Greetings, my friend.
It's certainly a joy and a privilege to
be able to come to you again this
month.
Of course, when you receive this tape, it
will be the December tape, and I do
trust that you will have a wonderful December.
I trust that Lord will put it on
your heart to pray earnestly for us as
we're going through some very unique times in
our lives.
In some areas, it seems that God is
dead, and in other areas, it seems like
he is very, very much alive.
It helps us to know because, you know,
we're really living in sin.
He just shuts everything out.
But if we are being disciplined and such
like, he definitely, you know, will bless in
one area and shut down some other areas.
Nevertheless, we are really being put through some
unusual times, and we need your prayers very
distinctly.
Many of you, when you receive this tape,
you will possibly think that we're in Russia,
but because of the medication change, we were
not able to take that trip to Russia.
I had to make the decision several weeks
ago, but today I know I made the
right decision because even though I'm feeling real
well and doing real well, we are going
to have to take another month at least
to get the medication level out.
And, of course, this is nothing unusual because
it's a trial and error type thing.
You try one thing and try another.
You know, with human beings, you never have
a norm.
You always have variations, and so it's becoming
a very unusual thing.
I do want you to pray earnestly for
our ministry in Europe that we're taking on.
You know, that's a very serious situation, and
we have really stepped out there, way out,
and we're trusting the Lord to raise up
all of the people and the support that's
necessary for these people to come.
And from our side here in America, basically
all we do is just trust the Lord
for people.
We do trust the Lord that some people
will have finances to go, but nevertheless, it's
just trusting the Lord for people, basically, and
so we're seeing a great number come in
that way.
But the other areas, we've invited 200 people
from the Western Bloc countries in Western Europe,
and we're depending on the Lord.
In fact, I believe he will definitely raise
up all that's necessary for that time.
Now, you continue to pray with us as
I get more and more out of the
mechanical part of the ministry and more and
more into the preaching and writing and taping
and that sort of thing, which, you know,
that's where I'm supposed to be anyway.
And it seems like the Lord is making
it possible for our son to get more
and more into it.
And so I trust that you will pray
about this because it's a very important part.
Now, this particular month of tape is on
faith and finances, if you want to call
it that, but it really is on more
than that.
I'm dealing with 2 Corinthians 9, a verse
that is very, very uniquely placed in the
Word of God, a great promise, and I'm
dealing with that particular promise, and I trust
that it will really, really genuinely mean a
great deal to you.
So I'm counting on the Lord to do
this work in you as you listen to
this tape.
I believe it could be a life-changing
experience for you, trusting that God's richest blessings
will be yours in these days, your friend
in Christ, Manly Beasley.
Well, it's good to see you tonight.
I'm a little shocked at the direction the
Lord would have me to go tonight, but
I do believe that it's what he wants
me to do.
And if you have your Bibles, turn with
me, please, to 2 Corinthians 9.
2 Corinthians 9.
And I'd like for you to turn to
the 8th verse.
You know, God has his own particular way
to communicate to his people.
He has formed us just like he wants
us, and sometimes we're a little dissatisfied with
the way he's done that.
And we have to get to the place
where we're willing to accept what he's done
and then begin to cooperate with him to
accomplish what he wants in our lives.
And back when I first got saved, I
had a very difficult time reading anything, much
less the Word of God.
But I was never sure when I'd read
the Word of God, I was never sure
that I was getting the understanding that I
needed.
There was a great deal of insecurity in
me because of a problem that I had
that I did not understand, and that was
that I couldn't read, see letters and see
words, you know, properly.
I'd look at was and I'd see saw.
And I'd look at saw and I'd see
was and stuff like that, just constantly confusion,
and no one told me what the problem
was.
So I had a little difficult time reading
and understanding.
And when I would read and understand, I
wasn't real sure that I had it right.
So consequently, I just prayed and asked the
Lord.
I said, Now, Lord, before I preach this
message, you're going to have to let me
experience it.
You're going to have to let me see,
not only understand in my mind, but you're
going to have to let me know in
my life what this particular verse means.
And the verse that I've turned you to
tonight is a verse that really, to me,
is one of the most profound statements from
God to man that I have ever read,
especially a man that's a woman that's a
Christian.
I mean, this is some passage to a
Christian.
And I used to pray, Lord, let me
know what that scripture meant, our means.
And I mean experientially, not just intellectually.
And to my amazement, one day he let
me begin to see something of this verse.
And I want to talk about this verse
tonight, 2 Corinthians 9.8. And I'm reading
it out of the Amplified Bible, and so
it will say something a little different there,
not much different than what you're reading if
you're reading a King James or New American
Standard.
But God is able to make all grace,
every favor and earthly blessing, come to you
in abundance, so that you may always, under
all circumstances, and whatever the need, be self
-sufficient, possessing enough to require no aid or
support, and furnished in abundance for every good
work and charitable donation.
The thing that fascinates me about that verse
is that all those always, in all circumstances.
I'll tell you, that really fascinates me.
Every occasion, every problem, those always really gets
me there.
And all sufficiency in all things, that really
fascinates me.
It really does.
But out of this passage, the occasion for
this passage really is something.
And how it comes about.
And so I want us to look at
the 8th chapter and the 9th chapter, both
of these tonight.
And as I said, this is a little
strange, but I believe this is the direction
the Lord wants me to go.
And I believe the children of God are
very bored people.
I believe they are.
And the reason I think they are so
bored is because they have not learned how
to discover the truth and obey it.
And so their Christianity has given way to
religion.
And religion is you going through a form
the same way, the same time, all the
time.
That's right.
Now, you may not believe you are very
religious, but I'll tell you what.
God never did anything the same way twice
as far as guiding, leading and directing his
people.
And he just kept moving in certain directions.
And there's nothing boring about the Christian life.
The most exciting life in the world, as
far as I'm concerned.
Now, I didn't live until I was 17
without being saved.
But I'll tell you what.
It has been so fascinating to me to
live the Christian life since I was 17
years of age.
Now, I did a lot of living before
I was 17.
I'd gone around the world twice, been in
39 foreign countries.
I had danced from Austin to Boston, New
York to Spain.
I mean, I had all kinds of things
I'd done.
And I really lived.
But I'll tell you what.
I never really started living until I met
Jesus.
And it's never been boring.
It really has never been boring.
Now, I'll tell you.
There have been a lot of times when
I wondered what was going on.
But it wasn't boring.
And tonight I'm going to get to an
area that you have a great deal to
do with.
And then the occasion for this passage that
I read to you.
Paul is writing to the Church at Corinth.
And what had happened was that the people
in Jerusalem was having some difficulty financially.
There was a famine in Jerusalem.
And they were having some difficulty financially.
And obviously the Church there had heard about
their need.
And obviously they had got stirred up about
making a contribution to the people of God,
the children of God, in Jerusalem.
And it looks like that they just, since
they were always first, according to these passages,
in almost every gift.
In almost every gift you could mention, they
were first, Paul said.
It seems to me that this passage, 2
Corinthians 8 and 9, indicate that they sort
of bragged about the fact that they were
going to give a big offering in Jerusalem.
Now, I don't know how Paul felt about
that.
But any time I go to a church
and the pastor says to me, Brother, now
you just leave everything to me.
Don't you worry.
I'll guarantee you we'll take care of you
better than anybody in this world.
Brother, when they tell me that, I start
praying.
Amen.
I start praying.
I really do.
Now, I'm not kidding you.
The old boy says, I'm not just preaching.
I'm telling you the truth.
Well, it may be that Paul felt this
way.
This crowd at Corinth had really indicated, manifested,
the fact that they were going to really
do something wonderful for this church, for these
Saints in Jerusalem.
In fact, this message had so spread abroad,
this passage says, that the church in Macedonia
heard about what they were going to do.
And it had even stimulated them and encouraged
them and excited them that the church at
Corinth was going to do such wonderful things
towards giving.
And Paul, obviously, was quite apprehensive about this
whole situation.
So he writes them.
And when he writes them here in these
two chapters, he tells them about the church
at Macedonia.
And he uses the church at Macedonia as
an illustration.
Now, I'm going to come back to this
portion of this passage in a moment.
But he went on to say, I'm sending
a fellow over there.
I'm sending a fellow over there just in
case all of your bragging is just clouds
without water.
Right.
There's no substance of what you're saying.
He said, I'm going to send a fellow
over there, and he is going to wring
it out of you.
Amen.
He said, because when I come, it may
be that there may be someone from Macedonia
with me, and I don't want to be
embarrassed.
Right.
Now, out of this context, Paul is saying
that God is able to make all grace,
every favor and earthly blessing come to you
in abundance, so that you may always under
all circumstances and possessing whatever the need may
be self-sufficient, possessing enough to require no
aid or support or furnish in abundance for
every good work and charitable donation.
Do you know what that means?
It means that you might always be supplied
with enough, that you have enough on hand
to pay all your bills and have enough
left over to give away.
That's my paraphrase of that verse.
Amen.
I mean, it is some verse.
And so Paul says this to these people
at Cullin.
Now, as he deals with this church about
this matter, their idea about finances, he begins
to say something about the church at Macedonia
and talk about how these people who were
living in absolute poverty had responded to God
properly until, my dear friends, they were living
in an abundance.
Now, I don't know how to define this
matter of living in an abundance because in
our day and time we have the idea
floating around quite vividly over television especially, that
if you just get right with God and
give, you'll get rich.
The only thing about that sermon is that
it won't work in Russia and it will
not work in South America and it will
not work in China.
Amen.
It'll only work right here in America.
And if you start preaching that in Europe,
they'd think you're nuts.
Amen.
That if you just get right with God,
you'll get rich.
That's right.
Because most of the preachers, especially in Europe,
have taken the vow of poverty and if
they haven't, they thought they lived like they
have anyway because they just have nothing.
Amen.
And, my dear friends, the Bible does not
teach that if you get right and give
right, you will get rich.
But this passage does indicate to us that
if we get right with God and give
properly, it will lend to an abundance.
And I believe the abundance that he's talking
about, and far as I can find out,
what he's saying is that you will have
all sufficiency at all times.
Now, I've got news for you folk.
That is better than being rich.
Amen.
That is better than having a million dollars.
All sufficiency at all times is better my
friends, than having an excellent bank account because
your needs may go way beyond some kind
of financial issue.
But he says here that you'll have enough
and in this context it's talking about physical
things.
And by the way, this will preach anywhere
you go.
Amen.
This will preach that definition of abundance, sufficiency
at all times and all places.
That will preach in South America.
That will preach in China.
And that will work in Russia.
And it will also work right here.
It really will.
How would you like to have enough to
pay all your bills and have enough left
over to give away as God directs you?
Wouldn't you like to live like that?
I believe that's God's standard.
And Paul is writing to this church at
Corinth about this type of thing.
He says God's able to do this.
And God is able to do this tonight.
And one of the things I like about
that, it doesn't say until you get 65.
I really like that.
The more every day I live, the longer
it's better.
Better, better, better.
Right.
Brother Ron just passed 50.
In case he hadn't told you, I was
going to tell you.
Well, when I passed 40, people always told
me, they said, man, when you pass 40,
that's awful.
But I was just grateful to God to
be alive at 40.
But when I hit 50 now, I'll tell
you, I went through an emotional trauma.
And since I passed 50, I decided I
was going to live until I died, so
I might as well live.
Amen.
So I started living.
But I'll tell you, this verse of Scripture
means more and more to me the older
I get.
It doesn't say all sufficiency at all times
in all conditions and situations until you're 65.
And I love it.
Amen.
It doesn't say all sufficiency at all times
and so on if you're well.
It doesn't say that.
I mean, it is just a profound statement
from God.
It doesn't say until you retire, does it?
Amen.
It says all sufficiency, all the way through
home, folks.
I mean, it is some promise from God.
It is some statement from God.
Now, what I want you to do is
look at this church in Macedonia that Paul
is talking about.
He's using these people in Macedonia to talk
to these people at Corinth.
He says here that they first gave themselves.
That's what he says.
In fact, he said they first gave themselves
according to this passage.
You can start reading at the 1st verse
and read through the 5th verse if you'd
like.
But he said they first gave themselves.
And my dear friends, tonight there is no
hope for the reality of God on God's
level in your life apart from man giving
himself totally over to God.
They first gave themselves.
They transferred ownership.
They transferred not only their bank accounts, but
they transferred their whole being over to God.
They first gave themselves.
And you and I cannot, listen to me
carefully, we cannot expect God to even speak
to us, much less direct us and bless
us apart from the fact that we have
come to the place in our lives, to
the best of our understanding, we have turned
everything over to him.
Now, that doesn't mean he can't speak to
you.
And it doesn't mean he can't guide you.
And it doesn't mean, my dear friends, that
you cannot have the blessings and the mercy
of God.
But I do not believe we can expect
God to speak to us, guide us, and
bless us apart from us, giving our whole
being, everything we are, over to the Lord.
They first gave themselves.
It's known as the cross in the life
of a Christian.
The cross is the place where you and
I come and make a full, absolute surrender.
And that may have to be done several
times in our life.
Let me tell you about a time that
I had, one time in my life, that
I believe would illustrate this in a very
simple way.
And the illustration itself might excite you and
stir your heart a little bit.
I flew from Charleston, South Carolina.
And that is South Carolina, isn't it?
I travel so much, I forget where Charleston
is in North Carolina, South Carolina.
But Charleston, anyway.
I flew from Charleston to Kansas City.
And when I got to Kansas City, this
huge pastor, about 6'6", I never will
forget his hands, they were about three times
larger than mine.
I never, you know, that fellow just had
hands, he was something else.
His name was J.I. Willard.
J.I. Willard had been reared as a
country boy down in the mountains of Missouri.
Had two brothers.
All three of them went to the seminary
there in Kansas City.
One of them became a ranked liberal and
is a professor at the University of Minnesota
now.
And the other one became a final medalist.
And he is a professor of philosophy at
UCLA, one of the most outstanding soul winners,
lay soul winners I've ever known of.
I mean, he constantly wins those kids to
Jesus right there in the middle of that
institution.
And J.I. Willard became a Baptist pastor.
Well, J.I. picked me up at the
airport.
And when we started across Kansas City, Missouri,
I realized that there was a problem in
his heart.
So I decided I wasn't going to waste
another week if there's a man that had
a problem in his heart with me.
I was going to find out what that
problem was, and we were going to settle
it.
Or I was going to go home and,
you know, not waste a week.
Then I wasn't being ugly, but I could
sense there was a problem, so I wanted
to find out what it was.
And I said, Brother, I feel that you're
a little uneasy about this meeting.
Is there some kind of problem?
And he said to me, he said, Well,
Brother Manley, he was honest.
He said, I'll tell you, while I was
waiting on you at the airport, he said,
I went over and checked on how much
your ticket cost out here.
And he said that I am embarrassed.
He said, I found out that your ticket,
your airplane ticket, costs more money than we
have ever been able to give an evangelist
in love offering and expenses put together.
And he said, I feel like I have
a problem.
And I could have lied and said, Hey,
now, Brother, don't worry about it.
But that would have been a lie.
And when you live by faith, folks, when
you live by faith, you quit your lying.
Amen.
When you know that if God doesn't furnish
it, I guarantee you, you make sure that
you and God stay on good terms.
So I wasn't going to lie to that
man because I knew in me he had
a problem.
So I said, Well, Brother, you have got
a problem.
Amen.
Now, you see, God is so good by
his sovereign grace that, I mean, God will
do things that just blow your mind.
And I didn't know God was setting me
up for one of the great lessons of
my life.
But he usually is setting us up if
we have sense enough to recognize it.
Well, I said, You've got a problem.
And I began to pray immediately.
I said, Now, Lord, how can I help
this brother solve his problem?
And I was honest.
And God began to talk to me and
began to show me something.
And here is how it came out.
I don't need to.
I can tell you how it came out.
I said, Brother Willard, I said, I'll tell
you what I do.
I've got a proposition for you.
And he was ready for a proposition.
He was ready.
He was very open and honest, and he
was ready for a proposition.
I said, Brother Willard, if you will make
a decision right here in this car, right
now, make a decision right here in this
car, right now, that if I preach anything
from the Word of God that you are
not personally experiencing in your life, that you
will get up out of your seat, walk
to that altar, get on your knees and
confess it to God and get your heart
right with God.
And if you need to say anything to
the church, turn around and ask the church
to forgive you.
And if you will do that, number one.
And number two, if you will simply get
up and tell your people not to give
one dime that God doesn't tell you to
give, but whatever He tells you to give,
you give.
I said, If you will do those two
things, I'll tell you I'll take the responsibility
of everything in prayer.
Up to this point, I was not aware
of what was going on.
And I stuck my hand out and gave
that man an invitation right there in that
car.
And I never will forget it.
That big old hand just reached out and
got hold of my hand, and he said,
Preacher, I'll do it.
I'll do it.
You may not realize it, but brother, that
man was absolutely, totally surrendering completely according to
the knowledge he had right there in that
car to let God handle this situation.
Now, I didn't know that.
I didn't realize what was going on.
I went to the church that night, and
sure enough, there's a church around about 75
in Sunday School, something like that, and they
had 70 people there.
That man got up that night, and he
said, folk, he said, now he probably didn't
say folk, but he said folks probably, but
he said, listen, he said, now this is
when it hit me, he said, this afternoon
in the car coming from Kansas City, I
turned it all over to God.
I turned it all over to God, and
this preacher made me a proposition.
He said, if he preaches anything I'm not
experiencing in my life.
I'm supposed to get up out of that
seat, come to the altar, and get right
with God.
He said, I made that decision this afternoon,
and then he told them about what I
said about the offering.
He said, I made that decision this afternoon,
and I preached that night, and guess what
happened.
Seventy people followed their pastor to the altar.
You know what?
I preached the second night, and 70 people
followed that pastor to the altar.
I preached Wednesday night, and 70 people followed
that pastor to the altar.
My friends, it wasn't an issue with him.
He settled it back there in that car.
For the continuation of this message, please turn
the tape to side two.
And when I preached something he wasn't experiencing,
it wasn't an issue, should I do this
or that.
It was already settled, he would do this
or that.
Thursday night, the power of God got in
that place, and I mean sent just a
touch of glory, and everyone knew God was
in it.
When the meeting was over, everyone knew God
was all over the place.
They gave me an offering that was unbelievable.
They couldn't believe it.
I couldn't believe it.
And they met my needs so adequately.
God had done it.
No one had begged, pushed, pulled.
But the story's not over yet, folks.
The next Sunday night, 1130, Martha and I
were already in bed.
The telephone rang, and it was J.I.
Willard.
He said, Brother Manley, I got something to
tell you.
I said, what's that?
He said, we had 50 people saved today.
He said, God has just taken this place
over.
He said, they're getting saved everywhere.
Amen.
And I can't tell you tonight, folks, but
I'll tell you one thing.
I mean, I do not know, but one
of the greatest revivals of my life and
far-reaching revivals in my life, that little
meeting was it.
I went to Missouri and some of the
biggest Bible conferences I've ever been in in
my life.
I mean, God for years used that little
meeting.
But you see, that man back there in
that car, he first gave himself.
Yes, sir.
He first gave himself.
You see, the Bible tells us, the person
that wills to know the truth, that person
shall know it.
You see, that man made the decision to
respond to the truth.
I didn't ask him to respond to me.
I said, respond to the truth that you
hear.
Right?
I remember, I just thought of it a
few minutes ago, back years ago.
I was with Ron Dunn in his church
in revival.
The first one, the only one, I guess,
I was ever in there with him.
I was there several times in a conference.
But I never will forget that Sunday night,
I believe it was Sunday night, or the
first night, that I asked the people.
I told them this story.
I remember telling them this story.
And I asked them if they were willing.
And people's hands went up everywhere.
Beloved, you and I must realize that if
we're going to see the glory of God,
the reality of God, the guidance of God
in our lives, and we see God reproducing
himself in our lives, you and I have
got to come to the place where, friends,
we come to the end of ourselves and
we give ourselves completely to the Lord.
Now, you can call that lordship.
And if you get hung up on the
fact that you've done it one time back
under somewhere, you have gotten hung up in
error.
Because it may be, my friend, you need
to do this every day.
It may be every hour.
It may be every minute.
But they first gave themselves at this church
in Macedonia.
I'm telling you, these people in Macedonia were
living in poverty.
And they learned how to live in the
abundance of God.
And when I say the abundance, I'm not
just talking about money.
Money has a great deal more in life
than money.
But you spend 8 to 10, 14 hours
a day working for money and you need
to learn how to handle that.
Anybody spend that much time, amen.
Well, they not only first gave themselves, the
second thing they gave, they gave according to
their ability to give.
Now he's talking about money.
Of course, there may have been chickens, there
may have been eggs, there may have been
something else like that.
I go far enough back in church history
that I remember when the preachers were paid
off in chickens, eggs, and hogs.
Now, sometimes better than money, right?
I can remember that.
Moises, Sarah, or whatever you want to call
it.
But I can remember that.
But these people gave what they could afford
to give.
They gave according to how God had prospered
them.
That's what the Word says.
And God gives us that liberty to give
according to how God has prospered us.
That includes the tithe.
That includes a sacrifice offering.
A sacrifice means that you have changed your
priorities and you give more because you've changed
your priorities.
A sacrifice offering is still what you can
afford to give.
Right?
Any time a person gives a sacrifice offering,
folks, it's what they can afford to do.
They just change some priorities around.
Right?
And they gave that.
They first gave themselves, and then they gave
what they could afford to give.
And because of the time, I want to
get into this other area.
They gave beyond their ability to give.
That's what it says.
For as I can bear witness, they gave
according to their ability, yes, and beyond their
ability, and they did it voluntarily.
You see, what do you mean under, beyond
their ability?
Because of the time tonight, I think I'll
go straight to this story and try to
tell you and let you pick up what
I mean by this story.
A few months ago, I don't remember exactly
how many months ago now, I saw in
the Arkansas Baptist paper just a little story
about Oswald J.
Smith.
Now, when I was a young man, I
read every book that Oswald J.
Smith wrote.
And then one day, I got to know
Oswald J.
Smith personally.
And he's even been in our home.
And I got to preach on the same
platform with Oswald J.
Smith.
Now, he lived to be in his 90s,
but he only pastored the church he pastored
from the time he was in his late
20s until he was about almost 70.
I don't know how many years.
I can't think about one thing at one
time.
I don't know how many years it was.
But I'm only out.
You'll see in a moment why I'm trying
to pick that out.
Oswald J.
Smith was the pastor of the largest Presbyterian
church in Ontario, Canada.
And one day, God told him to resign.
And he would show him what to do.
And he resigned.
And God began to discipline his life until,
my friends, they would not even let him
preach at the rescue mission.
In fact, R.A. Torrey was in Ontario,
and he went there trying to get a
job as an usher.
And after the first night, they even fired
him from being an usher.
God was just breaking him.
In fact, finally, the next couple of days,
he got a job with the meeting, going
up and down the aisles selling songbooks.
Now, I'm talking about the top pastor of
the Presbyterian church of that city.
And here he is, down here now, so
broken and can't do a thing, and he's
selling songbooks.
And that night, he was ready to throw
in the towel and quit.
He was so discouraged.
He was so absolutely discouraged.
He was fixated.
He just wanted to quit.
And the song leader got up and said,
We're going to turn to pay so-and
-so, and we're going to sing this hymn
tonight.
And he went on to say, The man
that wrote this song is Oswald J.
Smith, and he's out there going up and
down the aisles tonight selling songbooks.
And they turned to that song on the
Holy Spirit and began to sing it.
And as that crowd began to sing that
song, God began to speak to that man's
heart.
And he said, God, I don't know what
it'll take, but I'm not going to quit.
I'm not going to turn back.
And he had got to the end of
himself and turned his life over to the
Lord.
And God began to move on his life.
And he went and started a church called
People's Church.
Now, listen to me carefully.
If he had pastored that church for 60
years, of which he didn't, if he had
pastored that church for 60 years, this man
would have given over $4 million a year
to missions.
For this little article in that Arkansas Baptist
paper said that Oswald J.
Smith's church, in his pastoral history, gave $248
million to missions.
That's over $4 million a year.
If he pastored 60 years.
Can you believe it?
You say, well, Brother Manley, he probably ran
10,000.
They never ran over 3,000 people.
And they gave $248 million.
How did he do it?
That's the big question.
How did he do it?
You know what he did?
He took this passage right here and he
saw that the Macedonians had, my dear friends,
first gave themselves.
They transferred their ownership to God, everything to
God.
And then they did what they could afford
to do.
But then they did something else, what they
could not afford to do.
And what was that?
You see, the Church of Corinth had promised
an offering and a year later now they're
going to come by and pick it up.
Had a whole year to do this.
Here's what Oswald J.
Smith did.
He brought in missionaries.
They had a mission conference.
And they would get on their face before
God and find out how much money God
wanted them to trust him for that next
year.
And then they would give a card to
each member and said, folk, you take this
card home.
And you pray over this card, first giving
yourself, first considering what you can afford to
do, but thirdly, giving what you can personally
trust God for this next year.
In other words, giving what you can't give.
But you can trust God to give it.
Amen?
And then when you get the understanding of
what you can trust God to give, write
it down on that card and turn it
in.
And then spend the rest of the year
trusting God to supernaturally, above what you can
afford, trust God to give you to give.
And that's how he did it.
And the best I can understand, this is
what was happening at the church at Corinth
and at Macedonia.
Folk, listen, there is so much out there
that you and I haven't even got in
on yet that could make life so exciting.
Instead, it's boring.
You know why?
Because we are religious but not Christian.
Amen?
We're not out there.
We're not out there trusting God.
Most of us can be explained tonight by
the fact of our efforts.
But the church at Corinth heard this message
and tonight he says, all sufficiency, all sufficiency
at all times.
And in that context where there's enough left
over to where you can always give away.
Amen?
Well, some promise, isn't it?
But it's in that context, folk, that they
first gave themselves.
Then they gave what they could afford.
And then they gave what they could not
afford.
They got out there where they could trust
God.
And in that context, he said, all sufficiency
in all things.
Amen?
Now, if you want that all sufficiency, and
if I want that all sufficiency, we can
have it.
But I'll tell you what.
You can't tip God like a shoeshine ball
and play the game, do what, run your
life, and get in on this verse.
Amen?
If you want from God what he has
promised you in this book, then, my dear
friends, you'll have to get in position for
it.
And then you can have it.