Text: Genesis 26:1-14 Subject: The Hundred-fold Return
Proposition: To explain the hundred-fold return and to inform you that Jesus said that we could have it now in this lifetime. It is also my aim to encourage you, during this time of economic instability, to stay faithful to God, knowing that if you remain faithful to God, He will remain faithful to you.
Introduction: Recession, inflation, and economic hard times have been with mankind almost since the beginning of time. They are not new problems. The Bible gives us the answer to overcoming and prospering during times of economic slow-down here in the Book of Genesis. Our text reveals three important elements that are required if we will be victorious during times of economic instability.
I. Stay faithful to God’s commands A. Don’t let circumstances ruin your good, Christian habits. Stay faithful to what God has commanded you to do. B. Many of you become inconsistent in times of economic pressure. 1. Stop giving 2. Stop attending church. 3. Stop sacrificing. 4. Stop walking in faith and began to walk by sight. 5. Start remembering how “good” things supposedly were before you received Christ. 6. Get upset with the preacher when he challenges you to obey God. 7. Get upset with the preacher when he mentions anything about money. 8. Get upset when we see people prospering around us. 9. Become overly critical about everything and everybody. 10. But God sent me here to tell you to “Stay faithful to what God has commanded you to do.” C. In our text we find that: 1. There was a famine in the land. 2. Shortages 3. Tough times 4. Economic slow-down 5. Everyone’s money was a little “funny.” 6. Egypt was a very wealthy and fertile place, even during this time. 7. Remember a couple of generations later, during the time of Jacob, when the famine came, Egypt was the only place of refuge, and God had raised up Joseph to sustain his father and his brethren. 8. During the time of our text, the scriptural implication is that people were relocating to Egypt because of Egypt’s prosperity. 9. But God gave Isaac a commandment, and through Isaac’s obedience, God blessed him, for the Bible teaches us in Isaiah 1:19, “If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land:”
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II. Don’t follow the world’s philosophy. A. Because of the famine, everyone was leaving their home towns to go to Egypt. (world’s philosophy) B. But God had a different plan for Isaac. 1. God told Isaac in verses 2-4 2. Don’t go down to Egypt. 3. Dwell or live where I tell you to go. 4. When you get there, stay there. 5. If you stay there, I’ll bless you. 6. Not only am I going to bless you, I’m going to bless your seed, your descendants, those that are with you. 7. I’ll bless you like I blessed your father, Abraham. 8. Through your descendants, all nations of the earth will be blessed. 9. For some of you, your problem is not really where you live, your problem is what are you doing where you live. 10. Years ago when Lakita and I moved the Temple of Prayer Church to Fairburn, GA, people thought that we were crazy. 11. The world’s philosophy, most preacher’s philosophy, etc. a. Wanted their church in the big city. b. Moved their church from the rural area to the city. 12. God’s philosophy for us was: a. To move the church from the city to the rural area, and I’ll bless you. b. I’ll bless your children, I’ll bless your followers, and from this ministry, we will be able to have an impact on ministries around the world. c. God promised that He would take me around the world, and He has done what He said He would do. 12. Because Deuteronomy 28:3 says, “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.” 13. It doesn’t matter where you are as long as you are where God sent you. 14. How many of you know that you are a part of the church that God sent you to? 15. If you to know you are in the right place, why are some of you afraid to…? a. Submit to the “Vision of the House.” b. Obey the voice of the Lord that not only comes through voices that you hear from heaven, but the voice of your: (1) Pastor (2) 1st Lady (3) Elders (4) Ministers (5) Deacons (6) Board of Mothers (7) Evangelists (8) Missionaries (9) Board of Directors c. Support your church with your: (1) Consistent attendance (2) Consistent prayers (3) Consistent tithes (4) Consistent offerings (5) Being on time for church (6) Becoming a part of one of the ministries of the church (7) Being committed to the work of God 16. But some of you are following the world’s philosophy a. You’re the Word Church at 8am b. New Hope at 11am c. The Healing Center at 3pm d. Joe’s Tabernacle of Deliverance at 6pm e. The Prophecy House at 8pm 16. But if you know you are where God sent you, stop going from church to church, if God sent you here, stay here. 17. If God sent you there, stay there. 18. But the key to you receiving from God is to stay where He tells you to stay.
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III. Sow generously during the time of famine. (Verse 12) A. Isaac went forth under the Lord’s instructions. B. He sowed in that land. C. And in the same year, he received a hundred-fold. D. And the Lord blessed him.
IV. What is the Hundred-fold return? A. The Strong’s Concordance shows that the word hundred-fold appears 7 times in the KJV of the Bible. B. Our text represents the first time this phrase is recorded in the Bible. C. In 2Samuel 24:3, Joab told David, that God would add to their numbers a hundred-fold, and give David more than enough soldiers to win their battle. D. In the New Testament, Jesus is the only one who uses the word hundred-fold. (Matthew 13:8, 13:23, 19:29, Mark 4:20, 10:28-30, Luke 8:8) E. It is important for us to notice, that God does not reserve that hundred-fold return for some pie-in-the-sky philosophy, but according to Mark 10:30, Jesus said we can have now, while we are on earth. 1. Mark 10:28-30 states 28. Then Peter began to say unto Him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. 29. And Jesus answered 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, 30. But He shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. 2. He promised a hundred-fold return on everything that we give up for the kingdom except spouses. 3. He promised the hundred-fold return now in this lifetime. 4. He promised eternal life in the world to come.
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V. In Matthew 13:8 and 13:23 we see 3 different levels of return. A. 30 Fold—Thirty times as much. B. 60 Fold—Sixty times as much. C. But the 100 Fold return is not always 100 times as much. D. 100 Fold return is a little different. 1. Jesus, while talking only about multiplied numbers, kept the numbers in a systematic order. He said 30, 60, and if it was only numbers, He would said 90 Fold to keep it in order. 2. But Jesus jumped from an increment of 30 to an increment of 40, to show that a change is taking place. E. The number 40 represents E 1. Time of testing, separation, judgment, and probation. a. Noah remained in the ark for forty days. b. Moses fasted and prayed for forty days to receive the Ten Suggestions, I mean Commandments. c. When he came down off of the mountain, and saw the Children of Israel acting crazy, Moses broke the tablets and had to go back into the mountain for forty more days. d. Children of Israel embarked on a 40 day journey out of Egypt to the Promised Land. e. Through disobedience, their time of testing and separation was increased from 40 days to 40 years. f. Jesus fasted in the wilderness 40 days and 40 nights to be tempted or tested by Satan. F. You will never receive the hundred-fold return until you: 1. Pass your test 2. Get off of probation with God 3. Bridge the gap of separation between you and God 4. Understand your judgment. a. If you are not a consistent tither, according to the word, your judgment is that you are cursed with a curse. b. You are living under a heaven that has closed windows. c. I can pray for you until my hair grows back d. Your pastor can pray until his tongue turns blue. e. But you will never receive the hundred-fold return until you are willing to give up something and sacrifice for the benefit of the Kingdom. VI. The number 100 represents: A. Completion B. Wholeness C. The best that’s possible D. In a classroom setting, one hundred represents the best possible score on an examination. E. In a garden or on a farm, the hundred-fold return does not mean 100 times. 1. Plant an apple seed, you receive more than 100 apple seeds. 2. Hopefully one tree will produce more that 100 apples. 3. The average apple has 5 seeds, so if the hundred-fold meant 100 times, you would only need to reap 20 apples from a tree, one time, to experience the hundred-fold return. 4. But the average apple tree over its lifetime can produce over 5,000 apples. 5. So over the life of the tree, the hundred-fold return would be from 1 seed, you received 25,000 seeds (5000 multiplied by 5 seeds per apple gives you 25,000 seeds.) F. On a livestock range, the hundred-fold does not mean 100 times. 1. If you have a cow, you must understand that a cow can only reproduce one cow per year. 2. If the hundred-fold meant 100 times, it would take the cow 100 years to accomplish that. 3. Cows do not live that long. The rancher might not live that long. 4. A good breeder cow will have about 9 to 13 cows during her lifetime. 5. So when dealing with cows, 12 or 13 is one hundredfold. ***The Hundred-Fold Return***
G. What about dealing with money 1. Stay faithful to God’s commands. 2. God commands us to give tithes (Malachi 3:10) 3. God commands us to give offerings (Luke 6:38) 4. Don’t follow the world’s philosophy. a. Go to the club. b. All church money goes to the preacher. c. You can’t afford to give your tithes. d. You don’t need to give any offerings. e. They ask for too much money. f. If you give too much, you’ll come up short. 5. Sow generously, during the time of famine. a. You can’t beat God in your giving. b. If you take care of God’s house, He will take care of your house. c. Get consistent in your giving. d. If you don’t tithe, start. e. If you don’t give sacrificially, start. f. You’ve been doing it your way, start doing it God’s way. g. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land. h. Do you believe it?
VII. Real life testimonies A. Preached a version of this a few Sunday’s ago at the Temple of Prayer and testimonies have followed. B. One of my ministers gave sacrificially that Sunday 1. The next day he and his wife had a new baby. 2. While in labor his wife started having complications and they discovered that the unbiblical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck. 3. But God, allowed the baby to be born healthy.
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C. One of my officers who always gives sacrificially recently moved to a new department within her company. 1. After being there for a few months, God has blessed her with supernatural wisdom and knowledge to perform the job functions with excellence. 2. God let her receive recognition and win the employee of the quarter award, and I believe that was her first quarter on the job.
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D. One of members gave sacrificially on that Sunday, and she gave her testimony on this past Sunday. 1. She said that it seemed as if her finances were under a Satanic attack. 2. In her instance, one hundred fold was one hundred times what she gave. She gave $100, and within two weeks God blessed her with $10,000.
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