My God Shall Supply All Your Needs
--Philippians 4:15-19
Memorizing Scripture has been a meaningful spiritual discipline for me. One of the first Scriptures that I memorized was the promise Paul shares with us in our text this morning, Philippians 4:19, and I want to quote it from the New King James Version, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” It was an easy one to learn, for it was one of my Mother’s favorites that she often quoted.
Today I want us to stand on this promise both as individual disciples of Jesus and collectively as Trinity United Methodist. Now we know that in English the pronoun you can be either singular or plural, and in the English translation of our text it is difficult to tell which it is, but in the Greek New Testament it is evident the plural form is the one used. That is not surprising, for Paul is writing this letter to the entire Church at Philippi, not to a single individual.
However, I am convinced that we can claim the promise both as individuals and collectively as a local Church. Why is that possible? It is because God is concerned about each one of us as His individual children. At the same time we need to apply this promise to our entire Church family, because Paul was addressing His letter to the entire Church at Philippi. The point is obvious, in the same way God supplied the needs of the Philippian Church, He promises to do so for Trinity United Methodist Church in Kankakee, Illinois, in 2007, and He will do the same for David Reynolds, Lucy James, Nino, Ann Crews, Dick and Gwen Maddox, and each and every one of us.
God will always meet the needs of His Churches and every one of His children who remain good stewards of all He has entrusted to them. The Philippian Church can teach us some valuable lessons in being good stewards of all God has given us.
Philippians is Paul’s letter of joy. The noun joy appears six times and the verb rejoice eight times in modern translations of this short epistle. Paul had many reasons to rejoice over the Philippian Church, but his reason in the setting of our text this morning was their generosity in financially supporting His ministry.
The Philippian Church was the only Church to give monetary support to Paul’s ministry after he left the Greek State of Macedonia of which Philippi was the capital.
Paul begins this section of his letter by recounting the history and giving of the Philippian Church in support of his ministry. He reminds them in verse 15: “. . . when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only.” In verse 16 he adds: “. . . for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.”
Paul knew what it was to be in need, and he promises the Philippian Church, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” We must always remember there is a big difference between our wants and our needs. A need is something is that is absolutely essential, something that is indispensable, something that you and I must have in order to live. Food and water, shelter, clothing, and transportation are things we all need in life. They are absolutely essential and indispensable. We must have them in order to survive.
A want is something I would like to have, something I may wish or long for, something that I find desirable, but it is not something that I must absolutely have. I can live without having all my wants supplied, but all my needs must be met.
Some personal examples quickly come to my mind. I had a friend when I was growing up who was a year ahead of me in school. He had some well to do grandparents that doted over him every Christmas. We must have been ten and nine respectfully when they gave him his own portable television set.
Of course I thought I had to have one too, but I never got my own portable television until I graduated from seminary and had my first Church. That portable television was only a want. I survived perfectly well without it all those years, and I am learning more and more that I can survive well even today with little or no TV. Currently I would enjoy having a motor cycle or a jet ski, but I’ll survive without them. God does not promise to supply all our wants, but He does promise to supply all our needs.
Paul rejoices because the generous giving of the Philippian Church to support his ministry has met his needs. He shares a wonderful testimony in verse 18: “I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Ephaphroditus the gift you sent.” Then he acknowledges that their gifts are “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” God was well pleased that the Philippians had given generously to Paul’s ministry and met his needs.
Because of their generosity, he can reassure his brothers and sisters, “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” One lesson I have learned is the fact that you can never out give God. When you put Him first in all you do in giving your offerings, you never want for anything. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 34:10, “. . . those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”
The Palmist shares another powerful testimony in Psalm 37:25-26, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed.” David understood right priorities. The righteous are always generous and give freely knowing they can never out give God. He will supply their need for food, shelter, clothing, and transportation, as they continue to give “generously and lend freely.”
The ministry of the Church must be generously backed by the financial support of God’s people. God is the owner of everything; we are only stewards of His wealth and possessions He has entrusted to us for a little while. Paul has a lot to say about the ministry of giving, as he reminds the Corinthians in II Corinthians 9:6-7, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each should give what they have decided in their heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Christians who give sparingly, reap sparingly; Christians who give generously reap generously, and our giving is to be made in the spirit of joy, because we have allowed the Holy Spirit to direct our hearts what we are to give. Christians don’t give reluctantly or because we feel forced to do so; we give generously and cheerfully because our hearts are filled with joy for all that Jesus has done for us, and, therefore, our gifts are “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.”
Paul continues his metaphor of giving as a seed we sow in II Corinthians 9:10-11, “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. . .” As we give with a cheerful spirit for the ministry of God’s Church and the building of His kingdom, He will “increase our store of seed so that we can be generous on every occasion.” You simply can not out give God; the more you give, the more He blesses you, and He enables you to give even more.
Remember II Corinthians 9:11 affirms that we “will be made rich in every way.” There are two types of wealth: material wealth and spiritual wealth. Spiritual wealth lasts for ever. Material wealth soon fades away. Jesus implores us in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
When we invest in material things, moth and rust will destroy them, or thieves may steal them, but when we invest in heavenly treasures, they last for eternity.
If what you treasure is on earth, your heart, your priorities, will be centered on material things. If your treasure is in heaven, your heart, your priorities, will be centered in spiritual values.
My God is still in the business of “supplying all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Take that you to mean both singular and plural—you as an individual child of God and you plural as our Church!
The financial support by all the members of a local congregation is essential for effective ministry to be accomplished in any Church. Ministry can not be sustained apart from the joyful, generous giving of God’s people as faithful stewards of all He has entrusted to us. As The Philippians supported the ministry of Paul financially, so we all must likewise support the ministry of Trinity United Methodist Church with our faithful tithes and offerings.
When we joined the United Methodist Church, we promised God we would uphold it by our gifts. Our continued ministry as the Church of Jesus Christ in meeting the needs of others in building “the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven” depends on all of God’s people continuing to “sow generously in order that we may reap a bountiful harvest.” This is God’s personal, divine call to each one of us.
As we remain faithful to that calling, He will meet our personal needs for
food, shelter, clothing, and transportation “according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus.” “He Who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. . .” This is just as true today for us at Trinity as it was in the first century for Paul and the Churches at Philippi and Corinth.
”Where is your treasure?” If it is in heaven, you will always give with a cheerful heart, freely investing in the Church of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God, being generous on every occasion in order to meet the needs of ministry to which God continually calls us. You will never want for anything, for “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” He’ll supply all your personal needs and all the needs of Trinity United Methodist Church.
