01.04. Christ the All-Sufficiency of Life

Christ the All-Sufficiency of Life The Upward Look

Php 4:1-23

Once again, in this developing panorama, we are called to take another view of Christ. The full rounding out of Christian Experience comes from Christ ABOVE. Christ in Heaven, in present possession of power, sympathetically longing to exercise it on behalf of His people on earth. This He does as they avail themselves of their privileged position “in Him.”
The chapter consists of concluding exhortations and assurances for those who are “in Christ Jesus.”

Outline 1- Our Duty and Privilege “In the Lord,” Php 4:1-5.

Exhortations to
a-Stand Fast in the Lord (Php 4:1). b-Be of the Same Mind in the Lord (Php 4:2).

(To this end we should Help one another) (Php 4:3).
c-Rejoice in the Lord (Php 4:4). d-Show Consideration for All-the Lord is Near (Php 4:5).

2- His Sufficient Provision: Through Our Prayer Life, Php 4:6-7. a-Anxious for Nothing (Php 4:6 a). b-Prayerful for Everything (Php 4:6 b). c-Thankful for Anything (Php 4:6 c). d-Result-Protection of the Peace of God (Php 4:7).

3- His Sufficient Provision: Through Our Thought Life, Php 4:8-9. a-Thinking that Dwells on Worthy Things (Php 4:8).
b-Doing that Follows the Apostolic Example (Php 4:9 a).
c-Result-Presence of the God of Peace (Php 4:9 b).

4- His Sufficient Provision: Through Our Daily Necessities, Php 4:10-19
a-Their Care of the Apostle Rejoices Him (Php 4:10).
b-His Lessons in Contentment (Php 4:11-12).
c-He can “Do All Things” in Christ’s Strengthening (Php 4:13). d-They have Supplied the Need of God’s Servant (Php 4:14-18). e-God will “Supply All Your Need” (Php 4:19).

5-Parting Salutations and Benedictions, Php 4:20-23.

Sectional Chart - Chapter 4

Submitting the chapter to our Chart method of analysis, its contents yield the following as their chief thought-currents:

1. WHERE HE IS. Not Within us (Php 1:1-30), nor Behind us (Php 2:1-30), nor yet Before us (Php 3:1-21), but ABOVE US.

All Scripture bears abundant testimony that our Christ is Above: There He was seen to ascend following His resurrection and forty days of earth tarrying (Acts 1:9-11). Stephen, in martyrdom, saw Him there (Acts 7:55-56). From Heaven He appeared to Saul (Acts 9:3; Acts 9:5; Acts 9:27). There John saw Him in vision (Rev 1:9-18). There we are taught to see Him by faith (Heb 9:24; 1Jn 2:1; Rev 3:21).
And He is Above Us, not merely spacially, but in the position and possession of a power He delights to call to our aid. For His power is fraught with love. He is brooding over us. (Cf. Mat 23:37).

In loving concern He is ever “a very present help” to all who will accept and appropriate His gracious oversight. Not the Christ of the Past, nor yet of the Future, but of the now living Present, made known particularly through Prayer and Providence.

2. WHAT HE IS. As His power is limitless and “it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell” (Col 1:19), there is an experience of ALL-SUFFICIENCY for those who are “in Him.”

Note the “All’s”: in prayer (Php 4:6-7); in strength supplied (Php 4:13); in need met (Php 4:19).

Note further the explanation in each instance: “In Christ Jesus” (Php 4:7); “In Him” (Php 4:13); “In Christ Jesus” (Php 4:19). He is our All-Sufficiency.

3. His MIND IN US. Resting in such infinite resources, relying upon One who never fails, results in a CONTENTED Mind “in whatsoever state” (Php 4:11). Circumstances the most disconcerting are offset by “the peace of God which (sur)-passeth all understanding” keeping guard over the “heart and mind” (Php 4:7).

We are prepared to anticipate the fact that Christian Experience finds its floodtide in this final chapter. It is as though all previous truth and experience, like successive waves, piling higher and higher, here burst all bounds and come to a climax of fulness. The World’s Most Wonderful Person-My Best Friend

Today a Man is in Heaven, seated at the right hand of God, the supreme place of power in the universe. This Man (no less God) is charged with exercising the prerogatives of the Godhead to the remotest ends of creation.
That Man loves me. He knows me through and through and still loves me. He loves me as no other person in the world. He has proved His love in that He died for me. He gave up His life that I might live. He did it under the scoffs and scorns, the hisses and hatreds of men. He is just the same today (Heb 13:8). He has a tender concern for me at this moment (Heb 4:14-16; Heb 7:25). He would do for me what no one in all the world would do.

He would-but can He do it?

Listen! When He had died the death for me, and risen again in great triumph, conscious that He had achieved the victory of the ages, Conqueror that He was over principalities, dominions and powers, He cried, “All authority, all power, is Mine in heaven and on earth-in heaven where I am going to exercise it, on earth where you will still be to need it.”

Two levels, the heavenly and the earthly, are comprehended in the sphere and exercise of His all-power and all-authority. That Man is at God’s right hand. What does it mean? That the most wonderful Person in the world is my best Friend.
To illustrate. In our government, the man who most nearly approaches the “right hand of power” is the Secretary of State. Let us suppose Mr. Charles Hughes to be occupying that position, as he once did so worthily. Let us further assume that he and you grew up together in York State. You hear of his coming to such a post of honor and power. You write to congratulate him. Your note begins: “My dear Charlie.” To you he is still “Charlie” and you familiarly refer to boyhood days.
When Mr. Hughes gets your letter, he leans back in his chair to enjoy it. It is like a refreshing breeze in the heat of summer. To answer it he does not call his secretary. With his own hand he pens his reply: “My dear Jim.” You are still “Jim” to him. He recalls some boyhood pranks you had forgotten, and then adds: “Now, remember, I’m Charlie and you’re Jim. If there is anything I can do for you do not fail to let me know.”

What does it not mean to one to have such a friend, one who is lifted to a place of exceptional power, yet is unchanged in his affectionate concern for you. Such, and much more, is your Friend in Heaven. What if you never call on Him; never invite Him to use His power on your behalf. Can’t you see how it hurts Him? Do you count on His friendship and help? Are you enriched by His special care? It was for this, that you might have such an experience of Him, that Philippians 4 was put in God’s Book.

1-Our Duty and Privilege “In the Lord,” Php 4:1-5

Note

“WHEREFORE” (Php 4:1) closely links this series of exhortations with the conclusion of Php 3:1-21; an outstanding instance of Scripture’s designed use of the fact and expectation of our Lord’s return to enjoin and urge a present life in all respects worthy of Him.

“Stand fast” (Php 4:1). The Christian has many exhortations indicating much need to “stand” and “stand fast” (Eph 6:13-14; 1Co 16:13; Gal 5:1; Col 4:12, et al). In Philippians he has a threefold duty: to “run” (Php 3:13-14); to “walk” (Php 3:17); to “stand” (Php 4:1).
THE HUMAN BOND. “My brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, my dearly beloved” (Php 4:1) makes an added appeal, from the human side. Association “in the Lord” forms between us a strong, yet tender tie, which the Spirit makes use of beyond our ken. (With “joy and crown” compare “crown of rejoicing,” used in the same connection, “in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming” [1Th 2:19]).

“I EXHORT, I EXHORT” (Php 4:2), tactfully urging two women at variance each to seek “the same mind in the Lord.” Their difference is not “in the Lord.” He has one mind, of which they must each seek to be possessed. In such effort, often most delicate and difficult, some other Christian, in position to help, should proffer aid (Php 4:3).

What a blessed ministry, “endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3). Too frequently “busy bodies” serve to disrupt the Lord’s body.

“REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAY; AGAIN I SAY REJOICE” (Php 4:4). The keynote of the Epistle, and the key to the Christian experience it expounds. Living “in Him” (Php 1:1), we must also rejoice in Him, if we are to experience the riches of His resources.

Show “considerateness” (Php 4:5). As a testimony “unto all men” we are to show forbearance, gentleness, yieldedness in relation to others, not a strict demand of our rights in dealing with them. Motive urging to it: “The Lord is at hand,” either in His soon expected coming or in His present nearness. Read Jas 5:7-9.

Comment

LIVING OUR LIFE “IN THE LORD.” He is the sphere of our life, both inward and spiritual, and outward and practical. The one is the root of which the other is the fruit.

The Epistles mark this distinction by a discriminating use of names: “Christ” or “Christ Jesus” for the former; “Lord” or “Lord Jesus Christ” for the latter. * E.g., In Ephesians: we have our life “in Christ” (Eph 1:3; Eph 1:12; Eph 2:6; Eph 2:10; Eph 2:14, et al). We live out our life, we serve, “in the Lord” (Eph 4:17; Eph 5:8; Eph 6:10, et al).

* This usage of names, as found in Romans, is treated at length in the author’s book, “His Salvation As Set Forth in the Book of Romans,” Chapter 11.

So Philippians. As His saints we live “in Christ Jesus” (Php 1:1); in Him we glory (Php 1:26); have our consolation (Php 2:1); rejoice (Php 3:3); the prize of our high calling is in Him (Php 3:14). But for practical living we are exhorted to: “Rejoice in the Lord” (Php 3:1); “Stand fast in the Lord” (Php 4:1); “Be of the same mind in the Lord” (Php 4:2); “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Php 4:4).

He who has received Christ as his life (Php 1:1-30); has taken Him as his Pattern (Php 2:1-30); finds in Him his life’s goal (Php 3:1-21) - such an one must be careful to live his life “in the Lord,” yielded to Him, controlled by Him as His Lord and Master.

PREPARATIONS FOR APPROPRIATING HIS PROVISIONS OF GRACE. All this preparatory; merely putting ourselves in position to claim and enjoy the fulness of His bounty, the riches He has for us “in Christ Jesus.”

There is a life that can, and does, know the peace of God as a constant experience (Php 4:6-7); that has the sweet sense of His presence at all times (Php 4:8-9); that is made sufficient with divine strengthening (Php 4:13); that has its every need supplied (Php 4:19). It’s a life lived “in the Lord” (Php 4:1-5).
For example, consider the conditions of successful prayer: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psa 66:18). Then Euodias and Syntyche, you had best be reconciled.

Again, “If ye abide in Me, ask what ye will” (John 15:7). Then we must be careful to “so stand fast in the Lord.” Again, “If our heart condemn us not” (1Jn 3:21); then our heart must be rejoicing in the Lord (Php 4:4). Again, “Whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (1Jn 3:22), i.e., “love one another” (Php 4:23). Then we had best show gentleness and considerateness to others (Php 4:5). The Two Levels: An Illustration Jesus says, “All power is Mine, in Heaven (where I am), and on earth (where you are)-abide in Me.”
The ocean diver, in pursuit of his task, leaves his native air, absolutely necessary to his existence, and drops down through fathoms of water to the bottom of the sea. There he would die but for the air tube attached to his person. He lives by virtue of its constant, uninterrupted supply of air. Working on the lower level, he still “lives, moves and has his being” in the atmosphere of the upper level.
So the Christian. He is a pilgrim, away from home, out of his native element (Php 3:20). His life is in Christ, his Head, now in Heaven. (And, recall, the body breathes the air through its head). Only as we abide in Him do we live. “Severed from Me, ye can do nothing”-just as true of us as of the diver. Our chief necessity is to so abide “in the Lord,” while down here in this pilgrim walk, that we can draw upon His all-sufficient provision for us.

2-His Sufficient Provision: Through Our Prayer Life, Php 4:6-7

Note
A THREE-FOLD PRESCRIPTION (Php 4:6), just as explicit as our physician might give, compounding three elements:

1. Anxious for no-thing.

2. Prayerful for every-thing.

3. Thankful for any-thing.

Let a man practice these in simple, trustful following of directions, and there is bound to result in his experience
A PROMISED PEACE (Php 4:7). “The peace of God which passeth knowledge (surpasseth our natural powers of understanding, so unaccounted for by our circumstances, so contrary to them), SHALL keep (guard over) your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” It is military language. As a garrison of soldiers God will have His peace take possession of our hearts and minds. He will throw the cordon of His peace about us to ward off every worrying, vexatious thought that would infest us.

Comment
Some one has quaintly said, “Care and Prayer are as mutually opposed as Fire and Water.”

It is not merely that we pray. We must do so instinctively, “in everything,” before our mind begins its worrying, just as the child runs to its parent with its torn dress and distress of heart. Be instant with the upturned eye of faith and trust.
Nor is prayer all. Many keep praying, while they neglect to praise and give thanks. If we fail to thank Him for what He is doing, why should He do more? “In every thing give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1Th 5:18).

TAKE THE PRESCRIPTION. Handed a prescription with three elements, we are not free to select two and omit one. The druggist compounds them and we take them ALL. Take this, God’s prescription, just as given, as often as you need it, many times a day if necessary, and you will find His peace resulting.
The writer has in mind a young business woman. She was mentally, spiritually and physically, a wreck. She appealed to us for relief. We gave her several Scriptures, this one in particular, with the above suggestions and directions. She was soon restored. How many of God’s people need it.

How they dishonor their “Best Friend” by not drawing upon Him. Distracted one, take it today.

CHRIST’S CURE FOR CARE. Our Heavenly Father has made provision “in Christ” for a LIFE WITHOUT WORRY. For example, He says:

“Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth (is caring) for you” (1Pe 5:7).

Note the ALL. Many try to cast some of their care on Him and find no relief. Their pet cares they struggle with themselves. He knows they do not really trust, and says, “My child, until you cast it ALL on Me, you can keep it all yourself.” Our “all care” is matched by His “all power.”

Note the reason attached. How God reasons with us. “FOR He is caring for you.” Is not that enough? The most wonderful Person in the world is caring for me.

“Tis enough that THOU dost care;
Why should I the burden bear.”

Some years ago a man with horse and wagon overtook a pedestrian carrying a pack on his back. He stopped and proffered a ride, which was accepted.

Presently, as they rode along, the man observed that the one to whom he was giving a “lift” still carried his bundle. “Friend,” said the man, “put your pack down and rest yourself.”

“Oh no,” was the reply, “it’s too kind of you to ask me to ride; I would not burden you with my bundle.”

You smile. His was all waste effort. The horse and wagon both had the burden, AND HE HAD IT TOO. Foolish indeed; yet no more so than the Christian who fails to cast his care on Him who undergirds him (Deu 33:27).

Other care-cure Scriptures abound. Read:

Mat 6:25-34 : The birds-“your Heavenly Father (not theirs; they are only creatures) feedeth them.” The flowers -“shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no anxious thought . . . for your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Heb 12:2 -“Looking (away) unto Jesus.” So the Greek. Look away from the things that worry to Him in whom is no worry. Remember, Christ does not worry. If we look to Him to keep us abiding in Him as our life and our sphere of life, no worry can result.

Isa 26:3 -“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee.” Not whose circumstances are right, but “whose mind is stayed on Him.” This fits into the teaching of our Epistle. There’s good psychology in it as well as good theology. It is giving God a chance to keep us. He will, if we will.

Psa 37:1-7 -Read these verses and underscore the verbs in your Bible: “Fret not”; “Trust in” (you can’t do both); “Delight in”; “Commit,” and “trust in”; “Rest in,” “Wait patiently for”; “Fret not.” A little sermonette. Text, “Fret not,” announced at the beginning, repeated at the close. Now you will not fret, for you have taken the steps to peace.

Friend, do you worry? God commands you not to (as He forbids stealing, lying, swearing, etc.). How dare you? You do not need to if you but enter into His provisions for peace. “In Me ye may have peace” (John 16:33).

3-His Sufficient Provision: Through Our Thought Life, Php 4:8-9

Note
In keeping with the place uniformly given in this Epistle to the Mind as the channel through which flows Christian Experience, its practical exhortations now include our Thought Life. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” It is that experience, Himself in realized presence, for which provision is here made.

1-Knowing that “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he,” we are to direct our thought to the “things” here depicted, the lofty and worthy in life, that thus they may enter into our mental, moral and spiritual fiber.

2-These same qualities, “learned, received, heard and seen” as already embodied in the Apostle, we are to put into practice. Thoughts and ideals converted into the coin of living deeds.

3-This doing, it is promised that “the God of peace shall be with you.” He will be in His temple, a realized presence.

Comment
We need more than peace; we need the Person-the God of peace.
OUR IDEAL IN CHRIST. Paul is addressing himself to the Greek mind, with whom the pursuit of “virtue” was an habitual occupation. He would have them know that the Christian faith has not only the loftiest ideal of all that is virtuous and praiseworthy but the provision for realizing that ideal. This exemplary life, all the qualities he has enumerated, has already found expression in the Man Christ Jesus. And if the Pattern life seem too remote, Paul is emboldened to direct them to a measurable realization of that model character, even in himself.
This under-study of the Christian ideal is for our encouragement. If by faithful pursuit it has come to a degree of fulness in the Apostle’s life, it cannot be an elusive ideal. It is for all who are “in Christ.” As we “think on” these Christlike qualities of character, considering them with eager desire to make them our own, to really “do” them in daily living, He “who is working in us to will and to work” the life that pleases Him, will bring them to fruition in us.

Ours is not an impersonal ideal; it is Christ. Nor yet a self-effort ideal; it is “Christ in us.”

4-His Sufficient Provision: Through Our Daily Necessi-ties, Php 4:10-19

Note
This section calls less for exposition than contemplative appropriation.

Paul calls to mind how his need has proved the occasion for a personal enrichment of his life, both through the benefactions of the Philippians (Php 4:10) and through new supplies of grace and strength from the Lord Himself (Php 4:11-14). Grateful for their loving concern for him, he makes it the assurance of like blessing for them; that as they have met his need (Php 4:14-18), God will in turn supply their every need (Php 4:19).
THE APOSTLE’S EXPERIENCE (Php 4:10-13). His need, characterized as “affliction” (Php 4:14), caused their care to “flourish again,” take on new life as a tree in the spring. For this he “rejoices in the Lord” (Php 4:10).
But this is a small part of the accruing blessing. He is not calling attention to his “want” (Php 4:11 a). He has drunk at a fountain of divine satisfaction, independent of circumstance; “For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content” (Php 4:11 b). God does not ask us to be content with unsatisfactory conditions, when He has better for us; but in them, in each successive stage and step of the way, He is ready to supply therein a contentment of mind.

“Everywhere and in all things I am instructed” - initiated into a secret; a mystery unknown to the world of restless humanity - “to be abased and to abound; to be full and to be hungry; to abound and to suffer need” (Php 4:12). So exhilarating is this specific experience he is emboldened to soar to a universal statement:

“I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth me” (Php 4:13).

Lest we misconstrue the “do,” it is better to read, in harmony with the foregoing: “I am strong enough for all things in Him en-strengthening me.” And this abundant provision, as a limitless in-working, Paul had learned through physical necessity!
THE PHILIPPIANS’EXPERIENCE (Php 4:14-19). Commending them for sharing in his necessity (Php 4:14), the more as they were the only Church to do so (Php 4:15), “sending once and again” (Php 4:16), the Apostle assures them he is thinking less of himself than of them, that to them the real blessing en sues-“the fruit that increaseth to your account” (Php 4:17).

Here follows Paul’s assurance of sufficiency (Php 4:18 a), acknowledging their most recent benefaction (Php 4:18 b), not alone acceptable to him, but borne on heavenward wings, “an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God” (Php 4:18 c). Such is the double reference of all spiritually-motived deeds. Glad surprise this: “Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these . . . ye did it unto Me.”
From this experience emerges one of the great promises of Scripture. “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Php 4:19).

It is not a wish, but a promise. The reasoning runs thus: “You have supplied all my need as God’s servant, a service pleasing to Him. And my God shall supply all your need.”

Comment

DISCIPLINING OUR DESIRES (Php 4:11-12). Some one has well said: “True contentment depends not upon what we have but upon what we would have: a tub was large enough for Diogenes, but a world was too little for Alexander.”

SUFFICIENT FOR ALL THINGS (Php 4:13). Christian Experience has come to its own. The servant of the Lord, having tested and proved Him, finds himself “strong for all things,” with a sufficiency that is not his own but becomes his by virtue of his union with One who is empowering him, pouring His wondrous energy in and through him.

It works. He who draws upon Christ can do in Him what otherwise he could not do. That is to say, the mystical is the practical. The orchardist cultivates, irrigates, propagates, utilizing the vital mystical forces, and forth comes the luscious fruit.

The Christian who day by day cultivates the life “in Christ,” the in-strengthening He infuses, reaps a practical output of sufficiency for all things. His “can’t” is turned to “can.”

“SHALL SUPPLY ALL YOUR NEED” (Php 4:19). Not “may” but “shall”; not within certain limitations, but “according to His riches in glory”-confessedly beyond compute-a wealth He holds at our disposal, administered in and by Christ Jesus, on behalf of those who are in Him.

Here is provision beyond calculation. We can compute mechanical energy, in terms of horse-power; electrical energy, in kilowatts; but no one can venture even “an estimate” of the resources of a child of God in “His riches in glory.”

Every believer has had, or should have had, some experience of drawing upon this promise of every need supplied. Not to prove such a promise, backed by such resources, is to impoverish ourselves unspeakably.
And since our need is so largely, so recurrently, that in the physical realm, often financial, we are convinced that He delights to manifest Himself in these every-day common places, that He may persuade us of a perpetual care in the higher realm of spiritual need.
For our encouragement to “taste and see that the Lord is good” in our own particular circumstances, whatever the need, from the many we select TWO ILLUSTRATIONS.

While holding meetings in a certain western city, we were invited one day to lunch in a Christian home, along with the mayor and his wife. After lunch, as we left the home for the afternoon service, having parted with the other guests, our hostess recited the Lord’s dealings with her. Said she:

“We were in good circumstances, possessed of enough silverware to entertain a large company of guests, but through continued sickness we were reduced to nothing. The Church people sent us provisions at Christmas time. Though it was winter we were unable to maintain a fire in the house.

“One day the doctor came to see the children, and turning to me, said, ‘Mrs. your children cannot get well with no fire in the house. You simply must have a fire.’

“When he had gone, I went into my bedroom, threw myself upon my knees and poured out my heart to the Lord. I said, ‘Lord, You know all about our circumstances. You know we need a fire. Won’t You send some one with some coal?’

“I arose from my knees, went into the front room to look out, and there was a man coming up the steps with a sack of coal on his back.”

What an experience that woman had of the providing care of her Lord. She told it with glowing face.

It was worth all the trial she had passed through. Consider what the Lord did to anticipate her prayer and have the coal there at that moment. Knowing she would ask it, He had it sacked and started on its way before she asked.“Before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isa 65:24).
In a certain training school for Christian workers a student found herself without even car-fare with which to fulfill her assignment on a certain day. She made it a matter of prayer, telling the Lord her need. The day came when she must meet her appointment and she hadn’t the money.

She could readily have borrowed it, but no, she still felt led to pray and trust.
The hour came when she must don her coat and hat. She did so, still without the needed fare. She walked down the street to the intersection where she should take her car, still praying but without the needed relief. The car was coming. She stepped from the curb to take it, still trusting. As she did so, there on the pavement lay a ten-cent piece. She picked it up, boarded her car and paid her fare.

Ten cents! How insignificant! Why bother over any thing so small? But, dear friend, it is not the value of the money, but of the experience; the value of knowing the Lord. Having trusted Him for ten cents, today, out in China or India, or wherever she be, she may be trusting Him for ten thousand dollars. She had proved Php 4:19.

God is not asking us to wait for large needs, or supposedly important matters. In the small, homely needs of every day He invites us to prove His all-sufficient provision.
THE SECRET OF CONTENTMENT is not in circumstances, for they are shifting. It is in Him, for He changes not.

It is in the persuasion begotten by God’s Word that cannot fail, buttressed by the experimental knowledge that He has stepped in and met our need, that He does care for us, and will unceasingly “supply all our need,” such knowledge, such persuasion, is worth more than millions of money. It mints itself into the coin of a contented mind. And a contented mind is a priceless possession.

“O Lord, how happy we should be,
If we would cast our care on Thee,
If we from self could rest;
And feel at heart that One above,
In perfect wisdom, perfect love,
Is working for the best.”

Once a poor rich man, walking over his estates, thinking to inspect the progress of his hired man digging a ditch through his land, found him singing away at his work. As he approached he caught the words:

“My Father is rich in houses and lands,
He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands!
Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold,
His coffers are full,-He has riches untold.

I’m the child of a King,
The child of a King!
With Jesus, my Saviour,
I’m the child of a King!”

“John,” said the rich man, “why are you singing such nonsense; you are a poor ditch-digger.”

“Oh, but it’s true,” was the reply. “God is my Father, and He has given me so much for which to sing and praise Him. Yonder is my little cottage and when my day’s work is done, there stands Mary at the door to greet me with a kiss and I sit down to a bountiful meal. Why shouldn’t I sing for joy?”

Then the poor rich man unburdened his heart: “Yonder on the hill is my mansion; but they do not love me up there. They are only waiting for me to die to get my money. John, I wish I had what you have.”
The Gospel of God’s dear Son offers a rich and ever-enriching experience of love and providing care. To know that love and prove that care, day by day, just where life’s circumstances find us, this is the privilege of the Christian. It is a life of joy, peace and content beyond compare.

5-Parting Salutations and Benedictions, Php 4:20-23

Four verses: two of salutations and greetings (Php 4:21-22), set between two benedictions, beautiful in their simplicity, ascribing “GLORY unto God and our Father for ever and ever” (Php 4:20), He who from the heavens sent His salvation to answer the heart needs of men, and praying that “the GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all” (Php 4:23), He through whom the love and power of God unto salvation came to be ours in transforming experience.

- GLORY AND GRACE is the divine order of manifestation. The God of Glory came to us in Grace, the grace that was in Christ Jesus, bringing salvation.

- GRACE AND GLORY is the human order of experience. “The Lord will give grace and glory” (Psa 84:11). He offers us His grace, that through its saving, sanctifying experience, He may bring us to glory. The recipients of His grace are the assured sharers of His glory. For this our Saviour prays: “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me” (John 17:24).

Two covenant gifts “given” to the Saviour: His redeemed on earth, His added glory in heaven. One day, when our course is run, He will bring His earthly gift into His heavenly, “to the praise of the glory of His grace.”