"Paul's Letter to the Philippians — True Contentment, Whatever Our Circumstances"

We are nearly at the end of this magnificent letter to the Philippians believers.  Now in the final chapter, the apostle exhorts for the final time with a focus on his rejoicing while under house arrest in Rome and suffering great loss there.  The major statement here is on his “initiation” into grace and its many out-workings in our lives, even through trials and sufferings.   His message is that suffering need is not different from “suffering” abundance therefore with the central verse being verse 12: “I know both how to be abased, 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.”  His conclusion is equally important and powerful in verse 13: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”  The indwelling Christ is Paul’s constant source of power!  Or, as Col. 1:27 states it:  “Christ in us the hope of glory!” He therefore echoes that truth again here as he nears the end of this letter.  May it be so for each of us now and forever.