Don’t you just love this single, stand-alone Scripture? I have for a long time. It is perhaps one of the greatest single verses in the Bible on stewardship.

It is a surprise to some people to discover that while there are about 500 references in the Bible to prayer, fewer than 500 on faith, but more than 2,000 references to money and material goods.

There are so many things to occupy our minds when it comes to material things.
Having a decent job that pays the bills.
Wondering if we will be healthy so we can work.
Then there is the car, the house payment, the kid’s school clothes and supplies.
Don’t forget April 15th...taxes.
And what about inflation, the stock market roller-coaster, and oil futures? One man was trying to understand the difference between a recession and a depression. A recession is when you lose your job. A depression is when I love my job! And a total disaster is when the wife loses her job!!

All of these matters combined could make a person as confused as a termite in a yo-yo! I want to suggest that everyone need to put into their memory back this great Scripture—Philippians 4:19.

1. The Provider. "But my God."

The God of History is our provider. When the people of God needed a leader, God raised up Moses. When they needed water in the desert, God provided it from a rock. When they needed food for their wilderness wanderings, God gave them manna—12 million pints or 9 thousand pounds delivered daily for 40 years! When they needed clothes, God said, “And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot,” Deuteronomy 29:5. When man needed a Savior to save him from his sins, God gave His only begotten Son to die on Calvary's cross.

In the Old Testament the Hebrews name for God the Provider is "Jehovah-Jireh," It means “God will provide,” Genesis 22:14.

James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of life, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
Deuteronomy 8:18 “But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth…”

The God of the Heart is our provider. "My God." Isn't it great to have a personal knowledge and relationship with this God. Too many people know God intellectually or academically, but not experientially and personally. Many people know about God, but they don't know God. David said, “The Lord is my shepherd.” Thomas said, “My Lord, and my God.”

One of the very practical ways we get to know God in a personal way is through our daily physical and financial needs. He planned it that way because we all need to learn to depend on God, not ourselves. Our Lord taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” Matthew 6:11. It is both an acknowledgement that God is our ultimate Provider and that we are trusting Him to meet our needs and to provide them in His time.

2. The Promise. "...shall supply..."

The Certainty. "Shall!" This is a logical order. The one who is rightly related to God will understand that his needs will be supplied. There is no doubting, no hesitation, no apprehension. "Ask and it shall be given unto you," Matthew 7:7. "And in all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive," Matthew 21:22.

How can we be so certain? The promise is secured by the provider. God knows what we need, Matthew 6:8, 32. We often do not, Romans 8:26. Because we are inherently selfish, even our prayer requests often reflect more greed than need!

The Compensation. "Supply." The word means to "fulfill" or "fill full." God doesn't see that we just get by. There is nothing small about God's provision.

3. The Provision. "...all your need..."

The Sum. "All." Not some. Not most. Not much. But all! That is a bountiful provision.

The Scope. "Need." This word means "to lack, to be in want, to be in poverty." The more needs there are, the more God does, for God operated on the basis of our needs. Neediness is a necessity! Our standard of living is so high now, we have forgotten what our real needs are. Jesus said it is having something to eat and something to wear.

Do you ever struggle with what your needs really are? I do.

Bill Pethybridge was a preacher in London. He was to speak at a church on the other side of London and had only enough money for carfare there --- not back. He went, believing God would supply the return fare. After the service he lingered, chatting, thinking someone would slip him a shilling --- maybe even invite him for a meal. But one after another said thanks for coming and good-bye. Finally he was standing all alone. “But Lord,” he groaned,” You promised to supply all my needs.” The Lord seemed to say, “Yes, I did and you need exercise. Start walking.”

When David said, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want,” he was saying, “I shall not lack.”

When you find yourself in a situation of need I have good news for you—it is already met! The only way God can get us to the supply is through needs. And the supply to meet our needs existed before we ever had a need.

Which came first? The first Adam or the second Adam? Most would answer, “The first Adam.” Actually, the second was before the first.

First Adam...created.
Second Adam...Christ, the Creator.

When Adam fell into sin in the garden, the supply was already there before he ever had a need. Christ was “the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.” My lungs or the air we breath? The air was there before man was created with lungs to breath the air.

Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt. Jacob, his father, and his brother were left in Canaan. Soon a famine came in Canaan. There was plenty in Egypt. The supply was there fore the famine arrived.

4. The Plentitude. "...according to His riches in glory..."

The Account. "His riches." God is rich! The earth and everything in it belongs to God, Psalm 24:1. "The earth is full of thy riches," Psalm 104:24.

God is rich...
In Goodness, Romans 2:4.
In Glory, Romans 9:23; Ephesians 3:16.
In Grace, Ephesians 1:7; 2:7.

The According To. Look closely. God supplies our needs not merely out of His riches, but "according to" His riches.

Suppose you were a debt-free billionaire. And we were close friends and I had an urgent and legitimate need for $50,000 because someone in my family was in the hospital needing surgery. Without hesitation you write out a check for $5,000. That would be giving out of your riches, but not according to your riches.

God did not withhold His Son to save us, and He will not refuse to meet our needs now that we are His children. God has underwritten the supply of our every need. This is His Word!

The Arrangement. "In glory." Two ideas come to mind. In the future, God will supply in the glorious ages to come. But this is not what this verse is speaking about. Actually, in heaven we will never face a need. The context of this verse points to the present. The idea is God will supply all our needs "in a glorious manner." God will gloriously supply every need. In Matthew 6:19-34 Jesus said you can trust God to supply your finances, food, fashions (clothes), and future life.

A few years back Andy was one of our young boys that rode our van to Sunday School and church. One week we were having lunch at the church so I suggested that he call home and see if it was all right with his mother if he stayed for the meal. I stepped into my office and he called and got the okay and then told his mother to deliver a sandwich to the church for his lunch and hung up. I told Andy to call his mother back and cancel the sandwich. There would be more than enough if it was anything like the Baptist feeds I knew about. Baptists may not do some things right, but we know how to put on the meals. God may put Baptists in charge of the catering in heaven, who knows. God has all the riches of eternity at His disposal. But like Andy, we bring our bologna sandwich to God’s banquet, not knowing all that He has provided.

5. The Prerequisite.

The context of this verse defines God's prerequisite for His promise. "A text without a context is a pretext!"

Look at Philippians 4:18. The conjunction "but" ties this promise to the previous verses.
The Point of Giving, v. 14. "Communicate" means "share."
The Principle of Giving, v. 15. Giving and receiving.
The Persistence of Giving, v. 16. "Once and again."
The Product of Giving, v. 17. Paul rejoiced in their giving, not because of what it did for him, but because of what it did for them.
The Pleasure of Giving, v. 18. Notice how Paul describes their gifts.

If we are not obeying God in our giving, then we have no claim upon his supplying. Thinking again of Matthew 6:19-34, What is the prerequisite? "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." God is committed to seeing that the giver doesn't suffer because he gives.

6. The Person. "...by Christ Jesus."

Jesus Christ is the Mediator to us of all the benefits and blessings of God. More than that, He is the sum of all the blessings. The preposition is translated either mean "in" or "by." He is both the channel along which our supply flows and the person in which they are found.
"In" - Jesus is the depository of God's riches.
"By" - Jesus is the administrator of God's riches.
What a delightful dilemma.

The person who does not have Christ, no matter what else he may have, has nothing! But the person who has Christ has everything!
> SALVATION is "in Christ Jesus," Acts 4:12.
> SECURITY is "in Christ Jesus," Romans 8:35-39.
> SUPPLY is "in Christ Jesus," Philippians 4:19.

This great verse beings “But my God” and ends with “by Christ Jesus.”