BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

B V O V : 2 3 by Jerry Savelle wondered about this challenge that Jesus gave the rich young ruler, He responded with a lesson on the hundredfold. That's signifi cant. People may argue about it. Religious people may fi ght the idea of it. But the principle of the hundredfold return is real. It's a principle that God established—and it's still working today. Introduction to the Hundredfold The fi rst time I heard a sermon on the hundredfold return, I was listening to Kenneth Copeland. It was 1969, and I was still living in Shreveport, La. Brother Copeland was visiting our church, and the message he shared about the hundredfold ignited something in me. I was deep in debt. In the natural, there was no way out. Like Charles Capps used to say, "I wasn't just in debt. I was in supernatural debt. You can't get in debt that far naturally!" Sure, I'd always been a giver, but I didn't know any giving scriptures. If somebody had a need that I could meet, I'd help them out. Simple as that; it's how I was raised. My dad was a giver and so was my grandfather. It was just a natural part of life. The diš culty for me came in receiving. I didn't want anyone giving me anything. I had learned to work from Dad, and I only wanted what I could earn with my own two hands. But in preparation for full-time ministry, I had shut my automotive business down, and Carolyn and I had no income or savings. We had to believe God for food on our table. Then I heard Brother Copeland preach a message about the hundredfold, and I grabbed hold of it! I had already begun tithing and giving as much as I could, but after hearing about this principle, I asked the Lord, "Am I entitled to a hundredfold?" I let Him know that I didn't need a tenfold, a thirtyfold or even a sixtyfold return. Those wouldn't help me. I needed a hundredfold! Well, guess what? It began to happen. It didn't happen overnight, but something was triggered. In a supernatural amount of time, we were out of debt. We paid o› all our business debts and most of our personal debts. Praise God! All of that came about because I grabbed hold of the Word and believed for a hundredfold. God, Did You Really Mean That? Over the years, people have challenged me about the hundredfold. When I asked the Lord about it, He said just three words: In this time. That might have sounded strange to some, but I knew exactly what He meant when I went to the Word. Jesus had taught about it, and just like everything else He taught, His words still held up in this time—that is, today. In John 7:16, Jesus said, "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me." Jesus made it clear that anything He said didn't come from Him. The words He spoke were from His heavenly Father. He repeated this in John 8:28: "I do nothing of myself, but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things." And again in John 12:49: "The Father which sent me, he gave me…what I should say, and what I should speak." Jesus was clear: If He said it, it was from God. I realized that if Jesus spoke about the hundredfold, then it must be real. Everything He said was from God, and God doesn't lie (Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18). "Brother Jerry, you mean to tell me that you have received a hundredfold on every seed that you've ever sown?" No, not on every seed I've sown. But it's not over yet, and I haven't given up that I will receive a hundredfold on all my seed. Years ago, when a group of preachers challenged me about preaching the hundredfold, the Lord said, From now on when you read this verse, refer to the hundredfold as the maximum, highest level attainable. So now, anytime I teach on this idea of the hundredfold return I use the words the Lord gave me: the maximum, highest level attainable! And I've seen it prove out time and again—for myself and others. Visitation of the Lord In October 1981, in Charlotte, N.C., I had a supernatural visitation of the Lord. I didn't know it at the time, but I was about to learn a lesson about the hundredfold that would alter my life and ministry. Carolyn and I had just fi nished an afternoon service with Brother Copeland. Carolyn went to take a nap, and I sat down on the sofa in our hotel room. Suddenly the Shekinah glory fi lled the room. I could not even see the furniture In a supernatural amount of time, we were out of debt. We paid o all our business debts and most of our personal debts. Praise God! All of that came about because I grabbed hold of the Word and believed for a hundredfold."

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