PEACE IN RELATIONSHIP TO OUR NEEDS - PHIL. 4:14-16

I. Introduction

A. In theses verses we have the '1supply for all Needs"

1. In verses 11-12 we have "contentment for all circumstances"

2. In verse 13 it was "strength for all things"

a. There is a sufficiency in Jesus Christ for all the needs of life.

b. Under the control of Jesus Christ we can live better than we could in our aim strength

A member of one of Arturo Toscanini's Philharmonic Symphony orchestras said: "Under

Toscanini we play better than we know." This reach of better things is possib1e to those who live

under the mastership of Jesus Christ. He is the Maestro of life Under Him we can live better than we know.

II. The Relationship between Giving and Receiving (4:15,16,19)

A. The saints of Philippi had supplied Paul's needs (4:18) because of that God would supply their needs (4:19)

1. Often we claim this promise with more presumption than faith because we fail to note it is predicated on a condition

a. We will never realize its replenishing provision until we fulfill its spiritual requirements

b. The promise of verse 19 is to supply a need

c. Whatever created the need would determine how God would satisfy that need

d. In the case of the Philippians the need was created when they sent Epaphroditus to Rome with a gift

e. The extent of their giving is found in II Cor. 8:1-5

f. No doubt this gift accumulated from the meager necessities of life among the believers at Philippi.

2. Because they had supplied Paul's needs God would supply theirs.

a. Whatever claims we have upon 4:19 must be legitimate

b. This is not en open sesame to slothful plenty

B. A Cautious Reminder

1. We should never give to get but giving to the Lord with the proper motive will always insure our getting from Him.

2. We do not have grounds to lay hold upon this promise to supply our needs if we have been delinquent in supplying the needs of God's work when we had the means

a. It would be difficult to pray with any confidence if we have not honored Him with our substance

b. There is an ageless principle in the economy of God; What we withhold withers, but what we scatter, gathers.

C. A Constant Law

1. Give and it shall be given you - with what measure ye mete it shall be measured unto you (Luke 6:38)

a. Lend your boat for an afternoon to Jesus Christ and He will return it to you laden with fish

b. Place in His hands your barley loaves and fish, He will not only satisfy your hunger but return twelve baskets to you.

c. God refuses to be the debtor to any man. He repays with interest

d. when the Good Samaritan left the Inn, He said to the Innkeeper take care of Him and what thou spendest more when I come again I will repay

e. If this be true of man how much more of God

2. Christ places His ministry in our care and says; Take care of this work, expend what is necessary and I will repay.

D. A Spiritual Application(4:18)

1. The gift to God's servant and his ministry was equivalent of a gift to God.

a. The form of the gift is physical but it passed through a metamorphosis, and became an "odor of sacrifice to God"

b. Wow - What a thought! A gift of love to a believer in need a sacrificed offering placed on the offering plate and it wafts like a scent of perfume to God.

c. So you can see that giving means much more than giving a gift.

2. Stewardship then is a sacred and holy exercise it is more than our impersonal gift of monies.

a. How differently we would give if we understood the nature of giving.

b. Keep in mind that it has to be a gift. A ticket for a church bazaar, purchase at a rummage sale is not a gift. It is a financial transaction for which we receive something in return.

II. The Relationship of God's Wealth to our Need (4:19)

A. Notice the Source of our Wealth - His riches in Glory

1. All earthly wealth is insecure, financial crashes come to wipe it out.

2. But the resources to meet our needs are beyond the fluctuation of world markets

3. Secure in heaven they are free from change and corruption

a. The vaults of heaven have never been broken into

b. The riches we lay up in heaven are safe there

B. The Allocation of the Wealth - My God shall supply

1. If any human had control we night well be concerned about graft and greed

a. With God as the Banker we need not have any fear of favoritism or neglect

b. Our heavenly Father knows our needs and will not fail to honor His promise

c. It is empathic - He shall supply. No perhaps or hope so is attached to the promise.

d. God has given His unqualified word - God cannot fail.

C. The Sufficiency of This Wealth - All your needs

1. We often fail to distinguish between our needs and our wants

a. God does not promise to provide all our greed but all our need.

b. God has no restrictions or limitations on His promise

2. The inclusive ALL embraces every need of life, however the primary contextual application is to financial needs

D. The Immensity of This Wealth - according to His Riches

1. In what conceivable way is it possible to calculate or compute the riches of God.

a. His riches are not only vast they are various

b. Every kind of riches is possessed by God in limitless measure

2. The Scripture speaks often of the variety of His riches

a. The riches of His mercy - to forgive the sinner

b. The riches of His grace - to meet the undeserving

c. The riches of His goodness - to clothe the unlovely

d. The riches of His wisdom - to instruct the unlearned.

e. The riches of His glory - to endow the pauper

f. Riches of every sort to meet every kind of need

3. This supply is not OUT of His riches but ACCORDING TO

a. Suppose I have a need and you have a million dollars. If I presented my need to you and you gave ten dollars, you would be giving to me out of your riches. But if you give me a blank check and said, "Fill it in for anything you need," you would be giving to me according to your riches. God has not promised to give out of His riches. He has promised to give according to His riches in glory. Thus the child of God cannot have a need too great for God to supply. All God's riches are made available to us in Christ Jesus.

b. A man who has limited funds will find those funds depleted as he gives to different causes but if a man has limitless funds. He can give without significant depletion of His supply.

c. Our God is infinite, he can minister to an unlimited number of needs and still be no poorer.

E. Illustration

Dwight L. Moody said of. this promise of verse 19 that it was God's check. He conceived it as as follows:

"My God" - the name of the firm printed on the check.

"Shall supply" -- the promise to pay

"All your need"-the amount to be paid.

"His riches" - the deposit in the account against which the check is drawn.

"In glory" - the address of the bank.

"By Christ Jesus" - the signature which appears on the check.

This check needs but one thing to make it a practical and valuable thing - the endorsement of our faith on its reverse side.

With His signature on the promise it will be honored on presentation without question.

We close this morning with a check fully made out to cover all our needs now and forever.

All it needs now is for you to cash it.