Joseph Prince - God's Supply Never Runs Out
Look at this story in Luke 10. In Luke 10, «Now it happened as Jesus and His disciples went that Jesus entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’s feet and heard His word». Now the word heard here in the Greek, the Greek tense there, is continuously listening to his word. All right? Now, Asian culture, when a guest comes to your house, what do you do? You serve the guest. What did Mary do? Sat down in front of the guest. And she took a posture of what? Rest and receiving. Okay, let me just tell you this. I’m jumping ahead of myself, the Lord loved it. When the Lord is so full of grace, and it comes to you, he wants you to receive. His heart is so full, it’s painful not to give. Amen?
So when you’re able to give, he feels so glad that someone took from him. Remember when he was tired at the well of Samaria? A woman came who had five husbands and she was living in adultery and she took from Jesus. What happened to Jesus? He looks invigorated. All of a sudden when the disciples came back, they saw a different Jesus. They saw a Jesus that was energetic. They left him tired at the well but he was not energetic. Why? Someone came and took from him. I mean, I’m telling you, you gotta have right believing in church, God is not like us. You take from me, I deplete, but you take from God and if we can say this, God is reintegrated. God is charged. Amen. So she sat down at Jesus’s feet and listened, continuously listened to his word, receiving his supply.
What was her sister doing? Martha. «Martha was distracted with much serving and she approached Jesus and said, 'Lord, don’t you care? '» So whenever you are demand minded, «Wow these disciples, you know, why must Peter eat so much? You know, and John, he’s able-bodied, not even coming here to help me, you know, and what’s my sister doing sitting down there? All right, why is she not here helping me? And the Lord, the Lord, doesn’t he know? Doesn’t he care»? So when you are stressed, when you have this demand-minded, inter-supply oriented, you are demand-minded, you place demands on yourself, guess what? You stress yourself. When you are stressed, you blame God and you blame everyone around you. «Lord, don’t you care»?
If he didn’t care, he won’t enter your house, there are many houses that want him. And why do you worry about food? Have you forgotten who this person is? This heavenly guest? This heavenly stranger? Once upon a time, the disciples came to him and said, «We have no food». Jesus said, «Give them to eat». «Lord, this multitude, look at them, they’re all hungry, and one of them can eat ten portions. Where can we find food for this multitude»? And the Lord says, «Give them to eat». «Duh,» they said, «all the moneys we have in our treasury is not enough to feed this…» They’re thinking in the natural, they’re thinking in the natural. Their believing was wrong. They forgot who was the One. And the boy came and says, «Lord I don’t have much, my mummy told me that to save this in case I get hungry. I’m not hungry yet, Lord, but I have five loaves and two fish».
Jesus took it, and he didn’t look at it, he looked at heaven, supply-minded. He thanked the Father for the supply, and the Bible says, «All of them ate until they were full». In other words, they burped. And then the supply stopped, the supply didn’t stop until they were full. And then not only that, the Bible tells us that there were 12 baskets full left over. This is our God, people! And that’s what Martha forgot. Martha forgot that this One, when he comes to your house, he’s not like any other guest. He didn’t come to be served, he came to serve. He didn’t come to be given to, he came to give. And the best thing you can do when God comes to your house is to sit before him and receive from him, for in that way you bring him pleasure.
See, Mary saw beyond the exterior of Jesus that looks tired to an inexhaustible supply that was there. Martha only saw the exterior of Jesus, and saw a Jesus that she has to give to. Asian culture: Mary, rude; Martha, good; Heaven’s culture, Martha. This is not what God wants. Mary has chosen the good part. Are you listening people? All right, it’s a fine line church, it’s a fine line. You know in one day you can shift from supply all of a sudden demand. «I heard Pastor Prince sermon today on iPod, but by afternoon my boss said this, gone». You know, you go from supply-minded to demand-oriented. You start demanding from yourself, «I have to do this, I have to prepare for this, I have to make sure that my children are all well, I gotta be there…»
And before you know it, you are stressed, you get tired, you fall sick. That’s not God’s best for you, church, are you listening? And the Bible tells us that Jesus answered and said to her, «Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things». Why is she troubled and worried about many things, but one thing is needed? So in other words, she’s worried about many things because she didn’t do the one thing. You know when Jesus says one thing, one thing is one thing. «No, it cannot be. Babies must be fed, diapers must be changed, milk must be expressed, bosses must be pleased, targets must be met, goals must be achieved». So we have all these demands on us, all right? And we are thinking, «There’s no way every day only one thing is needed».
What is that? Sit at Jesus’s feet and be in a posture of receiving, receive his word, receive his supply. «I cannot, but come on, how can that be»? Well, the Bible tells us that Mary didn’t even like serving the Lord because a few chapters after this, she was the only woman that anointed Jesus’s body for his burial. The women that came on the day of his resurrection found that they were too late, he’d rose from the dead. They came with their spices to anoint his dead body, they didn’t get a chance. Mary did, Mary did the right thing at the right time because Mary chose the good part. «One thing is needed, Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her».
Jesus defended her. You know the devil comes to steal the Word? Even the devil cannot take this portion. But notice it must be a chosen portion, Mary chose to be in a posture of receiving. And you can choose to be in that posture, let’s choose today. Choose wisely, only one thing is needed. If you do that one thing, everything else will fall into place. Amen. Martha is worried about many things because she didn’t do the one thing. When you do the one thing, you won’t worry about many things. By the way, Jesus answered and said to Martha, «Martha». You know in the Bible, whenever God repeats your name, like, «Abraham, Abraham». you know, he offered Isaac, right? He’s about to kill Isaac, God says, «Abraham, Abraham». «Saul, Saul, Saul». «Samuel, Samuel».
Whenever you find in scripture God repeating a name twice, that means whatever he’s going to say has a deep lesson. So the lesson here for us is that there are two kinds of believers represented in Martha and Mary, which are you? Are you a Martha trying to give to God, trying to serve God, trying to pour to God. All right, all these things are good, he never rebuked her for her service, he never corrected her for wanting to serve. He says, «You are careful». That was the problem, «You are troubled, you are worried about many things». You can serve without worrying, you can give without trouble in your heart. You know, if we live our life in a way that is supply-minded, we need not be worried.
You see, when the devil comes, the first thing he does is always try to make you feel that whatever you read in the Bible, all right, whatever you read is all about God’s demands on you, God’s demands, so that finally you close the book. You can’t take the demands, but church, today we are not under law, we are not under demand, we are under supply. Are you listening? «But Pastor Prince, there are demands there». No, the demands are there to show you the supply. The supply is greater than the demand. Let me show you this verse of scripture, you must tuck it somewhere, all right? Keep it properly because the enemy will try to steal this verse from you, and it’s a verse that will bless you. Are you ready? Philippians chapter 2, the apostle Paul says, «Therefore, my beloved…» that means what? He’s writing to believers or unbelievers? Believers.
«My beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence, but now much more in my absence…» These people are amazing, Paul is literally saying, «You know, you people are more obedient when I’m not around». All right? «Work out, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure». All right, this verse have been so misconstrued by so many preachers, it’s astounding. One of the first things you hear that people oppose grace is this, «Have you not read»? I’ve got a guy who told me one time, «What about work out for your salvation? Work for your salvation with fear and trembling». I said, «Wait a minute, you’re misquoting the verse. The Bible doesn’t say, 'Work for your salvation.' That’s the antithesis of the Gospel. The Gospel says we are saved not by our works but by his grace.'» Amen.
Now you are saying, «Work for your salvation». You’ve just twisted God’s Word. «But there it is in Philippians». No it’s not, read carefully. It is saying, «Work out your own salvation». In other words, God has worked it in, you work it out. Work out, you cannot work out what has not been worked in. If there is no in, there is no out. So the thing is this, what it’s saying, «Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling because», for is because, «because it is God who works in you». Work out what God works in. All right, in other words, I don’t have the willingness. There are two things that God works in you. By the way, the word works, God works is in the great present, active, continuous stance. That means God is always working in you.
Even right now as I’m preaching, God is working in you, giving you desires you never had before. Giving you the power, and the energy, and divine strength you didn’t have before. It is God doing two things in you. God who constantly works in you both to will, giving you the willingness, and to do, giving you the performance of his good pleasure. I’ll repeat again, God gives you the willingness, you know, we say that, «Oh, Pastor Prince, I’m willing to do this for Jesus». Yeah, even that willingness didn’t come from you, God supplied it. And at the end, when you do something for God, even the doing, God works in you to do for his good pleasure. In other words, if God places a demand on you, you are to rest in his working in you.
So you work out what God works in. You work it out by the way you treat your children, you work out your salvation in the way you leave your testimony at work, you work out your salvation in the way you love your wife. Work it out. Work out your salvation when God works it in. God works in the love. You’re saying, «Pastor Prince, I’m not willing, I’m not, don’t talk about saving my marriage. I’m not even willing». All right, then, don’t even try, let God work it in. I said, «Let God work it in». God is constantly working in us. We don’t have something, don’t push it, rest. Don’t demand from yourself what you don’t have. God is not asking you to do what you don’t have, but God is saying, «Be open to what I’m doing and working in you. I’ll give you the willingness and I’ll give you the performance of my will».
You see I like to say like this, at the end when all of us stand before God the Bible says, «Worthy is the Lamb». All of us will be saying, «Worthy is the Lamb, Jesus, who deserves all praise, all strength, all honor, all glory». Right? Well, if God wants to have all the glory, let God do all the work. Let God work for us, let God work in us, let God work through us, so that we can truly say, «I didn’t do it. God deserves all the glory and the praise». Amen, praise God. Amen. But some of us, we have this attitude, «Worthy is the lamb and me. I just had a little part, little part, you know, little part». But if you know God is working for you, God is working in you, God is working through you, then you know it’s God. I only have to rest, live a life of rest.
You see, we look at Jesus, he did a lot of things in three and a half years. He finished everything at the cross, quite finished. In three and a half years, and yet you never see a person more relaxed than Jesus, he always had time. Even when they’re about to stone him one time, I was reading this the other day. They are about to throw him over the brow of the hill in Nazareth, it was his second coming. The brow of the hill is over the Valley of Megiddo. In his second coming, he will come back and conquer the Antichrist and his armies at the Valley of Megiddo. It was the first coming, they all be destroyed, who tried to stone him. The Bible says, «They were about to throw him off, he looked at them and walked right in their midst».
That’s Jesus, he always had time, he always had time. He always, he had conviction without intolerance, he had enthusiasm without fanaticism. We are to be like him. And he’s the altogether, the attractive, the beautiful one. This is our Lord Jesus, amen? So, remember this, tuck this somewhere in your heart, God will not ask you to do something that he will not work in you. Amen. You don’t have it, say, «God work in me». Are you with me people? All right, last verse, we’ll close, okay? By the way, before the last verse, I must tell you this, all right, back to Philippians 2 real fast. All right, Philippians 2, «Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; it is God who works in you».
When you see «fear and trembling,» please don’t think of it as fear and trembling: «shake, rattle, and roll. Shake, rattle, and roll». It’s not that kind of fear and trembling, okay? I’m sorry, I’m just having fun. «I’m all shook up. yeah, yeah, yeah». I’m sorry, all right. This fear and trembling is not the kind of fear, fear and trembling, let me show you, it’s Hebraism, you know, it’s like Hebrew way of expressing an awe, «Wow». Like something very beautiful, he said, «Wow». Let Bible interpret Bible. In Jeremiah 33, it says, God is talking, «Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who will hear all the good things that I do to my people; they shall fear, the people of the world will fear and tremble for all my», judgment? No.
«For all the goodness and all the prosperity that I supply», that I provide for Joseph Prince okay, sorry, for all of us. «The world will fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I’ll bring into your life». So fear and tremble here is not something negative, it is, «Wow,» it is an awe. Remember the woman, the issue of blood, she touched Jesus’s hem of his garment, and she was healed? And the Bible says, «The woman fearing and trembling». Same expression. Why, she was afraid? No, «because she knew what has happened in her,» the Bible says. She was fearing and trembling because she was in awe that she was really healed. Wow.
Okay the last verse. I’ll show you this verse and then we’ll close. The mother of all temptations. The first temptation recorded in the Bible, in the garden. Let’s look at it. «Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said, „You shall not eat of every tree of the garden“? '» Now he comes to you like this, like a salesman, «Is this really expensive to you»? It is! You know, but they’ll come in a question style. So the devil comes to you and says, «Did God say you cannot eat»? Make a demand. «You shall not eat of every tree of the garden»? Notice, become you shall not. So before a temptation can succeed, he must present to you God as demanding, okay.
Now what did God actually say to Adam? The previous chapter, chapter 2, «The Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may…'» come on shout it. Come on shout it. Not just eat, freely, no charge, freely eat, and there were only two of them. Every tree. You know how many trees are there? Every tree you can not just eat, but freely eat. God only said, one tree set apart to show you honor me, right? But this was the one the devil attacked from, «freely eat every tree,» it became, «Did God say you shall not eat of every tree»? You shall not. Can you see that? He makes God appear stingy, miserly. Go back to what the devil said, all right? «And the woman said to the serpent…»
You see, the problem is this, when the snake talk, don’t talk back. «And the woman said, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden». Something wrong, what she said. She dropped one word. She dropped one word, her thinking has now been influenced from believing about a God who is generous, to a God who is, «He allows us to eat,» but the word freely has been dropped. Can you see that? Not only that, the next verse says, «but of the fruit of the tree,» she says, «within the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'» Now she adds something that God never said. God never said, «Don’t touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil». God says, «Don’t eat of it». Now she adds, «don’t even touch it». They add things that God never said. Are you with me? All right, and make God appear severe.
Friend, this is what he does. He will come to you and say, «Your marriage is in trouble. Do you think God really cares? You know, God is busy running the universe, you know what I’m saying»? I’ll tell you something, the very area that is attacked is the area God is focused on. If you can write this somewhere in your heart, you know, I wrote this in my notebook some time ago, whatever produces a care in your heart, «Whatever produces a care in your heart produces God’s care for you». If it’s a care in your heart, God cares for it. God cares for you. Jesus even said, «The very hairs on your head are all numbered». Even if it’s zero, he knows the number. You know, my boy Justin doesn’t have too much hair yet. I think if I take time I can count his hair, it’s very fine, but you know what? I love him very much but I never take the time to count the hairs on his head. But Jesus says, «Your father knows the numbers of hair on your head».
Don’t think that God is so big, he runs the entire universe. That’s the wonder of God, he cares for every care in your heart. «Casting all your cares on him because he cares for you». So friend, I just want to tell you this, the devil wants you to see God as mean, demanding, stingy. God doesn’t want you to have this, doesn’t want you to do this because, you know, he just don’t want you to have fun, don’t want you to have joy. That’s what a lot of young people out there think. They do not know that out there, when they indulge and indulge, the fun goes down, down, down. But God’s ways, the fun goes on, and on, and on. True fulfillment, true pleasure is in the ways of God. But to enjoy it, let’s be like Mary.
Let’s come to Jesus’s feet and say, «Lord, today I come to you empty. Fill me up Lord». All right, it doesn’t have to be physically sitting down all the time. You can actually be rushing for work, but in your heart say, «Lord I’m looking to you Lord. I’m in a hurry today, Lord, but I’m looking to you. Thank you Lord for your wisdom. Yes there’s this assignment I must do. I’m meeting my boss, Lord, for an interview. Thank you for your favor, Lord. Thank you for your favor». Amen? And you know something? When you see God working in you, producing the willingness and the performance, you really will say, «Worthy is the Lamb, to God be all the glory». It won’t just be a cliché, it will be from your heart. Give him the praise, amen, church. Hallelujah.