Supernatural Power

TEXT: Philippians 4:13

TOPIC: Supernatural Power

Pastor Bobby Earls, Northgate Baptist Church, Florence, SC

Sunday morning, July 24, 2022

Philippians 4:13 (NKJV), I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

If you’ve kept a close eye on the big screen over the past few years or gone to a movie lately chances are you may have seen one of the many super hero movies that are so prevalent these days. Recently there have been major motion pictures about the Marvel and DC comic superheroes such as Batman, Spiderman, Ironman, the X-Men, Thor, the Green Lantern, Captain America and of course, Superman.

Now while we are realistic enough to know that such superheroes don’t really exist I do enjoy the movies and I was a major DC/Marvel Comic book enthusiast growing up. I only wish I still had some of those old comic book collections. My mom threw them away after I left home for college!

Have you ever let yourself imagine being a superhero with superhuman strength? It would probably be fun to take time and hear everyone’s choice of superhero power. But today I am going to tell you how each of us can have not a superhuman power, but a supernatural power.

According to our biblical text this morning, Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, you and I, if you are a Christian, you can, we can, do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

That does not mean we run faster than a speeding bullet or can be more powerful than a locomotive or jump higher than the tallest building in a single bound.

But it does mean three things:

· It means I can be strong even when I am weak.

· It means I can be satisfied even when I am empty.

· And it means I can be secure even when I am afraid.

Now, in order for you to see this and to obtain the supernatural power that Jesus Christ provides it is important to study this verse within its context. I learned a long time ago that a text is just a pretext without a context.

I. SUPERNATURAL POWER THAT GIVES ME STRENGTH, Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

The supernatural power of Christ at work in me means that I can be strong even when I am weak.

One of the most popular children’s hymns of all time is Jesus Loves Me – “little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong.”

John 15:5 (NKJV), “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Galatians 2:20 (NKJV), I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Ephesians 3:16–20 (NLT), 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

2 Corinthians 12:10 (NLT), That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

T/S – Not only does God provide supernatural power that gives us strength, but,

II. SUPERNATURAL POWER THAT GIVES ME SATISFACTION, Philippians 4:10-12, 10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

The supernatural power of Christ at work in me means that I can be satisfied even when I am empty.

The fuller context of Philippians 4:10–19 finds Paul expressing his gratitude to the Philippians for their kind expressions of love and the generous gift they sent him and provides a powerful example of how a Christian can be content regardless of his circumstances.

4:10 at last … you lacked opportunity. About ten years had passed since the Philippians first gave a gift to Paul to help meet his needs when he was first in Thessalonica (vv. 15, 16). Paul was aware of their desire to continue to help, but he realized, within God’s providence, that they had not had the “opportunity” to help. Yet Paul could still rejoice and was fully satisfied as he expresses in the next verse.

11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:

4:11 content. The Greek term means “to be satisfied.” It is the same concept he uses in 2 Corinthians 9:8 (NLT), And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

He did not say God would provide all we want but all we need.

1 Timothy 6:6 (NKJV), Now godliness with contentment is great gain…..8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

4:12 abased … abound. Paul knew how to get along with humble means (food, clothing, daily necessities) and how to live in prosperity (“to overflow”).

to be full and to be hungry. The Greek word translated “to be full” was used of feeding and fattening animals. Paul knew how to be content when he had plenty to eat and when he was deprived of enough to eat.[1]

Remember, it is the supernatural strength of Christ living in us that enables us to be satisfied in all circumstances.

T/S-Finally, Philippians 4:13 reminds us that it is Christ’s….

III. SUPERNATURAL POWER THAT GIVES ME SECURITY, Philippians 4:14

Nevertheless, you have done well that you shared in my distress.

The word “shared”means to join in a partnership with someone. Paul knew that Christ at work in him would provide supernatural strength even when he was weak. And he knew that Christ at work in him would provide supernatural satisfaction even when he was empty, but Paul also knew that the supernatural power and presence of Christ at work in him would provide security in the face of fears.

For Paul it was not a question of could God provide, but how God would provide. Sometimes God chooses to work through the means and the agency of others, just as He did through the Philippians to meet Paul’s needs.

In verses 15-16, we have Paul’s accounting of how the Philippians alone had continued to stand with him encouraging him and providing for his needs financially and materially while he was imprisoned in Rome.

Philippians 4:15-16 (NKJV), 15 Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. 16 For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities.

So, Paul’s security came from the Lord initially but was expressed tangibly through the church locally at Phillipi.

APP. When we know Christ personally, He becomes our Jehovah-Jireh. He provides our needs. He protects us from anything touching our life that is outside His will for us. And most importantly, His holy presence indwells us permanently, giving us that eternal security and the knowledge of eternal salvation.

Conclusion:

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of Passage? His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sunshine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own. The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man! Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared, and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. He is our security. He is our satisfaction and He is our strength.

That’s why we can say with the Apostle Paul, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

[1]John Jr MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville: Word Pub., 1997), Php 4:10–12.