God will Provide

Introduction

In our society there is a growing population of people who do not believe in God at all. This is not speculation, it’s what statistics will tell you. Many people will tell you that they believe in certain “godly” values like being nice to others and not lying, but what is the primary motive behind such things? Without God, our lives are cosmic accidents and karma rules the day. Have you ever had a conversation with someone with this belief system? Perhaps they were just in an accident of some sort and they’ll say something like this, “Thank God I’m a lucky person” or “Karma was really watching out for me today!” Even among Christians there is a belief in these types of things. If you’re nicer to others or if you’re a Superchrisitan then you’ll be blessed more by God financially or with possessions. This idea of luck and karma is infiltrating the American church and has been for a while. What we see in Scripture is a much different “term” if you will - divine providence. We see that God provides for and sustains His creation us. Have you experienced divine providence? You woke up this morning, didn’t you? You’re here at church or you’re worshipping from home this morning, aren’t you? These are simple examples of divine providence that help us see God working to bring about His divine plan in our lives.

Whenever we think about a term like providence and we think, let’s look in the glossary of my Bible to see where this word is found, guess what? You’ll quickly realize that the term providence is not found in Scripture. If it’s not found in Scripture, why are we talking about it in church? Is the word Trinity in the Bible? No. Why do we talk about it so much church? Because we are Trinitarian and we believe in Father, Son and Spirit - not because we see the term Trinity in the Bible but because we clearly see these 3 persons throughout Scripture. Just because we don’t see the term providence in the Bible doesn’t mean that it is not relevant. God provides. He sustains. He has a plan and a purpose and nothing can stop it! Scripture is clear about these things, church. Whenever we stop and realize that God is both sovereign and that He provides for us, we experience peace as the song Lindsey sang earlier demonstrated. Do you have peace today? If not, I pray that as we look at one of the most popular and taken out of context verses in Scripture will resonate with you in a completely different way than you’re used to. I pray that as we look in Philippians 4 this morning, you won’t think so much about the outcome, rather you will think about the process. This passage of Scripture tells us that God will provide - that doesn’t mean that He will do exactly what we want Him to do, but He has a plan and regardless of our circumstances today God offers you peace in the midst of the storm.

Philippians 4:10–23 NASB95

10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 14 Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. 15 You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; 16 for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. 17 Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. 18 But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen. 21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. 22 All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

I want to look at 4 specific words that should be our response to God’s providence as Paul talks about here in Philippians 4:10-23. We should be people who are content, full of joy, faithful and worship God regardless of our circumstance, as Paul does throughout his ministry, especially in the context of Philippians.

Contentment (10-11)

Over the last few months we have been going through this letter from Paul to the church in Philippi on Sunday evenings. For those who have been coming on Sunday evenings, you know this to be the case, but for those who have not, you have to understand the context of this letter. Paul is writing this letter from prison. Now Roman prison was different than the prison that we imagine today, but Paul was likely under house arrest and chained to a guard while writing this letter to this church hundreds of miles away. Paul was under arrest and awaiting trial. Things were not good for him if you’re looking at things in an earthly perspective. With that in mind, though, what you see throughout this letter is that Paul had this unshakeable joy that no one and nothing could take away. We see throughout this letter is a call to have joy in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Church, where is your joy today? Do you have any joy today? For many of us, we are like mountain range. There is an “up” / a good moment where we feel great, and then there is a valley / a bad moment where we are sad, frustrated, anxious or upset. In other words, circumstances often change our perspective and attitude.

Paul opens in verse 10 by rejoicing because of the concern of this church in regards to his situation. Paul is grateful because of the concern and financial support from this church. Paul notes that this concern has been revived, meaning that it was present, went away and came back. What does this revived support and concern look like? Scholars and historians help us out here. In the ancient Roman world, Roman citizens (like Paul), had certain rights such as the right to a trial. It has been suggested that the church in Philippi was sending Paul financial support in order to help pay for these legal fees. Paul rejoices because this church has partnered with him and they are supporting him! The end of verse 10 says that they “lacked opportunity before” - what does this look like? How many of you all are on a family phone plan? The way that cell phone companies work nowadays, it is usually cheaper to be a part of a larger family plan than to break off into several smaller plans. Because of this, families often times share the same plan and pay for their part. My family is no exception here! We have a family plan that includes my parents and myself and Lindsey. The bill is under my dad’s name, so he pay’s the bill and I pay him our part. We live roughly an hour a part, though! Rather than driving down in the middle of the week and handing my dad cash or a check, technology is a lifesaver here. There are applications (dozens of them) that allow you to send money electronically to a contact securely and instantly. Because of this, once a month I use this app to send money to my dad for our phone bill. He receives the money, deposits it into his checking account and pays the bill in a matter of minutes. This is not how things worked in the ancient world! If you wanted to send a letter or some money to someone, the Roman empire had a great network of roads that you could use, but it would still take weeks to do this. You had to have someone deliver the gift as well. You couldn’t use a phone or put something in your mailbox and put your flag up!

The people lacked the opportunity to help. They either had no one able to deliver gift or they lacked the money to be able to help Paul out. Some pastors look at this text of Scripture and they proceed by talking about financial giving and that certainly is a crucial component of this passage, but I want to focus on Paul’s response in verse 11 and following. What does Paul say? Paul rejoices because of this gift but he goes ahead and says that he didn’t need it. Paul is in prison and has several needs, one of which is money in order to pay for legal fees and paying for his guard under house arrest. Paul didn’t need this financial gift because he is content! Paul has learned to be content in whatever situation he was in.

Paul, in prison with literally nothing, learned to be content! Friends, we in the United States and in the American Church have sooooo much, yet many are not content. We live in a world that wants something more. One billionaire was asked how much money would be enough and he said “more”. We know people like this in our world do we not? Maybe you’re this person! When will you be happy? Whenever I get that promotion or whenever I can buy this tractor or this boat. We are not content people in general and we have soooo much! We, even in the church, buy into the lie of wanting to have more and more. This is not found in the New Testament and this is not the “secret” to contentment that Paul discovered. What is the secret to being content in all circumstances? To trust solely in the plan and providence of God.

Where is your trust placed today? Is it in your own knowledge? Income level? Family? Relationships with others? The secret to being content is trusting completely in the Lord and finding joy in surrendering to Him.

Joy (12-14)

For the vast majority of us here and online, we are in what is called the “middle class” - while we will never be mistaken for Bill Gates, we also are not homeless and begging for food. We are in between, as are most people in our country. We are so blessed in our nation whenever we compare ourselves to the rest of the world where over 1 billion people survive on under $1 per day! Paul notes in verse 12 that he has experienced poverty and wealth. He has gone hungry and had abundance. We can relate to this in some capacity. Maybe we haven’t experienced significant the highs and lows that Paul did, but we’ve all had seasons of plenty and seasons of barely making ends meet. In those moments, where is your joy? For many in the American church, we have bought into a lie that says that once you become a Christian, life is easy because God is good and wants you to be happy, healthy and wealthy. God would never bring times of poverty or hunger, right? Read Job. Look at Paul’s testimony and ministry! These individuals experienced true suffering and they didn’t curse God along the way - rather they praised Him even though they didn’t necessarily understand what was going on! Friends, the question we must ask is this: Is Jesus enough?

In my prosperity and in the times of harvest, is Jesus enough? In my poverty and in the times of suffering, is Jesus enough or will I leave Jesus behind and try and find another god to give me what I want? Sadly many people leave Christianity behind whenever the going gets tough and they worship a different god that is of their own creation!

So what did Paul learn? How did he figure this out? Where is the source of Paul’s joy as we see time and time again in Philippians? It’s found in Philippians 4:13 - the 2nd most popular verse in the Bible and the verse that is most frequently taken out of context! What is the context? Philippians 4:12! Why is this verse taken out of context so much? Because it makes us feel good. I’ve seen athletes put Phil. 4:13 on their shoes or eye black almost as if it is a way to get God on your side to say, “I can win this game through Christ who strengthens me.” We all love a good underdog story in life and sports are no exception. On any given night “David” can beat “Goliath” - think of the Miracle on Ice in 1980 when the US hockey team upset the Soviet Union hockey team. What better thing for the underdog to tell themselves than “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”

Let’s play this out to its natural conclusion. It doesn’t matter how many times I quote Phil 4:13, there are some things that I will never be able to do! It doesn’t matter how many times Lindsey quotes Philippians 4:13, she will never be able to dunk a basketball on a 10 foot goal. It doesn’t matter how many times I quote Philippians 4:13, I will never be able to make a 50 yard field goal or run a mile in under 4 minutes. It’s just not possible - yet there are athletes who rip this verse out of its context and say otherwise! What is the context of Philippians 4:13? The verse above! Paul’s “secret” if you will, The only way to have unshakeable joy is to be completely focused on Jesus. To have joy in Jesus! It doesn’t matter if you win or if you lose, Jesus is enough!

Friends, are you depending on Jesus? Again, is Jesus enough?

Consider the great missionaries of old, the William Carey’s, Adoniram Judson’s, Lottie Moon’s, Hudson Taylor’s and others. What if whenever God called them to go to the other side of the world to share the Gospel they said, “Well God I’ll be a missionary if I can stay within an hour of home.” I’ll go if it’s conditional on my list of things. If I can be in the middle class, stay in southwest Missouri and have food in my pantry at all times - then I’ll serve you faithfully! No! That’s not what it’s about - it’s about being flexible, content and having joy in Christ at all times and being faithful to go wherever we are called to go.

Faithfulness (15-17)

As Paul concludes this letter, he mentions the faithfulness of this church regarding their giving and support. In fact, in verse 15 we see that this was the only church who gave - others had received, but they did not give. Notice what Paul says in verse 15, “no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone.” This church was a partner with Paul and his ministry. Does this mean that they were perfect or that they were Paul’s favorite? No. But it does mean that they were faithful to give and partner with Paul. They were faithful co-laborers in the Gospel ministry. Friends, the point Paul is making here is that if you’re not giving, you’re not a partner. For many of us, much like the Christians in Philippi, we do not will never go to the other side of the world and preach the Gospel in villages in India or in Vietnam. We certainly have opportunities to go, but for many of you that’s just not something that’s going to happen. That’s ok because we can partner with our missionaries and others in other ways! We can pray for their ministry. We can give financial support specifically to their ministry. We can also tithe as the Bible says we should.

Did you know that the Southern Baptist Convention has something called the Cooperative Program? With the Cooperative Program, a portion of everything you give goes to help our missionaries both here in North America and overseas. In addition, part of what you give goes to help our SBC Seminaries like Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where I’m taking classes. Faithful giving is vital to the Gospel ministry and Paul emphasizes that reality in these verses. Some people don’t like talking about giving in church. Especially in the United States, we are comfortable talking about giving God lots of things, our time, our energy, our focus, but when it comes to financial giving people squirm and some even say, “It’s mine and I’ll use it how I want.” Scripture shares that God gives us everything that we have and that ultimately it all belongs to Him! This isn’t to guilt trip anyone this morning. But we have to ask the question, am I giving and receiving or am I just receiving? Morgan Baptist in general can relate with this church in Philippi. This is a good thing, friends! Though we might not be the largest church or the wealthiest church, this is a giving church. We support missionary efforts and we give towards these ministries as well. This is a great thing, but we must never think that we’ve arrived or that we’ve done enough good things. Faithfulness is a present trait. Are you being faithful today? There are some plaques and papers in the foyer that illustrate the faithfulness of this church in years past but they’re from the past. Tradition is great, but it doesn’t mean anything right now regarding faithfulness. Just as the Philippian church was a partner with Paul, let us be a partner with others today! That involves prayer and support. Don’t be a ghost, be a partner. We’re all in this together.

Paul concludes in verse 17 by saying that he did not seek this gift out, Paul’s joy is not in the money he received because he’s not in this for the money, he’s in it for the fruit/the profit! Colossians 1:10 notes that we are to bear fruit in everything we do - one of the places that we work is in our giving. Again, the reason behind giving should not be legalistic to say, “Oh I give 11%, I go above and beyond and I’m better than the person who only gives 10%” - that’s not what it’s about, it’s about what those gifts do. The profit and fruit that comes as a result of the faithfulness of God’s people.

Worship (18-23)

Paul concludes by saying that he has received their gift and that there are some benefits to the giver. Paul says that this was an “acceptable sacrifice” to God. This was not a wealthy congregation, much like what we see in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, yet they gave out of their poverty. Because of their sacrifice, the contribution was a fragrant offering to God and it was used to spread the Gospel. Giving is an act of worship! But we know that worship is not just a one way street, God changes us during worship. As we worship, we declare war against the world around us. As we worship, and as we are conformed to the image of Jesus, things change. Check out verse 19, “God will supply all your needs in Christ Jesus.”

We all have needs. Some great, some small but God knows them all! Notice what Paul says and what he doesn’t say in this verse, though. Paul says that God will supply all your needs. Divine Providence - God has a perfect plan for your life and God provides for us every step of the way! This is great news. Let’s see what Paul is not saying, though. Suppose a Christian says that he wants God to give him a million dollars. After all, Philippians 4:19 says that God will supply what I want. What is the problem with this interpretation? God will supply our need, not our greed. This extends beyond money as well. This extends to spiritual things as well. God will provide everything we need to live for Christ.

What an incredible promise, right? In a world of turmoil and division, we have full confidence in the promise of God that He will provide for us and meet every need we have in the perfect way possible. His plan is perfect and we worship Him even in the midst of persecution and suffering because He deserves all glory forever.

Paul wraps this letter up with a conclusion and says to greet one another in Christ and notes that all the saints greet them, especially those in Caesar’s household. Rome was clearly anti-Christian during the 1st century world - we see this especially in the book of Acts as we see people like Saul persecuting Christians. Yet, even though the government did not like Christianity and even though they persecuted Christians, what does Paul note? That there are members of Caesar’s household who are Christians. Not even the power of Rome and the threat of persecution could stop the advancement of the Gospel. The bars of a prison cell could not stop the advancement of the Gospel. Church, may this serve as a reminder to us today, 2000 years later, that Christ promised to build His church and nothing - no politician, no law, no virus, no weapon and not even the devil himself can stop the Gospel from advancing and lives being changed as a result! Friends, we worship and nothing will ever stop us from doing so.

Conclusion

Do you believe that God will provide for you? We talk about this a lot in reference to other people. Someone is going through a difficult time and we try to say the Christian thing like, “Trust in God” or “Have faith” and certainly we see these things in places like Proverbs 3:5-6, but for some reason whenever we experience difficulty and opposition we can be quick to not trust in the providence of God. Have you noticed this to be true in your life? I know it’s been true in mine before. In such moments, we must remind ourselves of texts like Philippians 4:10-23 where we see that in all circumstances, we can choose to have joy. Our joy is not in ourselves. It’s not in how good we are or what we do. Rather, our joy is in Jesus Christ. As we focus on Christ and what He did for us, it doesn’t matter what our circumstances look like, we have joy. In the good days, we have joy. In the bad days, we have joy. At all times we trust that God will provide and that He is working all things together for our good and for His glory.

Are you content today? Are you not happy with the way things are going in your life or in our nation? Join the club, everyone is upset by something right now. Rather than complain and lash out, what should define the life of a Christian? Love. They will know that we are Christians by the Facebook posts we write…? They will know that we are Christians by the news channel that we choose to watch…? No. They will know that we are Christians by our love. We love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us - that’s not a popular message in the American church right now, but it’s the Bible.

Let us advance the Gospel faithfully during this season of uncertainty. Let us worship and be unified as the body of Christ as we trust completely in our Lord who promises to provide for us as is according to His perfect plan. God will provide!