Today I would like you to turn
in your Bible to the book of Philippians. I'll be speaking
from Philippians chapter 4 verse 19. Let's read this verse together. Philippians chapter 4 verse 19. But my God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory by Jesus Christ. Now Paul was especially dear
to these believers at Philippi and greatly appreciated by them.
When Paul was put in a Roman prison for preaching the gospel,
they sent a gift, a care package, by the hand of their pastor to
help meet the need of the Apostle Paul while he was in prison. And Paul sent this letter back
to them by the hand of Paproditus, their pastor, to express his
love for them. He calls them several times,
my dearly beloved brethren. Paul loved these people. Paul
preached the gospel to these people, and they loved and appreciated
him. And he sent this letter back to them to express his love
for them. Also, giving thanks unto God
for the gospel which they believed, which they received by God-given
faith, to encourage them to stand, to stand fast for the faith,
stand fast for the gospel, don't waver, don't move, and to assure
them that God would meet all their need. That's why he closes
this epistle by saying, my God, the living God, the true God,
shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Jesus
Christ. Now this morning let's consider
several things together from this text. The first one is this,
our great necessity, our great necessity. Everyone listening
to the broadcast this morning has a great need. We are by birth
And by nature, as David says throughout the Psalms, poor and
needy creatures. We're sinful creatures, guilty
creatures in need of many, many things of God. I need not borrow
from the needs of others. I have plenty of my own need. We have many temporal needs,
food, shelter, clothing, medical care, personal needs, family
needs, economic needs. Our needs are as many as the
hairs of our head, our temporal needs. If we took personal inventory
of all our need, we'd be overwhelmed. But listen to this precious promise
the Lord gives us in Matthew 6, verse 32. Your heavenly Father
knoweth that you have need of all these things, these temporal
things. He knows we have need of these things. But He says,
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and
all these things shall be added unto you. We do have temporal
need, but our temporal needs are very small compared to our
spiritual need. A man may with the blessings
of God provide for his needs of his body, for his temporal
needs, but who shall provide for the requirements of our soul,
of our spiritual needs? Pardon from all sin, righteousness
to stand before God, wisdom to understand spiritual truth, faith
to receive the truth. Spiritual life to believe the
truth. Reconciliation unto God. Who can provide these things?
The sinner certainly can. Justification from guilt. Redemption
from all transgression. Salvation from all our iniquity.
Grace to help in time of need. Comfort in time of trial. You
see, all of our spiritual need that we have, and we're unable
to provide these things. Grace and comfort. Mercy to daily
refresh our soul. It might be better to ask this
question, what do we not need? We're absolutely helpless to
supply our own spiritual need, our great necessities, our temporal
or our spiritual need. We're shut up to one source,
our God. Now, that's my second point here.
The poor and needy sinner has a great need, but my friend,
don't despair, we have a great helper. Paul says here, my God. My God shall supply." My God! Here is the promise of Scripture
in Hebrews 4, verse 16, "...let us come boldly unto the throne
of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help
when in time of need." My God! Who can meet every need of the
believer? Who can meet every need of the
guilty sinner? David said, "...the Lord is my
shepherd, and I shall not want." Only our all-sufficient, all-wise,
almighty God can meet Our every need. Who is this God of Paul? Well, Jeremiah says, is there
anything too hard for God? Who is this God of the Apostle
Paul where he says, my God, my friend, he's the living God,
the true God, who is the almighty, all-sufficient, all-powerful,
and there's nothing too hard for God. With salvation, with
man, it's impossible, but with God, all things are possible.
He's the God of all providence, the God of all providence. He
said, I've spoken it. I'll bring it to pass. I've purposed
it. I will do it, Isaiah 46. He's
a God of all grace. The God of all grace who has
called us unto His eternal glory by and through Jesus Christ,
Peter said. He's a God of all salvation.
Salvations of the Lord from election to glorification and all the
way in between. Salvations of the Lord from first
in the Alpha to Omega. Salvations of the Lord. Paul's
God, the God of the Bible, is not a weak and unable God. He's
able to perform all that He has promised, and He's promised to
never leave us, to never forsake us. David said, Our God is in
the heavens, and He has done whatsoever He has pleased. You
see, Paul's confidence, yes, we do have great need, temporal
and spiritual need, but our confidence, the confidence of the believer
is this, my God, my God, we have a great Helper. We have a great
Helper. Now, thirdly, here's this. Here's
our great supplier. Yes, we have a great need, but
we have a great God who is a great supplier. He said, My God shall
supply. Some render this verse this way
and translate it this way. My God will fill to the full
all your need. How graciously and freely God
gives to the poor and needy, not to the rich, not to the righteous,
He didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. My friend, we have a great need
of pardon, but thou art a God ready to pardon. Listen to this
promise. Let the wicked forsake his way,
the unrighteous man his stock. Let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him, and unto our God, for he will
abundantly pardon. We do have a great need of pardon,
but in Christ, because God shall supply all our need, He's able
to pardon. We have a great need of redemption.
Redemption and deliverance from our sin. Listen to the promise
of Scripture. Let Israel hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. We're redeemed with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have great need for righteousness.
That's why Paul said, Oh, that I may win Christ and be found
in Him. Not having my own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through Christ. David
said, Blessed is the man to whom God would impute righteousness
with how it works. Yes, we do have a great need
of pardon, redemption and righteousness. But my friend, God, my God, the
living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He shall supply all your need,
all your need, pardon, redemption, righteousness, every spiritual
need that the sinner desperately has. Our God is able to abundantly
supply, abundantly supply. Now, fourthly, let's consider
this. Consider the great resources that our God has. Yes, we do
have a great need. But my friend, we have a great
helper who has great supplies of pardon, redemption and righteousness. And consider this, fourthly,
look at this verse. We talked about God's great resources. My God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory, according to his riches
in glory. Now, consider the riches of God
in nature. David said in Psalm 24, The earth
is the Lord than the fullness thereof. Consider the riches
of God in nature. He owns all things. Everything
that he made is his. He's abundantly rich in all resources. But consider the riches of God
in glory, the riches of God in glory. Now, you listen to this
scripture in Ephesians chapter 3, and Paul prays this way about
the riches that he would bless his people according to that
manner, 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 you
being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend
with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth
and height, and to know the love of Christ with passage knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now
unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think according to the power that worketh in us, unto
him be all the glory." You see, the riches of God's glory. How
does God bless us? Well, not according to our merit.
not according to our deed, not according to our work, but rather
according to His inexhaustible riches of His glory. Not our merit, but His glory. Paul said this in Romans 11,
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God, how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding
out. God doesn't bless us according
to our merit, but according to His riches of glory. In Ephesians chapter 2, we read
about this, that God is rich. He describes what we are by nature,
children of wrath, even as others, but God who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us. It's not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to God's
mercy, he saved us. God is rich in mercy. Not only
that, but he's rich in grace. Ephesians 1, 7 says, in whom
we have redemption. through His blood, the forgiveness
of sins according to the riches of His grace." He gives abundantly
out of the riches of His glory, but He also gives richly to magnify
His glory. He receives glory by giving richly. You see, the resources according
to the riches of His glory, not according to our works. You can't
merit grace. You can't merit mercy. God gives
richly out of the abundance of His glory. Now, here's the last
thing. Here's the channel by which our
God supplies every need. He said, My God, the living God,
the true God, shall supply all your need, pardon, righteousness,
redemption, everything the guilty sinner needs. My God shall supply
according to his riches in glory. Now, lastly is this, by and through
and in our Lord Jesus Christ. Does God supply all His people's
needs by and through Jesus Christ? Does He supply all our needs
through Christ? Absolutely, always and only. How? Let me give you two things,
two reasons. How does He do this? By giving
us Christ Himself. The person that has Jesus Christ
has all things. Listen to this promise of Scripture.
Paul said, All things are yours, for you are Christ, and Christ
is God. Now if you have Him, in Him dwells
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and the believer is complete
in Him. We're accepted in the Beloved.
How does God supply all our need? By giving us the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ in you, the hope of glory, of His fullness. Of His fullness
have we all received grace for grace. By giving us Christ, the
man who has Christ, has everything, has everything. Secondly, by
giving us all things by the virtue of His merit. We deserve no blessing,
but He does. God said, this is My beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. He honored the law on our behalf.
He died as a sinner's substitute to put away our sin. We deserve
no blessing, but He does. When He had by Himself purged
our sin, He sat down at the right hand of God. And my friend, He
freely gives us all things that He has earned. God who spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
He not with Him also freely give us all things? We deserve no
blessing, but He does. And He freely gives us all things
that He has earned, justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said this
to the Corinthians, but of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who
of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Now unto God our Father, Paul
said, be glory forever and ever. Amen. Do you have need? I do. I'm a guilty sinner by nature,
and I need mercy. I need righteousness. My friend,
the hope of the guilty sinner is this. My God, the living God,
true God, shall supply all your need according to His riches
in glory by and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now if you'd like
a copy of today's message, you call or write to me and I'll
send it to you free of charge. You can call me at 631-9053 or
you can write to me at Zebulon Baptist Church, 6088 Zebulon
Highway, Pikeville, Kentucky.