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You and I are going to have a heart-to-heart talk

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regarding just seven verses

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found in that great sermon,

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the greatest sermon that was ever preached,

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and it was preached by Jesus himself.

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And if you want to know what Jesus is really like,

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if you want to know something about his personality,

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study this great sermon.

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It begins with the fifth chapter of Matthew.

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Continue through this masterpiece.

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For a few minutes of the day,

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I'm going to read the first seven verses

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of the sixth chapter of Matthew,

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but it's a part of this great sermon.

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Take heed that ye do not your alms before men

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to be seen of them.

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Otherwise ye have no reward of your Father,

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which is in heaven.

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Therefore, when thou doest thine alms,

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do not sound a trumpet before thee,

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as the hypocrites do in the synagogues

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and in the streets,

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that they may have glory of men.

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Verily I say unto you,

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they have their reward.

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But when thou doest alms,

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let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.

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That thine alms may be in secret,

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and thy Father, which seeth in secret himself,

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shall reward thee openly.

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And when thou prayest,

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thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are,

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for they love to pray,

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standing in the synagogues,

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in the corners of the streets,

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that they may be seen of men.

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Verily I say unto you,

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they have their reward.

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But thou, when thou prayest,

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enter into thy closet.

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And when thou hast shut thy door,

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pray to thy Father, which is in secret.

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And thy Father, which seeth in secret,

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shall reward thee openly.

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But when ye pray,

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use not vain repetitions,

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as the heathen do,

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for they think that they shall be heard,

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for they are much speaking.

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If I had no comment to make whatsoever,

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if I just gave you the Scripture,

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just as I have read it from the Word of God,

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you would have something so deep,

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so wonderful, so practical,

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that you would have enough spiritual food

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to last you for a long, long time.

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And it's just like that.

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I want you to see something that's very marvelous.

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When Jesus says something,

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he never wastes one single word, not one.

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Now we come to that part of his sermon,

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which deals with the relation of man to God.

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And in this sermon, in this part of his sermon,

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Jesus lays down a fundamental principle.

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And the principle is first applied

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in the matter of the giving of alms,

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the matter of prayer,

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and the matter of fasting.

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And these three are the three great means of grace.

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I repeat them.

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They're all three given right here

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in the portion of the Word of God

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that I have just read to you.

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And these, remember,

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are the three fundamental principles,

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the giving of alms,

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prayer, and fasting.

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These are the three great means of grace.

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And before he gives them,

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he begins by saying, take heed.

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In other words, he's giving a warning.

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Oh, sure, I've taught you before

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that whenever Jesus begins a statement

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with barely, barely,

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we know that something very important

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is about to be said.

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In other words, he says,

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now, pause just a minute.

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I'm about to say something very important.

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But he begins this part of his sermon

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by saying, take heed.

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I'm giving you a warning.

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Stop.

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What I'm about to say is a warning to you.

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Take heed that ye do not your alms

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before men to be seen of them.

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Otherwise, ye have no reward

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of your Father which is in heaven.

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And there are thousands of people

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who are getting their reward

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right here and now.

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And in that day when they stand

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in the presence of Almighty God,

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they will find out that they stand there

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and empty-handed because they had

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the wrong motive in their giving,

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in their praying, in their doing,

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in their sacrifices, in everything.

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After all, it's the motive in the heart.

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And Jesus knows the motive.

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He sees the motive.

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A man can fool you.

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A woman can fool you.

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But there's one that we cannot fool.

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And that one is God Himself.

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Behind every act is a motive, a reason.

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And God and God alone knows the motive,

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the reason behind our every act.

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And He says, I'm giving you a warning here.

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Take heed that you have the right motive,

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the correct reason for doing

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that bit of righteousness.

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In the giving of your alms,

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be sure that you're prompted

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by the right motive.

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If you are doing it to be seen of men,

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then, my friend, you have your reward

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right here on earth.

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And there's many a precious person

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who's going to be disappointed

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when they get home to glory,

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and they find that they have laid up

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no treasures above because they've gotten

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the whole thing right here on earth.

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That's what it means.

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That's it.

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I want you to see that because it's very marvelous.

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The proof of our human relationship

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to God in this world, right here and now,

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is the giving of our tithes and our offerings.

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Not only the giving of our material things,

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but even of ourselves,

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because there is a giving

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that goes beyond the giving of the material.

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There is a giving that goes beyond

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the giving of the tithes and the offerings.

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The greatest gift, the richest gift

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that a human being can give

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is the giving of their very blood,

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their very life,

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the strength from their bodies,

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their very body.

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That's the reason why we talk of giving.

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And when Jesus talks about even the giving of the arms,

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there is a giving that goes beyond

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the giving of the material.

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The richest gift possible,

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the greatest gift possible,

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is the giving of one's self.

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You know, it is absolutely a fact

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that love is something you do.

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It is a proven fact.

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You cannot love without giving.

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It's impossible.

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We're constructed that way.

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When the great Creator created man,

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He set up the mechanism so that

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man cannot love, really love,

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without giving.

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I guess I'm a funny sort of a preacher.

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In all of these years, those who follow my ministry

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will admit that I have only preached on tithing

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not more than twice.

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There are thousands who follow this ministry

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who have never heard me preach not even one sermon on tithing.

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I say to myself, well, now, surely before this month is over with,

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I'll find time to preach a sermon on tithing.

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I should preach it because in the Bible it's the word.

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And maybe next Sunday I'll preach on tithing.

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And then when next Sunday comes,

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there's so much to preach about in the Word of God,

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I think, well, I'll wait until Tuesday,

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and then maybe Tuesday I'll preach on tithing.

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Then when Tuesday comes,

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I have found something that's so rich and so wonderful.

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I found a secret in the Word of God that has thrilled me so

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that I postponed that sermon on tithing,

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and then six months have come and gone,

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and a year has come and gone,

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and in my word I still haven't gotten to the place

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where I've preached on tithing.

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And the amazing thing is that practically everyone

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who is a part of this ministry and who follows this ministry

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tithes regularly.

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And yet they've got a pastor, they've got a preacher,

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they have a leader who just hasn't preached on tithing.

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Why?

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Because I have found out that if you preach Jesus,

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if you lift up Jesus, if you give the truth of the Word,

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if those who are hungry for the Master love Him enough,

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you don't have to preach on giving.

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You don't have to force people to give.

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I'm going to say something that probably you'll flinch

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a little bit on this, and you'll wish I hadn't said it,

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but I'll be glad I did say it because it's the truth.

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I never could quite understand when in the average church today

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that ever so often they organize a committee

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who goes around to all the members of the church

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and takes pledges so that they can raise the budget

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and meet the budget.

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And they burden their people with a budget that has to be met

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and hound the people for money to pay the preacher's salary.

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I still contend that if the man in the pulpit,

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the one who stands behind the sacred desk,

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will feed his people and preach a positive gospel

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where his people will see the reality of the power of God,

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and Jesus becomes real to them,

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and they get a deep, glorious spiritual experience,

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and they love the Master enough.

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You'll never have any material problems

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in your congregation, in your church.

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I said a mouthful, but that's a word of God.

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It works just like two and two makes four.

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When you love enough, you automatically kill.

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It's true.

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I've seen some of these stingy old codgers,

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an old bachelor who for years has been so tight

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he wouldn't even buy himself a decent-looking suit.

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I mean that.

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Oh, he was so tight.

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He wouldn't part with two bits unless he had to.

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And then suddenly he falls in love.

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Oh, I've seen men change so quickly,

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almost instantaneously, when they fall in love.

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And falling in love can turn an old stingy miser,

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an old stingy codger,

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into the most generous soul you ever saw in your life.

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What is love?

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What made the difference?

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Love.

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What transformed an old stingy guy

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into a generous gentleman?

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Love.

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Love will work miracles.

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Love is something you do.

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And the proof of our human relationship to God in this world

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right here and now

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is the giving of our ties, the giving of our offerings,

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the giving of ourselves.

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Just plain giving.

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Now watch.

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The power that creates the giving is prayer.

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And it's just like that.

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You will never be that kind of person

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where you will love enough

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to give him all that you have.

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When giving is no longer a sacrifice,

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you will never reach that place in your experience, in your life,

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where you'll go beyond even the giving of the material

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and the giving of your very blood, the giving of your very life,

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the giving of the strength, the giving of the body

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unless you have a deep spiritual prayer life.

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And the kind of prayer life that I'm talking about

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isn't the kind of prayer life

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that you had in just praying in public.

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There's many a preacher

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who stands in public

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and prays so long

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and so loud

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until you're quite sure he's just catching up

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on all the praying that he has failed to do

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in the past month.

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Because had he come into the service all prayed up,

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he wouldn't have to do so much praying publicly.

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And it isn't the public prayers

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that are the most powerful.

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You want to know something?

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It's in that secret place

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when the door is shut,

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when you and I are to really do our praying.

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And praying is not just a matter of us talking to God,

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but God talking to us.

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Sometimes I think that from the time I awaken in the morning

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until I walk off the platform, I never shut my mouth.

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I just keep talking and talking, but I'll confess to you,

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there's a time when I do keep quiet.

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And that time is when I go home

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and there isn't a soul in the house

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and I shut the door

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and I shut my mouth.

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And I get quiet before my march.

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And I say now, Lord, I've talked all day.

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I haven't been quiet all day.

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I'm going to get very quiet.

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I'm not going to say a word.

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Now you talk to me.

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Do you want to know how I get my sermon?

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Or as the painter asked me the other day, Ms. Kuhnman,

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when do you do your studying?

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I'm telling you now.

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When the door is shut,

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the world is closed out

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and I am alone with him.

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That's real praying.

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Amen.