Faith and Finances — Manley Beasley

Greetings, my friend. It's certainly a joy and a privilege to be able to come to you again this month. Of course, when you receive this tape, it will be the December tape. And I do trust that you will have a wonderful December.

I trust that Lord will put it on your heart to pray earnestly for us as we're going through some very unique times in our lives. In some areas, it seems that God is dead. And in other areas, it seems like He is very, very much alive.

It helps us to know because, you know, we're really living in sin. He just shuts everything out. But if we are being disciplined in such light, He definitely, you know, will bless in one area and shut down some other areas.

Nevertheless, we are really being put through some unusual times. And we need your prayers very distinctly. Many of you, when you receive this tape, you will possibly think that we're in Russia. But because of the medication change, we were not able to take that trip to Russia.

I had to make the decision several weeks ago, but today I know I made the right decision because even though I'm feeling real well and doing real well, we are going to have to take another month at least to get the medication level out.

And, of course, this is nothing unusual because it's a trial and error type thing. You try one thing, then try another. You know, with human beings, you never have a norm. You always have variations, and so it's becoming a very unusual thing.

I do want you to pray earnestly for our ministry in Europe that we're taking on. You know, that's a very serious situation. And we have really stepped out there, way out, and we're trusting the Lord to raise up all of the people and the support that's necessary for these people to come.

And from our side here in America, basically all we do is just trust the Lord for people. We do trust the Lord that some people will have finances to go, but nevertheless, it's just trusting the Lord for people, basically.

And so we're seeing a great number come in that way. But the other areas, we've invited 200 people from the Western Bloc countries and Western Europe, and we're depending on the Lord. In fact, I believe he will definitely raise up all that's necessary for that time.

Now, you continue to pray with us as I get more and more out of the mechanical part of the ministry and more and more into the preaching and writing and taping and that sort of thing, which, you know, that's where I am supposed to be anyway.

And it seems like the Lord is making it possible for our son to get more and more into it. And so I trust that you will pray about this because it's a very important part. Now, this particular month of tape is on faith and finances, if you want to call it that.

But it really is on more than that. I'm dealing with 2 Corinthians 9, a verse that is very, very uniquely placed in the Word of God, a great promise, and I'm dealing with that particular promise, and I trust that it will really, really genuinely mean a great deal to you.

So I'm counting on the Lord to do this work in you as you listen to this tape. I believe it could be a life-changing experience for you, trusting that God's richest blessings will be yours in these days.

God's Promise of Abundant Sufficiency

Your friend in Christ, Manly Beasley. It's good to see you tonight. I'm a little shocked at the direction the Lord would have me to go tonight, but I do believe that it's what he wants me to do. And if you have your Bibles, turn with me, please, to 2 Corinthians 9.

2 Corinthians 9. And I'd like for you to turn to the 8th verse. You know, God has his own particular way to communicate to his people. He has formed us just like he wants us. And sometimes we're a little dissatisfied with the way he's done that.

And we have to get to the place where we're willing to accept what he's done and then begin to cooperate with him to accomplish what he wants in our lives. Back when I first got saved, I had a very difficult time reading anything, much less the Word of God.

But I was never sure when I'd read the Word of God, I was never sure that I was getting the understanding that I needed. There was a great deal of insecurity in me because of a problem that I had that I did not understand, and that was that I couldn't read, see letters and see words, you know, properly.

I'd look at was and I'd see saw. And I'd look at saw and I'd see was and stuff like that, just constantly confusion, and no one told me what the problem was. So I had a little difficult time reading and understanding.

And when I would read and understand, I wasn't real sure that I had it right. So consequently, I just prayed and asked the Lord. I said, Now, Lord, before I preach this message, you're going to have to let me experience it.

You're going to have to let me see, not only understand in my mind, but you're going to have to let me know in my life what this particular verse means. And the verse that I've turned you to tonight is a verse that really, to me, is one of the most profound statements from God to man that I have ever read, especially a man that's a woman that's a Christian.

I mean, this is some passage to a Christian. And I used to pray, Lord, let me know what that scripture meant, our means. And I mean experientially, not just intellectually. And to my amazement, one day he let me begin to see something of this verse.

And I want to talk about this verse tonight, 2 Corinthians 9 .8. And I'm reading it out of the Amplified Bible, and so it will say something a little different there, not much different than what you're reading, if you're reading a King James or a New American Standard.

But God is able to make all grace, every favor and earthly blessing, come to you in abundance, so that you may always, under all circumstances and whatever the need, be self-sufficient, possessing enough to require no aid or support, and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation.

Now, the thing that fascinates me about that verse is that all those always and all circumstances. I'll tell you, that really fascinates me. Every occasion, every problem, those always really gets me there, and all sufficiency and all things.

That really fascinates me. It really does. But out of this passage, the occasion for this passage really is something, and how it comes about. And so I want us to look at the 8th chapter and the 9th chapter, both of these tonight.

And as I said, this is a little strange, but I believe this is the direction the Lord wants me to go. And I believe the children of God are very bored people. I believe they are. And the reason I think they're so bored is because they have not learned how to discover the truth and obey it.

And so their Christianity has given way to religion. And religion is you going through a form the same way, the same time, all the time. That's right. Now, you may not believe you're very religious, but I'll tell you what.

God never did anything the same way twice as far as guiding, leading, and directing his people. And he just kept moving in certain directions. And there's nothing boring about the Christian life, the most exciting life in the world as far as I'm concerned.

Now, I didn't live until I was 17 without being saved. But I'll tell you what. It has been so fascinating to me to live the Christian life since I was 17 years of age. Now, I did a lot of living before I was 17.

I'd gone around the world twice, been in 39 foreign countries. I had danced from Austin to Boston, New York to Spain. I mean, I had all kinds of things I'd done. And I really lived. But I'll tell you what.

I never really started living until I met Jesus. And it's never been boring. It really has never been boring. Now, I'll tell you, there have been a lot of times when I wondered what was going on. But it wasn't boring.

Corinth, Macedonia, and the Context of Christian Giving

And tonight I'm going to get to an area that you have a great deal to do with. And in the occasion for this passage that I read to you, Paul is writing to the church at Corinth. And what had happened was that the people in Jerusalem was having some difficulty financially.

There was a famine in Jerusalem. And they were having some difficulty financially. And obviously the church there had heard about their need. And obviously they had got stirred up about making a contribution to the people of God, the children of God, in Jerusalem.

And it looks like that since they were always first, according to these passages, in almost every gift. In almost every gift you could mention, they were first, Paul said. It seems to me that this passage, 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, can indicate that they sort of bragged about the fact that they were going to give a big offering in Jerusalem.

Now, I don't know how Paul felt about that. But any time I go to a church and the pastor says to me, Brother, now you just leave everything to me. Don't you worry. I'll guarantee we'll take care of you better than anybody in this world.

Brother, when they tell me that, I start praying. Amen. I start praying. I really do. Now, I'm not kidding you. The old boy says, I'm not just preaching. I'm telling you the truth. Well, it may be that Paul felt this way.

This crowd at Corinth had really indicated, manifested, the fact that they were going to really do something wonderful for this church of these saints in Jerusalem. In fact, this message had so spread abroad, this passage says, that the church in Macedonia heard about what they were going to do.

And it had even stimulated them and encouraged them and excited them that the church at Corinth was going to do such wonderful things towards giving. And Paul, obviously, was quite apprehensive about this whole situation.

So he writes them. And when he writes them here in these two chapters, he tells them about the church at Macedonia. And he uses the church at Macedonia as an illustration. Now, I'm going to come back to this portion of this passage in a moment.

But he went on to say, I'm sending a fellow over there. I'm sending a fellow over there just in case all of your bragging is just clouds without water. Right. There's no substance of what you're saying.

He said, I'm going to send a fellow over there. And he is going to wring it out of you. Amen. He said, because when I come, it may be that there may be someone from Macedonia with me and I don't want to be embarrassed.

Right. Now, out of this context, Paul is saying that God is able to make all grace, every favor and earthly blessing come to you in abundance, so that you may always, under all circumstances, and possessing whatever the need may be self-sufficient, possessing enough to require no aid or support or furnish in abundance for every good work and charitable donation.

Do you know what that means? It means that you might always be supplied with enough, that you have enough on hand to pay all your bills and have enough left over to give away. That's my paraphrase of that verse.

Amen. I mean, it is some verse. And so, Paul says this to these people at Corinth. Now, as he deals with this church about this matter, their idea about finances, he begins to say something about the church at Macedonia and talk about how these people who were living in absolute poverty had responded to God properly until, my dear friends, they were living in an abundance.

Now, I don't know how to define this matter of living in an abundance. Because in our day and time, we have the idea floating around quite vividly, over television especially, that if you just get right with God and give, you'll get rich.

The only thing about that sermon is that it won't work in Russia. And it will not work in South America. And it will not work in China. Amen. It will only work right here in America. And if you start preaching that in Europe, they'd think you're nuts.

Amen. That if you just get right with God, you'll get rich. That's right. Because most of the preachers, especially in Europe, have taken the vow of poverty. And if they haven't, they thought they lived like they have anyway because they just have nothing.

Amen. And my dear friends, the Bible does not teach, does not teach that if you get right and give right, you will get rich. But this passage does indicate to us that if we get right with God and give properly, it will lend to an abundance.

And I believe the abundance that he's talking about, and far as I can find out, what he's saying is that you will have all sufficiency at all times. Now, I've got news for you, folks. That is better than being rich.

Amen. That is better than having a million dollars. All sufficiency at all times is better, my friends, than having an excellent bank account because your needs may go way beyond some kind of financial issue.

But he says here that you'll have enough. And in this context, it's talking about physical things. And by the way, this will preach anywhere you go. Amen. This will preach that definition of abundance, sufficiency at all times and all places.

That will preach in South America. That will preach in China. And that will work in Russia. And it'll also work right here. It really will. How would you like to have enough, to pay all your bills and have enough left over to give away as God directs you?

Wouldn't you like to live like that? I believe that's God's standard. And Paul is writing to this church at Corinth about this type of thing. He says God's able to do this. And God is able to do this tonight.

And one of the things I like about that, it doesn't say until you get 65. I really like that. The more every day I live longer, it's better. Better, better, better. Right. Brother Ron just passed 50. In case he hadn't told you, I was going to tell you.

Well, when I passed 40, people always told me, they said, man, when you pass 40, that's awful. But I was just great. I was thankful to God to be alive at 40. But when I hit 50 now, I'll tell you, I went through an emotional trauma.

And since I passed 50, I decided I was going to live until I died, so I might as well live. Amen. So I started living. But I'll tell you, this verse of Scripture means more and more to me the older I get.

It doesn't say all sufficiency at all times in all conditions and situations until you're 65. And I love it. Amen. It doesn't say all sufficiency at all times and so on if you're well. It doesn't say that.

I mean, it is just a profound statement from God. It doesn't say until you retire. It doesn't. Amen. It says all sufficiency all the way through home, folks. I mean, it is some promise from God. It is some statement from God.

Giving Begins With Total Surrender

Now, what I want you to do is look at this church in Macedonia that Paul is talking about. He's using these people in Macedonia to talk to these people at Corinth. And he says here that they first gave themselves.

That's what he says. In fact, he said they first gave themselves according to this passage. You can start reading at the 1st verse and read through the 5th verse if you'd like. But he said they first gave themselves.

And my dear friends, there is no hope for the reality of God on God's level in your life apart from man giving himself totally over to God. They first gave themselves. They transferred ownership. They transferred not only their bank accounts, but they transferred their whole being over to God.

They first gave themselves. And you and I cannot, listen to me carefully, we cannot expect God to even speak to us, much less direct us and brush us apart from the fact that we have come to the place in our lives, to the best of our understanding, we have turned everything over to Him.

Now, that doesn't mean He can't speak to you. And it doesn't mean He can't guide you. And it doesn't mean, my dear friends, that you cannot have the blessings and the mercy of God. But I do not believe we can expect God to speak to us, guide us, and bless us apart from us, giving our whole being, everything we are, over to the Lord.

They first gave themselves. It's known as the cross in the life of a Christian. The cross is the place where you and I come and make a full, absolute surrender. And that may have to be done several times in our life.

A Testimony of Faith in God's Provision

Let me tell you about a time that I had, one time in my life, that I believe would illustrate this in a very simple way. And the illustration itself might excite you and stir your heart a little bit. I flew from Charleston, South Carolina.

And that is South Carolina, isn't it? I travel so much I forget where Charleston is in North Carolina, South Carolina. But Charleston, anyway. I flew from Charleston to Kansas City. And when I got to Kansas City, this huge pastor, about 6 '6".

I never will forget his hands. They were about three times larger than mine. I never, you know, I'd probably just had hands. He was something else. His name was J .I. Willard. J .I. Willard had been reared as a country boy down in the mountains of Missouri.

Had two brothers. All three of them went to the seminary there in Kansas City. One of them became a ranked liberal and is a professor at the University of Minnesota now. And the other one became a fundamentalist.

And he is a professor of philosophy at UCLA. One of the most outstanding soul winners, lay soul winners I've ever known of. I mean, he constantly wins those kids to Jesus right there in the middle of that institution.

And J .I. Willard became a fabulous pastor. Well, J .I. picked me up at the airport. And when we started across Kansas City, Missouri, I realized that there was a problem in his heart. So I decided I wasn't going to waste another week if there's a man that had a problem in his heart with me.

I was going to find out what that problem was and we were going to settle it. I was going to go home and, you know, not waste a week. Then I wasn't being ugly, but I could sense there was a problem so I wanted to find out what it was.

And I said, Brother, I feel that you're a little uneasy about this meeting. Is there some kind of problem? And he said to me, he said, Well, Brother Manley, he was honest. He said, I'll tell you, while I was waiting on you at the airport, he said, I went over and checked on how much your ticket cost out here.

And he said, I am embarrassed. He said, I found out that your ticket, your airplane ticket, costs more money than we have ever been able to give an evangelist in love offering and expenses put together.

And he said, I feel like I have a problem. And I could have lied and said, Hey, now, Brother, don't worry about it. But that would have been a lie. And when you live by faith, folk, when you live by faith, you quit your lying.

Amen. When you know that if God doesn't furnish it, I'll guarantee you, you make sure that you and God stay on good terms. So I wasn't going to lie to that man because I knew in me he had a problem. So I said, Well, Brother, you have got a problem.

Amen. Now, you see, God is so good by his sovereign grace that, I mean, God will do things that just blow your mind. And I didn't know God was setting me up for one of the great lessons of my life. But he usually is setting us up if we have sense enough to recognize it.

Well, I said, You've got a problem. And I began to pray immediately. I said, Now, Lord, how can I help this brother solve his problem? And I was honest. And God began to talk to me and began to show me something.

And here is how it came out. I can tell you how it came out. I said, Brother Willard, I said, I'll tell you what I do. I've got a proposition for you. And he was ready for a proposition. He was ready.

He was very open and honest and he was ready for a proposition. I said, Brother Willard, if you will make a decision right here in this car, right now, make a decision right here in this car, right now, that if I preach anything from the Word of God that you are not personally experiencing in your life, that you will get up out of your seat, walk to that altar, get on your knees and confess it to God and get your heart right with God.

And if you need to say anything to the church, turn around and ask the church to forgive you. And if you will do that, number one. And number two, if you will simply get up and tell your people not to give one dime that God doesn't tell you to give, but whatever he tells you to give, you give.

I said, if you will do those two things, I'll tell you, I'll take the responsibility of everything in prayer. Up to this point, I was not aware of what was going on. And I stuck my hand out and gave that man an invitation right there in that car.

And I never will forget it. That big old hand just reached out and got hold of my hand and he said, preacher, I'll do it. I'll do it. You may not realize it, but brother, that man was absolutely totally surrendering completely according to the knowledge he had right there in that car to let God handle this situation.

Now, I didn't know that. I didn't realize what was going on. I went to the church that night and sure enough, it was a church that ran about 75 in Sunday school, something like that, and they had 70 people there.

That man got up that night and he said, folk, he said, now he probably didn't say folk, but he said folks probably, but he said, listen, he said, now this is when it hit me, he said, this afternoon in the car coming from Kansas City, I turned it all over to God.

I turned it all over to God and this preacher made me a proposition. He said if he preaches anything I'm not experiencing in my life, I'm supposed to get up out of that seat, come to the offering, get right with God.

He said I made that decision this afternoon and then he told them about what I said about the offering. He said I made that decision this afternoon and I preached that night and guess what happened? 70 people followed their pastor to the altar.

You know what? I preached the second night and 70 people followed that pastor to the altar. I preached Wednesday night and 70 people followed that pastor to the altar. My friends, it wasn't an issue with him.

Revival Through Obedience to Truth

He settled it back there in that car. For the continuation of this message, please turn the tape to side 2. When I preached something he wasn't experiencing, it wasn't an issue, should I do this or that.

It was already settled, he would do this or that. Thursday night the power of God got in that place and I mean sent just a touch of glory and everyone knew God was in it. When the meeting was over, everyone knew God was all over the place.

They gave me an offering that was unbelievable. They couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. And they met my needs so adequately. God had done it. No one had begged, pushed, pulled. But the story is not over yet, folks.

The next Sunday night, 1130, Martha and I were already in bed, the telephone rang and it was J. I. Willard. He said, Brother Manley, I got something to tell you. I said, what's that? He said, we had 50 people saved today.

He said, God has just taken this place over. He said, they're getting saved everywhere. Amen. And I can't tell you tonight, folks, but I want to tell you one thing. I mean, I do not know, but one of the greatest revivals of my life and far-reaching revivals in my life, that little meeting was it.

I went to Missouri and some of the biggest Bible conferences I've ever been in in my life. I mean, God for years used that little meeting. But you see that man back there in that car, he first gave himself.

Yes, sir. He first gave himself. You see, the Bible tells us the person that wills to know the truth, that person shall know it. You see, that man made the decision to respond to the truth. I didn't ask him to respond to me.

I said, respond to the truth that you hear. Right. I remember, I just thought of it a few minutes ago, back years ago, I was with Ron Dunn in his church in revival. The first one, the only one, I guess, I was ever in there with him.

I was there several times in a conference. But I never will forget that Sunday night, I believe it was Sunday night, or the first night, that I asked the people, I told them this story, I remember telling them this story, and I asked them if they were willing.

And people's hands went up everywhere. Beloved, you and I must realize that if we're going to see the glory of God, the reality of God, the guidance of God in our lives, and we see God reproducing Himself in our lives, you and I have got to come to the place where, friends, we come to the end of ourselves and we give ourselves completely to the Lord.

Now, you can call that lordship. And if you get hung up on the fact that you've done it one time back under somewhere, you have gotten hung up in error. Because it may be, my friend, you need to do this every day.

It may be every hour. It may be every minute. But they first gave themselves at this church in Macedonia. I'm telling you, these people in Macedonia were living in poverty. And they learned how to live in the abundance of God.

And when I say the abundance, I'm not just talking about money. There's a great deal more in life than money. But you spend 8 to 10, 14 hours a day working for money, and you need to learn how to handle that.

Giving According to Ability and Trusting God Beyond It

Anybody spend that much time, amen. Well, they not only first gave themselves, the second thing they gave, they gave according to their ability to give. Now he's talking about money. Of course, it may have been chickens.

It may have been eggs. It may have been something else like that. I go far enough back in church history that I remember when the preachers were paid off in chickens, eggs, and hogs. Now, sometimes better than money.

Right? I can remember that. Molasses, syrup, or whatever you want to call it. But I can remember that. But these people gave what they could afford to give. They gave according to how God had prospered them.

That's what the Word says. And God gives us that liberty to give according to how God has prospered us. That includes the tithe. That includes a sacrifice offering. A sacrifice means that you have changed your priorities and you give more because you've changed your priorities.

A sacrifice offering is still what you can afford to give. Right. Anytime a person gives a sacrifice offering, folks, it's what they can afford to do. They just change some priorities around. Right? And they gave that.

They first gave themselves, and then they gave what they could afford to give. And because of the time, I want to get into this other area. They gave beyond their ability to give. That's what it says.

For as I can bear witness, they gave according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, and they did it voluntarily. You see, what do you mean, under, beyond their ability? Because of the time tonight, I think I'll go straight to this story and try to tell you and let you pick up what I mean by this story.

Oswald J. Smith and Faith-Funded Missions

A few months ago, I don't remember exactly how many months ago now, I saw in the Arkansas Baptist paper just a little story about Oswald J. Smith. Now, when I was a young man, I read every book that Oswald J. Smith wrote.

And then one day, I got to know Oswald J. Smith personally. And he's even been in our home. And I got to preach on the same platform with Oswald J. Smith. Now, he lived to be in his nineties, but he only pastored the church he pastored from the time he was in his late twenties until he was about almost seventy.

I don't know how many years. I can't think about one thing at one time. I don't know how many years it was. But I'm only out, you'll see in a moment why I'm trying to pick that out. Oswald J. Smith was the pastor of the largest Presbyterian church in Ontario, Canada.

And one day, God told him to resign. And he would show him what to do. And he resigned. And God began to discipline his life until, my friends, they would not even let him preach at the rescue mission.

In fact, R .A. Torrey was in Ontario and he went there trying to get a job as an usher. And after the first night, they even fired him from being an usher. God was just breaking him. In fact, finally, the next couple of days, he got a job with the meeting going up and down the aisle selling songbooks.

Now, I'm talking about the top pastor of the Presbyterian church of that city. And here he is down here now, so broken and can't do a thing, and he's selling songbooks. And that night, he was ready to throw in the towel and quit.

He was so discouraged. He was so absolutely discouraged. He was just wanting to quit. And the song leader got up and said, We're going to turn to page so-and-so and we're going to sing this hymn tonight.

And he went on to say, The man that wrote this song is Oswald J. Smith and he's out there going up and down the aisles tonight selling songbooks. And they turned to that song on the Holy Spirit and began to sing it.

And as that crowd began to sing that song, God began to speak to that man's heart. And he said, God, I don't know what it'll take, but I'm not going to quit. I'm not going to turn back. And he had got to the end of himself and turned his life over to the Lord.

And God began to move on his life. And he went and started a church called People's Church. Now, listen to me carefully. If he had pastored that church for 60 years, of which he didn't, if he had pastored that church for 60 years, this man would have given over $4 million a year to missions.

For this little article in that Arkansas Baptist paper said that Oswald J. Smith's church in his pastoral history gave $248 million to missions. That's over $4 million a year if he pastored 60 years. Can you believe it?

You say, well, Brother Manley, he probably ran 10 ,000. They never ran over 3 ,000 people. And they gave $248 million. How did he do it? That's the big question. How did he do it? You know what he did?

He took this passage right here and he saw that the Macedonians had, my dear friends, first gave themselves. They transferred their ownership to God, everything to God. And then they did what they could afford to do.

But then they did something else, what they could not afford to do. And what was that? You see, the Church of Corinth had promised an offering and a year later now they're going to come by and pick it up.

They had a whole year to do this. Here's what Oswald J. Smith did. He brought in missionaries. They had a mission conference. And they would get on their face before God and find out how much money God wanted them to trust him for that next year.

And then they would give a card to each member and said, ''Folks, you take this card home and you pray over this card, first giving yourself, first considering what you can afford to do, but thirdly, giving what you can personally trust God for this next year.''.

In other words, giving what you can't give. But you can trust God to give it. Amen. And then when you get the understanding of what you can trust God to give, write it down on that card and turn it in.

And then spend the rest of the year trusting God to supernaturally, above what you can afford, trust God to give you to give. And that's how he did it. And the best I can understand, this is what was happening at the church at Corinth and at Macedonia.

Christian Faith Beyond Religious Routine

''Folks, listen. There is so much out there that you and I haven't even got in on yet that could make life so exciting. Instead, it's boring. You know why? Because we are religious but not Christian.''.

Amen. We're not out there. We're not out there trusting God. Most of us can be explained tonight by the fact of our efforts. But the church at Corinth heard this message and tonight he says, ''All sufficiency.

All sufficiency. At all times. And in that context, where there's enough left over to where you can always give away.''. Amen. Well, some promise, isn't it? But it's in that context, folks, that they first gave themselves and then they gave what they could afford and then they gave what they could not afford.

They got out there where they could trust God and in that context, he said, ''All sufficiency in all things.''. Amen. Now, if you want that all sufficiency and if I want that all sufficiency, we can have it.

But I'll tell you what, you can't tip God like a shoeshine ball and play the game, do what, run your life and get in on this verse. Amen. If you want from God what he has promised you in this book, then my dear friends, you'll have to get in position for it.

And then you can have it.