It's Payday for the Faithful - Dr. Jerry Savelle

Psalm 62. And I want to begin reading in verse 5.

"My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him."

Underline that phrase or highlight it, whatever it is you do in your Bible, so that every time you pass by this verse, it'll jump out at you. God wants you and I living in expectancy. I talked about this this morning. I'm just going to continue along this theme tonight because it's my assignment from the Lord.

"My soul, wait thou only upon God. For my expectation is from him."

What I'm expecting in my life is not something that man birthed in me, but something God birthed in me. You can't always depend on man's words, but God's words never fail. I've had men tell me things, get my expectations up, only to be disappointed. You know, if every person who ever told me they were going to do something from my ministry financially came through, kept their word, I wouldn't have to receive another offering till mid millennium. You just can't depend on men all the time. So the expectations in my heart are not from men. The expectations I have in my heart came from God.

God wants you to live in expectancy. In fact, the spirit of God said this to me not too long ago. He said, "Faith and expectancy are twin brothers." See, faith believes what cannot be seen with the natural eye, and expectancy reinforces that. Yeah, there's no such thing as real Bible faith without expectancy. And yet you hear a lot of Christians say, "Well, we're just trusting God." But there's no expectancy in the tone of their voice. So that's not real faith. That's not real trust. Amen.

Expectancy is the twin brother to faith. It reinforces faith. And the expectations that you have in your life should be from God. Well, how am I going to get that from God? That's what this book is about. You see, every time I open this book, my expectations get higher and higher and higher. Amen.

I expect my attitude is, and I told God this 30 years ago. See, I don't I I didn't have a religious background. I came out of a paint and body shop. Never read the Bible before I came out of that paint and body shop. So, I did not have any religious training to unlearn. I I didn't know that this wouldn't work until I started going to church. Hello.

See, my instructions from the Lord when I gave up my business, he said, "Now, I want you to spend the next three months and and while I'm saying this, please don't anybody do what I did just because I did it." This was my instructions from the Lord. My instructions were, "Shut down your business and now spend the next three months in your spare bedroom. Give me no less than eight hours a day. Be as faithful to my word as you were to your business. And in three months time, I will make a minister out of you."

Now, the church was trying to ship me off to a seminary, and I was willing to go, but God said, "No." He said, "No, I don't have four years to waste on you. And he said, 'If I can't teach you, I know that bunch down there can't.'" Now, that didn't set well with the religious people. See, they they thought I was too young to hear the voice of God. God only talks to us. But I knew what God said. And in obedience to the Lord, I shut my business down.

I put a little desk in our spare bedroom. I took my Bible and a notebook and um seven Kenneth Copeland tapes on real tore. Seven tapes that had a message on each side, 14 messages. They didn't have cassettes back then. And and I spent eight hours a day listening to those tapes. And I'd, you know, because I was illiterate in the Bible, when he'd say open to Ephesians, I'd cut the tape recorder off so I could find Ephesians. I couldn't do that while he's preaching in the church. Hey, wait a minute. Let me find Ephesians. I couldn't do that. But in my bedroom, I could shut the man up anytime I wanted to until I could catch up with him, you know. And so I studied those tapes no less than eight hours a day. And once I had gone through all of them, I started at tape number one again. And I went over it and over it and over it. And then I started making outlines. I started listening for truths that would change my life forever. And I started making outlines out of those tapes. And it got to the point to where eight hours a day was not enough. I got to where I spending 12, 15, 17 hours a day. See, that's the way I was in my business. I mean, I'd call my wife sometimes and tell her, "I'm sorry. I got to get this car finished. Customers coming tomorrow." And and I don't know when I'll be home. If it took 12, 15, 17 hours a night in that business, I was willing to do it. I didn't consider it a sacrifice. It's my job.

Well, then I got into the word of God and I couldn't get enough and eight hours a day was not enough. And it began to increase to 15, 16, 17 hours a day. Well, you spend a minimum of eight hours a day alone with God for three months. You come out of that bedroom at the end of three months with the fire of God in your eyes, the power of God in your hands, the word of God in your mouth. Right.

And the only problem I had, nobody in my town wanted to hear a word I had to say, but I had something to say. Amen.

Well, I began to expect certain things to happen in my life as a result of what I was seeing in the word of God. Brother Copeland was introducing me to my covenant rights. That was basically the messages that he was teaching on the our covenant with God, how to walk in faith, how to appropriate your covenant rights. That's what he was teaching me. And the more I saw, the greater my expectations became. Suddenly, I became expectant of getting out of debt. I became expectant of being able to pay cash for whatever I do. I became expectant that God was going to bless me coming in, going out in the city, in the field.

I got to where I expected it uh all the time. And then I discovered that when I voiced my expectations based on the word of God that religious people would get mad at me. "Who do you think you are? We've been in this longer than you. God's never done any of that for us. What makes you think he's going to do it for you?"

Well, you see, I didn't have all the what-ifs, but that's passed away and not for us today. I didn't have that training. So, my attitude was, see, I read the Bible just like I read Hot Rod magazines. I believed if I did what those men said in those hot rod magazines, if I did what they said, my car would go faster. That's right. So, I got to reading the Bible and I read it just like I read a Hot Rod magazine. All right.

And my attitude was, "God, if you didn't intend for me to have that, you shouldn't have given me a copy of this book, 'cause I'm going for it." You know, in the Hot Rod magazine, they had tips. You know, tips. In other words, the experts would give you tips in what to do to make the car faster. And I was always looking forward to the next issue so I could read the tips because even as a even as a sinner, I didn't like being average. I didn't want a car like everybody else's. I wanted a fast car. And if it wasn't faster than my buddies, then we had to do something else. So I got excited about the tips. Huh? The mechanics tips. Well, I got to looking in the Bible that way for tips, keys, nuggets, how to excel, how to go above and beyond. 'Cause I don't like being average. I never have liked being average.

I remember when I was a youngster, I played baseball. Started in little league, went all the way up to a farm league team and uh had ambitions of playing professional baseball. I don't know that I would have ever made it. Don't know that I was that good. But I did make a farm league team and in the minor leagues. And uh my ambition as a baseball player was not to be average. And I remember when I started in a little league, my coach, I'm 7, 8, nine years old. My coach made this statement to the team to us boys one day. And I thought it was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard. And I'm only nine years old. And he looked at us and said, "Now, boys, we're getting ready to start the season. And it's not whether we win or lose, it's how we play the game that counts."

I looked at him and I thought, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. I'm only nine, but that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life." And you know what? Now that I'm 52, it's still the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. It does matter whether we win or lose. Yes. And I later learned if you play the game right, you do win. That's right. Every time we played the game right, we won. It was only when we didn't play the game right, we lost. Yes. Amen.

It's the same way in the game of life. If you play the game right by God's rules, then there is no way you can be defeated. Praise God. You will win every time. Paul said, "I I would that you triumph always in Christ Jesus." You won't find anywhere in the Bible where God's attitude is, "I'm just hoping you'll win a few, lose a few." But just be a gracious loser. No, that's not God's attitude. I don't like losing. I don't like losing in marbles. I don't like losing in checkers. I don't like losing in Monopoly. I don't like losing at anything. Amen.

Are you still here? The church told me, "Don't rock the boat." My God. I can't help it. I'm a boat rocker. Don't create any waves. I can't help it. I'm a wave creator. Amen. Be like us. No thank you. I want to be like Jesus. Amen. Amen. That's good.

So notice this. He said, "My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him." I have great expectations for the future. My future is not doom and gloom. Amen. My future is not barely getting by. My future is not just, you know, doing my best to hang in there. My future is not just trying to hang with the crowd. That's right. You know, just survive. That's not in my future. That's not my expectations. I'm expecting God's best. And that expectation came from him.

Then notice the next verse. "He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be moved." I cannot be moved from my expectations. Somebody says, "Well, you aim too high." I can't help it. You hang around God, you think big. Well, what if what if you aim too high and not make it? You know, I've discovered in the word of God, when you do what God says, there's not a what if. It's just a when? It's a matter of time.

God didn't say, "And if you build goodly houses, and if your sheep and cattle increase, and if your gold and silver increase." He didn't say that. He said, "And when you build goodly houses, and when your gold and silver increase, and when your sheep and cattle increase," what's God saying? You do what I say, and there's not a what if. There's no question about it. It's just a matter of time. It will come to pass. Hallelujah. Can you say amen?

So, notice he said, "My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him, and I shall not be moved." I cannot be moved on this. I don't care if the most popular preacher in town, has the greatest television ministry, and draws more people than anybody in the history of the church decides that, you know, God's not going to do this and God's not going to do that. But I've seen it in the word of God. He does not move me. Amen.

As for me and my house, we're going to wait my soul on God, for my expectation is from him. Amen. I I cannot be shaken about this. I'm not open for discussion about this. I know in whom I have believed. I know what he has said in his word. And I just cannot be distracted from it. Praise God. I mean, people come along and tell me that won't work. They too late. It's been working for 30 years. That's like water off a duck's back. As far as I'm concerned, you have come too late. Amen.

Now, go to Proverbs and notice what it says here about expectation. Proverbs chapter 23. I'll tell you what, before you Well, while you're turning there, let me let me give you some definitions of the word expect and the word expectancy. The word expect means to look for. It means to fix the eyes upon and it also means to reach for. It means to look for. It means to fix the eyes upon and it means to reach for. Now that's expect. Expectancy means a looking for with pleasure. A looking for with pleasure.

Here just a few days ago um we have an outreach in our ministry called the Chariots of Light which is a motorcycle ministry outreach. And uh we've got members in uh well it's beginning to expand to other uh states and it looks like the thing is going to go nationwide. We got people wanting to become members of it and be a part of it. I actually started it just as a a vehicle for uh the guys on my staff that love riding motorcycles and want we we wanted to use it as a tool of evangelism and it was an opportunity for us to all come together and fellowship and many times I'll send out a memo and say "Chariots of Light, meet me in the morning at 7 a.m." and we'll all gather up out there at the ministry with our bikes and we'll gather in a circle and we'll pray and ask God to give us an assignment and we'll take off on those bikes looking for an assignment, looking for people we can win to the Lord. We pray, "God, cause people to be attracted to us either because of our motorcycles or because they see the glory of God upon us or the name on our patches, Chariots of Light." And everywhere we go, people are attracted and we wind up being able to lead them to the Lord or bless them or help them or give to them or meet a need in some way.

Well, we started doing an annual rally in different states and we'd invite anybody that wanted to ride with us, come ride with us. We was in a different church every night for about seven nights and we'd ride to the church. No suits, only leather. Do not let this suit fool you. I am cool. Okay. And we have a blast with it. And so this past week before coming here was our annual rally in Montana. And um so my grandson, my oldest grandson who's nine and a half, um his mother, my oldest daughter, called and said, "Uh, Dad, Mark James has been asking me for weeks, ever since he got the magazine where you were announcing the motorcycle tour. He's been asking me for weeks, do you think Papa's going to ask me to go?"

I said, 'Well, Jerry, you know, I I really had that in my heart to ask him to go, but but the only reason I haven't is because I can't take two grandsons on the bike. I can only ride one of them, and I didn't want Preston, his little brother, who's two years younger, to feel like he was being left out.' She said, "Well, you know, Daddy, Preston, that's just not something he enjoys doing like Mark James." I said, "Well, I know that." But yet, I didn't want to take Mark James and keep him for seven, 10 days, whatever we're going to do, and and Preston be left at home and feel like, "Well, what about me?" You know, why didn't Papa take me? I said, "That's the only reason I hadn't done it, and I just can't ride both of them, you know, be a little difficult." She said, "Well, I understand that." I said, "But tell Mark James, it's certainly been in my heart. I have wanted to do it because I know how much he loves it."

Well, as it turned out, now they live in Denver. As it turned out, my daughter is was opening a brand new uh children's boutique in a little town called Idaho Springs, selling children's clothing. So, she was opening a new shop. She was going to have her grand opening, and she wanted her mother to be there for it. So, Preston, he loves his grandmother. I mean that boy, he just he is a grandmother's boy. He loves his grandmother. She does everything with him. She will do anything the boy asks, you know. And he really likes being with his grandmother. He calls her Mimi. So Mimi decided she's going to go to Denver and stay the whole time in Denver and be a part of the grand opening. And uh so I knew how Preston felt about his grandmother and if he knew his grandmother's going to be there the whole time, then he wouldn't feel like he's left out.

So I I uh I called my daughter back and I said, "Well, tell Mark James that since Mimi is coming and we know how much Preston loves his Mimi that he'll she'll be with him and he can go with me." All right. Now, when she told him that, it wasn't 10 minutes Mark James called me. "Papa, I knew God was going to tell you to take me." He said, "Papa, you know how I knew that God was going to tell you to the point that I already have all my clothes packed. They've been packed for a week." He said, "I got my leather jacket out. I got my boots. I got my vest. I got my hat. I've got all my jeans. They're all packed." Papa, I knew that God was going to tell you and you were going to ask me. Now, that's expectancy.

In fact, his mother said, you know, we flew the to Denver and uh the bikes were hauled out. I I I didn't have the time to ride the bike out there, which is what I really want to do, but I didn't have time to do that. So they hauled my bike out on a trailer and we flew to Denver, dropped Carolyn off, picked up Mark James and his mother told me when we put him in the airplane, she said that boy hadn't slept all night. If he slept 10 minutes, he was awake looking at the clock seeing what time Papa's going to be. Is it time for Papa? And that's expectancy. That's expectancy. That's looking for. That's reaching for. That's making preparation for. That is looking for with pleasure.

In other words, the boy couldn't sleep. He was so expectant. How many you know what I'm talking about? And then we say, "I'm trusting God." H you trusting God. Where's the expectancy? Where's the joy? Where's the reaching for it? Where's the preparation? Where's the making provision? Are you still here?

You see, if you're not making provision for what you're expecting, then you're not really expecting. That's right. A pastor friend of mine in a third world country had a little old tiny church. The offerings averaged $102 a month. And he's wanting to build a bigger church. And God told him to pay cash for it. Third world country, average monthly offerings are $12. And God's telling him to build another church and pay cash. So what do you do when you got $12 a month coming in? And in the natural, there is no way you can do this. Somebody says, "Well, we'll just wait on God." Well, what does that mean? All right. Does that mean just sit back and hope something will happen? No. You know what he did? He was so expectant when he received that word from God. He said, "Well, I certainly can't go out and build the building, but I'm going to make preparation for it. I'm going to make provision for it, and the only thing I can do is take a shovel and dig a trench where I want this building built." And he did. He took his little shovel, walked out there next to the existing building, and he dug himself a trench. The uh church people come out and said, "What are you doing, pastor?" He said, "I'm making provision for a miracle. God is going to give us a bigger church, and we going to pay cash for it." They all thought he'd lost his mind. They thought he was stressed out. They thought that, you know, bless his heart, we need to send him to the psychologist. And every day he'd go out there and stand in this dirt where there was a trench dug. And thank God for his new building. And I want you to know the man is in that new building and they paid cash for it. Praise God. What happened? He was expectant. He was looking for, reaching for.

Now, God is wanting you and I to be so expectant that the years ahead are not going to be the worst years of our life, but the best years. I like to say it this way. Quit talking about the good old days 'cause you haven't had them yet. You haven't had them yet. They're just ahead of you. The best days of your life are just ahead of you. Hallelujah. Amen.

Begin to expect extraordinary things. Begin to expect special blessings. Begin to expect unusual things to happen in your life. And if you really expect it, then you're going to wake up in the morning with a smile on your face. You're going to be looking for it. Have your eyes fixed upon it. And you're going to be reaching for it with pleasure. Hallelujah. Can you say amen?

Now, notice Proverbs chapter 23. Proverbs chapter 23 and look at verse 17 and 18. "Let not thine heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. For surely, everybody shout, surely, surely. For surely there is an end, and thine expectation shall not be cut off."

Now notice the psalmist said, "My expectation is from God." Here God is telling us that our expectation shall not be cut off. Now let me just paraphrase that in Texas talk. You will not be disappointed. Amen. You will not be disappointed.

Whether you realize it or not, you are walking in what you expected in the past. You're living in today your expectations of the of yesterday. That's right. Come on. Amen. Expectations have a way of coming to pass. Good or bad. Negative or positive. Isn't it amazing? Some Christians go around saying, "Well, they're laying folks off down there at the plant. I expect to be the next." Ain't it amazing how that comes to pass? And then they want to know why. That's right. They prophesied it. Then on the other hand, some old boy says, "Well, you know, everybody down there is getting laid off, but I expect to get a promotion at a raise." And he does. And they want to know how, why? He prophesied it. His expectations came from God. And God said, "Your expectations will not be cut off."

I get exactly what I expect. That's right. I get exactly what I expect. Amen. You know, I I've had preachers tell me, "Don't go to certain churches because they don't treat you good there." And when I hear a statement like that, I tell my coordinator, "Has that pastor asked us to come?" As a matter of fact, he did. I said, "Then that's where I want to go next." Why, brother Jerry? 'Cause I want to prove that I get what I expect and they get what they expect. And I go there and I leave with a testimony. Can I tell you that church treated me as well as any place in the whole world, man? I'm telling you, they took care of me. Why? I expected it. You're looking at me like, "What rock did you crawl out from under the rock?" Hallelujah. Amen. You're going to get what you expect. Somebody says, "Well, we're going to go down here at this restaurant, but I never expect good service. The food's lousy, but it's only place in town." You go down there and once again, you have lousy food and lousy service. Walk out there saying, "I'll never go again." Well, you expected that when you went there. Why'd you go? I'm going to say this so many ways, you're bound to get one of them. You're going to get what you expect.

Now when your expectations are from him then he says they will not be cut off. In other words, you are not going to be disappointed. Praise God. You will not be disappointed. Now the amplified says it this way. "For surely there is a latter end, a future and a reward. There is a reward. People whose expectations come from God are rewarded when they will not be moved. When they refuse to allow anybody to talk them out of what they expect God to do, then God always rewards them." He says, "A future and a reward, and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off."

Now, I like the word reward. There is a reward for the person who will not allow anyone to talk them out of their expectations that came from God. Amen. All right. Now, let's go to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10 and let's look at verse 35. If you're familiar with this verse, Hebrews 10:35, "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward." The amplified says, "Do not therefore fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward." Do not fling away. Do not cast away your confidence or your faith or your expectations because there is a reward. There is a recompense of reward. The amplified once again says there is a great and glorious compensation of reward.

Now you may not use the word recompense that frequently but you do use the word compensation. And let me submit to you another phrase that is more commonly used than compensation and that is payday. God is saying there is a payday. For those who will not allow their expectations to be cut out or cut off. For those who will not allow their confidence to be destroyed. For those who dare to stand unwaveringly, uncompromisingly, then God says there is a payday coming for that person. There is a great recompense of reward. Hallelujah.

Now, what's today? Wednesday. This coming Friday is payday at JSMI. We have about 120, 125 paid employees. And I don't know an employee in this organization that forgets its payday. That's the truth. Not one, not one time have I ever walked up to one of my employees on payday and say, "Isn't it great today's payday?" And they say, "Oh, it's payday, Brother Jerry." Everybody knows when payday is. Huh? Everybody knows when payday is. Not only that, because so many people live from paycheck to paycheck, they ain't going home without it. That's true. That's right. Right. I mean, I've had some times when, you know, the general manager was out of town doing something for me, perhaps in another country and got back, you know, and and didn't get the paychecks out at the normal time, maybe an hour or two later because, you know, he he wasn't there to get all that done. And man, I mean, it's like vultures around there, you know. I got to have mine. That's true. That's like when I went to work with Brother Copeland. Went to work with Brother Copeland. And the day I arrived in his ministry, there was three other people that worked there. Gloria and his father and a receptionist. And then I came and my uh my introduction as an employee in Kenneth Copeland Ministries. The first thing Brother Copeland said to me the day I arrived for work. "In the natural, I can't afford you. If you ever get paid, it'll be because you use your faith." Opening remarks.

"In the natural, I can't afford you. And if you ever get paid, it'll be because you use your faith." That's the kind of guy we love. I mean, you know, the demand was on. If I ever get paid, it'll be because I use my faith. And then I got my family settled in and uh Brother Copeland tells me, "Now we're leaving town tomorrow. We're going to be gone three weeks. And he said, 'Just so you'll have something to believe for. I'm going to establish a point of contact for you.' He said, 'I'm going to pay you $80 a week.'" I was making hundreds of dollars a week as a paint and body man, you know, but that's all Kenneth Copeland Evangelistic Association could afford. And their faith was being stretched at that because he already told me in the natural I cannot afford you. But I'm going to set your salary at $80 a week, but you're going to have to believe that $80 in Amen.

Well, you know, when you've been used to making I mean, as a as the owner of my own business, I was used to even in 1969, I was used to bringing in uh $200 or $300 a week. So, I need my $80. You understand what I'm saying? I need desperately my $80. Yeah. We We can't afford to get in unbelief here. I need my $80 'cause my lifestyle is already based on 200 a week and now I'm only guaranteed 80 a week if I use my faith. Right? So we cannot afford doubt. We cannot afford unbelief. We can't afford to hang around the wrong people. I've got to believe God.

All right. So we leave and the first meeting I ever went on with Kenneth Copeland was Portsmouth, Virginia. We're in Portsmouth, Virginia in a little old hotel. Somebody else had arranged this meeting for Brother Copeland and he had never been there. He didn't know what we were going into. And the little old auditorium, it was in a it was in an elementary school. Terrible place. One probably the oldest school in town. Here Brother Copeland's preaching prosperity, you know, the laws of prosperity. And we got this dumpy little auditorium, dumpy little motel we're staying in. The walls were so thin you could hear everything going on in the room beside you. And we later found out that this is where all the sailors and the prostitutes hooked up and it's terrible. Brother Copeland and Gloria have a room next to me. I can hear every conversation they have. They can hear me.

So, here comes payday, my first paycheck from Kenneth Copeland Evangelistic Association, and I'm in Portsmouth, Virginia, and I know my wife Carolyn and my two babies need that $80 desperately. I get a phone call. "Brother Copeland, Jerry." "That's Kenneth." "I said, 'Yes, sir.'" He said, "Uh, I told you if you ever get paid, it'll be because you use your faith. Have you been using your faith?" I said, "Yes, sir." He said, 'Well, you know today's payday.' I said, "Yes, sir. I know that." He said, "Well, Daddy just called me. He paid all the bills, and there's no money left for payroll. He said, 'Are you using your faith?'"

Now, I didn't say this, but I thought it. I want to ask, "How about you? Are you Are you going to get paid?" I didn't say it. I mean, am I the only one that's operating on this rule? You know, I didn't say it, but I thought it. I want to say, "Are you using yours?" You know, I didn't say it, but I thought it. He said, "Now the day is not up. You better get to believe in God if you want Carolyn to get a check." Boy, I hung that phone up in that little old motel room became my wailing wall. Man, I want you to know I went to praying. I'd walk to this end of the wall, bump into it, turn around and walk into this wall. I mean, I bound everything that could be bound. Then I loosed everything that could be loosed. I sent angels. I bound devils. I mean, I need my $80. I quoted everything I knew. I read the maps. I read the contents. I did everything I knew to do. I need my $80. Man, I am praying up a storm over there in that little room.

Well, now it's time for the meeting that night. Man, I've been praying all afternoon. I need my $80. It's time for me to go get Brother Copeland, put him in the car, and take him to the meeting. Now, back then, you know, you didn't talk to Brother Copeland when he came out of his prayer time. You didn't you didn't talk to him. If if there was any conversation going on in that car, he started it. Quickest way to lose your job is talk to him after he got out of his prayer time. He said, "I don't want you to be the last voice I hear when I go to that platform. Last voice I want to hear is God." Amen. Yes, sir. So, I didn't open my mouth. I respected that. But I'm wondering, did we get paid? I mean, just give me a hint here. You know, he had said a word. Not a word. We go to the meeting. He never mentioned it. I mean, it's 7:00 at night now, which means it's 6:00 in Fort Worth. Office is closed down. I haven't got any word whether or not we got paid. Carolyn needs that $80. We get into the meeting. He preaches an outstanding message on faith. We get back in the car and we're driving to the hotel. He never said a word to me about whether I got paid or not. He went to his room. I went to my room. Never said a word. The next morning I got up. I won't ask him, but I knew you didn't talk to him after he got out of his prayer time. So, we're driving to the meeting and all of a sudden he said, "Uh, by the way, you got paid yesterday." I said, "We did?" He said, "Yeah." He said, "Daddy called about uh 10 minutes to 6," which was 10 minutes to 5 back home. Said somebody came in there and brought enough money to meet the payroll. I just want you to know Carolyn got her money yesterday. He said, "The reason I didn't tell you is Gloria and I heard you praying over there and we decided, dear God, the way that boy's praying, let's not tell him it came in, he'll believe in next week's, too." Praise God. Amen. So, it got it got to the point when we were short on payroll. Brother Copeland sent me a message and I went to my wailing wall. Hallelujah. Amen.

Well, you get to the point when God continually comes through that you expect it time after time. I'm talking about 30 years. I don't know anything else but walking by faith. This is all I know. I don't know religion. I don't know Pentecostal tradition. I don't know any of that stuff. I've heard some of it over the years, but I've never lived it. I've never had it down in me. This is all that's ever been in me since I've been a believer. I've been walking by faith for 30 years. This is all I know. So consequently when God continually comes through for you time and time and time again even when the majority are saying no way impossible can't be done but God continually comes through then you start walking in an attitude of expectancy you expect everywhere you go blessed coming in blessed going out blessed in the city blessed in the field I like to say everywhere I go there's a blessing hiding somewhere trying to come on me and overtake me. Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

And then some people will say who don't understand it, "That's the luckiest man I ever met in my life." Luck has nothing to do with it. My expectation is from him. I expect God to supply whatever I need to fulfill what he's told me to do. Why would God tell me to do something and not supply the funds to do it with? Hallelujah. Huh? Yeah. Now, they don't always come the day I get the assignment. I wish they did. Dear God, but they don't. Not always. Sometimes the only thing I got is the assignment. I know what I'm supposed to do. And then, brother, it's a walk of faith. It's going from amen to there it is. And it's what you do between amen and there it is that determines you ever have a there it is. Or manifestation. Amen.

So notice here he's telling us that our expectation is from him and when it is we will not be disappointed. It will not be cut off. And here in Hebrews 10:35 he says don't ever cast away your confidence because there is a great and glorious compensation of reward. Now once again the word compensation in you know everyday terminology payday. There is a payday coming. Look at somebody say "You got a payday coming."

The Bible says the faithful shall abound with blessings. In other words, faithful people have frequent paydays. Amen. The faithful shall abound with blessings. If you're faithful, if you refuse to cast away your confidence, then God says you will be rewarded. You will be compensated, you will experience a payday. And what I keep hearing in my spirit is this, and this is my challenge to the body of Christ, my assignment from God to the body of Christ, is don't quit now. You've come too far to quit. Everything you've been hoping for, praying for, believing for, is just on the horizon. Your payday is coming. Hallelujah. Can you say amen? HALLELUJAH.

All this sewing has not been in vain. All this praying has not been in vain. All this giving has not been in vain. All this operating in love has not been in vain. I want you to know if the devil's waking you up in the middle of the night screaming at you, "No way, impossible," that's a good indication THAT YOU GOT HIM UNDER PRESSURE. And he knows that the manifestation is just around the corner. Praise God. It's payday in the body of Christ. Amen. Shout it WITH ME. IT'S PAYDAY IN the body of Christ. Come on, SHOUT IT AGAIN. IT'S PAYDAY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST. OH, HALLELUJAH.

All right. Now, I want you to I want you to pick up on the word recompense. Recompense. And let's go to Jeremiah chapter 51 for a moment. Jeremiah chapter 51 and look at verse 56. "Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken. For the Lord God of recompenses shall surely require." The Lord God of recompenses shall surely requ. Now once again, we don't talk like that in Texas. I can't remember a time I've ever used the word requ. How about you? Is that one of your everyday words? The Amplified Bible says, "For the Lord is a God of recompense." The Lord is a God of recompense. The word require means to retaliate or to punish.

Now, here, notice, he's not the God of recompense to the righteous here, but he's also the God of recompense to the evil or the wicked. He is a god of recompense. In other words, the wicked will be rewarded. The faithful, the righteous shall be rewarded, but their rewards are different. God is a God of recompense. Here it's talking about the enemies of the people of God. And God says, "I am the God of recompense and I will requite and I will punish the enemies of my people."

Now, here's the way the spirit of God said it to me. Listen to this. You want to write this down. Get your notebook out. Get your pencil out. You're going to want to write this down. Here's what the spirit of God said to me. "Payday is coming to the righteous and payback to their adversary." Payday is coming to the righteous. See, he recompenses the faithful. He recompenses the righteous. He recompenses those who refuse to cast away their confidence. At the same time, he recompenses their adversary. In other words, God's going to make Satan wish he had never attacked you. Payday is coming to you. Payback is coming to the adversary.

You say, "Well, I don't understand that." Go to Psalm 37. Go to Psalm 37. Satan is about to get what he deserves, and so are we. But what he gets and what we get are totally different. I'm going to get rewarded for my faithfulness. And just just hold on now because I'm about to get to this. I'm about to get ahead of myself, but I can already hear people thinking, "Yeah, when we get to heaven." I'm not talking about heaven. That's right. Not talking about heaven. You just wait. I'm going to prove to you from the scripture, you going to get it down here. Hallelujah. You going to get it down here.

All right. Psalm 37. And let's look at the God of recompense where the adversary is concerned. Now, here he's talking about flesh and blood. In the Old Testament, the Old Testament people had flesh and blood enemies. Our enemy is not with flesh and blood. Our enemy is with wicked spirits in high places. Satan and all of his cohorts. But the principle is the same. Notice in verse one of Psalm 37. "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord."

Now notice these wicked are about to have recompense. God is saying, "I will pay them back for what they've done to my people." Amen. Verse three, "Trust in the Lord and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily shalt thou be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Look at verse nine. "For evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth."

Now notice in that verse, you see the God of recompense. He recompenses the righteous. He recompenses the evil. The evil are cut off. The righteous inherit the earth. One gets a payday, one gets a payback. Hello. Verse 10. "For yet for a little while, and the wicked shall not be. Yay, though they shall diligent or yay, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be." In other words, what he's saying is this enemy of yours that has harassed you, tormented you, stressed you out, kept you under pressure, and yet you wouldn't fold up, you wouldn't quit. You wouldn't throw in the towel, you wouldn't stop doing what you knew God wanted you to do. He's saying, "I'm going to give you a payday. You're going to be rewarded for your faithfulness. You're going to be rewarded for your uncompromising stand. You're going to be rewarded for sticking to it. You're going TO BE REWARDED FOR GOING ON with this when others were falling by the wayside. And not only that, the one who put you under pressure, the one who stressed you out, the one who created trials and adversities trying to get you to give up, he also will be recompensed. I will give you a payday and I will give him a payback." Amen.

I want to tell you something like the old commercial on TV if you ever remember it or if you remember it where this you know this um looks like a state trooper from the south. This woman comes through there speeding and he gets out of his car great big old boy probably named Bubba got his state trooper uniform on and he has it roll down the wind and he says "Woman, you in a heap of trouble. Heap of trouble." Well, right now, Satan is in a heap of trouble. He's in a heap of trouble. Why? It's payback time for him. And it's payday for the church. I told you you hadn't had your good old days yet. They're just ahead of you. Praise God. Somebody shout, "My payday is coming." My payday is coming. It says in verse 12, "The wicked plot against the just and gnash upon him with his teeth." Well, doesn't that describe

Satan, our adversary? He is plotting against you right now. But notice what God says. The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming.

"What's he saying? It's just a matter of time. Payback for the adversary, payday for the righteous, for the faithful. The Amplified says in verse 13, 'The Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that their own day of defeat is coming.'"

Hallelujah. I'm telling you folks, this is not the time to give up. This is not the time to quit. I don't care what kind of pressure you're under.

"Brother Jerry, you just don't know what I'm going through." Then you're the one I'm preaching to the most. You cannot afford to quit because what you've been believing for, there's a thin membrane between you and it right now. And if you will not give up, not cave in, not cast away your confidence, you're about to burst through, your payday is at hand.

Hallelujah. Give the Lord a shout if you believe it. Praise God. All right. Now, you say, "Well, I thought we got all these rewards when we get to heaven." Oh, yeah. God does have some rewards for us in heaven, but what we're talking about is not when we get to heaven.

Go to Proverbs chapter 11. Proverbs chapter 11 verse 24 says, "There is that scattereth and yet increaseth, and there is that withholdeth more than his meat, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself."

Now, I just have one question. When? Yeah. Where's that note you gave me earlier tonight? You still have that note? That's what this person's asking. Listen to this question. Mr. Sevel, how long do you have to wait after you plant your seed to pick up the harvest? That's on the mind of every believer that sows seed. How long do I have to wait? When does all this happen?

Now, what I want to know is if I am one who scatters and it will bring increase and if I am a liberal soul and it will make me fat and I am one who waters others, when do I get watered? When do I get fat? And when do I increase? When I get to heaven?

No. Verse 31, same chapter. Behold, that means look and see. Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth.

In the earth. What's God saying? All this sewing, all this seed sowing, all this scattering, all this watering, all this giving, all this blessing, God's saying, "You're not going to get the reward of that when you get to heaven. I want you to have it while you're on the earth." Let me ask you something. What am I going to do with a hundredfold in heaven? That's not where I need it. What am I going to do with all this abundance in heaven? I don't need it in heaven.

I need it down here. And God says, "The righteous shall be recompensed in the earth." What's God saying? There is a payday for the righteous. There is a payback for their adversary. And folks, we are in the door. The door is open. We are in the season for payday. We are in the season for payback where our adversary is concerned. I'm telling you, the reason Satan's trying to get you to quit, he is on your case day and night is because he sees that his day is coming and he wants to pull as many down with him as he possibly can. But you and I are going to announce to him, you just might as well go knock on somebody else's door. I've come too far to quit. I'VE COME TOO FAR TO GIVE UP. NOW, my payday IS HERE. IT'S COMING and it's mine. And I'm not giving up till I have it.

Praise God. Amen. Woo! Glory. It's payday in my house. Dear God, everyday is a payday in my house. And you know what? God will pay you more than you're worth. Cuz he's the God that does exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask of that.

Hallelujah. Now, if that doesn't do something for your expectancy, if that don't create a fire on the inside of you tonight, your wood is wet. You just need to go hang out with God some more. Amen.

Now, one last verse. Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. Somebody shout, "Payday is coming." Man, just think all you can do with payday. Do you know most people have already got their check spent before they ever get it in their hand? I've already got my payday spent. Dear God, I can build some Bible schools. Oh, my next airplane that'll take me internationally. Oh, dear J. I've already got my payday spent.

Ain't that the way you do in the natural? How many you hadn't even got the check in your hand yet? You already know what it's going to do with it. So, I'm dreaming. I'm dreaming big dreams for my payday.

Hallelujah. Amen. Now notice Hebrews chapter 11 and um let me get there and let's take a look beginning in verse 24. By faith Moses when he was come to years refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. For he had respect unto the recompense of reward. Underline that phrase. He had respect unto the recompense of reward.

Now what does that mean? He had respect unto the recompense of reward. In the amplified it says, "For he looked forward and away to the reward or the recompense." In other words, what it's saying is this. The reason Moses was able to endure is because he was looking to something beyond the adversity. That's right. He had respect unto the reward or the recompense of reward. In other words, he's looking beyond all the stress. He's looking beyond all the pressure. He's looking beyond all the things that don't seem to be working. He's got his eyes on that reward. He's focused on the reward.

Now, that's where you ought to be right now. Quit focusing on what's not happening. Focus on what is about to happen. Amen. Amen. Quit majoring on what's not happening. Start majoring on what is about to happen. Hallelujah. That's giving respect unto the reward. He's looking for it. He's focused. He's fixed on this. He's got the promise of God. Well, see, that's where my expectation came from. The promise of God. I've got God's promise on this. I'm not dealing with man's word. I'm dealing with God's work. I know that I know that I know that I know that God is rewarding my faithfulness.