as the giver of every good thing is the right way to think. This kind of thinking is evidence of gospel transformation, that the good news of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners has taken root and is beginning to bear fruit.

Gospel Transformation and the Secret of Contentment

Paul goes on in this passage to clarify that it is not the gift itself that brings him joy; it is their thinking about others that brings him joy; this evidence of God’s grace at work in them. This is evidence of the gospel transformation that is taking place in their hearts.

He goes on to make it clear that what he says is not in any way to be construed as a request for them to send him more money.

And also goes on to clarify that he is not depending on them and their gifts. Just because they are the only ones who supported him at times, he isn’t looking to them as his only hope. His faith is not in them; they are not his savior. That belongs to God and God alone. He has learned the secret of contentment in every circumstance. We will look at that more next time.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org