Phil 4
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Let all men see the Christ in you. He is near because He lives in you.
God dwells in you
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
As He is so are we in the world.
We have already been judged righteous. I know that the Lord will know who has been judged righteous or wrong and who are his and who are not on the final day. But here I think John was reffering the today. We have to prove our love to a world of condemners and haters.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
We already have eternal life by grace. No need to doubt and keep working to earn it. Just prove we have it to the world.
If we believe in Jesus and God’s words we are judged as having eternal life!
In any condition we can be content autarkia “sufficient for oneself, strong enough or possessing enough to need no aid or support; independent of external circumstances”
I have strength for all things. No matter come what may
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
We have strength in Him Christ who gives us the power.
We can live freely as Christ did. Not entangled in life.
This is the secret or mystery…..We are rich.
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Our riches are not any thing of the world that will fade, rust, hyperinflate or die
It is Christ He is the power and the satisfaction
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
How rich are we? As rich as the universe. We have God in Christ in us. We have all we need and God will supply as we need things. He fills our cup but only as we need it. When we have an unlimited source we can look to the riches of His Glory instead of our bank account. Our bank account can be emptied at any time but not Gods supply. We can withdraw what we need (and God knows what we need better than we do) by prayer
Phl 4:6-7
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus
Self sufficiency is the ability to be satisfied in every condition
Autarkia
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
We can have all sufficiency because God is able and he desire to lavish his Grace on us.
SO we can have all sufficiency. Always having enough to need no aid or support; independent of external circumstances.
SO in all circumstances we can do Gods good work!
But godliness with contentment (autarkeia) is great gain.
We are richer than any multi trillionaire, If we have a relation with God through Jesus Christ
And we certainly do. We can practice this relation and reap the benefit of satisfaction. Any time we can speak directly to our God and he will give us all we need and that is primarily peace. Peace is what everyone is looking for in money. But God has it.
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
Money is nothing it is how it is used. It cannot bring peace of mind.
If we replace our relation with money it will not go well in our lives. We must keep close to God in all conditions. The love of money cannot replace the love of God.
It is a trap and source of all evil in the world. Not money but the love stolen from God.
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Godliness is a real relation with God. When we make God our priority and spend more time with Him than plans for making “A living” we shall see the satisfaction every day.
Some teach it backwards. There are many who teach financial prosperity is the answer we are needing. It is called the “prosperity gospel” and it is neither real prosperity or good news. It would leave all our poorer brethren out the door.
Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain G4200 is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
They teach that the thing we need and are looking for is financial gain, bigger bank accounts. That is the lie. It follows Godliness and a relation with out Father that we have all we need. It is not that we have all that “we think” we need first and then we can have a better relation with our God. It does not work that way.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
If we make our time with God our priority He will make sure we will have what we need when we need it everytime. IF we make money our God will will be eaten by worry and sorrow
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
We do not need to live like that, but it is our choice of where we place our priority and time.
Do we spend it on trying to get to know how to make more money? Or do we spend time trying to get to know our Father, through speaking to Him through Christ and listening to His word according to the holy scripture?
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The reverence and time we spend with God is not fear but love for Him. We should fear being away from God and deceived by the devil.
The word for fear here in the Greek Septuagint is the same word for “Godliness” as in Godliness with contentment is great gain.
Pro 13:11 ESV
Wealth gained hastily[fn] will dwindle,
but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.
Prov 13:11 LXX
Wealth hastily gained lawlessly will disappear, but whoever gathers with godly respect is multiplied. And he will have pity on the poor and give.
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