Ron Dunn Podcast - Christ - The Provision of Life

Episode Date: June 11, 2025

Jesus Christ is constantly puring His strength into us and as such we should live in confidence that we can accomplish anything through Him.

The story of this power in my life comes from the Lord Jesus Christ who lives within me. That means that it's available for you, and that means that it's available for me. I can be another Paul, you can be another Paul, every Christian can be another Paul because we have Paul's Christ living in us. The same Jesus that was the dynamic behind his It's the same Jesus that lives in me. The source of this power is Jesus Christ, and the supply of this power is continual. That word, strengthen, is a participle, which means it's always happening. It's always happening. It's like a stream that's always flowing. It's like a waterfall that never stops. It's

always flowing. You may not be aware of it, but it's always pouring. It's like a waterfall that never stops. It's always flowing. You may not be aware of it, but it's always pouring into you. This is what Paul is literally saying. He's saying, I am ready to do anything because Jesus Christ is constantly pouring His strength into me. Sometimes you don't know it.

But you know, every Christian is sitting on a keg of dynamite. Every Christian has latent power in him. It's just lying there, ready to be used. When you're washing dishes you say, well, I don't feel very strong. I feel a long way off from God. The doorbell rings. The salesman calls. You call on that power to witness to that man and you'll discover that all the time, even though you were not aware of it, there was that latent power of Jesus Christ in you, constantly, continually being poured into you, just ready to be released at any time. At your job, sitting behind a desk at school, you may not have a feeling of power.

Having the power of Christ in you doesn't mean having goose bumps and chill bumps running up your back all the time. It means having faith in the fact. It means the fact that Jesus Christ resides in me and is constantly pouring his power into me. And at any moment, at any given time when the will of God calls upon me, that power is available. All I have to do is just let it be released through me. The supply, the stream of this power is continuous, continual, always going on, always going on. Paul says, I'm ready for anything. I like that. I'm ready for anything. Mr. Sheppey's not here tonight. Jim Allen's here. He's the head of the nominating committee. But wouldn't you like

everybody you talk to and say, hey, we pray, we believe God has a job for you wouldn't it be great if he said I'm ready I'm ready for anything I'm ready for anything I'm ready for anything are you ready for anything anything that the will of God lays upon you you can be ready and have all the spiritual power you need because Jesus Christ is constantly pouring it into you. Let's pray together. On the Christ-filled life and how the Christ-filled life works out in the life of the Apostle Paul. And one thing that I want us to understand that the Apostle Paul is an example of the Christ-filled life. He is not an exception to it. He is the example of what God will do in every person's life.

He is not an exception. Philippians chapter 4 4 beginning with verse 15 and reading through verse 20. Notwithstanding ye have done well that ye did communicate with my afflictions. Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again unto my necessity. Not because I desire gifts, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all and abound.

I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God." Notice the first word of that next verse, but, my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God and our Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. In discovering what the Christ-filled life is all about, we come to this last point and we discover that Christ is not only the person of our life and the pattern of our life and the pursuit of our life, he is not only the peace and the power of our life, but that he is also the provision of our life.

He is the provider of all our needs. And I emphasize the first word of that 19th verse because it points out a truth that I mentioned before we read the verses. Paul has just been explaining in this passage how that God has met his needs. He said, when I first began my ministry in the gospel, nobody supplied my needs except you. You're the only one that remembered me. Even when I was way over there in Thessalonica, when I was no longer in your country, when you were under no more obligation to support

me, you spent again and again to meet my needs and to take care of me. And he says, I'm full. He says, I'm not in want. God has supplied all of my needs. Here I am. He said, I was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. I was a learned Jew. I had my future before me, and I just abandoned it all and took to the road as an itinerant preacher. And he said, I want you to know that God has not let me down. He has supplied my every need.

But he said, also, I want you to know that I am no exception, that I am no special case. He said, I want you to know that what God has done for me, he'll do for you. So after in verses 15 through 18, as he describes how God has supplied his needs, he said, but my God, the same God that has cared for me and has met my need and has supplied me, but my God will also fully supply your needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. What God has done for me, he'll also do for you. Paul says, I'm an example of Christ's provision, not an exception to it. Oh, I wish, I wish the Lord would really

help me to learn that lesson. I wish and I pray He'll help you to really learn that lesson. That what God has done for the Apostle Paul is no exception as I've said again and again and I imagine I'll keep on saying it until we all come to know this and experience this, that everything, everything that the Holy Spirit did in Jesus and for Jesus while he was here on this earth, that's the reason he's indwelling you. That's the reason he's indwelling you. He wants to do the same thing for you. The same things that God did for the book of Acts, Christians, providing for them, empowering them, glorifying Jesus in them, He'll do the

same thing for you. They're no exception. They weren't super saints. I like that verse over in James. It's one of my rocking chair verses. Every once in a while when I get a little weary or I get to feel a little sorry for myself or thinking that maybe I'm not good enough or not spiritual enough. And when I sat down over there in James chapter five where it says Elijah was a man of like passions as we. But he prayed and the Lord stopped up heaven for three and a half years and didn't reign. Now what I like best about that verse is when he says Elijah and the minute he says Elijah, boy, I think about all the miracles that Elijah wrought. I think about how God fed him. I think about how God delivered him over and over again, how God mightily manifested himself in the life of Elijah. And as I would

look at Elijah, I'd say he belongs in the hall of fame. He's special. He's something different. Not everybody can be like Elijah. And so the Holy Spirit comes and underlines and he says, Elijah, a man just like us, a man of like passions. He has the same desires, the same failures, the same weaknesses, the same flesh that I had, a man just like us. The only difference is Elijah prayed and believed the Lord. So Paul says, listen, God has cared for me. He has met every need of mine. He has delivered me time and time again. And what my God has done, He'll do for you. But my God, you notice the personal pronoun there, you need to understand, you need to underscore that because Paul is emphasizing this. My God, you keep talking about my God.

You keep talking about Paul's God. You keep talking about the Jesus that Paul knows and the Jesus that reveals himself to Paul and delivers Paul. He says, listen, my God, the God that I know, the God that stands by me night after night in this Roman cell, the God that fills me until I have need of nothing, my God will do the same thing for you. He shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus." Now there are three phrases in that 19 verse that I want us to look at. The first phrase, that my God shall supply all your needs, and that phrase says that I want us to look at. The first phrase, that my God shall supply all

your needs. And that phrase says that the divine provision is adequate for all our requirements. The divine provision, the divine supply is adequate more than adequate for all our requirements. But my God shall supply all your needs." Well, I qualify for that promise. If there's anybody in need, it's me. I'm a needy person. You're a needy person. From the moment you're born, you're nothing more or less than a bundle of needs.

When you're a child, you have needs that are peculiar to childhood. When you're a child, you have needs that are peculiar to childhood. When you're an adolescent, you have needs that are peculiar to adolescence. When you're an adult, you have needs that are peculiar to adulthood. In an old age and approaching the end of life, you have needs. Physical needs, financial needs, social needs, emotional needs. Joy and times of joy and times of joy and times of sorrow and times of wealth and times of poverty. We all have needs. He's not merely talking about he's

going to help you teach your son at school class. The Bible is not a religious book as such. You know, we separate the sacred from the secular. We say part of our life is secular. It's out there in the real world. There's another part of our life that is sacred. It's in that fuzzy, dreamy type of world of religion. But the Bible never makes any distinction. The Bible does not separate the sacred and the secular. As far as God is concerned, it's all sacred because he's involved in all of it. And Paul here is not merely referring to our spiritual needs, he's referring to our physical needs. He's referring to my emotional needs. He's referring to my financial needs. Whatever my need is, my God shall supply all of your needs,

all of them. Boy, I like that underline, that three little words, a-l-l. I believe in the verbal inspiration of the scriptures. I believe every word is important. I believe the Holy Spirit picked out and selected every word, and I'm glad he did. I'm glad this ALL is not Paul's idea. I'm glad that's the Holy Spirit's idea. All of your needs, every one of them. What is your need? God will supply that need. What is it? God will supply that need. Now, of course, there's something

you need to do. You need to define your needs. I know that there have been times when you and I have not believed this verse because there was something we wanted desperately and God didn't give it. You read that verse carefully. He doesn't say God should give you all you want, give you all you need. He doesn't say He'll supply all your wishes and all your whims. He doesn't say He'll supply all your wants. He says He shall supply all your wishes and all your whims. He doesn't say he'll supply all your wants. He says he shall supply all your needs. You know, one thing the Lord is always trying to teach me is, he says, Lord, you just thought you needed that. Now, you define and refine and confine your needs from your wishes and your wants.

God never says he shall supply all your wants. Why? Because sometimes what you want is not what's best for you. Paul desperately wanted that thorn in the flesh to be removed. And I'll tell you something else. He thought he needed it removed too. He thought that having that thorn in the flesh removed was an absolute requirement. It was a need, but God proved then it wasn't a need. He didn't need that thorn removed. What he needed was more grace to bear it, and that's what God gave him. And sometimes we say, what I really need is to be delivered from this thing, but I want you to know sometimes you

don't need to be delivered from it. Sometimes all you need is to be reinforced in the midst of it and given sufficient grace in the midst of it. God will give you what you need. And so when we come to interpret this verse of scripture and claim its promise and apply it to our lives, we need to be careful about what we call needs and what we call wishes and wants. And I think part of the education that God gives to the Christian is to teach them what are the real needs of life. What are the real needs of life? Now let me ask you, do you believe this?

Do you believe this? Let's read it again. But my God shall supply all, A-L-L, no exception. My God shall supply all your needs. Do you believe that? All right. Listen to what Alexander McLaren, one of the greatest expositors, Baptist in England, a hundred years ago, said, the axiom of Christian faith is that whatever we do not obtain, we do not need. Believe that?

If you didn't get what you wanted, you didn't need it. If you'd have needed it, God would have given it to you. And so as Paul reads, says in commenting on this verse, and I like the way he says it, he says, our Father's infinite capacity for giving is the child's guarantee, the adequacy of His living. My Father's capacity for giving guarantees his child's adequacy for living. If I don't get it, I don't need it. The axiom of Christian faith is that whatever we do not obtain, we do not need. Have you been praying for something and you haven't received it?

Mrs. Wyand, one of the basic precepts of prayer is, first of all, to submit yourself to the will of God. Before I even begin to ask for this, Lord, I submit myself to you. Your will, I recognize that your will is best, not my wants, but your will is best. And I know that your will is going to be wrought out of my life as long as I yield myself to you and let you be Lord in my life. And I submit myself to your will. Your will is best. Now listen, whatever you do not obtain, you don't need.

My God shall supply all your needs. And that word supply is a tremendous word in the Greek. It means fill to the full. William translates it, amply supply, amply supply. God will supply all of your needs. Now the second phrase is, according to his riches in glory. And this phrase tells us that the divine supply is according to his riches.

The divine provision is according to his riches. That's the measure of God's supply. Maybe God can't meet my needs. Maybe God cannot solve my problem. Maybe God cannot do this for me. The Bible says he shall supply my needs, whether they're emotional, physical, material, financial, or spiritual, he shall supply all of my needs

according, measured by his riches in Christ Jesus. That means he shall supply my needs in a manner worthy of his great wealth. Now, if standing beside me is a millionaire, we're walking down the street, and someone comes up and says, oh, I'm in need, I'm in need. And being the gracious person that I am, I stand forward and I say, listen, I want you to know something, friend. I'm going to meet your needs according to my riches.

Or I wouldn't be much help. That'd be my skimpy chicken. According to my riches, I'm going to supply your needs. Well, thanks a lot. But if this millionaire steps forward and says, hey, I will supply your needs according to my riches. There you are. There you are. I will supply your needs in a manner worthy of my wealth. No limit. No limit. What do you need? What do you need? You know what that millionaire is saying?

He's saying, I am going to bring all of my wealth and I'm going to place it at your disposal. And you tap my wealth. You know, it's possible that even his riches would run dry. It's possible that even his riches would run dry. It's possible that even his wealth would run out. But who can measure the riches of glory? Wow. You're immeasurable according to his riches and glory. What is that problem you have? What is that need you have? You believe that your need, your little old, itsy-bitsy, finite human place, do you really believe that your need, your bill, your debt is going to bankrupt heaven? That's the way some of us live. That's the way some of us believe. That's the way some of us pray.

As though my little problem could throw heaven into bankruptcy. No, he is going to meet my needs, whatever those needs are, according to his rich. Thou art coming to a king, large petition which he brings. For his grace and power are such, you can never ask for too much. Notice the third phrase. Three little words at the end of verse 19, by Christ Jesus, or literally, in Christ Jesus. The divine provision is available only through the Redeemer. The divine provision is available only through our blessed Redeemer. In Christ Jesus, if you're outside of Christ Jesus, no use looking at this verse.

God has promised the supply of all our needs when we are in Christ Jesus. Why? Because when by faith I am in union with Jesus, then I am linked to the source and the supply of all heaven's wealth. When I united myself by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that linked me up, that dawned me up, that connected me up with the great supply and source of heaven's wealth in Christ's peace. Now, I copied this down from Mr. McLaren. It's so good. Listen. When Paul says, riches and glory, he puts them up high above our reach. But when he adds, in Christ Jesus, he brings them all down among us. Isn't that great?

If Paul had just said riches and glory, which one of us could reach them? Stand on tiptoes, still cannot reach them. Build a tower of Babel, still cannot reach them. But in Christ Jesus lowers them down until he goes on. In him are infinite riches in a narrow room. If we are in him, then we are beside our treasure and have only to put out our hands and take the wealth that is lying there. All that we need is in Christ. And if we are in Christ, it is all closed at our side. Praise the Lord.

In Christ Jesus, when I got Christ, I got everything God had. In Him, all the treasures of the Godhead stored up, and in Him, you are filled to the full, the divine provision available only to those who are in Christ's heat. What a tremendous promise. No wonder Paul ends it with verse 20. He just can't let it drop there. He must have a doxology. Now unto God and our Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. That's just like Paul. He begins talking about the infinite riches in glory that are available to us in Christ Jesus. And you can just see Paul as he is thrilled with that. He says, God be the glory, amen. The divine provision that's in Christ. Let me repeat the axiom of Christian faith. Whatever we do not obtain, we do not need. That's kind of negative. The positive is whatever we need, God provides. Whatever we need, God