Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners1 in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favour of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News. God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus. I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation – the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ – for this will bring much glory and praise to God.
Phil 1:3-11
I left you at the end of the last Gem with the question: What is the stated reason for Paul’s thankfulness to God for the saints in Philippi?
Paul’s stated reason for his heart response to the Philippians is highlighted in red above and below.
for you have been my partners1 in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.
Phil 1:5
The word that lies behind this text in Greek which I have marked with a textual note1 is the word koinõnia [κοινωνια].
Here is a list of how the translations or versions of the Bible handle the term [κοινωνια]
ἐπὶ τῇ κοινωνίᾳ ὑμῶν εἰς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ἡμέρας ἄχρι τοῦ νῦν,
{on, for} the partnership {of you} in the gospel from the first day until the now
Partners1
- (ABP+) for your fellowship in the good news from the first day until the present;
- (ASV) for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now;
- (BBE) Because of your help in giving the good news from the first day till now;
- (CEV) This is because you have taken part with me in spreading the good news from the first day you heard about it.
- (CJB) because you have shared in proclaiming the Good News from the very first day until now.
- (ERV) I thank God for the help you gave me while I told people the Good News. You helped from the first day you believed until now.
- (ESV) because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
- (GNB) because of the way in which you have helped me in the work of the gospel from the very first day until now.
- (GW) I can do this because of the partnership we’ve had with you in the Good News from the first day you believed until now.
- (ISV) because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
- (JUB) for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,
- (KJV) For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
- (LITV) over your fellowship in the gospel, from the first day until now,
- (MSG) I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God’s Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present.
- (Murdock) on account of your fellowship in the gospel, from the first day until now.
- (NLT) for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.
- (RV) for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now;
- (TLB) because of all your wonderful help in making known the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.
- (TLV) because of your sharing in the Good News from the first day until now.
- (TPT) and our enduring partnership that began the first time I presented to you the gospel.
- (TS2009) for your fellowship in the Good News from the first day until now,
Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament takes 20 pages to give a breakdown of the word and its significance. Whereas Richardson’s Theological Wordbook of the Bible sums the term up in five columns of text. The primary meaning is to conjoin, bind together, join, to form an alliance, form a partnership to accomplish a mutual participation in some project or event or activity. The noun formed from the koinõn group of words has the following connotation: bands of fishermen, comrades, fellowship of shepherds, an association forming a working group for mutual benefit. Including even a house (grouping) mutually shared. The sense is either to give or take, have a share in some mutual activity. Spiritually it is the sharing together by Christians in Christ and his benefits. It is not only our sharing in Him but Him sharing with us.
It is a two fold relationship:
- Vertical – sharing of Christians in and with Christ.
- Horizontal – Christians sharing together the benefits of Christ in and with other Christ followers. The relationship that exists between Christians as a result of their sharing in the benefits of being conjoined with Christ. This sense is expressed in its fullness with the use of this same word [κοινωνια] in Acts 2:42.
Remember, I told you in the last Gem that deēsis is a prayer or petition for some gift, something requested concerning some specific concrete, physical, material need. Deēsis is focused on the material things for which you ask. That is the word Paul used twice in the one sentence in the opening comments in the letter to the Philippians. In brief he is commending them for the part they played to provide for his material needs in bringing the Gospel to them and later to other churches in Asia Minor.
That said, allow me for a moment to get personal. I understand what Paul is doing here only too well because it is what Tania and I do. When he thinks of the Philippians and their support of him, his heart is filled with gratitude to God for them. I know the feeling. We give thanks for the wonderfully faithful people who have supported our ministry for over forty years, enabling us to do what we do. Their support makes this rather strange approach to life and work possible. When bank managers , tax department workers in NZ or in Indonesia, government officials in Indonesia have asked us about the financial basis of what we do, the answer confounds them. I won’t share all the details of the encounters we have had when asked to explain how we get the funding to do what we do for the sake of time. But suffice to say, the detail could fill a book. Many times such people are left shaking or holding their head at the incredulity of it all. Yet every word of what we have told them is true.
- Our partners in the work have supplied the funds to enable us to live and move and have our being while meeting our physical needs despite not drawing a wage.
- Our partners have provided the funds or bought resources or books for us to enable me to do what I do with the Word of God.
- Our partners have provided the funds and prayer backing for the biblical and linguistic training we have had to do the work.
- Our partners have provided the funds for the equipment we have needed over the years to do what we do.
- Our partners have provided the funds and prayer backing for us to minister to God’s people, believers and non-believers, in many parts of the globe.
- Our partners have provided the funds and prayer backing for me to share the insights God has given me with His people everywhere.
- Our partners have provided the funds and prayer backing for us to share His heart and resources with the poor, the needy and the homeless in both Indonesia and here in New Zealand currently.
I think you can understand now why we pray habitually, constantly, whenever God brings our precious partners to mind, by name or collectively. We ask God to pour out a blessing on them for their faithful, generous financial and prayer support of us to do this work. We ask God to pour out the riches of heaven on these precious saints of His in ways that not only meet their needs, but in measures full to overflowing that their blessings may be poured out on others even more. You can read my Stories which evidence indeed that is what God did, does and will continue to do. Our understanding has always been that it is a two way relationship. We considered it a privilege to pray for you just as you were praying for us. We encouraged you, our partners, to share your prayer needs with us so that we might pray for you just as you prayed for us. In earlier years we made up a mosaic of all our supporters photos on a large pinboard so we could pray for you all regularly. During our time living in villages with the language group we made up photo files so that you could pray for the people of the language group by name and intercede for them in multiple ways.
Our praying for our supporters / our partners is not a one-off, occasional, spasmodic thing that happens but rather is a present tense, on-going habit of prayer daily. Many times when we have met our partners in the work (you), we have heard how you pray for us each day and have done so for the last 40+ years. Let me tell you sincerely that is both humbling and inspiring and makes us so grateful to God for the privilege to be able to do what we do on the back of your partnership. I know how Paul felt because I feel the same way. Deeper Bible, Bible Gems, Nuggets, God’s Awesome Book and anything else I have created is by His inspiration and because of our partners’ faithful financial and prayer support.
At times we have wondered where the funds were going to come from. We wonder even now how we will manage when we fully retired without retirement funds set aside in this current economic climate. His provision for us thus far for forty long years (1981 to 2021) has been both a miracle and a mystery. We have learned the secret to be content whether in plenty or in lack. Our confidence is in our God to provide despite supporters dying or retiring and our support levels falling. We have had a bank manager say to us, “All you will need to do Mr & Mrs Vail, is get your supporters to write a letter to the bank guaranteeing their support and we can give you the loan.” We told him that will never happen. Our supporters can’t guarantee their support, neither can we ensure any support will come. We look to God to provide our needs according to His riches in Christ. But of course in telling you things in this paragraph I am getting ahead of myself. Those of you who know Paul’s letter to the Philippians well, know my source for the words I have written above and my confidence in God. I have to confess I have just let the words flow from my heart as my fingers have danced across a very ailing key board on my computer.
I have one more level of praying to add before I close. I mentioned above that this was a two way process. Actually it is not; it’s a three way process. Those of us who are sent to those who have not yet heard the Good News have supporters who pray for us as their representatives and in turn we pray for those supporters who sent us. But think about what happened in Paul’s example of the Philippians. The Philippians were praying for Paul while Paul prayed for the Philippians. But those who were the first echelon of senders were the believers in Antioch and Jerusalem. At the end of the chain, the Philippians prayed for those in Antioch and Jerusalem while those in the original sending churches prayed for the Philippians. Can you imagine when this process turns full circle and those in vernacular language groups end up praying for those saints in Auckland and Matamata and vice versa. Now that is exciting and a privilege to be part of.
Your relationship with God & your relationship with yourself is the foundation of all your relationships with others and your impact.
7 days without prayer makes 1 WEAK!
A day hemmed in prayer is less likely to come unraveled!
Prayer doesn’t just fit us for the greater work. Prayer is the greater work!
Oswald Chambers