Take your Bibles and turn with
me to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. I titled my message this morning,
Supply and Demand. I'm told that the success of
any salesman or any promoter, any company, any manufacturer
is supply and demand. That is, in order to be successful,
these two elements must be in place. There must be a need,
and there must be a supply to meet the need. And as I thought
about the message this morning, I thought about how true this
is in the realm of the spiritual. Now look here at verse 19 with
me of Philippians chapter 4. He said, but my God shall supply
all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. In the marketing industry, the
need is very particular. They spend millions of dollars
trying to zero in on that market and find a need for whatever
it is they manufacture. Sometimes they'll find the need
first and then manufacture and make something up to fit the
need. And they just spend millions and millions of dollars to zero
in on this specific need and then millions more in advertising
to make you aware that you have a need and then millions more
on top of that attempting to convince you that what they have
can supply your need. That's why I hate to watch TV
with commercials. They are always trying to sell
you something. Well, the ministry of the gospel is very similar
except for the mysteries involved and the necessity of divine intervention. All mankind is needy. The need
is there. The market is wide open. All
sons of Adam are needy. They may not realize it, They
may not be convinced of it, but they're poor and needy, all of
them, every last one. All mankind is needy, but not
all men are aware of the need. And God has what all men need,
but men are ignorant both that they're needy and that God has
what they need. They're ignorant. That's what
Paul said, they're ignorant. And there's two key elements
in this ministering of the gospel, and these two elements, I believe,
are the very same. Supply and demand. Supply and
demand. The voice said, Cry. And he said,
What shall I cry? He said, Cry all flesh is grass,
and all the goodliness of the flesh. Not the rottenness of
it, not the bad things about it. All the goodliness of the
flesh is like the flower of the grass. It's all grass. You look out there and there's
some dandelions in the spring. We have a lot of them up in Kentucky.
The whole thing turns dandelion color. And there's flowers out
there, but it's all grass. It's just grass. And the goodliness
of man is like the flower of the grass. Where the grass withereth
and the flower fadeth. These good things fade. That
grass fades. That nature fades. Because the
Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Blows upon it. There's little or no interest
in the gospel of Christ today, and I believe there's two reasons.
First, because there's little or no gospel being preached.
Men are not aware that they have a need. Men are being told that
they're good. They're basically good. One preacher
begins his sermon, has for 30 years. He stands up in that crystal
cathedral out there in California and he said, all things are possible. All things are possible. God
has something good to give to you today. How many times have
you heard these men say that? There's little or no interest
in the gospel because there's no gospel being preached. Now
there's a lot of folks being led down aisles. A lot of folks
being forced into decisions. A lot of folks being led to reform.
But there's very little gospel. Very little gospel being preached.
And then the second reason why there's so little interest is
because the living God has not stirred the hearts of men and
women so as to convince them of their need. God has to stir
men's hearts. Sometimes I stand up here and
absolutely preach my heart out. And nobody stirred. Nobody stirred. I write articles. They go up
on the Internet. And I look on there, and sometimes
I'll have as many as 3,000 downloads on a single article. But I get
very little sign or evidence that it had any effect on these
people who read it whatsoever. Same thing with the messages. I want you to take this text this
morning, and I want you to look at it very close. And he starts
with this. He says, My God shall supply. Now, I want to make this morning
three applications to this text. And the first application is
that I want you to see this text as it has to do with the salvation
of sin. with the salvation of sinners.
Now, I've been convinced for some time now that I need to
preach more on the subject of man's falling condition. I just
assume that after so many months, people are aware of that, but
they're not aware of it. They're not aware of it. I stand up here and talk about
sin, and men hear me and say, well, boy, he hit him right between
the eyes. But you missed me. No, I didn't
miss you. You missed you. God has to stir
your hearts. I need to preach more on the
subject of sin. I heard Brother Mahan say one
time, if he had it to do over again, he'd just preach on sin
for about six months. Just preach on sin. Don't preach
on anything else. Just preach on sin. They got
on to Brother Rob Barnard because he was preached a lot about man's
sin and about man's falling condition and about man's helplessness.
And they told old Rob, they said, Rob said, you can catch more
flies with honey than you can with vinegar. And he said, I
reckon that's true, but I'm not trying to catch flies, I'm trying
to kill sinners. You have to preach on sin. A
man will never seek mercy until he's convinced of God that he's
a sinner. He's a sinner. And I've been
convinced for some time that I need to preach more on that
subject. There's not a more needy creature on this earth than man.
And man's ready and willing to save his environment. That's
all I hear on the TV anymore is saving the environment and
the ozone. He'll devote his whole life to
save the ozone. He'll starve himself to death
to preserve an owl or a wolf or a fish. He'll direct all of
his resources to clean up an oil spill. Replant a forest. Turn a desert into an oasis. But he gives no thought to his
soul. None whatsoever. To his polluted soul. It's as though the need is not
seen at all. The Son of God came into this
world to save sinners. And they came to Him in religious
bodies that said in judgment of what He said, as though they
were righteous, as though they had no need, as though they were
a council appointed by God to judge His words. This was the
Son of God standing before them. He said, which one of you convinces
me of sin, of any sin? But why don't you hear My word?
You've never met a sinless man, but now you have. Why won't you
hear my words?" That's what he told them. He came into this world to save
sinners, dying, filthy, diseased sinners. And they came out to
him in these religious groups, and they set in judgment on him,
and they questioned what he said, and they did all these things,
and he said, I came into this world to save sinners. And he
said, I'll have mercy and not sacrifice. Now you go learn what
that means. You go learn what that means
and then come back. Because you don't know what it
means. Fallen, depraved, filled with ignorance, filled with darkness.
All have sinned, Paul said, and come short of the glory of God. And never a man, he preached,
but never a man spake like this man. This was the eternal Word
of God Himself speaking to fallen sinners. And that Word went right
in one ear and right out the other. Why? Because they hollow
inside. Big, empty vacuum of darkness. That's all that's in our nature. The Lord told His disciples,
And I know this is so. The first thing that must happen
in the heart of a man is for God Himself to intervene. For
God, the Holy Ghost, I read it to you a while ago, over in 2
Corinthians 4. The Holy Ghost must shine in
his heart and let him see that void. Convince him of his sin. Show him what's inside. Show
him what he is. Convince him. Convince him of
it. Let him see that leprosy. Let
him experience that emptiness of his own soul. And then the
Lord told His disciples, He said, it's expedient for you that I
go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you. But if I depart, I'll send Him
unto you. John 16, verse 8. And when He
comes, We're all going to speak in tongues and jump up and down.
No, that ain't what He said. That ain't what He said. We're all going to come forward
and make a decision. That ain't what He said. When
He has come, He will reprove the world of sin. Of sin. I tell you, I hear men and women
talk all the time about what a What a Spirit-filled meeting
we had the other night. We was down there, and this happened,
and that happened, and they sang, and this happened, and something
else, and it was just such a Spirit-filled meeting. The love of God was
there, the Spirit of God. Now, if the Spirit of God had
been there, everybody would have crawled out the back door. Guilty! Guilty! When He has come, He
will reprove the world of sin. Convince them of what they are.
When He convinces you of what you are, you'll quit trying to
convince everybody else of what you are. You'll know what you
are and want to go hide. You won't want to know it. You
won't want anybody to get... You just think, I tell you, when
the Lord first began to work on me about this thing of sin,
I didn't even want to be in the presence of anybody. I felt like
it was written all over me. I felt like the leprosy was sticking
out on my skin and they could see me and smell me and know
exactly what I was. A sinner. Convinced of it. Convinced of it. And I'll tell
you this, if He ever convinces you of your sin, He'll have to
convince you of your righteousness in Christ. Because you won't
believe it. You won't believe it. You'll
say, there can't be any mercy for me. God be just, if He sends
me to hell, He'll be just. There's no hope for me. He'll
have to convince you of it. And when He convinces you of
this righteousness that's in Christ, now He's going to have
to convince you that your rightful, just judgment is over. That's
what the Holy Spirit does, and He does it in that sequence of
sin, because they believe not on Me. They believe not on Me. If there were any goodness, if
there were any wisdom, any godliness in a man, he'd embrace the Lord
Jesus Christ. Would he not? Huh? They'd embrace Him. There's nothing
in Him not to embrace. He's filled with love. In Him
is the love of God. In Him is the mercy of God, the
grace of God, the wisdom of God. All of these things are in Christ. A government, the government's
on his shoulders, but a government that governs for peace and righteousness. A good government. There's no
reason in Christ not to embrace him. You see what he's saying? If there was any goodness or
wisdom or godliness in a man, he'd embrace the Lord Jesus Christ.
He'd not only approve of God's testimony about him, he'd rejoice
in it. He'd be jumping up and down in
it. But here's the condemnation.
Light came into the world and men loved darkness rather than
light. They hear that gospel of Christ.
They hear of His offices. And I tell you this, the Bible
holds nothing back about His glorious person telling everyone,
anyone, anybody that can read a book who He is, why He came,
what He did and where He's at. It tells of the necessity of
his becoming a man, of his obedience as a servant to the law. His
willingness as our substitute to die on a cross, to stand before
the holy justice of God, bearing our sins and his own body on
the tree. It tells of the necessity of
his offices as prophet, priest, and king. Who else are you going
to let run things? Who else has the wisdom to run
them? Who else has the wisdom to dispense them? You gave these
things to the Protestant church, the Catholics wouldn't get it.
You give it to the Catholics, the Protestants wouldn't get
it. Give it to the rich, they wouldn't give it to the poor.
Give it to the poor, they wouldn't give it to the rich. There isn't
anybody else. It's Christ. You see what I'm
saying? He's the only one fit for the
job. Fit for the job. And the job
he's fit for requires offices, prophet, priest, and king. The Bible testifies to that. It doesn't
hold anything back. It tells every detail of the
glory of God vested in him from all his eternal appointments
to his accomplishments on Calvary to his glorious second coming
and even beyond. Nothing evidences the blackness
and emptiness of a man's soul more than his unwillingness to
embrace and love the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't have another
argument. It's not because you drink too
much. It's because you don't love Christ. You see Him and
you hear Him and you read about Him. And you know that he died
on that cross. You know that he suffered in
somebody's room instead. And he said, whosoever will,
let him come. Let him drink. Then why don't
I come? Why don't I drink? Because I'm
filled with sin. Filled with darkness. Oh, I've
got a list of excuses I could fill a notebook full. Fill a
notebook full. But here is where the Holy Spirit
convinces a man of sin, as He shows him all the goodness and
willingness of God in this man, Christ Jesus, and shines that
light. Here it is. Bright light, the
glorious light, the express image of God in him. But you won't look. You won't
look. And you won't bow. Nothing evidences the blackness
and emptiness of a man's soul more than his unwillingness to
embrace the Lord Jesus. So said is a man in his rebellion
to God that if another, he said, will come in his own name, think
of the foolishness involved in that. Think of the, I suppose,
untold millions who have stood on this earth in his name. If
another will come in His own name, Him you will receive. I
don't care how foolish it is. Well, I found this book out in
the desert under a rock. How many millions are following
Him? Huh? Following all over Him. Following
all over Him. Even a Jim Jones or a Father
Divine, all of these men, there are untold millions of them throughout
time. But no, there comes in His own
name, no matter what His name implies, Him they will receive.
Anyone, any way, anything except the Lord Jesus Christ. But all
the riches of God are in Christ the Lord. He said, In Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete
in Him. Oh, but what are principalities?
He is the head of all principalities You're complete in Him. But then
let me press this just a little bit further. I think I see in
this text the supply, the need, and God's willingness to both
expose your need and to fill it. Paul said there's no difference
between Jew and Greek. No difference between the religious
and the heathen, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all
that call upon Him. That call upon Him. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Somebody said one time their
preaching is just one beggar telling another beggar where
he got his bread. That's true. That's true. That's
true. I've done my best to show you
how this text applies to our salvation. Now, secondly, let
me show you how it applies to prayer. Because that's why it
was written. That applies to prayer. I don't
know if you've ever thought much about prayer, but prayer is the
evidence of life and faith in the soul. You can't be saved
apart from prayer. Did you know that? I just quoted
it to you. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. You're going to call or you ain't
going to be saved. Well, I thought all God's elect
were going to be saved no matter what. No. The same God who elected
them predestinated the means. That's right. The same one whose
counsel provided for election, provided for the means. God hath
from the beginning chosen you unto salvation through. Through. Ain't that what that word says?
chosen you unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth, whereunto He called you by our gospel."
It means prayer is necessary to salvation,
whosoever shall call. I know there's other things involved.
How shall they call on Him on whom they have not believed?
How shall they believe on Him on whom they have not heard?
How are they going to hear without a preacher? How is He going to
preach except to be sent? A lot of things, but here's what
it comes down to. You won't call. And you will call if you will
be saved. There must be a calling upon
His name. They call on Him because that's
where forgiveness is. They call on Him because that's
where truth is. That's where redemption is. That's
where God's name is. And prayer is the breath of the
believer. A tiny baby is born. I don't know about any more,
but they used to pull him up by the feet and spank his little
butt. And when they did, he'd cry. He'd cry. That's what God
does in us. When that life created in us,
first thing we do is cry. We call on His name. And we keep
right on calling. Keep right on calling. God does
this mysterious work of regeneration and gives us the gift of faith.
The first evidence that a man is born of God is prayer. He
calls out. He calls out. God sends forth,
Paul said, the Spirit of His Son into our hearts and we cry,
Abba, Father. God awakens the sinner to see
his need and He gives him eyes to see what he needs and where
to find it. And like a little child, he just
keeps coming back. I tell you, when I learned that
there was food on the table at six o'clock when I was a kid,
at six o'clock, I was sitting at the table. I was ready to
go. Actually, about ten till. And my wife and I, we raised
three children. And one thing I learned from
the experience, they never quit crying. They're still crying. And they never quit coming to
where they find their need taken care of. When they run into a
problem, even married, when they run into a problem, they call
you up. Why? Because that's where they
always found that need filled. And that Son of God, when He's
born of God, He starts crying and God feeds Him. He starts
crying and God clothes Him. He starts crying and God nurses
Him. He cuddles Him. He suckers Him. He holds Him in His arm. And
he loves him, and he puts him on his back, and he's going to
carry him all the way back to the fold. And the whole way,
he's just going to keep right on crying to the Lord. The need demands a supply, so
the sinner who knows his need, he goes where the need is filled,
and he finds the supply. Paul said, My God shall supply
all your need. He was giving them thanks. He
was down here in prison suffering for the gospel. And all the churches
pretty much disowned him because he was a prisoner and they didn't
want to be associated with him. They didn't want to look bad
on him. But he says these people came down and ministered to him
when he was down there in that prison. They didn't care. They
wanted to be identified with him. They come down there and
they fed him and they gave him them thanks. And Paul said, my
Lord will take care of all my needs. But he said, for your
sakes, he said, I'm glad you did this. I'm glad you did this.
This is a sweet savor to me and a sweet savor to God as you did
these things. But he said, my God, my God shall
supply all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. And we looked at these things
as evidence in our initial crying out to God. Now let's look at
it as they apply to our daily walk and our worship. Earlier
in this fourth chapter of Philippians, Paul encourages them to rejoice. Turn back there, look back just
a little bit in chapter 4 there in Philippians at verse 4. Rejoice
in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation
be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand." Now, just
hold your place there. I want to speak on that for just
a second. Believers are not monks. We're
not monks. When a man comes to a knowledge
of grace and a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he calls
on Him and embraces Him, and God's regenerated that man and
converted that man, he don't leave home and go out and live
in the woods and eat berries. He's still in this world. It's
not against the will of God for you to be in this world. It is
the will of God. In his high priestly prayer in
John chapter 17, he said, I pray not that thou take them out of
the world, but keep them from the evil one. We are in this
world. in this world. The believer is
a man who on purpose is left in this world, and his purpose
for being here is in some way to promote, support, or preach
this gospel of Jesus Christ and the calling out of God's elect.
And we're warned about loving this world and being attached
to its goods. We're taught to live in moderation. We have to work, but we don't
have to dedicate our whole life to it. You see what I'm saying? We have to eat, but we don't
have to eat everything under the sun. We just have to eat. We have to have things, but we
don't have to have everything. And then in verse 6, he said,
Be careful for nothing. He didn't mean just to live carefree.
No. He's talking about anxious cares.
Anxious cares. Don't be anxious or worried about
things, overly worried about things. Now listen to this, verse
6, but in everything, now watch it, by prayer, in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request
be known unto God. Now, there are several things
here that we need to see. First, look at this. In everything
by prayer. What should I pray about? Everything. Everything. What are you anxious
about? What is it that upsets you? Pray
about it. Pray about it. Got no power over
anything, especially God's providence. And it appears to me that God
has decided to bring this nation down on her knees. And He's doing
it. He's doing it. What can I do
about it? Pray. That's all I can do about
it. Pray. My children don't have
any interest in the gospel. What can I do about it? Pray. We're very limited in resources
here, and our place of worship is very remote. What can we do
about it? Pray. Pray about it. I'm absolutely amazed that we've
got folks here from where they live, driving all the way over
here, gathering in this church to worship God. I'm absolutely
amazed. And I don't know why. Do I not
believe that God is able to do this? Pray about it. Pray about it.
John the Baptist went out and preached in the wilderness. He
didn't go into Jerusalem, he went out in the wilderness and
preached. Because that's where God led
him. But you know what the Scripture said? All Jerusalem went out
to hear it. You reckon he prayed about it?
I think he did. I think he did. One of my older sisters accumulated
some holdings. Her husband had a good-paying
job, come from a wealthy family. They had land. They had life
insurance. They had savings. They had investments. In a matter of two years, they
were bankrupt. And she worked the rest of her
life until she died. No comfort in the things of this
world. This is what I'm trying to get
across to you. We've got no comfort. We've got
no assurance in these things. But I have a need. And God, Paul
said, will supply my need according to His riches in glory in Christ
Jesus. Now brethren, that's riches. That's riches. I know we feel I know what it
is. I know what it is. I worked.
I built things up. I know what it is. You feel comfort
in them. You feel secure in them. God
can take them away, boy, so quick it will make your head spin.
And not only does He tell us to pray about everything, but
He kind of gives us a formula here for prayer. He said prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving. By prayer, I believe what is
meant here is a general calling out to God as Gene prayed for
us a while ago. We are praying about general
things. We are praying about the meeting. We are praying about
God being with us here and gathering with us here and the Lord blessing
the message that I am preaching to you and blessing you and giving
you ears to hear it. These are general things that
we call out to God, common needs, general devotion. By supplication,
he is talking about specific needs. We pray for somebody who's
sick. We pray for anus. And we pray
for these different ones who are sick. And we pray for these
ones in these other churches who are dying. Some of them with
cancer. Some of them with different things.
Those are supplications. My kids, sometimes I'll call
their name out to God specifically. Those are supplications. And
then he adds this, Thanksgiving. To me, that's the seasoning.
That's what seasons the prayer. Thanksgiving. In the tabernacle,
prayer was pictured as the incense. That high priest took with him
the incense and he went in beyond that veil. He went into the very
presence of God. And in that picture, that incense
is poured out on them hot coats. And that place filled full of
fragrance. It was a sweet smelling savor
unto the Lord. Prayer is a heart work. William
and I were talking about this last Sunday. Or the other night. I forget
exactly when my head is empty. But we were talking about this
thing of prayer. And he said, the official fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much. You know what a fervent
prayer is? That's a prayer from the heart. God doesn't hear any other kind.
We pray a lot with our mouth and pray a lot with our head.
We pray a lot to ceremony. You have to pray if I call on
you. You're going to look silly if you don't. But you stand up
and as soon as I call on you, you stand up and you say, Boy,
I wish he hadn't called on me. Because now you're in the presence
of God and you're praying for all the folks in here and I put
you on spot. Put you on spot. Prayer is a prayer from the heart. It's the heart calling out to
God. And those prayers are best given
in the closet. When you get comfortable with
public prayer, you better go think about it. Better go think
about it. But I tell you, when we enter
into the closet in prayer, and the heart begins to call out
to God, that effectual, fervent prayer has to do with the heart. And God's just not affected by
idle ceremonial prayers. He's just not. But let those
words rise up from a needy soul. And God Himself inclines His
ears. I want you to listen to David.
He said, He shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor
also, and him that hath no helper. He said, I waited patiently for
the Lord, and He inclined unto me. and heard my cry. John God himself put his hand
on his ear. He wanted to hear. What did he
want to hear? What this worm had to say. He inclined. What a privilege. Think about it. What a privilege
prayer is. Not anybody could go beyond that
veil, just the high priest alone. But Christ has made a way, He
said in Hebrews 10, a way into the holiest of all. And we with
boldness go beyond the veil. What's in there? The presence,
the kind of glory of God. And you stand in His presence
and God listens. Look to me like that's where
I'd want to be. Looks to me like that's where
I'm going to spend my time, in that closet, in His presence.
He's the only one who can do anything for me. He's not only
able, but He's willing. Draw nigh unto God, He'll draw
nigh unto you. How can you draw nigh unto God?
Enter in that closet. Don't wait. Go in that closet,
and He hears your prayer. Why do we find it so hard to
pray? Why is it so difficult for us
to take advantage of such a great privilege? Why don't I feel more
inspired to pray? I think it's because we leave
off the seasoning. Huh? We're not thankful. We're not
thankful. I did some work up in Pikeville,
Kentucky. for the company I used to work
for, and Pikeville is up in eastern Kentucky up in the mountains.
That's coal mine country. And up there, before all this
modern machinery and all these continuous miners and rail cars
and all this kind of stuff that they got today, there was a pig
and a shovel and a little cart that went on rails. And those
men went back in there. My dad worked that back around
the turn of the century, so I know what I'm talking about. He's
the one who told me that And he said, you go back in there
and you get down on your knees with a pick and pick that coat. Pick that coat. And you're only
in a, there's things only about this high, a lot of 30, 36 inch
veins of coat. And you're in there with a pick
down on your knees all day long picking that coat. And you put
it in that little car and they pull that car out. Half the work's
been done. You're up on the side of a mountain
and literally you can stand on those hills and reach out like
this and touch the ground in front of you. That's how steep
they are. You climb them, most of the time you have to grab
on to a tree or something and kind of balance yourself as you
go up there. They had to get them wagons up that hill to that
coal mine and load them and get them back down. These mountains are huge. And
you can't just build a road that goes around and around and around
the mountain. It would take forever to get the wagon up there. So
the problem was to get this empty wagon up to this mine to load
it. And somebody come up with the
idea to put a pulley up at the top of the hill. And they put
a rope on the wagon. They drove one wagon up. And
they put that rope on it. And when they loaded the wagon
and let it down the hill, as it went down the hill, it pulled
the other wagon back up. And so they didn't have to have
horses, they didn't have to have mules. That loaded wagon pulled
that thing up to the top. This is what I'm trying to say.
It's the full wagons, the full wagons of God's blessings and
benefits that help bring up the empty ones. When you sit and
think about the blessings of God, And the benefits of God
that He's bestowed on you, you won't have any problem bringing
up the empty wagon. That's what Paul's telling these
people. Everything, he said, by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving. With thanksgiving. And my God,
he said, when you come, my God will supply all your needs according. Not out of, but according to. His riches and glory in Christ
Jesus. Paul talked about this time and
again. Over in Romans 8, he said, He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely
give us all things? He gave us His Son and His righteousness
and His justification. Joy there is with Him. Sit with
Him. Sitting right now in the heavenlies,
in the throne with Christ. Huh? I tell you, when I think
about that, I can bring the empty wagon. Fill her up. Fill her up. Not only do I believe
He has the need, I believe He has the willingness to do it.
The willingness. I see that willingness in Christ.
And in that