May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in His Holy Word. Let's turn to the Epistle of
Paul to the Philippians in the fourth chapter, and we'll read
verse 19. The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians,
chapter 4, and reading verse 19. My God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. It is a wonderful blessing to
be able to confirm with the Apostle, my God. Yes, he wasn't just saying
a God, he was able to recognise that as his God and therefore
with authority be able to confirm this great truth. My God shall
supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. It's a very full verse. It's
a very beautiful verse. And of course, we need to recognise
that here he is writing to the church at Philippi, the Philippian
church. where indeed he was bidden by
God to go. He was stopped going to other
places. You can read in the 16th chapter
of the Acts of the Apostles that what happened there, they intended
to go to one place, but they were forbidden. Now when they
had gone throughout Phrygia, this is verse 6, and the region
of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost who preached
to Odinatia, after they would come to Mycenae, they had said
to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not. So
we see we have two positions where they thought they would
go, and they would go, but the Lord didn't agree and didn't
permit it. And so we're told, and they passing
by Mycenae came down to Troas. And when the apostle was at Troas,
a vision appeared to him in the night. And there stood a man
of Macedonia and prayed him saying, come over into Macedonia and
help us. Well, there was a clear instruction
by God to Paul. And it's interesting how he responded. We might almost say, well, he
might have asked the Lord, was this really true? He'd been stopped
going to two places. Was this now the right places? Well, we're told this. After
he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia,
assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach
the gospel unto them. And so they got on their journey
and they came at last to Philippi. It wasn't just a few yards or
meters away, it was quite a long journey. And he told us they
had a straight course to Thracia, and then to Neapolis, and then
to Philippi, which we're told was the capital of Macedonia. And there Paul then went out
in the city by the riverside where prayer was wont to be made.
And he sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither. Now, it would appear he didn't
know the women, but he realised it was a place where they had
come to pray and therefore he sat down and spoke to them. And you see we should recognise
the examples we have in the word of God. He sat down and spoke
unto the women. We might indeed be sometimes
a bit nervous to do those things. Perhaps we might be afraid. But
you see, the Apostle, moved by the Spirit, he wasn't afraid. He sat down and he spoke to the
women which resorted thither. And in God's great and glorious
providence, there was a woman called Lydia, who was a merchant,
she was a Sarah Purple, she wasn't a poor woman, but she worshipped
God, and she heard them, whose heart the Lord opened, that she
attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. So we see
how God gloriously opened her heart. Now, we should realise
that God is able today to open people's hearts. We shouldn't therefore be upset
if perhaps initially people don't appear to receive the word because
God is able to open people's hearts. And we're told, who is
heart the Lord open that she attended unto the things which
were spoken of Paul. And clearly they had a gracious
effect upon her. We're told then she was baptized
and her household. And it would appear from that
that she would have spoken to her household or Paul would have
spoken to her household. So they were all those who were
true believers. And then she invited them into
her house and asked them to abide there. And she constrained us. Well, we see that as a very wonderful
occasion, but the Lord's work wasn't finished. And we might
sometimes think in our lives, well that was, those things are
very wonderful and things are going to be very smooth and everything's
going to work out well because the Lord has instructed us, the
Lord has told us. Well, here we have the truth
my God shall supply all or need but not always in the way that
perhaps we expect certainly not in a way that the apostle expected
because there was a woman who was possessed with the spirit
of divination who the apostle spoke about and stopped her doing
the divination and that upset the people that she worked for.
So what happened was the masters saw that their gains were gone. They caught Paul and Silas and
drew them into the marketplace and to the rulers. And the result
was that they were beaten. Yes, it wasn't an easy thing. And when they had laid many stripes
upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to
keep them safely. Whoever received such a charge
thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in stocks. Well, they might have questioned,
well, surely this can't be right. Surely we wouldn't have to suffer
in this way. Surely God would have made a
way of escape. Well, the Lord's purposes were
to be fulfilled. And we should always realise
that if God is with us, things will work out well, but we may
have to suffer for his sake. Indeed, the Church of God usually
do have to suffer for his sake in one way or another. And we
should not therefore be surprised, but we can see the glorious grace
of God in the lives of Paul and Silas, because we're told at
midnight, They sang praises unto God and the prisoners heard them. It wasn't something they just
whispered to each other, didn't really want anybody else to hear,
didn't want to be embarrassed. No, they sang loudly and the
prisoners did hear them. And then we're told, and suddenly
there was a great earthquake, so the foundations of the prison
were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and
everyone's bands were loose. We won't go through the account,
but you probably know the effect was that the jailer indeed thought
that the prisoners had escaped and was going to kill himself,
and the Apostle Paul called out and told him they were all still
here, so he didn't do that. And the result was that he came
then and fell down and asked this great question, sirs, what
must I do to be saved? Now, the obvious is this. He
must have heard the gospel. He would have heard them singing.
No doubt they expounded to him the gospel. And the effect was
then that he realized he needed to be saved. And he came and
asked that vital question, what must I do to be saved? And what did the apostle respond? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved and thy house. And they spake unto him
the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house. And the
effect was that They were baptised and they believed and they rejoiced. Yes, and rejoiced, believing
in God with all his house. Well, now, this is the effect
of the great and glorious work of the Spirit of God. God commanded
Paul to go to Macedonia. It wasn't all plain sailing,
far from it, but God was with him and God graciously blessed
him and blessed the Word. And there were those then, Lydia
and her house, the jailer and his house, and so surely it was
cause to praise and to bless God. Some of the reasons why
the Apostle, therefore, was knit to the Philippians, and clearly
why they were knit to him, why he rejoiced to be able to converse
with them. And he tells them, I thank my
God upon every remembrance of you. Always, in every prayer
of mine, for you, all making request with joy for your fellowship
in the gospel. And he tells us, for God is my
record, how greatly I long after you. It's a good example for
us today, isn't it? The path that God, in his sovereign
grace and mercy, leads his church is the right way. And we on the
earth here, our lives are for the honour and glory of God. We shouldn't judge ourselves
by other people. We should judge ourselves by
the word of God. We should judge ourselves by
the examples which we have in the word of God. and be thankful
indeed that there are those testimonies where God has called people,
those who were dead in trespasses and sins, far off from God. God knew where they were. God
knew when he would come and call them by his grace. And what a
blessing it is for us, you see, perhaps to be used in some small
way. It's a great privilege. And we should thank God for it. Well, he tells us the apostle
that so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace
and in all other places. The apostle was in Rome. He'd been bound. He'd been chained
up for the gospel. But even there, He did, of course,
enjoy freedom, although he was under arrest. He was able to write such a letter
to the Philippians to encourage them. He wasn't a lazy man. He wasn't lazy at all. He did
all that he needed to. We only have to read, we read
the 16th of Acts just then, read on in the 17th when he went to
Athens. And what did he do when he was
in Athens? He got up and every day went
into the marketplace. to be able to speak about the
things of God. He didn't sit down and say, well,
I've got to wait for some of my friends to come before I can
go outside. I don't want to go by myself.
I'll be a bit nervous. Not at all. He was commissioned by Almighty
God. And therefore, he did the will
of God. And what a great blessing it
was. There he was. He went and preached the gospel. on Mars Hill. Yes, and many people
heard it. What a great blessing then to
have that willing spirit like the Apostle Paul. He didn't count
his life dear, did he? We read indeed in that third
chapter in this letter that he wrote, how that he tells us,
Shea, doubtless I count all things but loss. For the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and to count them but done that I may
win Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God, by faith. What a blessing, my friends,
to have a similar willingness and a similar desire in the day
and age in which we live. We don't know, do we, what we
may have to endure as the years go by, perhaps as the months
go by, you know, with the prospect of a new government, we have
no idea what that will turn out like. And it may be very anti-Christian. And we may find that we're not
able to meet together as we used to. We may not be able to read
the Bible. Indeed, we may not be able to
buy Bibles. We may not be able to give Bibles
away. We don't know what the Lord has
in store for us, but we do have a gracious and glorious example
in the case of the Apostle Paul. And therefore, should such situations
come upon us to realize, well, let's go to the word of God.
Let's see how the saints are old, pressed on against opposition. Because they did. And you know
the Apostle tells us, and it's glorious words to read. For to
me, to live, is Christ. It isn't to live in the flesh.
This is the fruit of my labour. Yet, what I shall choose I want
not. For I am in a strait but to having
a desire. to depart and to be with Christ,
which is far better. Well, I wonder how we would respond
to that question. Have we got a desire to depart
and to be with Christ, which is far better? We might say,
well, I know it's far better, but we might not have a desire
to depart. Well, the apostle tells us straight
down the line, doesn't he? But he says, nevertheless, to
abide in the flesh is more needful for you. But it was. The apostle
was able to encourage the church of God. And what a blessing he
was. And what a wonderful thing it
was. And then he says, only let your
conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ. Again, another
word of glorious instruction. your conversation, my conversation,
as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and
see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you
stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for
the faith of the gospel. That was the evidence to encourage
the apostle. And what a good thing it would
be if our lives testify of the same example. And he tells us,
and in nothing terrified by your adversaries. Yes, there are people,
aren't there, who would terrify us. and endeavour to stop us
spreading the gospel, stop us speaking to people, stop us encouraging
one another, he says, and in nothing terrified by your adversaries,
which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation
and that of God. Well, it's a wonderful blessing
to be led and directed by the Spirit of God. That's what the
Apostle was, you know. We can read it and we think,
well, he was a wonderful character. And he was. But my friends, he
had a very hard and difficult life. You only have to read the
account that he gives to us in the second epistle of the Corinthians. And he tells us there a whole
list Of all the opposition that he had to endure, if you and
I lay ourselves alongside that, nothing by comparison, is it?
But he didn't complain. He was doing God's will. You
see, perhaps we might question ourselves whether we're doing
God's will, or whether it is jogging along. Just pleasing
ourselves. Just doing that which is satisfying
to our flesh. Well, the Apostle lived for the
Gospel. His life was the Gospel. You may say, well, of course,
he was a very special person. Well, he was a very special person.
But he's there as an example for you and me today. So we shouldn't
be surprised, therefore. that we have such a testimony
to encourage us in these things. And so he tells us then, with
true confidence, but my God shall supply all your need. And that's exactly what it says,
all your need, not what you and I think we might need. You see, we may have a list of
things that we tell God we need. Well, it may not be necessary.
We may not need them. And God may not see fit to give
them to us. And sometimes, you know, it may
even be spiritual blessings. And you may say, well, that's
very strange. Well, the Word of God tells us
sometimes we may have blessings that we might consume them upon
our lust. And by that, I mean this. You
and I can be very proud of things that God does for us. We have
to be very careful. We have to always testify that
it's by the grace of God I am what I am. It's God's mercy and
God's favour towards me. We're not to stop testifying
of what God's done, but we are to acknowledge that it's His
grace. It's not our ability. It's not
the things that we've set ourselves to do and we've had strength
to do. It's because God's given us strength.
As we read together in this fourth chapter, the Apostle tells us,
I can do all things. How through Christ that strengthens
me. Now, it's good, you see, if you
and I can testify in that way, because it brings honour and
glory to God. And we must recognise that your
life and my life is not to please ourselves, it's to please our
God. We're on this earth for his honour and glory. And what
a blessing it is that we're able to testify of what he's done
for our never-dying souls. How he's encouraged us. The Apostle
Paul was able to testify, wasn't he, quite clearly of his spiritual
condition, of his spiritual state, of his longing after Christ. He had something to say. What
a mercy. when you and I have something
to say. And he tells us, but I am all
and abound, abound in the grace of God. Oh, today, by comparison,
we're very insignificant, aren't we? But often we're not very
concerned about it. We just jog along. And you know,
I think it's tragic when people hide under A statement like,
well, of course that's my besetting sin. They seem to want to make
excuses because of that. Well, it's not an excuse at all.
It's a sad thing when we give in to a besetting sin. We should never boast about it
or pretend it's okay. We should always desire to pray
earnestly that we might turn away from it. Besetting sins
don't bring honour and glory to God. What do they do? They
separate between us and our God. Don't therefore think that by
confessing it you can excuse yourself. Not at all. Remember
the apostles' testimony, the apostles' example. And then,
but my God. It's very lovely this, isn't
it? But my God. He doesn't say, but God. He could
say, but God, and it would be true. But it's wonderful when
he adds that very personal position. But my God. And you and I need
to come there. We need to come to that position.
where we're able to say, not just, well, but God shall supply
all your need. It's true. But what extra weight
is added when we can say, before God, for the honor and glory
of God, but my God shall supply all your need. And if we were
asked, why did nothing in and of himself, was he? No, what
a mercy. And we read in that second chapter,
he said he spoke about the great and glorious saviour. And he
says, who made himself of no reputation. Again, that's a good
thing to remember, isn't it? You and I are very keen on our
reputation, aren't we? We don't like people to speak
against us. Well, the saviour made himself
of no reputation. And took upon him the form of
a servant. Almighty God, the creator of
all things, took upon him the form of a servant and was
made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion of
a man, he humbled himself. and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. It's good, isn't it, to recognise
we have a great and wonderful example here. Yes, he humbled
himself. It's good if you and I can humble
ourselves and be obedient, obedient unto the will of our God. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things
in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth. Believe
you me, every knee will bow before the Lord Jesus and it will come
in two ways. The Church of God, those who
are called, those who are converted, will bow down to the Lord Jesus
Christ on this earth. They will confess that he is
their Lord and Master. Those who fail to do that, when
they stand before that judgment seat, they will bow the knee. Everyone will indeed bow down
that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in
heaven and things in earth and things under the earth. And then
he goes on and every tongue, every tongue, your tongue, my
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. to the glory
of God the Father. What a wonderful blessing that is, to be able
to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. To be able to confess
that Jesus Christ is our Lord. Let's be clear, real religion
is personal. You and I need to come here You
and I need to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and that he is
our Lord. And if he is our Lord, we will
bring that into being by obeying the glorious testimony and word
of God and not turn away from it and think, well, I don't need
to worry about that. You do. A great blessing for the Church
of God is to obey what the Lord commands us to do. and not to
think that somehow or other there's a way that you and I can escape. We're not allowed. We are to
do the will of Almighty God. What a great and wonderful favour
it is to recognise that we have such a God who deals with his
people in love. You may remember that the Apostle
Paul, he went to Athens and he came and when he was in Athens
he saw a sign to the unknown God, whom therefore you ignorantly
worship, Him declare I unto you yes him declare I Unto you and
he goes on to say when he was preaching on Mars Hill He says
this in the times of this ignorance God winked at but now I commandeth
all men everywhere to repent. You may say, well, I haven't
got any power to repent. My friends, that's no excuse.
Don't hide under that. Seek unto God that he will give
you grace to repent. Because you have appointed a
day in which you will judge the world in righteousness by that
man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto
all men in that he hath raised him from the dead. And when they
heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, and others
said, We will hear thee again of this matter. Well, may we
not be amongst those who mock, but those who hear the great
truth of God and recognize The wonderful favour it is to be
amongst those who desire to worship this great and mighty and all-powerful
God and to realise the glory of such a word as we have here. My God, may you and I be able
to come in with those words, humbly before God, unworthy as
we are, and yet bow down and say, well, by the grace of God,
I can say, but my God shall supply all your need according to his
riches in glory by Christ Jesus.