A Privileged Partnership, Part 4

Still in chapter four. The passage is there in the bulletin
with places for notes and what a killjoy am I because I’ve already
filled in the one little note that you had to fill in this
morning, but there may be some other things that you choose
to jot down. We have. begun a little bit of
a series, perhaps a surprise to some people as we came into
this section. You might have thought we’d breeze
through it, but there is much there. And what we’ve realized
in looking at it is that there is here a consideration of the
relationship between the church and the mission. This isn’t just
Paul speaking to the Philippian church about their own relationship.
I do believe that there are principles that are etched here for churches
and missionaries and how they are to get along, what kind of
relationship they’re going to have. Principles, I’ve called
it, for cultivating a fruitful partnership. And it is to be
fruitful. The seed is good. The gospel is good. The ministries
are supposed to flourish, those of the local church and that
of the mission. And the relationship between
the two is supposed to be healthy and vibrant and rich. Let’s go
back to the passage, if you would, and then we’ll come back and
review just briefly and dive in to new material this morning. Beginning in verse 10, Paul wrote
to the Philippians, but I rejoiced in the Lord greatly. that now
at last you have revived your concern for me. Indeed, you were
concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak
from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances
I am. I know how to get along with
humble means. I also know how to live in prosperity in every
in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret. of
being filled and going hungry, of both having abundance and
suffering need, I can do all things through Him who strengthens
me. Nevertheless, you have done well
to share with me in my affliction. And you yourselves know, Philippians,
that at the first preaching of the gospel, After I departed
from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving
and receiving, but you alone. For even in Thessalonica, you
sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the
gift itself that I seek for the profit which increases to your
account. But I have received everything
in full and have an abundance. I am amply supplied, having received
from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable
sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your
needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. We began mining out from this
passage a number of principles. I suggested a few weeks ago that
there were six in number. Don’t be deceived by the bulletin,
which only gives you five opportunities. I’ll fix that in time when we
need the space. But we’ve already seen a number
of these principles present themselves. Going back to verse 10, the first
principle we saw that a fruit bearing partnership is built
upon action, not intention. Paul doesn’t chide the Philippians
here in verse 10, but he does acknowledge that it had been
some time since they had communicated with him. They had probably lost
track of him, as I suggested weeks ago, Paul literally traveling
the globe and now under arrest and dragged involuntarily to
Rome. But they had hearts for Paul,
they had a love for him and he for them, and yet there had been
quite a lapse. between the time that they had
communicated and certainly between the time that they had ministered
to him with a financial gift. Paul says, I rejoiced in the
Lord greatly. It thrilled his heart to hear
from the Philippians that now at last, and I don’t take by
that any tone of chiding on Paul’s part. Paul wasn’t criticizing
them for the lapse Paul knew well firsthand that he was largely
the cause of this this break in communication that now at
last you have revived your concern for me. And he clarifies it says,
indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. No
doubt they they had a heart for Paul. And yet they had no means
to communicate. They had no means to get whatever
offering they had taken to Paul. There’s a second principle that
we observed, and this goes both ways. I think when we first reviewed
this principle, and it’s easy to do. I think we expect others
to be content. And as we read this, we could
expect Paul to be content. But the second principle for
a fruit bearing partnership is built upon godly contentment,
godly contentment. And it goes for both the church,
the givers. And the missions, the receivers.
Paul said there in verse 11, not that I speak from want and
he wanted. The Philippian church to know that God had sovereignly
cared for him. God ultimately is the one that
cares for Paul. God ultimately is the one that
superintends the mission. Paul says, I want you to know
that I don’t speak from want for I have learned to be content
in whatever circumstances I am. And even by beginning to say
that Paul was laying himself before the Philippians as an
example. Suggesting that they too needed
to learn godly contentment and we too. We always have room for
learning contentment. I have learned to be content
in whatever circumstances I am, I know how to get along with
humble means, I know how to get along and I know how to live
rather in prosperity. And we even saw that that might
even be a more difficult calling than poverty. To have a lack
To have a meager means, as one said, brought a lot less sinful
temptation than even riches. Paul goes on and clarifies it.
He says it even more strongly, he says, in any and every circumstance,
I have learned the secret of both being filled and going hungry,
both of having abundance and suffering need. And it’s in that
context that he says I can do all things. through him who strengthens
me.” This isn’t just a sports verse suggesting that we can
win any game that is placed before us. What Paul was talking about
very explicitly was the circumstances, the sovereignly delegated circumstance
in which a saint can be placed, whether at home or on the mission
field. Whatever God calls him to do,
he can do because God has equipped him. God can make him to do all
things. But there’s a third point. There’s
a third point that we’ll take up this morning. The third point
begins in verse 14. We’ll take it all the way through
verse 16. A fruit bearing partnership. is not only built upon action
as opposed to intention, nor even godly contentment alone. But a fruit-bearing partnership,
thirdly, is built upon a fellowship of means. A fellowship of means. Using that word means in the
old, almost Puritan setting, means just talks about what we
have. Our goods and ultimately, let’s
just talk plainly money. A fellowship of our God given
means a fellowship of money, which means that there is to
be a participation. There is to be a fellowship of
those things with which God has entrusted us, and that is by
God’s design. Here’s what I think Paul has
in mind. I think Paul had learned the
lesson. Paul knew well what God’s intent, God’s desire was. Now, all Paul had to do is get
his churches to understand God’s desire. It was a lesson that
Jesus taught. Jesus. In chapter Matthew, chapter
six said this. Do not store up treasures for
yourself on earth. Where moth and rust destroy,
where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures
in heaven. I think that’s what he was communicating
when he issued these principles. I think Paul had learned these
lessons. Paul knew that what he was doing was going about
and storing up treasures for heaven, and he wanted participation
in that from his churches. He wanted them to store up treasures
for themselves in heaven. And Jesus issues this great axiom. Store up treasures for yourself
in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves
do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there,
your heart will be also. It isn’t so much as Paul has
already said, it isn’t so much that Paul needed their money.
What he needed was their heart. What he needed was their fellowship.
And if our hearts Aren’t with the mission field, it is an indication
that our money isn’t there, but if our money goes, our hearts
will be there. And it is with that. That Paul’s heart was nearly
broken. Over the treatment that he received from several of his
beloved churches. We’ve seen in past weeks his
communication regarding the Philippian church and the churches of Macedonia
just to guard against their dignity and protect them and not to boast
about them, lest they be perceived as boasting. He speaks of them
in the most general terms, the churches of Macedonia, when really
he means Philippi. That’s primarily who the generous
ones were. That was the generous church.
It was the church in Philippi, as we’ll see over and over again
through the Scriptures. But there were other churches
with greater means, some of whom he had sat in their love feast
and been ashamed of their behavior towards one another. The Corinthians,
most notably, He had been with them and fellowship with them
had been in need in their midst. And had his heart broken repeatedly.
He administered thoroughly and effectively to the Thessalonian
church only to take a position that because of their hearts,
he wouldn’t take a dime from them. How sad. How sad. I want to take you on a brief
tour Just to set up, where does Paul come from? Where does he
get the audacity to ask churches for money? Where does he get
the the the idea that simply because he’s going on a mission
that other churches should participate in that ministry? If you would,
I want you to turn just briefly this morning to First Corinthians
chapter nine. First Corinthians chapter nine. Mind you, this is Paul’s first
letter to the Corinthian church, but it was not likely the first
time that he addressed this subject. Paul had likely addressed this
subject with them on numerous occasions. But in first Corinthians, chapter
nine, Paul begins to attempt to instruct the Corinthian church
regarding this very issue. of the relationship that should
be between a church and a mission, the privileged partnership, as
we have called it. Paul begins the discussion by
saying, am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not
seen Jesus, our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? Essentially, what he’s doing
is giving them his resume. He’s reminding them of who he
is. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not
seen Jesus, our Lord? These are his calling cards.
These are the things that he might have imprinted on a business
card if he were going about free. An apostle having seen Jesus
Christ. One who has a proven track record. In imparting the gospel ministry
to others, He goes on, though, and he says, if to others I am
not an apostle, at least I am to you. For you are the seal
of my apostleship in the Lord. He says what I said to my college
people years ago as I completed my seminary degree, I told them
you are my GPA. That was really the best part
of my GPA. I didn’t get all caught up in
that. And Paul says, you know what, if there is any proof of
my ministry, if there is any proof of my apostleship, if there
is any proof of my calling as a minister of God, this is it. This church. Who responded. So heartily to the gospel. He continues in verse three,
my defense to those who examine me is this. Apparently, there
were some who were grumbling about this very idea that Paul,
why are you always asking for money? We keep getting this missionary
newsletter. Why do you keep asking? You keep
passing the hat. You keep talking about this offering,
this money, money, money, money. That’s all you ever talk about,
Paul. My defense to those who examine me is this. Do we not
have a right to eat and drink? It’s not like Paul wanted to
build himself a condo or buy himself a yacht. He says, do
I not have a right to eat and drink? The very thing that was
in question in their love feast where they took gluttonous amounts
to themselves and they left others to go hungry. Do we not have a right to eat
and drink? I’m not asking for a lot. But I have an itinerary
that goes about. We’re going from place to place,
from city to city and country to country. We have great needs. But they don’t go much beyond
food and something to drink. Do we not have that right? You begin to get a sense of where
the Corinthians’ hearts were. These were hard hearted, greedy,
miserly people. Not unlike many of the people
of our own day. Do we not have a right to eat
and drink? Do we not have a right to take along of a leaving wife?
A passage that has singularly generated volumes of text on
whether Paul had a wife and what she looked like, what her name
was and how she decorated, how she dressed. Paul’s just asking,
look, hypothetically, I’m not going to answer the question
for you this morning. I’ll talk to you afterwards. Do we not have a right? Are you
saying that all ministers must be celibate? Do we not have a
right to take along a believing wife? And what he says is, if
we do, you know, there are going to be expenses. She doesn’t even
have to have a credit card. There just are going to be needs. This is the whole argument that
he entertains in chapter seven. Look, if I take along a believing
wife, my heart is going to attend to her. I’m going to be worried
about how I can take care of her. Do we not have that right? And all along the way, These
are rhetorical questions. Of course, he has a right to
eat and drink. Of course, he has a right to take along a believing
wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of
the Lord and Cephas, which does great damage, by the way, to
the whole Peter as the first pope of the Catholic Church.
He continues, or do only Barnabas and I not have the right to refrain
from working? He brings up the issue of bivocational
ministry. And we know that it is a possibility,
but it’s not the ideal. It’s not what God laid out, as
he’s going to go on to point out. Do only Barnabas and I not
have the right to refrain from working? Are you saying that
of all the ministers on this globe, of all of those in Christ’s
service, somehow that Barnabas and I need to continue to make
tents? Is that what you’re saying, Corinthians? Because you see
me at work You see me over here sewing the tents. You see us
peddling these things, these boots. Do only Barnabas and I
not have a right to refrain from working? And then he brings up these just
incredible points. Who at any time serves as a soldier
at his own expense? He says, if I was to go join
the military, the Roman military, I’d be on salary. Who at any time serves as a soldier?
A mercenary is a mercenary. He is a soldier by pay. He does what he does for a paycheck. Who plants a vineyard and does
not eat the fruit of it? It’s almost absurd. It’s almost
an absurd thought that he brings up, and he does so for that very
reason. To plant a vineyard and not to eat of the fruit of it
would be unthinkable. The third. Who tends a flock
and does not use the milk of the flock? Same point. The point that he’s making. He
begins to spell out with great clarity in verse 8. I’m not speaking
these things according to human judgment. Am I talking about
farms and vineyards and flocks? Is that what you think I’m talking
about? Let me tell you what I’m talking about. Look at the end
of verse 8. Or does not also the law also
say these things? For it is written in the law
of Moses, you shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.
This is an interesting verse. The verse is taken from a passage
that Paul uses on several occasions. Deuteronomy, twenty five, four.
And the picture that Paul uses here is of a threshing floor,
which was typically a circular piece of level ground. And what
they would do is yoke up the oxen and march them around in
a circle and shovel grain onto the threshing floor. And the
oxen would come and walk on it and break up the grain. Paul says. Essentially, the Old
Testament law. Had spelled out. that even oxen
were entitled to eat that grain as they were walking about on
the grain. They could dip down anytime they
wanted and eat the grain because they were essentially producing
the food by their efforts. God even required that these
animals, brute beasts, who just simply were in man’s labor for
physical food, They, too, were to be cared for and fed, and
God had to make a law to do it. One pastor said of this passage,
Deuteronomy 25, four is one of the series of directions in joining
kind and considerate behavior that God actually had to write
laws to the children of Israel so that they would show this
kind of kind and considerate behavior. The only one that has
an immediate respect to the lower animals is Deuteronomy 25, for
the application to the laborers in the Christian ministry is
merely to carry the kind and considerate treatment which is
sought to foster and call forth a related, but a higher sphere. He uses the law of feeding animals,
treading out grain. as a means of just consideration
for those that are carrying forth the gospel. And Paul clarifies
this when he says God is not concerned about oxen. Is he?
Well, of course, he’s concerned about oxen because he wrote the
law. He wrote Deuteronomy 25, 4. Of
course, he’s concerned about the oxen. Paul’s not saying that
he’s not. Concerned about the ox. Paul’s
merely saying here, is that the point of Deuteronomy 25, 4? Is
that why I’m citing the passage here under the direction of the
Holy Spirit? Paul says, ultimately, those
who preach the gospel should get their living from the gospel.
And in First Timothy five, he echoes this principle, those
that are pastors of churches, elders, he says, who rule well. Be worthy, be considered worthy
of double honor. Remember that passage we went
through this years ago. Especially those who work hard
at preaching and teaching. This is one of the few places
where you get the justification for paid ministry in the church. But then he goes on. The passage
reads like this. Let the elders who rule well
be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work
hard at preaching and teaching for the scripture says. You shall
not muzzle the ox while he’s threshing. God is not concerned
about oxen, is he? Is that all he’s talking about
in that passage? Or couldn’t it be more justly
applied to men, men in service of their God? Back to first Corinthians, Paul
says, or is he altogether speaking for our sake? Yes, it is for
our sake. It was written because the plowman
ought to plow and hope and the thresher ought to thresh in hope
of sharing the crops. If we sowed spiritual things
in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?
What a rebuke this was to the Corinthian church. What a chiding
this was. We brought to you the gospel
of life. We came to you who were hell
bound and dead in your trespasses and sins, and we brought to you
the Savior who is life itself. Is it too much for me to take
up an offering so that I may go take this life giving message
to others? What a rebuke. If their hearts
were at all alive, this must have hit them like a ton of bricks. If we sowed spiritual things
in you, is it too much that we reap material things from you?
Galatians 6 echoes that very same thought. Galatians 6 says,
let the one who is taught the word share all good things with
the one who teaches him. That is the principle of ministry. First Thessalonians 5 echoes
it as well, 12 and 13. We request of you, brethren,
that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you. And
that could be very general and you might not know who he’s talking
about. There are a lot of hard workers in any church. But he
clarifies it, we appreciate you appreciate those who diligently
labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord, speaking
of of the elders and give you instruction. And that you esteem
them very highly in love because of their work, and so there are
those principles at work in the church, but you’re talking about
the mission field. And so is Paul. And so is Paul. Paul says, do I not have a right?
I’m taking the gospel. To dead sinners, do I not have
the right? Verse 12, he takes up the argument
again, as if others share the right over you, do we not more?
There were others that were plying on the Corinthians. Perhaps that’s
why they were suspicious of Paul. And they had obligated the Corinthians
to give to their various causes. Paul says you need to you need
to adjust your ledger. You need to set some priorities
here. People always get nervous when you begin talking about
giving and and what you know what people’s priorities are.
But as we think through our priorities, as we rethink To whom we give
what and where we spend our money. Many clarifications are made.
And Paul sadly says in verse 12, nevertheless, we did not
use this right. We took a pass there while we were in Corinth,
we tried initially and we gave up. Nevertheless, we did not
use this right, but we endure all things so that we may cause
no hindrance to the gospel of Christ. First and foremost, what
Paul wanted to do is minister, preach the gospel, establish
those in Christ and move on. But he closes with this in verse
13, do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat
the food of the temple and those who attend regularly to the altar
have their share from the altar, so the Lord directed those who
proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel. If you would, I want to go now
to the book of Philippians. Back to Philippians. Philippians chapter four, this
is what he’s dealing with. This is the backdrop. He had
been heartbroken and abused by so many churches. Anybody who’s
ever pastored a church or ministered abroad certainly knows the same
sentiment. I’ve seen plenty of bad attitudes
in my day. The old adage, Lord, we’ll keep
him poor, you keep him humble. I’ve heard people actually say
that to my face. The first year that I made fifteen
thousand dollars a year for three years, I had people tell me that
I should be thankful. And I was. We were ministering in a place. We were ministering in a place. And with their blessing, we had
the privilege to go and candidate in another church. We both knew
that it wasn’t going to be a good long term fit. We dialogued with
this other church. We were supposed to go. I told
him that, look, we are broke, penniless. I can’t expect my
other church to pay. Could you help us with the means
to get there? Sure. No problem. We get there.
No means. The explanation was simple. If
any one of us goes on a job interview, every one of us pays their own
way. We just didn’t go back. I remember even in this church
during the time of our bivocational status, I had one lady approach
me and say, it is so good to see a pastor working. And that’s
the attitude. That is the prevailing attitude
with so many. And Paul had felt it. Paul felt
it from the Corinthians acutely. Paul felt it from the Thessalonians,
sadly. But he didn’t feel it from the
Philippian church. Paul was involved with them in
a fellowship of means, look at verse 14, where Paul says, nevertheless,
The great fear that Paul had in that little transitional word,
what he’s ministering to there is the fear that those words
versus 11 through 13 might leave them with the thought that, look,
God is sovereign. I’m cared for. I don’t need your gift and I’m
not thankful. That’s the last thing that Paul
wanted to communicate. When Paul said, not that I speak
from one for I’ve learned to be content, whatever circumstances
I am, I know how to get along with humble means prosperity.
Hungry, filled, abundance, need. I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me. I don’t need you Philippians.
That’s not what he wanted to say. That’s not where his heart
was. He says, please don’t think that
for a moment. Nevertheless, let’s hit the brakes
here. I can do all things. God has
equipped me. God has made me to be content.
But nevertheless, Even though I see the sovereign
goodness of God in every provision that I receive. I see you. I see your hand. I see the Philippians are not
out of that equation. God has stirred your hearts. And I don’t disregard in any
way the gift that you have sent, I don’t. Nevertheless, you have
done well, Paul says. It’s a good, inherently good
thing that you have done. It’s a noble thing. It’s a beautiful
character is the meaning of that word. He heaps upon them positive
and generous praise. He’s not indifferent to their
gift. He doesn’t look past it. He doesn’t slight it in any way.
You have done well. What Paul communicates to the
Philippians is that what they did matched up perfectly with
God’s sovereign will. And that their gift was used
of God as a good thing. Nevertheless, you have done well
to share with me in my affliction. Remember, I told you that we
call this a privileged partnership. Now, that particular phrase we
took from Second Corinthians eight, where it was the Corinthians
that were rather it was the Philippians that were urging and pleading
with Paul for the privilege to participate in his ministry.
And here, Paul acknowledges that participation directly with the
Philippians themselves. He says, nevertheless, you’ve
done well to share with me in my affliction. If this was practical
sympathy on their part, a lot of people can feel for somebody
else. It’s another thing to feel with
your wallets or to feel with your efforts. Whatever they were feeling, they
showed Paul this word is a blend of two words. Soon, together
with and Koinonia fellowship. I mean, this is the most intimate
kind of fellowship they were with Paul in this deal. They
didn’t just send him a check. They didn’t just pray for him.
They didn’t just hear reports about him. They didn’t just give
him well wishes from time to time. It was everything, everything
they had. Every part of them. When Paul
uses this word elsewhere, first Ephesians 511, he says, do not
participate. Do not soon, koinonia, do not
participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness. We’re not
supposed to have that kind of intimate fellowship with sin. But we are supposed to have that
kind of intimate fellowship with our mission, with our missionaries,
with those who preach the gospel. Paul says, you have practically
fellowship, you have shared in my affliction and because of
that, you’ve lightened my burden. It is what one called a spiritual
partnership, and there again, it is a privileged partnership
As one said, they had become, through their substantial sympathy,
partakers of his affliction insofar as they had lightened his burden.
Though he was contented, yet he felt affliction, loss of liberty,
constant surveillance and inability to fulfill the great end of his
apostolic calling, not to mention poverty. But it was this feeling along
with them in their prayers, in their kind words, in their kind
deeds, in their gifts. They were united with him. They were in partnership with
him. From time to time, we share this
thought at the Lord’s table communion, we call it. And I’ve shared this
thought before that in a very real sense, we commune. We fellowship
with the Lord in that moment, but we also commune with one
another. Paul says the Philippian church
communed with him in his afflictions. They participated in that suffering. The Philippians shared with Paul
in that tribulation, that trouble that he experienced, lips list. We just talked about that word
meaning pressure of great magnitude. And by doing, they helped him
with that burden so that he could carry the gift of the gospel
to others, even while chained to a Roman guard. Nevertheless, you have done well
to share with me and my affliction and essentially the principle,
as it were, stops there. The principle that I wanted to
introduce a fellowship of means stops there, and really the question
that remains for us as a church is a legacy. What kind of a legacy
would we want to live? Not only live, what kind of a
legacy would we want to leave? Do we want to leave a legacy
as a church that’s like the Corinthians, tightfisted and miserly? One
that as the apostle came in, I mean, can you imagine someone
coming and sharing our pulpit and saying, no, thank you. Don’t
give me an honoraria. Don’t take care of my travel
expenses. You’re off the hook, Corinthians.
Is that the legacy that we want to leave? Or like the Thessalonians
that were really solid Christians. I mean, the Corinthians, you
could almost expect this kind of behavior, but the Thessalonians.
As we’ll see in a moment, shocking. Or do we want to be like the
Philippians? We don’t have much. This isn’t a rich church. We’re
not a rich people. Not even by American standards.
By the world standards, for sure. But don’t we want to leave that
kind of a legacy? Look at verse 15, what kind of
a legacy did the Philippians leave? You yourselves know, Philippians,
that at the first preaching of the gospel. This fresh gift that Epaphroditus
had just brought was just one in a long train of many. But
the first preaching of the gospel is when their ministry really
started. Lydia first took Paul and his friends in, then the
Philippian jailer and the whole train started right there. From
that point forward, the Philippian church was going to be known
as a hospitable, generous church. From the first preaching of the
gospel, what he talks about is that little Riverside ministry
that it began with Lydia. And some ladies and he preached
the gospel there and the gospel grew and flourished and came
into people’s hearts and people’s lives were changed. But it began
right there. The first preaching of the gospel. But it didn’t stop there. It
didn’t stop there. Look at the passage again. You
yourselves know Philippians at the first preaching of the gospel
after I departed from Macedonia. And what he’s talking about here
is essentially act 17 that remember, he goes to Thessalonica. That
doesn’t go so well. People receive the gospel, but
he’s treated very poorly by the crowds run literally out of town. That’s the departure from Macedonia.
He’s leaving for Achaia, other parts of Europe. Thessalonians
didn’t help him and the Philippians say, who will? We must. The interesting thing about Macedonia. Is it’s not a huge region, not
vast when you consider certainly if you peek at a globe. But Paul
says. After I departed from Macedonia,
you ministered to me so abundantly. Even though I had already come
and gone from your realm, they knew. They knew that what Paul
had, what Paul brought, the gospel was life itself. It was salvation. And the apostle says that this
generosity had been shown so often to him that even in his
departure from Macedonia, he’s leaving their area. He truly
is a missionary at this point. And they ministered to him. Look
at verse 15 again at the end. You yourselves know, Philippians,
that at the first preaching of the gospel after I departed from
Macedonia, no church… What a sad truth. And you talk
about a legacy penned for all time, for all posterity. Every eye to see no church shared
with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but you alone.
And that’s why I say when Paul speaks in 2nd Corinthians and
1st Corinthians of the churches of Macedonia and of their generosity,
the one he’s talking about is the Philippian church, because
he tells us here there was no other church. Paul gives the
entire region of Macedonia the credit for what the Philippian
church did. No church shared with me in the
matter of giving and receiving, but you alone today, we would
say that they became his supporters. They’re on his support team. Sad truth is that the Philippian
church was the only one. The only church to render such
service to show that kind of love, to join in partnership
in the gospel and in Paul’s sufferings. To the Corinthians, Paul would
later write in 11 verse 8, I robbed other churches by taking wages
from them to serve you. Paul didn’t literally rob them,
but Paul wasn’t ministering anymore to the church in Philippi. He
just was taking their money. They kept sending it. He kept
taking it and using it. I robbed other churches by taking
wages from them to serve you. And when I was present with you
and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone. For when the brethren
came from Macedonia, they fully supplied my need and in everything
I kept myself from being a burden to you and will continue to do
so. And Paul closes with this. This
great legacy of this tiny, poor, little church. You yourselves
know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the Gospel
after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the
matter of giving and receiving but you alone. For even in Thessalonica,
you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Here’s the deal
about Thessalonica. It’s 90 miles away from Philippi. Ninety miles away. This would
be like us. Hearing of the Donato’s with
a flat tire in Dillon. And being beside ourselves at
the fact that no one was caring for them and we get in our car
and we take whatever means we have and we go and minister to
their need. Ninety miles away. I mean, you
just left. It was a much more wealthy city
than Philippi, this Thessalonica. Paul had founded a church there,
and yet the townspeople didn’t receive him so well. While he
was ministering there in Thessalonica, Paul says literally once and
twice you brought a gift. Once and again you brought a
gift. The sad reality is that the Thessalonian
Christians knew as they were did not show Paul the same kind
of hospitality, basic Christian hospitality that the Philippian
church had. Thus, the Philippian church kept
up their support of Paul as long as he needed it. Just as long
as he needed it. Paul would later write to the
Thessalonians. You recall, brethren, our labor
and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden
to any of you. What kind of a legacy is that?
We’re the church that Paul didn’t need to take up an offering in. Later on, he would write to the
Thessalonians in chapter three, verse eight, we didn’t need anyone’s
bread without paying for it. Can you imagine this? They charged
Paul for dinner. But with labor and hardship,
we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden
to any of you. And he said even more direct
things to the Corinthians chapter 9, verse 18, chapter 11, verse
7. Chapter 12, verse 13 of 2nd Corinthians,
Paul said, look, what kind of a legacy do you want to leave
churches? The generous generosity rather
of the Philippian church is what enabled Paul. Together with his
own trade work when needed to minister to the churches, churches
of Corinth, churches of Thessalonica and many others so that he could
minister to them free of charge for the sake of the gospel. The
question is, what will be our legacy? Will it be a legacy of generosity
as we minister to the Donato’s? It’s not a one time thing. Everywhere
they go, they have great needs. Some would say, oh, well, they
live in Honduras. Where a dollar goes a long way,
everything they do cost more. Everything they do. This ministry to the Donatos
is not a one time thing. It is a fellowship with their
affliction. It’s everything that we have
together with everything that they do, and it’s a privileged
partnership. We’ll take up point four next
week. Let’s pray. Merciful God, we thank you for
this guidance from your word regarding the relationship between
the mission and the church. Grant us wisdom as we evaluate
these things, particularly with regard to this precious family
of servants. Guide us and direct us as how
you would have us to minister to them. It’s in Jesus name that
we pray. Amen.