In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes that God allows adversity in our lives for a purpose. He references several Bible verses, including Colossians 1:13-21, Hebrews 12:5-11, Hebrews 5:12-11, Proverbs 16:4, Deuteronomy 8:1-13, Judges 2:22-23, and Judges 3:1-2. The preacher encourages believers to praise God and shout even in the midst of adversity, as it brings glory to God. He also mentions that our grandparents likely shouted more than we do and reminds listeners that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

It's so good to see you here this morning, see you enjoying yourself. After all the preaching, it surprises me a little that you can enjoy yourself that much. But, no, that's for tonight. You know, I get fascinated watching preachers preach. I told Brother Paul, now, if I can just do that little turn around up here, I'll probably, if I try that, I'll probably break my neck. My wife came in the other day saying he flipped the damn thing. Now, I didn't teach him all that stuff. Amen. It has been amazing. I have marveled at a number of things about God, and I really have. I was really shocked when he allowed Brother Paul to just go and travel with me and really take care of me. He did that. He really did. He really took care of me, and I had just opened and let him see me like I really am. I never tried to hide anything from him. And it was a beautiful relationship, and I just really have been thrilled at the way God has used him. I really have. And God has brought other people along. He has Brother Butch over here and Brother J.B. Miss Berkley said there's no such name as Butch. She said it's J.B. Berk with him. Now, Brother Butch, I can't get away from that. God is deeply teaching him the truth, and it's amazing. And I just praise God that the Lord let these men come along and help me. I need some help, and it's been a blessing these years. This place has meant a lot to me. To be able to just come and stand in this pulpit is a unique blessing to me. Back in 1971, in this conference in 1971, I was so weak that they had to tie me in a lounge chair, a big boy, something like that, chair, and set me right over there about where Brother Jerry Oliver is. And my friends would see me, and I was so near dead that my friends would not come close because they just couldn't take it. They'd make a wide way around me, and they'd just look. So I had to come to this pulpit. Several men, it took several men to hold me up because all these muscles, my neck, all these were collapsed. And they were gone. And I never will forget the Lord. Just let me tell this crowd I'll be back. You know, every time I get to preach here, it's a blessing. I'm excited about being here. There are some things I have learned about God that I feel like in my heart that all of us ought to learn. If we're going to go out of this thing victorious, then I don't see any other way to go out. I don't plan to go out any other way. Amen. And victorious, I don't have any preparation for the flesh to go out any other way. And I'm not making plans to go out any other way. Amen. I'm not making any plans to go out any other way. If you're going out that way, I believe there are some things that a person really has to learn. And I'm not going to preach on all of that today. I'm just going to preach on one thing that I believe you've really got to learn to cope with. And I've been in the ministry as an evangelist for 30 years, starting my 30th year in July. Pastored for three years, and then was in the ministry preaching on the streets and in the jail houses and in the hospitals for the years before that. Since 1949, I have been preaching. And so I've been preaching since I was 19 years old. That's all I know. And that's all I do. I sleep, I eat, and I preach. Amen. And that's all I do. But that's enough. That's enough. And so the Lord is blessing me right now more than He's ever blessed me in all my life. Right now. Amen. I believe I'm seeing God accomplish more right now as a cripple in my life than I've ever seen God do in all of my years. So, Brother Manley, you don't have to stay crippled. Well, you just don't know me. I've got so much strength. If I didn't, the devil would get the victory. Amen. So God knows how to keep me weak. And I'm convinced that when we get to heaven, one of the biggest hindrances to the kingdom of God is going to be the humanity of man against God. This soulless capacity fighting God that we're not weak, that we're not brought to the end of ourselves. So the issues that we have to learn, we've dealt with them a lot this week. And we've dealt with this issue a lot. And I contemplated not bringing this message because Brother Paul has preached on this area a little bit, and Brother Sonny has preached a little more. But it's an area that really means a great deal to me. And I think it means a great deal to you, you know, if you will let God have his way. And I call it, or I deal with it, as to this fact. Why God's children have adversity. Now, I preach it a lot, but there's a lot of learning you have to go through to deal with this thing of adversity. And I tell people, very frankly, until a child of God learns what to do with adversity, that child of God is going to be a confused child of God. But when a child of God learns what to do with adversity, that child of God will turn all adversity to the glory of God. And so what I'm talking about is why God's children have adversity. Now, I'm going to give you a number of verses of Scripture, many verses. Now, I'm not going to each one of these verses and talk to you about them. I'm going to use, the outline I'm going to use is basically going to be taken from the Deuteronomy passage and the Judges passage. But now let me give you the Scriptures. And I want you to think about these, and you may not think about them much today, but when you hit the next storm, didn't Brother Sonny preach on the storm yesterday? When you hit the next storm, and you're really facing life, then you'll remember these Scriptures. You'll want to know, well, I think I need to take a peek at those Scriptures. And the first one is Romans 11, 36. Far of him, far of him, and through him, and through him are all things. That is enough. I could just stop there and just talk about that Scripture, and that would be enough. But Colossians 1, 13-21. Hebrews 12, 5-11. Hebrews 12, 5-11. And then Proverbs 16, 4. That's a classic. And then Deuteronomy 8, 1-13. And don't leave out this passage. This will mean something to you. This passage in Judges 2, the second chapter of Judges, 22 and 23 verses. And then Judges, the third chapter, verse 1 and 2. Verse 1 and 2. Now, I have already dealt with this area a little bit, and you may put it together, and I mention it to you for the purpose of you putting this together yourself. And when I said yesterday that God speaks to us through adversity, the voice of God is coming through, so harden not your heart through adversity. But I just throw that out because you might want to associate it with what I said yesterday. But as we look at the Word of God, we look at this fact that to me is one of the most difficult facts I have ever had to face from the Word of God. The most difficult fact I have ever had to face from the Word of God is a fact that you and I must face, must come to reconciliation over it. And my dear friends, I believe when we do, we are on our way to learning why God's children have adversity. And that is this fact, that there is no adversity that touches your life or my life. There is no adversity that touches your life or my life that God does not allow and permit. Every adversity that touches your life, God allows it and He permits it. Now, I don't know about you, but I was reared under the atmosphere or condition, believing that one day God was in charge of this thing and then one day the devil was in charge of this thing. And it was back and forth like that. One day God and the next day the devil. And it's almost as if you had to believe in luck as to whether or not you were going to come through this thing. And then I moved from that position to the position that I would determine as to who was in charge, the devil or the Lord. And somehow, someway, I had never really seen the truth that God says that Jesus is Lord of the living and He's Lord of the dead. Now, folks, Him being Lord of the living and Lord of the dead, that's everything. And you don't have to, you can't add anything to that, take anything away. That's everything. Now, what I'm saying is when adversity comes to your door, God has allowed it and permitted it. And so the thing that you and I need to see when adversity comes to our door, and we said this yesterday and I'm saying it so you'll pry back in, is, God, what are you saying to me? God, what are you saying to me? In other words, you need to discover God in that adversity. Like some years ago, a man called me. He and his wife were home on an emergency furlough from the mission field. And the man said, Brother Manley, I'd like to talk to you. And so I asked him, I said, well, why do you want to talk with me? He said, my wife has a terminal illness and we believe you can just say something to us. Well, at that point, I was just caught cold there on the scene. I didn't have anything to say. But I said, you can come and we'll visit. For two days I prayed, Lord, what can I say to this lady? What can I say to this lady? What can I say to her? And God wouldn't say a thing. So we met at the church parlor. The church had a big parlor for its guests and to receive people and so on. So I met in this church parlor with these people. I met him and then walked over to her. And the moment I spoke to her, God spoke to my heart. And God spoke and said this, ask her, why is she sick? And I looked at her and spoke and then I said, Sister, why are you sick? She looked at me and asked to say, you dumb, dumb. You know, she looked at me, man, I was sicker. And I said, well, ma'am, if you knew why you were sick, you might not want to get well. And the Bible says by understanding, things are established. And if God chooses not to tell you why, you have that adversity in the fact that he refuses to tell you why you have that adversity, that within itself is telling you to trust him. So he's telling me. Even by his silence, he's telling me. That lady, my dear friends, asked God to show her why she was having this adversity. And got the victory and went back to the mission field. Got the victory. She made the correction. Went back to the mission field. Now what I'm trying to say to you today is this. When that adversity comes to your door, it comes there with a purpose. It comes there with a genuine purpose. And God, my dear friends, is right there on the scene. God is not only the God of the mountaintop. He's also the God of the valley. And there's nothing going on in the valley that God is not aware of in your life. And he hasn't allowed and he hasn't permitted. So when you see this adversity come and knock at your door, my dear friends, this is God's way, as I said yesterday, of calling on you. That's one of his calling cards. Now the most difficult thing I've ever had to accept as a preacher, as a Christian, was the fact that there's no second causes. It's all first hand. And you can tell whether or not you believe that by who you blame for the adversity you have. Come on. I'll let that one sink in. I said you can tell whether or not you understand what I'm saying by who you blame for the adversity you have. Do I need to say it again? Amen. If you blame your husband, friend, you've got trouble. You blame your wife, your children, your friends, your neighbors. And I've got news for you. If you even blame the devil, and very likely he is the delivery boy. Now you say, brother, man, the way you're preaching, you're doing away with the devil. No. My dear friends, I'm putting the devil exactly where he's always been in the economy of God. And my dear friends, he's not over God. You can't touch a hair on your head unless God allows it. Unless God permits it. When that adversity comes to your door, most of the time when it's adversity, the devil has to deliver it. You get caught up with the delivery boy, my dear friends, and you'll be trying to run demons out of everybody in the country. But my dear friends, when God Almighty is trying to straighten you out. That's right. Excuse me. Something's wrong with my ears. I just can't hear what I'm saying. That's it. You can find out whether or not you understand this, by who you blame when the adversity comes. Now, brother Paul, I don't want you to forget this. Amen. Yes, sir, I read you. God allows that adversity. Back in 1970, I, 71, I was dying. And they were having this meeting. And they really believed. Jimmy, didn't you think I was going to die, and I'll tell the truth here and make God happy. You thought I was gone. You didn't have the faith to believe I'd make it, did you? But when you've got the words yourself, you can laugh at those who don't. But I knew you was trying to have it awfully bad, brother. I knew you was trying to. But I got, they brought me over here. There was a preacher here. And they brought me over here to see this preacher and stretched me out on the couch in Jimmy's house. And my tongue had also collapsed. You know, I couldn't talk well. And I asked that preacher, I said, How far can the devil go on a person? Because, boy, I'll tell you what, I was still wiggly or wobbly or vacillating about this thing of how far the devil can go and whether or not who's in charge. And I said, How far can the devil go with a man? And that man said, Have you considered Joseph? And I never will forget it. And I said, I have considered Joseph. I said, I have considered his story so much that it's lost its cutting edge. You remember the story. Joseph, in Egypt. His brothers come to Egypt for food. He reveals himself as their brother. And he said to them, he said, That evil thing you did. See, he still recognizes the devil there. The devil factor is always involved in adversity. But he said, You did it for evil. But he said, For me, God was in it all the time. He looked right through that and saw God. I said, That message has lost its cutting edge. And if you're taking notes on what I'm saying and you want to study the Scripture, at least start at Genesis 37 and go through 45, you'll get the story. But then he asked me, he said, Have you considered Job? And I tell you, folks, this opened my eyes. I said, Yes, I've considered Job. The ends of my fingers had cracked open and the skin had rolled up like a scroll. And I said, I have considered Job. But I said, I don't understand. What do you mean? Have I considered Job? I knew he had something to say. And he said, Brother Manley, who brought Job's name up first? And then he hit me. And, folks, the scales fell from my eyes. And I saw God as the Lord of the living and the dead. And not one hair could touch me except what God allowed and permitted, because everything was on time, in time. I had my meeting that day. Right there on that couch. I'd been praising God because the Bible said, Good, thy faith. But that day, folks, God added another dimension to the faith. I felt like praising God that day. I mean, it was just all there. But from that day to this one, when the adversity comes, I know, I know that God is right in the middle of it. He's allowed it. He's permitted it. My dear friends, He's allowed it and permitted it for a purpose. For a purpose. Now, I could really cut this message down by just saying two things, but I'm going to spread it out into four things. But I'll give you the two just because you might like to do it that way. God allows adversity in a person's life to correct him and enlarge him. One or both. Always. When adversity comes, it will be to correct you or enlarge you or both. In Job's life, in the life of Job, it did both. It corrected him and enlarged him. Now, I like the way Brother Paul preached Job a while ago. I believe that my dear friends, when Job stood before God, he was a perfect man. I believe he'd obeyed the Lord with the life that he had up to that point. And I mean the Bible teaches us that we can get more right. We can come to this meeting, right with God, as right as a man can be, can receive life and obey that light and become more right. And I believe that's what happened to Job. That Job's adversity, my dear friends, corrected him and enlarged him. And all adversity will do that to you. It will correct you and enlarge you if you respond to it right. If you don't see God in it, it will destroy you. But if you see God in it and bow to God, humble yourself before God, my dear friends, let God have his way in your life. My friends, God will raise you up, enable you to resist the devil, and he will have to flee. And so what I'm trying to say to you is God always uses adversity to correct you and enlarge you. I don't see any other reason for it. And God does not play in full pranks and fiddle around like a cat with a mouse with his children. We're his beloved and we're the most cherished possession he's got. And brother, he doesn't treat us like some little animal. When he does something, he does it with a purpose. When he allows something, permits something, he does it with a purpose. And you can discover that purpose and get in on it, be corrected and enlarged. I say that he allows four things. And I won't spend a lot of time on this, but it might help you to see this. I say that he allows adversity for the purpose of exposing the wickedness of our hearts. Now, I've already preached along this line some, and I can tie what I'm going to say now into that and that'll enlarge your understanding. When you squeeze a lemon, you get out of it what's in it. And when God allows adversity to come into your life and out of your life come rolling this rotten, nasty, filthy flesh life, it's because, my dear friend, God has allowed that adversity to touch that point so you yourself will see what you really are. Now, if my wife can do something and I act like the devil over it, she may have done something wrong, but my reaction to it is wrong and sin. And God allows that adversity to come there to expose the wickedness of my heart. God does that all the time. You really made my point applicable, Martha. They had left us and gone with the message. But he does this all the time. This is one of the beauties of God. He knows just the kind of woman to put with you. He knows just exactly the kind of husband to put with you. Look at Harold Brown and Jackie. Oh, Harold would like to do that deal like old Seeker, you know. He'd like to do that sort of thing. And Jackie just sits there. She wouldn't get frustrated if the devil walked by her. I mean, God knows exactly what to do. I mean, God, beloved, has this thing planned. And I mean, it's planned to the point that he lets you know, I mean, it's all planned, brother. Because I, you know, I see a cloud of it. I see a cloud today of teaching that's in error at this point. And it's really something. If I didn't understand and believe what I preach today, I would be in despair. But because I really do believe what I'm preaching today, I have great faith and hope and praise in my heart for what I see. Because I know it's going to turn to good. But my dear friends, this is what I'm trying to say. People are trying to magnify the flesh and build up the flesh and bolster the flesh for the manifestations of the flesh when the, my dear friends, the economy of God, the Bible doesn't say the strong take the prey. The Bible says the weak take the prey. And what God is out to do with adversity is to reduce us to nothing so He can be all and in all. And He's got to do that. Boy, you ought to have been here years ago and heard old Dr. Oswald J. Smith with his earned degrees tell the story of how he was in the biggest Presbyterian church in Canada. Left that church and God started reducing him and he couldn't even preach at a rescue mission. He even, my dear friends, tried to be an usher and they wouldn't even let him usher. Isn't that right, Brother Jim? I mean, my dear friends, he got so low down there was nothing he could do. A man came and said, what about selling some books? Song books. And he was going up here, a man with an earned doctorate degree had pastored the biggest Presbyterian church in that town going up and down the aisle selling song books. Yeah, and while, and I forget the song he wrote, Save, Save, Save, but I forget the song. But while he was selling those books the man leading the choir looked out there and said, we're going to sing this song and I forget it. And he said, the author of this book, song, is going up and down the aisle selling song books. When he said, we're going to sing that song they started singing. And he said, Brother, I just fell out. I knew it was over. And he said, they started singing that song and God lifted them up. He said, when I got to nothing God started using me. And my dear friends, anyone of the last hundred years will tell you that Oswald J. Smith is probably one of the greatest missionary statesmen that's ever been born in America and in Canada. That's right. Boy, I'm going to tell you something. God allows adversity to come in our lives to bring us to the end of our rope. I'll tell you something. I don't tell this often. If I was going to tell it anywhere this would be the place to tell it. I believe with all of my heart ever since I was called a priest I wanted to be God's man. And people that have known me know that I have not changed my message in all these years as I've seen it. I'm going to tell you something, folks. God had to bring me to the end of myself. And all of that sickness that I went through ultimately, finally, and foremost was for the purpose of breaking and bringing me to the place where the only explanation for me standing in this pulpit this morning is Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God. That's right. I can't even preach a third of the material today in an hour that I used to preach in 30 minutes. That's right. But my dear friend, God is so real and so blessed, wonderful and so marvelous in what He's doing in my life I would have never suspected Lord Jesus, do it again! Because that's what it takes to keep me at the end of the road. God brings this crowd to come around and say, Brother Manley why don't you want healing? This God, I've got something better than healing. The healer. And He's the explanation. God allows adversity, folks to bring us to this. Amen. Help yourself. Some of you need shouting on. I tell you, yes sir. That won't hurt you. All she's doing is bringing glory to God. That's God. You sing about it. Let her have it. Amen. You say, Brother Manley that really bothers me. And all of that. That doesn't keep me. Grandparents. God allows adversity for another reason. Man shall not live by bread alone but every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Jesus was tempted and Jesus said, Man shall not live by bread alone but every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. And I told you a while ago I would probably just take the outline from Deuteronomy 8, 1 through 13. And that's what I'm doing. You probably recognize that. I just quoted that verse out of Deuteronomy 8, 1 through 13. What's Jesus saying to the devil? What is that passage saying? Man shall not live by bread alone but every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. He is saying that man is not going to be able to live by what he sees, smells, tastes, feels, and hears. But he's going to have to live by the Word of God. By the Word of God. Now when I say the Living Word, what do I mean? I realize if you haven't been here hearing me speak all this week, I'm losing some of you at a point. But when I talk about the Living Word, I'm talking about the Holy Spirit taking the Word of God and making it yours for a given situation. Now what are we saying? We're saying that, my dear friends, God gives man adversity to shut him up to the Word. To shut him up to the Word. The Living Word. Make him become alive to it. God allows adversity for that reason. And then God allows adversity for what I call to establish the law of antagonism. Now this word antagonism is an interesting word. Scientists say it's the basis for all growth. Spiritual, moral, physical growth. The word antagonism. So what are we talking about? What I'm saying is this. The birds would not fly if it was not for antagonism. You would not live if it was not for antagonism. The planes would not fly if it was not for antagonism. Nothing would grow and mature if it was not for antagonism. Now here's what I'm trying to say to you. God allows adversity to come in our lives to establish antagonism. Because it's through this antagonism that we grow. Have you ever noticed it's the people of trouble that really make the great saints? Have you noticed that? It's because the law of antagonism is working in their life and they have learned what to do with antagonism. Now I gave you that passage in Judges. And that's such a beautiful passage. The story of that passage is this. The story that's found in that passage is this. The Israelites had got into the land of Canaan. And God said to the Israelites, He said, I'm going to leave the enemy in the land. I'm going to leave the enemy in the land. He said, the reason is your old soldiers, your old overcomers are dying off. And your young men, your young soldiers do not know how to be warriors and overcomers. So I'm going to leave the enemy in the land so the enemy will come out and fight these young men so they'll learn how to be overcomers. Now my dear friends, whether you know it or not and whether I know it or not, the Bible says that we are positionally overcomers. And we're just babes in Christ. And God has left the enemy in the land. I mean, He's left here in the land. And He comes out and fights against us because it's by this battling, it's by this fighting, it's by this work that we become the overcomers we really genuinely are. And I'll be honest with you, you wouldn't be worth two cents if it wasn't for adversity. And God is just working His way right through your life. I heard about this old catfish farmer and I like this story. He had a tank, a steel tank, out beside his house. People would come by and look in that tank and pick out the catfish they wanted, get it out. But he just kept feeding those catfish in that tank. When people wouldn't buy them, he'd feed them. And they got like hogs. They'd just lay around. I mean, they looked so dead, nobody wanted them. And he said, you know, I've got a problem. That bunch of catfish looked dead. So he had an idea. So he went and got him a little barracuda. And he dropped that barracuda in that tank. And folks, those catfish came alive. Now God has put a barracuda in your tank. Yes, sir. He's got one there. And I mean, He's got that barracuda there. And there's nothing you can do about it. Because you do not govern your environment or your circumstances. You only govern how you act in it. And God has put a barracuda in your tank. That's right. You take Brother Jimmy and Brother Manly and Brother Sonny. There's two or three other preachers around here. And we got so fat and sassy and satisfied that God had to put a barracuda in it. He really did. And scattered us to the four winds. Oh, yeah, folks. He does it. Why do we have adversity? Why do we have adversity? Now, let me just say a few closing remarks. I'm going to make reference. I'm going to give you these scriptures for your study in case you want to study. Reference to the 16th chapter of the book of Acts, beginning about the 21st verse. The story of Paul at Philippi. Now, that's a real story that fits what we're talking about. And then 2 Corinthians 12, the entire chapter of 2 Corinthians 12. One, both occasions is with Paul. And I want you to watch something here as I close. We've come to a close. I want you to watch something. Paul was a Roman citizen. Do you agree with that? Do you agree with the fact that when he was beaten there at Philippi that they broke the law by beating a Roman citizen? And all Paul had to do to be kept from beating, having a beating, was to simply say, I'm a Roman citizen. I wonder why he didn't do that. Now, listen to me carefully. Now, get quiet on it. Listen to me. You see, that girl was running around there making fun of Paul and Silas. And after three days, that's interesting, after three days, this obnoxious situation of demon possession became so obnoxious to the purpose of Christ that Paul turned on that demon-possessed woman and cast out demons. He didn't go looking for them. And neither did he have a ministry of deliverance. But any time that the demons obnoxiously opposed the plan and purpose of God, he dealt with them. He dealt with this woman. She lost her powers. The men who owned her got Paul and Silas, beat them, put them in jail, put them in stocks. Now, Paul could have said, I'm a Roman citizen. Why didn't he? I think he understood. I believe he understood. It's my conviction. He understood that a man does not govern his environment or circumstances. He only governs how he acts in it. And I believe he acted like a Christian through the beating, through the jail, through the stocks. At midnight, he said, let's praise God. The sun was on the other side of the world. That means the darkest hour, folks. He praised God. He started praising God, and as he praised God, God rolled a hunk of glory out of heaven, kicked that jailhouse, and they had a revival at midnight. I'm going to tell you something. Folks, give me that bunch of shouters that when adversity comes, they'll shout. Not when you get up and sing a tune. Anybody can sing and shout. But bless God, shout when adversity comes. And you don't have to do it on ignorance anymore. You can do it on a purpose. Amen. You can do it on a purpose. Yes, sir, you know. You know that God is in charge and He puts you there. Praise God for that environment. That circumstance. Glorify God. Magnify God. And you know what God will do? He'll do one of two things. He'll change your circumstances, or He'll give you so much grace, you'll praise God far and don't want to. Yeah, you go right on over to Paul, thorn in the flesh. He prayed three times about the thorn in the flesh. The messenger sent from Satan. By the way, if the devil did that, the devil made someone humble. It was a messenger from Satan, but God allowed it in for me and wouldn't take it away, would not take that thing away, but said, My grace is sufficient. And He said, I will take pleasure, I will glory, and I have pleasure in adversity. Boy, that's victory. Now, what I'm saying to you is when you get where you act right over your adversity, God will either remove it, or give you so much grace, you will end. And either way, it's victory. Amen. Either way. He said, But Brother Manly, um, but I think healing for the total man would be better. If you'll take the nail scars out of Jesus' hand, I'll believe you.