And as you Philippians know, in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church but you partnered with me in the matter of giving and receiving.You yourselves also know, you Philippians, that in the beginning of the Good News, when I departed from Macedonia, no assembly shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you only.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.And ye yourselves also know, ye Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church had fellowship with me in the matter of giving and receiving but ye only;
3 sermons cite this verse
… Philippians 4 verse 14. Nevertheless you've done well that you shared in my distress. Now you Philippians know that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed from Macedonia no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek a gift but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. And indeed I have all and I am abound and I am full having received from Epaphroditus, a friend of Paul, the things that you sent to me which were a sweet smelling aroma and acceptable sacrifice well pleasing to God. And God shall supply all of your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. You know we quote that verse a lot. That God will supply all of our needs according to his riches and glory. But we need to see it in its context. Now, I mentioned earlier, getting more stuff does not bring happiness and contentment. …
… all felt bad about it, but none of them did anything about it. Here's what it says of the Philippian church, chapter four, verse 15 and 16. It says, moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out for Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except only you. For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need in order. Hey, Philippian church, you're my favorite. Now I won't tell all the others, but he writes him this letter to thank them. It's absolutely beautiful because the Philippian church saw it differently. I wonder if we're that kind of church that would see a need in the community differently. It's one thing to hear about it and feel bad. It's a whole other thing to get up and do something about it. That is the kind of church we are. We've always been that kind of church that gets up and does something about it. But he also wants to say, hey, hey, I know you feel bad that I'm in prison because maybe they're getting like a defense fund. We need to get Paul good lawyers to get him out of prison. Poor Paul. I feel so bad for you. He's like, no, no, no. You need to see it differently. Because Paul says this. He says, I want you to know, brothers and sisters, what has …
… You yourselves also know, it's Philippians 4.15 if you're writing notes. You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving or 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, I seek for the profit which increases to your account. I can say with absolute purity of heart, that is where my heart is burning at this moment. I don't think, you've got to understand how, I want you to understand how I think, what I value. I don't think in terms of building Bethel as a big ministry, as a big church. This is what I think. I think about building big people. I don't care if there's a hundred here or there's 20,000. And I mean that sincerely. What really matters to me is that people become everything God intended them to be. They step into destiny fully. …