Thank you. You probably know Philippians 413, the verse that says,

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

We see those words on social media, on T-shirts.

We hear it from athletes or see it in craft

stores.

Today, on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg explains that this verse is often quoted out of context

and used in a way the author never intended.

So what does it really mean?

Let's open our Bibles and take a closer look at the context for this well-known verse.

The sensitivity of the servant of God is to move to the position where if he has given up potential financial remuneration in the service of Christ, it is the responsibility

of the servant to ensure that he is no longer ingratiating himself with people in order to receive

gifts or to receive resources that will then float his boat. The flip side, of course, is that

the people of God, we who have resources to disbursed to those who are in

peculiar need, that we who have resources do not respond in this perverse way. But rather,

that we recognize that, as Sinclair Ferguson says, even if we cause embarrassment to those to whom

we are generous, we must respect

their sensitivity. We must also be given the opportunity to discover that it is more blessed

to give than to receive. That's the body of Christ at work. That's exhorting, encouraging,

and caring for one another. That the abundance that one enjoys is not so that we may become smug and hard-hearted, but it is in order that we might

be able to share with those who don't enjoy the same abundance. Now, that then, is the setting. Let's go to the secret. Well, verse 12 gives it to us.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I've learned the secret of

being content in any and every situation, whether I'm well-fed or whether I'm hungry,

...