Sermon
God's Way of Giving
October 24, 2004
Pastor Donald Sheley

In recent months, about in September, I got to studying the Old Testament and realized that many of the great doctrinal truths that we are very familiar with in the New Testament have Old Testament happenings or events or teachings and foundations for what we believe as New Testament Christians. And I came to the conclusion that if you don't understand the Old Testament foundations, the stories behind these great doctrinal truths that we believe as Christians, we're going to miss out on much of what these truths really mean.

So we've gone back and we've selected to follow the children of Israel out of the land of bondage. They were in Egypt for nearly 400 years. We're going to follow them through their journey, which was a forty-year journey, but on that journey there are a lot of revealed truths that become great doctrines of the New Testament.

For instance, the night they leave Egypt they are instructed to slay an animal and to take the blood of that animal and to apply it at the posts and the lintel of their home. And the promise was that if the blood was placed there when the death angel passed over at midnight the firstborn would be spared. Those who did not apply the blood, the firstborn not only of human beings but of cattle and the herds was taken, was killed. There was great mourning throughout all of Egypt.

So we've learned that in the Old Testament that with covering protection of the blood they did not have death come to their home. So we took the truth of blood and went to the New Testament and realized that it was for that very reason that Christ went to the cross, shed His precious blood for covering of our sins, for the cleansing of our sins. For without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness or no remission of sins. So we learned that the preciousness and the meaning of the blood in the New Testament comes from an Old Testament setting where the children of Israel are protected when they have blood applied to their doorposts and their lintels.

Then we followed them across the Red Sea, went down the peninsula for five or six weeks with them, and their knapsacks were getting empty and so they started crying out to God for food and God since then manna from heaven. He just puts it around their tents, and not only manna, but He sent them quail. So we took that Old Testament story, transferred the truth into the New Testament where Jesus picks up in John chapter 6 and says, I am the bread from heaven. I am the bread of life. So we took that New Testament truth and related it to an Old Testament event.

We followed the children of Israel as they came down to the bottom of the Sinai Peninsula and there's a mountain down there called Mount Sinai. What happens, God calls Moses and tells him He wants to talk to him up on the mountain, and the reason for that is God wants to give Moses the instructions as to how to govern this new nation. He wants to lay out all of the regulations and the rules that are going to make it a happy people and they're going to live together and bless God in their living, and be a witness to the pagan nations around them.

So God lays out for Moses this immense amount of laws. We have them in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. What you read those three books of the Bible you'll find that they are simply the instructions that God gives to Moses. When under these conditions, you do this. When this situation happens, you do this. When this event is before you, this is how you work it out. It's an intense set of rules.

But in that conversation with Moses God says I want you to build for Me a place that I can call My home on earth, My dwelling place. Prior to that time, God would talk with Adam and Eve in the garden as He walked and talked with them, He would talk to the patriarchs, but never before this moment in history had God said I want a home on earth where I may dwell. Now Moses, you build Me that home.

We learned that it was in an encampment of 75 feet wide by 150 feet long, and inside that encampment was a tent 15 feet wide, 45 feet deep, and 15 feet high divided into two segments. God said I want you to arrange to put the candlestick over here and the table of shewbread here, and I want the incense alter here which is going to... Then there is to be a curtain and behind a curtain I want you to put the ark. God says, this is the way it is, and I will come and dwell in that place.

And to signify the fact that God was there He evidenced His presence by having a cloud during the day hang over that little tent, and at night, a pillar of fire. And as they looked, as the nation of Israel looked on, they knew God was in their presence because He had demonstrated His presence by that fire and by that cloud.

But God also had some further instructions to give to Moses. Now Moses, here's My place of worship now I'm going to tell you how worship is to take place. I want you to establish a priesthood, so last week we learned that Aaron, Moses' brother, was assigned to that task of being the high priest and his son. And so we talked about the priesthood of the Old Testament and we read one story that was a sad one, and that is that Aaron's two sons, Nadab and Abihu, in the early moments of their priesthood they did something that violated God's specific instructions, and God struck them dead. It was a very sacred task to fulfill in God's house, the task of the priesthood.

So we took the concept of priesthood and moved it across into the New Testament and realized that Peter picks it up and says we are the royal priesthood now. And so we talked about the priesthood of believers, that we serve God in our world and we learned that a priest...the Latin word for priest is pontifex, which means a bridge builder. That in essence a priest is one who builds a bridge from man to God, and that's our sacred assignment here in life. We go forth in our world and our task is to be a priest; that is, helping people find God and being that bridge builder that introduces the Lord Jesus Christ to them. So we talked about priesthood.

Now we want today, we want to talk about the worship that God sets up, the worship patterns. God says now there's the priest, now I want to tell you how to worship Me. So we're going to learn in a few moments how God sets as worship patterns. In fact, take your Bibles with me and go to Deuteronomy chapter 12, and here God is laying out some specifics as to how He wants worship to be conducted at His house.

Look at verse 5: "But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come." When He uses the phrase - God chooses to place his name there - what God is simply saying is I will have a house and I will choose to manifest My glory at that location.

Verse 6: "And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks." So He's now including some of the items that they will use and bring to God in the act of worship.

Look at verse 7: "And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you. But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD: And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you. Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes."

So God says, look at, I'm going to have a specific place. You can't just go offer any place. I want you to come and worship at this place where I choose to place My name, place My glory, and I want you in part of that worship I want you to make sure that you include these various items in worship. Now they seem strange to us, to bring to church an animal or a heave offering; these are ancient ways of worshiping. God is saying...giving very specific directions.

Now let's go back in our Bible just a few pages. It's Leviticus and let's see if we can find out more about what these worship things were about. In Leviticus chapter 27 verse 30 it's says: "And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's: it is holy unto the Lord. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof."

In other words, if you miss and you want to make up, add 20 percent to whatever you didn't give the first time.

"And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD."

So the Lord is giving some directions there about the tithe. Let's go back to Leviticus, back to the very first chapter of this book we're in and let's see how God very specifically defines how these offerings are to be made.

It says: "And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish."

Now God's going to say when you come to worship, you just don't bring any animal. I want you to make sure that it's perfect; it's without blemish. Then he goes on to say: "He shall offer it of his own voluntary will..." You're coming to worship just out of love to God. And he says: "...at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him."

Now here was an interesting thing. When you came in the Old Testament days and you brought, you're going to worship God, you brought your lamb, and you gave it to the priest and he put it on the altar, you then stood there by the altar and you put your hand on the head of your animal. Because that animal is going to become the substitute, it's going to die for your sins. So in essence as you put your hand on it you're transferring your sin from you to the animal. That's why God said I want you to do it this way. You put your hand on the head of that animal.

And it says: "And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces. And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire: And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar: But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water."

And we go all on and on and on, and God simply is saying I'm going to tell you exactly how I want it done. I want you to build the altar in a certain way, and I want you to lay the wood on the altar in a certain way, and I want you to get the fire from the sacred fire, and I want you when you bring the animal I want you to make sure you identify with that animal as your substitute, and I want you to stand there while the priest takes that blood and sprinkles the blood around the altar. He becomes very specific.

So in the Old Testament worship when you wanted to come to the house of God you brought a sacrifice, and you then identified with that sacrifice. But then, the Bible here speaks of tithes. What's a tithe? There are many verses about it, but what is a tithe?

Kiké, one of our wonderful secretaries, when I handed her the notes this week said to me, Pastor, when I was a young Christian she said I went to hear a preacher preach and he preached on tithing, and I'm a new Christian, I don't know what he's talking about, and he's just really laying it on. In fact, he's going to have us all in hell if we don't tithe. And she says I'm sitting there shaking and when the sermon is finished I said to the preacher, what's tithe?

And I sometimes think we preachers talk about things we don't identify for everyone. So let's take the word tithe. It appears often in the Old Testament. Tithe comes from the word ten, and ten was always symbolic of the whole or the totality in surrender. So even in ancient religions not based in Jehovah, there was that expression of the religion called the tithe where whatever you brought it was the symbolic gift that said to your god, God I'm giving you everything. This is symbolic of me in total surrender. So it was an act that had a symbolic identification, not necessarily a mathematical formula. It just simply said, God, here's what I want to give to you today, and in all sincerity this represents me in my total surrender to you. So the tithe had relationship to a tenth, but that tenth was symbolic of wholeness or completeness in surrender.

Now I know that there are some Christians in the church today the say Pastor when you talk about tithe you're talking about an Old Testament legalism. No, if we used the term tithe as the old Hebrew understood it, it's different than what we understand it. Let me explain.

First of all in his worship he was to bring a tithe, a portion of his substance, and he was to bring it to the priest and offer it to the priest. Now the reason for that is because the Levites when they arrived in the land of promise they were not given a portion of land. All the other eleven tribes were, but the Levites were left out. And reason being, their divine assignment was to watch over and care for the things of God and the tabernacle, and to serve in the religious aspects of their nation.

Remember it was a theocracy not a democracy. A theocracy is government of God. And the house of God represented the center of government, the center of life for those people. And so the giving of the tithe to the Levite...he had no portion, he had no lands to grow his own crops, and so it was that tithe that provided for his keep and the keep of the tabernacle, the temple.

But it didn't stop there. When you came to city of Jerusalem or the place of worship on certain days, you brought along another tithe, and that tithe you presented it to the temple. And that tithe was used there for the purpose of paying for the great activities within the temple area. The nation of Israel would come for festivals and activities, so this tithe covered the expense of all of the religious activity of their nation, the social activity, and the worship and the festivals.

But it didn't stop there. On another occasion they brought the tithe, which they presented for the poor, and that was a portion given into the temple so that there would be money to disburse to the poor people.

But the giving didn't stop there, and if you've got a computer going in your mind you are really realizing that we're already at about 25 percent. That's more than 10 percent folks. But it didn't stop there. They were instructed by God that when you make your harvest to make sure that you leave the crops in the corners of the fields. Don't harvest the complete harvest. And the reason why you leave the corners is because poor people then can come and pick the produce or whatever is there so they can meet their needs. So you must leave some of your crops for the poor neighbors.

But it didn't stop there. They were told before the harvest was to take place - it's ripe, it's ready to harvest - they are to go into the harvest and they are to gather their first fruits, whatever that was. It was an offering to God that they took to the temple and said, God, we want to thank You for this wonderful harvest. We've not harvested it yet, but this is our gift in faith, and this is the firstfruits of our harvest.

But it didn't stop there. When they went to the temple they paid a temple tax, so they had funds for the temple tax. Ladies and gentlemen, when we talk about Old Testament tithe, we're talking 30, 40, 50 percent. But remember, Jehovah is their God, and they want to honor their God realizing that all that they have He gives to them, and with their substance they worship God with their substance. That's why they go to their crops, their flocks, they want to tell God thank you. They were a giving people, and God said now that's the way I want you to worship.

Now as a nation, as years come and go, they departed from God's plan of worship. Now we arrive in Malachi, which is the last book of the Old Testament. Between the book of Malachi and the book of Matthew are 400 silent years. God doesn't speak from heaven. They are a nation without the voice of God. Why?

Because Malachi starts his book by saying, when you come to the house of God you're not bringing unblemished animals, you're bringing diseased animals ready to die, and you're giving Me this last of your flocks, and that's not what I asked for. I asked for the best, and you're giving Me the diseased and the sick and the halt, and you're handing those to Me as worship. God was angry.

When you get to chapter 3 verse 6 and God said, I gave you these ordinances to follow and you didn't follow them. You've departed from the instructions of worship. In fact, you don't give any more, you've robbed God. And that's an interesting Hebrew verb; it implies not only did you rob Me, but you robbed yourself. God said you quit worshiping Me the way I wanted you to worship. I wanted you to be a giving nation. You stopped, and because you stopped, you're a cursed nation.

Malachi 3:9, I think it is, you've been cursed with a curse. What God is saying, listen, I wanted to bless you, I wanted to honor you as a nation, and I laid down the pattern for worship, and worship was having a generous heart acknowledging God in every aspect of your life, in your time and your talents, and your treasures, but you got selfish and you're not worshiping Me anymore that way.

And then God says in verse 10 of chapter 3, He said, but if you'll bring all of the tithes and the offerings to the storehouse, I'll do something very special. I'll open up the windows of heaven and I'll pour out blessings upon you that you will not be able to contain. I'll withhold and restrain the devourer so that your crops will flourish to full maturity. Verse 12, and the nations will look on and call you blessed.

God said listen, you've turned away from My pattern of worship. I wanted you to be generous. I wanted you in everything that you give to acknowledge Me. You stopped it. And now you suffer with a terrible curse, and God stopped talking to a nation for 400 years.

You say, Pastor, how do we transfer then this idea of worship from the Old Testament to the New Testament? Well first of all, we don't bring sacrifices in the sense we don't bring animals to church to be offered any longer or a portion of our flocks. What we do is we bring ourselves.

Paul says and Romans 12:1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy. That means all of us, every part of us, our time, our talents and our treasures, present yourself holy unto God, which is your spiritual or your reasonable service.

We bring the sacrifice of ourselves to God and say, God, I'm yours. All that I have I acknowledge is a gift from You, and I want You to use me in any way You can. But it says we also come with a sacrifice of praise from our lips. Hebrews 13:15 says we offer the sacrifice of praise. So we bring our sacrifices, ourselves, holy.

Now, in the Old Testament it was a portion of this and a portion of that and a portion of something else. God says I'm changing the whole equation; it's everything. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." That's not 10 percent.

God says I want it all. I want you to be a living sacrifice. I want you to be one who brings Me honor and glory in your world, and I want all of you, not just Sunday morning at 11:00. I want all of you. I want your life every day every moment to bring glory to God. That's a lot different than the Old Testament, isn't it? Portions in the Old Testament; total self in the New Testament.

But Jesus doesn't stop there. Go with me to Luke chapter 16 in your Bible. Jesus did something about this whole matter of life's possessions that's very, very interesting and very, very sober. Look at what He says in verse 10, look at what Jesus says, "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon" (and that word in the original is money), "who will commit to your trust the true riches?" (in other words, spiritual riches) "And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

Now Jesus says something very interesting. Let's take our notes and go to page 6 in our notes. At the top of page 6 I give you the verses that I just read to you, and right under that it says: In verses 10 and 11, the lesson is that a man's way of fulfilling a small task is the best proof of his fitness or unfitness to be entrusted with a bigger task. No man will be advanced to higher office until he has given proof of his honesty and his ability in a smaller position.

But Jesus takes this concept or this principle and gives it an eternal dimension. He says, Upon earth; you are in charge of things which are not really yours. You cannot take them with you when you die. They are only lent to you. You are only a steward over them. They cannot, in the very nature of things, be permanently yours. Now that's true. That's the first thing we've got to come to as a Christian. We've got to come to this realization, we own nothing. We're simply stewards, because all that we have comes from God. He gives us the air to breath. He gives us health. He gives us the mentality, the wisdom; all that we have comes from God. And what we have we only hold for a short time. As Dr. Swindoll says, there's never been a hearse with a U-Haul trailer on it. We take nothing with us. We go out the same way we came in.

But, what Jesus is saying here is something very, very solemn. He is saying on the other hand, in heaven you will get what is really and eternally yours. And what you get in heaven depends on how you use the things of earth. Now that is interesting. What Jesus is saying in that everything that you have belongs to Me, I'm going to hold You accountable as to how you use it on earth, and the way you use it on earth will determine your rewards in heaven.

Now here's what I have to do. I have to set down all of my wallet, my purse, my bank, whatever it is and I look at it and I say, God, that is Yours; every bit of it. Now I know I have the sacred accountability in how I use that, but I first of all acknowledge that it's Yours. Now You give me wisdom to be a good steward so that I can use it so the way I use it brings glory to You and brings eternal rewards.

Look at, it goes on to say: What you will be given as your very own will depend on how you use the things of which you are only stewards. You see most of us don't think of this. Most of us get our checkbook or our checks and we hurry to the bank and we go through the process of just taking care of money. But if we would pause and put that check on the table in front of all the family and say, God, thank you. Thank you that You gave me the ability this week and the health this week and the strength to make this. This are Your funds. Now God, you know that we have certain funds as a family we need to spend, but I want to be a good steward. I'm going to recognize that every penny I spend belonged to You. Boy that which shortchange our suspending patterns folks, real quick.

Let's go on. "For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?" We've got to admit one thing, if God didn't give it to us we wouldn't have it folks.

Look at the next verse. "Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of light, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." And so the Bible teaches us a very solemn truth: everything I have God gives to me, and I have the sacred responsibility of using it for His glory and for His praise.

Let's go to page 7. Wealth, possessions, and money - our Bible has much to say about these. In a sense, money is a good barometer of our spirituality, because the way we handle our money is an indication of our performance as a Christian steward. One has said, "Let me see the record of the checks you have written on your bank account for the last year, and I can tell how much you really love God and the degree of your concern for eternity." A tremendous barometer folks.

Jesus said, Do not gather or heap up or store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy, and where thieves break through and steal. But gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worms consume or destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

The Bible says the silver is mine and the gold is mine declares the Lord of hosts. Deuteronomy 8:18 says, But you shall remember the Lord your God: for it is he who is giving you the power to make wealth. Now every Christian comes to that point. I am God's steward and all that I have He gives to me.

Now notice that all money is God's, and He grants to men and women the ability to earn which is His - that's His wealth, His money. Money is one of God's gifts to us.

Now think, if we were executives in a corporation and handled company funds like we sometimes handle God's money, we would all go to jail for embezzlement. When it's His, He's going to hold me accountable. That's a sacred assignment folks.

The apostle Paul said, "The love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. It is through this craving that some have been led astray and have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves through with many acute mental pangs." Since we are not to love money, it follows that we're not to trust in it either. In fact, to trust in money is idolatry, one of God's most serious charges against anyone. Money you see is not the problem. It's the love of money that is the problem. You can have a lot of it and not love it, and you can have none of it and love it. It's the love of money, not money, that disgusts God.

When you derive your sense of security from your money rather than from your God, you're trapped in idolatry. God or money--we must choose who will be our master. Proverbs says, "Trust in your money and down you go! Trust in God and flourish as a tree!"

"Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings, like an eagle that flies toward the heavens." Whatever we hold it can very quickly be gone from our hands. So these matters we have observed thus far in our lesson: God included giving and offerings in His plan of worship.

Ladies and gentlemen, offering time is not a creation of man. God Almighty said if you're going to worship Me, bring a gift. He warned that if this aspect of worship was negated, His blessings would be withheld and one would suffer negative effects in his monetary resources.

If you leave out the matter of giving as part of your worship, you're going to suffer personally, because you can't rob God without robbing yourself. It always is that way.

Wealth and money can become our god and if so, we are guilty of idolatry. Jesus told us that the way we use our resources here on earth will have an effect on what we will receive in eternity. Jesus told us to lay up our treasures in heaven, and not here on earth.

Now in conclusion, let us consider the following aspects of worshipping through giving.
(1) The early church worshipped God through giving. You know, these people who say God stopped tithing in the New Testament, Paul says, "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also." In other words, worship continued in the New Testament church through giving. It was just a part of the worship plan. God never change that. Look at number 2.

(2) The early Christians were taught to give generously. "But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." You be stingy with God, you won't get any blessings. It's that simple. That's the way God set it up folks. Look at number 3.

(3) The sincerity of one's love for God is proven in his giving. But as you abound in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, I mean, if you're growing spiritually in all of these areas make sure that you abound also in the grace of giving. I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

Love this always proven in giving. I've often said you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. It's impossible. When I fell in love...you always want to take chocolates, or a bouquet of roses, whatever it is. I mean love just turns on something inside the heart and says, you know, I want to give.

Some months ago we celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary, and I love my wife, so I got to hold of the florist and said I want you to find in town the most beautiful roses, long-stemmed roses, and I need 49 of them. He said Mr. Sheley, do you know what you're asking? I'm never going to gather a bouquet like that. I said I been married to this lovely gal for 49 years and I want the finest roses in town. And boy when they brought them, I mean, they almost filled the whole office. It was a scene.

Somebody said, why? Because love...you cannot help but give when the love. And that's one of the challenges I have as your pastor. My prayer is, dear God, help me to help you so all in love Jesus you'll just be generous with Jesus. And for 45 years it's been that way. Your giving has been sufficient and enough for the ministry here.

But look at, here's a serious thought I conclude it with. Paul gets very serious about this matter of giving: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."

Now Paul reminds us of an eternal truth...He insists that life holds the scales with an even balance. If a man allows the lower side of his nature to dominate him, in the end he can expect nothing but a harvest of trouble. If we use our resources here for that which satisfies our fleshly cravings, we will end up in heaven empty-handed, and before if we get there, we will have much trouble along the bumpy road of life.

Now my time is gone so let me wrap it up. I've been preaching for 54 years, so what I tell you comes out of experience. I have made this observation. The people and families who learn this matter, this truth, that God has everything and I want to be as generous with God as I possibly can be, those are the families that God has blessed. His presence has been in their home, His peace, the children have grown up beautifully. And I can go across this congregation, after being a pastor for 45 years, and you can almost tell those who have been faithful and generous towards God because God's blessing rests upon them. The windows of heaven are wide open on them. It's amazing.

And those that have been stingy with God, the windows have been closed on them and they lack so many blessings and they struggle through the bumpy road of life. It's a divine law that there. God says if you worship Me with your giving, I will bless you and I'll open the windows of heaven.

I'm not talking about these preachers who say give a dollar and God will give you 1000. That's a bunch of nonsense. I'm saying when God says I'll open the windows of heaven, that means He'll bless our life, we'll grow spiritually, we'll flourish in God's presence, our spirituality will grow, our family will be blessed. That's what I'm talking about. Those are the blessings that count.

And I close our lesson with this one little illustration. When I was born it was 1931 and in the heart of the Depression. There were no governmental agencies to provide for those in need and my father was out of work for five years. He begged for food so we as a little family of five boys could have something to eat, and sometimes there was nothing on the plate when we went to the dinner table. I understand that.

My father, when I was five years of age, gave his life to Jesus Christ and his life was totally changed. And I remember the little church that had about 30 people in the church up in the Sierra foothills, and they began to pray that daddy would get a job.

He got a job. The job was stacking lumber at a lumber company. He worked 10 hours a day. He got 50 cents an hour. He worked 60 hours a week and took home his first paycheck; thirty-one dollar bills. He cashed it at the company store. I'm five years old. That was 69 years ago, and I can still remember. Daddy set us five boys around the table, some of us didn't have shoes on and the cupboard was bare, but daddy was going to recognize and honor God as the giver of everything. And I watched him take three-one dollar bills and he said, family, I'll be back in just a little bit. And daddy took those down to the little white church, gave them to the pastor, and said God has blessed me I want to bless the church. I've never forgotten that.

My father was always faithful. He taught us as a family. You say, well then did he end up a wealthy man like the preachers say? No. My daddy died with only one suit to be buried in. He had nothing else left. But he left a family of five boys, and their families, and their families, and their families with a wonderful faith in Christ. And when it came time for his funeral, from his offspring, seven ministers were there to conduct the funeral. Now that leaves behind a tremendous treasure.

Here's what I'm telling you - you can be stingy and not include generosity in your giving, and you're robbing yourself and you're robbing God, but you can acknowledge God as the giver of everything you have, and I'll tell you this, you'll never, never out give God. Never!

When you honor God with your giving, He'll bless you and open the windows of heaven so you'll have to cry out and say, God, that's just too much. Turn off the spigot for a while.

You know, I can say all of this and conclude my sermon with the words of the old clothing salesman - I guarantee it!

And how do I guarantee it? Because this is what God's word says, and if you follow it, He'll bless you, and He'll bless your life and your family. Amen? You got the message?

Let's stand, shall we?

Father, thank you for Your Word. Thank you for Your love that You've displayed in our life in sending Jesus to save us. Now may we live our Christian life with a generosity that pours out all that we have; our time, our talent, and our treasures so that You can use them and use us for Your glory. We pray in Jesus' name. God bless you folks.