Jesus Endured our Poverty that We might Share His Abundance

We have time, I think, to deal with at least one more exchange. This is really part of deliverance from the curse. It’s so specific that I’ve kept it separate. We put together two scriptures, always remember these two scriptures and never separate them. 2 Corinthians 8:9 and 2 Corinthians 9:8. It’s not difficult, once you’ve got one you can remember the other. So 2 Corinthians 8:9 says:

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.”

Now you don’t have to be a theologian to see the exchange, do you? Jesus became poor that we might become rich. It’s difficult for some religious people to say it but it’s there. “Jesus became poor that we might become rich.” Now I’m going to adjust that later, that’s just to start with. Now, turn to 2 Corinthians 9:8. Ruth, would you come up and stand beside me. The reason is that we have a number of scriptures that we confess regularly together because Jesus is the high priest of our confession. Did you know that? And this is one we say I would think, almost every day because we have a very large ministry which covers most of the globe by radio in six languages by cassettes and books. And the financial burden is extremely heavy. But praise God we don’t have to bear the burden. We have a burden bearer. This is our confession but we’ll read it the way it is here first. 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’s an amazing verse. In the Greek the word abound occurs twice and the word all occurs five times in one verse. There is no way that language could be more emphatic. Paul says God is able. Do we believe God is able, let’s make sure of that. You do believe God is able? You really believe God is able? God is able to make all grace. So we don’t earn it. All right? We receive it by faith. It’s not our monthly salary, it’s grace abound towards us that we always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work. Every is the same as all in Greek so there are five alls.

Now Ruth and I make this a personal confession. Every time we think of the sum that we’re responsible for we just say this. Now we make it personal, you understand? Instead of you we say we. “God is able to make all grace abound toward us, that we always, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”

Now let me point out to you there are two words there. There’s sufficiency and abundance. We need to understand the level of God’s provision. Let me give you a little example. You are a housewife and you need $50 worth of groceries. I don’t know how much $50 would buy these days but anyhow... So you go to the grocery store with $40, you’re shopping out of insufficiency. But you go with $50, you’re shopping out of sufficiency. But say you have $60 and you need $50 worth of groceries, you’re shopping out of abundance. That’s abundance. Abundance is connected with the word for a way. It means you have enough to watch over, for yourself and for others.

Let me take you back to Deuteronomy 28 for just a few moments and we’ll look at the Old Testament presentation of this. Remember what I said about Deuteronomy 28? It’s the chapter with all the curses? Well, right in the middle of it, verses 47–48, there’s what I call the poverty curse. Now I know that there are Christians who feel differently about this and I have to say I’m convinced out of scripture that poverty is a curse. If it’s not a curse, why do you work so hard to get rid of it? If poverty is a blessing, why not pursue it? There are some people who do—and I respect at least their motives. But I don’t believe it’s scriptural. This is the curse. Remember, this is in the list of curses.

“Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart for the abundance of all things . . .”

That’s God’s will, that you serve him with joy and gladness for the abundance of all things. What’s the alternative?

“. . . therefore, you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness an in need [or want] of all things.”

That’s a curse. It’s hunger, thirst, nakedness, need of all things. How would you sum that up in one word? Poverty. It is absolute poverty. You cannot have greater poverty than being hungry, thirsty, naked and in want of everything. Is it a curse or is it a blessing? Are you sure, really sure that it’s a curse?

Now I want to share a revelation that God gave me. It happened a good many years ago in the land of New Zealand which is one of my favorite countries. My first wife and I had been invited there for ministry and they told us they would pay our fare both ways. But, when we got there they didn’t have the money. So they said, “We’re going to take up an offering for your fare.” They said you can preach. So I've preached on offerings before, I got a list of scriptures and explained the Biblical principles. I was going through this and using my outline and quoting my scriptures. But at the same time something new came to me. In my mind’s eye, as I was preaching, the Holy Spirit was showing me Jesus on the cross.

As I went through the list of the curses of poverty I saw every one applied to him. He was hungry, he hadn’t eaten for 24 hours. He was thirsty. One of his last utterances was “I’m thirsty.” He was naked. They’d taken all his clothes off. And he was in need of all things. He owned precisely nothing. He was buried in a borrowed robe and in a borrowed tomb. Hungry, thirsty, naked and in need of all things. Why? Because he exhausted the poverty curse. The total poverty curse was exhausted when Jesus died on the cross.

Why did he exhaust the poverty curse? That we might have abundance. I prefer to say abundance. You can say wealth, but abundance and wealth are not exactly the same. Abundance means you have enough for yourself and something to give to others. You see, Jesus said it’s more blessed to give than to receive. And because you’re a child of God, God doesn’t want you to live merely on the lower level of blessing; always receiving. So he provides abundance so you might have something to give and thus receive the greater blessing.

I don’t believe that the Scripture of the New Testament indicates all Christians will drive Cadillacs. Or even Rolls Royces when it comes to that! I’m not sure all Christians should have large bank accounts. But I do believe that all Christians should enjoy abundance. Enough and something over, not for yourself, but for every good work. That, I believe, is the level of God’s provision for his people.

You see, a lot of people think Jesus was poor during his earthly ministry. I don’t. He didn’t have a lot of cash but he was never in need. Anybody who can feed 5,000 people in the wilderness is not exactly poor. And when he needed money for the taxes, he didn’t go to the bank, he went to the lake and got it out of a fish. I mean, what’s the difference whether you get it out of a fish or the bank! My little statement about Jesus in his earthly ministry is this: He didn’t carry a lot of cash, but he always used his Father’s credit card.

And it was always honored. When he sent out his disciples he reminded them at the last supper, “When I sent you out without purse or bag or staff or anything, did you lack anything?” What did they say? “Nothing.”

I know missionaries that have a car, a salary and a house provided and lack a lot of things. So it isn’t a question exactly of how much you have in the bank. It’s a question of your relationship with the Lord.

Now, I think we have time to imprint this on ourselves. Let’s, first of all, do the left and the right. I’ll do it the first time because I want you to get the specific words. “Jesus endured our poverty that we might share his abundance.” Okay? Can you accept that? Is that a fair statement of what the Bible teaches? Now you’re going to do it with me. “Jesus endured our poverty that we might share his abundance. Jesus endured our poverty that we might share his abundance.”

Now, following the usual pattern we’ll do it more personal. This could change the whole course of your life. These next few words you say could have a permanent change in what you’re going to experience. Now we’re going to do it my and me. “Jesus endured my poverty that I might share his abundance.”

Now I think we just have time for us, Ruth and me, to teach you 2 Corinthians 9:8. I just feel unfair for us to have it all, you know, why shouldn’t you? I’ll tell you something. With my ministry, at 65, I said, “I think probably I should begin to think of retiring.” I told the people that run the ministry, “From now on, I’m thinking of retiring.” When I remind them of that now they just laugh in my face because our ministry in the last year increased between 200 and 300 percent in its outreach. And as for activity, I’m more active now than at any time that I’ve been in my life. Why I say that is because we have a tremendous financial responsibility. I don’t even want to tell you what it is. If you just look at us and think about us as people traveling around, you’d have no idea.

I know the way to raise money. You travel around the state, you hold conferences, you present the needs of your ministry and you sell your material. I got a lot of material to sell. But God commissioned us primarily to go to the people who don’t have, to the needy. So I have made a little bargain with the Lord. I said, “Lord, if I do that, I’m going to rely on you supernaturally to provide the needs of the ministry without my going around and telling everybody how much we need.” And the basis of our provision is 2 Corinthians 9:8. So Ruth and I are going to say it once more and then we’re going to give you the privilege of saying it.

And I suggest you YWAM’ers, you need to learn it by heart. They used to say it, interpret it—they don’t do it anymore, YWAM, Youth Without Any Money! It’s not true, they own castles everywhere! If you want abundance, just join YWAM.

We’ll say it once and you’re going to do it with us. “God is able to make all grace abound toward us that we always, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” Now we’ll say it phrase by phrase and we invite you to say it after us. And don’t say it just at the back of the head of the person in front of you, you’re saying this to the unseen world. It’s your confession to angels, the Lord, demons and the whole works. Okay, are you ready? “God is able to make all grace abound toward us that we always, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” Now we got thirty seconds left, we’re going to let you say it with us this time. Are you ready? “God is able to make all grace abound towards us that we always, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” Praise the Lord.