Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Paul's epistle to the Philippians,
chapter 4, the chapter that we read, and reading from our text,
verse 13. I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4, verse 13. Paul exhorts in verse 9 that
the Philippians should, in those things that they had learned,
received, and heard, and then he says, and seen in me that
they should do them. And he assures them that the
God of peace should be with them. So Paul himself, He sets himself
as an example. Many times this is so. He says
that, be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ. And it is a high standard. Those that believe, those that
are leaders, should be able to say the same. that they should
be living examples of what the Word of God means, what actually
it enjoins upon the people of God as to how they should live
and how they should walk. Well, the apostle then goes on
in verse 11 and 12, and he speaks of those things that he has gone
through. He says that he had learned to
be content in whatsoever state that he was in. He testifies
that he knows how to both be abased in humility and lowliness
and how to abound He testified that he has been instructed both
to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer
need, from one extreme to another. And then after he has said these
things before them, he tells them, in the words of our text,
the secret as to how he's able to do these things. He says,
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Now, it is obvious, of course,
that the Apostle Paul couldn't do all things in the same way
as what God can. You know that there's nothing
impossible with God. Of course, God cannot lie. He
cannot sin, he cannot deny himself. There are things that he cannot
do in that sense because they go against who he is and his
holiness. But we're God's people, they
are not given that power as gods in that way. But what the apostle
means is indirect connection with what he has been saying
to the Philippians that those things that are enjoined upon
them by way of obedience, those things that are their duty, those
things that they're called to walk in a providential way, the
tribulations that they are to pass through, those things that
they are called to endure, as he was called to endure, in those
things, He says, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
me. As if he would gather up all
the people of God and all that the Lord would appoint for them
as individuals in the pathway, as office bearers, as those that
are seeking the Lord. And he says, there is nothing
that is said before you in any way that the Lord doesn't mean
that he would give strength through the Lord Jesus Christ to do. I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me. So I want to look firstly at
the strength from the Lord that is taught, not just in the New
Testament, but Old Testament as well. And then what the apostle
could do through Christ, looking at some of the things, yes, in
the context here already he has mentioned some. but to consider
some of the other things that we may view as a help to us as
well in a similar path. And then thirdly, how the Lord's
people are to do all things through Christ. I like to think of it
in a practical way. When he says, I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me, How is that actually walked
out? But firstly I want to notice
it's not just as set forth in the New Testament. We would remember that the Lord
Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world
and that help given to the people of God applies to the Old Testament
as well as the New. And though in the new we have
the Lord so clearly revealed, and the Holy Spirit so abundantly
set forth, yet the Holy Spirit was there in the creation, the
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and We have
the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles saying, those going through the
wilderness, they drank of that spiritual rock that followed
them, and that rock was Christ. We read of dear Jacob, when he
has Esau coming with him, and he wrestles, and we read this,
there wrestled a man with him to the breaking of the day, and
that man, was the Lord Jesus Christ in one of his pre-incarnation
appearances. Jacob's name was changed to Israel
because thou hast wrestled with God and with man and has been
prevailed. God gave him strength to wrestle
with God. He touched his thigh, let me
go for the day breaketh and Jacob says, I will not let thee go.
except thou bless me. And he touched the hollow of
his thigh, so that his thigh was out of joint. He went on
his way limping, but he had been given that strength to wrestle,
and he'd given the blessing when he saw, he saw instead of one
that was warring against him, he viewed him and embraced as
a brother. And then we have the beautiful
prophecies that are set forth in the Word of God of the strength
that is promised, especially in the prophecy of Isaiah. We have Isaiah 40 and verses
29 to 31. At the end of that chapter, he giveth power to the
faint, And to them that have no might,
he increaseth strength. Even the youth shall faint and
be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait
upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up
with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they
shall walk and not faint. And then in the following chapter,
It is in the very first verse there, keep silence. Of course,
we know the chapter divisions are not part of the inspired
word of God. Keep silence before me, O islands,
and let the people renew their strength. Let them come near,
then let them speak. Let us come near together to
judgment. And then we have in the 45th
chapter of Isaiah, further words in verse 24. Surely shall one say, in the
Lord have I righteousness and strength. Even to him shall men
come, and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed
of Israel be justified and shall glory. We know when Hannah had
been blessed with a son, with Samuel, and she sings that song
of praise to God. And she says in this, by strength
shall no man prevail. That is by natural strength.
He weakened my strength in the way. the Lord weakens man's strength,
that he might then show his strength. With Samson, it was clearly seen. And Samson, he seemed to forget
that God had given him that strength. And when he slew a thousand men
with an ox goat, he said, with a thousand, with an ox, the jawbone
of an ass, have I slain a thousand men. He cast it away. And then
he was athirst, and he was brought low and cried unto the Lord,
Thou hast given this great deliverance, and shall I now die of thirst? And the Lord claimed a hollow
in the jawbone of the ass, and he drank from the water from
that. And the Lord showed him that
that strength that he had was from the Lord and not from himself. And of course, when he had his
hair shaved off and his strength went from him. He wished not
the Lord had departed from him. In a physical way he was given
it. We see the same physical strength that was given to Ahab
that he, after the trial on Mount Carmel, ran before Ahab and to
Jezreel. And Ahab was in a chariot with
horses. But then we find Elijah asleep
under a juniper tree and wishing of himself that he'd die as Jezebel
had threatened his life. And the angel came and strengthened
him, gave him water and food and said, the journey is too
great for thee. And he went 40 days or 40 nights
to Mount Horeb in the desert And there the Lord appeared to
him, gave him a fresh commission, gave him a promise of having
Elisha to help him right until his last day. And the Lord gave those directions
there in that still small voice. The Lord knew how to strengthen
Gideon when the Lord had reduced his army to just 300 men against
the Midianites. And he said to Gideon, if thou
fearest to go down, then go with thy servant, listen to what they
say. So he went down to a tent and
he overheard a man telling a dream to his fellow. The man said that
he dreamt of a cake of barley bread falling into the camp and
it hit a tent and it laid along. And his fellow said, this is
none other Then Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel, into
whose hand God hath delivered all the host of Midian. And when
Gideon heard the telling of that dream, then he said and went
back and said, Arise, for the Lord hath delivered the Midianites
into our hand. Go in this thy might, was the
word spoken to Gideon, and the Lord strengthened him. These
things are known by the people of God in the Old Testament out
of weakness. They were made strong. We read of the long cloud of
witnesses in Hebrews 11. We have it again in the epistle
following Colossians in chapter one and verse 11. strengthened
with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all
patience, and longsuffering with joyfulness. And the previous
verse, it emphasises what is strengthened in, that ye might
walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful
in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. When Paul writes to the Ephesians,
he has words to them as well, and you'd expect this. If he
writes this to the Philippians, then when he writes other letters,
he'll point to the same strength and the same help. So Ephesians
chapter three and verse 16, that he would grant you, according
to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by
his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth
and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God. And he says before them those
things that are wrought by the power of God in sinners' hearts. And then later on in the sixth
chapter as well, he says, finally my brethren, in verse 10, finally
my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his
might. And he gives the The Christian
armour then that follows put on the whole armour of God, that
he may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. And it is in these ways that
is set before us a strength above that which a poor sinner has,
and that which God is able to communicate and to convey to
his people, helping them to do what he commands them and bids
them do, and whatever that they are called to walk in, to give
them that strength and that help. The Lord is the one that help
is laid upon, one that is mighty. He is to be the one that strengthens
a people that have been weakened because of sin, because of death,
because of the broken law, He has come to give them strength
in every way. I want to then look secondly
at what the Apostle could do through Christ. We read in the second epistle
of Paul to the Corinthians concerning the thorn that was given him
in the flesh. He spoke of the visions that
he'd had, no doubt, on that Damascus road, caught up into the third
heaven. And God had seen fit to balance
those revelations so that he wasn't lifted up in pride. And to do that, he'd given him
this thorn in the flesh. We are not told what it is. We
may surmise what it could have been. that really scripture is
silent and so maybe a help to all of the people of God that
are given some trial that is viewed as a messenger of Satan. I remember years ago speaking
to a dear brother in Australia on this and musing, thinking
that it couldn't be Affliction, because it was spoken of as a
messenger of Satan. Well, here's one that had chronic
arthritis, had to have gold injections every few months, tremendous
pain. And he looked at me and he said,
it is not the affliction. The messenger of Satan is how
Satan uses it, because you feel anger. fretfulness, replying
against God. It is what's stirred up inside,
not the actual affliction. And that applies then not just
to afflictions, but tribulations and trials or losses or crosses
or whatever it may be, that then stirs up within us so that we
say, how can ever God dwell here? When I've got, I thought I had
submission to God, but there's everything but submission in
my heart. I thought I could trust the Lord,
but now I question what he is doing. And it stirs up, and that
is the messenger of Satan, because Satan takes occasion by the things
that are happening and uses it to discourage the people of God,
The apostle, when he wrote to the Thessalonians, I think it
was, and he says to them that he would not have them to be
discouraged because of the things that they heard were happening
to him. All the things that he went through,
that they should then be discouraged in their faith. And Satan is
able to do that, and he does that, tries to unsettle the people
of God. and makes them think things,
say things, feel things that they know are contrary to submission,
to believing, to the peace of God. They are satanic feelings. And they stirred up. But the
Lord overruled this. He had given this. He had given
this to the apostle so that he wasn't lifted up in pride. When the apostle prayed that
that might be taken away, the Lord didn't take it away. But
he gave something better, and he gave grace. My grace is sufficient
for thee. And it's amazing, the apostle
then, it changed his whole outlook. Changed his whole outlook. You
know, he read the difference. He says, therefore, in verse
10, The portion we read, the last verse we read, I take pleasure
in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake. Why? Because it is through his
weakness that he is made strong. He is given that help and strength. We've been brought into those
situations where we have felt that if the Lord hadn't have
been strengthening us, we could not have continued. Sometimes
it is that we might know someone else that's been in a similar
situation. Maybe someone who hasn't had
a profession or even those that have. And we've seen that they
didn't stand or they didn't have strength. And then we realize
the strength that we had been given, which we may not have
realized at first, but enough to realize that that strength
is not our own. Two things come to mind at that.
One, when I was reading services at Melbourne, twice it happened. I put my hand on the door of
the vestry to go out to read the services before I was in
the ministry. And I was so overcome with fear,
fear of men. I didn't know how to stand before
them. I did go in, but I've never forgotten
those two times. I never take it for granted that
I'd be able to stand before men without fear. I know that that
is given. We need that help. We need that
strength. There was another time that I
had those that were at work, and they were speaking of the
millions of years that they supposed the Earth had been in existence.
And they were actually working with me as design engineers.
And I turned to them. I said, you don't believe that,
do you? I said, the Earth is 6,000 years
old. And they just laughed and laughed. And, you know, I felt such a
calmness, such a peace. And I really pitied them. I felt sorry for them. And able
to stand before that ridicule and deriding of them. And, you know, looking back,
even before I was called by Grace, when I was in the fourth year
of secondary school, And we had, no, it was the third year, and
we had an adversary, a bully, that he used to persecute me
and my best friend. And it was mostly in a mental
way, not physically. And at the end of the year, my
friend said he was leaving the school. And the reason why was
he couldn't stand that bullying. And yet, I was able to stand
with that. I hadn't got physical strength.
My friend, he could stand up against those who would persecute
in a physical way, whereas I couldn't. I didn't have the strength to
do it. But mentally, he couldn't. And it's easy to overlook when
the Lord has given a mental strength and ability where then you see
a contrast to that others cannot cope with it, and you realise
that the Lord has given us strength and the help in that. So we may have a thorn in the
flesh, a thing that is given by the Lord for a purpose to
keep us low or to balance blessings that he's given us, But the Lord
give us that grace and strength to bear what he has appointed
for us. The other thing that the apostle
said the Lord had given him strength for was, he says in the first
epistle of Corinthians, that he kept under his body. In the ninth chapter at the end,
he says, I therefore so run not as uncertainty, so fight I not
as one that beateth the air, but I keep under my body and
bring it into subjection, lest by any means that when I preach
to others I myself should be a cast away. The help the Apostle
had in that, he speaks often of, it was the very thing that
was used to convince him of being a sinner. And no doubt it remained
to be a trial, a temptation, all his days. And very often
it is, where we have besetting sins. The Lord knows those besetting
sins. He knows our weaknesses. And
when we think of the words of our text in that way, May we
really be encouraged. I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me. If anything we feel so weak in,
it's those things that are so likable to our fallen nature,
and we feel to have no power or no mind against them whatsoever. When Paul writes to Titus, he
speaks of denying all ungodliness, and he joins together there several
things that he walked in and was helped and strengthened in. And he testifies of those blessings. I think I've got the wrong reference here, but he speaks
of those helps that he had in Yes, we have it at the end of
Chapter 2. Teaching us the grace of God,
then verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously
and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour,
Jesus Christ. And see, these are the things
that he sets before us and testifies as the path that he himself is
walking in, that he needs the strength and help to be able
to do. It's these things he says, I
can do all things. I can deny ungodliness. I can deny worldly lust. I can
live soberly, I can live righteously, I can live godly in this present
world. Not in himself, but in the strength
that God has given. And our Lord teaches this in
the beautiful parable picture of the vine. I am the vine, ye are the branches. The branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, neither can ye, except ye abide in me. Another thing that Paul was given
strength to do was to stand before kings. Our Lord had told this
to the disciples when he was on earth, that they would have
to stand before kings and brought before magistrates for his namesake. This applies right to the end
of the world. Of course, the apostle Paul,
he stood before Agrippa, he stood before Caesar, he stood before
Rullus. Nehemiah was the same. Daniel
was the same. The three Hebrew children cast
into the fire were the same in the strength and the help that
they gave. Why the three Hebrew children
hath that which Nebuchadnezzar said, the form of the fourth
in the fire is like the Son of God. The apostle was called to
go through these things and many of the people of God have and
will and we may yet have to go through these things as well. The apostle in the 11th chapter of
his second epistle to the Corinthians, he says and he gives a picture
of those things he went through. He says, in labours more abundant,
in stripes above measure, in prisons oft more frequent, in
deaths oft, of the Jews five times received I forty stripes,
save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods,
once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day
I have been in the deep, in journeys often, in perils in waters, in
perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils
by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness,
in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness
and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst,
in fastings often, in cold and nakedness, beside those things
that are without, that cometh, which cometh upon me daily, the
care of all the churches. Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is offended and I bear not? If I must need glory, I will
glory the things which concern my infirmities." And he's setting
forth all of these things that he has endured and In the words
of our text, he says, I can do all things through Christ, which
strengtheneth me. When Ananias was to come and
see him, when his eyes were to be opened after the vision on
the Damascus road, the Lord said, I will show him what great things
he shall suffer for my name's sake. We must never think that
those tribulations and sufferings and paths that they are sustained
by what comes from our own inner strength. The Apostle is very
clear on this, and I want to make it clear to myself as well
as you, that we have no mind, we have no power, no strength
in ourselves, but we do have it in the Lord. The Apostle had
it in the Lord. And it's a big thing to approach
these things feeling our weakness, especially the corruptions of
our heart, our sin, our old nature, the world, and the devil, and
temptation, the movements. It's a big thing. But to remember
that, yes, in ourselves we are weak. But the strength is through
Christ. The strength is in Christ. If that is so, how is it? How is it that we are to have
that strength? I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me. Is it just saying, well, I'm
a Christian, then the Lord will give me strength? The Lord does
give strength. But we read this word in Ezekiel,
I will for this being acquired of by the house of Israel to
do it for them. And I thought looking at this
word, all things through Christ, all things through Christ. How is that so, through Christ? You know, I thought of Jacob
and the ladder that he saw in the dream at Bethel, set up on
earth, and the angels, they were ascending and descending upon
it. All things through Christ. And
I thought, what a picture. There's a poor sinner on earth,
and he prays to the Lord. His prayer ascends to Christ. He receives that petition and
he sends down help. He sends down that help and strength. We see how it was with Hezekiah
when the Assyrian armies had taken the other 10 tribes and
all the nations round about. And they said in their boldness
and pride that they were going to take Jerusalem as well. And they railed upon them, speaking
of the God of Israel as if he was the same as the gods round
about. But you know, Isaiah and Hezekiah,
they made their petition to the Lord. They spread out the letter
that was sent from them before the Lord. And the Lord said that
he would defend that city. And he went out and he smote
those 180,000 or so of the army, became dead men. The Lord fought
for them, but prayer was made, supplication was made. It wasn't
just saying, well, we are God's people, the Lord will help us.
They were going through Christ. The help that they had was the
same help in New Testament days, when the children of Israel went
through the wilderness and the Ark of the Covenant in type,
but they had the Lord's presence with them, the fiery, cloudy
pillar. We have when Amalek came, a beautiful
picture. On one hand, Joshua is fighting
with Amalek. And we have Moses with Aaron
and Hur holding up his hands with his rod, a beautiful type
of prayer. And all the time his hands were
held up. Then Israel prevailed when they
were let down. Then Amalek prevailed. We had
this morning of the need for importunate prayer, constant
prayer, and the constant helm. The Lord loves to hear from his
people and has ordained this way that they have a close contact
with him. The Lord says, without me, ye
can do nothing. And we mentioned already the
type of the vine, being united with the vine, the sap running
through each branch and bringing forth fruit. A living God, able
to help. A living God that hears prayer
and answers prayer. And really the picture here,
everything that we do, channeled through the Lord. Everything
that we need help in, channeled through the Lord. We need to
be reminded of Him. I need to be reminded of Him.
Years ago in engineering, there were many times at my desk, I
used to bow my head in prayer, How can I do these things? How
can I design this machine? What shape is it to be? And the
answers, the help that I was given. And we tend to forget
these things and then go on as if we can do the same without
the help of the Lord. So when we read in our text,
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me, Maybe
think of it that it is going through Christ in the matter
of prayer. It is like if we looked at it
in quite a natural way. If you had a child, and a child
didn't have the strength, didn't have the ability, and each time
these came that were too much for them, they went to their
father or mother and said, can you help me? Can you do this
for me? Can you give me strength for
this? And we can't, of course, impart strength. We can do for
them, but the Lord is able to give that strength, secret strength
and upholding in body and in mind and in soul. And one thing that will especially
strengthen the people of God, and I've often marveled at this
with the apostles, He says, I count not my life dear unto me. Those many things we'll hold
back from doing because we think it'll ruin my reputation, it'll
take away my income. I better not say that. I better
not do that. And we're all the time thinking
one step ahead what the implications will be and how we'll suffer
for it. Whereas the picture with the
apostle, he went forth as an ambassador He did his will and he completely
left the outcome to the Lord, whatever implications it had. And the Lord had said that we
are to not fear them which kill the body, and after that there
is nothing more they can do but to fear the Lord. And the apostle
says, for me to live is Christ, or join with our text. I live
through Christ. I do all things through Christ.
and to die is gain. He knew that it was absent from
the body, present with the Lord. And what a beautiful way to go
through this world, to be realising and feeling that whatever time
the Lord chose and whatever way the Lord appointed, that whether
it was in life, He would give strength for it, whether it was
in death, we were secure, we brought safely home, to glory,
and in nothing that strengthens the soul more than that. The
psalmist David said and prayed that he might recover strength
before he went hence and was no more. And that's not strength
physically, but strengthened in soul, strengthened to know
that his sins had been put away. Emrida says, then shall I lift
up my head with joy, amongst the sons of God. Strengthen to
know there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Strengthen to know that we have
an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and reserved in heaven
for us. Strengthen to know that he hath
done all things well. And so the main path for the
people of God is a path of prayer, path of constant union with the
Lord and help from the Lord. So often we look at the ways,
the billows, we look at the troubles, and we throw up our hands in
despair instead of saying, yes, I am weak, I have no mind. I
do like Jehoshaphat. We have no might against His
company, neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon
Thee. But we don't do that. We faint.
We say, like Israel of old, there is no hope. Instead of realising
the Lord is the true God. He is a real God. He has given
the path of prayer. He will give answers to prayer.
He will give help. He will help His people as they
wrestle against sin. the world, the flesh, the devil,
the tribulations, the trials of the way. May we then be blessed
and helped through this word this evening and be able to join
with the Apostle and say, I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me. May the Lord add his blessing. Amen.