Philippians 4:10-20
IN Philippians 4:19, we find one of the boldest promises God makes in all Scriptures. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul writes:
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Sadly, though, I’m afraid it is a promise most of us don’t really believe; or we wouldn’t be acting and reacting the way we do. But it’s a promise that demands our total trust if we are to live a life of inner peace and joy.
Background. The context of this promise is interesting. We learn from verses 14 and 15 that the Philippian Christians began supporting Paul right after their conversion, and kept sending him aid to satisfy his needs. More recently, they dug deep into their pockets and delivered a generous financial gift to him through a messenger. It was especially appreciated by the apostle because he was in prison then.
Paul then writes this letter not only to thank them, but to let them know that their generosity was “an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God” (v. 18). And, knowing that these Philippian Christians are not free of troubles themselves, he assures them that the God that has provided for him through them will not forsake them either. Hence, this bold promise of verse 19.
I. My God shall supply all your need...
The promise is made up of three phrases. The first: “But my God shall supply all your need.”
The Greek word translated “all” there can also be translated “every”. So, Paul is effectively saying: I want you to know that my God, who is your God as well, has promised to meet all your needs in every situation—even when it doesn’t look like it. If you are being persecuted or have trouble making ends meet, wait patiently for His deliverance.
What God assures the Philippines, He assures all of us believers. And we do need that assurance, don’t we?
All of us wrestle with the “What ifs” of life. The economy doesn’t look that strong; what if I lose my job? I have already lost so much of my retirement funds, what if the markets crash again? How can I survive if suddenly I become disabled? At any one time, we can think of dozens of hypothetical situations that might adversely affect us.
Well, God is using Paul here to counter this kind of destructive anxiety. In essence, the apostle is saying: Don’t you know that we children of God are not alone in this world. We are not orphans abandoned and vulnerable to destitution. Throughout my ministry, travelling from one place to another, my God has met my needs. This same God will adequately provide for you as well.
Needs vs. wants. I must point out, though, that there is a vast difference between needs and wants. God promises to meet our every need as He determines it, not our every want.
As a matter of fact, often what we want may be contrary to God’s will regarding our need. You may want to be married, but what you may need is to learn the sufficiency of Christ to fill that emptiness inside. You may want to be perfectly healthy, but what you may need is to lean more on Christ so that through your weakness, His power can be shown. You may want a secure monthly income, but what you might need is that which Paul speaks of earlier in verses 11 and 12:
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
Even when I was a young child, God used my Dad to show me many times that the thing that I so desperately wanted could have been destructive or dangerous to me. I thought, for instance, I needed a new bike like the ones all the other kids had, but my Dad told me instead that I needed to learn the value of a dollar. I thought I needed to have friends that were running in the fast lane, but he taught me that I needed more healthy peer relationships. I thought I needed to set my own hours and limits, but he knew I needed limits set for me and to learn the experience of pain when I pushed those limits.
Yes, there might be times when my human Dad was wrong. But not so with our Heavenly Father. When the Bible says, “But my God shall supply all your need,” we can be sure that He knows exactly what we need in every circumstance and will take care of it.
II. ...according to his riches in glory
To strengthen our faith in this truth, verse 19 continues by declaring that God’s promise to meet all our needs is “according to his riches in glory”.
The Greek preposition translated “according to” in this phrase conveys the thought that the supply God promises to give us for our needs will not merely be from, or out of, His infinite wealth, but appropriate to, or commensurate with, His great riches as well.
It’s as if Paul is saying: I want you to know that this loving God who will meet all your needs is all powerful. He has all the resources of the universe at His beckon call to carry through on that promise.
Moreover, this God is rich in glory. We read in Ephesians 1:7, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” Just as the salvation that God has given us is commensurate with the riches of His grace, His promise to meet all our needs is commensurate with the riches of His glory. Put another way, this generosity is absolutely appropriate to the glory and the magnificence of God.
Our hesitation. Nevertheless, some of you may very well be doing battle with God. Suppose you have sensed that God is calling you to be a missionary, but have so far hesitated to follow that leading. Why? Because you just can’t imagine how you can afford to quit your job. So, before you are ready to make any such commitment, you try to make sure that you have first lined up all your support.
But remember what Jesus told the twelve disciples when He first sent them out with the gospel? He said in Matthew 10:9,10:
Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
He wanted them to learn to trust God. On the night before He went to the Cross, He talked to those disciples and alluded to that occasion. We read in Luke 22:35, “And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.”
They lacked nothing because God indeed provided for all their needs.
That God is faithful in providing for His servants is hidden in the Old Testament command: “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn” (Deut. 25:4). In the New Testament, God speaks of that command in I Corinthians 9:9,10:
For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.
In other words, God gave that command in Deuteronomy 25 not so much for the oxen as for the sake of people serving the Lord.
Offerings. Not many of us are called to work full time for the Lord, of course. But trusting in the promise “my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory” is essential to our giving to the Lord’s work as well. Some of us are reluctant to give generously because we are afraid that we would otherwise not have enough money to pay our bills. Every time the opportunity arises for us to support a ministry that faithfully sends forth the gospel, we begin to wonder: If I do contribute heavily, I may be left high and dry. If I end up on the short end, nobody is going to bail me out.
But notice what Paul has to say about the Macedonians in his second letter to the Corinthians:
How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints (8:2-4).
Now, God has stated earlier in the first verse that the reason the Macedonians are so generous despite their poverty is that the grace of God has been bestowed on them. But God elaborates in verse 8 of Chapter 9: “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”
You see, we can all abound in such good work without fear as long as we keep such promises as Philippians 4:19 and II Corinthian 9:8 in mind.
Trusting God to meet our needs “according to his riches in glory” will enable us to become generous, giving people to the glory of God. I’ve learned that when I walked in faith, God from time to time surprised me with His provision. At those times, I found myself looking heavenward saying, “Dear God, I knew you could be trusted.”
III. ...by Christ Jesus.
Let me read Philippians 4:19 again: “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” The final clause “by Christ Jesus” is highly significant. It underscores that all these promises of the Father’s care are guaranteed to us believers because we are in Christ Jesus.
In Romans 8:32, God says, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”
Putting these truths together, we can paraphrase and say: Since God has given you in His own Son the greatest and most costly gift imaginable, how will He not also freely give you all your lesser needs. It’s absurd to think that God would choose you from before the foundation of the world, send His own Son to die for your sin, send His Holy Spirit to indwell your life for eternity, and then allow you to go without some basic needs?
Since you are in Christ Jesus now, you are in the family! You have been adopted into the King’s family with all the rights and privileges. And believe me, this all powerful all loving King, who has purchased you at the price of His own Son, is not going to let you go in need.
Precious. Just as we take the best care of those things that cost us the most, so does God. I Peter 1:18,19 reminds us, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
You can rest surely that the God who loves you enough to redeem you from your sin with the blood of His own son, loves you enough to provide for all your present needs.
When we fully absorb the many truths in verse 19 that we have just discussed, we cannot help but agree with what Paul concludes in verse 20: “Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”