04.023. All Need Supplied
All Need Supplied My God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus-- Php 4:19. This verse must be studied in its position at the end of this great Epistle of Renunciations and Compensations. Here the believer is seen emptying himself for Christ’s sake of all that he had counted gain to himself. He is therefore reduced to a voluntary condition of absolute poverty and dependence. And now what is he to do? Abandon himself in his destitution to the Father in Heaven, and repose absolutely in His love and care. This final chapter (Php 4:1-23) is the summing up of the whole practical argument. Do not abandon yourself to God until you are persuaded both of His power and love; but, having done so, do seven other things:
Being in the Lord, as your new sphere of being, Rejoice Always (Php 4:4).
Be calm and patient under all provocation. He is always next to you (Php 4:5).
Banish all care and anxious thought. Pray and praise (Php 4:6-7).
Keep your thoughts on Divine Themes, not on worldly trifles (Php 4:8).
Discipline yourself to contentment with any state He appoints (Php 4:11).
Be confident in His strength as perfected in your weakness (Php 4:12).
Cast yourself on Him for the supply of every need (Php 4:19).
The last thought is the contrast of our need with His supply; our poverty in humiliation with His riches in glory; our little wants with His great riches.