Through Christ, Who Strengthens Me

10But I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at length you have revived your thought for me; in which you did indeed take thought, but you lacked opportunity. 11Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. 12I know how to be humbled, and I know also how to abound. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need. 13I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. 14However you did well that you shared in my affliction. 15You 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. 16For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again to my need. 17Not that I seek for the gift, but I seek for the fruit that increases to your account. 18But I have all things, and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God. 19My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever! Amen. 21Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. 22All the saints greet you, especially those who are of Caesar’s household. 23The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Even people who obey God and walk the path of faith face trials. A problem that could easily be overcome if it concerned only one’s own faith can become a great trial when one must also think of, and answer for, someone else’s faith. When people of faith give themselves, even to the point of laying down their lives, it is less by human effort than because they have made their decision by a faith that relies on God. To give up their own lives so that others might receive God would have been a hard decision. Moses, a model among the people of faith, refused again and again when God called him, saying he was not equal to the mission. Even as God grew angry, Moses asked what he should do if the people would not believe him, and he trembled with fear, asking who he was to go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel. Those of you who have labored to share the gospel will understand what was in Moses’ heart.

He refused, saying that he had never been eloquent, that he was slow of speech and of tongue, and that even at the Lord’s command he could hardly fulfill the mission. He was afraid because the one he now had to face was Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Of course God would help him, but from where Moses stood, he had to fight and defeat King Pharaoh, who held absolute power. Perhaps he thought Pharaoh might kill him. Even so, because it was God’s command, he had to obey; and since God said it had to be him, he found himself having to go to a people who had been slaves for 430 years. Under God’s strong persuasion he resolved to become Israel’s leader, but it was a great trial for him. He had to go to a people who were his own kin yet whom he barely knew, and he had to take on a mission that meant fighting and prevailing against Pharaoh, a king with absolute power. Moses hesitated because he knew he had to do what he did not want to do. We too have tasks we do not want to do and burdens we would rather not bear, but because God’s work must be done, we must persevere. To that hesitant Moses, God sent Aaron as a partner and gave him strength. In the same way, God gives brothers and sisters to those who have made the decision of faith, and he gives them strength.

Relying on God’s word and power, Moses brought down the ten plagues, and through that experience he came to understand God’s will. With each plague he saw the people receive God, and he felt them beginning to follow him. Still, as he brought plagues on Egypt and on Pharaoh, he would have been afraid. No one in this world is without fear. He was likely troubled by such thoughts: What if he could not do it? It was God’s work, yes, but what if Pharaoh killed him, or the people turned on him? Even so, Moses believed in the almighty God and did his utmost for the suffering people. The ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea were not so much Moses’ faith as God’s absolute power at work to fulfill his promise. Those miracles built up one upon another until Israel came out of Egypt.

But then a trial Moses never expected came upon him. The people, who had witnessed at his side the many miracles Moses had won at the risk of his life, claimed all those blessings as their own and wanted yet another miracle. They wanted human comfort and laid bare the desires of their greedy hearts. How hard it had been to escape Egypt, how dearly their freedom had been won! They had received what they longed for through God and Moses, and yet they flung their greed nakedly at Moses. People who had suffered for as long as 430 years ought to have obeyed Moses without question, the man who had saved them at the risk of his life. But their greed was greater, and by expecting greater miracles from Moses — a man with a nature like theirs — they put him to a great trial. When we see how people even now betray Jesus Christ, who left his throne and atoned for our sins, perhaps it is only to be expected that the people grumbled against Moses.

Reading Exodus and looking at the people from where Moses stood, I was astonished at their ungrateful greed. Moses had given his life and his years to fight against Pharaoh and lead the people out, yet once again they were grumbling and shouting for what they wanted. Had they obeyed as Moses led, God would have resolved everything for them; yet they wanted only what was right in front of them — and that is what human beings are.

At last Moses met his great trial. Though I knew what Moses chose and what came of it, my heart was in my throat as I read. Of course, since it was God’s command to bring the people out of Egypt whatever they did, Moses had to take responsibility for them to the end. But Moses, who had given himself body and soul, could not hold back his anger at a people who endlessly looked out only for themselves, and he despaired. Had he let go of that immature people in his heart and looked to God alone, Moses would have overcome that trial. As he watched the people complain that he had brought them out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, to die in this wilderness, Moses grew angry. Yet this anger came from Moses’ weakness: he was deceived by the hurt of feeling that all he had given for them had gone unrecognized. Plagues had fallen at his command, and he had seen Pharaoh tremble, so perhaps his self-esteem had grown. When the Red Sea parted, he may also have become sure he could do anything. He had been confident that he could save such a people, yet they would not listen and poured out their complaints; finding them pitiful and exasperating, Moses ended up losing his temper. And the people, for their part, would have thought that because God had sent Moses especially for them, and they had defeated Pharaoh and come out of Egypt, God and Moses ought to do whatever they wanted.

The most dangerous moment for us comes right after we have received great grace. The reason is that God was testing whether Moses knew that the miracles he had performed were not his own power but grace God had given. I hope you will always remember that after God answers, he will surely test our faith, shaking it through some event or some person. It is like the heart of parents who buy their child a present and ask whether the child is truly thankful.

Once people get what they want, they claim it as their own and want the next thing, so they do not keep a thankful heart for long. You and I must not forget that this is what human beings, evil by nature, are like.

My heart ached for Moses as he faced this great trial; I felt so sorry for him. To save the people he had made countless hard decisions and shown his faith. Yet as he watched people who had seen the astonishing miracle of the Red Sea parting cry out for a mouthful of water, what Moses felt was surely hurt. Moses seemed angry, but perhaps it was his hurt bursting out, as if to ask how they could fail so completely to trust God. He had risked his life fighting Pharaoh, and it wounded him that the people did not recognize it. Once that hurt took hold of him, even his gratitude — the knowledge that he had prevailed because God had helped him in that too — vanished. They had been freed, as they wished, from the whip that was Egypt, and now they demanded a better life; that greed was without doubt a great trial for Moses.

Moses had overcome countless trials that came at him like waves, but in the end he fell because of the very people he loved most. God’s rebuke of Moses, who had fallen in the trial, was severe. He had come all this way with his eyes fixed on the land of Canaan, yet because he could not embrace the people with God’s heart, he could not enter the promised land. This is the trial leaders must guard against. Had Moses not forgotten that it was God’s power that had led the people, he would have had no reason to be angry. It takes a great deal of patience and training to have a faith that never forgets to thank God, whatever comes. Moses fell because he trusted too much that the people who had believed him and crossed the Red Sea would surely be grateful to God and to him.

This was not the people’s problem but Moses’ alone, because it concerns the strong and courageous heart a leader must have in order not to be swayed to the right or to the left. When people receive what they want, rather than considering the heart of God and of their leader and growing more mature, they act on their greed. That is why only those who know from the start that the world is a place of despair, and who quietly shoulder their mission in the midst of it, will not fall in trials as leaders. No one, whoever they may be, ever gives up their own righteousness or greed. And to the end they will not trust Jesus Christ, or the leaders who guide them. If faith does not grow in this way, no one will become large in spirit, however much time passes, nor grow to the measure God desires.

God told Moses that he could not enter Canaan, but that he should go up Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, and look at Canaan; then he took his soul. What was in Moses’ heart at the last? Since God held him in his arms, he would have been comforted; yet he must have regretted that he had not dealt with the people with God’s heart to the end.

Seeing how the people’s weak faith hindered Moses’ faith, I came to think that every word the apostle Paul proclaimed to the church in Philippi was his anguished struggle. It takes God’s people a long time to come to a mature faith. But let us not forget that only when we carry grace and gratitude, patience, faith, and love all together in our hearts can we have a mature faith like the apostle Paul’s.

There is no one for whom life is not hard. How hard it must have been for the apostle Paul, imprisoned not for his own sin but for the gospel! He says it is only natural that he should suffer, but he too is human. It was the life he chose, yet each day would have been painful. Among people there will be lives that wither and die in the scorching summer, unable to put down roots for lack of water, and lives uprooted, unable to withstand the fierce storms of suffering. We strive for a comfortable life, but life does not go as we wish. To live as God’s people, and as leaders, in such a harsh world is hard. But if we know what comes first spiritually, we can live and prevail.

The apostle Paul said that he had learned to be content in whatever state he was, that he knew how to be humbled and how to abound, and that he had learned the secret in all things. The secret he learned was possible because he had a right faith. However hard his circumstances, Paul knew they were part of the process of doing God’s work.

So he labored all the harder to spread the gospel. When he had plenty, he took it as God helping him to proclaim the good news; when he was in hardship, he thought only of the souls to be saved. This is how he could always show a steady faith. What is more, Paul had chosen hardship of his own accord for the sake of the gospel, so he did not stumble or lose heart. Only with such faith can we confess that we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us.

Philippians 4:14-15

14However you did well that you shared in my affliction. 15You 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.

Paul could never forget the love of the Philippians. When he left Philippi for Macedonia, it was early in his missionary journeys, and he could receive no help from other churches. As he set out on his mission, the support of the church in Philippi was a great strength to him. While Paul preached the gospel and was beaten for it, the Philippians gave themselves to providing for his needs. Paul did, it is true, earn money as a tentmaker, but to preach the gospel to idol worshipers and earn a living at the same time would not have been easy. Those to whom he preached were more often slaves and common people than rich, so they were hardly in a position to share what they had. Without the commitment of those who gave material help even in such hardship, Paul would have found it hard to fulfill his mission.

It grieved Paul deeply that people who had shown such great love could not let go of their human righteousness and were quarreling, so he sent Timothy and Epaphroditus and urged them to return to their first love. The apostle Paul believed that if he exhorted them, they would take it to heart. For a pastor, it is a rewarding thing to be confident, when giving counsel to the congregation, that the person will surely listen. Thankfully, the Philippians heeded Paul’s counsel, repented of their foolishness, were reconciled, and were given another chance to walk the right path.

Obedience must be steady. To obey only when it agrees with our own thinking is not obedience. Those who obey so completely that they are called foolish receive God’s approval, and so can receive his absolute protection.

Philippians 4:11-12

11Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. 12I know how to be humbled, and I know also how to abound. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need.

It is true that the apostle Paul was in very hard straits, imprisoned for preaching the gospel, but his heart must have ached at having to say even this. When he says, “Not that I speak because of lack,” he is asking them not to misunderstand: he exhorts them as one who knows God’s will better. These were the people who had helped Paul so that he could proclaim the word. Now that a church carrying so weighty a mission was in conflict, he was telling them to stop quarreling and return to their place of faithfulness to God.

When Paul says, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it,” he does not mean that things are very hard for him now but still bearable. It is because suffering can no longer torment him; he is using even that pain as a tool for doing God’s work. He said he had learned to be content in whatever state he was, meaning that if only people could be saved, his own suffering counted for nothing. He was letting them know that even if it meant death, he could bear the mission given to him, and that God’s will was for the believers to be restored to their own place. His words, free of all self-interest, were love itself.

Paul came to the brink of death again and again, yet he endured, he held on, and he did not count even his own life as his own. The love and devotion of the Philippians, who had helped such a man, were more than worthy of reward from God. Paul sent his letter in haste, and those who received it, full of his heartfelt sincerity, repented and resolved to work together again. Hearing that they had repented, Paul rejoiced greatly. As long as they stopped quarreling and worked together, they could take on even greater work, so he was grateful to those who listened to him and turned back.

Philippians 4:17

17Not that I seek for the gift, but I seek for the fruit that increases to your account.

That Paul has to say even this shows what a hard calling pastoral ministry is. It is the Philippians themselves who will be praised and blessed by God if they repent and turn back, yet even then Paul has to commend them. When Paul told the church in Philippi to recover their first love, he did not mean that their quarrel had to stop for his own benefit. Though he had given up everything for them, he wrote this way out of caution, afraid they might misunderstand his exhortation. One thing is clear: if they are God’s children, they must stop quarreling and help Paul preach the gospel, even without his exhortation. Whatever he says in exhortation or rebuke is in the end for their own good; yet watching Paul take such care lest they misunderstand him, I thought how heavy the responsibility is to speak on behalf of God’s word.

If Paul ran into material hardship on his missionary journeys, God would surely help him in his own way. Paul knew this, but his longing was all the deeper because he wanted those who gave out of their own hardship to be blessed by God.

We are all people who will return to God’s kingdom when we leave this world. Depending on what faith we have shown him in the course of our lives, some will see the glory of God, and some will fall into hell. According to our faith, the division will be stark the moment we leave this body, and however much we regret it, we will never get another chance.

What kind of faith do you have? I am asking whether you have a holy faith that can say with confidence, as Paul and Moses could, that helping me is serving God. When you exhort someone, do they turn back the moment they hear it? In my ministry, the hardest thing has been exhorting my congregation. I exhort them because I know that if they repent and turn back they will surely receive an answer, but because I never know how they will take it, I have always been careful.

We must not be foolish like the Israelites who came out of Egypt, who experienced God’s wondrous miracles countless times, yet threw that grace away and even put Moses to the test. May you never be like the church in Philippi, which helped the apostle Paul as he gave himself to the gospel, yet could not yield on a small matter and so foolishly spilled out the grace of God.

I hope you will not think that God’s grace differs from person to person. God’s grace shows itself differently according to each one’s faith, and the rewards they will receive differ too. In what kind of life are you showing God’s grace? If you take on your mission in a humble place, God will give you great power and grant peace to your heart. If you give yourselves to the gospel, he will fill you with his power and guard you so that the wicked and evil spirits cannot touch you. You must help one another as brothers and sisters, yielding, persevering, and building up the church together. If you exhort a beloved brother or sister so that they do not fall into temptation, and gladly share what you have as needed, God will give you even richer grace.

I expect that through these nine messages on Philippians you will have come to know Paul’s earnest heart. Just as the church in Philippi recovered its faith when it realized that Paul’s heart was the very heart of Christ, it is my hope that through these messages your faith, too, will be restored in the Lord.

God is looking for those who serve him faithfully with an unchanging faith. He takes notice of those who commit themselves to being an example, and he gives them grace. May you have the mind of Jesus Christ, and show God a faith that is content in the Lord who gives you strength. Then, as you are filled with the Holy Spirit, God will keep you in wisdom and understanding, and he will protect your whole life.