Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Paul's epistle to the Philippians,
chapter 4, and reading from our text, verse 19. Verse 19. But my God shall supply
all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians chapter 4 and verse
19. The church at Philippi had been
formed following the Lord's direction for Paul and Silas to first go
to Macedonia. The way had been stopped up for
them to go to Asia and by Phineas and it had been opened
up through a vision that Paul had come over into Macedonia
and help us and we think of the account of how Paul was the instrument
in the saving of Lydia who amongst those that gathered by the riverside
for prayer And also the jailer, Philippine jailer and his family,
when Paul and Silas were cast into prison. The Lord opened
the prison doors with an earthquake. The jailer, fearing for his life,
thinking the prisoners were escaped, was about to kill himself, and
Paul stayed him, said that we're all here, And the well-known
words of the jailer says, what must I do to be saved? And the response, believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And it was spoken
to all of his household. And the Lord blessed that beginning
of this church and obviously made them to really love the
Apostle Paul, love his ministry, to minister to him where other
churches were not, and when Paul here was in Rome and bound with
the chain and not able to supply his needs, they sent Epaphroditus
to him with that provision, and he, now that Epaphroditus was
not well, and he was sending him back, he sent him back with
this letter of thanks and as they had supplied his need so
he is saying here that my God shall supply all your need. What a reminder it is when we
have others supplying our need to think, well, though they are
looking to the Lord for help and their provision, we must
never think that just because others provide for our needs
that then, well, they are so well, they are so strong, they
are so well provided for that they do not have any needs in
that way or even in spiritual ways as well. This is a reminder
that those who receive should think of those that are giving,
not as those that are just having plenty of giving, but some of
those that are maybe poorer and they have other needs as well
as financial needs. Of this, he knows this church,
he knows those people, they are real people to him, they are
believers, they are souls precious to him. Because this letter is
to a Gentile church, you will not find references to the Old
Testament in it. It's a reminder to us of the
gospel that is sent to the Gentiles and those that were unfamiliar
with the Old Testament. But my God shall Supply all your
need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Another shall that the Apostle
is persuaded in those things that had been done, had communicated,
and really to summarise in this, really a Christian he prospers
laying out, it is by giving and not hoarding up, it is by imparting
to the needs of others that the blessings then come to him. And I believe every one of the
Lord's people will prove that as they walk out that, and we
certainly can testify to that. And the Apostle here receiving
this from Epaphroditus, from the Philippians, he says it is
an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to
God. It is fruits, it is the fruit
of love, love to Him, love to the ministry, love to the Lord
Jesus Christ in as much as ye have done it unto me, as ye have
done it unto the least of these my brethren. ye have done it unto me. A cup
of cold water in the name of a disciple, verily ye shall not
lose his reward. So the Apostle speaks of his
persuasion that God will supply the needs of the Philippians. He knows they have needs and
he's persuaded that God will supply them. And I want them
to look at this shell and look at this what the apostle says
to them must have been a great comfort to receive such a word
from him and such an epistle. The first thing I bring before
you is the supplier of our needs. The Apostle says it is my God,
but my God. The second thing is what he shall
supply, all your need. Not what we think we want, not
what we would like sometimes, but what is our real need, all
your need. And thirdly, the measure of supply. He says it is according to His
riches, God's riches in glory by Christ Jesus. That is the measure. So firstly,
it is the supplier of our needs, my God. How good it is to trace
Our blessings are to God. Be able to look past a second
cause, past the instruments that are used by God, and to trace
it as coming from God himself, the source. Every blessing comes
to us through Jesus' precious blood. All the promises are yea
and amen in Christ Jesus. The Apostle doesn't just say,
God shall supply, he says, my God, my God. Who? Who was Paul's God? You know throughout the scriptures
and solemnly amongst the people of God, they served many gods,
even Solomon. What a solemn case that was.
that he even made those idols to other gods than the true and
living God, for which cause the Lord chastised him and divided
his kingdom after he died. Israel had many times that they
were reproved for going to other gods. We think of Mount Carmel
and the test between Baal and the true and the living God. We should never just pass over
when we have a reference to God or to one's God, to really see
the great blessing and the wonder that our God is the God of heaven
and earth, the only true and living God, that there's none
other gods beside him. And the Apostle Paul knew that
the God that he had and the God that he served and the God that
he preached and set forth was the true and living God. You know, those that serve idols,
they could never say from personal experience that my God has supplied
my needs or he has answered my prayers. Those at Mount Carmel
could never testify to that. What a solemn thing to be deceived
but what a great thing to be able to say and maybe come in
with Hannah for this child I prayed or to go with the Apostle Paul
and say that once I was a blasphemer and I hated the people of God,
those that called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but
my God, the God that met me on that Damascus road, that turned
me into a new creature in Christ, that opened my eyes, that gave
me to be a minister, an apostle to the Gentiles, And that is
the true and living God. I have known, I've handled, I've
tasted of his power, I've seen his glory, I've received of his
grace, my grace is sufficient for thee. And so he is well able
to speak from his own experience. And remember we said of those
here they had observed, they'd already heard of the Apostle
They knew his testimony, they knew his path, they knew how
God had brought them out of that prison and how he'd used the
word to the conversion of their own persons. My God. One of our hymns says,
My God, my Father, blissful name, O may I call thee mine. May I with sweet assurance claim
a portion so divine. The Lord, when he ascended up
into heaven, he says, I ascend unto my God and your God, my
Father and your Father. And is that joining together
of our Lord and Saviour and his people and his people one to
another unto this true and living God? Unto him shall the gathering
of the people be. Drawn, no man can come unto me,
said our Lord, except the Father which sent me. Draw him, or raise
him up at the last day. We may well examine ourselves
in this way. Do we have this God, the true
and living God, as our God? And can we join with the Apostle
when we may speak to others and be able to say, my God, my God
shall do this, my God shall do that. There's another aspect
here as well. We might be tempted to look at
what the Lord has done for another and say, well, see what the Lord's
done for them. He never do that for me. If the
Philippians were like that, they would have heard the apostle
in effect saying, he can, he will, he shall do that for you
the same as he's done for me. The blessings of the Lord, they
are not just held by one person, but for the whole household and
people of God. and I was exercised on the ministry,
one of the temptations I went under for some time was the devil
said, how can you preach to others and how can you set forth that
our hearts by nature are deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked and testify as to the working of sin in the heart,
how dare you think that any other have such a wicked, evil, deceitful
heart as what you have, and are capable of such abominations
in your thoughts and affections as you have. How can you ever
do that? And it stumbled me for quite
a while, until the Lord impressed this word on me, As in water
face untruth the face, so the heart of man to man. and another, he fasteneth all
their hearts alike. Not in sin, perfectly, but we
are all fallen alike, and we all have the same heart. And as we partake in corruption
and in the fall the same, so God's children partake of Christ
the same. And the blessings that one has,
though they may differ, in their measure and in their timing of
things. Yet the same God supplies and
divines as he wills to all the people of God. And there's a
real encouragement here. We think of the word covet earnestly,
the best gifts. And what do we read of those
best gifts that the people of God have? The gifts of faith
and love and hope and grace Those gifts that come from the Lord,
where would we be if we could read the word of God, we could
see the people of God, but had no assurance, no chance that
what another had received we could possibly receive. But if
the people of God, if the Lord is their portion and heaven is
their end, so that shall be ours as well. And so he says, my God. He's pointing to the one that
revealed himself to him, that called him by grace, whom he
knew and the Lord knew him. and I am persuaded of this, and
he doesn't say here about your God, he says, but my God, but
I believe they're the same, one is the other, you think of how
the epistle begins. Again he says
in verse three, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
that he says, being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day
of Jesus Christ. And he says that it is right
for him to think this of them, because the Lord has put them
in his heart. And he testifies as to that work
that God had done. It's a blessed thing, isn't it,
when we can look upon another And we can really believe and
feel that they are bound up with us in the bundle of life. Our
God is their God, that we are one in the things of God. But as he's desiring that and
setting before them the provision for them, and they've looked
upon him and seen what the Lord has done for him, he sets before
them the supplier of their needs, the supplier of his needs, and
we may save a supplier of our needs as well. My God. May we be helped then in this
first point to look past all of the second things and past
the things that may all crowd around us and the needs themselves
and see our Lord Jesus Christ, see our God, and see our Lord
at his right hand. Well secondly, what he shall
supply, that my God shall supply all your need, all your need. Not just some of it, all of it. There are many things that we
think that we need we want, we might even ask the Lord and wonder
why we haven't been given them. But what a reminder in this text
of the certainty of our need is supplied, what is necessary,
what is needful. You think of our Lord in the
house of Lazarus, Mary, Martha, And there is Martha cumbered
about with much serving, so busy. There is Mary sitting at the
feet of our Lord and hearing His word. And Martha is saying
that, be it my sister, help me. The Lord so lovingly reproving
Martha. Martha, Martha, thou art careful
and troubled about many things. But one thing is needful, Mary
hath chosen that better path which shall not be taken away
from her. How easy it is, even in the serving
of the things of God, to get our priorities wrong. We're so
busy serving, we're so busy doing, that we never sit at the feet
of the Lord ourselves. We never hear his word. We never
enjoy his company. Maybe some of us need a reset
in that way. I believe one thing, when the
Lord will supply our needs, he'll bring us to cry unto him, he'll
show us our need, and cause us to ask him to supply that need. And some of us, where we can
get so like Martha, it's very hard to stop. Very hard to sit
still. We're so easy up and trying to
do things. It applies in many, many ways. Instead of praying first or spending
that time with the Lord, we're more likely to be turning to
the Bible or doing some outward thing instead of seeking the
Lord first. One thing is needful, a close
walk with the Lord, fellowship with the Lord, drawing from His
fullness, receiving of His grace, receiving strength from Him physically,
mentally, spiritually, strengthened with might in the inner man,
receiving the teaching and instructing from him. I will instruct thee
and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. Sometimes we can
be so busy we're not learning. We're slow learners often. And yet it is a promise that
all thy children shall be taught of the Lord and it is our need
that we do and are taught. and that we grow, grow in grace
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We
may have temporal needs, we do, and Paul here, he had his temporal
needs relieved, and those at Philippi, they needed theirs
relieved as well. But remember our Lord, He spoke
about the anxious thoughts, what shall we eat, what shall we put
on, wherewithal shall we be clothed? All these things do the Gentiles
seek after, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you. It is a good
thing when we do have temporal needs, that we do spread them
before the Lord, and bring them before the Lord, and those are
precious times when the Lord does supply that need, when He
knows those things that we really do have need of. And though the love of money
is the root of all evil, yet we do need money to be able to
do those things that the Lord would have us to do. Often there
is a need in that way. We think of the Apostle, how
he first came to Macedonia and was directed there. Two shut
doors and then an open door. That was a need for him, wasn't
it? Maybe a need with you, direction and guidance. Sometimes we overlook
a shut door as a direction, but it is. And it is a need for us. I will instruct thee and teach
thee in the way which thou shalt go. How we need. That need supplied
the needs of the people of God, temporal and spiritual, that
they be fed like the children of Israel. They came into the
wilderness. They murmured at first, but they
did need the bread from heaven. They did need the water. They
did have the manna from heaven. They did drink of the spiritual
rock that followed them. That rock was Christ. They also
drank of the water. that came out of the rock in
a literal way. And the Lord did supply their
need. Very often a thing to be remembered
in this is the timing of the Lord's supply. You think of the
woman, the widow of Zarephath, Elijah had his needs supplied
during that famine at the brook Cherith, and the ravens, they
brought him Flesh, morning and evening, he drank of the brook.
Then the brook dried up. Part of it was a miracle, part
of it was natural, you might say, and of course it dried up.
There was no rain in the land. But then he was directed out
of Israel to Zarephath. But there the widow woman, she
only had a little meal and a little oil in the vessel. Not much supply
there. The Lord supplied that miracle,
and Elijah said that, prepare for me first, and thus saith
the Lord, that until the rain come upon the earth, the barrel
of meal shall not waste, nor the crews of oil fail. And he
did it, the wonderful miracle that was wrought. But how dependent
they had to go, from day to day, And it's like with the manna
as well, they couldn't hoard it up from one day to the next,
except over the Sabbath. And we are to be the same, dependent
upon the Lord, our needs that we have, maybe that is last moment
it is given, it is supplied, and as we have that need, that
is supplied. You think of a family with the
children, The parents don't give the children a supply for the
whole week and today you take that up to your bedroom and you
just meet it out for the week. No, they come down each mealtime
and the parents, they give them the food that they have prepared
for them and at the time that they need it. And our God is
the same in that way. Shall supply all your needs. not some. And so it's a reminder
to us that those things we think that maybe we should have that
are not supplied, that the Lord doesn't see it as yet as a need. We certainly like the Apostle
Paul to keep bringing our needs before the Lord. When he had
the thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet him, his first
thought was that Lord take it away. Take it away. But then the Lord said, no, my
grace is sufficient for thee. The trial had to remain, the
thorn had to remain, but he would be given grace to bear it. And so again, there's a reminder
the way the Lord supplies the needs of his people is in sometimes
a different way to what they thought it would be. I don't
think the children of Israel, I know they couldn't, have ever
anticipated the manna from heaven in an unlookful, unexpected way,
and yet going right through the 40 years in the wilderness. It may be with you and with I
as well. We feel need in particular ways,
but maybe looking for it to be supplied in a particular manner,
but the Lord chooses not to do it in that way, or in some cases
not at all. not seeing it as something that
we really need at all, that for His work and for His purposes
and His way we have all that we need, we don't need anything
more. But you know each one of God's
people will have needs and the Lord does it so that they are
brought to Him, so that they receive from Him, and that those
needs are supplied and it is to God's honour and God's glory. May we be encouraged in prayer
this morning, bring our needs before Him. May we believe that
He is able to do exceeding far above all that we can ask or
think. And especially may we think that
it is never on account of there being a lack of revision, might
or power in the Lord, and that's why I want to look in the last
point of the measure of supply, which the Apostle here says it
is according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. You know, in a natural sense,
if we were appointed to someone to supply all our needs, And
we knew that they got not much money in the bank, they weren't
very strong, and they're not really in much of a position
to help us. We wouldn't be very strengthened
and encouraged, would we? But if we appointed to someone,
and they were perhaps a millionaire, they had all finance at their
fingertips, they had a sway with Many people, they knew many people
to be able to get things done. They had ability, they had strength. Really, we view them and think,
well, there's everything that we need in there. There's a great
store of provision. There's great ability there.
And you bring that to the word of our text. You think about
God, that He's the King of kings and Lord of lords. that none
can stay his hand or say what doest thou, that none can say
it shall come to pass, and the Lord does not command it to.
You think of him, that though he is supplying the needs of
sinners, yet it is that he has himself suffered, bled, and died
on Calvary's tree. He has purchased redemption for
them, He has settled the debts that they owed, He has provided
for them an eternal salvation, and He has provided for them
every spiritual blessing and provision that they need to get
through this life to the Lord's honour and glory, and to be brought
safely to heaven, in spite of self, in spite of Satan, in spite
of the world, in spite of their own evil, sinful propensities,
kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to
be revealed in the last day. There's nothing that the Lord
cannot do. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? That was said to Abraham and
said to many of the people of God as they had impossibilities,
difficulties before them. They're reminded of what the
Lord was, what he was able to do. And here in our text, that
supply of the need is according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. God's dear children are chosen
in Him, in Christ, before the foundation of the world. And
if they are chosen in Him, they are redeemed in Him, they are
formed anew in Him, then surely every blessing is provided in
Him as well. Those riches, that provision,
every blessing and every favour comes to us through Jesus' precious
blood. They are blood-bought blessings,
blessings of grace, blessings of that peace of God, blessings
of the love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost. Blessings of the food of which
the Lord says in John 6, Except ye eat the flesh and drink the
blood of the Son of Man, ye have no life in you. The words that
I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. How vital
is the need! You know, we are said at the
last days, there shall be a famine, not of bread or of water, but
of hearing the words of the Lord. And when we think of the letters
to the churches in the Revelation, he that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. The great need
of every child of God is that open ear and to constantly be
receiving the word of God. Their prayer will be, be not
silent unto me, lest if thou be silent unto me, then I become
like them that go down into the pit. The very mark of the sheep
of God, my sheep, they hear my voice and they follow me. The very mark of the new birth
is that they have new eyes, new ears, new feet to walk in the
ways of the Lord. A new love, loving the people
of God and loving the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that we pass
from death unto life because we love. the brethren, and that
love is of God, that is supplied through our Lord Jesus Christ. And it is not only the riches
in glory, it gives glory to our Lord Jesus Christ in supplying
this need, in giving this to his dear people. We know, of
course, that he is good to all, his tender mercies are over all
His works, He opened His hand, He satisfied the desire of every
living thing. Paul says in Acts 17 to the men
on Mars Hill, in Him we live and move and have our being.
He is the Saviour of all men, especially of them that believe. We do not have several forces
in this world, one supplying the ungodly, another supplying
God's children. No, every good and perfect gift
cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no changeableness,
nor shadow of turning. And it is with the Lord's people
that they bless him for those blessings that are common grace
blessings, but they also look for spiritual blessings. Those
blessings Paul speaks of when he writes to the Ephesians. Spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The man shall
not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of God. When our eyes are open, when
we're a living soul, then we'll have needs for that soul. And
may we be in health, naturally, as we are in health spiritually,
as John wishes those to whom he writes in his epistles. It's
a great thing to be in spiritual health, and our health, our strength,
and every blessing, it comes in this way. From the riches
in glory by Christ Jesus, what has been purchased at Calvary,
what comes from his intercession, what comes from our advocate
with the Father. I will pray the Father, he will
give you another comforter which you abide with you forever. The
Holy Spirit was given in that way, and we're exhorted to ask,
and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find not,
and it shall be opened unto you. The measure of supply, may we
come with those large petitions, desiring great things of the
Lord, not satisfied with small things, giving thanks for small
things, but asking, asking for more. But my God shall supply
all your need. What is your need this morning?
What is your burden upon your heart? Those things you've come
to hear the word of God And this has been all upon your thoughts
today, and burdening you, and you've come, and may the Lord
answer you in this way, that my God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory, by Christ Jesus. Amen.