Title: All Your Need
Text: Philippians 4: 19
Date: September 11, 2011
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Philippians 4: 19: But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
What does the believer need? I was thinking lately of the needs of a newborn babe. It needs to be cleaned, to clothed, to be fed (taught), to be sheltered. Our needs may take on more complexity, but this is the essential need from the first hour to the last.
Proposition: For every child born of the Spirit of God, my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
I. WE NEED TO BE CLEANED (According to his riches in glory, God cleanses his babes by Christ Jesus)
All God’s true children are born like we are born into this world—filthy in sin.
Ezekiel 16: 4: And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. 5 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born….9: Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
Spiritual life begins with the washing of regeneration.
Titus 3: 5: Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
God purges the conscious from dead works. He makes us to behold Christ our Cleansing Fountain through the gospel—through the washing of water by the word. Then the child of God beholds Christ by his blood the blood cleanseth his children of all sin. He hath appeared in the end of the world Hebrews 9: 26: “to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself”
Isaiah 4:4: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
Zechariah 13: 1: In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
The Spirit of God bears witness in our hearts—“where remission of sin is there is no more offering for sin.”
John 13:8: Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me…
The Lord told Peter that whoever he cleanses is clean every whit—completely clean. Christ put away all the sin of those for whom he died by the sacrifice of himself. When the Spirit washes us we behold we are washed by the blood of Christ.
1 Corinthian 6:11: And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
How often the believer finds ourselves defiled in sin. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. The Lord will not allow his children to look to any other fountain for cleansing—he brings us to cry out—like a newborn baby:
Psalm 51:7: Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
1 John 1: 7:…the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin. He reminds us again—your sins and iniquities I remember no more.
II. WE NEED TO BE CLOTHED (God clothes us in the righteousness of Christ Jesus.)
Ezekiel 16: 8: Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.
Illustration: Emma rubbed in oil and swaddled and presented to me—she was mine.
For a sinner to come to God we have to be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Our Righteousness is the righteousness of Christ.
2 Corinthians 5: 21: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
We are his workmanship—remember God not only slew that animal in the garden—he clothed Adam and Eve. God puts the best robe on his prodigal sons.
Isaiah 61: 10: I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
Romans 4: 6: Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7: Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Application: If God provided his babes, the righteousness of his Son---he will provide our temporal need.
Philippians 4: 19: But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
III. WE NEED TO BE FED (given life, fed, taught, brought up) God feeds us through his word by Christ the Word)
The child of God is conceived—spiritually—by the Word—Christ the Bread of Life!
1 Peter 1: 23: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever….And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
The first thing the newborn needs is milk-- What the mother eats the babe eats through the mother’s milk, that milk is the strength, that which grows the child--likewise the believer. Peter is saying here, we continue to need it.
1 Peter 2: 2: As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
Illusttration: Consider the picture of Christ the Husband and his church in the husband and the mother providing for the babe. The new mother is feeding the baby milk but the husband is providing food for his bride, the mother. She is eating what he provides. She feeds the babe through what she has eaten.
Christ is the Bread, the Life. Christ provides food for his church like a husband does for the new mother. Christ’s bride feeds her children through the sincere milk of the word—Peter is feeding when he says “desire the sincere milk of the word.” What the mother eats, the child eats. What would happen if the mother stopped eating? Desire the sincere milk of the word!
Even when the child is weaned—the father provides the bread and the mother puts it on the table for the child. What a beautiful picture of God’s house
God will see to it his children have the milk of word in sincerity—in spirit and in truth. He will continue to teach us, correct us, grow us thereby. God will provide all temporal needs to see to it we have the spiritual bread. Philippians 4: 19: But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Review: We need cleasning—Christ is the Fountain, the Spirit of God washes, washed in his word; 2: We need to be clothed—Christ is our robe of Righteousness; 3: We need to be fed—Christ is the Bread, the Life, desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby
IV. WE NEED TO BE SHELTERED
Isaiah 8: 13: Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14: And he shall be for a sanctuary;…
The storms of life become more complex, they take on various forms…within and without—but our Shelter is always the same!
Psalm 46: 1: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2: Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Proverbs 18: 10: The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Application: Then there is the fact that due to sin, these earthly ties can sometimes be the cause of our greatest sorrow. But remember this:
Isaiah 49: 15: Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Psalm 27: 10: When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
Now the Lord said, “I will be enquired of by thee.” God has given the believer access to him by Christ Jesus. He knows what we need before we ask him.
Hebrews 4: 16: Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
So Paul says,
Philippians 4: 6: Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7: And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus….
In the midst of good times and lean times, times of rejoicing and times of trial, my fellow brethren, babes in Christ, remember:
Philippians 4: 19: But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 20: Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.