LivePrayerSermon 1712. Filling the Empty Vessels
(No. 1712)
DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 17, 1882,
BY C, H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19.
VERY beautiful, to my mind, is the sight of "Paul the aged" confined in his prison at Rome, likely, by-and-by, to be put todeath, but calm, quiet, peaceful and joyful. Just now he is so happy that a gleam of sunlight seems to light up his cell andhis face shines like that of an angel! He is exceedingly delighted because he has been, in his deep poverty, kindly rememberedby the little Church at Philippi, for they have sent him a contribution. See how cheerful the man is-I was about to say, howcontented, but I drop the word because it falls far short of the mark! He is far more happy than Caesar overhead in the palace.He is charmed with the love which has sent him this relief. Probably the gift does not come to very much, if estimated inRoman coin, but he makes a great deal of it and sits down to write a letter of thanks abounding in rich expressions like these-"Ihave all things, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you."
His heart was evidently greatly touched, for he says, "I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now, at the last, your care ofme has flourished again." See how little a gift may make a good man glad! Is it not worth while to be free with our cups ofcold water to the Prophets of the Lord? Instead of a little money, the Brothers and Sisters at Philippi receive a boundlessblessing and are enriched by the fervent prayers of the Apostle! Hear how earnestly Paul invokes benedictions on the headsof his benefactors! Is it not a blessed state of mind which enables a heart so soon to be full to overflowing? Some wouldgrumble over a roasted ox, but here is Paul-rejoicing over a dinner of herbs!
So great was the disinterestedness of Paul, that there was nothing of selfishness about his joy. He did not speak in respectof need, for he knew how to suffer need without complaint. But he looked upon the kindly contribution as a fruit of the Graceof God in the Philippians-a generous proof that they were lifted out of heathen selfishness into Christian love! There waslittle enough of kindness in the old Roman and Greek world into which Paul went preaching the Gospel. Those were times ofgreat hardness of heart, even to cruel heartlessness. There was no sort of provision for the poor. If a man was poor, why,that was his own problem, and he might starve and die.
You know how hardened the people had become through the fights in the amphitheater, so that the sight of blood produced afierce delight in their brutal bosoms and human suffering was, to them, rather a thing to be rejoiced in than to be prevented.There might be, here and there, a tender hand that gave coin to the poor, but, for the most part, charity was dead. The voluptuariesof that most degenerate age planned no hospitals and built no orphanages-they were too intent upon their gladiators and theirmistresses. Self was lord paramount in Caesar's court and all over Roman realms!
But here are people at Philippi thinking about one who had preached the Gospel to them and who is now suffering. They aremoved by a new principle-love to God in Christ Jesus has created love to the man whose words had changed them. They will notabandon him-they will, out of their own slender means, cheer his sad condition. There were Churches that had no such heartsof mercy, alas, that so early in the Gospel-day holy charity should be so rare! There were people whom Paul had blessed greatly,who even quarreled about him and denied that he was an Apostle of Christ! But not so the beloved Church at Philippi. Theyhad, again and again, ministered to his necessities and Paul, now, rejoices in them, again, because he delights to see anotherinstance of the transforming power of the Grace of God upon character, so that those who were once selfish now rejoiced, unpromptedand unasked, to send their offering to him.
Was Lydia at the bottom of that subscription? I should not wonder! We know that she was open-hearted. Did the jailer add hisfull share? I feel sure of it, for in the prison he courteously entertained the Apostle. These were a generous people andPaul is happy in thinking of them. I may here dare to say that I, also, have had the same joy over many of you when I haveseen how freely you have given of your substance to the work of the Lord. It would be unfair if I withheld
commendation for liberality from many now before me. You have rejoiced my heart by your gifts to the cause of God. You havegiven up to the measure of your means and some of you beyond what we could have asked of you. The Gospel has taught you this.To God be glory that it is so. Continue in the same spirit, that none may rob me of this joy.
The Apostle makes to them an assurance in the following verses that they shall be abundantly repaid for all that they havedone. He says to them, "You have helped me; but my God shall supply you. You have helped me in one of my needs-my need ofclothing and of food. I have other needs in which you could not help me, but my God shall supply all your need. You have helpedme, some of you, out of your deep poverty, taking from your scanty store. But my God shall supply all your need out of Hisriches in Glory. You have sent Epaphroditus unto me with your offering. Well and good! He is a most worthy Brother, and atrue yoke-fellow. And for all that, God shall send a better messenger to you, for He shall supply all your needs by ChristJesus."
He seems to me to make a parallel of his needs with theirs, and of his supplies from them with their supplies from the Lord.He would seem to say-Just as God has, through you, filled me up, so shall He, by Christ, fill you up. That is a translationof the Greek which most nearly touches the meaning-"My God shall fill up all your need according to His riches in glory byChrist Jesus." Will you allow me to make a break, here, for one instant? I read you, just now, the story of the Prophet'swidow whose children were about to be taken for a debt, and how the oil was multiplied in the vessels which she borrowed untilthere was enough to discharge the debt, and sufficient surplus for herself and children to live upon.
Now, kindly take that picture and join it on to this-and we have here, first, the empty vessels. Set them out in a row, "allyour need." Secondly, who will fill them up?-"My God shall fill up all your need." Thirdly, after what fashion will He doit?-"According to His riches in glory." Fourthly, by what means will He do it?-"By Christ Jesus." Keep the widow and the vesselsbefore you and let us see the miracle worked over, again, on a grand scale in our own houses and hearts. May the Holy Spiritmake the sight refreshing to our faith.
I. So, then, we will begin our discourse this evening by asking you to SET OUT THE EMPTY VESSELS. "My God shall supply allyour need." Bring forth your vessels, even empty vessels! "All your need." I do not suppose that you are under any great obligationto go out, tonight, and borrow other people's needs, for you have enough of your own at home-needs many and varied. Very well,set them out. Hide none of them away, but put them down, one after another, in a long row, all of them. There are needs foryour body, needs for your soul. There are needs for yourselves, needs for your families-needs for the present, needs for thefuture-needs for time, needs for eternity. There are needs for earth, needs for Heaven. Your needs are as many as your moments-asmany as the hairs of your head.
I suppose it would be useless for me to attempt a catalog of them-however carefully we made the list, we should have to adda host of sundries altogether unmentionable until circumstances suggested them. I could hardly tell you all my own needs,but I know that they are enormous and increasing with my years. I have needs as a man, as a husband, as a father, as a citizen,as a Christian, as a pastor, as an author-in fact, every position I take up adds to my needs. If I went through my own personalbill of requests, I could fill a document like the roll mentioned in the Old Testament, written within and without-and hardlythen could I enumerate all my own demands upon the Bank of Heaven. But if I attempted to take all the thousands that are gatheredbeneath this roof and to let each man state his particular needs, where would the computation end? The sands upon the seashoreare not more innumerable!
Dear! Dear! We would need a library larger than the Bodleian to hold all the books which could be written of all the needsof the needy congregation now before me! Well, I am not sorry for it, for here is so much the more room for the Lord to workHis miracles of bountiful Grace! Sometimes, when I have been in need for the work of the Orphanage and the College and suchthings-and these times have occurred-I do solemnly assure you that I have felt a wonderful joy in my spirit. I have watchedthe ebb of the funds till nearly everything has been gone and then I have joyfully said to myself, "Now for it! The vesselsare empty! Now I shall see the miracle of filling them." What wonders the Lord has worked for me, I cannot, now, tell youin detail, but many of you who have been my faithful helpers know how hundreds and even thousands of pounds have poured infrom our great Lord in the moment of necessity. It will always be the same, for the Lord God is the same.
Until the funds run low we cannot expect to see them replenished-when they get low, then will God come and deal graciouslywith us! Money is, however, our smallest need-we need Grace, wisdom, light and comfort-and these we
shall have. All our needs are occasions for blessing. The more needs you have the more blessing you will get. God has promisedto fill up all your needs. That is, all your empty vessels will be filled and, therefore, the more the merrier! What? Themore in need the better? Yes, I would have your faith believe that strange statement-your poverty shall thus be your riches,your weakness your strength, your abasement your exaltation! Your extremity shall be an opportunity that God will use to showthe riches of His Grace! To your utter exhaustion He will draw near with all the fullness of His inexhaustible Grace and Hewill replenish you till your cup runs over!
He will fill up all your empty vessels. Be not slow to fetch them out from holes and corners and place them before the Lord,however many they may be. Weep not over the empty jars, but place them out in rows in full expectation of their being filledto the brim! These empty vessels of yours are, some of them, I have no doubt, very large, and they even grow larger. Mostof our needs grow upon us. You still pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," but the one loaf which was a large answer tothe prayer when you were single, would not go far at your table, now-the loaves vanish like snow in the sun! You needed faith50 years ago, but you need more, now, do you not? You have more infirmities and, perhaps, more trials than in your youngerdays. I know that, apart from my loving Lord, I am much more needy, now, than I ever was before. Whatever a man requires inthe things of God, usually the older he grows and the more experience he has, the more he needs, and the more of it he needs.
He needs more love than he had when he was younger, more patience, more resignation, more humility, more charity, more wisdom,more holiness. He desires more faith and a brighter hope. He needs, especially in prospect of death, more courage and morebold, simple, child-like confidence in his Savior, Why, some of us have needs that could not be supplied if we could turnthe stars to gold and coin them and pay them away-these could not touch the hunger of the heart and soul! The world, itself,would be but a mouthful for our spirits' necessity-a drop in a bucket. I know some saints that have grown to be so deeplyin debt to their Lord, to His Church and to the world, that they are hopelessly involved in boundless obligation.
How can we meet the demands upon us? Our responsibilities are overwhelming! All that some of us have made by our lifelongtrading is a bigger stock of needs than we ever had before. The vacuum within our spirit expands and enlarges, and we cryout, "More knowledge of the Scriptures! More of Christ! More of Grace! More of God! More of the Holy Spirit! More power toserve God!" Our oil vessels would, each one, hold a sea-and even these are expanding! We need more and more, and the mercyis that the text before us keeps pace with the growth-"My God shall supply all your need." This includes the big needs aswell as the little ones! It comprehends all that can be as well as all that is! It guarantees us that our growing needs shallall be supplied. Let the vessels expand to their utmost, "Yet my God," says Paul, "shall fill up all those needs of yours."
Certain of our needs, again, are of this extraordinary kind, that if they were filled up, tonight, they would be empty tomorrowmorning! Some of our necessities are fresh every morning. The crop is a daily one, it springs up every moment. The Grace Ihad five minutes ago will not serve me now. Yesterday I may have possessed great love, great faith, great courage, great humility,great joy-but I also need these today-and none can give them to me but my Lord. You had great patience under your last trial.Yes, but old patience is stale stuff. You must grow more of that sweet herb in your garden, for the trial that is now comingcan only be sweetened by the herb content, newly gathered from the garden of your heart and mixed with the bitter water ofyour afflictions.
Our condition apart from our God may be compared to those fabled vessels that we read of in mythology that were so full ofholes that, though the 50 daughters of Danaus labored hard to fill them up, they could never accomplish the task. You andI are such leaky vessels that none but God can ever fill us! And when we are filled, none but God can keep us full. Yet sothe promise stands, "My God shall supply all your need"-all the vessels shall be filled and shall be kept full! We have certainneeds, dear Friends, that are very pressing and, perhaps, most clamorous at this moment. Some needs are urgent-they must besupplied, and supplied speedily-or we shall perish with hunger, or die of sickness, or wither up in despair. Here let me adda caution-I dare not tell you that God will supply all the needs of everybody, for this promise is to the children of God-andin its most emphatic sense it is only to a certain class, even, among them.
Those persons who profess to be Christians and, when they were well-to-do, never helped anybody else-I think the Lord willlet them pinch a bit, and know what a condition of poverty is like that they may become more sympathetic with the poor. Ihave known good stewards and the Lord has sent them more, for they have dealt well with what they had.
They have given away their substance by shovelfuls and the Lord has sent it back by cartloads and entrusted them with more!Others who have been bad stewards and have not served their Master well, have lost what they had, and have come to poverty.Let us hope that their substance has gone to somebody that will use it better! But, meanwhile, they have to pinch, and deservedlyso.
But, remember, the Apostle is speaking to people of a very different character from that. He is speaking to the Phi-lippiansand I think that there is a point in that pronoun, "My God shall supply all your need." You have been generous in helpingthe Lord's servant and the Lord will repay you. Up to the measure of your ability you have served His Church and helped tocarry on His work in the world and, therefore, God will supply all your need. This is not spoken to hoarding Judas, but tothe generous who had voluntarily yielded of their substance when a fit opportunity was given them. Will any of you bring yourneed to God and test Him by the same conduct? Remember that old promise of His, "Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse,that there may be meat in My house, and prove Me now herewith, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windowsof Heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
There is that that scatters and yet increases. Give, and it shall be given unto you. Oh yes, our gracious God will fill allthe vessels at once, if time presses! If your needs urgently require to be filled, bring them to Him. I began by saying thatfew of us had any great call to borrow other people's empty pots. Yet there are some of us whose main anxiety is about thevessels that we have borrowed. We need more oil than others for this very reason, that we care for others. Certain of us havebeen called to a life which intertwists itself with many lives. We have been led by Grace and Providence to take upon ourselvesthe needs of thousands. Every genuine warm-hearted Christian does this, more or less. We try to make other men's needs ourown needs by working for the poor, the ignorant, the sick, the helpless. You that care for our orphan children may well joinwith me in prayer that the Lord will fill up all those empty vessels which we have borrowed of poor widows.
Think of my hundreds of borrowed vessels in the Orphanage and of the number in the College. Blessed be the Lord my God, Hewill fill up all these! Those whom we try to help in different ways, especially those we try to lead to the Savior, are likethe woman's borrowed vessels-and they are not a few! You have made their spiritual needs your own. You have come before Godto pray for them as for your own soul and you shall be heard. You have talked to your neighbors and laid yourself out fortheir good, as if your own eternal destiny were in their stead-rest fully assured that the Lord that filled the borrowed potsin Elisha's day will also supply your borrowed needs! "My God will fill up all your needs." It is a blessed word! Bring outyour vessels and see if it is not true!
I should like to see every Christian here setting out all his vessels in rows at once, whatever they may be. Do not put yourcares away in the back room and say, "I shall draw them out tomorrow and begin worrying over them." Instead of that, whilethe oil is flowing, bring them here, before the Lord, that the oil may have free course and find suitable storage. Would youlimit the miracle? Have you one forgotten need? Make haste with it! Still, the oil is multiplying! Come one! Come all! Arrangeyour vessels and the Lord will fill up your needs, by His Grace, and fill your mouths with a song!
II. Secondly, let us enquire, WHO IS TO FILL THESE VESSELS? Paul says, "My God will supply all your need." "My God!" Oh, thatis grand! It were foolish talking if any other name were mentioned! God can supply all the needs of His people, for He isAll-Sufficient-but nobody else can. He can do it without any help, for nothing is too hard for the Lord. He is able to numberthe myriads of His creatures and attend to the commissariat of them all, so that not one of them shall lack-"He calls themall by their names, by the greatness of His power not one fails." "They that wait upon the Lord shall not want any good thing."As for you, dear Brothers and Sisters, "trust in the Lord and do good, so shall you dwell in the land, and verily you shallbe fed." He that promises to fill up all your empty vessels is one who can do it-there is no limit to the goodness and powerof God!
Then, notice that sweet word which Paul has put before the glorious word, "God." He writes-"My God." As Paul looked at themoney which the Philippians had sent him and, perhaps, at the warm garments that would cover him in the cold, damp jail, hecried, "See how my God has supplied me!" And then he says, "My God shall supply you." This same God, Paul's God-"shall fillup all your need." Wonderfully had God protected Paul from the malice of those who sought for his life. Very wonderfully hadhe been carried by Divine power through unparalleled labors, so that he had
been made to triumph in every place in the preaching of the Gospel! And thus Paul had learned from day to day to get a firmergrip of his God, and say, "My God!" with more and more emphasis.
Jehovah was not to Paul the unknown god, but, "My God." With God he dwelt and in Him he reposed all his cares. This same Godis our God! Think of that, poor friend, in your hour of need. Think of that, you afflicted widow woman-you have Paul's Godto go to! Think of that, dear child of God in trouble-you have the same God as Paul had and He is as much yours as He wasPaul's! His arm has not waxed short, neither has His heart grown hard towards any of His children! "My God," says Paul, "whois also your God, will supply all your need." Who is this God that will supply all our needs? Paul's God, remember, was andis the God of Providence! And what a wonderful God He is.
We speak as if we were some very important part of the universe, but really, what are we? Our little island can scarcely befound upon the globe till you hunt long for it! What a tiny speck this congregation must be! But God supplies the needs ofall the millions of mankind. "Mankind," I said-but I ought to have included all the other creatures, too- the myriads of herringin the sea, the multitudes of birds that sometimes darken the sun in their migrations, the countless armies of worms and insects,strangely supplied, we know not how! And yet, "Your heavenly Father feeds them."
Is that all the sphere of His Providence? No, far from it! I suppose that this round world of ours is but one apple in theorchard of creation, one grain of dust in the corner of God's great palace. But all yon orbs, with all the living things thatmay be peopling every star, He supplies. And how? "He opens His hand and supplies the need of every living thing." See howeasy to Him is this universal provision-He does but open His hand and it is done! This is the God that will supply all yourneed! He calls the stars by name! He leads out Arcturus with his sons. He loosens the bands of Orion. He does great thingswithout number-and shall He not feed and clothe you, O you of little faith? Yes, be you sure of this, the God of Providenceshall supply all your needs for this life and its surroundings.
If that suffice you not, let me remind you that this God is the God of Grace, for Paul, above all men, counted Divine Graceto be his treasure-his God was the God of Grace. Chiefly He is the God who gave His Son to bleed and die for men. Oh, standat Calvary and see God's great Sacrifice-the gift of His only-begotten Son! And when you have marked the wounds of the Well-Belovedand seen Jesus die, answer me this-"He that spared not His own Son, but freely delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not,with Him, also freely give us all things?" What will He deny us who has given up the best jewel that He had, the gloriousOne that Heaven could not match? There was never the likes of Jesus, and yet He bowed His head to die on our behalf!
Oh, my dear, dear Friends, if you are anxious, tonight, and vexed with many cares, do think of that! It is the God and Fatherof our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who says that He will fill up all your need! Do you doubt Him? Can you? Dare you distrustHim? Now, take a flight above this present cloud-land and behold the God of Heaven! Think of what God is up yonder-
"Beyond, beyond this lower sky
Up where eternal ages roll,
Where solid pleasures never die,
And fruits immortal feast the soul." Behold the splendor of God! Gold in Heaven is of no account-the streets of that cityare all of pure gold like unto transparent glass! The riches and the merchandise of nations are but as rags and rottennesscompared with the most common utensils of God's great House above! There they possess inexhaustible treasures and everythingthat is precious, for the walls of the New Jerusalem are described as made of 12 manner of precious stones, as if these stoneswere so common in Immanuel's land that they built the walls with them! The gates are each one a pearl. What pearls are those!Is God rich? Inconceivably, incalculably rich, so that He clothes the very grass of the field more gloriously than Solomonclothed himself!
What am I doing to be of a doubtful mind? Is He my Father and will He let me suffer need? What? I, starving, and my Fatherowning Heaven? No, no!-
"He that has made my Heaven secure, Will here, all good provide While Christ is rich, can I be poor? What can I need beside?"
My precious text is one which, years ago, when we built the Orphanage, I caused to be cut on one of the pillars of the entrance.You will notice it inside the first columns on either side whenever you go there. "My God shall supply all your need accordingto His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." This I took for the foundation of the Institution and set my seal to it as true.And it has been so! Time would fail me if I were to tell how often God has interposed, there, for His numerous family-thosechildren that are cast upon the Divine Fatherhood. He has honored His own promise and our faith-and I believe He always will.There on the forefront of the Orphanage stands also the words-"The Lord will provide." You shall see whether it is not so.As long as that place stands, my God shall supply our need and it shall be a standing encouragement to us all.
Think of the far more extensive orphanage of our Brother Mueller, of Bristol, with those 2,500 children living simply throughprayer and faith, and yet as abundantly supplied as the Queen in her palace! Nothing is needed where God is the Provider.The Lord will supply without fail! Let us trust without fear. Go and plead this promise with the Lord your God and He willfulfill it to you as well as to the rest of His saints.
III. Now, thirdly, let us enquire IN WHAT STYLE WILL GOD SUPPLY HIS PEOPLE'S NEEDS? He will do it in such style as becomesHis wealth-"according to His riches." There are several ways of doing most things. There is more than one way of giving apenny to a beggar. You can throw it at him, if you like, or pitch it in the mud as if you threw a bone to a dog. Or you mayhand it to him in a sort of huff as if you said, "Take it, and be off with you." Or you may drag the coin out of your pocketas unwillingly as if you were losing your eye-tooth. There is yet another way-namely that which makes the copper turn to gold-bya way of doing it courteously and with kindness which expresses sympathy with the poor creature's need. Always give good thingsin the best way, for your heavenly Father does so.
Now, how does God supply His children? Stingily, miserably, grudging them every penny's worth? Certainly not! I hope thatit was never your misery to dine with a grudging man who watched every mouthful that went down your throat as if there wasso much the less for him! Why, when one does eat, at whatever table it may be, if it is the most common fare, one likes awelcome. It is the welcome which makes the Covenant invitation so sweet, when you hear the exhortation, "Eat, O Friends; drink,yes, drink abundantly, O beloved." One enjoys the welcome of a heart which pleases all it can-like the Scot woman at a greatcommunion meeting when there was nobody to take the people in-"Come in," she said. "Come in! I have room for 10 of you inmy house, and I have room for 10,000 of you in my heart. Come along with you. Nobody so welcome as you that have been sittingat my Master's table with me."
How, then, does God dispense His favors? How does He fill up the vessels? The way He does it is not according to our poverty,nor according to our merit, "but according to His riches." He gives like a king! Brothers and Sisters, I must correct myself-Hegives as God and as only God can give-according to His own God-like riches. No, that is not all. He will do it in a styleconsistent with His present Glory. It is "according to His riches in glory," which means that, as rich as God is in glory,so rich is He in giving. He never demeans Himself in the mercies that He gives. He gives according to His rank and that isthe highest conceivable. He gives so as to bring Him new Glory. I never heard of one of His children receiving a great blessingfrom Him and then saying that it did not glorify God to bestow it. No, no! The more He gives, the more glorious He is in theeyes of men!
And He delights to give, that His Glory may be seen, and that the riches of His manifested Glory may be increased. Withholdingwould not enrich the Lord of Heaven! Rather would it impoverish Him in Glory. But giving enriches Him with more revealed Gloryand He, therefore, delights to scatter His bounty. The fact is, Brethren, God gives gloriously! The calculations of God-didyou ever think of them? Well, let me say that He always calculates so as to leave something to spare, by which to illustratethe infinity of His goodness. I know that it is so. He does not give us just as much light as our eyes can take in, but Hefloods the world with splendor till we shade our eyes amidst the blaze of noon. After this fashion did His only-begotten Sonfeed the thousands when He multiplied bread and fish for them to eat. We read that "they did all eat"-no doubt they were hungryenough to do a great deal of that sort of labor! So far so good. But it is added, "and were filled."
It takes a good deal to fill men who have come a long way into the country and have had nothing to eat for a whole day. Butthey were filled, fainting and famished though they had been. Yes, but do not stop there-"And they took up of the fragments12 baskets full." The Lord always has baskets full of leftovers remaining for the waiters. He will be sure to fill all yourneeds till you have no other need remaining and have provision on hand for needs not yet arrived. Will the
day ever come when we shall say, "Bring yet another need for God to fill," and the answer will be, "I have no more needs"?Then the oil of Grace will stop, but not till then! No, according to what I have said, it will not stop then, but it willgo on flowing and flowing, and flowing and flowing, world without end, "according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."The Lord will give enough, enough for all time, enough of all, enough for all, and more than enough!
There shall be no real need of any Believer but what the Lord will fill it full and exceed it. It is a wonderful expression"filled with all the fullness of God." It pictures our being in God and God in us. One has illustrated it by taking a bottle,holding it in the sea and getting it right full-there is the sea in the bottle! Now, throw it right into the waves and letit sink-and you have the sea in the bottle and the bottle in the sea! So God enters into us and, as we cannot hold more, Hemakes us come into Himself! Into the very fullness of Christ are we plunged! What more can the amplest imagination conceive,or the hungriest heart desire? Thus God will supply our needs. Well may you fill others, who are yourselves so filled by God!Well may you serve His cause with boundless generosity when the infinite liberality of God is thus ensured to you!
IV. Lastly, let us notice BY WHAT MEANS THE LORD FILLS OUR NEEDS. It is "by Christ Jesus." Does God supply all His people'sneeds by Christ Jesus? Yes, first, by giving them Christ Jesus, for there is everything in Christ Jesus. Christ is all! Theman who has Christ has all things, as says the Apostle, "All things are yours, for you are Christ's, and Christ is God's."You will never have a spiritual need which is not supplied in Christ. If you need courage, He can create it. If you need patience,He can teach it. If you need love, He can inspire it! You need washing, and there is the Fountain. You require a garment,and there is the robe of Righteousness. You would have great needs if you went to Heaven without Christ, but you shall notgo there without Him! And even there He shall supply you with everything! He it is that prepares your mansion, provides yourwedding dress, leads you to His Throne and bids you sit there with Him forever. God will supply your eternal needs by givingyou Christ.
Moreover, all things shall come to you by virtue of Christ's merit. You deserve no good thing, but He deserves it and He says,"Set it to My poor servant's account." You may use Christ's name at the Bank of Heaven freely, for though God might not giveHis favor to you, He will always give it to His dear, dying, risen, pleading Son! When Jesus' name is quoted, all things areyielded by the Father. God will give you all things by Christ-therefore do not go to anybody else after those things. If youhave begun in the Spirit, do not attempt to be perfected by the flesh. If your only hope is in what Christ has done, stickto that and add nothing to it! Be this your motto-
"None but Jesus! None but Jesus!"
Jesus is our All-in-All! We are complete in Him! We need no addenda to the volume of His love. Christ, and Christ, alone,shall supply all your need-all your fresh springs are in Him. "It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell;and of His fullness we have all received, and Grace for Grace."
Now, once more, I would to God that some poor soul here that has no faith-that has no good thing about him- would, nevertheless,look over his house and see whether he has not an empty vessel somewhere. All that Christ wants of you, poor Sinner, is thatyou should be empty and come and let Him fill you with His Grace! Come along with you, just as you are! Bring no good works,no prayers, no anything-but come with all your sins, follies and failures which you may look upon as so many empty pots! Cometo Jesus for everything. "But I have scarcely a sense of need," you say. Come to Him for that, too! You must be very needyto be in need of that. Come and get it from Him. I tell you, Soul, you do not need a half-farthing's worth of your own-forwhat you think you have will only keep you from Jesus!
Come in all your poverty-a beggar, a king of beggars! Come and be made rich by Jesus! You that have not a rag to cover yoursin with-you that are only fit to be put into the devil's dust bin and thrown away as worthless-come along with you! My LordJesus is ready to receive those that Satan, himself, flings away! If you are such that you cannot find anything in yourselfthat is desirable and even your old companions, who once cheered you on, now think you too mean for them-yet come into myMaster's company-for, "this Man receives sinners." Come with your beggary and bank-ruptcy-you cannot dig, but to beg be notashamed, for, "My God will supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
As for you that have not trusted my Lord and boast that you can do very well without Him, I suppose I must leave you to fightyour own way. You declare that you will carry on your own business and will not be dependent upon God,
nor fall into any fanatical ideas, as you are pleased to call them. But we shall see. Already we see that the youths faintand are wearied and the young men utterly fall. We see that the young lions lack and suffer hunger and, also, that the best-laidplans of wisest men go oft awry. And they that have felt assured that they could fight their own way-even they have come toterrible failure. We shall see how you fare. They that mount up with wings as eagles and are proud and vainglorious-even thesego down to destruction so that no flesh has reason to glory.
As for me, let me wait upon the Lord God and live by faith in Him. Is it not better to drink of life out of the deep, inexhaustiblefullness of God than to go forever pumping and pumping at your own shallow cisterns which hold water? Self-reliance may bewell enough, but God-reliance eclipses it as the sun outshines the stars! "Oh, rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.""Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shall you dwell in the land, and verily you shall be fed." "He shall cover you with Hisfeathers, and under His wings shall you trust: His truth shall be your shield and buckler." There is a God and those who loveHim and trust Him and serve Him know that He is a good Master. Job was slandered by the devil when he came and said, "DoesJob serve God for nothing?" He insinuated that Job made a good thing out of his religion and was moved by selfish motives.
It was a great lie and yet, in a certain sense, it is true. If anybody says the same of you, admit that it is true. Acknowledgethat you do make a fine thing out of your religion. God will not let you serve Him for nothing-you shall never have to askthe question-"What profit is there if we serve God?" You shall have His peace, His love, His joy, His supplies according toHis riches in glory by Christ Jesus! You shall know that in keeping His Commandments there is great reward! Believer, youshall have everything through Christ and nothing without Him! He that trusts not the Savior and prays not to Him, shall belike Gideon's fleece-when all around it was wet the fleece was dry! But the man who trusts God and blesses His name shallbe like Gideon's fleece-when all around was dry it was full of moisture!
God will not hear a man's prayers except through Christ Jesus! But if that name is mentioned, the gates of Heaven fly open!God withholds no real good from the man of God who is in Christ. But our plea must be Jesus, first, and Jesus last, and Jesusin between! We must present the bleeding Lamb before God each morning and each night. I pray you seek no mercy of God apartfrom Christ, but lay hold upon God in Christ-and you shall have enough for all your need! May God the Holy Spirit cause youto abide in Christ Jesus for His name's sake. Amen.
PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON-2 Kings 4:1-7 and Philippians 4. HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"-84 (SONG II), 23 (FIRST VERSION), 708.