Transcription
Good morning, church. Good to see you today for another family gathering. I tell you, it's hard to sit still and be quiet. Some of you have mastered that art.
[laughter]
I'm leaving you alone. You do what you want to do, but I've got it.
[applause]
Thank you, Lord, for another opportunity to worship together in Your house. It's Your house, and we are Your people. We are the temple of the living God.
[music]
We worship You this morning in spirit and truth. And in the beauty of holiness, we thank You for the blood of Jesus. We thank You for eternal salvation and righteousness. Oh, Lord, if we start listing all that we have in You, we just can't.
[music]
So, I thank You now for the moment that we get to sit down after our hearts have been plowed with the Word, the fallow ground has been broken up, and we get to hear You speak to us softly and tenderly. And I ask today, Lord, if these people really knew how desperate I am for help, for every word to be Your Word, and for every phrase and sentence to be pleasing to You, they, they really couldn't comprehend it. I'm a desperate man calling on a living God for holy help to preach this everlasting Word. So, I thank You in advance for Your help, because all of our help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. And the church said amen.
Thank you for being seated. It really is good to go to church, isn't it? Well, I, I know the only way to fight counterfeit doctrine is with sound doctrine. Just preach the truth. I want to do that this morning. As it relates to giving. What is the biblical and the proper and the godly way to give? I know prices are high. I've never paid so much for food in my life. I mean, fast food will wreck a family. Groceries, gasoline. It's just the way it is. And when the pressure starts building, especially on people with a fixed income, there's anxiety there. And I think we live in a day of anxiety, intensifying every day. And, and our only answer to all of this is the Word of God.
[clears throat]
That's it. And we also know that down through the ages,
[clears throat]
Jesus promised it. You were going to have people who would capitalize on the anxiety of people. We know what false teachers are to some degree. I thought rather than try to define one, I would just read it again from 2 Peter chapter 2, beginning with verse 1. "But there were false prophets among the people." Okay, now what is he talking about there? In the day of Moses, when Israel came out of Egyptian bondage, there were already false prophets spreading discord among the Israelites. But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you. Who will secretly bring in destructive heresies. God does everything on the up and up. You know it's wrong when things are done secretly. And they bring in destructive, damnable heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways." That's what disturbs me. "Many will follow their destructive ways because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed." By covetousness, you see that? By covetousness, they will exploit you with deceptive words. For a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber." In other words, God's going to take care of them. It's imminent. And if you look around today in the Christian world, one ministry after another is falling. Because there comes a time when God says, "I'm not putting up with this anymore."
So, just, just let me ask you a question today. And, and you sit under sound doctrine, but let me ask you this question. Why do people go to conferences and meetings where the prosperity gospel is preached? Why do people do that? Because they are greedy. See, it's not just the false teachers and false prophets that are greedy. They draw greedy people. The false teachers and the prosperity gospel appeal to greedy people. It also attracts needy people. So, the prosperity teachers, uh, play to the greediness of some and prey on the neediness of others. You know, I, I listen to this stuff and I cringe as I hear one man say, "God will not open His hand of blessing till you open your hand of giving." I hear it all the time. I heard another man say, "God is in debt to you when you sow a seed, and until you sow a seed into this ministry." You won't believe this one. I didn't. I had to play it three or four times. One of these teachers said the Lord audibly spoke to him and said, "I want you to have that million-dollar home you rode by the other day." And he argued with God and said, "Now, God, You know I don't have any money." The Lord said, "I want you to have it." "Lord, I can't do that. I don't have any money." "I'm telling you, I want you to have it." "All right, God, if it's Your will, it's Your bill."
[clears throat]
You can check me out on this. And as shocked as you are right now at that disrespect for a holy God, on top of it being just a cold lie, folks, that goes on all the time. And then I heard one man say, "You and God are business partners, you see. When you sow a financial seed, God is obligated to pay His fair share." Does this sound preposterous to you? But this is what they preach. Another one said, "Open your hand with a seed in it, and God will open His hand with a harvest in it. But it won't happen till you give." That's not the God I've read about here. The God I read about blesses me when I don't deserve it. The God I read about in the Bible healed people that didn't even ask for it. This great God makes it rain on the just and the unjust. He's good to all. Every one of us, whether you're lost or saved, you have food to eat and clothes to wear. You have air to breathe, sunshine to enjoy. That's the goodness of God. And you didn't do one thing to get it. It's just because God is a good God. Every one of us sits here today blessed beyond not only our expectation, but our just deserts. God's been good to me. I don't care how bad it has been at times, God has been good to me. God cannot do a bad thing. Did you hear that? God can't do a bad thing. Uh, every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights, in whom there is no changing. He does not vary. He's good all the time to, to everybody. He, even the wrath of God one of these days is going to be a good thing to cleanse this earth from all unrighteousness. So God's pristine creation will again be able to, to enjoy the light and glory of His presence.
And so what you have, and there's a verse there in verse 18, it says, "These people speak great swelling words of emptiness. There's nothing in it. It's false promises. And they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error." And that's why I say that this kind of ministry draws that kind of people. I want to make sure I say it clearly and plainly. They are able to be successful in their greedy preaching because they appeal to greedy people. But then when it comes to needy people, they just need help and they don't know what else to do. And, and I feel for people like that. When, when a person is absolutely desperate and their spirit is low, and someone comes along and says, "I gave this amount of money and in 30 days I got that amount of money." There are people who are weak in the faith, untaught and unstable. Peter says, who will latch on to these things, and they don't realize that that person is handling the Word of God deceitfully. Using the Word of God.
Now that I've shown you that little tidbit of disgusting false prophecy and teaching, let's go to what the Bible says about giving. The true biblical, honest way that God has designed for you to be blessed, for you to glorify His name. In 2 Corinthians chapter 8, beginning with verse number one. I tell you, I've read this passage so many times in my life, but I've never been blessed by it as much as I have been in the last three days. Paul says, "Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia." Now, Macedonia is north of Corinth, and it's a very poor region because the Romans have stripped them of all of their wealth and goods. They're, they're poor, poor people in Macedonia, but Paul said, "God has made known to them the grace of God that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality." That is a stick of dynamite right there. He is saying these people are absolutely poor and despondent, and in the middle of their great trial of affliction, there was abundance of joy, even in their deep poverty, and God did a miracle through them, through poor people. "I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing." What's he talking about here? Well, persecution is rampant in that part of the world. And in Jerusalem, the believers are starving to death. They are being so, so terribly persecuted, the Jewish believers. The government is starving them to death, taking everything they have, they got nothing left, and Paul is going around taking up an offering from churches to take to the Jerusalem believers. And he started in the poorest area he could have gone to, Macedonia, and he found that those people were also under affliction and also broke, but he said, "Churches, we have brothers and sisters in Jerusalem, and I'm going around gathering offerings to take to them so they can keep their homes and eat." And the Macedonians said, "Take it all. Take ours. We'll give you everything we have." And that surprised Paul. He said, "In fact, they, in verse four, they implored us with much urgency that we would receive the gift." Folks, prosperity preachers beg you to give them to them. But when God moves, people will beg to give to God. I just blessed myself again. Hallelujah. Paul said, "They actually begged us. They implored us with much urgency to take this gift and send it to the, the saints in Jerusalem. And not only as we had hoped." Here it is. Oh, church, take a deep breath. Here it is. "First gave. They first gave themselves to the Lord." Think about that for a moment. "But they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God." I have come to believe that that very phrase right there is the key to victorious Christian living. They first gave themselves to the Lord. Once you do that, all of the issues of life are settled. I did not say life would be easy or fun. I said the issues would be settled. Which means if I give myself to the Lord, you see, I'm not my own. I've been bought with a price, the precious blood of Jesus. I've been crucified with Christ. I'm alive, yet not I, but Christ that lives in me. I have given myself to the Lord. My life is His life. His life is my life. I'm not living a double life or a dual life. I'm not His sometime on Sunday and mine the rest of the week. I belong to Jesus. I've been bought. I am owned by God. And once you settle in your heart and mind that you belong to Jesus, then it does not matter what comes or goes. God, and you know it, will take care of you and everything else. Praise God. They first.
[applause]
There it is. Oh, I wish I had the ability to, to squeeze more out of this. But I think it speaks for itself. They, how did they get to the place that even though they had nothing, they said, "We'll, we'll take what we've got"? Because they first gave themselves to God. When you give yourself to the Lord first, all other giving is easy. No matter what kind of giving it is. Not just financial, but you give yourself in service. You give yourself in aiding and helping people to grow in Christ. You give yourself when you take care of a sick loved one. It's giving yourself. Once you give yourself to the Lord, your life becomes fruitful and productive. And everything else will fall into place.
So, we urged Titus that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace. Now, folks, Paul is calling it not just giving, but grace. He's calling this sense that we can help somebody, a grace. It's the action of the Holy Spirit down in someone's life. Verse seven, "But as you abound in everything in faith, speech, knowledge, and all diligence, and in your love for us, see that you abound in this grace also." Oh, if I could get someone to see that giving is not just pulling out of your pocket and helping somebody go to youth camp or helping a prisoner. Oh, how many do hundreds and hundreds of prisoners we minister to every week. It's not just going on a missions trip. It is a grace. It is some, it is a work of God in your heart. Do you hear me, church? And, well, just let me go on with this. There's no begging when grace is at work. None. Let me show you again. They first gave themselves to the Lord. And I think it would behoove every one of us sometime today to get somewhere alone and say, "Have I given myself to the Lord? Have I, have I given just my mind to the Lord? Have I given my words to the Lord? Have I given my life, my whole being, my whole existence, my whole reason for breathing to the Lord?" Once that happens, everything changes.
You see, from in the Old Testament, the whole giving thing was, uh, obligatory. There were really three kinds of tithing in the Old Testament. And of course, the one everybody uses today is in Malachi. "Will a man rob God? But you have robbed me in tithes and offerings." And because of that, listen, there is a curse on you. And folks, I want to tell you, I preached it three weeks ago. No Christian can live under a curse. So that tithing, you use that verse, preachers use it all the time, pastors use it to get people to keep on tithing. Because they don't want a curse in their life. They want their barns to be full, they want to prosper, they sure don't want a curse, so they tithe. And it becomes almost an obligation without any joy. You're just doing it to pay. And that's called taxation. God doesn't tax His people. He graces them. He blesses them. He gives them fully and abundantly so that they might know the joy that He has of giving. God is a giver. The greatest thing He ever gave was His Son. Ever since, He's been giving life and salvation and light. He's been blessing and feeding and fulfilling. Because we've moved from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Nobody's under a curse if you're in Jesus Christ. I'm going to take just a moment and say, "Thank You, Jesus." Y'all can sit there if you want to. I'm so glad I'm not under a curse. I don't ever want to quote that scripture again to put anybody in bondage that says, "You're cursed with a curse. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in My house. And test Me now, says the Lord, and see if I won't give you above and beyond." No, that was then. It was good, but it was inferior. It's old. It's the other covenant. It's the covenant of legalism. It's the covenant of Moses' Law. It's a taxation. But everything in the New Testament is new. Everything is a blessing. Everything, listen, is a privilege. I'm not saying don't tithe. I'm saying when you do under the New Covenant, you ought to shout while you're writing the check. You ought to bless the Lord that you're able to do it. Because it's not a tax. It's a privilege. It's, it's a privilege. You see, as I've preached so often, we're no longer under the law of Moses. We're under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. I'm free from the law. Because Jesus kept the law. And because He kept it, and now I'm in Him, it's the same as I that I kept the law. There's no condemnation. There is no curse. How many times do I need to say this before the bell rings? No child of God is under a curse. You've been set free by the blood of Jesus.
And so it changes the whole perspective on giving, going to church and giving. You don't just mindlessly, habitually write it out and put it in or get on the computer and type it in and send it. No, there's a sense that this is a spiritual thing I'm doing. The grace of God is at work inside of me. A sinner is stingy. The law makes you afraid. But the blood of Jesus sets you free and gives you the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. The law had to pull it out of people. The Spirit pushes it out of people. The law obligates, but the Spirit liberates.
[snorts]
And here's what I want, oh, I want you to hear me. Hear me. Hear me. Anything you do for Christ out of obligation, with no thankfulness, anything you do without appreciation and understanding, the Bible calls dead works. Anything that you do legally, just 'cause you got to, the Bible calls it dead works. But when you come to to realize that under this new covenant of grace, under the new covenant of God, the Lord is doing a work inside of you. And as He fills you up with Himself, every love for everything else has to move out, gradually, but surely. So, the closer you are to God, the more generous you are with God and everybody. You realize this is not mine. Everything I have is a gift from God. I can hoard it and I can store it up. Mhm, but it may just get sour on me. If it's not helping somebody, what good is it? Or I can release it. And see God do something in somebody's life. And I remind you, church, that's not hard once you give yourself to the Lord.
I'm really sorry that churches have a stigma, and you will always hear, uh, sinners say, and they're always looking for an excuse anyway, "Well, I don't go to church because all they do is beg for money." And that has been the case, hasn't it? Uh, we've all grown up in a church that begged for money. I very vividly remember on some, in [snorts] some services, the preacher saying, "Uh, we need, uh, uh, $28 extra dollars here in this offering tonight. Who'll give it? Who'll give $1? Anybody give $5?" And he stands there with $2 in his hand. You guys remember this? And he'll just stand there saying, "Will anybody give me another dollar? Can I take another? Anybody want to help me? Anybody want to help?" People are going, "Oh my God." Just stand there and beg and stand there and wait. "Will anybody help me?" And that's the reason churches, in fact, I remember one particular night, one brother stood up and said, "Brother, if we can get on with the service, I'll give you $5 right now." Ray Duke. Ray.
[clears throat]
He meant it, too. Nobody wants to come and hear a preacher beg for money. You won't ever come here and hear anybody stand in this pulpit and beg for money. I'm going to say it again, try not to get out of control. I am not a beggar. God is not a beggar. We are not beggars. We are children of the Most High God. Hallelujah to the Lord. You bless the Lord, and the Lord is pleased and blesses you back. You don't give to get. You give because you got. Yeah, I'm losing it. I know I am.
Here's what the Bible says. Look, look in verse, chapter 9. But this I say, oh, well, let me go to verse 5. There, I, I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation.
[clears throat]
That's the New Testament. That's the new covenant. That is the grace of giving. Generosity, thankfulness, and not as a grudging obligation. "But this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." I don't care what you give, you're going to reap something because God is that way. So, let each one give as he purposes in his heart. So, I can't stand here today and say, "You better give 10%." Because you have to decide in your own heart how good has God been to me. How generous do I want to be towards the cause of God? It may be a lot more than 10%. For some of you who are struggling, it could be less than 10%, and I know that goes against everything because I say the way to get out of debt is to give, but it's the attitude of your giving. I see a lot of heads nodding, I hope. It's the attitude of your giving. I am thankful to be able to give. After all God has done for me. You have no idea, and I could never tell you. I don't have the vocabulary, and you don't have the time. You may not even have the interest. 'Cause you're thinking, "Oh, you don't know. God's been good to me." He picked me up when I was down. That says a lot of things. He saved me when I was lost. That says everything. He guides my feet every day. He keeps me from the evil one. He refreshes my soul. He renews my mind. He's my life, my breath. He's my everything. God's been good to me. And if He never does anything else, He's already done more than I deserve. But, don't stop there. You have no idea what's laid up for you in God's rich, vast treasure houses. I'm talking about on this earth. There's grace to be enjoyed. There's favor the Lord will give you. The Lord will help you through the next situation. The Lord will guide you through another dilemma. Folks, you've got the greatest gift that this world cannot receive because it does not believe. You've got the Jesus that conquered death, hell, and the grave, that that walked out one day and said, "Follow Me. Follow in My footsteps. I'll take you to a land of milk and honey." Praise God forevermore.
[applause]
Let me finish that. So, let each one give as he purposes in his heart. And here's what giving is all about. It needs to be regular. It needs to be proportional. God doesn't ask you to give the same thing that He asked him to give. It depends on what you make and how have you been blessed. Regular, proportional, planned. I mean, this, you plan it. It, it's planned worship. You say, "No, this has to be done. This is on my calendar. This is what I do." And it needs to be private. Private. I got a little, uh, not feedback, blowback. Is that a good one? Fatback. Who knows? I don't back. Uh, something went on the internet a few weeks ago that I turned down $200,000 that somebody wanted to give our church, and he wanted to come up on the stage and give it. Remember the sermon? And I said, "Oh, no, I'm not going to let you come up here on the stage and make a scene, make a spectacle. If God told you to give it, give it. Put it in the pan and be done with it. It's between you and God." And of course, some preachers say, "I ought to take it." I, I, I would have taken. Well, I don't operate that way, you see. I don't need for somebody to get up and inspire others to give. I think it needs to be the Holy Spirit of God inside of you because you are a grateful worshiper of a God who's never failed you. Hallelujah to God.
So, here we go. And God is able. Here it is, right here. You say, "But the Old Testament says if a, if I tithe, God will rebuke the devourer." No, this is better. This is better. "And God is able to make all grace." Did you hear that? All. That means all. "All grace, all favor abound toward you, that you, having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work." That's better than the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, I tithe so I don't get in trouble with God. In the New Testament, I give so I can help somebody, and God will bless me for helping somebody. Oh, that's a whole lot better. Because I move away from the fear of the consequences. I move away from the fear of punishment to the joy of knowing you cannot outgive God. "Give, and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure you meet or give, it comes back to you." Hallelujah.
I will tell you something. The reason this church has been debt-free for 25 years, Dirk. 30? It's better than I thought it was. This is a better sermon than I thought it was going to be. The reason this church has been debt-free. Did you hear what I said? People drive on this property and say, "My God, they must be in debt." Look at that building, and they're always doing stuff. Always under construction. Oh, I wonder what kind of debt they have. None. Zero.
[cheering]
Nada. Not one bit. Every time we build, we pay cash. You know why? You are a generous people. You are a good and giving people. You know why you are a good, generous people? 'Cause God is a good and generous God, and He has blessed you for your generosity.
[cheering] [applause]
And you saw that line. How I cried this morning. When I saw all those young people, they're giving up summertime to go and eat, it's not always good food, and stay in some roach-ridden places, right? It's not easy down there. And yet they want to go. Why? Because they're teachers in this church. They're pastors from the nursery up to preschool and the kids department and the junior high and the youth. Those precious God-called pastors have instilled in these young people the need to live outside of yourself. And that's the reason that line was so long. And almost, almost every Sunday, we send somebody to the mission field. Have you noticed that? Oh, folks, if you knew what we did that you don't know about. The people we help in this city. The ministries we, over 150 ministries in this country and around the world. Al's on the missions board. Who else is on the missions board? I'm telling the truth, am I not, Al? We give money. We give lots of money. Why? 'Cause we don't know when Jesus is coming back, and people are in need. And see, when the Holy Spirit is filling a place and filling a person, and they give themselves to the Lord, they recognize God has entrusted to me this so I can help them. And that's the reason the church you're sitting in right now is debt-free. We send them out. They win souls. We feed hungry people. We get lost people saved. We infiltrate the prisons. We build churches in other countries. Why? Because this book says, "If you sow sparingly, you will reap sparingly. But if you sow in abundance, you will reap in abundance." And abundance is not always dollars and cents. It can be joy and mercy and peace and favor and friendship. Oh, yes.
[applause]
"As it is written, He has dispersed abroad. He has given to the poor." Here it is. "His righteousness endures forever." Did you hear that, church? The things we do right now, dispersed abroad, given to the poor. It says, "His righteousness will endure forever." What seems to be just a moment of pain, you know, to give something you think you still need. That little tense, tense moment, you know, should I give? Should I not give? Actually, eternity and righteousness is hinging on it. Because when you disperse it abroad, and when you give to the poor, your righteousness will endure forever. And I, I don't know what else to say except that one of our first favorite verses is, "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory." What are the next three words? "By Christ Jesus." What a verse of scripture. Seek first. Yeah, I'd say to people, and I, I don't think I was, uh, sounded attacking or acrimonious this morning. I'm, I'm just saying to those people who may be needy right now, you don't know where else to turn or what else to do. I would say, "Go somewhere and say, 'Lord,
[snorts]
not what can I get today, but what thing could I do for somebody? What gift could I give to somebody? Just a sacrificial offering to them, but really to You.' What thing could I say to somebody that would bless them and make their day?" And that's what the kingdom of God is about, brothers and sisters. We know the verse as well as we know anything. But seek first the kingdom of God. Go after Jesus. Give yourselves to the Lord. And everything else will be added unto you.
Stand with me, please.
[clears throat] [snorts]
You know, I enjoyed preaching that message. Because it, I really did. Thank You, Lord. Thank You for Your help today, Lord. There's not a doubt in my mind that the Holy Spirit is already whispering to you about something or somebody. I believe it. You see, this, this spirit of grace and giving is God at work inside of us. God at work inside of us. I want Him to be able to do anything He wants to in my life. How about you? So, I'm just going to pray a blessing over you. And if there's somebody here today that does not know Jesus, there's a gift waiting on you. Hey, it, it's not an olive wood flute from Israel. It's not a crystal cross from South America that they give you if you give $1,000.
[music]
Nope. Jesus offers the gift of eternal life, forgiveness of all sins, a brand new future, a blessed day, an erased
[music]
past. Well, the list just goes on and on. All you have to do is call on the name of the Lord. And if you want to come down and pray with us, we'll pray with you. You can walk out of here with today's special offer.
[laughter]
But, it's everyday's special offer. And you don't have to bring a thousand dollars
[clears throat]
or even two cents. You bring yourself. And you say, "Just as I am, without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me." And you can leave here with the greatest gift of all.
[music]
Father, I thank You today for the promises in Your Word. I thank You, Lord, for the joy of being able to give.
[music]
Thank You for the gracious gift of charity
[music]
and kindness. Work in us, Lord, every day. Work in us so that we become even kinder, more charitable, more thoughtful, and more generous.
[music]
In the name of Jesus, I pray that blessing. Walk out of here knowing that you are a vessel full of grace. And God wants grace given.
[music]
Because once you give, it immediately fills right back up. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Amen. Love you, church, and we'll see you Wednesday night.