Let us turn to God's Word as
we come now to the closing part of Philippians 4 and turning
tonight to verse 19. Philippians 4.19 But my God shall
supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. We've been observing how the
Philippians administered unto Paul in the previous passages. desire fruit that may abound
to your accounts and last time we were really thinking of that that fruitful sacrifice that
they had so willingly made and this was his great concern for
them not so much that they were ministering to him But he could
see in them the fruit of the grace of God. I desire fruit
that may abound to your account, he says. But I have all and abound. I am full, having received of
Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of
a sweet smell, a sacrifice, acceptable while pleasing to God. That fruitful,
that spiritual sacrifice which of course is one of the marks
of the people of God we are to offer continually that sacrifice
of praise with our lips as we're told there at the end of Hebrews
13 giving thanks to God's name and manifesting that thankfulness
in practical ways they were therefore commended here by the Apostle
as he speaks at the end of that 18th verse of the the odor of
a sweet smell a sacrifice acceptable while pleasing to God but all
that we present to God in sacrifice in service is returned to us
God is no man's debtor and so Paul goes on here to speak about
God will supply all their needs. I suppose it's one of the best
known of all the verses in this epistle, or the verses in the
New Testament, or even in the whole of Scripture. Remarkable
statement by Paul, my God, he says, but my God shall supply
all your need according to his glory enriched by Christ Jesus. And we observe it's not just
a simple future tense that he uses, He doesn't say God will
supply, but it's a determination. He shall supply. My God shall
supply all your needs. There's no doubt concerning it
because it's according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. And really it's that second part
of the verse that I want to concentrate more on this evening. those riches in glory by Christ
Jesus, to consider something of what these riches in glory
are, the glory of God's riches. That's the theme that we might
then take up for a little while and I trust find some encouragement
and some profit in the consideration, the glory of God's riches. And when we read of the glory
here, Is it not that that is laid up in heaven for the people
of God? When we think of the heavens,
we think in terms of the first heavens as it were, the atmosphere
around this planet, we look beyond that to the second heavens, the
universe, the starry skies, But beyond that, of course, is the
third heavens, the heaven of heavens as it's spoken of. And
what glory there, what glory is laid up in God who dwells
in that place, the highest heavens. And what then are the riches
of this glory? Well, the believer's provision
is God himself. God himself, the mystery of God,
the mystery of the being of God. The great thing about heaven,
of course, is that it is where God is and it's where God enjoys a non-ending fellowship
with his people. When we come to the end of the
book of the Revelation there in chapter 21 and verse 3 John
says I heard a great voice out of heaven saying behold the tabernacle
of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall
be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their
God. In the Old Testament of course
the tabernacle was the place where God said he would meet
with his people He would sit there in the Holy of Holies upon
the mercy seat and there He would commune with the children of
Israel. And the imagery is taken out of the Old Testament so much
here in the book of the Revelation. And so we read of God's tabernacle
uninterrupted communion. He will dwell with them and they
shall be His people and God Himself shall be with them and be their
God. Heaven, that holy happy place
where Sin no more defiles, where God unveils his blissful face
and looks and loves and smiles at him of Joseph's heart on heaven
itself. What is the glory then that is
being spoken of here? Riches in glory, it's God's.
And it's that great mystery, the first of all the mysteries,
the mystery of God, the mystery of the Trinity, the Eternal,
the Infinite One. Here in Israel, the Lord our
God is one Lord, there is no other God. He is the only true
God. But what a mystery, because though
He be one, there are those three distinct persons in the Godhead. There are three that bear record
in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost. And how they are distinct and
how we see it even in the language that we have here of course in
in the scriptures especially in the New Testament where we
have the fullness and finality of that revelation of God with
the coming of God's Son God manifest in the flesh in the words of
the Lord Jesus at the end of his ministry I will pray the
Father he says and he will send you a another comforter language
there that we have in the 14th chapter of John and verse 16.
And then again at verse 26 the Lord says, The Comforter, which
is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall
teach you all things. So we have the three persons
mentioned together there. The Comforter, which is the Holy
Ghost, the Father sending Him and sending Him in the name of
God the Son. Oh, there are these three distinct
persons. And this is that truth that God
has shown us. We're not worthy of the least
of His favors, nor of that truth that He has shown us when He
reveals Himself to us. And we come to some understanding
and some appreciation of this great doctrine of God, His riches
in glory. by Christ Jesus. There is here
God the Son, and He is that One who is of course eternally begotten
of the Father. There are these distinctions
to be observed in the relationship between the three persons in
the Godhead. The Son eternally begotten of
the Father. And John, John speaks of these
things so fully in his writings, be it in his Gospel or in his
Epistles. and also in the book of the Revelation.
And the language that we find there in 1 John chapter 2 and
verse 23, Whosoever denieth the Son, he says the same, hath not
the Father. But he that acknowledgeth the
Son, he hath the Father also. And then again he says, Whosoever
transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath
not God. We have to abide in the doctrine
of Christ if we will have God. What a statement is that! Remarkable
words! Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. Oh, there is then the Father,
there is the Son, And then there is God, the Holy Spirit, that
one who eternally proceeds from the Father and from the Son.
And the language of the Lord Jesus, when the Comforter is
come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit
of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He says. There's
a relationship between the Father and the Spirit as there's a relationship
between the Father and the Son. But also with regard to the Son,
He proceeds, the Spirit proceeds from Him as well as from the
Father. And we see it when the Lord Jesus
there in John 20 and verse 22 breathes on the disciples. He
breathed on them and saith, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. He is proceeding
from the Son as He is proceeding from the Father. Oh, the glory,
the glory that belongs unto God. And here is the source of all
the comforts that the people of God can know. My God, chastify
all your needs according to His riches in glory. by Christ Jesus. But when we think of riches in
glory, we think not only of God himself and all the deities,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but we think also of that great
mystery of his will, which is revealed to us, of course, in
terms of the eternal covenant of grace. Again, when the apostle
writes in the epistle to the church at Ephesus. Remember the
language that we have there in the great opening chapter of
that letter. He speaks of the mystery of his will. Verse 9,
having made known unto us the mystery of his will according
to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself. what God has purposed in Himself. And that whole chapter is full
of great comforting truths in terms of that will of God unfolded
in the Eternal Covenant. Verse 3, it says, Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ,
according as He hath chosen us in Him, before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. All this good will of God that
we see in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and that unfolding
of the eternal covenant the covenant of peace that is between them
both, between the Father and the Son, that great purpose of
salvation. And it's spoken of, isn't it,
also in prophecy, in Isaiah 55, I will make an everlasting covenant
with you, says God, even the sure mercies of David. Who is this one who is the mediator
of the covenant? He's the son of David. and God's
dealings with David. David knew it. David was in that
secret. He knew that great mystery. Although
my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. This is all my salvation,
he says, and all my desire. The glory then, the glory of
God, those riches in glory which are by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, as we see the riches,
so we see that they are associated with the revealing of the Lord
Jesus Christ. All centers in Christ. We read
in Colossians chapter 2 But in that previous chapter, in the
opening chapter of Colossians, those words that we find there
in the 27th verse, to whom God would make known what is the
riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory. Here we have a definition then
of the riches of this glory, which is Christ. and it's Christ
in you the hope of glory all centers
in in the Lord Jesus Christ and the great mystery is set before
us here in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ it is that that was brought forth
with Christ coming into this world as God's great purpose
of salvation. That that He had purposed in
Himself is now to be accomplished and fulfilled. And we have the
outward revelation of it, of course, in the Gospel. It's there
in the Gospel. We've referred already to the
language of Isaiah 55. I will make an everlasting covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, says God, I
have sent him a witness to the people, a leader and commander
to the people. Who is the one that is being
spoken of, who is sent forth as the witness of the covenant,
the leader and the commander of his people? It is not David
the king, it is David's greater son, it's the Lord Jesus Christ.
And Christ comes as that one who is the mediator, of that
covenant, one God and one mediator between God and man, the man
Christ Jesus, the mediator of the New Testament, the mediator
of that new covenant. And we're familiar, I'm sure,
with the language that Paul uses in the opening chapter of that
epistle to the Hebrews, remarkable words that we have in that very
chapter. God who at sundry times and in
diverse manners spake in time passed unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the express
image of his person, when he had by himself purged our sins,
sat down at the throne of God, Well, this is that riches of
glory then, in its full and its final revelation with the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is here, he's revealed to
us in the Gospel. And that Gospel is not only found
in the New Testament Scriptures, but we find it of course throughout
the Word of God. It's there in the Old Testament.
When the Lord utters those words in John 5, speaking to the Jews,
search the Scriptures, He says. Search the Scriptures, in them
you think that you have eternal life. And these are they that
testify of me. We only do justice to the Old
Testament when, as we read it, we desire us to find the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's there. Do we believe His
own words? that we can find him there in
the Old Testament. He's there of course in the language
of the prophets, he's there in all the Levitical worship, all
that worship is typical. There are types, there are shadows.
And again, if we'd have read a little further in that second
chapter of Colossians, in Colossians 2.17, we read of a shadow of
things to come. but the body is of Christ." Oh,
we have the substance here in the New Testament. We see these
things in types and in shadows there in the Old Testament Scriptures. We have then the Gospel, that
revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible
God. For no man hath seen God at any
time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, He hath declared Him. And so here in the text, His
riches in glory are by Christ Jesus. They come to us by and
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, Ephesians 2.7, the exceeding
riches of His grace in His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus,
says Paul. Wherever we turn in these epistles
of Paul, we find such terminology being used. What is God's glory?
That glory is revealed to us in and by the Lord Jesus Christ,
because in these last days God has spoken to us by His Son. and all that the Lord Jesus Christ
ever did here upon the earth is that that was ordered in the
eternal covenant the time was appointed the time
to every purpose under heaven the time to be born and so when
the fullness of the time was come God sent forth his son made
of a woman made under the law He is that one who is the seed
of the woman, promised back in Genesis 3.15. He's made of a
woman. He's also one who is made under
the law. And so He must fulfill all righteousness. He must honor the Lord. He must
magnify the Lord. And He does so by the obedience
of his sinless life but then we're told aren't we Luke 9.51
when the hour was come that he should be received up as when
the fullness of the time was come he was made of a woman and
made under the law so when the hour was come a time to be born
a time to die and when that hour was come we're told there in
Luke 9.51 how he steadfastly set his face to go up to Jerusalem. And God is in this. God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. All this is riches
in glory, which are all by the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's
what we are to recognize surely. Our greatest needs are not material
needs. Our greatest needs are spiritual. Sin, salvation, this is what
should concern us primarily. We look not at the things which
are seen, but the things which are not seen. The things which
are seen are temporal, the things which are unseen. These are the
eternal things. And where are we by nature? We're
those who are in that state of alienation, we're enemies, by
wicked works. We're the natural man, the man
who receives not the things of the Spirit of God. That carnal mind which is enmity
against God and is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. That's our condition. but God
was in Christ reconciling sinners to himself and again in that first chapter of Colossians
verse 19 he pleased God for he pleased the Father he pleased
the Father that in him should all fullness dwell and having
made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile
all things unto himself by him I say whether they be things
in earth or things in heaven and you that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight if ye continue in
the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the
hope of the gospel which have hurt, and which was preached
to every creature which is under heaven, where have I, Paul, made
a minister?" This is that Gospel then, that glory of God which
is revealed in the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It's an outward revelation. and
we can read it we can read it as I said here and not just in
the New Testament but in the whole of the of the canon of
scripture from Genesis through Revelation it's an outward revelation
but it's also an inward revelation because it reveals to the souls
of men what is a man profited what is a man profited if he
gained the whole world and lose his own soul And what shall a
man give in exchange for his soul? What are the needs that God is
supplying for us in Christ Jesus? It's that great and that full
salvation. My God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. But it must be revealed inwardly
into the souls of men. It concerns the well-being of
our never-dying souls. And so God must make known the
riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy which He had aforeprepared
unto glory. And so, as there is to be the
proclamation, the preaching of the Gospel, so there must also
come with that outward call in the Gospel, that inward call,
that effectual call, that efficacious work of the Holy Spirit, and
Paul knew it. Paul knew it in his own case.
It pleased God, he says, to reveal his Son in Mary, that inward
revelation. And how is it evidenced? Well,
the riches of his goodness leads to repentance. That's what we're
told in Romans chapter 2 and verse 5. The riches of his goodness
leads the sinner to repentance. That's evangelical repentance. That's repentance that's associated
with faith. Because whatsoever is not of
faith is sin. Faith and repentance come together,
stand together. where there is that work of the
spirit then there will be that conviction of seeing, that confession
of seeing, that compunction of conscience, that turning from
seeing, that real repentance in the heart, not the sorrow
of the world, but that godly sorrow. that seeing the awful
character of sin ultimately in the sufferings of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so, faith and repentance,
how they come together. We know that faith must have
the preeminence, because whatever is not of faith is sin, but really
we cannot separate the two. Where there is true saving faith,
there will be real evangelical repentance. when God is pleased
to grant that inward revelation of Christ into the soul of the
sinner. And it's by faith, of course,
that the believer then is made to sit together in the heavenly
places with the Lord Jesus Christ. If God's glory is there in heaven,
what it is then to sit in the heavenly places by faith? anticipation
of entering into that blessed abode, the place that God has
appointed for all His dear children. All by faith believers are in
the heavenly places. And so it is that they can come
with their prayers, they have boldness, they have access, with
confidence by the faith of Jesus Christ. My God shall supply all
your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. As I said at the beginning, it
all must center in the Lord Jesus Christ. When we think of glory,
when we think of heaven, Is it not the Lamb who is all the glory
in Emmanuel's land? Is it not that Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world that is there in the midst of the
throne of God? And that One who is now reigning
head over all things to the Church and the One that we are privileged
to come to tonight. Oh, the Lord then help us to
come in that faith that he's ever looking on to our Lord Jesus
Christ. As we see him here at the end
of this verse, God's riches in glory and all by our Lord Jesus
Christ. Well, God willing, I want next
week that we concentrate more especially on that supply that
he's spoken of in the first part of the verse. But the Lord bless
his word to us tonight. We're going to sing now that
lovely hymn of William Gadsby, 667. The tune, Allers, 752. Immortal honors rest on Jesus'
head, my God, my portion and my living bread. In Him I live,
upon Him cast my care. He saved from death, destruction
and despair. My every need He richly will
supply, nor will His mercy ever let me die. In Him there dwells
a treasure all divine, and matchless grace has made that treasure
mine." The Hymn 667, the tune 752.