Philippians, Rightly Divided, Verse-by-Verse
Session 18 | Phillippians 4:14-17
Philippians 4:10-20 | The Generous Philippian Church
Verses 10-13 -- see session 17
Verse 14 -- Green
There was no demand nor requirement for the Philippian church to provide assistance, but Paul lets them know that had done well to communicate with my affliction.
The word communicate is συγκοινωνέω [sunkoinoneo“together share in common." The word or its root is used three other times in the New Testament (Gal. 6:6, 1 Tim. 6:8, and Heb. 13:16), always in a “sharing of substances" context).
The Philippian believers clearly fellowshipped with Paul's ministry, even if that meant supporting him during affliction.
Verse 15 -- Green
Paul recalls and rejoices in the sharing of goods (see v. 14 on communicate). There were no other churches which came to his aide.
“Pauline" type ministries, as they have opportunity (see v. 10).
Second, we would do well to remember that Paul told Timothy that all they which are in Asia be turned away from mering this, “right dividers" should be unimpressed with arguments built upon “orthodoxy" as defined by the early church Fathers, councils, creeds, etc.
Verse 16 -- Green
From Scripture, we only know of a tumultuous three-week journey in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-10). There, some of the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea (Acts 17:10). Who were these Brethren? It is possible that they were Philippian Brethren. Paul arrived in Philippi shortly after arriving on the Greek peninsula, his first recorded visit to Europe. It is here that he met Lydia, who was one of a few Jewish women meeting for prayer. Lydia began to host Paul, who soon caused a stir among local Gentiles (see Acts 16:19-20). This eventually ended with the salvation of the Philippian jailor.
This is the only known“minion" (ten Jewish males). We also know that the local leaders were critical of Paul and Silas for being Jews (Acts 16:20), giving indication that the Jewish population was not large nor respected. We can safely conclude that the vast majority of the congregation was Gentile. This conclusion confirms our application of Philippian theology to the Body of Christ.
Verse 17 -- Green
We should take care not to over-interpret this verse by theological eisegesis. We have been told by theologians that our works in the Christian faith are for the sake of rewards. Armed with that teaching, we interpret this verse to be some kind of heavenly accounting of rewards to be distributed in the future in heaven. This is completely conjecture and unsupported by the wording of the verse. The Greek word translated account is simply λόγος [logos], used 330 times in the New Testament, often translated word. Eight times logos is translated account. For example, Mark 12:36 says they shall give account of every idle word. Luke 16:2 asks the steward to give an account of thy stewardship*. *“give testimony" and not some kind of record of accounts.
The English word account is used in an accounting sense in Philemon 18, where Paul says that if Onesimus oweth thee ought, put that on mine account.
Therefore, what Paul is saying is that he desires their reputation for generosity to increase, not that some heavenly accounting system would later repay them.
