Let us turn to the Word of God
in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 19. Philippians 4.19 But
my God shall supply all your need according to His riches
in glory by Christ Jesus. But my God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. want to seek with the Lord's
help to say something concerning all the fullness in Christ. All that fullness that is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember how these Philippians
had ministered to Paul, as he says here in the context, verse
15, Now ye Philippians know also that in the beginning of the
gospel when I departed from Macedonia, Philippi was one of the chief
cities in that part of northern Greece named after Philip of
Macedon the father of Alexander the Great. Paul administered
there as we are told in Acts chapter 16. Now you Philippians
know also that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed
from Macedonia no church communicated with him as concerning giving
and receiving but she only For even in Thessalonica he sent
once and again unto my necessity. He left them and goes to Thessalonica
initially and then he moves further south into the region of Achaia
and ministers at Corinth. But how they would, as it were,
pursue him with their gifts and minister to the apostle who had
ministered to them of the grace of God. and in that ministry
they were not only serving Paul the Apostle they were also serving
God they were ministering to God and this morning we were
looking at that 18th verse where he says I have all and abound
I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which
were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice
acceptable, well-pleasing to God." Their ministry, we said
this morning, was very much a spiritual sacrifice as a sort to support
Paul and those associated with him. there at verse 17 he says
not because I desire a gift but I desire fruit that may abound
to your accounts he is rejoicing in the fact that they are fruitful
they give every evidence that their conversion to Christ is
a genuine conversion as they minister in this fashion Remember
the language that we have there at the end of Hebrews. We referred to those words in
chapter 13 of Hebrews, verse 15. By Him, therefore, let us
offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the
fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name, but to do good,
and to communicate, forget not. For with such sacrifices God
is well pleased. Well, they were concerned then
to communicate, to minister to Paul. And this ministry was an
evidence of their priesthood, a royal priesthood, offering
these spiritual sacrifices. And so we looked at those words
this morning in verse 18 and particularly the end of that
verse. But then In what follows we see
that God is no man's debtor. Did they lose anything by giving
of their substance in order to support the Apostle? Of course
not. And He assures them here in verse
19, But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches
in glory by Christ Jesus. And notice what we have here.
It's not the simple future tense. He doesn't say, my God will supply
all your need, but it's that emphatic statement, that determination,
my God shall supply, he says. My God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus. What remarkable words are these
that we have at the end of this verse then. Is riches in glory
by Christ Jesus. All the fullness that is in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the theme that I really
want to take up in particular for a while this evening as we
look at this verse. First of all we have here riches
glory that's the expression that we find his riches in glory what
is glory well glory of course ultimately is heaven it's the
third heaven it's the heaven of heavens there's the lower
heavens there's the atmosphere around this planet Earth, and
then we look beyond that into stellar space, the second heavens. But remember how Paul could speak
of being caught up to the third heavens there in 2 Corinthians
chapter 12. That is beyond space. That is beyond time. that is
eternity, that is the heaven of heavens, the very dwelling
place of God. And it's the source of all that
provision that God will supply for His people by the Lord Jesus
Christ. His riches in glory. What are His riches in glory?
Well, God Himself really. When we come to the end of the
Revelation there in the last but one chapter we read the tabernacle
of God is with men and he will dwell with them and be their
God and they shall be his people. The tabernacle was the glory
of Israel in the Old Testament and the Holy of Holies was the
very place where God sat enthroned upon the mercy seat. But there
when John is speaking of heaven, it's that place where God's tabernacle
is with men and He's in their midst and He's there forever
and ever, all the glories that belong unto God. And we read somewhat of those
glories in that portion that we were reading in the opening
part of the epistle to the Colossians, there in chapter 2. the end of that second verse
the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ
in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge all those
treasures that center in God and in the Father and in Christ
the three persons in the Godhead because God is One but God is
three persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the eternal God,
the infinite God, the one who is all together above and beyond
our comprehension, we cannot find him out by searching, nor
the vastness that belongs unto God, and the mystery of the doctrine
of God. He who is without the Lord our
God is one Lord, that's a truth that stands out so conspicuously
in scripture, certainly in the Old Testament. The heathen nations
had a multitude of gods, but Israel, strangely God delighted
in that little nation, the descendants of Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob,
you only have I known of all the families of the earth, and
how He made Himself known unto them, and they worship the true
God. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. And yet, in that glorious Godhead
there are those three distinct persons, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost. There are three. that bear record
in heaven, we're told, when we come to the New Testament. That
must be disputed verse there in 1 John chapter 5. The three
that bear record in heaven, the three that bear record in glory,
the Father, and the words, and the Holy Ghost. And now we see
quite clearly that they are very much distinct persons. There are three distinct persons. It comes out in those discourses
of the Lord Jesus. There in John 14, 16, I will
pray the Father, He says, and He shall give you another Comforter
that He may abide with you forever. Here are the three persons. There
is the Son, God incarnate, and He says to His disciples, I will
pray. To whom will He pray? I will
pray the Father. There is another person. And
what is the request that He will make? He will ask that the Father
give you another Comforter. There is a third person, God
the Holy Ghost. Again there, at verse 26, the
Lord says, the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father
will send in my name." Again, we have three distinct persons. We have the Comforter, and we
are told who the Comforter is. He is the Holy Ghost. And we
read how the Father will send him. But the Father will send
him, says Christ, in my name. Three distinct persons. This is the great mystery. the doctrine of God and God is
the glory of heaven that's being spoken of here is riches in glory
or the very doctrine of God how there is one God, there is God
the Father and there is God the Son that one who is eternally
begotten of the Father And doesn't John continually set forth these
great truths, how John is answering so many of the heresies that
were coming in in the early church. We see how in his epistles, well
also in his gospel, but when we come to his later writings
in those epistles how he is constantly asserting the truth of the doctrine
of the eternal Son of God. Whosoever denieth the Son, he
says, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeth the
Son hath the Father also. And then again we read these
words there in that second epistle. In the ninth verse, 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. Here is the doctrine
of Christ in that those who believe that doctrine, they see Christ
as that One who is the Son of God. And if there is no Son of
God, how can we ever address God as Father? He can only be
an eternal Father if He is that One who has begotten an eternal
Son. and then the Holy Spirit. As
the Son is eternally begotten, so the Holy Spirit is that One
who eternally proceeds from the Father and from the Son. Doesn't
the Lord say in those words that we've already referred to there
in verse 26 of John 15, when the Comforter is come, Whom I
will send, He says, in my Father's name. He sends Him in the Father's
name. He comes from the Father. He comes from the Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. At the end of His ministry, He
breathes on His disciples. And as He breathes on them, He
says, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. It is Christ who sheds abroad
the Holy Ghost there upon the day of Pentecost. These riches
in glory, where do they centre? They centre in God himself. He is the glory of heaven, it
is that blessed abode where he makes himself known to his people. And then, as there is the doctrine
of God, the glory of heaven, so there is that covenant that eternal covenant entered
into by the three persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. And what do we see in that eternal
covenant? We have the revelation of God's
mind, the mystery of God's will. Having made known to us the mystery
of His will, says Paul, according to His eternal purpose. which He purposed in Christ Jesus. All that's will that centers
in Christ, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul says He has blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. According as He has chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world. These are those
glories, you see, that are being spoken of here in the text according
to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. The great covenants of
redemption, the covenant of grace, the council of peace between
the divine persons. Now, this is that that is made
known in the Scriptures. I will make an everlasting covenant
with you," he says. Even the sure mercies of David. Oh, this was all David's desire. It was all David's salvation
in the midst of all the troubles that came upon him throughout
his life, even in his own family when he comes to his to his deathbed,
there in 2 Samuel 23, what does he say? Although my house be
not so with God, although he make it not to grow, here is
his comfort he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordained
in all things, and sure, all my gods shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. The Covenant is revealed. The
Covenant is brought forth in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what we see here in the text. You see, our great need is not
material. Our great need is not material
provision. Our great need is spiritual. It's that need that concerns
our souls. While we look not at the things
that are seen, but the things that are unseen, Paul says. The
things that are seen are temporal. The unseen things are the eternal
things. There in Colossians, again, in
that opening chapter at verse 27, what do we read? The glory of this mystery among
the Gentiles which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom
we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all
wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Christ in you, the hope of glory. That's the great provision that
the Lord God makes. It's in the Covenant. It's the
revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. His riches in glory by
Christ Jesus. It's revealed objectively, of
course, in the Gospel. I will make an everlasting covenant
with you, ordered in all things and sure. even the sure mercies
of David, he says. Behold, I have given him a witness
to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Christ is that
one who is the witness. He bears witness to the covenant
of the grace of God, one God, and one mediator between God
and men. How significant is the order
there? It doesn't say one mediator between
men and God. That is the truth of course.
Whenever we come to God, we as men and women come by and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. But observe the word order there
in what the Apostle is saying in 1 Timothy 2.5. One mediator,
he says, between God and men. the man Christ Jesus. He is the
mediator of the New Covenant. He is that one who comes to bear
witness and testimony to that New Testament. God's final revelation comes
in the ministry of Christ. As Paul makes so clear in the
opening words of Hebrews God who at sundry times and in diverse
manners, baking 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 world,
who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image
of his person." Well Mark, what he is saying is the brightness
of the Father's glory is the express image of his person,
God, has made himself known, revealed himself in the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And is he not spoken of there
at the end of the Old Testament in Malachi 3 as that one who
is the messenger of the covenant, the messenger of the covenant,
the mediator of the covenant, the witness of the covenant?
It's all by Christ Jesus and it's said of course in the Old
Testament as in the New Testament how were they saved in the Old
Testament they were saved by Christ there is only one Savior
of sinners throughout the scriptures and those who were the true spiritual
Israel in the Old Testament were saved by faith in Jesus Christ They look for Christ who wants
to come. How favoured, how blessed we are because we live in this
Gospel day. We look back to all that He has
accomplished, all that was fulfilled with His coming in the fullness
of the time. God sends forth His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law. All He comes to accomplish. all
that goodwill and pleasure, and we look back upon the accomplishment
of those things. But those in the Old Testament,
they could only see these things in types and in shadows. But Christ is there. He says
to the Jews, doesn't he, search the scriptures. And he's speaking
very much of the Old Testament. During that day, it was the Gospel
day, the Lord was here upon the earth, the Gospels were not yet
written, there was no New Testament. Search the Scriptures, he says.
In them you think that you have eternal life, and these are they
that testify of me. Oh, the Lord Jesus is there throughout
the Old Testament Scriptures. He's there in types. Again, if we'd have read a little
further there in Colossians chapter 2, the 17th verse, a shadow of
things to come. But the body is of Christ. The Old Testament is shadows,
dark sails really. Ah, but the body is of Christ.
He has come. Thou manest in God at any time,
the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He
hath declared Him. Oh, what a declaration! The Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, says John, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. the words made flesh, the exceeding
riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. It's all that fullness that is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're not to think simply in
terms of temporal provision. The Lord will make the temporal
provision. But the great provision that he has made in the Lord
Jesus Christ surely is that wonderful spiritual provision. All that
Christ did was according to what was decreed in the eternal
covenant. All that he did in his life was
ordered by that covenant of grace. And so as we've already remarked
he comes when in the fullness of the time or there was a time
decreed a time to be born and when the fullness of the time
and I've remarked before on the significance of the definite
articles the fullness of the time God sends forth his Son
made of a woman and so the incarnation the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ
and as there is a time to be born so there was a time to die
and when the time was come that he should be received up we are
told how he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem the time
was come that had been ordained from all
eternity, and he sets his face to go to Jerusalem. And what is the Lord to do there
at Jerusalem? He is to make that great sin
atoning sacrifice. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto Himself. Or did we not read it there in
that opening chapter of Colossians? Verse 19, it 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." Or what was the sinner's condition
by nature? The sinner was in that state
of alienation alienated, enemies in your minds that's what he says, that's what
they were that's what we were by nature separated from God
dead in trespasses and in sins we know, we're familiar with
the language there in Ephesians 2 you have to quicken says Paul
who were dead in trespasses and sins wherein in time past ye
walked according to the course of this world according to the
prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience among whom also we all had our
conversation our manner of living in times past in the lust of
our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind
and were by nature children of wrath even as others. All man's natural state then. The awful truth of the sinner's
total depravity. And how fearful it is when we
have to learn that doctrine. Do you know there can be no salvation
until we know it in some measure? When God shuts us up to what
we are, thou turnest man to destruction, says Moses in his great prayer. Thou turnest man to destruction
and sayest, return ye children of men. Oh, he brings the sinner to the
end of himself. He's made to see what he is,
the natural man. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, they are foolishness to him,
neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.
Have we not been in that very spot? The carnal mind, Paul says, it's
enmity against God, it's not subject to the law of God, neither
indeed can be. And I remember, you know, quoting
that verse and it's good to memorize scripture but sometimes our memories
fail don't they and we don't quite get the wording right and
I remember leaving out that little word indeed and someone very
kindly said ah there's a word you've omitted and how significant
that word is enmity against God not subject to the Lord of God
it doesn't just say neither can be But it says neither indeed
can be. It's so emphatic. So emphatic. That's man's condition. But there
are riches in glory by the Lord Jesus Christ. And all that is
what's being revealed to us in the Gospel. God who spared not
his own son but freely delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him freely also give us all things? This is a vital
thing, isn't it, to understand what our spiritual needs are and that the all-sufficient supply
is to be found only in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh, thank God for the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is this objective revelation
that we have set before us here in the Word of God, and it's
gospel. And there's a sense in which
it's gospel from beginning to end really. There's so much gospel
in the Old Testament, I know We rightly recognize that in
God's Word we have law and gospel. The law was given by Moses, grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ, and there is a ministry of the
law. But we're not to be so foolish as to imagine the Old Testament
is all law, and just the New Testament is gospel. There's
something of law in the New Testament. And there's great gospel truths and much gospel
truth. there in the Old Testament. We
have to discern between the two. There is a ministry of the Lord,
it's that ministry of condemnation, it's that ministry of death,
and the Gospel is that ministry of the Spirit and that ministry
of righteousness. There we have to be brought to
see what we are as sinners before ever we will appreciate the glorious
truths and the riches in glory of the gospel which come to us
by the Lord Jesus Christ. But as there is an objective
revelation, there must also be a subjective revelation. Yes, it's all revealed outwardly in the gospel, but
it must ultimately be revealed inwardly. It must come into our
souls. It must come into our souls.
God has to make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of
mercy which He had aforeprepared unto glory. All that language
that we find in that great ninth chapter of the Epistle to the
Romans. God making known the riches of
His glory, it says, Romans 9.23. He makes now the riches of his
glory on the vessels of mercy which he had aforeprepared unto
glory. The great doctrine of course
of election, predestination, and there in that chapter we
clearly see a double predestination. There are vessels unto honour
and there are vessels unto dishonour. but those vessels of mercy. Oh, they must come to experience
that inward revelation in their souls. And it was so with Paul,
wasn't it? He pleased God, he says, to reveal
His Son in me. There in Galatians chapter 1.
Not just revealing His Son to me, but revealing His Son In
me, that's what he says, and I remember, I can't remember
who said it, I was at some minister's conference, but I remember one
of the speakers saying on an occasion, that in the epistles
of Paul, he says the doctrine, the theology is in the prepositions,
the little words. Oh, what a wonder is the word
of God and the gospel of the grace of God. When Paul utters
that expression, it pleased God to reveal His Son where? In me! In His soul! Oh, we have to be those who, as James
says with meekness, receive the engrafted Word that is able to
save our soul. It's got to be engrafted, it's
got to be implanted, it has to come into our very soul. And when God's word comes to
us, it has an effect. Again, look at what Paul says
there in Romans, chapter 2. Romans, chapter 2, verse 4. He says, Despisest thou the riches
of his goodness, and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance." You see,
we have here in the text His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. And there we're told of a specific provision that is made in Christ.
the riches of his goodness and then he goes on to speak of that
goodness of God that leadeth thee to repentance. Christ is
exalted, the Prince and the Savior, to give repentance to Israel
and the forgiveness of sins. And how does he come into the
soul? Well, it's the riches of his goodness when he comes into
the soul. When we know that that goodness
of God's said before us in the Gospel but now communicated to
us by the ministry of the Spirit, the Spirit coming in the Word
and applying the Word. It leads to repentance and that
repentance is always joined with faith because whatsoever is not
of faith is sin. And really it's not possible
to separate those two graces fight and repentance they are
twin prices where there is the one so also there must be the
other and where the goodness of God is known or there will
be a real evangelical repentance not the sorrow of the world but
that godly sorrow that works salvation not to be repented
of where there is that real evangelical repentance there will also be
that true saving faith that looking to the Lord Jesus Christ all
these things you see are by Christ Jesus and as these riches are
communicated into the soul so the believer is one who is made
to sit together in heavenly places in the Lord Jesus Christ. In
the Lord Jesus Christ is all this fullness of the grace of
God. There in chapter 2 of Colossians
we read the words, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge. Again at verse 9, in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and ye are complete in
him. All this is that wondrous supply
that God has laid up in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is such a fullness, and it centers in Him. If God has
given us His Son, what can He withhold? If He's given us that unspeakable
gifts, surely we have to recognize that in Him we have everything,
we have in Him all the fullness of the grace of God, all the
fullness of the salvation of God. And so these Philippians
who were manifesting that blessed fruit of the Spirit, the loving
concern that they had for the Apostles, What fellowship they
knew together in the gospel as we said this morning right at
the beginning. He rejoices in that. Verse 5 in chapter 1 he
speaks of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day
until now when they received the gospel or when they knew
that engrafted word able to save the soul. What a blessed effect
it had upon them. And time and again they wanted
to express something of their love for Paul as the one who
was the great instrument of God in their salvation. They would
minister to him of their material blessings because they
had received such great spiritual blessings at his hand he says
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care
of me has flourished again wherein you were also careful but you
lacked opportunity oh it flourished again and again and again and
so as we were saying this morning how he speaks of Their ministry is a sweet smell,
a sacrifice acceptable while pleasing to God. But God is no
man's debtor. And so Paul assures them, My
God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory
by Christ Jesus. Now unto God and our Father. be glory forever and ever. Amen. Oh, the Lord then be pleased
to bless His truth to us. Amen.