TITLE: God Shall Supply 080105b
TEXT: Philippians 4:11-19 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength. 14Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. 15Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. 17Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. 18I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
I. GOD WILL PROVIDE
A. God told Abraham Genesis 22:2 “Take your son, your only
son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
1. This was not a journey Abraham wanted to take. It was not
the news he wanted to hear. It was a supreme test of His faith and his loyalty to God.
2. Abraham had a decision to make. Would he follow God’s
leading even when the path appeared wrought with gloom, death and great sorrow and loss.
3. You probably already know the end of the story. Just as
Abraham was raising the knife to slay his son, an angel called out to him, (Genesis 2:11ff) Abraham! Abraham!... Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
4. And immediately Abraham spotted a ram caught in the
thicket to offer as a sacrifice instead.
5. It seems like a cruel joke. Why would God take Abraham
through such a trial? Why would he force him to bear the painful anticipation for three days?
6. Let me tell you why. God wanted to teach Abraham
something about himself—and ultimately to teach us through his painful experience—God will provide what we need.
7. Abraham learned a powerful lesson. He named the place
Jehovahjireh—The LORD will provide.
8. The message today is the Gospel of Sufficiency. I want you
help you learn the lesson that Abraham learned that fearful day—God will provide whatever it is you need for your journey through this life.
9. (Read Text)
II. PRECSIOUS PROMISES
A. Praise be to God for inspiring promise passages such as these-
Lines that conceive confidence, lines that build up belief and make firm out faith.
1. I do not know how we would fare in life without them.
Especially in those seasons of sorrow and woe, those periods of pain and perplexity. Those dark dismal days of despair and stress.
2. When your sun goes down at high noon and you moon
cannot be located in the night sky, you need the assurance that God is indeed Jehovahjireh.
3. Yes when you wagon breaks down and your load is too
heavy for you to bear you need rest your wavering spirit on the unshakable promise of God.
B. Thank God for these promise passages:
1. Genesis 22:8 God will provide
2. Duet 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or
terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
3. Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very
present help in trouble.
4. Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the
LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
5. Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
6. Psalm 27:10 When my father and my mother forsake me,
then the LORD will take me up.
7. Lamentations 3:22ff his compassions fail not. 23They are
new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
--On and on they Go...
8. Isaiah54:17 no weapon forged against you will prevail,
9. Romans 8:28 we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God,
10. Matthew 7:7,87“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and
you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
--What about that all encompassing assertion
11. 1 Corinthians 3:21 For all things are yours;
--And then this text:
12. Philippians 4:19 19And my God will meet all your needs
according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
--I almost forgotten one I lean heavily from time to time
13. Isaiah 42:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be
with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
--and what about
14. Revelation 21:4 4And God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain
15. The list goes on and on the promises stretch literally from
earth to eternity. They are so pronounced, so precious, so powerful, so pregnant that we do in fact stand on the promises .
III. WHAT A POWERFUL PROMISE!
A. Now if there is a single passage in this Bible that is large
enough, tall enough and wide enough and deep enough and strong enough to encompass all the promises, it is the one I lift up as my text Philippians 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
1. Paul says ...whatever the circumstances...“Whatever it
takes” that’s the solemn assertion, the sure declaration the unfettered promise. Whatever it takes to accomplish--whatever is needed God shall supply it.
2. Whatever it takes to affect it, to do it, to perfect it, to secure it,
He shall supply it.
3. My, what an audacious announcement. My God shall supply
all your needs-Awesome!-Almost awful—that is full of awe. Audacious! Yes Audacious in view of its point of origin.
4. This promise was not pronounced from the stern of some
strong ship sailing on a placid sea.
a. It did not originate at calm tide when peace was flowing
like a river.
b. It did not come from a man who was ridding high on a
friendly wave of prosperity and success.
c. No it wasn’t uttered from one fresh from the scene of
some mighty victory.
5. Quite the contrary, the place of origin was anything but sweat
and serene. And the person who declared it was not some princely type moving among men with a definite regal bearing.
6. Nor was it some successful soul who had done so well in the
market place of human achievement that his peers sighted him for his accomplishments in the business world.
7. Rather, the person who uttered these words was a man
nearing journey’s end. Sick in body, tired weary, worn. A diminutive tent maker out of Tarsus—a Pharisee turned Christian. A butcher become brother.
8. And he spoke these words from quarters of confinement. It
was a prison pronouncement—he’s a prisoner of the empire of Rome under house arrest waiting the executioner’s chopping block.
9. No security, no servants, no creature comforts, no political
clout, no favor with the Jews under appreciated by most Christians, and yet he speaks the language of contentment, confidence and courage.
--He exudes an inner calm that renders quiet every storm
that’s raging round about him.
B. Listen again to the language Philippians 4:11ff ...I have learned
to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
1. What a self portrait of inner peace and security of soul. Not
complaining no bitterness, no trying to settle the score with somebody. Simply resting on the couch of conviction.
2. Standing on the precious promises and declaring out loud for
the world to hear: “Don’t you waste you time worrying about me.”
3. I have a strengthener and a sustainer who is the Everlasting
Christ. All is well, because He makes things well and keeps them well. What He gives me is totally and completely sufficient for my journey.
IV. I CAN DO ALL THINGS
A. I hope you see the full potency of Paul’s pronouncement. The
man has to be either crazy or confident. That world all around him was wild, fanatical, topsy tervy and one big Roman circus.
1. Power and arrogance and long since married and merged in
the upper escalon of Roman government.
2. Caesar is God, so they said. Rome is the empire of the
whole earth, so they said. The Roman legions are invincible, so they said. And the Roman deities assure the strength of empire and continual conquest, so they said.
-- Everything was against Paul and the little band of
believers that kept up the vigil as far as he was concerned.
3. But his voice penetrates and pierces all the political and
military madness. It cuts through all the hoopla of the Roman circus and all the hysteria of the coliseum and says 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
a. He comes to this glorious conclusion with out wavering
one iota. I can do all things.
b. Not a hint of indecision. Not the slightest shadow of doubt.
I can do all things—all things essential to make it through the journey victoriously and successfully.
c. All things to experience contentment even in the midst of
crisis.
4. What things? All things! Those things that give you power to
forgive and strength to get passed the past, and the will to adjust to a new reality—I can do all things.
5. Now there is definitely the temptation to read this and treat it
as some sort of poetic utterance. It is such sweeping all inclusive declaration. It covers all the bases. It blankets the total territory, there’s no seam at all in this garment.
TS. It is so complete, so comprehensive, total if you please, there
must be some key to the door of such blessed assurance, Thank God I know what the key is. Permit me to share it with you.
V. THE KEY TO BLESSED ASSURANCE
A. You see its a key that works at two levels. The earthly and the
heavenly, the terrestrial and the celestial. Paul found the key. Rather he had the good sense to accept when Jesus handed it to him one day. Now the first aspect of this key with a two fold purpose has to do with doing the right thing with self.
1. Proper spiritual health demands that we take the spotlight of
ultimate concern off of self and shine it solely on God. Now self centeredness is a sure way to miss the blessing train. For self centeredness restricts your vision to frame of reference that is narrow and provincial.
2. Paul’s great deliverance was from self. That’s really what
conversion and new birth are all about. The old self yields to a new self so that it is no longer I but Christ who dwells in me.
3. Paul told us about the necessity of self abnegation. He had
already heard the Lord declare: Matthew 16:24 If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,...
4. Paul declared 12I know what it is to be in need,--abased in
the KJV, that word means to humble one’s self to recognize one’s sinfulness to see your self as creature.
5. Now membership in the I can do all things community
requires humility. Humility is honesty before God and man.
6. When the self shifts it’s gaze to Him who alone is worthy, the
result in attitude is this: Have thine own way Lord. Have thine own way Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
B. The second aspect of this key with a two fold purpose is
absolute faith in the potter’s handling of the clay.
1. Do you hear me this morning? To put it as plainly as I
possibly can This two fold key opens the door of blessed assurance when the self surrenders to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
2. Self surrender, yes that’s the key, when you shift the focus
from yourself to Him, He imparts so much of Himself to you that your power capability becomes so enormous that you are able to rightly declare I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
3. I know this is so says Paul because my God will meet all
your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
4. What ever is necessary is not only accessible it’s available. If
I will it, He will work it. And there’s no shortage of supply, no deficit in the heavenly inventory, no red ink, no shortfall no declining market.
5. Remember Psalm 24:1 The earth is the LORD’S, and
everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
6. Everything belongs to Him. And He Himself has told His
children all things are yours. All things work together for good if you love me.
7. So God is overheard to say go ahead and draw on your
unlimited account in the heavenly bank of precious promises. Get yourself out of the way.
8. Concentrate on the Christ, be filled with His Spirit and start
acting like a child of the King. Wear it gladly and proudly- I can do all things. I know I can because God shall supply all my needs.
VI. YOU HAVE A DECISION TO MAKE
A. What ever it takes, He’ll supply it. Now as for me and those who
feel like me that about the only option worth taking. Nobody forces anybody to do what’s best for them, not even God.
1. So if you want to operate in this rat race and wallow in
neuroses and psychoses. You just rush on with the maddening crowd pushing and shoving, elbowing and jockeying. You go right ahead with your fatalistic and nihilistic philosophy .
2. But if on the other hand you want to transcend the madness,
if you want to be the person you were created to be, if you want action in your life and active membership in the whatever it takes society , I’m here to tell you it’s yours for the asking.
3. Now I’m not espousing some easy discipleship theology,
there’s too much of that going around. I opposed to cheep grace, I don’t care for the slicksters that if you trust God all of your troubles shall cease, for that it just not so.
4. There is a slogan, in spite of it’s casual usage, is altogether
true: Let go and let God. Let go of self and let God go to work.
B. Those souls who wrote such songs as His eye is one the
sparrow- I know He watches me discovered through self surrender that all things are possible to them that believe—I can do all things because He supplies all my needs.
1. I have my troubles and woes just like you do, but I can do all
things
2. I not without doubts and fears, but I can do all things
3. I have my deep disappointments and my days of distress but
I can do all things
4. I’ve been rebuked and I’ve been scorned, but I can do all
things
5. I’ve been fought by foes and forsaken by friends, but I can do
all things
6. I get confused and perplexed, but I can do all things
7. My road get rough and my path gets steep, but I can do all
things
8. I can do all things because God supplies all that is necessary
for journey.
9. I’m equipped to cope, I’m suited for the struggle, I’m fixed for
the journey, in a real sense I am invincible and indomitable. I’m versatile and flexible in the Spirit. I can go up and I can go down because whatever it takes He supplies it.
C. Admittedly this is a wicked world. I’m not playing Pollyanna with
your minds and hearts. There’s trouble on every hand. Satanic forces are alive and active deceiving even the very elect.
1. Times are tough, the journey is tedious. All of us need that
which will steady us in the storm. We have to contend with so much that’s against us-
a. sickness, suffering, tribulation, temptation, torment,
vilification, vexation, disappointment, betrayal, hypocrisy, back biting, jealousy, envy, trickery, meanness, madness, abuse, anguish, heartbreak and heartache.
b. Name it it’s trying to interfere with your journey.
2. If the devil isn’t on your case, you’d better check your
situation out. If He isn’t troubling you, you are really in trouble. It means that you’re not worth troubling.
3. Jesus said John 16:33 I have told you these things, so
that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
4. He advised Matthew 5:11 Blessed are you when people
insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
5. The blows will come as they must. Just remember what ever
it takes to keep you steady—God will provide it. What ever it takes-peace, serenity, composure, tranquility, stillness, joy happiness, understanding, empathy, friendship good will, encouragement, whatever it takes, God will provide it.
6. Strength for the struggle, stamina for the race, daily bread,
food for soul, a song in the night, light for the darkness, goodness and mercy, a bridge over trouble waters, and victory in Jesus. Whatever, whatever, underscore that word. Italicize it punctuate it whatever!
7. Not only whatever, but whenever, whereever, whomsoever.
Forever and ever, my God shall supply all your needs, Whatever it takes—this is the gospel of sufficiency. To Him be the Glory- honor to His name.
8. I’m standing on the promises of Christ my king. He won’t fail
me, He won’t forsake me. I tell you it’s whatever whatever!—He is all sufficient. I can do all things through Christ who give me strength.
9. So tell it, swell it, sing it, shout it. If nobody else will believe it,
incorporate it in your own belief system and you’ll never regret it. Whatever!
*I relied heavily on notes taken during a sermon from a fellow named Jones from New York.
