All right, Philippians chapter 4, just one verse. Verse number 19, familiar verse for a lot of us. If you don't have this verse underscored in your Bible, I would highly recommend it. Highlight it one way or another. If you don't have it memorized, I'd urge you to memorize Philippians chapter 4 and verse number 19. Let's read it together, all together in unison. Ready? Verse 19. But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. What a great verse. I want to speak this morning on God's promised provision. God's promised provision. Let's pray. Father, we ask now Your blessing on the Word of God as we look into what this passage says. I pray You'd challenge us and stir us and help us fight faith. to claim your promise. I pray you'd help us put aside worry and concern and rest in faith that you do love us and that you are all powerful and you are more than capable of meeting our needs and providing for us. And I ask now, whatever the situation, whatever the circumstance may be, you'd stir our hearts to exercise faith in you. Father, I present my body anew to you. I yield my will and I pray with all my heart that You fill me with Your Spirit, You speak through me, and teach us and help us. In Jesus' name, Amen. The New Testament church began there in the Middle East. It did not begin with a little whimper, some little Bible study in a back room of a library somewhere. The New Testament church began with an explosion. I mean, the New Testament church came on the scene with an absolute explosion. Acts chapter 17 and verse 6, the enemies of the gospel were saying this, you have turned our world upside down with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't know about you, but that sounds like an explosion to me. Mean it was going everywhere churches were booming churches were growing missionaries were going out in Acts chapter 5 in verse 28 the Pharisees said to the the the New Testament Church, they said this you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine And what they were saying was this, there is not a place in the city of Jerusalem that you can go and not run into somebody who isn't preaching the gospel. Now think about it, they didn't have gospel tracks, they didn't have books, they didn't have sound systems, they didn't have radios, they didn't have television, they didn't have newspapers, they had no print whatsoever. This was just individual Christians absolutely on fire for the gospel of Jesus Christ and going everywhere, every alleyway, every back street, every apartment building, out into the outer reaches and turned the world upside down. The Book of Acts is an exciting book as we see how the church began with such a dramatic appearance on the world stage. Now what was the driving force behind that New Testament church? What was it that prompted such explosive growth, such excitement, such zeal, such devotion? What was it that prompted that? I think there were several things. I think one was the Lord's last command that he gave to the church. We call it the Great Commission. He said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And he reiterated that in various ways throughout the Gospels, the endings of the Gospels. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, he said, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. And so, they had this driving force. They had this last command of their Lord and Savior. And I'm telling you, they took that great commission very, very seriously. And it was a driving force behind that church just exploding on the scene. I think there was another factor. Now, you might think this would be counterproductive. But I believe the intense persecution that the church faced in their early days, as that church was just beginning, I believe that intense persecution was a factor on the growth and the powerful witness that that church had in those days. If you would, keep your place here. I want to look at this verse, but I want to set the stage. Come back to Acts chapter number 8, would you, with me, if you would. Now remember, this is just days after Jesus has ascended to heaven. This is just months, maybe years at the most. after the power of the Holy Ghost came upon those New Testament believers in Acts chapter 2. And they are on fire for God. Everybody is preaching the gospel everywhere, not just the apostles. And look in Acts chapter 8 with me, and if you would notice, beginning in verse number 1, notice what the Bible says. Now here we're introduced to Saul. Saul was consenting unto his death. This is Stephen was stoned. Paul says, yeah, I'm for that. I'm against the gospel. I'm against Christ. I'm against these Christians. He was consenting unto his death. And look at this. And at that time, there was a what? Great what? Great persecution. Now you and I would say, boy, that's going to stifle that New Testament church. They're persecuting them, they're killing their leaders, they're stoning their leaders. That is going to stifle, that'll knock the zeal out of them pretty quick. Look what happens. There was great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea, Samaria, except the apostles, they stayed there. How many people say, well that makes sense, they're being persecuted, they're running for their lives. Right? They're scattering there, we're out of here. Look what happens. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentations over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, hailing men and women, and committed them to prison." This is bad. I mean, this is bad. Put ourselves in that situation. The authorities coming into the church here, grabbing men and women, hauling them off to prison. This is the worst part, the preacher getting stoned. I don't mean, I mean getting killed. I know how some of y'all think. So you're saying, good night, this is bad. This little New Testament church, boy, Christ told them to go into all the world, they're fired up about that, they're out there everywhere, and the authorities come down on them hard. And they're killing the leadership, and they're persecuting the church, and they're hauling them off the prison. And again, the prisons in that day, you know, were terrible. Surely that'll shut them up. Surely that'll knock the zeal out of them. Look at verse 4. Therefore they that were scared abroad went everywhere, doing what? Preaching the word. You know, rather than shutting them up, rather than squelching their zeal, it set them on fire. And history has taught us that the persecution of the church of Jesus Christ has always produced a stronger, more obedient, more mature church than it is without persecution. The church is strongest in its persecution. The church's influence in the world is the strongest and grows the greatest. when it's being persecuted. What's that saying? The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church. Do I have that correct? Anybody ever hear that? And the idea is this, when this world comes down and this world starts taking serious its persecution of the New Testament church, that church gets stronger, that church grows, that church has a greater influence. I read a statistic some time ago of the believers in China, and it's hard for us to fathom how large China is and the population of China. And according to this pretty reliable source, there are actually more believers in China in the underground church than there are in America here today. Strong. Back when I was youth pastor in Indianapolis, it was right when, how many people remember Perestroika in Russia? A lot of you, it was before your time. When the wall came down, remember all of that? And Gorbachev was opening up the doors a little bit, and things were changing. Communism had failed. Communism always fails. And it had failed them completely. And my pastor that I was working under at the time had an opportunity to go to Russia, one of the first independent Baptists to be able to go into the country. And he was able to meet freely with the underground church. And when he came back, we were talking, I said, give me your impression of the believers in Russia. What are they like? He said, they put us to shame. He said, I met men, I met pastors and church folk who had suffered in the prisons there and the camps they have. He said, I saw they suffered for no other reason than they were committed to Jesus Christ. And he said, I came out of there feeling like a worldly, weak, carnal, baby Christian. I'm saying this, the persecution of the church has never hurt the church. It has always made it stronger, always made it purer. Now, do we want persecution? No. Nobody wants that. Nobody likes it. Is persecution coming to the church in the United States of America? I think it's inevitable. I think we're seeing seeds of that now. And I'll tell you, it'll come to a tipping point where all of a sudden, boom, it'll start happening fast. What's going to happen? Dr. Creed and I were talking, and I agree wholeheartedly. And we were saying stuff like, boy, I'm concerned for my children. I'm concerned for my grandchildren. What kind of America will they be in? What kind of church will they face? Listen, if history is correct, and it no doubt is, and if persecution is good for the church, if persecution does come in my grandchildren or my child's lifetime, maybe it will help. Maybe it will make our churches a little better. Maybe we'll be a little more committed. Maybe we'll be a little less worldly. Maybe it would be good for us. And so I look at this New Testament church and I see its explosion on the world and how souls are saved and lives are changed and the intensity of their zeal and the intensity of the persecution coming down on them and it absolutely was like pouring gasoline on fire and they set off. I was thinking about the New Testament church. It was not timid with the Gospel. Well, I wish you'd read through the book of Acts. They are everywhere preaching the Gospel. They're in marketplaces, they're in synagogues, they're in courthouses, they're in prisons, and they are just declaring the Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, everywhere with absolute boldness. They were not timid with the Gospel. I noticed this, they were not very tactful with the Gospel. Now I think you ought to be a little tactful, right? I don't think you should just walk up to somebody and say, you're going to hell if you don't get saved now. That's not very tactful. How many people agree with me? That's probably not the best approach. But I got reading in the New Testament, reading the book of Acts, they weren't real tactful. Read Stephen's sermons. You hypocrites, you're always killing the people of God. That's not how you're going to win friends and influence people that way. You read what Paul said to some of these. You read what they're preaching. I mean, they are absolutely in your face with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And they turned the world upside down. I noticed they did not toy with the gospel. The message of Jesus Christ's salvation was the most important thing in the world to the New Testament Church. And it grieves my heart to see and hear of churches in our country who are simply toying with the gospel or simply, or even worse yet, just pushing it aside and preaching all social issues and never declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our message to Mountain Lake Independent, our message to Mountain Lake Park in Oakland and Garrett County and all the world is that Jesus Christ died for our sins according to scriptures was buried and rose again and man must turn to him and trust him as Savior they didn't toy with the gospel it was their message it was the central theme so that's the setting you read the book of Acts and you have this you have this excitement you have this power of God and lives are being changed demon-possessed people are being set free drunkards are sober lives are changed And the church at Philippi is born in that setting. Paul shows up in the city of Philippi on fire for God, and he starts reaching people for Christ. You read about it in the book of Acts. And a lady gets saved, and a little maid gets saved, and a jailer gets saved, and his family gets saved, and Paul is just preaching and preaching and preaching. And a church is born in the city of Philippi, and it begins to grow. And Paul establishes some leadership there, and he puts things in place. And then he goes on as a missionary off to other regions to start other churches. The book of Philippians, coming back here, the book of Philippians was a letter that Paul wrote back to this church that God had used him to start, to organize. It was born in this environment of excitement and zeal and expansion. And he's writing back to them. The book of Philippians was written 30 years after Christ ascended, so a little time has gone by. The letter is written, we believe, about 10 years after Paul actually had started the church. So, the church is pretty established. They've been around for a little while now. They've got their organization in place, they've got their leadership in place, their influence is established, and it is a good, strong, solid church about ten years old when this letter is written to them. Paul is writing to the church at Philippi from a Roman prison. Now, if you read the book of Philippians, you'll find that the theme of the book is joy and rejoicing. Now I want to suggest that perhaps the average Christian in America today sitting in prison unjustly and in the horrendous circumstances environment of the prisons of that day, and I'm going to write a letter to somebody, my theme probably would not be joy and rejoicing. The average Christian would probably be writing, y'all pray for me, this is terrible. This is horrible circumstances. I had a rat chewing on my toenail this morning when I woke up. It is horrible. But that's not what Paul says. You read the book and it is saturated with the joy of the Lord. And he's rejoicing in God. Actually, Paul penned four letters from the Roman prison. The book of Colossians, the book of Ephesians, Philemon and Philippians. This was probably the last of the four that he wrote from prison. It is a perennial favorite of God's people. You ask somebody, what's your favorite book in the Bible? A lot of times folks will say Philippians. I like Philippians. Book of Philippians is a letter, as I said, written from Paul, and I view it as Paul's prayer letter back to ascending church. Now, everybody with me? All right, I'm going somewhere with this. Paul is writing back to the church that God used him to establish, and they had taken Paul on for support. I'm going to show you that here in just a bit. The church had said, Paul, as you go on and start other churches around, you do this missionary work, we will support you financially. We will support you with our prayers, and he references their prayers, and he references their support. And he is writing back to them in a sense, to some extent, as a prayer letter, back to them, kind of giving them a report and giving them some instructions. And we come to our text. And as he says in verse 19, my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. He is coming down and he's making the final statements of this letter he wrote. And he is thanking them for their support. If you would, look with me at verse number 10 of Philippians chapter 4. He says, but I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me, I underline that in my Bible, your care of me, that is their, can I put it in our terminology, that is their faith promise support. That you've been caring for me, you've been sending this support to me. He says, your care of me have flourished again. Wherein you were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. So apparently something had come up and they were unable to get their financial support to Paul. They lacked that opportunity, something happened, they weren't able to do that. But then things changed and now they're able to get the money there. Now the care has shown up. And that tells me their support for their missionary was persistent. I mean, they stayed at it, they stayed at it, and when they couldn't do it for some reason, as soon as they were able to, boom, they got back on it and they got going. In the early days of Mt. Lake Independent Baptist Church, well, in my early days that I was here, we'd gone through a little rough time, and the finances were down, we weren't able to support our missionaries like we were committed to, and some of y'all were here, remember that. And I appreciated Brother Don Williams, how he worked hard to try and get that back where it needed to be, wasn't too long God started blessing were able to get that support up and going that's maybe perhaps not the same situation but similar for them they weren't able to get it there but boy now they are they were persistent in their support of Paul they were partners with Paul look at verse 14 He says, Notwithstanding ye have well done, in that ye did communicate with my affliction. Verse 15, Now ye Philippians know also, in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. So their support for Paul, I noticed, was persistent. Even when they couldn't, they did everything they could, then they got it, and boom, they picked it back up. They didn't want to let that slack. It was a partnership. That word communicate means has the idea of partnering, working together with. And he says, listen, I'm out here preaching the gospel in these cities, you guys are giving me prayer support, you guys are giving me financial support, you're in this with me. It is a partnership, we're working together. And then I noticed they were partakers in Paul's fruit, verse 17. Not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to what? your account everybody with me now bear with me i'm trying to lay the groundwork here for something uh... uh... he says listen to you what i'm doing the souls that are getting saved because of your prayer support because of your finances making it possible for me to be out here god notices that and that counts towards your account uh... do you know we read a letter in sunny school from josh florence he talked about people getting saved uh... i got a letter uh... From somebody, one of our missionaries just recently had a whole bunch of people make profession of faith. Every one of the missionaries that we pray for and support, when they see someone saved, as far as God's concerned, he says, hey, you all had a part in the salvation of that soul. Isn't that an exciting thought? I often thought one of these years I would like to have some sort of running figure of the number of professions of faith that are made through our missionaries on a weekly basis and just have that tallied up, that we hear of, that we know about, and have that tallied up. Not just for numbers or because we can boast, but just to rejoice in the fact that we have a part in every one of those souls saved. Wouldn't that be a blessing? And so they're partakers of Paul's fruit. And then I notice here it's very pleasing to God. And this is what I'm getting at. Look with me at verse 18. And I think Dr. Creed touched on this when he was here. Paul says, but I have all and abound. Now he's in prison. And he says, oh, I got everything I need. In fact, I got more than I need. How much could he have in prison? So he's content, he says, I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, their support showed up. And then he says this, an odor of sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, look at his last statement, well pleasing to God. He says, your giving, your prayers, and your financial support to me, to God, it's like a sweet odor. It is so well pleasing to Him. And Dr. Creed referenced that, and I got thinking, why would our giving to missionaries, us giving last year $140,000 to missionaries, why would that be so pleasing to God? Why would that be such a sweet odor to God? And you find out through the Bible, when people give, it pleases God. And I thought, why is that? You know what I think? Cuz God is a giving God. God gives and gives and gives and gives. And when he sees his people doing that very same thing, giving, boy, that pleases him. How many here, you raised children, and you had something that's very important to you, maybe something, a part of life or whatever, home's very important to you, and as your kids grow up, you saw them emulating that which is important to you in their life, and you said, boy, I like that. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Boy, you see your child working hard. That's one thing I've always tried to work hard. I learned from my dad the importance of working hard. I don't know if I lived up to it or not, but I look at my boys and one thing I can say about my boys, those boys are hard workers. And I look and I see them on their work and on their job and hear what their employers and ones say. And I thought, boy, I like that, that's well pleasing. And I think God in heaven is such a giver and he gives and he gives and he gives. And he looks down, he sees his children, he sees us emulating that. And we are giving to get the gospel and give the missions. And God says, oh, that's a blessing. That pleases me. And so Paul was making some very, very important statements. He's teaching this church that what they are doing has profound significance, is very pleasing to God. And then he gives us verse number 19. My God shall supply all your need in Christ Jesus. Let me read it correctly here. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches by glory by Christ Jesus. Now here's where we have to be careful. Sometimes we'll just claim that verse. Well, God will supply all my need according to his riches in Christ Jesus, by glory in Christ Jesus. And that's true. That's true, God meets our needs, amen? God meets our needs. David said, King David said, young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that fear the Lord have never lack. I didn't quote that right, but that's the idea. God meets our needs, but this verse is conditional. That first word there, three letter word is important, but that is the bridge Between the last, oh what, eight verses, Paul is referencing their giving, their giving, their support, their financial support, their prayer support, he's referencing all that. Then he says, but my God, and he bridges those two statements. with that word but. And what he is doing, he is conditioning verse number 19 on the fact that they had been giving to them, that they had been giving to missions, they had been supporting Paul. And because of that, God promises to supply all their needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus. What is happening here? This is not a blanket promise. This is one of those great passages of scripture, but it's not a blanket promise. It is a conditional promise. In fact, it is the result, this promise is the result of something that the church at Philippi was doing. Here's the way I see it. God is saying to the church at Philippi through Paul, what you have done for Paul in supplying him and providing for him, I will do for you. Look with me if you would at verse number 18 Paul says I have all and abound I am full That word full is the same word Comes from the same word as verse number 19. My God shall supply all your needs and he said Paul Paul is saying on the inspiration God you have supplied my needs for me and God says I will supply your needs and It is God saying, what you have done for Paul, I will do for you. I'm telling you, God has been very, very good to Mountain Lake Independent Baptist Church. God has provided for us and blessed us in ways there's no explanation. I'll tell you one thing, you cannot give credit to the leadership of the church for God's blessings on the church. The only way, the only one that gets any credit for God's blessings on Mountain Lake Independent Baptist Church is God. He has given and given to us and blessed us. And I think it is because God is pleased when Mountlake Independent Baptist Church gives so generously to missions around the world, to that which is dearest to the heart of God. And what is true for a church is true for individuals. You say, oh, good preacher, so if I give money to missions, God's gonna get me a mansion. Oh, if I give money to missions, I'll get a new Beamer Z3. I've always wanted a Z3 BMW. Instead, I drive a Jeep. But anyway. Oh, good. God's promised. If I give to missions, let's look at what he actually did promise. And I only got a couple minutes. Let me give it to you real quick. Number one, the source of their provisions. He says, my God. shall supply all your needs. God is the ultimate giver of stuff. Every good gift and every perfect gift coming down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. It is God that gives to us. I don't know about you. Somebody says, oh, if only we had a multimillionaire join our church. Boy, we'd be set forever. I tell you what, we got something more than a multimillionaire. We got God Almighty. My God. shall supply your needs. You read through the Bible, God met the needs of Israel. They're wandering in a wilderness. God met the needs of Elijah when he's out by a little creek. God met the needs of David when he's fleeing from King Saul. God met the needs of that New Testament church under intense persecution. God has met our needs. It is God that provides for us. Did you know that one of the names of God is the Lord provides Jehovah Jireh? It means the Lord provides. It is part of His very nature to provide for us, to take care of us. And so the source of our provision is God Almighty, all Himself. I wish we had time, we don't. Write this down, Matthew chapter 7, verse 9 through 11. And He says basically this, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, He says, What father is there, if his son come and ask for a piece of bread, is he going to give him a stone? If he asks for a fish, is he going to give him a serpent? And the answer is obviously no. A good father would never do that to his child. If he wants bread, he'll give him bread. If he wants a fish, he'll give him a fish. And then he says, your father in heaven will give you those good things. He'll provide for you. He'll take care of you. Listen, if a good daddy on earth provides and takes care of his children, how much more shall our heavenly father take care of us? And so it is God that provides for us. We look to God. I'm afraid sometimes we run too quickly to the government, we run too quickly to the bank, we run too quickly to this millionaire, that person, or this person, or some human agency, when we have a God in heaven that says, I will provide for you. I will provide for you. So we notice the source of their provision is God Almighty. God is the great supplier. God is a source that never runs out. Number two, I notice a certainty of this provision. My God, what's the next word? Shall. Well, I tell you, that's a good word in the Bible. My God shall supply all your need. It doesn't say might. Doesn't say He possibly could, I hope He will, maybe. It says He shall supply all your needs. That word shall means this, without a doubt it will happen. We have a 6,000 year biblical record of God providing for those who will trust Him and obey Him. He shall provide for us. Paul had absolute certainty that God would meet their needs in response to their supportive missions. How many people here are familiar with Romans 10.13? Everybody familiar with that? And whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, what? Shall be saved. How many people believe that verse? How many people believe that God absolutely, positively will, if a person genuinely and sincerely, in repentance and faith, calls on the Lord Jesus to be their Savior, God will save them? How many people believe that? Absolute. Sure we do! How many people here have experienced that? I tell you, I base the assurance of my salvation on that verse. I know I called on the name of the Lord, May 7, 1979, 1039. I know by my bed I cried out to God, and God saved me! Changed my life. Shall. Shall. How many people are familiar with John 3.16? For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but what? Have everlasting life. How many people believe that's an absolute, positive, assured statement? Listen, just as true and sure as those two verses are, Philippians 4.19 is just as sure. My God shall supply all your need. Not might, not can be. Don't call God a liar. He's given us this certainty. He shall supply our need. He shall supply our need. Number three, I noticed there's sufficiency of their provisions. But my God shall supply all your what? Needs. All, every individual last one, none left out, every need. Now, that word need is where it throws some of these TV preachers off. He promises, now get this, this is a clever little statement. I wish I could say it's original with me, but it's not. God has promised to meet our needs, not our greeds. How many people agree that's a clever statement? Well, I wish I had come up with that. You know, God doesn't promise he's going to give you and I everything we want. Anybody here ever get something then you wish, well, I wish that never come in my life. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Years ago, there was a boat the guy had out here for sale. I think it was off Kings Run Road. That thing was terrible. It was all tore up, but I wanted a boat so bad and it was like, you know, 100 bucks, this big $4,000 boat and all this. I thought, man, this is great. What a deal. I've been wanting a boat my whole life. I got that thing home, got looking at it, had a mechanic look at it. I want to get rid of that boat so bad. I finally, Mike Stubler helped me haul it up to the lake, some boat junk place up there, took the thing off my hands. And he says, what do you want for it? I said, I'll give you $20, get this thing out of my yard. God doesn't promise to give us everything we want, and I'm glad for that. God promised to give us what? What we need, what we need, what we need. That throws all worry out the window, doesn't it? Oh, if I give the faith promise, what am I gonna do? God says, listen, my God will supply all your needs. Your needs will be met. Say, oh, if I give the faith promise, I'll get a new boat. Ah, you might regret that. Now God said, I'll give you your needs. I'll give you your needs. So the sufficiency of this provision, every need, our needs, not our grades. And last of all, the security of his provision, and I love this aspect of it. But my God shall supply all your need, look at this, what's that next word? According to what? His riches, but he doesn't stop there, in glory. by Christ Jesus. Now let me say this, all God's blessings come to us through Jesus Christ. But he says that he uses that word according, my God shall supply all you need, according. That word according means this, in proportion to. It has this, in proportion to his riches, not out of his riches. Now let me explain that a little bit. He didn't say God will supply all your needs out of what He... How many people agree God's pretty rich? When you own the whole universe, you're pretty rich. You say, oh, He owns a cow on a thousand hills. Yeah, and He owns the hills. and the gold and everything, he owns everything. I read an article here, it's been maybe a year ago, NASA found some little planet or something floating around way, way, I don't know how they do this stuff, and the thing is like solid gold, a whole planet that's gold. Been trying to figure out how to get up there. They said the thing, the elements and all that, it's mostly gold. God owns that. He could just take a chunk, let it fall through the atmosphere, lay in our backyard if he wanted to. God's pretty rich. And God says that he will provide for our needs according to his riches, not out of his riches. And there's a profound significance difference between that. Our current president, whatever you think of him, our current president is the wealthiest president that has ever served the United States of America. Out of all 40, what, five? 45 presidents, he's the richest one that has ever held that office. He is a billionaire. Suppose our president got word that we are trying to raise some money for a building program. Somebody could write him a letter and tell him that, you know. And I get a letter from the President of the United States, sealed, comes however they send letters, escort, you know, I don't know how, I get a letter from the President. I open it up and say, whoo-hoo, President. Dear Pastor Leatherman, this is Donald Trump, President of the United States. I heard about your building fund. I can give you some money out of my riches. Whoo-hoo-hoo. I can give you $125 towards your building fund. I mean, I'd be grateful for $125, but it'd be like, whoopee. That would be him giving to us out of his riches, right? He's got tons and so he took some of it and gave 125 to us. Now this is how preachers think, this is fantasy, right? But if he gave to our building fund according to his riches, in proportion to his riches, that's a whole nother story. you've got billions and billions of dollars, and you give in proportion to that, we could build the Taj Mahal back here, you know? And God says to you and I, the God of the universe, the God that spoke everything into existence, he says to the New Testament church there at Philippi, and he says to Mountlake Independent Baptist Church, you have been so faithful, And you have been so concerned about supporting the men that I've called to go out around the world to preach the gospel, that I'm going to meet all your needs according to my riches. You know what that tells me? We will never, ever, ever, ever, ever have a need that God can't meet. Never. God can meet that according to his riches. So what does that have to do with you and I? That truth applies across the board. We are fully confident that as we trust and obey God in this matter of faith promise missions, God's gonna meet our needs, he's gonna take care of us. Might not give us everything we want, may not be the way we want or that we dream or imagine, but God will meet our needs. We know that's true for the last 50, how old's the church, 57 years. something like that, six years. God has met the needs of this church. Across here auditorium, there are individual Christians could stand up and say, preacher, I can testify that God has met my needs. Abundantly, God has met my needs. We know that's true. Now what is true in the material world is also true spiritually. I don't know what your need is spiritually. Maybe I'm talking to somebody that's struggling with sin. And that sin has you defeated. And it is a besetting sin. And you say, I don't think I can ever have victory over this. I'm here to tell you, my God is able to supply that need, all you need to have victory in your Christian life. You say, I've got a family member, a child, or a brother, sister, maybe a parent that's not saved, and they don't know the Lord, and they need to be saved. I'm here to tell you, God is able to save that soul. You say, well, God won't save them against their will. God never saves anyone against their will. But one thing I learned about God, He's awfully good at making people willing. He can back people in the corner and knock the wind out of them until their point. They're ready to call on the Lord. And God is able, God is able. You say, preacher, I have these needs in my life. I'm glad to hear that because there's a God in heaven that can and will meet those needs if we'll trust him and obey him. Maybe I'm talking to somebody that says, preacher, I don't see any way I could possibly get to heaven. I don't see any way I could possibly be good enough to get to heaven. I cannot be that, I'm a sinner. I'm here to tell you there's not one single person on planet Earth that is good enough to get to heaven. But God is able to meet that need. In fact, He already has. When Jesus Christ died on that cross, He paid the sin debt for you and I completely. He was buried and rose again. And He says all we need to do is turn to Him and in faith receive that gift of God, which is eternal life. That need's been met. I just take it or walk away. And if you're here this morning, you don't know for sure your sins have been on your way to heaven, I plead with you, take that gift, turn from your sin, turn to Christ, trust Him, invite Him in your heart and life. And I'm telling you, I can testify firsthand, He will save you, He will change your life. Isn't that wonderful? Father, bless now, I pray. Take these thoughts, I ask. Challenge us and help us to have faith in you. God, help us as a church to go forward on this mission's commission you've given us. Help us as individuals to look to you and trust you, follow your instructions, have faith in you and trust you to meet our needs. You've promised, Lord. And so help us with our heads bowed, eyes closed. I wonder if there's some this morning who say, Preacher, I know I'm saved. There's no doubt about it. But I do have a need in my life. Maybe it's overwhelming. I have needs in my life. And you say, Preacher, I've been fretting over this, and I've been scrambling, and I've been scheming. I've been trying to get victory. I've been wanting this to be true in my life, and I just cannot. I come up short every time. Maybe this morning you need to bring that need to Christ. And say, God, here it is. Is there any Christians like that? Say, Preacher, I have some needs in my life, physical or spiritual, emotional. How about it? Any like that? By the uplifted hand, all around. Preacher, pray with me. God bless you, hands all over. We are a needy people. There's no doubt about it. I wanted their son this morning. Say, Preacher, I've got someone dear to me that's lost. I'm burdened for them. I just, humanly, it doesn't look like they'll ever get saved. But God, you're able. And I want God to help me have faith in him and trust him. And I'd like to see my loved one, this one, come to Christ, be saved. Is there anything like that? By the uplifted hand, God bless you. There's some maybe this morning say, maybe you have a child that's wayward, or prodigal, or far from God. You say, my heart breaks, I just don't see it. You say, preacher, I'm gonna look to God to meet that need and bring them back again. Is there anything like that? By the uplifted hand. I have a child, I'm just concerned, want him to come. God bless you, hands all around. Maybe there's someone say, preacher, I'm not sure that when I die, I go to heaven. And I need that settled in my heart and mind. I don't want to just hope or think or wonder, I want to know. And you'd say, preacher, pray for me that God will help me settle that. Is there any like that? The uplifted hand, preacher, I'm not sure about that. I need that settled in my heart and mind. that I'm saved, child of God. Any at all? Any at all? Now, Father in heaven, we are needy people. We ask you to help us to bring those needs to you, to trust you, and obey you, and then claim your wonderful promises. In Jesus' name, Amen. Let's stand together. Heads are bowed, eyes are closed. Jennifer's playing the invitation. How about it this morning? Let's bring that need to Christ. Whatever it is. You say this, I need this.