Demand and Supply



“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” -II TIMOTHY 4:2-3 [KJV]


Paul predicted the time would come when people would not receive the gospel of grace, but, motivated by carnal desires, they would seek out, find and listen to those preachers whose objective is to tell folks what they want to hear. Surely the season about which Paul prophesied has arrived. The philosophy of consumerism has been carried over from the marketplace into churches. The rule of the day among false religionists is demand and supply; whatever the congregation demands, that’s what lying prophets are ready to supply. The average preacher may be likened to a shrewd businessman; he is consumer oriented and motivated by personal success.

His job is to discover what religious customers want and then provide it. As that is fundamental to success in the secular world, that is also the key to making it big in the religious arena. Multitudes of preachers are saying virtually anything people want to hear and if, for some reason, you don’t like what one preacher is saying, shop around, there’s always another one who will adjust their message to suit your taste. The demand creates the supply; hearers determine what their preachers will say. As one old writer said, “If the people desire a golden calf to worship, a ministerial calf-maker is readily found.”

Though most preachers are ready to supply the demands of the multitudes, the Lord still has His servants who are faithful to their commission summed up in II TIMOTHY 4:2: “Preach the Word.” God’s men boldly proclaim the truth as it is in Christ. THEY SEEK THE APPROVAL OF GOD, NOT THE APPLAUSE OF MEN [GALATIANS 1:10]. Having no selfish ambitions or lofty, personal goals, they desire THE GLORY OF GOD IN ALL THINGS and like Paul, are “determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified” [I CORINTHIANS 2:21]. They set forth God as being sovereign in all that He does. They proclaim “Salvation is of the LORD” [JONAH 2:9] and man’s total depravity and utter inability to save himself or make himself acceptable before a holy God.

They set forth the successful, redemptive work of Christ for His people and the necessity of the quickening grace of the Spirit to reveal the Savior. They boldly and unashamedly announce, “CHRIST IS ALL:” all to be known, all to be seen in the Word of God and all to be preached. They declare how God can be Just and justify the ungodly through the death of the Lord Jesus. Whether their hearers approve or disapprove, they still preach Christ crucified in obedience to the charge they’ve been given. The world’s rule of demand and supply is of no concern to them. The message God has supplied and demands them to preach, that is what they proclaim.


—Gospel report by preacher Jim Byrd

Thirteenth Street Baptist church of Ashland, Kentucky USA

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