First Things First # 3 – All Things Through Him Who Strengthens

Since most of the readers of this article series might have figured out how to install the Xiphos Bible program and configure it properly, by now and we’ve used the [DBD] devotional last week, let’s jump to the [SME] daily devotional, directly, today. If you haven’t figured out how to install and configure the Xiphos Bible program, a tutorial for you will follow in the TekkSpexx section of this website at a later point in time.

[SME] C. H. Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening: Daily Readings

Morning, February 10

“I know how to abound.”
Philippians 4:12

What were C. H. Spurgeon’s thoughts about the passage mentioned above?

There are many who know “how to be abased” who have not learned “how to abound.” When they are set upon the top of a pinnacle their heads grow dizzy, and they are ready to fall. The Christian far oftener disgraces his profession in prosperity than in adversity. It is a dangerous thing to be prosperous. The crucible of adversity is a less severe trial to the Christian than the refining pot of prosperity. Oh, what leanness of soul and neglect of spiritual things have been brought on through the very mercies and bounties of God! Yet this is not a matter of necessity, for the apostle tells us that he knew how to abound. When he had much he knew how to use it. Abundant grace enabled him to bear abundant prosperity. When he had a full sail he was loaded with much ballast, and so floated safely. It needs more than human skill to carry the brimming cup of mortal joy with a steady hand, yet Paul had learned that skill, for he declares, “In all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry.” It is a divine lesson to know how to be full, for the Israelites were full once, but while the flesh was yet in their mouth, the wrath of God came upon them. Many have asked for mercies that they might satisfy their own hearts’ lust. Fulness of bread has often made fulness of blood, and that has brought on wantonness of spirit. When we have much of God’s providential mercies, it often happens that we have but little of God’s grace, and little gratitude for the bounties we have received. We are full and we forget God: satisfied with earth, we are content to do without heaven. Rest assured it is harder to know how to be full than it is to know how to be hungry—so desperate is the tendency of human nature to pride and forgetfulness of God. Take care that you ask in your prayers that God would teach you “how to be full.”
“Let not the gifts thy love bestows
Estrange our hearts from thee.”

Since the [SME] C. H. Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening: Daily Readings are in the public domain, you can see it quoted above. What a blessing! Please read the following UKJV Bible passage in context, after you read Spurgeon’s comment from the [SME ] daily readings, below.

Philippians 4:10-14

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me has flourished again; wherein all of you were also careful, but all of you lacked opportunity.

Not that I speak in respect of lack: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

I know both how to be brought low, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

Notwithstanding all of you have well done, that all of you did communicate with my affliction.

Note: Quoted from the “Updated King James Version”. After reading the Bible passage above in context, let’s have a look at the free non-commercial Kingcomments, for a better understanding of the Bible passage in context and your further individual development and growth.

All Things Through Him Who Strengthens

Phil 4:10. The Lord was really enough for Paul. He had the peace of God in his heart and the God of peace was with him. That did not mean that he was insensitive to the attitude of the Philippian believers. The Lord indeed was with him in all his circumstances, and now Paul rejoices in the Lord about their loving care for him expressed in a special way. They thought of him once again!

His gratitude is not primarily for their gift, but for their motive. It resembles a bit of an exhortation when he says “now at last”. But that’s not so. He knew that they did think of him, but they did not have the opportunity to let him know that. But now by the coming of Epaphroditus their thoughts of the beloved apostle had literally taken hands and feet. Their gift made it clear that they were thinking of him.
Phil 4:11. Paul hastened to add that he suffered no shortage. He did not want to give them any feeling of guilt as though they let him suffer in need with the delayed supply. He also wanted to avoid giving the impression that he depended on their gift. It is not easy to express deep gratitude and at the same time not to give the impression of being greedy (Acts 20:33). Those who learn to be content in all circumstances are not dependent on anyone. It was a long process for Paul to learn this. Now he could say that he had learned it.

It is a lesson that we all need to learn: to be content and at the same time independent of people. There are people who have a lot of money and yet they are dissatisfied. It is because they never have enough as they seek to satisfy all their unquenchable desires. There are also others who have very little and yet are content. To be content literally means having enough (Heb 13:5; 1Tim 6:6-8). If you trust in God, you may count on God’s promise and be sure of your bread and water (Isa 33:16). If you are completely dependent on the Lord you are satisfied with what He sends you, whether it is deficit or abundance.

Phil 4:12. Paul could have a say on any situation. He had been through them all and therefore he knew them all. He knew how to deal with humble means, or to be humbled. Sometimes you are in a situation where people revile you, mock you, and treat you as a malefactor or even as dirt, until at last you are reduced to nothing and there remains nothing to your credit (cf. 2Cor 11:24). He also knew of prosperity or get a lot of honor (Acts 14:11; Acts 28:6). He was initiated in all the situations of life as if it were the initiation in a secret. It is also a personal secret between a believer and God, that he will not be overwhelmed by all life’s situations.

He knew what it meant to be full and to be hungry. His experiences, instead of taking him far away from the Lord Jesus, brought him closer to Him. Amid all these he followed the Lord Jesus in His foot prints unlike many Christians today. Many perish either through saturation or through hunger. Both circumstances drive many away from the Lord. Agur spoke the following wise words as a prayer: “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny [You] and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God” (Pro 30:8-9).

If a person is full he thinks he does not need God. In the countries of abundance in which we live this is the frightening reality. In the lives of countless people God has no place. Materialism is like a wedge between God and the believer. The Christian veneer is peeling off more and more of what still bears the name ‘Christian’. Can you imagine in this light that Agur was afraid that he would deny God? Feel free to make his prayer your prayer.
The possibility is great that you can speak on being full and on having abundance. In general we swim in prosperity and luxury. The question is what impact do they have on your life? Ask yourself honestly whether they have brought you closer to the Lord, or have they taken you away from Him. Can you have a say on hunger and on what it is to suffer need? I think this possibility is low– at least for us who live in the prosperous West. And if someone is already suffering from hunger and want, the possibility is that it is the result of debt he himself made. Loans have been made so attractive today! This passage does not speak about this kind of hunger and suffering need. Here we hear a man talking of his experience of hunger and suffering need during the course of his work for God.
If you can have a say on hunger and suffering need, then I hope that it is in this way. Then you will be able to draw support and courage here. Thus the Lord Jesus also was hungry as He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and was tempted by the devil (Mt 4:1-2). Paul followed his master not from a distance but closely. It is difficult to say something about things that you yourself have not gone through. Paul speaks in the “I” form for a reason. You can only repeat what he says if it is a reality for you, even if your experience is only a weak form of his experience.

Maybe you are employed and you get a fixed income every month. There is nothing wrong with it. However it is quite difficult in such a case to be dependent on the Lord because you are so used to what is called income security. On the other side there is a spending pattern. You can sometimes get so used to that, too, that you are no longer open to instructions from the Lord to do something special for Him with a certain amount from our income. Or don’t you recognize this?
In order not to forget the consciousness of your dependence on God it is necessary that you put aside a certain portion of your income to the Lord as soon as you receive your money. How much? You may determine that yourself after consultation with the Lord. However it is important that you do it cheerfully (2Cor 9:7). If you are self-employed and have no fixed salary but an income that depends on your activities and your customers then you feel more the need to be dependent on the Lord. Then as a businessman you can even be more dependent on the Lord than some of the full time ministers who receive regular fixed gifts.

Phil 4:13. Paul was not in this category. His whole faith was fixed on the Lord Who gave him strength. Through Him he was able to do all what he writes here. The power by which he was able was the result of an ongoing, constant fellowship with Christ. He lived in the knowledge that he could do nothing without the Lord Jesus (Jn 15:5). You can do nothing without Him, but everything with Him. He makes the big difference in everything.

In the Lord is the strength to live for His glory and without the circumstances having a negative impact. It is even so that every circumstance is an opportunity for the Lord to show what He is able to do if you live in fellowship with Him. Then your life is a testimony to His strength. Especially in difficult circumstances you can show that He means everything to you. You can express your faith in Him. But to express your faith in Him means much more while you are really stuck in trouble than when you do it when the sky is blue all around.
For example if you have no money to buy bread, you are much more likely to take your refuge in Him, than if your bank account has sufficient funds and your refrigerator is full. If we speak about spiritual truths it carries no meaning unless there is a true change in our life. The cars in the parking lots of our churches and other buildings where believers come together as well as our houses and their furnishings show where our heart is. Speaking about our dependence on Him and our desire to be with Him can in some cases seem like hypocrisy.
I presume that you are longing to experience the power of the Lord in your daily activities. Then check your life, especially the areas where the Lord does not have His full control. That can be with regard to the books you read, the movies you watch, your browsing habits on the internet, your appearance, your intelligence, your ambitions, your hobbies, your friends, your vacation, your outing, your work and even more. Have you handed all over to Him? Have you said: ‘Lord, do what you want to do with them and tell me what I should do with them’? You will notice that the strength of the Lord will start to fill your life as space is created for it.
Phil 4:14. After sharing his personal spiritual experiences with them he lets them know that he very much appreciates what they had done for him. They had done a good work (cf. Mk 14:6). It was not so much the gift itself that gave so much joy to Paul but rather the love for him and their attachment to him the gift spoke of.

By that they shared in his distress (Heb 10:34) and were not ashamed of it (2Tim 1:8; 16). That meant a great encouragement for him. Here you see again the intertwining of his strength in the Lord, through which he could do all things, with the strength encouragement of the fellow believers gives. Also you may know that you do not stand alone. The Lord and His people are around you.

Now read Philippians 4:10-14 again.
Reflection: What can you apply to yourself and what have you learnt more of the Lord from these verses?

After you read all the passages above in context, let’s conclude today’s session with the following sermon.

Original Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wehBbhAywNg Channel Link for your RSS feed reader: https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCXM41_LNsR4sIYRS64UJSGQ

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