And the truth of Philippians chapter four and verse number 13 applies in so many areas of our lives as a Christian. The Apostle Paul here is writing to the church at Philippi. We know this, it's a prison epistle. We know that he is writing to this church. He obviously faced challenges of what we might call prison challenges. He's in a position of imprisonment. And when we understand where he's writing from, I don't know about you, but to me, it helps me. I appreciate more what the apostle is writing here and knowing that his life was facing a lot of challenges here. He was not free to go and do what he wanted. He was chained for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. And yet there's so much in this book itself. I mean, really the book has a theme, a theme of joy. Many times he mentions rejoice in the Lord always, and which means he was practicing that from his time of imprisonment. And he tells us in verse number 13, a tremendous promise, a tremendous truth we have. He tells us, I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. Can we read this verse together? Philippians 4, 13, read it together now. I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. I just simply wanna give you a couple of reasons why this morning, I think this is a tremendous verse for us as we look at I want to bow and ask the Lord to meet with us and then we'll dive in. Lord, we love you today. Thank you for the privilege to gather here in your house. Lord, I thank you for the word of God and how it applies to our lives. Lord, how it has applied to lives all through the centuries. Lord, we thank you that it's quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Lord, I pray now that you would help us as your people to get a fresh look, a fresh vision, to be freshly encouraged by this simple verse. Lord, I pray that we would leave here with a resolve, with a renewed faith and encouragement in you and in what you can do in and through us. Lord, I recognize without you I'm nothing, so I yield myself to you. And I pray, Lord, that you would speak to me and speak through me to your people and that you would be glorified in everything that's said and done in Jesus' name. Amen. I like this verse for a number of reasons, but I want to give you three reasons. Number one, I want us to see this. The first two words, I can speak to me of possibility. If you're taking notes, write that word down, possibility. I can speaks of possibility. Sometimes when we look at the Christian life, I don't know about you and what time you, when you got saved, and I'll hold you where when you got saved, but as you get saved, obviously we know Spirit of God indwells us, and then sometimes we get into the Word of God, and we look at the pages of Scripture, and we see what it is that God wants us to do, and sometimes we can find ourselves saying, I can't. You know, I think that we often say, I can't, in our mind, more than we do say, I can. When we think about this verse, this verse speaks of possibility. I can. Sometimes we look at the Christian life, we say that's good for Deacon so-and-so. Oh boy, he's been saved a long time, and he grew up in a Christian home, and he can. Sometimes we look at the need to see people saved. Thank God for the song that the girls sang this morning with pointing people to the cross. What the world needs is Jesus and the world needs us to point them to the cross. And sometimes we look at the Christian life and we think, wow, we need to point people to Jesus and that's good, but that's good for somebody that has a more of a personality or somebody maybe that's a little more educated than I am. And we excuse ourselves and think that, hey, I don't have to, but the Bible says I can do all things to Christ, which strengthens me. I think as we think concerning possibility, I think we need to quit listening to the lies that we speak to ourselves. We often, the scripture tells us in 2 Corinthians 3, that we are not to compare ourselves with ourselves. Excuse me, that's 2 Corinthians 10. We're not to compare ourselves with ourselves. Why? Because that is unwise. Do you know in 2 Corinthians 3, and we'll probably look at this more in detail in upcoming weeks possibly, the Bible says this, who God hath made us able ministers of the New Testament. If you're saved here this morning, the Bible says that you are an able minister of the New Testament. We need to quit listening to lies that we come up with in our own minds of why we can't do what God has called us to do. Secondly, as we think concerning the lies that often we listen to, they keep us from an I can mentality, we need to quit listening to the lies of other people. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter number 17. 1 Samuel chapter number 17 is a tremendous illustration of this thought. We often let other people convince us of what we can't do. In 1 Samuel, chapter number 17, it's a very familiar story that you're familiar with, I am sure. It is the story of David and Goliath. And the Bible says that the men, they were out in the fields and they were fighting. And the Bible says that Jesse said unto David in verse number 17 of 1 Samuel 17, take now for thy brethren an ephaph of this parched corn and these 10 loaves and run to the camp to thy brethren. Verse 20, and David arose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper. and took and went as Jesse commanded. Here's a teenager, a young, probably 17, 18 year old, we don't know exactly, but here's a teenager that's given a command by his dad to go out, take this food to your brothers, they're out in the battle, and see how they're doing. And we know the story, David shows up, and when David shows up, Goliath comes out, and Goliath mocks the people of God. He mocks the people of God. He mocks God himself. And the Bible says in verse number 26, David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine? And take it away the reproach from Israel. For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of God? And they tell him, verse 27, what will be done. Look at verse number 28. And Eliab, his eldest brother, heard when he spake unto the men, and Eliab's anger was kindled against David. And he said, Why camest thou down hither? And with whom hast thou left those sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thy heart. for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. Eliab is scorning David. David, what do you think you're doing? What do you think you're doing? You're just a shepherd boy. What do you think you're doing coming here and inquiring concerning Goliath? And David gives him that famous phrase. He said, is there not a cause? And David says, hey, I'm going to go and I'm going to fight Goliath. And his brothers are like, you're a knucklehead. He comes to Saul, the word gets to the king, King Saul, and the Bible tells us here in verse number, let's see here, in verse number 33, Saul says to David, thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for thou art but a youth. and he a man of war from his youth. What did David have? David had in his life, unfortunately, we have sometimes the same thing. David had some people in his life that were naysayers. They were naysayers. They were looking to him and saying, you're just a youth. You can't do this. You can't fight Goliath. What are you, crazy? But David's eyes weren't on man. David's eyes weren't on Goliath. David's eyes were on God. And we know the story. David went out and David defeated Goliath. And we know that story. What a tremendous victory. But there are naysayers, and sometimes we allow other people to convince us, not that we can, but that we can't. God puts something in our heart. I saw this with young people. I worked with young people for a number of years. Young people would go to camp, and they'd come back, and they'd say, hey, I'm gonna change this world for God. I'm gonna make a difference with my life, and they'd come home. I saw it at first hand. They'd come home, I dropped one kid off, took him into his living room, and here his dad sitting on the couch, He said, hey, I'm excited about the Lord, and I'm sitting there, and you know what his dad did? His dad took a cup of water and poured it on him. Well, is this decision gonna stick this time? You see, there's a lot of naysayers in this world, and sometimes we listen to the lies of coworkers, we listen to the lies sometimes of friends, we listen to the lies of individuals that are in our lives, and we convince ourselves, based on what others have said, that we can't, when the Bible says, I can. Hey, we listen to the lies of our own thinking, we listen to the lies of others, but I want you to see thirdly, we need to quit listening to the lies of the devil. Do you know the Bible tells us in Revelation chapter 12 and verse number of 10, the Bible says, for the accuser of the brethren is cast down, which accused them before God day and night. Do you know our adversary, the devil, is an accuser of the brethren. He accuses us before God. He has access to God in heaven and accuses us before God, but he accuses us before our own selves. The devil wants to do what he can to try to keep us from thinking, I can, and so he'll convince us that we can't. You say, how will you do that? You know, you had sin you did last week. That was bad. Remember your past? Remember what you did as a young person? Man, that was really, really bad. God can only use you just this much. That's it. And for some, the devil will try to convince us, due to some past failure, due to some inconsistency, or due to some weakness in our life, the devil will try to convince us that we can't be used of God at all, or we can only be used of him just a little bit. And it is a lie. The Bible tells us, we read this story in Genesis chapter number 3, that Satan showed up there in the Garden of Eden. And what did he say to Adam and Eve? He basically said, God's holding out on you. He's not allowing you to eat of this tree. They had so many trees that they could have eaten from. but that one that God said you can't. And he convinces them that God isn't out for their good, and Satan will do what he can to try to convince us that God's not out for our good. In John 8, in verse number 44, the Bible says the devil is a liar and the father of lies. And you know what? It's easy for us to allow the devil to put things in our mind that aren't true. And we gotta recognize that this verse, I can do all things, speaks of possibility. Do you believe you can? Do we believe? You think about the commission that the disciples were given. Go into all the world and preach the gospel. By the way, that's the same commission that we have. Jesus said to a handful of individuals, He said, be a witness in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth. And they didn't sit there and have a discussion with the Lord Jesus about how they couldn't do that. They recognized if this is what you want us to do, then we can do it. And they went out and they preached the gospel and the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation, did its work. Say it with me, I can. Can you repeat that? I can. It speaks of possibility. Number two, I want you to see this. The Bible here says, I can do all things. I can do all things. Number two, write this word down. This is the word purpose. It's the word purpose. Now, when we go back and look at our text, the Apostle Paul is not thinking about all things like sometimes we think all things. He is not thinking, I can do all things. I can earn lots of money and I can be the richest person in the world. That's some all things, isn't it? That's not what he's referring to. We think concerning the all things, sometimes we think, wow, I can break the Guinness Book of World Records in some area, or I can be the smartest person in the world, or I can be the most athletic or the most talented. That's not what the Apostle Paul is referring to in this verse. What he is referring to is this, he's referring to the all things, the things that God has determined for his life. We can say it this way, I can fulfill God's purpose for my life. God has a specific purpose for each and every one of us. Listen to this scripture. The Bible says in Psalm 139 and verse 14, I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. None of us were an accident. Every one of us were fearfully and wonderfully made. And the psalmist said, marvelous are thy works. A few verses later, in verse 17, the psalmist says, how precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God, how great is the sum of them. God created us, He formed each of us. He formed us for a specific purpose. He told Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse number 5, Do you know before God formed you and I in the belly, He knew us. And he says to Jeremiah, and I knew thee, and before thou cameest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Do you know we have a great God, King of kings and Lord of lords that spoke this world into existence, and part of his plan is you and me. He created us for a purpose. Paul told the church at Rome, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you do what? Present your body a living sacrifice. Here I am, Lord. I give you myself. Present your bodies a living sacrifice. And then he says in verse two, and be not conformed to this world, but be what? Be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Do you know the greatest place for any of us is to be right in the center of God's will? The Apostle Paul knew while writing this book in a prison, he knew that he was in the center of God's will. And though he doesn't talk about the negatives too much, he says, I can do all things. Why? He can do all things because all things is exactly what God's plan was for his life. And we need to recognize that the purpose of God, all things can be done and we'll see it in a minute through Christ which strengthens us. So you and I have everything we need to fulfill the will of God. Jesus said in John 4, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. He's our example. John 13, he says, I have given you example. He's our example. Jesus came to do what? To fulfill God's will for his life. The Apostle Paul recognized the will of God on his life many times. He uses the phrase, I'm called to be an apostle by the will of God. Let me ask us this question this morning. What has God called you to be? What is the specific will of God for your life? Now, I know generally we all need to be reaching people with the gospel. We all need to be glorifying God, whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do, we glorify God. But God has a specific call, a specific will for each and every one of us. And we need to recognize that whatever that will might be, we can, through Christ, which strengthens us. God wants us to know His will. The Bible says in Acts 22 in verse 14, and he said, The God of our fathers has chosen thee that thou shouldest know His will. God wants us not only to know His will, He wants us to understand it. Ephesians chapter 5, the Bible says in verse 17, wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. He wants us to know it, He wants us to understand it, but number three, He wants us when it comes to His purpose, His plan for our lives, He wants us to do it. The Bible says in Colossians 1 and verse 9 that we are filled with or controlled by the knowledge of His will. Do not cease to pray for you and desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will. Are we doing the will of God for our lives? As we think concerning 2022. God has us here. Here we are. We weren't born in the 1800s. At least I don't think so. We weren't born in the 1700s. How about that? We're born in this time period. And God saved us. Praise God, we're on our way to heaven. But when you got saved, the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ moved into your life. And just as God had a specific will for the Apostle Paul, which included persecution, it included preaching, it included seeing people saved, it included penning the scriptures that we read here, just as much as God had a specific will for the Apostle Paul, God has a specific will for you and for me. And it involves us glorifying Him and proclaiming Jesus Christ. And when we think about what God has called us to do, it's bigger than we are. And that's why we find ourselves embracing an I can't. where the possibility for you and I to fulfill God's will in 2022 is an I can. I can do all things. I can fulfill God's will for my life. I'm so glad God has given us all that we need to live godly in Christ Jesus. What does God want from us? There's much. When you think about it, I can be kind. I can be loving. I can be patient. I can be caring. I can be compassionate. You're here today as a lady. You say, well, I can be the wife God's called me to be. As a husband, you can be the husband God's called you to be. You can be the parent God's called you to be. You can be the young person, the teenager that God's called you to be. You can be the Sunday school teacher. You can be the soul winner. You can be the Christian that God wants you to be. And the list could go on and on and we need to quit making excuses and believe that we can fulfill God's will for our life. Sometimes God's will involves difficulty. Sometimes God's will involves hurt. Sometimes it involves hardship. And sometimes we find ourselves saying, I don't know that I can take any more pain in my life. And humanly, we can. But if the will of God for us, if his purpose for us includes pain and hardship and difficulty, and it oftentimes does, then we need to recognize that the all things that's part of my life, I can, do. God has given me, and we're going to see in just a minute the power that we have. That's our third word. God has given me, whatever He allows in my life, God has given me the ability to fulfill His will as I depend on Christ. And we'll see that in just a minute. Do you know, all things do work together for good. To them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose. God is able to make all grace abound toward us. So the I can speaks of possibility. We need to remind ourselves over and over again, I can, I can. I can do what? I can do all things. I can fulfill the will of God for my life even if it means pain and difficulty and hardship. Imagine the difficulty that the Apostle Paul must have been going through while writing this as he's chained. We know that he went through a lot, do we not? As a matter of fact, if you hold your place there in Philippians and turn to 2 Corinthians chapter number 11, I want you to see this, 2 Corinthians chapter number 11, or really just remind yourself concerning what Paul had in his life. Serving God wasn't a picnic for him. You see, the serving God's not a picnic for me. It wasn't a picnic for him either. If you look at 2 Corinthians chapter number 11 and begin with me, look, follow along as I read beginning in verse number 23. The latter part of that says, I am more in labors more abundant. In stripes above measure, he was beaten. In prisons more frequent, in depths off. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes, save one. Five times he was beaten, thirty-nine times. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once I was stoned. Thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I've been in the deep. In journeyings often, in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness. in pearls in the sea, in pearls among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watching often, in hunger and thirst, in fasting often, in cold and nakedness. Verse 30, if I must needs glory, I'll glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. And he says in chapter number 12, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. What was the purpose or the plan of God for the Apostle Paul? It was for him to be a witness of the gospel, but that included being beat, that included suffering shipwreck, that included the difficulties and challenges of people turning on him, that included being stoned, But he says this, I can do all things. I can fulfill the will of God for my life. Number three, I want you to see this. I want you to see the third word is the word power. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. When you got saved, the Holy Spirit of God moved in. He moved into your life to be a comfort, to be a counselor. But do you know what? The Holy Spirit of God moved into your life that He might live the Christian life through you. When we think about this, what God is, God has given us the ability through Christ to fulfill His will. The Bible says in Colossians chapter one and verse number 27. If you don't know this verse, write this verse down. Christ, the latter part of this verse, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Do you know what? Whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. That means that I'm to fulfill God's will and I'm to give people the right opinion of God. Hey, if I'm going to glorify God, it is going to be the Christ in me that I allow to live through me that's going to glorify God. Christ in you, the hope of glory. The Apostle Paul, as I said, was used of God to win souls and influence people all around the world. He planted churches, he penned the scriptures, he suffered, but he didn't do it all in his own power. As a matter of fact, hold your place, if you need to, in Philippians, and turn with me to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter number 2, he gives this testimony to the church here at Corinth. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. You know, I don't know about the picture that you have of the Apostle Paul, but the picture that I have is some big, tall, strong man. He was not, I hear he was short, and he had a lot of weaknesses. But you think of somebody that just can take the world on. That's not the Apostle Paul in reality. Matter of fact, he says this to the church at Corinth. He says in verse one of chapter two of 1 Corinthians 2, And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Can you identify with verse 3? I was with you in weakness and in fear, and in much trembling. When we go out on Outreach Sunday and we try to tell people about Jesus, it's often with weakness and fear and much trembling. Paul said, hey, I didn't have what it takes to go out and to be a preacher. He says, my speech, verse four, my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power. "'that your face should not stand in the wisdom of man, "'but in the power of God.'" What did he say? He said, hey, I wasn't relying on my own speech, my own ability to articulate. I wasn't relying on my own power because I was weak and I was trembling and all of us are weak and all of us are trembling. Yet we can do all things through Christ which strengthens us. Galatians chapter 2 in verse 20, the Bible says this, Paul said again, I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. In a time of hardship, 2 Corinthians 4 in verse 10. always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. Ephesians 1 and verse 19. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe? according to the working of his mighty power. We know Ephesians 3.20, God used in our lives with our building, unto him that's able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask, according to the power that worketh in us. Zechariah said in chapter four and verse six, not by might nor by power, but my spirit saith the Lord of hosts. We embrace an I can't mentality when we try to live the Christian life in the power of the flesh. When we try to do what we're supposed to do, and say what we're supposed to say, and be what we're supposed to be in the power of the flesh, and God has given us all that we need to fulfill His will. Why? Because we have Christ, and Christ is the answer for the Christian life. Do you know the Christ that lives in you always responds in a proper way? You say, boy, I sometimes have a problem just shooting something out with my tongue. Sometimes I'll say things that I shouldn't say. Do you know what? If we'll yield to the Christ that lives in us, the Christ that lives in us will be kind with our words. You say, boy, sometimes I don't know what to say when I go out there to tell people about Jesus. If you're depending on you, it isn't gonna work. But if we go out there in faith and we say, God, you live in me. Christ, would you witness through me to other people? If we'll allow him, he will. You see, sometimes we don't respond in the proper way. Something comes in, whether it be pain or difficulty or hurt, and we want to punch them in the nose. You heard about the fellow that said, I love you in the spirit, but I hate you in the flesh. And often that's how it is. Our flesh wants to rise up and react, and we want to punch somebody in the nose. But you know what? The Christ that lives in us doesn't desire to punch somebody in the nose. And the reality is He will live the Christian life through us if we will let Him. And so the Apostle Paul's statement isn't a statement of human ability, it's no, I have the possibility of fulfilling God's will because of the Christ that lives in me. You know what, life's not easy. A lot of challenges. As a matter of fact, every one of you has challenges. Every one of you faces impossibilities. And though it may look on the outward like they have it all together, or this guy has it all together, or this one. No, you get to know them a little bit and you realize that none of us have it all together. The all things, the will of God for our life is not easy, but I can fulfill it because I have Christ in my life. One commentator said this. He explained the source of God's strength in this way. All of nature depends on hidden resources. The great trees send their roots down into the earth to draw up water and minerals. Rivers have their sources in the snow-capped mountains. The most important part of a tree is the part you cannot see, the root system, and the most important part of the Christian's life is the part that only God sees. Unless we draw on the deep resources of God by faith, we fail against the pressures of life. Can I say that again? Unless we draw on the deep resources of God by faith, we fail against the pressures of life. Paul depended on the power of Christ at work in his life. I can, through Christ, was his motto. And I can, through Christ, can be our motto too. We just finished the Christmas season. The angel said to Mary, nothing is impossible with God. May God help us individually to say I can, it's possible, fulfill the will of God for my life. Even if it means facing pain and hardship and sickness and whatever it may be, I can fulfill the will of God for my life. because I have Christ, and He is my strength. He is my enabler. What a tremendous promise. We don't know what the year ahead lies, but what does God want us to do? As individuals, God wants every member of Vicary Baptist Church to fulfill His will individually for your life. And as a church, God wants us as a church to fulfill his plan for Victory Baptist Church right here in Chester Springs in 2022. Lord, thank you.