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Good morning. Morning. Praise God. Just about to graduate. [cheering] Graduate or get promoted. Man, I hope it's been a great year for you. Amen.
You know, just because you choose to follow the Lord doesn't mean the devil runs the other direction. He knows the potential and man, he fights against you. And so it's like Paul said that a great and an effectual door has been opened unto me, but there are many adversaries. Every time God opens up a door, it just is an increased fight. And that makes some people want to run the other way and not do anything. But the good news is we already have won if you just stand and don't give up. And so um we win and victories are well worth it, but uh there's a lot of effort that goes into it.
So anyway, I appreciate all that you've done to come here and to be a part of this. I know that some of you u had a rough year in some ways, but praise God, the seed that's been swn in your heart, if you just allow it to continue to grow, it is going to produce fruit that not only blesses you and your family, but you're going to be a blessing to many, many, many people. So, it's well worth the effort. Praise God.
You know, there was one day I came in and we had trouble on four continents. And we were having to put out fires and to deal with people fighting each other. And I told the guy who was over that, I said, you know, I just feel like a turtle. I'm going to pull my head inside my shell and just quit stretching myself and exposing myself to all of this stuff. And anyway, he calmed me down and he says, "You got to remember that the fruit is what you have to look at, not the effort that it takes." And that's a good word for me and for everybody that uh praise God, fruit doesn't come without effort. All right.
So, this will be my last chapel service where I teach on prosperity this year. And I've already covered some of these things. I've I've touched on these things, but today I want to talk about u getting something for nothing or gambling. There's an attitude that people have, a welfare attitude to where they want somebody just to give them something. And they may sometimes uh couch it in Christian terms, like they wouldn't just say, "I want something for nothing." But they're asking God to supply their needs, and yet they aren't putting their hand unto anything. And there's just one of the principles in the word of God that you don't God doesn't give you money directly. He has given you power to get wealth. Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 18 says, "But you shall remember the Lord your God. For it is he that gives you power to get wealth that he may establish his covenant as he swore unto you uh unto thy fathers as it is this day." So God doesn't give you wealth. He gives you power. to get wealth. He gives you an anointing, but you have to go out and do things. And so this whole concept of getting something for nothing is an ungodly concept. And yet it is rampant in our day.
There are people that think they deserve welfare. There are people that are second and third generation welfare people and they just think that the world owes them something. It's an ungodly concept. I read just this week that Bernie Sanders is proposing that anybody who gets more than 999 million the moment you move into the billion category that the government takes everything that is billionaires have and distribute it among the homeless. That's a proposal that he made this this week and he thinks that that would be great. Why should anybody have billions of dollars when there's people that are homeless? I guarantee you, if you were to take money and start giving it to the homeless and putting them in things without them doing anything for it, it would destroy their life. It is an ungodly concept. You never give people something for nothing. And yet, there's a lot of people that actually think that this is a good thing. San Francisco, they are actually um debating, and I mean this is in their uh legislature. They are debating giving $5 million to every black person in San Francisco. That is so dumb. First of all, where in the world you going to come up with this money? You're going to steal it from all of the people who are producing and stuff? That's just that's terrible.
Did you know when they founded the Plymouth colony that when they first arrived they were it was a commune. It was like a communist thing and everybody pulled all of their resources and they just had all things common. And did you know that half of the people died the first year in the Plymouth colony and they nearly all starved to death. So in the second growing season, they decided they'd give everybody their own plot of land because before that time, you would have people that would be out there working hard and they would take from them what they had produced and distributed among everybody else and it took away incentive to prosper. And so they didn't raise very many crops. The second year they decided they were going to give everybody their own crops and people were rewarded for their labor. Yeah, there were people that were older that were doing nothing and yet they got an equal share with everybody. And so because of this the they abandoned the communist system and started everybody producing on your own. And then there was benevolence giving when a person was sick or if they were older and couldn't work, there's people that would help them. But they started letting people start benefiting from their own labor and the thing flourished and it worked. Communism has never worked. Giving something, taking from the rich and giving to the poor is an ungodly concept. It is a godly concept for people to voluntarily give and bless other people. but to mandate it and to take it away and take people who are productive.
Like one of the things I was reading this about Bernie Sanders and the person interviewing him uh he was criticizing um Walton's uh for uh Walmart and saying that why should they have all of this money and he said do you realize because they have been able to work and to do things and invest that's where they got their money from and they employ and I forget the exact number but it was probably millions of people whose lives are made better because this person is able to do something and reap benefits from it. And so, yes, he individually has prospered, but also there are millions of people and plus even the people that don't work for Walmart, they benefit by having the lower prices and all of the other things. It has benefited the entire economy and yet they want to take away incentive from people so that you don't prosper like that. It's an ungodly concept.
And I'm going to share a lot of scriptures with you. I've I've uh shared probably most of these in passing one time or another, but I'm just going to talk about today about how it's an ungodly concept to expect something for nothing. You know, right now we are blessed and we have a huge amount of money flowing into our ministry. And some people think, well, you people just give to you. But you know what? I do a lot of stuff. And for 55 years, I've been doing a lot of stuff and I've been ministering and I put out a lot of word and there's things that I do [applause] and it may not be manual labor, but I'm sewing into people's lives and therefore it's appropriate for me to reap back. But if you aren't giving something to another person, well then it's inappropriate for you to expect that person to give to you. Now, they might be able to do that as benevolence giving just out of the goodness of their heart. And you can be blessed when you haven't sown something, but that's the exception rather than the rule. You are never going to prosper. You are never going to be rich expecting people to give you something for nothing. Amen. I know that's not ex popular today, but it's all true.
Proverbsap 1 19 says, "So are the ways of everyone that is greedy of gain, which taketh away the life of the owners thereof." And this could be applied in a lot of different directions, but I'm talking about people that are wanting something for nothing. That's what most of these scriptures will be relating to. And it says it takes away the life of the owners thereof. There's multiple ways you can look at at that, but it takes away your incentive. If you're just going to sit there and you're just like a vacuum, you're just sucking everything toward yourself and you're wanting people to give to you, but you never give out. It takes away your life. I tell you, it's more blessed to give than it is to receive is what Jesus said. And that is absolutely true. And if you are just a person who's a taker and you aren't a giver, then it takes away your life. This is what life is all about. It's not being wrapped up in yourself. You make a very small package when you're all wrapped up in yourself. It's about giving to others. It's about it's about being a blessing to other people. It's about finding something that will bless other people. You know, if you want to get rich, find some way of blessing other people and monetize it. Turn it into something. And I guarantee you, if you are blessing other people, people will give back to you. Whether it's the gospel or whether it's a widget that you make that you know allows people to do things, you need to do something and be a blessing.
Proverbs 13:11 says, "Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished, but he that gatherth by labor shall increase." Again, see, this is speaking against that mindset that you're going to get things just for nothing, that you're just going to sit there and do nothing. You know, we had two guys in our class. This was back probably 20 years ago and they came to me and I was teaching on this very thing and they said we know what you're saying but God has given us a supernatural idea and we are going to go on the internet and we are going to become millionaires within the month. They had this idea and I said first of all that those things seldom if ever work. It does work occasionally, but it will take away the life of the owners thereof, and it will eventually be diminished. You can't sustain it. You aren't going to hit the lottery every day. You aren't going to be able to make this a lifestyle. I said, "This is wrong. You need to quit." And they said, "Oh, no. We know what you're saying, but this is an exception." So, they invested everything they had in it, and they made a tiny bit of money, but overall, they lost everything and it didn't work out. And I really wanted to say I told you so.
Here's the Amplified translation of that same verse. It says, "Wealth not earned but one in haste or unjustly or from the production of things for vain or detrimental use. Such riches will dwindle away. But he who gathers little by little will increase his riches." I tell you the way to become rich is to spend less than you make and do that over your entire lifetime. Don't do it just till you get some money and then you go splurge and blow it all, but you just consistently spend less than you make. I've heard some people say that you need to take 10% of everything you get off the gross and give that as a tithe, but then you need to take 10% and give it to yourself and put it into savings. And you need to learn to live on 80% or less. Personally, Jamie and I, we we probably live off of less than 10% of what comes in. We either give or invest uh 90% of everything that we get. And we've been doing that for decades. And because of it, we're blessed. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Jeremiah 17 verse 7 verse 11 says, "As the partridge siteth on eggs and hatcheth them not, so he that getth riches and not by right shall leave them in the midst of his days and at his end shall be a fool." You know, I've researched this and uh and anyway, the best I can understand this, a partridge is is a bird that will sit on other birds eggs and hatch them, but they aren't their own. And so when the birds hatch, they leave them. It doesn't it doesn't last long term. It's not yours. If you get riches by vanity, it's not really yours. You haven't earned it. You don't deserve it. You aren't going to keep it. Is the point that's getting across here.
Proverbs 20:21 says, "An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning, but the end thereof shall not be blessed. The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. If you get money quickly and stuff, it's takes away the life of the owners thereof is a verse that we just read. And then it will not be blessed. But if you get it by the Lord's way, then um he'll add no sorrow with it. Did you know you can get rich by going out and robbing a bank, but there's sorrow associated with that on your part and the person's part that you stole it from? You can get rich by winning the lottery. One out of 20 million people is going to win. And God's not going to fix the lottery to help you win. But even if you got it, did you know the stats show that within 10 years, people that win the lottery are worse off because of it. I actually read 10 testimonies of people who were $10 million winners or more. And every one of them said that they wish they'd have never won it. Because all money does is amplify what's already in your heart. And if you're poor and if you aren't managing money and if you aren't prospering before you win the lottery, all that's going to do is just amplify this. And you're going to go out and get into more debt. And then when the money runs runs out, you're going to have to file bankruptcy. You'll be worse off than you were before. Winning the lottery is not the answer for anybody. Praying and believing God just for money to fall out of the sky is not the answer for anybody. Believing for welfare is not the answer for anybody.
I'm not against anybody who's on welfare. Anybody might need help, you know, temporarily. Jaime and I could have gotten welfare probably for at least 5 years, but we never did. All I could think of was a scripture that says, I've never seen the righteous forsaken or their seed out begging bread. And I wasn't going to beg bread. And we would go without eating. I'm not against anybody's own welfare, but I'm saying if you depend on it and if that becomes your livelihood and if this is the way you're expecting to deal with things, boy, you are not believing well at all. If you are counting on social security to provide for you in your old age, man, your faith is nearly non-existent. Did you know you can take $50 when you're 20 years old and invest it and have nearly twice as much money as you'll ever have through social security at the age of 60? Some of you doubt that, but it's absolutely true. Social Security is is not if if you can't believe more than social security, man, you need a shot of faith. You need to believe bigger than that. Again, if you pay into it, I'm not saying it's wrong to get it out. Jamie is now taking social security. I opted out when I was 20 years old, so I've never paid into social security. I'll never get any money out of it. And praise God, I don't need it. I'm much better off than social security would ever be.
In Proverbs 28:20, it says, "A faithful man shall abound with blessings, but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent." Man, that's a strong scripture. And you know, we've talked about this before out of 1 Timothy chapter 6, that the love of money is the root of all evil. And you don't have to be a millionaire to have the love of money. There's poor people that they spend all day every day thinking about money. They love money. You don't need to hasten to be rich.
In Proverbs 28:22, he that hasteneth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considerth not that poverty shall come upon him. Put that together with Matthew chapter 6 23 that says, "But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness?" So according to Proverbs 28:22, if you are hastening to be rich, if you are lusting to be rich, then you have an evil eye. And if you have an evil eye, your whole body is full of darkness. Did you know your attitude towards money is really, really, really important? And if you are a person that is just lusting for money and desiring riches so that you can just have things, again, there's nothing wrong with having money to empower you to be the blessing. It's not if if your focus isn't on just sucking everything towards you, but if you want to receive money so that you can give, if the focus is on giving, money is a tool and it's great to have. The Lord told Abraham in Genesis 12, I will bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing. You can't bless anybody else if you aren't blessed. So, it's okay to be blessed. It's okay to have money, but your goal shouldn't be to get money. It ought to be to have money so that you can give, so that you can be a blessing, so that you can accomplish the goals that God has put on your life.
So, the problem with people who aren't prosperous isn't that they don't have money. It's their attitude that's the problem. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7, "If you're poor, your thinking is poor." Thank you for that thunderous silence. It's true. Your financial situation is a reflection of your attitude and of your thinking. You know, back during my poverty days, I loved God with all of my heart and I was seeking God to the best I could. But I thought that it was sin for me to work a secular job. and I was called to the ministry. Well, it's true that once you're called to the ministry and the ministry takes so much of your time that you would have to decrease ministry in order to go make money. Well, then I believe you should be expecting to live full-time in the ministry. But I didn't have that knowledge back then. And I can guarantee you my poverty was a reflection of my attitude. It was my thinking that was wrong. when I change my thinking and begin to do things differently, God has prospered me supernaturally. And so, this may not feel good, but it's the truth. If you're poor, if you're struggling financially, you've got a wrong attitude someplace that is hindering you from receiving. And the majority of times, it's because your focus is all on yourself. You're wanting money so that you can uh supply all of your lust and all of your desires and all of your wants. when you get your attention off of yourself and you start wanting to prosper so that you can be a blessing and yes, you have to pay your bills and yes, you need to be a good steward. And so I'm not saying you don't use a portion of it for yourself, but the real focus is you want to prosper so that you can be a blessing. When God finds that kind of attitude, I've said this often, but if God can get it through you, he will get it to you. If you build a dam and want to prosper because you have all of these things that you want, you actually decrease God's supply towards you. He gives seed to the swer.
Second Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 10, he gives seed to the swer and multiplies your seed sown. If you don't have seed, it's because God doesn't see you as a swer. He sees you as a taker, as an eater. Now, sers have to eat, too. And so it's not that God wants you to do without. When you get your attention on other people and putting God first and other things first, you'll find out that you'll prosper more than you ever thought about. It'll come as a byproduct, not as the goal. It's not what you're focused on. It just comes. You can't outrun the blessings of God. Deuteronomy chapter 28 says, "All of these blessings will come upon you and overtake you." That means that you're running and they're running faster. You can't outrun the blessings of God. The blessings of God will just come on you. You can't help it. That's true. I know some of you think that's easier to preach than it is to live, but it's true. Amen.
So, where was I? I messed up my screen here. Proh 2 Corinthians 9:8. God is able to make all grace abound toward you that you always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work. That is a definition of prosperity. Prosperity isn't how much stuff you have. Prosperity is are you able to abound to every good work. Amen. If God was to send you on a mission field and to do something, are you financially able to do it or are you destitute and you can't do it? If you have a building program in your church and you can't give to it because you're barely keeping your own nose above water, you aren't prosperous. I don't care if you've got a million dollars in stocks. If they aren't liquid, if you can't use it, if you can't be a blessing, if you're obligated to things, you are not prosperous. I don't care what you drive. I don't care what you live in. Prosperity is being able to abound to every good work, to be able to give and to bless people. Amen. Amen.
You know, I was just at a meeting in Oklahoma City and they took all of the speakers and all of the helpers out to a steak place and anyway, I got the bill and it was $2,000 for that meal and I was able to bless everybody and they just couldn't believe it. They were upset. But you know what? I'm blessed. I can pay a $2,000 bill for a meal. [applause] It's no problem. Praise God.
2 Corinthians 9:10. I just read this. Now he that ministers seed to the sewer both minister bread for your food. Notice he gives seed to the sewer. He gives money to givers and he will minister bread for your food. God knows that if you are a giver, you also have needs. If you are going to sew, you've also got to eat. And so God will not only give you seed to sew, but he will also give you bread to eat. Man, that's awesome. And then he will multiply your seed sown. So he gives money to you so that you can give, so that you can be a blessing. And as you give, it's just like a person that has seed and they go out and sew this seed. You never get back just what you gave. It's going to grow. It's going to multiply. God will multiply the seed that you sow. So as much as you can, you need to sew as much as you can. If you want a big harvest, then you need to have a big seed time where you're sewing a lot. You know, if a person really wants to prosper, they they sew as much land as they possibly can. They don't sew as little as they can and then want to have this huge harvest. They know that their harvest is determined by how much they sow. Did you know you can determine your harvest? Yes. Amen.
There's a lot of people that are always thinking in rears. You need to go to thinking in advance instead of looking at your income and thinking, "All right, I had this much money come in and so here's 10% and here's what I give and stuff like that." You know, if you want to have I don't I'm just throwing figures out. If you want to have a $100,000 income and say you're only at $50,000, why don't you tithe on a h 100,000? Yeah. When you only have 50? Well, that would be 20%. But you know what? You sow that, you're going to reap it. You can determine what your income is going to be by how much you sow. That's what a farmer does. A farmer says, "I need this much in order to be pay my bills and to do the things, and so I've got to sow this much in order to get that much." That's the way farmers work. But see, most Christians do it in a rears. They get all this money, and then they think, "All right, God, I'm going to give this much." Well, determine what you want and go to sewing for it. Amen. Amen. That's a new wrinkle in somebody's mind right there.
Deuteronomy 8:18 says, "But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee uh power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant, which you swear unto thy fathers, as it is this day." I've already used that in Matthew 6:33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. The things that he was talking about was what you ate, where you slept, and what you were clothed with. And if you, we've already used that verse that if you have an evil eye, or if you hasten to be rich, you have an evil eye. And in pro Matthew chapter 6, I think it was around verse 19, it says uh that if your eye be evil, then your whole body is full of darkness. And so the whole point of Matthew chapter 6, this this is a point that is lost on 99% of all Christians. They just can't wrap their brain around this. But boy, once you get it, it'll start prosperity moving in your life supernaturally. But Matthew 6 is saying, don't lay up treasures here on this earth. Don't hasten to be rich. You have an evil eye if you're after that. And then it says, look at the liies of the field. They don't work. and toil and yet Solomon was never as beautiful as this lily. Look at the birds of the air. They don't reap and they don't do all this kind of stuff and yet God takes care of them. If God takes care of them, how much more is he going to take care of you? The whole point of that is quit focusing on money. Quit thinking about money and instead think about how you can be a blessing, how you could be a blessing to other people. start thinking about giving and doing things. And it just so happens that money is necessary to or in order for you to accomplish all of those things. But when you take your attention off of money and you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, then all of these things will be added unto you. This is saying that when you get to where God's will for your life and fulfilling his purpose for your life and giving to others and being a blessing to others, when you get to where that is more important to you than your own needs, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Then God will supernaturally take care of your needs. Amen. Hallelujah. Again, that's lost on most people. Most people think, "No, I have to focus on my stuff and then if there's anything extra, I'll bless God." That's the afterthought. That's the byproduct to most Christians. But you can get to where living to give is more real than giving to live. But you live to give. God, I want to be a blessing. God, I want to touch other people. God, use me. Let me be the one that if the church needs a big offering, let me be the one that supplies the thing. Let me be the one who buys the meal for other people. Let me be the one who's blessing somebody else. I want to do this. And when you get that kind of an attitude, then when you take care of God's kingdom, God will take care of your kingdom. And if your kingdom isn't being well taken care of, it's because you haven't put first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. The only exception to that is that there is a seed, time, and harvest to prosperity. And you may have already made these decisions and that may be your heart and you may be moving in that direction and haven't seen the fulfillment of it yet because it takes time for that harvest to come in. But you're either in process right now or if you aren't prospering, it's because your heart's not right. It's because you aren't putting first the kingdom of God. Your kingdom is still first. Thank you for that thunderous silence.
Proverbs 15:27, "He that is greedy of gain trouble his own home, but he that hateth gifts shall live. Man, you know, I'm in a situ I don't want to give that information, but I'm in a situation right now where it could cost me millions of dollars, but I'm going to do the right thing because money is not my God. Money is not going to dictate to me. I'm going to do what's right. I don't care if it hair lips the devil. Oh, every time I move this thing, I lose my place. All right.
Proverbs 23:4 says, "Labor not to be rich. Cease from thine own wisdom? Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings. They fly away as an eagle towards heaven. Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither be thou desires of his dies. Do you know what an evil eye is? We just read that it was Proverbs something. He that hasteneth to be rich hath an evil eye. Eat not thou the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither be desire his dies. And if you go on, the very next verse says in verse 7, it says, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." Did you know we take that verse out of context often and just use that to apply to everything and it's a true statement, but in context, it's talking about people who have an evil eye, who are hastening to be rich. And when you go into a rich man's house and he sets all of these dies in front of you and all of these delicacies, it says if you are a man given to appetite, the way we would say that today is if you're a glutton, it'd be better for you to stick a knife to your throat because you are not going to be able to control yourself. You will let your lust for things dominate you. And it says, man, that is wrong. And then as he thinks in his heart, so is he. So if your experience is wrong, somewhere in your heart, you're thinking wrong, your attitude is wrong, you're hastening to be rich, which has an evil eye, and if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. Man, those are strong statements.
1 Timothy 6:9, "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lust, which drown men in destruction and predition." So, did you know that having money is a temptation? It's a temptation for you to quit trusting in God and to say, "Well, I don't have to trust God anymore. I'm taken care of. I've got enough to last me." You know, one of the things that I do is I've got enough money I can do anything I want to do. But when it comes to uh buying something for Jamie, I don't always carry enough money on me and I don't want to use a credit card that's going to let her know what I paid for her gift. And I don't want to write a check that'll let her know. So, even though I've got plenty of money, did you know when it comes time for Jaime's birthday, when our anniversary and stuff like that, I always believe God for enough money to get her something? Even though I've got enough money, I could use it. But it just is good exercise for me to go ahead and be dependent upon God and trust him the way that I have for 55 years. And did you know it's just like clockwork every time that we have something that I'm believing for, people will come up and give me money personally. And it's not typical. Most of the time, anything a person gives me, unless they tell me, "This is for you." I will put it into the ministry. But there will be people that'll come up and say, "This is for you and Jamie personally." And I mean, it's just like clockwork. Every time we have some kind of an anniversary or something coming up, I believe God people give me money. So this is one of the ways that even if you have money, you you keep yourself dependent upon God. You keep trusting God.
You know, Jesse Delanis was criticized for believing God for a brand new airplane that I forget how much money it was, $29 million or something like this. And we had the directors of our college over in the Netherlands. Uh they said, "Do you want to disassociate with Jesse Delanis?" and they gave me a clip where somebody was talking about how this guy's taking money and using it for things like a $29 million airplane. But did you know why that all had happened? Jesse, right before all this came out public, he was here and he was telling me that he was flying in his I don't know 1520 million dollar jet that he had and he was just thanking God for how blessed he was. And God says, you know, you haven't believed me for anything in a long time. You need to keep believing God. And he says, but God, I've got everything I could ever want. And he says, that's not the issue. You need to keep your faith out there working. Don't let it go to sleep. Yeah. And he says, "Well, what should I do?" And he says, "Do you think this jet is all that I can give you? Why don't you believe for something more?" And Jesse was saying, "God, people will talk about me, but anyway, he did it because God challenged him that he needed to keep his faith out there believing." They didn't put that in the article. They didn't talk about any of that. Plus, they don't tell you that Jesse gets a huge amount of his income from his own personal businesses that he's got. But anyway, people want to criticize people over that. But one of the ways you keep from riches having you is that you keep trusting God, you keep believing God. And I tell you, one of the ways to keep yourself dependent upon God is just to give so much that if God doesn't come through, you're dead in the water. You know, if it gets to where you can give $10,000 and that's no problem, you've got it and it's no problem, you ought to give $100,000. And if you get to where you can give $100,000 and that's no problem, you ought to give $200,000. You ought to keep stretching yourself. This is the way that you keep the temptation that money has. Money has a temptation of making you feel self-sufficient and not dependent upon God. So if you have a lot of money, one of the ways that you keep that from happening is you keep exercising your faith voluntarily. You just believe for things when you don't have to believe for things and you become a big giver and you give until man it uh stretches you. Amen.
Proverbs 28:20, "A faithful man shall abound with blessings, but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent." Did you know lusting for money, hastening to be rich, trying to get something for nothing instead of just by little by little and building up over time, it's sin. Proverbs 28:22, he that hasteneth to be rich hath an evil eye. I just read that. And considerth not that poverty shall come upon him. Oh, I'm back up to the top of my deal. Sorry.
So I read 1 Timothy 6:9. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lust which drown men in destruction and predition. Some people want to deal with that by saying, "Well, I'll just never be rich and I'll avoid that." Well, that's true. If you if you aren't rich, you won't be tempted with these things. But you also never be able to accomplish anything. You won't be a blessing. you won't get to experience that it's more blessed to give than it is to receive. So yes, there are temptation. It's like having a gun or a a an atomic bomb or anything that's powerful. It's also can be destructive. It can it can kill you, can kill somebody else, but used properly, man, it's a great thing. And so there are problems that go along with having money, but I think it's well worth the effort to overcome it.
In verse 10 it says, "For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have aired from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. It's the love of money that's the root of all evil. It's not money. If you think money is the root of all evil, then take all of that filthy lucer that you have and give it to me. Get rid of that stuff." Amen. That's It's not money that's evil. It's the love of money. And again, there are people that are poor that think about money all day long. And a lot of rich people never think about money. You know, one of the blessings in my life was about I'm not sure 15, 20 years ago, might have been longer, but the Lord spoke to me and told me that never again think in terms of how much something cost. Amen. Boy, that just blew a number of circuits in a lot of people's brains because everything to you is about cost. Everything is cost. If you're going to buy anything, you're constantly thinking about money. Did you know that's that's being in bondage? You can get to a place to where you don't ever think about what something cost. You just do what needs to be done. When the Lord tells me to do something, I don't sit down and evaluate how much it's going to cost. Not in the beginning. Eventually, I'll have to deal with that because I've got to start making plans and stuff, but I mean, I just decide what God tells me to do, not based on what something costs. You know, when I built these buildings, we had already spent a million half dollars on architects fees over a one and a half year period. I was just telling them what I wanted. I designed these buildings. I'm the one that drew all of this on a napkin and then they made it look nice. But I'm the one that designed everything in here and I the floors out there. That's the design that Jamie and I came up with in that terazzo floor. And every single thing in here, the wood, the ceiling with those wood panels on it. Did you know that's acoustical that black strip is acoustic in between everything? You don't have to do that, but it would have been a lot noisier out there. I just did everything exactly the way I wanted. I'd already spent a million and a half dollars on design and they had it finished so that we could build it and we sat down and I said, "How much is this going to cost?" I never asked how much it was going to cost. I designed what I wanted. I got what I wanted and then we we started dealing with it. Man, it's liberty to get to a place to where you don't have to sit here and think of in terms of money. It's in terms of what has God tell me to do? What has God told you to do? God will supply. Amen.
Verse 11, 1 Timothy 6:11. But thou, oh man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Put God first. put first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And if you'll do that, God will supply you with everything that you need to abound unto every good work. Amen. But you need to quit limiting God by just thinking in terms of money and thinking the cheapest and thinking all of these kind of things. Did you know it's it's been a process for me. It didn't happen overnight. And I remember Dan Funkhouser, many of you know him. He teaches in our school and Dan Funkhouser was my pastor at the time and we went to the uh stage coach restaurant which I don't even think is there anymore but it was like this is back 45 years ago and the minimum meal was $20. I'd never spent that much on a meal in my life. That was really expensive back then. And so anyway, I took Dan and Penny and their two girls out with my wife and my two boys. So, there was eight of us and we were eating and I had said I was going to pay for their meal. And when I saw I mean it was it was going to be 30 times eight. Yeah. $240. I had never spent that much money on a meal in my life. But boy, Jamie, she knew what was coming. She stepped on my foot when we opened up the thing. She hit me a couple of times not to say anything. So, I didn't say anything and acted like it was just nothing. And I paid the bill and with the tip, you know, it was probably $300 for this meal. And I just boy, I went home and and it took me a week or two to get over that that I had spent that much money. And I found out later that Dan is even cheaper than I was. And he was thinking the same thing. And Penny was stepping on his foot and hitting him. And so I he thought, man, Andrew's a big spender. I thought Dan was a big spender. And yet both of us were just freaking out over how much this meal cost. But you know what? I've gotten to a place I just paid $2,000 for a meal. No big deals. No problem. Amen. Thank you, sir. Somebody says, "Well, that's not being a good steward." I don't waste money, but I guarantee you I'm I'm not I don't let money dictate stuff to me. You can get to where money is a tool. It is not what you're wanting. You know, I turned a lot of wood stuff and made things. And I used tools, but the tools weren't what I took pictures of. I took pictures of the things that I made with all of those tools. Money is just a tool.
So, we're going to receive an offering and give you an opportunity to not make money your God. To give until it hurts, give until you feel like, God, I need a return on this to be able to survive. So, Father, we thank you. Go ahead and pass out the envelopes. We thank you, Father, for loving us. Thank you for all of these things. And thank you that we can put you first and your kingdom first and you will just take over our needs. that you'll begin to start paying our bills, that you'll become responsible for us if we become responsible for your kingdom. And Father, I pray that you open up people's hearts, that they would understand that, that they would get hold of this. I thank you for people that are slaves to money and limited to money. That Father, you'd set them free today. Even if they don't have any money in their pocket, I believe that you can set them free in their heart. that they can get hold of these truths and begin to walk in this in their heart first and then see it manifest in their physical body. And I just thank you for doing that. Father, we receive and believe that you are blessing people today as they give. I believe that this these gifts come back unto them a hundfold in this life with persecutions in the name of Jesus. Father, we agree and we receive. Amen.
I just quoting scripture. What are y'all laughing at? You know, I had somebody just this last week. Uh it was Marcus Wick, I think it was. I don't know how many of you know Marcus Wick, but I was holding a meeting in Oklahoma City with him and the Cunninghams and John Donley and Jim Baker. And uh and anyway, I gave him a prophecy about him reaping a hundfold in this life with persecutions. I put that in and he says, "Man, did that ever come true." He says, "The persecution part has really come true." But that's what Jesus said. Mark chap uh 10 verse 29 and 30. So I just quoted the whole verse. Amen. You can go ahead and receive the offering. Hallelujah.
I know that many of you are in a position where you're just really starting in this and it does take time for the seed that you've sewn to produce. And so you may not be able to see all of your harvest yet. But I can promise you what you're sewing now, the attitude is right, if your heart is right, and if you're really giving in faith, it is going to produce a harvest. And you will be reaping this for decades to come. I remember when Jamie and I gave $100, which is the most money we had ever given at that time, and it was all we had. And we gave $100 in an offering, and we were specifically believing for a hundfold return for $10,000 so that we could buy a Greyhound bus and turn it into our home and travel and minister. Praise God. God didn't answer that one. But at the time that looked pretty good and that's what we were believing for. And we gave that money and I remember on Monday going out and opening up the mailbox and looking for $10,000 and it didn't come. And it didn't come on Tuesday and we didn't see it quickly. But I often remember that that you know what that $100 I gave is still producing today. I am reaping off of that. That's now been 50 years later and that is still producing. So the seed you're sewing today, you may not have your full harvest yet, but I guarantee you it's coming and you just need to be patient and you need to keep doing and believing and it will come to pass and you will reap if you faint not. It just takes time. It takes a period of time. And again, that's against this mentality that I've been warning against today where people want something for nothing quickly. Man, that's not the way the kingdom works. If you get something real quickly, you God may do that temporarily to meet a crisis situation, but that is not a long-term deal. The way you prosper is to get a a flow of finances coming in just on an everyday basis. Don't wait. You know, if you don't want to just reap once a month, if you want to reap every day, well, then give every day. Start sewing like that. And and you will reap the way that you give. That's the way you give. Say again. QR code. Can they put that back? Would they put the QR code back up? Somebody wants to give. Amen. Help them give. So, put the QR code back up. There you go. Praise the Lord.
I want to thank y'all. You know, when people come here, man, we give big offerings to our guest speakers, and you guys have always been a blessing. Our speakers are always encouraged by this. I think it's tomorrow, isn't it, that we're going to have Crelo Dollar here and I've already told you that Crelo came Thursday. So, Crelo came out and embraced Stacy Abrams and some people got mad and some people said they're going to get up and walk out. And I've already said this, so I won't belabor it, but please don't act that way uh in front of a friend of mine. And if he if he comes in here and starts preaching all his wokeness, I'll stop it. Amen. But I don't believe he'll do that. And uh we need to show him some honor and stuff. And we need to learn how to get along with each other even though we may not agree on every single issue. So thank you in advance for the way you're going to treat Crelo. [applause] It will be good. All right. You're dismissed. We are [music] standing.