They do not want anyone, not even God, telling them how they should live their lives!
Something the lost world does not seem to know is this; EVERYONE SERVES A GOD OF SOME SORT! The lost world has many gods that have control of their lives.
Remember when Paul came to Mars Hill, in the Book of Acts, he noticed they had many gods.
Look at Acts 17:22-23, we read, “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.”
They had many gods, ONE FOR THIS and ONE FOR THAT! And Paul said that he noticed they even had one known as the, “UNKNOWN GOD!”
Then look what he said, in verses 24-25. We read, “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.”
He is saying that we do not take these hands and make God, He takes His hands and makes us!
But people then and people now still worship MANY GODS! In fact, the lost world is more dedicated to serving their gods than most Christians are in serving their God. This can clearly be seen in:
• The way they sacrifice to them
• The way they worship them
• The way they bow to them
• The way they serve them
As a whole, the lost world today is more dedicated to serving it’s gods than Christians are to serving the true and living God.
Make no mistake about it; everyone has a god or gods in their life. Paul was no exception. Notice that he speaks about, “MY GOD!”
Paul said, “My God,” but in this sermon I want to change the words, “MY GOD” to “OUR GOD!” That is exactly who He is. The God that Paul served is the same God we serve.
I am not abusing the scriptures by changing, “MY GOD” to “OUR GOD!” We have to be careful not to take scripture out of context. However, I am not doing anything incorrectly when I take the words of Paul, where he said, “My God” and change them to “Our God” because-
• We serve the same God He served
• And what God has done for him, He can do for us also
We can look around us and see what the gods of this world have done to wreck people’s lives, but let’s see what OUR GOD does for us. We see -
I. HE SATISFIES US
Paul said, “But my God shall supply….” WHAT DOES HE SUPPLY?
When many read this verse they think in TERMS OF MONEY. That is certainly included in one of the things that God does for us; He supplies our needs financially!
• If you were to listen to some of these modern-day television preachers, you would think the only thing God cares about is MONEY
• Many professing Christians have been caught up in the HEALTH AND WEALTH doctrine these fellows are preaching
Paul said these, “Ear Ticklers” would come in the last days and beloved me, they are here in large numbers. They will do anything to draw a crowd.
Illus: A preacher bought a parrot and said that in the Old Testament, God used a parrot to talk, but today he wanted to show them God was going to use a parrot to talk to them.
He said, “God sent this parrot down from heaven to talk to you.” He then told the parrot to start talking.
The parrot said, “Open your pocket books and pull out the biggest bill you can find and bring it down to God’s man this morning. If you do not have any cash, get your check book out and write the biggest check you have ever written and bring it down and give it to God’s man this morning.”
People did as the parrot said in large numbers. After all, this was a miracle, and God had spoken through this parrot.
After the service, the parrot was sitting on his perch and a man said, “I notice your parrot has strings tied to his leg.” The TV preacher said:
• “When you pull the right one, he recites the lord's prayer,”
• “When you pull on the left one, he recites the 23rd Psalm."
The man was amazed as he looked at this parrot standing on his perch and he said, “What happens if you pull both strings?"
The parrot spoke up and said, "You Idiot, I will fall off my perch!"
When some people read Philippians 4:19, all they can think about is money! God does supply our FINANCIAL NEEDS but we need to work and spend our money wisely.
God does not supply people’s FINANCIAL NEEDS that are lazy and spend their money foolishly.
But Paul had more than money in mind when he said that OUR GOD WILL SUPPLY.
You see, we have needs in our life that money can not help us with. You may:
• Have the best built home in the community
• Drive the best car that is on the market
• Wear the nicest clothes that they make
You can have all these things and be the most miserable person in town.
Illus: You can go to some of the most luxuriant neighborhoods in this town and you will find the same thing you will find in the poor neighborhoods:
• Domestic problems
• Drinking problems
• Rebellious teenagers
• Drug problems
• Divorce problems
Why? Because everyone has needs that money can’t fix.
Money can not solve all of our problems; we need God to help us with:
• Our FINANCIAL problems
• Our OTHER problems
Illus: One of the things that the life of Solomon teaches us so clearly is that you can have EVERYTHING (as he did) and still not be happy!
Solomon repeatedly talked about how miserable he was and how EMPTY LIFE WAS FOR HIM!
Illus: Elvis Pressley had talent, looks, fame and wealth as few men in this life have ever had. But he was so miserable that he was practically living on drugs, trying to cope with life and finally it cost him his life.
Illus: Anna Nicole Smith had all this world had to offer, and she was absolutely miserable much of her life.
There are things that money cannot buy. I am glad that OUR GOD can supply us with EVERYTHING WE NEED IN THIS LIFE!
We have a lot of unhappy people in this world in which we live.
(1) WE HAVE A LOT OF UNHAPPY WOMEN
A lot of young women started off determined to have the best that life has to offer them, but the years have gone by, and now they live a life of misery!
Illus: A worried housewife sprang to the telephone when it rang and listened with relief to the kindly voice in her ear.
"How are you, darling?" she said. "What kind of a day are you having?"
The housewife said, "Oh, mother," breaking into bitter tears, "I've had such a bad day. The baby won't eat and the washing machine broke down. I haven't had a chance to go shopping, and besides, I've just sprained my ankle and I have to hobble around. On top of that, the house is a mess and I'm supposed to have two couples to dinner tonight."
The mother was shocked and was at once all sympathy. "Oh, darling," she said, "sit down, relax, and close your eyes. I'll be over in half an hour. I'll do your shopping, clean up the house, and cook your dinner for you. I'll feed the baby and I'll call a repairman I know who'll be at your house to fix the washing machine promptly. Now stop crying. I'll do everything. In fact, I'll even call George at the office and tell him he ought to come home and help out for once."
The house wife said, "George?" "Who's George?"
"Why, George! Your husband!....Is this 223-1234?
"No, this is 223-1244."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I have the wrong number."
There was a short pause and the housewife said, "Does this mean you're not coming over?"
(2) WE HAVE A LOT OF UNHAPPY MEN
Every day they are turning to drugs and alcohol just to cope with life.
A lot of young men start off in life thinking that if I can marry a certain girl THEY WILL BE HAPPY FOR LIFE! They marry her and in a short time, they want to divorce her!
Sometimes this unhappiness has caused men to walk off and leave their families to fend for themselves!
Illus: We hear a lot of women today saying they are having female problems. But one man said, “Let me tell you something, women are not the only ones who have female problems, WE MEN HAVE FEMALE PROBLEMS TOO.”
Illus: Another man said, “Some of these women go through some real mood changes. When we husbands come home, we do not know what kind of mood we will be facing. When we meet them at the door, we do not know if we should DUCK or PUCKER!”
Illus: Every preacher knows what it is like to be counseling with some man and he has his head between his hands saying, “NOTHING I DO SATISFIES HER!”
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger said that when he is counseling with a man that has woman problems, he just reminds them THEY ARE DIFFERENT FROM US MEN IN MANY WAYS. He reads an article to them about HOW TO SATISFY A WOMAN EVERY TIME.
“Each day: Caress, praise, pamper, relish, fix, empathize, serenade, compliment, support, feed, tantalize, bathe, humor, stimulate, console, hug, coddle, cuddle, excite, pacify, protect, smooch, forgive, entertain, charm, show equality, oblige, fascinate, shower, shave, trust, defend, clothe, brag about her, help her, acknowledge her, embrace her, accept her, butter-up, listen, understand, beg, plead, borrow, nurse, phone, repair, respect, entertain, kill for, die for, dream of, tease, flirt and worship, and then go back, and next day do it all over again.”
Men are less complicated. To satisfy us, just:
• Bring us a plate of food
• Put the remote control in our hand and leave us alone
We will be completely satisfied!
WE HAVE A LOT OF UNHAPPY MEN AND WOMEN! WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
It is because MEN and WOMEN are looking in the wrong places to find satisfaction, and they will NOT find it until they start looking in the right place.
Paul talks about OUR GOD, and one of the things he teaches us is that OUR GOD SUPPLIES US WITH SATISFACTION! He truly satisfies!
Illus: How contrary that is to those that serve the gods of this world:
• They can not get enough alcohol
• They can not get enough drugs
• They can not get enough material things
• They can not get enough gambling
• They can not get enough sex
• They can not get enough pornography
• They can not get enough money
Every day is a day of dissatisfaction. They always need more!
We see HE SATISFIES US and -
II. HE STRENGTHENS US
Look at Phil. 4:13, we read, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Many lost folks will say, “I do not need God to strengthen me, THANK YOU, I can make it on my own!” Listen, we all need to be strengthened in two ways:
(1) WE NEED GOD TO STRENGTHEN US PHYSICALLY
The very rich man, Ted Turner, said that Christianity was a crutch to support weak people. He said this to be clever, but actually what he said is very true. If we did not have God to hold us up, we would not be able to be here today.
Every one of us here today is here because God has strengthened us PHYSICALLY.
(2) WE NEED GOD TO STRENGTHEN US SPIRITUALLY
You can be the strongest man on earth PHYSICALLY, but when it comes to SPIRITUAL things you may be a helpless weakling.
Let me give you some examples:
• A man might be built like Hercules physically, but he is an alcoholic and you can put a bottle of LIQUOR in front of him and that little bottle will beat him every time
• A man might physically look like the incredible Hulk, but if he is addicted to GAMBLING and he can sees a deck of cards, that small deck of cards will beat him every time
• A man might physically be strong enough to amaze people with his strength. But that same man might be addicted to PORNOGRAPHY, and every time he comes close to a porn shop he is drawn inside that place as if a magnet was drawing him
I am glad God supplies our FINANCIAL NEEDS, but listen I am also glad that our God supplies us with the SPIRITUAL STRENGTH to overcome sin, because if He didn’t, sin would overcome us!
This is why Paul said, in verse 13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” He did not say SOME THINGS, but ALL THINGS!
Let’s look at Philippians 4:19 one more time. We read, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
This verse tells the Believer that -
• God is His God
• God can supply all his needs
Look at something else; this verse tells us how God does this. He does it, “according to His riches in glory…” In other words He has the resources to supply our needs.
Conclusion:
I told you earlier that the life of Solomon teaches us so clearly that you will never find happiness and satisfaction until you look in the right place. After Solomon tried everything a man could try, he finally found the answer to happiness.
Look at Ecclesiastes 12:13, we read, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
Solomon is saying that it all comes down to RECOGNIZING GOD AS YOUR CREATOR and OBEYING HIM. Then you will find the happiness you are looking for in this life.
Illus: A missionary was on the mission field and a man came to him and said, “I want some of that stuff that you rub on your face that makes your face shine!” The missionary said, “The light in my face comes from WITHIN, not from WITHOUT!”
God is such an awesome God. But what makes Him so special is that He is OUR GOD!
We see -
I. HE SATISFIES US
II. HE STRENGTHENS US
