(A) Paul was content and productive inspite of years of neglect.

(a) Neglected.
The Philippians had been very good to Paul for some time after their conversion to Christianity through his ministry. He writes: in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. v15. After a period of welcome and encouraging support the giving of the church at Philippi fell off. Paul writes: I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. The Philippians were not entirely to blame for neglecting Paul's welfare. They had remained concerned about him but probably found it difficult to communicate with him on his travels. Nevertheless, Paul must have missed the tangible evidence of their love.

I suppose many of us have known what it is like to be neglected. There are many reasons for neglect. The most important is probably the very one that resulted in Paul's neglect by the Philippians - changed circumstances. I got on very well with some of my pupils. When they left school they said they would write and for a time they did. However, after a few years they stop. I don't blame them. Absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder. Absence dulls affection and deadens interest. Once, as their teacher, I was important in the lives of those friendly pupils but I slowly became unimportant and insignificant. I once used to preach at many different churches in Suffolk and Essex. Again circumstances change; one church calls a minister, another church appoints a new secretary and in a third the makeup of the congregation alters. I am no longer asked to preach in these churches and gradually they forget all about me.

Paul was neglected after he left some of the churches he founded. His ministry was not appreciated, as it should have been. This did not mean that Paul stopped growing spiritually or was in any way less capable of preaching the gospel. The fault lay not with Paul but with those who neglected him. It was just sad for Paul. I feel sad when, finally, some former pupil stops communicating with me. It is a loss - a kind of death. I am never the first one to stop - are you?

Contented.
Paul was not sorry for himself during times of neglect by the churches for he writes: I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. I don't think many Christians have learned Paul's secret. Godliness, the God centred life, is necessary for contentment in trying circumstances.

Michael Dundrow recounts his experiences as an evacuee during the 1940's in rural Bedfordshire in, 'A Lasting Impression.' He writes a glowing report of the farmer's wife, Mrs Costin, with whom he stayed during this period. She had four sons and a daughter of her own and was always working. She did the washing by hand, cooked on an old stove and made all the butter. Her efforts were taken for granted. Mrs Costin always turned the other cheek, never spoke in anger and was endlessly forgiving and tolerant of the impatient males of her family who often behaved like spoiled children. Mrs Costin poured oil on trouble waters. When Mr Costin complained about the children playing on the stacks and making a mess with the straw his wife smoothed his ruffled feathers. She invariably found a good word for the offender. Mrs Costin was a cheerful, lively but unappreciated, mother and wife. Michael Dundrow writes: The essence of her character, I saw later, the bedrock on which her marvellous nature was founded was her quiet but unshakeable Christian faith. She had her quiet convictions and these shone through in her every word and action. Mrs Costin had learned to be content. She knew, with Paul, the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus her Lord.

Many Christians are like Jim who features in an illustration of Warren Wiersbe's. Jim was being considered as a deacon. He was rejected because as one elder put it, "The trouble with Jim is that he's a thermometer and not a thermostat." A thermometer doesn't change the environment - it just registers the temperature. It goes up or down with the temperature. A thermostat, on the other hand, regulates the surroundings and changes them when they need to be changed. Jim lacked the power to change things - instead, they changed him.

Paul was a thermostat and so was Mrs Costin; they remained unaffected by circumstances. They were content in both want and plenty and as such were able to change others when they most needed changing. A good example of this is to be found in the account of the storm and shipwreck in Acts27 where Paul's courage and cheerfulness raised the morale of the whole ships company.

(c) Productive
Paul is more than content, he is also productive, because he is able to say: I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

I have a potted fig. It is a wonderful plant because it remains content whether I remember it or forget it. In plenty or in want it continues to grow. However, it is not really productive in the way Mr Costin's plum trees were in the memory of Michael Dundrow. He says that the old trees were awash with fruit yet he never knew them to be sprayed, pruned or given the least attention from one harvest to the next. The branches of those ancient plums yielded so plentifully because they were part of a vigorous variety of tree.

Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit." John15v5. Paul had been grafted into the true vine and that is where he remained. It didn't matter that the soil was poor, the climate harsh or that he suffered some neglect; he was grafted into the most productive of varieties! See exposition on the vine.

We should never forget the way Jesus starts his parable of the vine and the branches: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. We may be neglected by our fellow Christians but God, the vinedresser, does not ignore us. He tends all the branches that belong to the one true vine. I have been given few opportunities to address teenagers by Christian churches or organisations but God gave me many opportunities to speak to large audiences of young people at school.

(B) Paul rejoiced in attention

Paul had learned to be content during times of neglect but it is clear he rejoiced in attention. He writes, I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. v10. I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. v18. I think there is a difference between being content and rejoicing. My potted fig goes on from week to week whether I remember, or forget, to water it. It doesn't exactly rejoice in the care it receives. However in the summer I grow runner beans in a sheltered, sunny, spot in my garden. I do pay my beans a lot of attention. I protect them from pests, manure and water the soil and check their well being from day to day. Those beans rejoice. They grow vigorously, flower profusely and yield heavily.

So it is important to pay our fellow Christians some attention. My father was a very good man but he became a little cynical in old age. If he heard someone say, "The Lord will provide," he would retort, "The Lord's people will provide - or not - as the case may be." The Lord does provide but through his people. The Lord provided for my father - through his people. He provides:

(a) Material blessings.
I am not in any material want but it is nice sometimes to receive a gift as tangible evidence of a fellow Christian's love or regard. It makes me happier! As I sit here I am wearing a fashionable jacket that Carolyn and Richard bought me for Christmas. It is not something that I would have bought myself - content as I am with old pullovers! Whenever I visit Henry and Jesse, as I did a few weeks ago, Jesse always provides me with a splendid tea. George, one of my few admirers, gave me a large bottle of whisky as a Christmas present. A gift prompted purely by love does make the heart sing.

(b) Encouragement.
Paul hardly had an easy time as an apostle of Christ. Right from the start he was shown what he would have to suffer for the gospel's sake. Acts9v16. He is writing to the Philippians from prison at a time when some Christians are stirring up trouble for him. The gifts from the church at Philippi were a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. They were an undoubted encouragement to him at a time he needed it most.

I was in my first year of teaching at Debenham School. Things were not going especially smoothly as the children were not used to my style. Early one morning an irritating colleague got on my nerves as he tried to convince me that model building in Geography lessons was a cure for all ills. He was very fortunate that I was just able to keep my cool. Two elderly English teachers were at this time my allies and invariably came to my aid. They said that in essays set their pupils on a, 'Day at School,' at least three had written words to the effect that their day wasn't entirely wasted because something had been learned in Geography. This was a great encouragement at a time when I needed it most.

As I write these words my website has been published on the Internet for about six weeks. It took me over a year to get it launched. I shall always remember the few who have encouraged me. My friends Ian Brown and Pastor Skull, an old pupil - Victoria, and a second cousin - Helen, all e-mailed or wrote a few words of appreciation. There are others who could have shown an interest!

(c) Comfort
The gift of the Philippians was something real for Paul to hold on to. It was concrete evidence that he had Christian brothers and sisters who cared about him. We should never underestimate the value of a gift, a card or a letter to the recipient. They can be a reassurance, an affirmation, that someone is concerned.

One of the jobs Michael Dundrow had to do as an evacuee on a Bedfordshire farm was to pick up potatoes. I can remember earning some money as a boy picking up potatoes. It was back breaking work for a very, very, low return. After Michael had picked potatoes for a week Mr Costin, the farmer, gave him a bicycle. Michael saw it as affirmation of his good work. It reassured him of his worth. On the same day Mr Costin took out a gold watch from his waistcoat pocket. It was always there. He said to Michael, "Look at this; my father said he'd give me a gold watch and chain when I could go to plough with my own pair of horses. I got this half-hunter when I was twelve." The author writes, The pride that had lasted from that far off day was still evident in his voice and expression as he slipped the watch back into his pocket." The watch remained a comfort to the old farmer. He rejoiced when he received it. His father gave it to him as a token of his worth.

One morning, when I was caring for my invalid father and also trying to work, I had great difficulty getting him up, through breakfast and ready for my sister-in-law to take to her home for the day. I got cross - as I often did. I was late for school and had to rush away leaving my father alone for an hour to wait for his daughter-in-law. When I returned home in the afternoon my father had left me a message. He had torn the top off the Daily Telegraph and scrawled on the scrap of paper, 'God bless you, John.' Those are the last words he ever wrote to me! I value them very much. They were a comfort at a time I was in great need of reassurance.

Behind every gift from Christians to Christians stands our Father in heaven. The Philippians were part of God's grace to Paul.

(C) Paul assured the Philippians that their giving was not in vain.

Paul expressed how much the Philippians' gift meant to him by writing a 'thank you' letter. Some people are not very good at writing to say thank you! Paul's epistle to the Philippians is a lovely, gracious, letter. It did the Christians who received it good and it does us a power of good to read it today.

I spoke some time ago at the retirement party of two colleagues. I soon received letters of appreciation from both ladies. I will quote from one of them: 'What a superb speech you gave at the gathering at Jane's house on Friday but, oh how little I deserve all that praise! However, I enjoyed every word of it!' I got almost as much, if not more, pleasure from reading their letters of thanks as they did from my eulogy. We are weak creatures, so it is important to tell folk how much their generosity means.

Paul reminded the Philippians that God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. v19. He meets our needs at the beginning of the Christian life and all our journey through.

David Watson was an atheist when he began his studies as an undergraduate at Cambridge. He was invited to, and attended, a Christian Union tea party at which John Collins was the speaker. John Collins invited him to breakfast next day and impressed David Watson by his winsomeness, sincerity and simplicity. He gave David, John Stott's, 'Becoming a Christian,' to read. David Watson realised that if the things he read in Stott's book were true he wanted them to become real in his own life. So he committed his life to Jesus. Nothing happened; it all seemed unreal. But he wrote to John Collins to tell him what he had done. He wondered what would happen next. David Watson had no religious background and no Christian friends. Two days later he received a note from John Collins telling him that he had asked a friend to call. The very same day a handwritten note was left on the table of David Watson's room saying, 'John Collins wrote this morning suggesting that I look you up. I will look in after lunch, but do not stay in especially. Yours, David Shepherd.' From that time onwards David Watson and David Shepherd met weekly for Bible study and prayer. David Watson was launched upon the narrow way that leads to life.

God met David Watson's need in the early days of his new birth when he was especially vulnerable and could have been lost by neglect. I am just reading the biography of John Wesley and several people were used to bring him to full assurance of salvation and to prepare him for the great ministry to lost souls for which God had set him apart.

One little word is easy to overlook in the inspirational verse 19 - the little word, 'all.' God will meet all our needs. We need faith to believe this. I know a lovely Christian girl who yearns to get married. She is now in her early thirties. She has a great need of an husband. I often say to my attractive friend that the worst thing that could happen to her would be to fall in love with an unbeliever who had fallen in love with her. The last time I saw her she was with a very handsome young man - who was not a believer.

God meets all our needs in Christian service. I like the story Corrie ten Boom tells under the heading, 'I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord...but not up ten flights of steps.' Corrie was speaking in Copenhagen when she was asked by two nurses to go for coffee in their apartment. Unfortunately it was on the tenth floor of a block of flats and the lift wasn't working. The eighty-year old Corrie did not want to climb all the steps to the tenth floor. She started but had to rest as her heart raced. She complained, "Why, O Lord, must I have this stair climbing at my age after this busy day speaking.' God replied, "Because great blessing is waiting you, a work which will give joy to the angels." Well Corrie somehow managed the remaining stairs. God met her need! Then she was able to lead the parents of one of the nurses to Christ. Corrie said, The room was filled with great rejoicing and I realized the angels had come down and were singing praises unto God.

God has met all my needs in Christian service. He has helped me, too, in my career and the care of my parents. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.v20.