5th Condition

The final condition—and I can do this very quickly but it’s very important, I don’t want to leave it out — it’s this: Let God add in his way and his time. Don’t go out and grab for it, let God add it. That’s faith. You meet the conditions. You don’t make the harvest grow. I always remember years ago when I was in Ireland, there was a little boy of 6 whose parents gave him some potatoes to plant. You know, potatoes are the staple crop of Ireland. He went out and planted his potatoes. A week later he was out to see if they were growing.

No sign of growth and two weeks later he dug them up to see if they were growing. Well, you can dig potatoes up three or four times and they don’t grow.

Some Christians are like that. They plant their potatoes then dig them up to see if they’re growing. No. This is the essence of faith is you let God do it. That doesn’t mean you’re slack or indifferent or super-spiritual.

We’re coming back then to the principle that God has to add. We can do it very quickly, just whisk through the scriptures. Notice Deuteronomy 28, talking about the blessings, verse 2:

“All these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee . . .”

You don’t run after them, they run after you. What a relief! You go to bed at night and you wonder as you go to bed what blessing will have caught up with me by the time I wake up in the morning! All right?

Jesus said don’t be careful. He said the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches will choke the seed. That’s the wrong attitude.

Proverbs 10:22, have you been to the book of Proverbs before tonight? I think you have. Now you’re beginning to discover Proverbs has got a lot to tell you about prosperity.

“The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”

What a verse! You don’t seek riches, you qualify for the blessings.

Matthew 6:33, a very familiar verse but we’ll look at it and read it.

“But seek ye first . . .”

Money in the bank. No. A good investment. No.

“. . . the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

All your material needs will be added to you if you seek God’s kingdom.

And finally, Mark 10:29–30:

“Jesus answered them and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time . . .”

That’s not the next world. Are you agreed about that? What will you receive a hundredfold?

“. . . houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions . . .”

Don’t leave out the persecutions.

“. . . and in the world to come life eternal.”

Notice, forsaking everything for Christ in this life leads to results in this life. They are not all stored up for the next world. Okay?

Now, I just have to close with this personal testimony. In l946 I did that. I had no children, I wasn’t married. But, for the sake of the Lord and the gospel I forsook everything in the worldly sense that I had. I’m not making myself a hero. I really didn’t see the spiritual principles. It was like, I think, drawing teeth out of me. I let them go because God put me under such pressure there was nothing else I could do and stay right with God. But I gave up my country, I gave up my family, I gave up my profession, I gave up my career, I gave up my money, I gave up everything. I’m standing here tonight 32 years later and telling you that God has been absolutely faithful to his word. He has added abundantly all the things that are listed in this verse. So, I want to say it works. Praise God, it works.

Just for the sake of being complete, I want to just read the list of conditions without commenting, and close.

• Number one, our motives and attitudes must be right.
• Number two, faith is essential.
• Number three, giving is a scriptural way to show honor.
• Number four, the basis is right thinking, speaking and acting; with the emphasis on right thinking.
• And, number five, we have to let God add in His way and in His time.