Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

More Than Enough

Ephesians, Chapter 3, let's take a look at... (No, I listen to everything you ladies say, and do it.) Third chapter. We want to take a look at a couple of passages here. Verse 17, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith..." Boy, that's a mouthful isn't it? The power of God indwelling us by faith. This virtue, this power of faith, when we, by grace, accept regeneration and God chooses to tabernacle in us. He sets us apart for Himself and He empowers us. He ordains us, the Scripture says, that we would go forth and bear fruit and that our fruit would remain. He has made promises. He said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). "I will not leave you comfortless" (John 14:18). God is dwelling in our hearts. It's for a purpose. I want to talk a little bit about the presence of God and the provision, or the providence of God, as He does exceeding abundant above anything that we could ask or think. Amen? What do you need from God tonight? What do you need from your Father tonight? You're not going to get just it. You're going to get exceeding abundantly, praise God! Amen?

Think about that. We serve the God of abundance. Supernatural, unlimited resources that He wants to lavish on us and bless us, as the Scripture makes so clear. "Exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or [even] think" (Ephesians 3:20). It's the eternal consequence. He's gone to prepare a place for us. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). Think about that! It's beyond imagination. However great you think it is, it's better than that. I'm looking forward to it, praise God.

As we're living in this daily life, I think, so often, we're limiting God to what He wants to do in our lives here. We're limiting Him, many times, based upon a false perception of Who He is and what He wants to do in our lives. We limit God to the natural. We limit God to what we perceive as natural justice. "I really don't deserve more than that, but God will at least do what is fair for me." God doesn't want to give you justice, He wants to give you abundance, praise God. He wants to bless you. We need to begin to approach life from that perspective. We've been talking about fear. We've been talking about the spiritual warfare that is going on around us, the fact that we're going to have to contend with principalities and powers. We're going to have to deal with governments that are going to be expressing hatred towards us as citizens of the Kingdom of God. Are you going to believe God for more than enough to stand? We want to talk about that superabundance of our Father in everything that pertains to life and godliness. He has given us exceeding abundantly everything that pertains to life and godliness.

He says, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height..." He who has made us more than conquerors, comprehend the length, the breadth, the depth, the height of His superabundance. His promises that are sure to a thousand generations. See your Father wanting to lavish His mercy and provide His power in your life, that others can see His goodness, and the complete work of redemption in His bride, in His body, in His church. "[That we could] know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:17-19). I don't think we can get our head around that one, can we? "That [we] might be filled with all the fulness of God," the infinite God, the omnipotent God, the omniscient God, the eternal God. "Filled with all the fulness of God." To know that love expressed in Jesus Christ that is limitless, that's beyond comprehension.

Know that He hasn't run out, yet, in His ability to love you. Are you coming to know the love of God? He's not through yet. He's got more for you, praise God. You can't ever use up the love of God. It's just continually being lavished upon us. Have you been experiencing the mercy of God lately? He's not through yet being merciful to you. Have you known the providence of God as He's come and blessed you spiritually and physically? He's kept your body strong and He's given you wisdom and ordered your steps. He's not through, yet, in His provision towards you. You haven't yet exhausted His resources. We serve a God who is constantly ready to open up the windows of heaven and pour out blessings that you can't contain. We all know that it's not something that comes our way in a haphazard manner. It's not by luck or lottery, but God purposefully blesses every one of us. He knows our name. Our days are numbered and our hairs are numbered. God knows the exact day and moment you're going to die and how it's going to happen. Nobody can take you out.

We were talking about that the other day, and we were discussing some of these men. Jeff was telling me, "Stonewall Jackson was a bad dude." The men around him were fearful because he would just stand out there with people shooting and he's looking around like, "What's your problem?" The rest of them were hiding behind rocks and trees. How many of you ever saw the movie about Patton? The time that the plane was flying down and just shooting all around. [Patton] is standing out there in the middle of the road with a pistol and this airplane is flying down, machine guns firing. He said, "Shoot me in the nose." Pow! He's shooting that handgun at them. The thing flies by and people are hiding all over the place. What causes people to be able to do that? Do you want to know what it was? Jeff was saying how "bad" they were. They believed in the sovereignty of God. If you checked their theology, these were a people that believed to a fault--I'm not telling you not to get under the jeep, okay? I'm saying these are people that believed extremely in the providence and the sovereignty of God. "You can't kill me if God doesn't want me dead." I believe that, and that is how you live free from fear. That's how you move in faith, and that is how you accept the hand of God, the good and the bad, because the Judge of all the earth does right, praise God! You can't add one cubit to your stature, you can't add one day to your life.

What we need to understand is that God loves us. He wants to bless us and He provides for us. We limit Him because we're not living by faith. Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith. Even though you can't comprehend God, say about Him what He says about Himself. Amen? The fact of the matter is that you don't believe God loves you as much as He really does. Do you want to know why? Because you know too much about yourself and you say, "I don't even like me. How can God love me?" Because God is love. Do you believe that? By faith, we say about God what He says about Himself, even though we can't comprehend it. We receive His mercy and His blessings, even though we don't deserve them. We don't limit Him by man's perceived justice. We don't become jealous when God blesses people that we think ought to be cursed, and if not cursed, "At least there ought to be some justice around here. I don't understand it, man. Here I am working and laboring every day and this younger brother comes home from the pig pen and you kill the fatted calf and he gets blessed. What's this all about? I'm the one that's working hard around here."

Can you rejoice when God blesses others that are not deserving in your eyes? Do you want to know the reason you're probably not blessed more? It's because you're not deserving in your own eyes. How about receiving the superabundance of the mercy of God and the providence of God? Putting no limits on the revelation that He wants to give you of Himself, the visitation that He wants to bring to you, the opportunity to minister His Word, the provisions and natural resources, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (Ephesians 3:20, 21). What a doxology!

That's inspired. Paul was just overcome by the greatness of God. He didn't have words to express this, but the Holy Spirit gave him these words that we could identify the abundance of God's mercy to us, His desire to tabernacle within us and to become our provider. Are you looking tonight to provide your own comfort, peace and joy? Are you looking to provide your own resources, or are you able to come into His presence, just as a little child, and accept the great provisions of God? It never ceases to amaze me how little kids, when they just want to give you some loving, or they want some loving, or they need a hug or want to give a hug, it doesn't matter. They just break right into the conversation, don't they? They come up and just grab you and hug you. What is greater than having one of your little children, your grandchildren, come in and grab you by the legs and just look up and say, "I love you"? And you're like (Sound effects) whatever they want. It's not feigned, it's real. Because of their innocence, because of their purity, they're not conning you. Now, tragically, some children learn early to try to manipulate, but I'm talking about the real deal. I'm talking about the real thing.

Do you understand when you come into the presence of your Father? Where do you think you learned that? "If ye then, being [carnal] know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your [heavenly] Father...give good things to them that [believe]?" The Holy Spirit is the context. How much more? Where do you think we learned that response? That's a gift of God in how we respond to innocence and purity. That's Who He is and when you come before Him without trying to manipulate Father, and you just come in innocence, and you come in weakness, and you come in purity, and you come to say, "I just want to be with You, Lord, and I want a hug." You're not only going to get a hug, you're going to get blessed, praise God!

I shared with you one of the testimonies about one of the kids among us that gave their piggy bank money and their birthday money to missions. I won't tell you how much it is, but there's definitely inflation, because for me to have had that much as a kid in my piggy bank, I'd have to live to be about 3,200. One of the grandkids the other day lost a tooth, and I think the tooth fairy today works for Chase Manhattan Bank, or something. The tooth fairy is gathering all those teeth up and making braces for them, I think, and charging accordingly. So here you are. You all remember that, right? You'd put your tooth under the pillow and you wake up and there's a nickel there in the morning. One of the kids was saying, "Grandpa, look, I lost my tooth." So Grandpa gives them a dollar and they pull out this enormous wad of money. Exceeding abundant.

Father wants to bless us and He wants to involve Himself in each of our lives. Don't limit Him by your unbelief. When I talk about unbelief, I'm not talking about a formula faith where we're speaking blessings like: "Lord, I'm believing You for a raise. Lord, I'm believing You for "x" number of dollars. Lord, I want to be in the higher six-figure income and I'm believing for that, Father." Leave it up to Him. Don't come before Father and say, "Lord, I'm just believing You for $500,000 a year. You might get it. You're saying, "Well, praise God!" He might have wanted to give you $750,000. Amen? Do you know what? Most of us believe He wants to keep us down at $75,000. You say, "$75,000? What, the kid's working too?"

What does it really matter what that number is, if God is the source? Is He or is He not sufficient? Is He or is He not the God of enough, the God of abundance, the God of superabundance? When I say superabundance, listen to what I'm saying. We want to have it now. I would rather have God, Who can give it when I need it. We want to acquire it, we want to count it, and we want to be responsible for it. I want you to understand something. You're better off having the God of abundance, accepting what He has given you at this moment to handle, and realizing that when you need more it will be there, praise God! Amen? Don't limit Him to your understanding. Don't limit Him to the natural process of what the income is today. If He gave you a bunch now, you'd just have to pay taxes on all of it. Amen?

Turn to 2 Kings and let me show you what I'm talking about. Do you understand what I'm saying? I'm talking about living by faith. We've been talking about living in the supernatural and living by faith. The fact is, most of us want to use our faith to believe God to give us $100,000 a year. Now let me ask you something. Here is the question that I'm trying to ask tonight. Do you want $100,000 a year guarantee or the presence of God? Somebody's saying, "Wait a minute, let me think for a minute." You know the right answers, but where are we, really, in this life of faith, receiving Him into our hearts?

2 Kings, Chapter 4. Do you all remember the story, the widow of the prophet? Chapter 4 of 2 Kings. It says in there, "Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; [and, you know, Now check this out] and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord: [but he's dead] and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be [slaves] bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee?" (2 Kings 4:1-2) I like that. Have you ever noticed the prophets all the time--Jesus, too--what do you want? What are you asking? What do you want me to do about this, what do you want? Be careful before you speak. Let me encourage you to speak with the wisdom of Solomon. "Lord, I just want the wisdom to understand Your ways and Your heart. I just want to know Your presence and to do those things that are pleasing, acceptable in Your sight." Let's say it in the New Testament principles, "Seek ye first the kingdom..." "I just want to be able to seek the kingdom. I want to know Your heart."

Are you going to settle for the mansion and the Lear jet, the private island and the yacht? Where is the treasure, and the understanding of it, that those things are provided, if sought, by the god of this world? They're his to give to whomever he wants. God can bless us with those things, but we don't seek them. They come from God when you seek first the kingdom. When you seek those things, you get them from the devil. When you seek God, you get them from His mercy and His love. When you seek the kingdom, the blessings of the Lord overtake you and add no sorrow. When you seek the stuff, Satan will give it to you and you're in bondage. Here's this lady and the prophet says, "What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not anything in the house, save a pot of oil" (2 Kings 4:2). "I just need God to provide and to minister to me." What do you have that you can give God? That's an interesting statement, and we'll make reference to it as we go on, but God wants to know what you have today. God doesn't want to know what you need; He wants to know what you have. How many of you are spending time telling God what you need instead of saying, "God, here's what I have to give You."

We want to know what God can give us. "Here's what I have to give You." You know what God will always say, regardless of what it is that you have tonight? "It's enough." Do you want to know what else God will say? "And I want all of it." Do you want to know the truth? A lot of times, it's easier to give all of it, if it's not too much, especially the first time around. We're sitting here and this principle is coming to us and he says, "Now what do you have?" I know your minds are beginning to go to a number of other biblical examples. Jesus asked the disciples, didn't He? When the multitudes were there and He said, "Sit down, sit them down in companies of fifties and hundreds. Sit them down." Then, He turned to the disciples and said, "Now give them to eat." They said, "With what?" He said, "Well, what do you have?" They said, "We don't have anything except five loaves and two fishes."

I personally believe--and I've shared this with you in the past, years ago--I believe there has been a really grievous error in how that passage has been understood over the years, that many people seem to think that lunch was the little boy's lunch. I don't believe that. I don't believe that lunch belonged to that little boy. I believe the little boy was carrying the lunch for the disciples. If you study history, you will see that was something that was common for the young people, just like kids that want to come up and help today. "What can I do to help?" These were different things. Because Jesus didn't turn to the little boy, He turned to His disciples and said, "What do you have to give these people?" They said, "We don't have anything except this young lad has the five loaves and two fishes. This is what we have. But what is that among so many?" "Have them sit down. Bring Me everything you have." Five loaves and two fishes. They bring it to Jesus and what does He do? The Scripture says He did what? He blessed it, and he gave it to them and said, "Go give it to the people." They're out there now feeding the people. Everybody ate and everybody, the Scripture says, was full and, then, I believe one of the great things of God is revealed here. Not only has everybody been fed and is full, and every need met, they had abundance, amen? Twelve baskets left over. Interesting number, isn't it? You start off, twelve guys have five loaves and two fishes. You give everything you have to minister to the kingdom of God in obedience to the Lord. Twelve of you have five loaves and two fishes and, when it's all over, you've given everything you have and you each end up with a whole basketful. That's God. That's the way He moves.

We read the story and this is where we get in trouble. We read the story and think, "Okay, I get it. I give it so that I can get a basketful." No, we only know that because of the story. You don't give to get a basketful; you give because the Lord asked it. Amen? You give out of obedience, you give to bless, praise God. The principle is not to get a basketful, the principle is to be obedient and give. The principle that we receive is that God is more than enough. How are we really understanding Him tonight in our prayer lives and in our walk of faith daily in His providence? You don't give to get. You give because you've received. "Freely ye have received, freely [say it] give" (Matthew 10:8). I have to give; I've received. Every thing I have, I've received of God. I don't deserve anything God has given to me and so I have to give. Whenever the Lord wants anything, whenever there is a need and I have the wherewithal, I'm going to be obedient. I'm going to be one that says, "Lord, You want me to do this? I'm here." Now, Father is not going to have you give to every situation. We're walking by faith. You need to hear. Sometimes He's going to speak to somebody else. Other times He's going to supernaturally bring provision. Are you approaching every situation with God as the source? That's the real issue.

This woman came to the prophet and said, "I'm destitute, I have nothing at all but this one little pot of oil. That's all we have left, it's our only resource." "Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; [and, then, I like the next phrase] borrow [say it] not a few" (2 Kings 4:3). The God of abundance. Don't borrow just a few. The prophet spoke and said, "Smite the arrows upon the ground." And he smote them a couple of times and he said, "You should have smote those things seven times, then I could have delivered your enemy into your hands."

We expect too little. He wants to do exceeding abundant above everything that you could ask, or even think. We get bold sometimes in our prayers and we think we're really asking for something, but so much of the time we're just limiting God. How about just approaching Him and saying, "Father, I know that when I pray, You hear me," as Jesus did, and "Lord, I know that it's Your good pleasure to bless us. I know that You want none to perish and so I am asking You for those souls. Lord, I know that by the stripes of Jesus we're healed, so we believe in You to touch these bodies and to heal." There is no reason that Ellen can't wake up in the morning, with all of the pain and all of that situation in her feet, healed, praise God. There is no reason that Waleed should have to endure Amy not talking for those two weeks as God heals her voice. I'm so glad for Amy talking. I saw her today at the mall and she was just talking. Do you know what? She was talking about Jesus. She was fellowshipping with a lady that they had been ministering to and just sharing the love of God. Amen? You don't have to worry about her being down long. God is going to raise that voice up, praise God, because it's a voice that is being used to proclaim the gospel. (I'm just teasing you, ladies, you talk all you want. I have ear plugs, the good ones, custom made. I can shut down a top fuel dragster, so you ladies just go for it.)

"Not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door..." What is this shutting of the door process here? I think there's a little bit spoken here. When you enter into your closet, shut your door. Amen? Into the prayer closet. Just get in there with God and it's between you and the Lord. We're not trying to put on a show. Too much of what is going on today in supernatural ministries and faith ministries is a big carnival. We want to make a big production. Just do it in secret and let God bless you, praise God. You don't have to make a big production out of it. Then, as God blesses you, what you've received in secret, shout it from the housetops. Too much of it is just show. It's show in the case of the ministries where they're pushing people down and saying it's the power of God. We've all talked about that. The prayer ministries, and they're pushing people and saying "in the name of Jesus," and slapping them on the head and a lot of these things. The power of God is real, and you don't have to imitate it. If God wants to knock somebody down, let Him knock them down. I've seen the power of God do that. It's a scriptural principle. It says, when they came to Jesus and asked, "Are ye He that we seek?" He said, "I am." It says they all fell over backwards just at His words. So we read about that and we see it happen once and everybody wants to imitate it. The church lives off of counterfeits.

We've been very familiar with the prosperity gospel over the years. God blesses somebody, so they begin to teach on prosperity. Everybody wants to be blessed, and it's tragic. I know people personally who, to show how blessed they were and how much faith they had, they absolutely went bankrupt borrowing money to appear to be blessed. That's sad. It wasn't about bringing glory to God, because He's a God of superabundance; it was about showing how much faith I have. It's not about your faith and your ability to believe, it's about the glory of God. Amen? He will be blessed and glorified as He blesses us. That was tragic.

What we're talking about tonight is how you perceive your Father. Part of the problem is that most of us grew up in a natural environment--don't show your hands, but the fact is--how many of you grew up with dads that were tightwads, and that became your perception? How many of you have grown up in an environment with everybody just wanting to hold it to themselves out of fear? The Bible says that you scatter to your increase. Amen? We don't believe that. The people that do are blessed. "I can't scatter this. I won't have anything left." You'll have God and one little pot of oil. The Scripture says, "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom" (Luke 6:38). You can at least get somebody to give you an empty pot. "Yeah, I'm afraid I can't go out and sell it, and I'm afraid that nobody will bless me." You can at least get somebody to give you an empty pot. Let God fill your pot, amen? We're looking for people to give us a full pot. Just get an empty pot. God will fill your pot. Turn to somebody next to you and say, "God will fill your pot, praise God." Amen.

The world doesn't understand; natural man doesn't understand. You're standing there just grinning, praise God. "What's wrong with you? What are you so happy about?" "I've got an empty pot, praise God." Amen? People look at you and say, "You're whacked, man." "I'm blessed, look at my empty pot." "Where are you going?" "I'm going over there to shut my door and fill up my pot." You've got eight ounces of oil, thirty-two ounce jug. Fill it up. Is that cool stuff, or what? How many of you would like to be able to fill a thirty-two ounce jug with an eight ounce glass? That's faith. That s living in the supernatural. That's what I want to see, beloved. You can see the trend that we're on through the teaching. We are not living in the supernatural like we need to be. It's been robbed from us, and because of it, fear comes in because we're trusting in the natural instead of the supernatural. That fear is going to keep us in bondage. It's going to make us prisoners of the world system. It's going to rob the Word of God out of our hearts. We need to trust God, the God who can fill thirty-two ounces with eight ounces, praise God. Our God is more than enough. Can you say amen to that? Exceeding abundant above anything that you could ask or even think. Even though our theology is correct, we're living in the natural and we need to begin to expect more than enough.

Here it is, and we all know the story. "Borrow not a few," shut the door, and they begin to fill it up, praise God. Verses six and seven, "And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed." As long as you keep giving God an empty pot, He'll fill it. As long as you keep your life available to Him, He'll fill you, praise God. He's never going to run out of the oil of the Holy Spirit. He's never going to run out of the comfort, the wisdom, the strength that He's promised to us. The God who is more than enough opens the windows of heaven and pours out blessings we can't contain.

Every morning, manna. There was only one rule. You can't do what? You can't hoard it. We've heard that story so many times and we talk about it. Jesus was that manna. He was the bread that came from heaven. He is the source of all of our needs, but we have to partake of Him daily. We want to come in and pray real hard today, and then, take two or three days off. You fellowship with Him daily. You trust Him daily. Give us this day our daily bread. We want four years of bread stacked up. Then it just goes stale. They call it bagels, or something. (That stuff is bad for you. You need that real good, soft-like, real good Wonder Bread with all of the fake chemicals in there and plastic. Or Twinkies, you know, Twinkies. Twinkies are cool. You could take a Twinkie out, set it outside and come back three hundred years later and that baby is ready to eat, man. That's good food. It keeps you young. Eat that stuff, it goes in there and you never--you're just preserved, man.)

What are we really believing God for on a daily basis, as we're living and walking in faith? The prophet said in Isaiah 25--we're out of time--Isaiah 25, verse 4, look at it. "For thou has been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall" (Isaiah 25:4). A refuge from the storm. What are you believing God for this evening? Sadly, many of us in here aren't really believing God for anything. We're believing the doctors, we're believing the bank. We're believing for our friends, we're believing for the government, we're believing for fate, chance. We're believing in our own wits, our own strength. Hopefully, in these next sessions, we're going to try to stir up within us the ability to trust God and to walk back into the realm of the supernatural to where your first thought is always, "God will supply." There is nothing too hard for the Lord. All things are possible to he that believeth. My God does exceeding abundant above anything that I could ask or even think. Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith.

Father, we thank You this evening for the Word. We're living in an hour when the simplicity of Your providence has been lost. We say that You're our source as we cash our checks, as we buy our abundant supply. We say, "Here are the blessings of God." It can come through that vehicle, but it is only of You when we seek You first, and these things are added to us. It's only You when we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." It's only You when it's truly of faith, because everything that is not of faith is sin. We come and ask You to help us trust You and look to You as our source, and not limit in our hearts our perception of Your desire to bless us. It doesn't have to come in bunches, but it can come momentarily, one day at a time, one moment at a time, as it's sufficient, because our God is sufficient. The next meal will be there, even though I don't know where it's coming from. The next payment will be made, even though I see no hope in the natural. The pain will cease, even though I've prayed a hundred times before and it's still there. The child will be restored the loved one will be saved, because You are more than enough. Fill us, Father, with grace and faith, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let's stand before the Lord. We're going to take that moment, and as Gary plays for us, just let the Lord speak to you, and just ask Father, "Lord, I want You to consciously be my source. I want to be aware of Your provision. I want to be aware of seeking You in my heart without ceasing. I want to boast in Your provision. I want it to be known that You're my God, my source, my present help in trouble, my shield, my buckler, my strong tower that I run to and I'm safe. You, Lord, are my all in all. We've been vexed. We've been seduced, dull of hearing, leaning on a broken reed. We ask You to make our steps and our foundation sure. The rich man trusts in his riches, the spiritual man trusts in his God."

As we sing this, just rejoice in His goodness tonight, in His great provision. We are a blessed people, praise God. "Holy Lord..." Hallelujah! Oh, Father, what a life of peace and rest when we understand the heart of our Father! We cast the care upon You; we know You care for us. Help us to leave here tonight content with our empty pot. Filled by faith because You are the God who is more than enough. For that we just say thank You, Father. In Jesus' name. Amen, amen. Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "He's more than enough." Amen. Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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