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Philippians 4 .13 says, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. That is one of the most misused passages of scripture. And when we look at it in context, we see that Paul is saying, whether I have a lot or whether I have nothing, Christ is my strength, no matter what, when we understand the text.
This is When We Understand The Text. My name is Pastor Gabe. Great to be with you as we are going to finish up our study of Philippians this week. And like I said, toward the end of last week, I kind of hate to let it go because I've loved being in Philippians and I hope that you have enjoyed it as well.
And as we wrap this up, we're actually going to go into Colossians next. That'll be our next book study. I haven't decided yet, at least as of the recording of this program, I haven't decided yet whether or not to start Colossians next week or even wait another week because I might even use a week to address some different things.
I tend to do that when I preach too. We'll finish up a series in a particular book and then I'll take a few weeks to do some topical sermons or address some topical matters or maybe a particular story or two in the Bible.
And we'll just concentrate on that story for a sermon or a couple of sermons and then start in on another series a few weeks later. So you kind of get the chance to hit some topical things in between.
I don't know if I'll do that or not. I haven't really decided yet. But what I can tell you is we'll finish Philippians this week. Today, we are in chapter four, verses 10 through 13. If you want to have your Bibles open to that, our questions this week.
So as I'm taking questions from listeners and we'll be addressing those questions in the last third of the broadcast, questions this week are going to have to do with conspiracy theorists in what way?
Well, we'll get to that here coming up in just a moment. But if you want to contribute a question, you have something you want to ask based on a video of ours that you've seen or something you've heard in the broadcast.
Send it to www .utt .com. At least you can go to that website. You'll find the email link there on the right side of the page. Click on that. It's the best way to get us a question, www .utt .com. Before coming to the text today, why don't we come to the Lord in prayer?
Our gracious heavenly father, we thank you again for sending your son Jesus to this earth to die on the cross for our sins and then telling us about it. You gave us your word so that we might know what it is that Christ had done for us.
It's the prophecies that led up to his coming and his death and his resurrection and his ascension that lead to his coming again. And then we also have that word that tells us about all that he accomplished here on this earth, filling us up with the promises of what he has yet to accomplish, what we are a part of as the saints, and that we might study these deep theological things even so that we might invest our minds and our hearts more and more into godly things.
And so Lord, I pray that you draw us into that more and more as we read into Philippians today. By your spirit, give us an ability to discern this text so that we might glorify you and become better worshipers of God.
And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. The apostle Paul writes to the Philippians, Philippians chapter four, beginning in verse 10, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me.
You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance.
I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him, through Christ who strengthens me. Very popular verse, Philippians four 13. And maybe even as we've read this here, it's kind of opened up the context for you a little bit.
So let's go back to verse 10 where the apostle Paul says, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. Paul speaking to the Philippians, you were indeed concerned for me, but had no opportunity.
And we've seen something like this before. Actually, this was in chapter two where the apostle Paul talks about Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier and your messenger and minister to my need.
That's chapter two, verse 25, by the way, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill. He was near death, but God had mercy on him, not only on him, but on me also lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
So some backstory here, the apostle Paul was placed under house arrest in Rome for preaching the gospel. The Philippians had heard about it and they were distressed having heard that Paul had been persecuted yet again for preaching the gospel.
They'd also heard from these preachers who were making things difficult on Paul, like whether they were trying to claim Paul's followers from there for themselves. I don't know what is likely though, is that because Paul was imprisoned, they didn't want to associate with him.
They didn't want to have anything to do with him because it was a shameful thing to associate with a person in prison. Well, the Philippians didn't feel that way. They're like, no, this is the apostle Paul we're talking about here.
We want to show our support for Paul in some way. So they took up a collection because even though Paul was placed under house arrest, he could still do ministry. People could come to him. He just couldn't go anywhere.
So they wanted to help Paul with his ministry and they took up a collection and offering and sent it with Epaphroditus to benefit Paul in his ministry there in Rome. Now, Epaphroditus, while he was on the way, got very, very sick and almost died on that journey.
Yet he got there to the apostle Paul. Somehow a message had gotten back to the Philippians that Epaphroditus was near death and so they hadn't heard the resolve yet. Is Epaphroditus okay? Paul writes this letter to the Philippians and sends Epaphroditus back to Philippi so that they would know that he's okay and they would also rejoice in hearing how the apostle Paul has been doing.
And we've been reading about that over the course of the letter. And so Paul takes this opportunity to thank them for their gift, but also to instruct and encourage the Philippians along the way. He says in verse 28, this is still chapter two, I am the more eager to send him Epaphroditus that you may rejoice at seeing him again and that I may be less anxious.
So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. And it's that verse, verse 30, that kind of ties in here with verses 10 and 11 of chapter four.
Paul says, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You are indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Opportunity meaning what? To show their concern for the apostle Paul.
So they took up this collection, they sent it with Epaphroditus. And so Paul very much celebrates Epaphroditus for his willingness to do this, even to the point of death. He's suffering for the advancement of the gospel, for the benefit of the Philippians, for the growth of the body of Christ, just as the apostle Paul is.
So he is very praiseworthy of Epaphroditus, but so that they would be relaxed. And so Paul wouldn't be anxious either, knowing that the Philippians were quite concerned about him and about Epaphroditus.
He sent Epaphroditus back to them and he nearly died. Paul saying in chapter two, verse 30, Epaphroditus nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.
It was that taking up of an offering and sending it to the apostle Paul to show him that they supported him, that they were still with him, that the sufferings that he went through, they were suffering in also in their hearts, struggling with the apostle Paul, lifting him up in prayer.
And so they wanted to be able to show their concern for him and did that with this offering that Epaphroditus delivered to Paul. And so here Paul is saying, you've revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity and it was through Epaphroditus that they were able to show that opportunity.
But Paul goes on to clarify in verse 11, okay, even though I've received this gift from you, it's not that I'm speaking of being in need. I appreciate the gift you sent and it was your opportunity to show your concern for me, but I'm not saying this as if I'm speaking of being in need for I've learned.
I have learned that in whatever situation I am to be content, whether it's in great abundance or in great need, I have learned in whatever situation to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound.
And indeed we do see from the Apostle Paul's story that he knows how to be brought low. Even he's been near to the point of death to the point that he thought that he had received the sentence from death from God, but it was only to rely on God all the more.
Look at what he says at the beginning of his third letter to the Corinthians. In canon, we have it marked as second Corinthians. This is chapter one beginning in verse three, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction so that we might be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Because Paul and his missionary brethren and the other apostles went through the things that they went through, through the words that they wrote down, we might know comfort because they have gone through any and every affliction.
Verse five for as we share abundantly in Christ's suffering. So through Christ, we share abundantly in comfort too. Boy, that's a comforting thought, right? If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort in salvation.
And if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
Paul goes on for we do not want you to be unaware brothers of the affliction that we experienced in Asia for we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, but that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead.
He delivered us from such a deadly peril and he will deliver us on him. We have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
So the apostle Paul experienced such peril in his missionary journeys that he thought that he had received the sentence of death, but this was just to make him and the other apostles and the missionary brethren rely all the more on Christ who is our strength.
So when he says here in Philippians chapter four, I know what it means to be brought low. I know how to be brought low. We have the full understanding of what he is talking about. In fact, let me just elaborate on this further.
This is also in second Corinthians in chapter 11. It gives kind of a brief list of everything that he's gone through and he's comparing himself to these super apostles. The Corinthians are kind of been wooed by this group of men who Paul kind of tongue and cheek refers to as super apostles, but they have not gone through nearly what the apostle Paul has gone through.
They're just trying to bank off of his success or the attention that he has earned in the churches. Okay. And he says of them, are they servants of Christ? I'm a better one. I'm talking like a madman with far greater labors, far more imprisonments with countless beatings and often near death.
Five times I received at the hands of the Jews, the 40 lashes less one, three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned three times. I was shipwrecked a night and a day. I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers in toil and hardship through many a sleepless night in hunger and thirst, often without food in cold and exposure.
And apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches who is weak. And I am not weak, who is made to fall. And I am not indignant. If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weaknesses, the God and father of the Lord Jesus.
He who is blessed forever knows that I am not lying. At Damascus, the governor under King Eratos was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me. But I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.
A story that we read about in the book of Acts. So so this these are I mean, that's a brief list of some of the things that the apostle Paul has endured for the sake of the gospel. He knows how to be brought low.
But as he also says in Philippians 4 12, I also know how to abound in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
OK, so here's the context of what Paul is saying in this verse in Philippians 4 13. Whether I have a lot or I have nothing, it is Christ that sustains me. And this comes all the way back to Philippians chapter one, verse six, where he said of the Philippians, I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
And as we talked about when we were studying there in Philippians chapter one, it is God who brought us to salvation. It is God who keeps us there. So the apostle Paul bringing all of this theology that he has been sharing with the Philippians full circle is saying here in chapter four that when I am in abundance, it is God who sustains me.
Isn't it easy for us that when times are good and when we're content with all that we have, that we have this tendency to kind of sit back and relax and relax and think, I don't need anything. I'm good.
And maybe those are the times when we become the most lax in our faith. We aren't praying as often. We aren't studying our Bibles as intently because we think we're good. We think everything's fine. What do I need God for right now?
Everything's doing pretty good. Okay. So the apostle Paul is saying that even in those times when things are good and I am experiencing abundance, God is sustaining me. Christ is sustaining me by his power and I am continually drawn to him even when things are good.
So Christ gives me my strength even when times are good. When times are bad, most especially. I don't know that I even need to elaborate on that point because that seems to be the times that we are most driven to the Lord in prayer.
We fall down on our knees. We are hungry for the text to find hopes and answers and promises that will pull us out of the situation or sustain us through the situation that we are in. C .S. Lewis, the apologist C .S. Lewis, he has said that pain is God's megaphone.
He speaks to us loudly through our pain and through our suffering. But the apostle Paul here is saying in Philippians 4 .13, I am able to be sustained in good times and in bad through Christ who gives me strength.
He gives me strength even when I think that my strength is on my own. I don't think that's what Paul is saying here. I'm saying that, OK? Even when I think that I'm the one sustaining myself, even when I think I'm strong and I'm mighty, it is actually God who is sustaining me.
And I need to humble myself and continue to give praise to God and realize that the good times that I am experiencing right now don't have anything to do with my abilities. Sustaining myself in my faith is not dependent upon myself.
It is always dependent upon Christ. He deserves any and all glory. In the book that I wrote, 40 of the most popular Bible verses and what they really mean. This is one of the verses that appears in that particular book, Philippians 4 .13.
And in the start of that chapter, I tell a story about my cousin who was walking on a college campus and he's walking down this slope. And there is a girl who is running toward him. You know, she's she's doing her workout, doing a run for the day.
She's got earbuds in her ears and she's muttering something. But he can't quite hear what it is that she's saying until she passes by him. She he hears her saying, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can do all things through Christ. And he's thinking to himself, I don't quite think that's what Paul was getting at when he wrote that in Philippians 4 .13.
I don't think it was the secret to winning a marathon, but that tends to be the way that we think of it. We think that we can channel God into our circumstances. I will take myself as far as I can in my abilities.
And then when I fall short, I will just channel my God into my situation and then he will carry me the rest of the way through it. That's typically the way that we use God. It's typically the way that we understand that verse.
But that's not what it means. It means that we are fully, completely, entirely dependent upon Christ for everything. And even when we are the most relaxed, even when we think the times are the most good, our being sustained in that moment has nothing to do with our situation or our abilities.
It is God who sustains us. He deserves all glory in any and all circumstances. He's not the person that we call upon when we find the end of ourselves. So therefore, we need to find the beginning of God.
Everything about our lives should be God. Everything should be a glory and a worship to Christ. Our Savior, who is our strength. As the Apostle Paul would go on in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 to say, I will boast all the more about my weaknesses for where I am weak, there he is strong.
Do you understand that now? So even when we think times are good, we're still weak. And we still need the strength of God, our Savior to sustain us to the day of glory. Put full trust and faith in him today and every day.
Our great God, as we come to the end of this study today, I pray that we've come to a deeper understanding of what it means to do all things through Christ who gives us strength. To you be the glory and the honor and the power now and forever.
Amen. Perhaps you've heard it said that God would never give you more than you can handle. Unfortunately, that statement is not in the Bible. In fact, it's very likely that you will experience more than you can handle.
In 2 Corinthians 1 .8, the Apostle Paul writes,. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.
Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. In Matthew 26 .38, Jesus says, My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.
This is Jesus we're talking about here. Remember King David? Yeah, the guy who beat a nine-foot giant with a stone and a sling? In Psalm 13, he prays for strength. Lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy says I have prevailed over him.
In Psalm 88, he writes, I cry out day and night before you. So the Bible says nothing about God keeping you from more than you can handle. What it does say is that God would not allow you to be tempted beyond your ability to resist.
That's in 1 Corinthians 10 .13. In other words, there's never an excuse to do evil. But when it comes to hardships, they can get pretty rough and teach us to rely on God. He is still gracious, delivering us even from the grave, through the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ.
We learn more about his grace when we understand the text. As Charles Spurgeon has said, The Lord's servants cannot serve him in their own strength, for they cannot even live unless his grace abounds toward them.
Our video today having more to do with the message that was just shared than the question that we're going to be taking. Most of our questions this week are going to deal with conspiracy theories. And I don't have a conspiracy theory video done, a what video done.
I've had an idea for one, but we haven't put it into script form and it gone to committee and that whole thing yet. So anyway, one will be coming on conspiracy theories sometime in the future. Our question today comes from Spencer.
He says, Dear Pastor Gabe, I know several of my Christian brothers and sisters in Christ are starting to fall into this movement where they question everything. They believe 9 -11 and every shooting in the entire USA is a result of the New World Order or Illuminati.
They're also very anti-government and believe that the government is satanic and evil so that no one should obey the government. This scares me because I noticed that they're starting to have this cult-like mentality because they'll even say that if you are a conspiracy theorist who gets convinced otherwise on a particular issue, I suppose, they'll say they got to you, quote unquote, they got to you and the group looks down upon you.
Are conspiracy theories and theorists biblical in their approach? We'll look at Isaiah at the beginning of the book of Isaiah. He goes to King Ahaz, who is the king of Judah and tells him to repent. Actually, he says to Ahaz, ask a sign of the Lord your God and let it be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.
But Ahaz's response is, I will not ask and I will not put the Lord to the test. In other words, Ahaz has an opportunity to ask of God anything. He could ask anything he wants and God will give it to him.
Any sign and God will show him. If God said that to you, said to you, hey, I'll show you any sign you want. What do you want to see? What would you say? Like what sign would you come up with? Ahaz was so proud.
He said, I will not ask and I will not put the Lord to the test. In other words, he's thinking of himself. See, look at how noble I am. I'm not even going to use the Lord in this matter. I can take care of this situation myself.
But of course, that was the wrong answer. And judgment came upon Israel and Judah who were conquered by the Assyrians. OK, so in the midst of this, in the midst of Israel being conquered by the Assyrians, here's what God said to Isaiah.
So God is specifically talking to Isaiah here. This isn't Isaiah speaking to Israel or Judah. The Lord is saying to Isaiah, this is Isaiah chapter eight, verse 12, do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.
But the Lord of hosts, him shall you honor as holy. Let him be your fear and let him be your dread. So in other words, the Israelites do not fear God. And because they don't fear God, then they fear just about everything else.
All right. And then the Lord goes on to tell Isaiah, he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken. They shall be snared and taken. So while in one sense, God is a sanctuary, in another sense, he is also a rock of stumbling. And instead of taking of taking sanctuary in the Lord, which is what Isaiah is being called to do.
But since Israel and Judah, both houses of Israel will not do that, they're going to stumble. God is going to end up becoming an obstacle for them. OK, so they're running around like chickens with their heads cut off, believing in every other kind of conspiracy instead of fearing the Lord.
And honestly, if you see a people that get into that sort of a thing where they're starting to trust in conspiracy theories and not, you know, it's like there's no reason for us to have to obey the government anymore because everything is conspiracy anyway and all this other kind of thing, then more than likely it's a symptom of something greater.
And it's probably that they do not fear the Lord. I'm not going to say that's the case every single time, but who they should be fearing is God not falling into all of these conspiracy theories. When the Lord sent Israel into exile through the prophet Jeremiah, he said to his people, build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their produce, take wives and have sons and daughters, take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage that they may bear sons and daughters, multiply there and do not decrease, but seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare, you will find your welfare.
So in other words, the Israelites were to hope that the city where they had been exiled to would prosper because if the city prospered, then they would prosper also. And we need to hope the same thing for the country that we live in as Christians.
We're exiles. We're exiles in this world. This world is not our home. We're looking forward to a heavenly kingdom. So while we're in this place, let us hope that our government that we live in prospers so that we can eat the good of the land.
But no matter whether we are in plenty or whether we are in need, we must preach the gospel. There is always going to be necessity to preach the gospel and tell others about the Lord Jesus Christ, because our hope is not in this world, nor is our fear in this world.
Our hope is in God and our fear should be God as well. Thank you for your question, Spencer. Let's close in prayer. Our gracious heavenly father, thank you for giving us the nation that we live in, where we have this freedom of religion, where we are able to worship our God without fear of retribution for our government.
We know that right is slowly being taken away, but while we still have it, let us be bold to preach the gospel. And even if it would mean harm for us for preaching the gospel, let us not shrink back from this, but know that we are reaching lost souls for the kingdom of God by being faithful to what you have commanded us to do as ambassadors for your kingdom.
And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen.