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Good morning. How are you all doing today?

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Awesome. It's starting to warm up finally.

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See some of you taking your jackets off. I'm like, well, that's a good problem to have. It's not too cold anymore, you know?

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So we always like to start our service by saying welcome to anybody that is here in our sanctuary for the first time or if you're

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joining us online for the first time,

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welcome. We're so glad you're here to worship with us here at Hosanna.

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Today we are going to be taking communion together.

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And so if you are in the sanctuary here, you should have gotten one of these communion cups as you came in.

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Okay, if you did not, we will give an opportunity for the elders to come down and distribute these to you later on in the service.

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If you're watching online, just want to remind you to get your communion emblems ready for that.

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We will be celebrating that together at the end of the service.

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So for those of you who don't know, I am Pastor Nathan.

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And this morning we're going to be continuing our four part series on generosity and giving with our second message titled The Heart of Giving.

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Last week, we begun this whole series by laying a foundation for giving with really what the church is, what this entity is that we are a part of as

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individual Christians. And we learned that as individual believers, we are called to collectively, intentionally, voluntarily participate in the work of the ministry of the church, that we participate together in everything, including the needs of the church, because we're the body of Christ.

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And Paul has so much to say about that, about us being the body, that we are important parts of one another, that just as the physical body needs all the parts to function effectively, it's the same with us individually as we are part of the body of Christ.

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And so it's just that idea that the body needs every part doing its part to fully accomplish its purpose.

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And so we gather together as God's people to learn, to be equipped, to be strengthened, all united in one purpose in the presence of God, collectively participating together with our individual time, with our individual talent, and yes, our individual money and finances.

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Now, the question that often comes up when we're talking about giving or generosity in the church is people go, well, does that mean God needs our money?

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And the answer to that question is no. God doesn't need our money. He doesn't even need our time or talent, but it is the method in which he has chosen to work in this world, that he works through his people as he saves them, as he transforms them to participate in the work of the church.

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As he transforms them to proclaim his glory to the world around us. And that collective unity of us working together, participating together, and supporting one another is all a part of that work that God wants to do.

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But if God doesn't need our money, then why does the Bible talk about generosity and giving? Why does, why did God create giving? Why did he invent giving if he doesn't need our resources?

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Why does he teach it and encourage it in his word? Well, the answers to those questions comes down to our hearts. It's about our hearts.

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You see, a very important truth is giving is for us. It's not for God. Giving is for us.

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In giving, in generosity, we demonstrate trust, faith, obedience to God, and we reflect the nature of the God we serve.

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You see, biblically, the idea of the heart, the concept of the heart refers to that spiritual part of us, the seat of not just our emotions, but the seat of our desires, the seat of our will.

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It really is an idea that refers to our nature, the essence of who we are. That's what the Bible is talking about when it refers to our heart.

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Now, in its natural, unredeemed condition, Jeremiah 17, nine tells us that our heart is evil, treacherous, deceitful, and desperately wicked.

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Due to the fall of man all the way back in the garden, our emotions and our desires and our will are tainted by sin, tainted by sin and utterly selfish as a result.

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Jesus pointed this out in Mark chapter seven, where he said in Mark chapter seven, he goes, out of people's hearts come all manner of wickedness.

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And then he gives us really kind of long list of wicked things that come out of the heart of man, and two of the things in that list are greed and self-indulgence.

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And that teaches us that one of the biggest problems we have, if not the biggest problem, it's not an external problem, it's an internal problem, that we as man have a heart issue.

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We have a heart condition.

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Now, when we get saved, the Bible tells us that God gives us a new heart, not a physical one, but a spiritual heart, a spiritual heart.

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As we become more like him, it's a result of him giving us a new nature, a new heart that has new desires and a new will.

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He changes us to be more and more like him in a process the Bible calls sanctification.

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And then again, as we become more like him, our lives display his character more and more.

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But our old nature still wrestles with our new one, and thus we have the daily call to choose obedience to him, to say no to our old sinful nature, our old sinful heart, and yes to our new righteous one.

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And as we do that, we find ourselves in our lives becoming more loving, more forgiving, more gracious, and guess what?

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More giving.

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For Jesus himself declared that the attitude that we have towards money is really indicative of the focus of our hearts.

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That's what we're going to be talking about today, but before we get into all that, we're going to spend time worshiping God because he is worthy, right?

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We should all understand that God has given us so much.

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And I've said it many times that if all God ever did was save your soul, and then you never heard from him again, and he never blessed you again, and he never spoke to you again, we still owe him everything.

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But God starts with saving our soul.

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And then he indwells us with his Holy Spirit, and he teaches, and he guides, and he leads, and he directs, and he gifts, and he blesses, and it's just such an amazing truth that our God is a great giver.

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And so we want to worship him for that.

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We want to praise his name and say thank you, God, through lifting up his name in our worship, because he's worth it.

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Let's pray.

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Father, we love you so much.

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God, you are worthy of our praise.

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You are so worthy of our praise, God.

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Lord, as we are studying your word and really learning what giving is all about in the church, what giving is about as Christians, how it all relates to our life and how we live, God, Lord, we want to be diligent to look at what your word says about this topic in every way we can, Lord.

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To look at what it says about us giving our time and our talent and, yes, even our money, Lord.

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Because, God, we want to be like you, and your word shows us over and over again that you are such a giver.

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And, God, we are called to be like you.

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Lord, your Spirit is conforming us into your image, Lord, as image bearers of Christ, God.

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We want to reflect all that you are to the world, and that includes the generosity that is in your Spirit and your character.

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And so, Lord, we want to just want to start by praising you for all that you've given us.

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Lord, we want to celebrate you and just lift up your name on high because, Lord, gosh, we are nothing without you and we have nothing without you.

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So, Lord, be blessed, be glorified.

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We love you, and we lift up your name on high because you are the God of glory.

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You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

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You are our Savior.

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Thank you, Jesus.

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And it's your name we pray. Amen.

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We are going to be jumping all over the place in Scripture, so just be ready to turn or scroll or whatever device you're using to get there.

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But, you know, the heart of giving really starts with our salvation.

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You know, the Bible tells us that when a person is saved, at the moment of conversion, we receive a new heart.

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We receive a new nature.

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We become different people than we were prior to that salvation.

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You know, Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 26, God said it like this, and he was really speaking of the redemption of the nation of Israel, but the application is to all that God redeems.

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And it says, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.

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I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

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And the idea there is that prior to redemption, we have a dead heart.

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We have a dead nature.

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Our spirit is dead.

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And that's where that concept of being born again comes from, that when we are saved, we are giving a living heart.

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The psalmist in Psalm 51 10 said, God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

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Because there was recognition there that our nature, outside of God, our nature is just desperately wicked.

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And then in 2 Corinthians 5 17, Paul said that in Christ, we're a new creation altogether, that when we get saved, we're a completely new person.

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He says the old has passed away.

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And the idea of these types of concepts in Scripture is that when someone has been given a new heart by God through salvation, through faith in him and trust in him, that new heart means they're also given a new nature.

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And what that means is that we behave differently.

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We have a different set of desires, a different set of priorities.

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We have a different will that is given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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It's the power of the Holy Spirit that then comes in and changes our heart and our nature from being sin-focused to being God-focused.

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And thus our priorities and our will and our desires change.

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They become God-focused.

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Now, it's not that we become perfect or sinless when we are saved, but we do gain the freedom, as Scripture teaches, to choose whether or not we're going to obey our flesh.

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Whether or not we're going to obey our old nature or the new one.

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And it's the power of the Holy Spirit that gives us the desire to please God with our lives, a desire that was foreign to us in our previous stone-hearted state.

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Now, this process of God changing our heart, changing our nature, and developing it is called sanctification.

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This is a biblical idea wherein God enables us through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to grow into more and more holiness over time.

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And this process of sanctification for believers, it's a continuous process from the moment you're saved until the moment you're standing before Jesus.

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It is a process that God is working in you and changing you and developing that new heart, that new will, that new desire that he gave you.

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And it comes with a lot of victories and it comes with a lot of defeats because really that new heart and that new nature is battling with the old one that still resides in us.

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And that's what Romans chapter 7 is all about.

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But this development of this new heart and this new nature, this battle, this moment-by-moment choice that we have as believers to live the new heart, the new nature that we are given in salvation,

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Paul characterized it this way in Romans chapter 13-14.

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He says, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

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That means as believers endeavoring to live this new heart and this new nature God gives us, we have a choice to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

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It's figuratively to clothe oneself with Jesus.

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Paul goes on to say in Galatians 3-27, he says, for those of you who were baptized into Christ Jesus have been clothed with Christ.

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And then in Colossians 3, Paul says this, do not lie to one another since you have put off the old self, that's the old nature, with its practices and have put on the new self, the new nature.

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And so this idea that we have in Scripture of putting on Christ, it's an everyday thing.

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It's a moment-by-moment decision that we make to follow him in discipleship or to put it another way, it's letting our lives be conformed into the image of Christ.

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That is this process of sanctification that begins in our salvation.

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And so the idea, and you guys have heard it many times probably in your Christian life, is that we are called to be like Christ, right?

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We want to be like him, we want to act like him, we want to think like him, we want to have the heart that he had.

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We're to be imitating him.

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Now you might go, that's great Pastor Nathan, thanks for that.

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What does that have to do with generosity?

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What does that have to do with giving?

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Well, if our goal as believers is to be like Christ, who is God, to follow his example in all things,

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if we are to be as Ephesians 5 verse 1 says, imitators of God, we need to understand that God is a giver.

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God is a giver.

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And it's one of the characteristics that we are called to emulate.

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Now in the Old Testament, if you study through the Old Testament, you'll read hundreds and hundreds of times the phrase,

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God gave, or God gifted, or something was given, right?

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You go through the Old Testament and we read, I just did a brief list of things God gave.

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God gave land, blessing, families, he gave his statutes and commands, he gave wisdom, he gave insight,

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he gave children, he gives rest, knowledge, understanding, and that's just a short list in the Old Testament.

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In the New Testament, over 130 or so times, we read the phrase, God gave.

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And here's a list from the New Testament.

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God gave authority, favor, spiritual gifts, he gave ministers to the body, he gives growth, he gave the Holy Spirit,

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he gives to the poor, he gives for building us up, he gave grace, he gave himself, he gave life,

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spiritual birth, revelation, judgment, righteousness, and eternal life.

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And that's not an exhaustive list of what God gave in the New Testament.

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And then ultimately, right, the biggest one, he gave his only begotten son that we would be saved.

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Our God is a generous God.

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God is a giver. Our God is a giving God.

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And he loves to give.

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Now as Christians, and if you don't know that word, that term Christian means Christ follower, right?

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We should endeavor to be like him.

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And so the heart of giving is the heart of God.

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It really is the heart of God. And so why do we give, right?

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One of those foundational questions that we're answering in this series?

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Well, because we want to be like our Savior.

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Because we're called to be like our Savior.

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King David was called a man after God's own heart.

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What an awesome way to be known.

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Wouldn't that be great to have that reputation in your life?

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You are a man or a woman after God's own heart.

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And that's what David was known as because he reflected God's heart in so many ways.

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And so now being like our Savior, having that heart of giving that is like saying,

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God, I want to have the heart that you have, it's accomplished by living obediently to his word.

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Right? That's a basic truth of Christianity.

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So the heart of giving is also the heart of obedience.

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You see, we are generous in giving people, well, because Jesus said so.

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Right? Let me read to you out of Luke chapter 6 verse 30.

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Jesus speaking here, he says, Give to everyone who asks of you.

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And from someone who takes your things, don't ask for them back.

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Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them.

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If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?

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Even sinners love those who love them.

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If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you?

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Even sinners do that.

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And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you?

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Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full.

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But love your enemies.

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Do what is good and lend, expecting nothing in return.

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Then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High.

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You will be like God if you follow in his example of generosity.

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For he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil.

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Guess who that was?

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That was you and me before we got saved, right?

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Be merciful, verse 36 says, just as your father also is merciful.

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Do not judge and you will not be judged.

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Do not condemn and you will not be condemned.

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Forgive and you will be forgiven.

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Give and it will be given to you.

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A good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap.

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The measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

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You see, there are some that get nervous about talking about giving in a Biblical perspective

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because so many have abused the teachings of giving, right?

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There's prosperity preachers out there that preach, you know,

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hey, if you give me so I could buy a new jet, you will be blessed.

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And they have a new jet and the people are broke.

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It's just, it's wrong.

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It is so wrong.

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But we can't swing the pendulum so far to ignore what the word of God does say about giving.

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Even in reference to what it says about our finances.

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Now this passage, this is direct instruction from Jesus as to his expectations of those who follow him.

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Now there's much here in this passage, but for the sake of today's focus,

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what we see here is that generosity, giving in just a broad sense, not just financial,

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but generosity and giving in a broad sense, it's a principle that applies to every single area of our lives.

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What we see here in this passage is the admonition for God's people,

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give love, give goodness, give finances, give mercy, give forgiveness.

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Right, those are just the things listed here in this passage.

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But then if you go through the New Testament, again, through those over 60 one another verses that the Bible talks about,

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to love one another and all these things, you add all kinds of things to what we are to be givers of,

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grace, encouragement, help, honor, welcome, teaching, service, patience, honesty, and on and on and on.

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God wants us to catch the vision of giving.

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He wants us to catch the vision of giving, not getting, right?

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The priority of getting is rooted in our old nature.

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It's rooted in our fallen, selfish nature.

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Now, that's not to say that getting something or receiving anything is inherently wrong or bad in and of itself, not at all.

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But in Acts chapter 20 verse 35, Paul quoted Jesus and it says,

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it is more blessed to give than to receive.

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And so God wants us to catch this vision.

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Now, we read there that it wasn't suggested.

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It wasn't, hey, if you feel like it.

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It wasn't his, well, if you have extra, he just said be givers.

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Right?

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Now, in 1 Corinthians chapter 16 verse 1, this is interesting.

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It says, Paul writing to the Corinthian church, he goes, now about the collection for the saints,

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do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches.

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That word instructed in the Greek means commanded.

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What does that tell us about giving in the New Testament?

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That giving is commanded in God's word in the New Testament.

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Now, that's one of the big things that people always will bring up like, oh, nowhere in the New Testament.

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We're never commanded to give.

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Yes, we are.

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Now, the issue of how much, that's another conversation.

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And we're going to dive into that in detail next week when we talk about what the Old Testament says,

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what the New Testament says, you know, is the tithe for today, right?

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That's a big debate, you know?

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And we're going to deal with all that.

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But the idea of being a giver, being generous, just across every area of our life, we're commanded.

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And then we see here in 1 Corinthians 16 that he's directly referring to financial contribution in the church.

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And he says, I commanded the Galatian churches to do this.

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In 1 Corinthians, I'm saying the same to you.

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Now, so yeah, the heart of giving, it's about being like Jesus, to imitate him in every area of our life, right?

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As his image bearers, we are called to copy his character, which includes his generosity.

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And then being submitted to his lordship in obedience to his word and in his teaching,

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yeah, that's a part of why we give, too, because he told us to.

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He told us to be generous givers.

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Now, there's a whole bunch of teaching throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament about giving.

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As I said, we're going to talk about those details next week.

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But our obedience to God in this area of giving recognizes that there's a higher authority in our lives.

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That's part of the heart behind it, that we're saying, God, you're the authority in my life.

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I'm not the authority in my life.

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So I'm going to be obedient to you.

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I'm going to do what you call me to do.

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And really, you know, some areas of our life, it's really easy to submit ourselves to God's desire for our living, right?

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There's areas of our life where it's like, oh, it's super easy to be obedient to God in that.

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But our submission is really tested in areas where our old nature or situations we're in make it difficult for us to be obedient.

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And statistically, statistically for most in the church, money is one of, if not that greatest area of challenge when it comes to be obedient to God.

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Martin Luther put it this way.

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People go through three conversions, the conversion of their head, the conversion of their heart, and the conversion of their wallet.

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And unfortunately, not all at the same time, right?

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Our finances are often one of the last bastions of resistance to fall to the rule of God in our lives.

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And even when that bastion does fall, sometimes we could find ourselves building it back up far too quickly and far too easily.

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So submitting all of ourselves, every area of our lives, including our finances to the lordship of Christ, it's not something that's threatening.

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It's not something that's going to destroy us.

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Quite the opposite, it's the place of greatest safety.

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And that's where then we see all that the word teaches about giving.

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And we're going to see next week one of the greatest foundations of giving because we want to be like God and we want to be obedient to His word is really that everything belongs to Him.

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It's all His.

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Everything belongs to Him.

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And that includes everything we have as His people, every material possession, every financial penny we got.

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It all belongs to God because He is God Almighty.

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And when it comes to our money, He doesn't even ask us to give it all back.

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He just has give back a portion.

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And we'll talk about that more next week.

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But God doesn't just say, do this because I said so and leave it at that.

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Now, He could have said that because He's God Almighty.

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He could have said, do it because I'm God.

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And it would have been absolutely right and just for Him to do that.

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We were all kids.

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We all realized how irritating that was when our parents would say, do it because I said so.

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And the point is, is they have the authority to do that.

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But God doesn't just leave it at that.

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He actually shows us what happens.

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He said it's more blessed to give than to receive.

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And we see throughout Scripture many different ways where He says,

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let me show you the blessing that I have in store for you when you're obedient to this.

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And this is just incidentally another reason why we give.

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That's kind of the underlying question of the heart of giving.

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Why do we give?

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One, we give to be like Christ.

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We want to be imitators of Him.

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Two, we give to be obedient to His Word.

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And three, it's good for us.

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It's good for us in so many ways.

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One, giving builds our faith and our trust.

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You know, when you're a giver, especially sacrificially,

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when you give above what is easy or comfortable to give,

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you're really expressing your faith and your trust in God to provide for you,

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to provide for your family.

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When you come to that place where you feel like God is saying,

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hey, I want you to step out in faith in this, and you're like, ooh, I'm a little scared.

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What you're exercising when you say, okay, God, I'll be obedient to that call in my life,

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is I trust you.

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I trust you to provide for me.

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I trust you to take care of my needs.

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I trust you to take care of my family.

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It's also part of our sanctification because our giving, especially with our money

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and especially when it's scary or painful to do so, man, that requires much self-denial, doesn't it?

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That requires much picking up our cross, if you will, right?

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Because, oh, man, if I give, I won't be able to get Starbucks tomorrow.

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Oh, it's the end, right?

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But sometimes it's even bigger than that, where we might find ourselves in extremely difficult

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financial situations, and I've been there, and I know many of you have been there,

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and some of you are there right now.

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If I give, according to my math, I'm not even going to have enough to pay rent, right?

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Those are real scenarios that God's people can find themselves in.

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But the act of giving is an act of practicing self-denial.

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It's an act of practicing, okay, God, I'm going to trust you more than myself.

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I'm going to step out.

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And really, every act of giving, and this applies in all areas, it really attacks and breaks down

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our sinful, selfish nature.

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It defeats that.

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It puts down that old man.

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Three, giving makes God happy.

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I think it's a good thing to make God happy.

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Not that we're afraid he's grumpy and going to strike us down with a lightning bolt,

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but, you know, God says in his word he loves a cheerful giver.

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God is delighted when his people gladly open their hearts and their hands to provide for the needs

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of his church and his body and his mission.

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God's blessed by that.

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And then four, we are practically blessed when we're obedient in giving.

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Practically blessed.

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You see, there's this thing in Scripture that's called the law of reciprocity,

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and we saw that already in that Luke 6 passage we looked at.

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But the basic summary of the law of reciprocity is you get what you give.

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Look again at Luke chapter 6 verse 37.

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He said, do not judge, and you will not be judged.

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Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.

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Give and you will be forgiven.

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Give and it will be given to you.

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A good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap,

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for with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

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So right here at the tail end of this section we looked at,

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this overall teaching about giving, being a generous person,

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as a life-encompassing principle, right?

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It's with love, with patience, with everything, right?

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Right here in the middle of this at the end we see these really interesting verses.

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Now verse 38, incidentally, is one of the favorite verses that prosperity preachers will use.

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Give and it will be given to you, right?

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And again, they're just...

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Anyways, don't want to get on that soapbox.

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It's just they misapply and they just fleece the flock, right?

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Now, yeah, I will concede, right?

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I don't want to not say what the word says, that finances is a part of the application of verse 38,

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but it's not the primary application.

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Because in this whole section what he's saying here, right,

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when he says do not judge and you will not be judged,

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what he's saying here by giving it will be given to you is, look,

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give judgment, you'll get judgment.

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Give condemnation, you'll get condemnation.

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But give forgiveness, wow, you'll have an abundance of forgiveness given to you.

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Give love, expect a harvest of love to come back to you.

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It's this idea of reciprocity.

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Now, it comes back to you whether it's through the person you're doing that to,

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but ultimately it comes back to you from God Almighty.

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That's the idea here.

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Now, at the risk of sounding prosperity-y, the same applies to our finances.

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He said just lend and expect nothing back,

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but then right at the tail end of this he goes give and it will be given back to you.

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Now, there's so many stories and testimonies of people giving financially just to give, right,

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with the right motivation, the right heart.

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They're not giving with a motivation of getting something back.

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They're not giving going, ooh, I figured out the biblical formula for getting rich, right?

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They're just giving because God said be a giver.

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God said be like me.

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God said I commanded you to do it, and they're just doing it with the right heart

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and the right motivation.

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So many testimonies of people doing that, and then God blesses them back.

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Now, does God always in every case exactly bless us back in a financial way?

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Not in every case, but man, in so many of them He does.

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I just had a situation a couple months ago.

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I had a friend of mine who had come into possession of a brand new tablet, right,

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and he knew I teach from a tablet, and he was like, hey, I got this tablet, you know,

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but I would really rather have the finances to go get some more musical instruments

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and invest in my calling and all that, and I was like, okay, cool,

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and he goes, hey, do you want to buy the tablet off of me?

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And truth be told, I had one.

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It worked fine.

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I didn't really need the tablet, but I just felt like the Lord said, hey, bless him.

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Just bless him.

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I was like, all right, and I'm like, well, how much do you want?

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He goes, 800 bucks, and that was a discount on what it would be retail,

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and I was like, Lord, that's 800 bucks, and he's like, bless him.

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And I was like, okay, I'm like, well, I'm getting a new tablet out of it.

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That's cool, right?

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And so the next day I had given the money over to him,

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and I had gone to the bank to pull out the $800,

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and for some reason the teller actually pulled out $810, right?

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And so I'm counting out the money for the tablet,

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and I realize, oh, I got an extra $10 bill.

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So I just put it in my pocket, and I'm like, okay, Lord,

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I don't know what that's all about.

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Kid you not, I get the tablet, cool, excited, I hope he's blessed, right?

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I turn around, I walk out the door of the office,

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and an old friend of mine who lives in Idaho pulls up in a car.

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Now, I knew he was in town, I saw him earlier that day, but he pulls up.

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And I'm like, dude, what's up?

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He hands me money, he goes, God told me to give this to you, and it was $1,100.

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And I was like, is there another tablet around here somewhere, right?

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And I was just like, why?

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He goes, God just told me.

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I was getting ready to head out of town, and God told me to come by and give this to you.

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And I was like, well, God bless you, bro, thank you so much.

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And then I was like, well, God, I want to give back to you, right?

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Thanks for blessing me, right?

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And so I was immediately like, God, I want to give you 10% of this, right?

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Well, he gave it to me all in $100 bills, right?

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So it was $1,100 in $100 bills, and I was like, well, 10% of $1,100 is $110.

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And I'm like, oh, okay, well, I'm going to have to go break one of the hundreds and stuff.

402
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And I'm like, okay, cool, no problem.

403
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And then I reach into my pocket, and guess what I pulled out?

404
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That $10 bill that the bank gave me too much.

405
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And I was like, Lord, how specific are you?

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How cool, right?

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And I've had dozens of stories like that in my life where I just trusted God,

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and I wasn't thinking of anything, and he gave back.

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And sometimes it's giving back in finances and resources,

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and many times it's giving back in other ways.

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But some of you know the stories of Pastor Gary, right?

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The leader of Hosanna, and Pastor Gary used to give away cars, right?

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How many of you ever got a car given to you from Pastor Gary?

414
00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:03,760
A number of you in here.

415
00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:07,760
He would give you a car, and then as he's handing you the keys,

416
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:09,760
there's another one pulling up.

417
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:11,760
Someone's going, I'm supposed to give this to you, Pastor Gary.

418
00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:15,760
And he would just pass cars on over, and it became like a game to him.

419
00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:19,760
He was just excited every time he was like, who needs a car?

420
00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:23,760
I want to give away the car because I'm excited to see how God's going to give me another car.

421
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:25,760
He did that so many times.

422
00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:32,760
And there's just story after story after story of Christian people trusting God in their finances

423
00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:37,760
and experiencing this law of reciprocity according to what Jesus was saying here.

424
00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:39,760
You know, there's one story of a Christian adventurer.

425
00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:42,760
I forgot to write out his name, but many of you have heard the story before.

426
00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:48,760
He was a businessman who was like, God, I'm going to commit to giving you 10% of my income.

427
00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:52,760
And he goes, God, as you bless me, I want to give more.

428
00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:55,760
And so he gave, and God gave more back in his business.

429
00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:58,760
And so he goes, okay, I'm going to increase my giving to 20%.

430
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:01,760
And he was giving 20%, and God blesses his business even more.

431
00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:03,760
And he goes, okay, I'm going to increase it.

432
00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:10,760
And he kept doing that until he was giving away 90% of his income and living off of 10%.

433
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:13,760
Guess how much the 10% he was living off of was?

434
00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:17,760
Millions of dollars, millions.

435
00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:22,760
There's too many testimonies about this to be like, oh, oh, back away.

436
00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:26,760
We can't talk about money in that regard because it's happened over and over and over.

437
00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:32,760
But the issue is that it's about the heart, right?

438
00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:38,760
When our hearts are right in our giving, God blesses us.

439
00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:41,760
He really does bless us.

440
00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:45,760
You know, 2 Corinthians 9 verse 6, this is Paul again talking to the Corinthians

441
00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:48,760
specifically about monetary giving.

442
00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:55,760
And he says, the point is this, the person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.

443
00:36:55,760 --> 00:37:02,760
And the person who sows generously will also reap generously.

444
00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:05,760
But it's about our hearts, right?

445
00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:12,760
Giving to get, getting as a motivation for giving, that's not Christ-like.

446
00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:14,760
That's not following Christ's example.

447
00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:16,760
That's not being an imitator of God's heart.

448
00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:21,760
And I believe God honors that.

449
00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:25,760
You know, Proverbs 16, 2, it tells us, all a person's ways seem right to him,

450
00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:28,760
but the Lord weighs the motives.

451
00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:30,760
God knows your heart, right?

452
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:32,760
God knows your motivations.

453
00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:35,760
And so when it comes to pleasing God and living according to his word,

454
00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:40,760
the motivation of our heart is ultimately what matters.

455
00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:43,760
And so God wants us to be pure-hearted givers.

456
00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:47,760
He wants us to be unselfish givers, even with our finances,

457
00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:51,760
purely for the joy of imitating our heavenly Father.

458
00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:58,760
But knowing our weak frame, knowing our propensity for fear and worry

459
00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:07,760
and anxiety over giving, especially monetary giving, God said, test me in this.

460
00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:08,760
Right?

461
00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:12,760
The only place in all of Scripture,

462
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:19,760
the only topic in all of Scripture God said, test me, deals with giving.

463
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:21,760
It's in Malachi 3, verse 7.

464
00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:23,760
Let me read it to you.

465
00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:26,760
Since the days of your ancestors, you have turned for my statutes.

466
00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:28,760
You have not kept them.

467
00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:32,760
Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of armies.

468
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:34,760
There's that law of reciprocity.

469
00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:37,760
Yet you ask me, how can we return?

470
00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:42,760
Will a man rob God, yet you are robbing me?

471
00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:44,760
How do we rob you, you ask?

472
00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:49,760
By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions.

473
00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:53,760
In New King James that says, in not paying your tithes and your offerings,

474
00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:56,760
and we'll talk about those next week.

475
00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:59,760
But verse 9, he says, you are suffering under a curse,

476
00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:02,760
yet you, the whole nation, are still robbing me.

477
00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:06,760
Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house.

478
00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:11,760
Test me in this way, says the Lord of armies.

479
00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:13,760
See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven

480
00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:16,760
and pour out a blessing for you without measure.

481
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:20,760
I will rebuke the devourer for you so that it will not ruin the produce of your land,

482
00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:23,760
and your vine and your fields will not fail to produce fruit,

483
00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:24,760
says the Lord of armies.

484
00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:27,760
Then all the nations will consider you fortunate,

485
00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:31,760
for you will be a delightful land, says the Lord of armies.

486
00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:37,760
Now, yes, this is God speaking to Israel.

487
00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:41,760
Yes, God is speaking specifically here about the tithing,

488
00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:44,760
the giving of food into the storehouse.

489
00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:48,760
But God does not change.

490
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:50,760
He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

491
00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:52,760
And so we see here in this teaching in Malachi

492
00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:55,760
that a principle is given to God's people.

493
00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:59,760
And God's principle, since he doesn't change, his principles don't change.

494
00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:03,760
And so it still applies to all who are his people.

495
00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:05,760
And what is the principle here?

496
00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:12,760
God is teaching that when we give faithfully,

497
00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:15,760
when we do what he commands us to do,

498
00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:17,760
and we're going to see in the New Testament,

499
00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:20,760
he commands us to be generous in our giving.

500
00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:27,760
When we do that, he takes care of our needs, and then some.

501
00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:31,760
That's the press down and shaken and pouring over.

502
00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:34,760
That's what it means by that, that he takes care of us and then some.

503
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:39,760
Now, it doesn't mean necessarily that you're going to go out and win the lottery.

504
00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:41,760
It could.

505
00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:44,760
But again, we're not giving to get, right?

506
00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:46,760
That's not the idea here.

507
00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:50,760
The overall idea is God says, be generous, and I'm going to take care of you.

508
00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:56,760
I will take care of you. You will not have lack.

509
00:40:56,760 --> 00:41:00,760
But in many cases, when we give back from the blessing he gives us,

510
00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:03,760
increase does indeed happen.

511
00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:08,760
And so, you know, when God teaches us to give and to be generous,

512
00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:14,760
and then says, I'll give back to you, pressed down and shaken and running over,

513
00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:21,760
when he says, seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you,

514
00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:26,760
when he says, see how I take care of the lilies of the field,

515
00:41:26,760 --> 00:41:30,760
of how much more value are you than they,

516
00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:39,760
when he says, trust me, yield to me, have faith in me in everything, including your finances,

517
00:41:39,760 --> 00:41:43,760
why do we persist in disobedience?

518
00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:49,760
Why do we persist in fear and faithlessness?

519
00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:54,760
Why do we walk in lack?

520
00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:56,760
Why do we do that?

521
00:41:56,760 --> 00:41:58,760
Because we have a heart problem.

522
00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:01,760
We have a heart problem.

523
00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:04,760
And so the question is, well, how do we fix that?

524
00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:07,760
How do we develop a heart like God's, right?

525
00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:11,760
One, you're saved. You've been given a new heart.

526
00:42:11,760 --> 00:42:13,760
You've got to work on it.

527
00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:17,760
It's that idea applies, that idea applies to our whole life.

528
00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:21,760
We have to practice choosing obedience to God's word.

529
00:42:21,760 --> 00:42:24,760
We have to practice stepping out in faith when it's scary.

530
00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:27,760
We have to practice getting out of the boat like Peter did.

531
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:31,760
Okay, God, I'm going to trust you.

532
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:37,760
And so there's a passage in Deuteronomy chapter 15 that I think does really good.

533
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:41,760
And I've adapted some of this information from a pastor named Robert Morris.

534
00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:44,760
He did a really good job going through this.

535
00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:50,760
But Deuteronomy 15, it's this passage here that really shows us God's heart.

536
00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:53,760
It really shows us God's heart of generosity.

537
00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:57,760
And it really is a neat passage of teaching us how to develop a heart of generosity.

538
00:42:57,760 --> 00:43:02,760
Read with me in Deuteronomy chapter 15, starting in verse 7.

539
00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:07,760
He says, if there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers within any of your city gates in the land,

540
00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:10,760
the Lord your God is giving to you.

541
00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:12,760
I'm going to start that over.

542
00:43:12,760 --> 00:43:17,760
If there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers within any of your city gates in the land

543
00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:22,760
that the Lord your God has given you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards the poor brother.

544
00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:27,760
Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him enough for whatever need he has.

545
00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:31,760
Be careful that there isn't this wicked thought in your heart.

546
00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:37,760
The seventh year, the year of canceling debts is near, and you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him nothing.

547
00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:41,760
He will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty.

548
00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:48,760
What's happening here is every seven years in ancient Israel was this year called the Year of Jubilee.

549
00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:54,760
Right before this in Deuteronomy 15, God is teaching that what they're supposed to do every year is cancel all debts.

550
00:43:54,760 --> 00:43:56,760
Wouldn't that be awesome?

551
00:43:56,760 --> 00:43:59,760
How many of us would buy so many houses?

552
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:02,760
Seven years from now, boom, debt's gone.

553
00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:10,760
Anyways, I just read that and I'm like, man, that's awesome.

554
00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:18,760
But all debts canceled, every debt, every credit card, every loan, every car payment, right?

555
00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:24,760
All canceled is the idea here that every debt was canceled every seven years, and they called it the Year of Jubilee.

556
00:44:24,760 --> 00:44:30,760
And so what God is saying here is like, hey, like if there's someone, you know, that's in need around you, be generous, right?

557
00:44:30,760 --> 00:44:34,760
Give, be generous. Don't be tight-fisted. Open your hand.

558
00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:36,760
Why is he giving this thing?

559
00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:47,760
Because he's going, look, the issue here is if there is a need in year six and someone goes, hey, I need help,

560
00:44:47,760 --> 00:44:53,760
people would go, oh, I'm sorry, the Year of Jubilee's next year.

561
00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:58,760
I mean, if you hit me up six years ago, we might have had a deal here.

562
00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:02,760
But next year, I'm going to have to wipe out that debt, so I'm not going to give you anything.

563
00:45:02,760 --> 00:45:05,760
He says the person's going to be tight-fisted, right?

564
00:45:05,760 --> 00:45:07,760
They're going to be hard-hearted.

565
00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:14,760
And what is the idea here is the people going, hey, I can't be generous with you because, gosh, I won't get my money back.

566
00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:16,760
I'll lose out.

567
00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:22,760
I won't have enough if I can't get it back after I give it.

568
00:45:22,760 --> 00:45:25,760
And what does God call that type of thinking in verse nine?

569
00:45:25,760 --> 00:45:29,760
Be careful that there isn't this wicked thought in your heart.

570
00:45:29,760 --> 00:45:34,760
That type of thinking God calls wicked.

571
00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:36,760
It's also a selfish thought.

572
00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:41,760
It's the selfish thoughts that keep us from obedience and compassion and generosity.

573
00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:48,760
One of the ways to develop a generous heart, a heart of giving, a heart like God, is to deal with your selfish heart.

574
00:45:48,760 --> 00:45:50,760
It's to deal with your selfish heart.

575
00:45:50,760 --> 00:45:56,760
If you truly want to follow God's example of generosity, you have to look at your selfish heart and say, God, I don't want to be that way.

576
00:45:56,760 --> 00:45:59,760
I'm going to put that on the altar.

577
00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:03,760
Selfishness is the default condition of the human heart.

578
00:46:03,760 --> 00:46:06,760
It's a part of our old nature.

579
00:46:06,760 --> 00:46:11,760
We wrestle with it in our new nature all the time.

580
00:46:11,760 --> 00:46:14,760
It's a part of the nature that we're born with.

581
00:46:14,760 --> 00:46:16,760
You know, little kids, right?

582
00:46:16,760 --> 00:46:19,760
Do you have to teach them mine?

583
00:46:19,760 --> 00:46:20,760
No.

584
00:46:20,760 --> 00:46:21,760
They just know that.

585
00:46:21,760 --> 00:46:23,760
They're like, who taught you that?

586
00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:24,760
Mine.

587
00:46:24,760 --> 00:46:28,760
It's just they don't want to share.

588
00:46:28,760 --> 00:46:30,760
And it's something we wrestle with through our whole lives.

589
00:46:30,760 --> 00:46:35,760
But selfishness is what says, if I give, oh, I might not have enough.

590
00:46:35,760 --> 00:46:37,760
I need to keep it for myself.

591
00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:44,760
If I give, God won't be faithful to meet my needs.

592
00:46:44,760 --> 00:46:48,760
And God's saying, don't let your heart think this way.

593
00:46:48,760 --> 00:46:49,760
Why?

594
00:46:49,760 --> 00:46:51,760
Because I gave you a new heart.

595
00:46:51,760 --> 00:46:53,760
I gave you a new nature.

596
00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:54,760
Trust me.

597
00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:55,760
Have faith in me.

598
00:46:55,760 --> 00:46:59,760
Have a heart of a giver like me and trust me to take care of you.

599
00:46:59,760 --> 00:47:02,760
The second thing we see in verse 10 is really in developing a heart of

600
00:47:02,760 --> 00:47:04,760
giving is we have to deal with our stinginess.

601
00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:06,760
Look at verse 10.

602
00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:11,760
He goes on to say, God speaking, give to him and don't have a stingy heart

603
00:47:11,760 --> 00:47:12,760
when you give.

604
00:47:12,760 --> 00:47:15,760
And because of this, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and

605
00:47:15,760 --> 00:47:17,760
in everything you do.

606
00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:21,760
Now, that phrase stingy heart, that means a grudging heart.

607
00:47:21,760 --> 00:47:24,760
Like, it means giving with grief.

608
00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:27,760
Like, you give and then you're sad you gave, right?

609
00:47:27,760 --> 00:47:29,760
Or you're regretful that you gave.

610
00:47:29,760 --> 00:47:30,760
That's the idea here.

611
00:47:30,760 --> 00:47:32,760
And what he's saying, he's like, look, give.

612
00:47:32,760 --> 00:47:34,760
Just be generous.

613
00:47:34,760 --> 00:47:38,760
And when you do, don't begrudge it.

614
00:47:38,760 --> 00:47:40,760
Don't grieve it.

615
00:47:40,760 --> 00:47:41,760
Don't lament it.

616
00:47:41,760 --> 00:47:45,760
Don't have a stingy heart that makes you think, oh, man, I could have done

617
00:47:45,760 --> 00:47:47,760
such and such with that money I gave away.

618
00:47:47,760 --> 00:47:50,760
I could have done such and such with that time I gave away.

619
00:47:50,760 --> 00:47:54,760
I could have done this or that if I had just kept it.

620
00:47:54,760 --> 00:47:58,760
You see, way back here in the Old Testament, we see that God loves a

621
00:47:58,760 --> 00:48:00,760
cheerful giver.

622
00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:05,760
Now, selfishness is what comes after us before we give, right?

623
00:48:05,760 --> 00:48:06,760
Oh, no, I can't.

624
00:48:06,760 --> 00:48:07,760
I can't.

625
00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:11,760
And then stinginess is what comes after us after we give.

626
00:48:11,760 --> 00:48:12,760
Oh, no, I gave too much.

627
00:48:12,760 --> 00:48:14,760
Can I get that back?

628
00:48:14,760 --> 00:48:15,760
I'm sorry.

629
00:48:15,760 --> 00:48:17,760
You know?

630
00:48:17,760 --> 00:48:22,760
And God doesn't want us to give begrudgingly because, you know, oh,

631
00:48:22,760 --> 00:48:24,760
well, it's this burden I have to do it.

632
00:48:24,760 --> 00:48:29,760
And then we give and then we mope around after, oh, I gave to God.

633
00:48:29,760 --> 00:48:31,760
Oh, right?

634
00:48:31,760 --> 00:48:32,760
That's not what God wants.

635
00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:36,760
It doesn't please God to give in that manner, nor does it reflect his

636
00:48:36,760 --> 00:48:37,760
character.

637
00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:41,760
Can you imagine if we read in the Bible, for God so loved the world that he

638
00:48:41,760 --> 00:48:47,760
gave his only begotten son and then said, well, that was a waste, right?

639
00:48:47,760 --> 00:48:50,760
We don't ever see that with God.

640
00:48:50,760 --> 00:48:54,760
He just, he gives and he lavishes us with blessing.

641
00:48:54,760 --> 00:48:56,760
And that's what he wants from his people.

642
00:48:56,760 --> 00:48:59,760
You know, God is working on our hearts through this idea of giving.

643
00:48:59,760 --> 00:49:02,760
That's why I said earlier, giving is for us, not for God.

644
00:49:02,760 --> 00:49:04,760
It's for us.

645
00:49:04,760 --> 00:49:08,760
And really, I think the way to fight against this tendency we have to be

646
00:49:08,760 --> 00:49:14,760
selfish and stingy and grieve and all that is to have a proper understanding

647
00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:17,760
of what you think is yours, all right?

648
00:49:17,760 --> 00:49:21,760
I mentioned this earlier, but in Psalm chapter 24 verse 1, it says, the earth

649
00:49:21,760 --> 00:49:26,760
and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants belong to the Lord.

650
00:49:26,760 --> 00:49:30,760
Everything, everything, including everything you and I have belongs to the

651
00:49:30,760 --> 00:49:31,760
Lord.

652
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:32,760
It's his.

653
00:49:32,760 --> 00:49:38,760
So when you give, you are simply giving back to God what already belongs to

654
00:49:38,760 --> 00:49:41,760
him to be used for his purposes.

655
00:49:41,760 --> 00:49:43,760
Understand that.

656
00:49:43,760 --> 00:49:47,760
You're only giving back to God what already belongs to him.

657
00:49:47,760 --> 00:49:49,760
It's not yours.

658
00:49:49,760 --> 00:49:52,760
When we internalize this, it really becomes easier to give.

659
00:49:52,760 --> 00:49:54,760
It's not mine.

660
00:49:54,760 --> 00:49:57,760
God said, hey, be a steward of this and hey, I want this much back for my

661
00:49:57,760 --> 00:49:58,760
purposes.

662
00:49:58,760 --> 00:50:01,760
Okay, it's yours anyways.

663
00:50:01,760 --> 00:50:02,760
We're not the owners.

664
00:50:02,760 --> 00:50:05,760
We're stewards of what doesn't belong to us.

665
00:50:05,760 --> 00:50:07,760
That's the idea here.

666
00:50:07,760 --> 00:50:11,760
You know, Pastor Chuck Smith used to say, hold everything with an open hand.

667
00:50:11,760 --> 00:50:12,760
Right?

668
00:50:12,760 --> 00:50:15,760
God gives you something, great, thank you, Lord, but hold on to it with an

669
00:50:15,760 --> 00:50:19,760
open hand because the second God needs it, here you go.

670
00:50:19,760 --> 00:50:20,760
Take it.

671
00:50:20,760 --> 00:50:23,760
And the promise here we see is God will bless you in all your work and

672
00:50:23,760 --> 00:50:25,760
everything you do.

673
00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:29,760
So in addition to dealing with our selfish and stingy hearts to develop a

674
00:50:29,760 --> 00:50:34,760
heart of giving after God's own heart is simply be generous.

675
00:50:34,760 --> 00:50:35,760
Right?

676
00:50:35,760 --> 00:50:37,760
Look at verse 12, Deuteronomy 15.

677
00:50:37,760 --> 00:50:41,760
If your fellow Hebrew, a man or woman, is sold to you, and the idea of this

678
00:50:41,760 --> 00:50:43,760
was called bond slavery.

679
00:50:43,760 --> 00:50:46,760
Like if someone owed a debt for somebody, they would say, hey, can I come

680
00:50:46,760 --> 00:50:48,760
work off that debt?

681
00:50:48,760 --> 00:50:50,760
And so you would be in bond slavery.

682
00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:54,760
And so if they were sold to you and served you six years, you must set them

683
00:50:54,760 --> 00:50:57,760
free in the seventh year, that Jubilee idea.

684
00:50:57,760 --> 00:51:00,760
When you set them free, do not send them away empty handed.

685
00:51:00,760 --> 00:51:04,760
Give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor and your wine

686
00:51:04,760 --> 00:51:05,760
press.

687
00:51:05,760 --> 00:51:08,760
You are to give him whatever the Lord your God has blessed you with.

688
00:51:08,760 --> 00:51:12,760
Now today we don't necessarily have flocks and wine presses and threshing

689
00:51:12,760 --> 00:51:14,760
floors.

690
00:51:14,760 --> 00:51:16,760
What do we have instead?

691
00:51:16,760 --> 00:51:21,760
Jobs, businesses, investments, right?

692
00:51:21,760 --> 00:51:25,760
And the idea is that it doesn't matter where it's coming from.

693
00:51:25,760 --> 00:51:29,760
We're called to give generously from what God has blessed us with.

694
00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:33,760
And we see that very clearly taught in the New Testament as well, and we'll

695
00:51:33,760 --> 00:51:35,760
talk about that next week.

696
00:51:35,760 --> 00:51:39,760
But you know, this is that intentional battle I talked about earlier between

697
00:51:39,760 --> 00:51:43,760
our flesh and our old nature and our new nature, because giving goes against

698
00:51:43,760 --> 00:51:45,760
our selfish nature.

699
00:51:45,760 --> 00:51:47,760
It goes against it.

700
00:51:47,760 --> 00:51:50,760
Our fallen nature riles against giving in generosity.

701
00:51:50,760 --> 00:51:52,760
But guess what?

702
00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:55,760
Giving in generosity is perfectly consistent with the new nature God gives

703
00:51:55,760 --> 00:51:57,760
us, that new heart that he gives us.

704
00:51:57,760 --> 00:51:59,760
And so let go.

705
00:51:59,760 --> 00:52:01,760
Have an open hand.

706
00:52:01,760 --> 00:52:03,760
Don't be tight-fisted.

707
00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:07,760
It's odd to take care of your needs as you are generous with what God leads you

708
00:52:07,760 --> 00:52:09,760
to give.

709
00:52:09,760 --> 00:52:13,760
You know, Jesus said in Matthew 6, 21, for where your treasure is, there your

710
00:52:13,760 --> 00:52:16,760
heart will be also.

711
00:52:16,760 --> 00:52:19,760
You want a heart after God's own heart?

712
00:52:19,760 --> 00:52:22,760
Invest in what God cares about.

713
00:52:22,760 --> 00:52:26,760
You know, Jesus said where you invest, your heart's going to follow.

714
00:52:26,760 --> 00:52:29,760
Where you spend your time and your talent and your money and your resources,

715
00:52:29,760 --> 00:52:32,760
your heart's going to follow that.

716
00:52:32,760 --> 00:52:35,760
All of these things will become a priority of your heart.

717
00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:42,760
They will line up with what you want to be a part of.

718
00:52:42,760 --> 00:52:45,760
If you want a heart like God's and to follow after his heart, well, trust him

719
00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:48,760
with everything and be generous like he is generous.

720
00:52:48,760 --> 00:52:51,760
And the final thing to do if you want to develop a heart of giving after God's

721
00:52:51,760 --> 00:52:53,760
own heart is be grateful.

722
00:52:53,760 --> 00:52:55,760
Be grateful, right?

723
00:52:55,760 --> 00:52:58,760
Look at Deuteronomy 15, 15, the last thing he says here.

724
00:52:58,760 --> 00:53:02,760
Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God

725
00:53:02,760 --> 00:53:04,760
redeemed you.

726
00:53:04,760 --> 00:53:07,760
That is why I'm giving you this command today.

727
00:53:07,760 --> 00:53:10,760
Why be generous?

728
00:53:10,760 --> 00:53:14,760
Because I did something amazing for you.

729
00:53:14,760 --> 00:53:17,760
I just want you to live in gratitude to me.

730
00:53:17,760 --> 00:53:21,760
Now, next week we're going to deal with questions like how much am I supposed to

731
00:53:21,760 --> 00:53:22,760
give?

732
00:53:22,760 --> 00:53:23,760
Is there a number?

733
00:53:23,760 --> 00:53:25,760
How often am I supposed to give?

734
00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:27,760
Does the Bible say anything about that?

735
00:53:27,760 --> 00:53:29,760
Are we supposed to tithe?

736
00:53:29,760 --> 00:53:32,760
Is the tithe a New Testament concept or not?

737
00:53:32,760 --> 00:53:37,760
But the particulars of giving don't matter much if your heart isn't right.

738
00:53:37,760 --> 00:53:42,760
That's why I wanted to do this study first before we got into the details.

739
00:53:42,760 --> 00:53:45,760
God wants us to be givers because he is a giver.

740
00:53:45,760 --> 00:53:50,760
God wants us to experience the blessing he has for givers.

741
00:53:50,760 --> 00:53:54,760
He wants us to develop the heart of a giver through the power of the Holy

742
00:53:54,760 --> 00:53:59,760
Spirit by choosing to deny our selfishness, to deny our stinginess, by

743
00:53:59,760 --> 00:54:03,760
choosing to be generous with what he has blessed us with.

744
00:54:03,760 --> 00:54:09,760
But one of the greatest reasons to give, to be generous as God is generous, has

745
00:54:09,760 --> 00:54:13,760
to be our gratitude for what he has given for us.

746
00:54:13,760 --> 00:54:16,760
You know, in Deuteronomy he says, remember what I did for you.

747
00:54:16,760 --> 00:54:19,760
I redeemed you out of Egypt.

748
00:54:19,760 --> 00:54:22,760
And we know in the New Testament side of things that Egypt is a picture.

749
00:54:22,760 --> 00:54:25,760
It's a type of the world, right?

750
00:54:25,760 --> 00:54:28,760
And when we understand that, we can see how this applies to us today.

751
00:54:28,760 --> 00:54:35,760
When we let God remind us that we used to be slaves to sin, that we were on a

752
00:54:35,760 --> 00:54:45,760
path to eternal judgment, hell forever, and that everything we have now in our

753
00:54:45,760 --> 00:54:51,760
life, starting with our salvation and our eternity and everything in between is

754
00:54:51,760 --> 00:54:59,760
because of his gracious hand, wow, it helps us to be generous.

755
00:54:59,760 --> 00:55:02,760
God, I am so grateful for what you've done in my life.

756
00:55:02,760 --> 00:55:04,760
I am so grateful for what you've done for me.

757
00:55:04,760 --> 00:55:11,760
How can we not give back the portion that he asks from all he has given to us

758
00:55:11,760 --> 00:55:17,760
when he gave not a portion but everything for you and me?

759
00:55:17,760 --> 00:55:20,760
You know, we remember him and what he did.

760
00:55:20,760 --> 00:55:26,760
This is really the basis of what we do in communion, is to remember him, to

761
00:55:26,760 --> 00:55:32,760
remember the heart of a giving God, to remember this God who gave his son to

762
00:55:32,760 --> 00:55:39,760
die for our sin, to set us free from the penalty of sin and death forever

763
00:55:39,760 --> 00:55:43,760
through faith to save us and redeem us and to give us a new heart and a new

764
00:55:43,760 --> 00:55:49,760
nature who then fills us with the Holy Spirit and continues to give,

765
00:55:49,760 --> 00:55:53,760
guidance and blessing and gifts.

766
00:55:53,760 --> 00:55:55,760
We owe him everything.

767
00:55:55,760 --> 00:55:57,760
We owe him everything.

768
00:55:57,760 --> 00:56:01,760
And yeah, we don't give out of guilt, right?

769
00:56:01,760 --> 00:56:05,760
That's not my point here is that, oh, gosh, wow, he doesn't want us to give

770
00:56:05,760 --> 00:56:11,760
out of guilt, obligation, compulsion.

771
00:56:11,760 --> 00:56:16,760
He wants us to give out of a grateful heart simply because we want to

772
00:56:16,760 --> 00:56:23,760
continually and regularly say thank you, Jesus, for all that you've given to me.

773
00:56:23,760 --> 00:56:25,760
Of course I want to live for you.

774
00:56:25,760 --> 00:56:28,760
Of course I want to be obedient to your word.

775
00:56:28,760 --> 00:56:30,760
Of course I don't touch my wallet.

776
00:56:30,760 --> 00:56:32,760
No.

777
00:56:32,760 --> 00:56:33,760
No.

778
00:56:33,760 --> 00:56:34,760
He wants us to be like him.

779
00:56:34,760 --> 00:56:39,760
And so everybody in the room, you should have got one of these communion cups.

780
00:56:39,760 --> 00:56:41,760
If you're watching online, I would encourage you to get your communion

781
00:56:41,760 --> 00:56:44,760
emblems now if you haven't received those.

782
00:56:44,760 --> 00:56:47,760
But for those of you in the room, there's these two tabs if you've never seen

783
00:56:47,760 --> 00:56:49,760
them before on this cup.

784
00:56:49,760 --> 00:56:52,760
There's a very, very thin plastic tab that's the first one.

785
00:56:52,760 --> 00:56:59,760
If you gently pull that back, it will reveal the bread here, the wafer.

786
00:56:59,760 --> 00:57:03,760
If you didn't get a cup, please raise your hand and our elders will go around

787
00:57:03,760 --> 00:57:07,760
to make sure you have one to participate in communion with us.

788
00:57:07,760 --> 00:57:08,760
Okay.

789
00:57:08,760 --> 00:57:13,760
You know, when Jesus took the bread, it tells us in the gospels, it said he

790
00:57:13,760 --> 00:57:16,760
gave thanks and he broke it.

791
00:57:16,760 --> 00:57:21,760
And he said, this is my body, which is for you.

792
00:57:21,760 --> 00:57:24,760
Do this in remembrance of me.

793
00:57:24,760 --> 00:57:30,760
His point was that he was giving himself, all of himself on the altar of

794
00:57:30,760 --> 00:57:35,760
sacrifice as your atonement, as my atonement.

795
00:57:35,760 --> 00:57:42,760
His very life in the place of our own that we would be set free, that we

796
00:57:42,760 --> 00:57:48,760
would be forgiven, he gave for us.

797
00:57:48,760 --> 00:57:50,760
That's an amazing truth.

798
00:57:50,760 --> 00:57:55,760
It was his body given for us that paid the price for our eternal life.

799
00:57:55,760 --> 00:58:01,760
It was his life laid down that made possible a restored fellowship with our

800
00:58:01,760 --> 00:58:04,760
Creator now and into eternity.

801
00:58:04,760 --> 00:58:10,760
You know, in John chapter 10, four different times Jesus says, I lay down

802
00:58:10,760 --> 00:58:13,760
my life for the sheep.

803
00:58:13,760 --> 00:58:16,760
I lay down my life for the sheep.

804
00:58:16,760 --> 00:58:18,760
I lay down my life for the sheep.

805
00:58:18,760 --> 00:58:24,760
And then in verse 18 he says, no one takes it from me, but I lay it down on

806
00:58:24,760 --> 00:58:28,760
my own.

807
00:58:28,760 --> 00:58:30,760
He didn't give out a compulsion.

808
00:58:30,760 --> 00:58:33,760
He didn't give out a guilt.

809
00:58:33,760 --> 00:58:36,760
He didn't give out a duty.

810
00:58:36,760 --> 00:58:41,760
He gave willingly voluntarily because he loved you so much.

811
00:58:41,760 --> 00:58:46,760
Jesus gave his life that you and I would be saved and we can never express our

812
00:58:46,760 --> 00:58:49,760
gratitude enough for that.

813
00:58:49,760 --> 00:58:53,760
But we can start by saying, God, I want to live my life for you.

814
00:58:53,760 --> 00:58:57,760
And I want to choose to obey you in every area of my life, including my

815
00:58:57,760 --> 00:59:02,760
giving, including generosity, because I want the world to see your character in

816
00:59:02,760 --> 00:59:04,760
my life.

817
00:59:04,760 --> 00:59:08,760
And we remember that it was his body given that we would be set free, a price

818
00:59:08,760 --> 00:59:13,760
we can never pay, but a free gift we get to receive in him.

819
00:59:13,760 --> 00:59:15,760
Let's pray.

820
00:59:15,760 --> 00:59:24,760
Father, we thank you so much, Lord, that you gave your body.

821
00:59:24,760 --> 00:59:31,760
Lord, it was your body that was brutalized for us.

822
00:59:31,760 --> 00:59:38,760
You took the punishment of sin that should have been on us, but you willingly

823
00:59:38,760 --> 00:59:43,760
voluntarily stood in our place.

824
00:59:43,760 --> 00:59:49,760
You took the full wrath of God for sin upon yourself that we would be able to

825
00:59:49,760 --> 00:59:54,760
through faith, through trust in your work to say, God, I believe that you're God

826
00:59:54,760 --> 00:59:57,760
and I believe you died for me and I believe you rose again, Lord, that through

827
00:59:57,760 --> 01:00:04,760
that we would be saved and we would have eternal life, Lord.

828
01:00:04,760 --> 01:00:10,760
God, it is so far beyond our comprehension to truly understand the price you paid.

829
01:00:10,760 --> 01:00:15,760
But, Lord, your word tells us so much about it, Lord, and we choose, God, to

830
01:00:15,760 --> 01:00:19,760
believe in you through faith and trust for our salvation, and we say thank you,

831
01:00:19,760 --> 01:00:24,760
God.

832
01:00:24,760 --> 01:00:29,760
Thank you, God, that you're a giver.

833
01:00:29,760 --> 01:00:34,760
And, God, thank you that through the giving of yourself that you then give us a

834
01:00:34,760 --> 01:00:40,760
new heart and a new nature to make us just like you.

835
01:00:40,760 --> 01:00:47,760
Help us, Lord, to never forget what you did, that we would never stop representing

836
01:00:47,760 --> 01:00:51,760
you and reflecting you to the world around us, especially those that don't

837
01:00:51,760 --> 01:00:55,760
know you yet because they need you so desperately.

838
01:00:55,760 --> 01:00:57,760
Thank you for loving us.

839
01:00:57,760 --> 01:01:07,760
Let's partake together.

840
01:01:07,760 --> 01:01:11,760
All right, if you're here in the sanctuary, there's a thicker tab.

841
01:01:11,760 --> 01:01:19,760
Very gently pull that back in order to review the juice here in your cup.

842
01:01:19,760 --> 01:01:24,760
You know, in that same story where Jesus was instituting the Lord's Supper, it

843
01:01:24,760 --> 01:01:29,760
tells us that he took the cup, and he said, this is the new covenant in my

844
01:01:29,760 --> 01:01:31,760
blood.

845
01:01:31,760 --> 01:01:35,760
Do this in remembrance of me.

846
01:01:35,760 --> 01:01:37,760
He didn't just give his body, he gave his blood.

847
01:01:37,760 --> 01:01:40,760
He shed his blood.

848
01:01:40,760 --> 01:01:48,760
He shed perfect, sinless blood that was poured out on the altar.

849
01:01:48,760 --> 01:01:53,760
To wash the sin clean from our lives.

850
01:01:53,760 --> 01:01:58,760
He did something that was so powerful and so magnificent that it was a once for

851
01:01:58,760 --> 01:02:00,760
all sacrifice.

852
01:02:00,760 --> 01:02:04,760
Not the old covenant where we had to go back over and over and over and over

853
01:02:04,760 --> 01:02:06,760
and over.

854
01:02:06,760 --> 01:02:10,760
But once for all time, you put your faith in Jesus, he washes you clean.

855
01:02:10,760 --> 01:02:13,760
Past, present, future.

856
01:02:13,760 --> 01:02:15,760
What an amazing gift.

857
01:02:15,760 --> 01:02:19,760
What an amazing gift, and he wanted us to remember that when he gave his blood,

858
01:02:19,760 --> 01:02:21,760
he gave his very life for you and me.

859
01:02:21,760 --> 01:02:24,760
It was a permanent gift.

860
01:02:24,760 --> 01:02:28,760
It was a permanent once for all satisfying of the wrath of God against our sin

861
01:02:28,760 --> 01:02:31,760
forever.

862
01:02:31,760 --> 01:02:36,760
And you and I are now free to walk in the newness of life.

863
01:02:36,760 --> 01:02:40,760
Forgiven and set free from the power of sin and death.

864
01:02:40,760 --> 01:02:44,760
That all means that you and I would never have to worry again about paying the

865
01:02:44,760 --> 01:02:46,760
price for our sin.

866
01:02:46,760 --> 01:02:49,760
We would never have to worry if we made enough sacrifices.

867
01:02:49,760 --> 01:02:54,760
We would never have to worry if we did enough.

868
01:02:54,760 --> 01:02:57,760
Because he said, I did it for you.

869
01:02:57,760 --> 01:03:00,760
I gave that to you.

870
01:03:00,760 --> 01:03:06,760
It wasn't a delay of our sentence, but a gift of a complete, clean and clear

871
01:03:06,760 --> 01:03:07,760
record.

872
01:03:07,760 --> 01:03:10,760
Where the Bible says that now and forever when he looks at you through the blood of

873
01:03:10,760 --> 01:03:15,760
Jesus Christ, he sees blamelessness, spotlessness, he sees you white as snow

874
01:03:15,760 --> 01:03:20,760
in perfect righteous purity.

875
01:03:20,760 --> 01:03:23,760
It's with great gratitude we remember that in communion.

876
01:03:23,760 --> 01:03:28,760
We say thank you, Jesus, for the blood you shed for me.

877
01:03:28,760 --> 01:03:38,760
For the freely given gift of salvation that he gave to his freely given body and

878
01:03:38,760 --> 01:03:42,760
his freely given shed blood.

879
01:03:42,760 --> 01:03:46,760
Again, a price we can never pay.

880
01:03:46,760 --> 01:03:49,760
But a glorious eternal gift that we receive freely from him.

881
01:03:49,760 --> 01:03:50,760
Amen.

882
01:03:50,760 --> 01:03:51,760
Let's pray.

883
01:03:51,760 --> 01:03:56,760
Father, we thank you, God, for your shed blood.

884
01:03:56,760 --> 01:04:02,760
Lord, your act of sacrifice, Lord, going to the cross for us shows us the heart of

885
01:04:02,760 --> 01:04:09,760
a giving God, a God who gave everything that we would be saved.

886
01:04:09,760 --> 01:04:14,760
A God who not only gave his body to suffer the penalty of our sin, but then gave his

887
01:04:14,760 --> 01:04:18,760
blood that we would be washed clean of the stain of it forever.

888
01:04:18,760 --> 01:04:27,760
There is nothing we could ever do to repay you for this immense gift.

889
01:04:27,760 --> 01:04:29,760
And God, you don't ask us to repay it.

890
01:04:29,760 --> 01:04:37,760
You just ask us to live a life of gratitude, to live a life of obedience to you.

891
01:04:37,760 --> 01:04:41,760
Not even threatening to take away the gift if we fail, but just simply saying,

892
01:04:41,760 --> 01:04:47,760
trust me and keep getting up and keep moving forward in faith.

893
01:04:47,760 --> 01:04:53,760
Lord, thank you so much for loving us so much.

894
01:04:53,760 --> 01:04:55,760
Help us to live for you.

895
01:04:55,760 --> 01:04:58,760
Fill us with your spirit and overflow out of our lives.

896
01:04:58,760 --> 01:05:03,760
Then in every hour of our lives, we would reflect you in every way.

897
01:05:03,760 --> 01:05:05,760
We love you so much.

898
01:05:05,760 --> 01:05:21,760
Let's partake together.

899
01:05:21,760 --> 01:05:26,760
Well, I pray that God has spoken to you this morning, and we have two more weeks in

900
01:05:26,760 --> 01:05:30,760
this series on giving, and next week and week four, we'll start getting into the

901
01:05:30,760 --> 01:05:32,760
nuts and bolts of what the Bible says about giving.

902
01:05:32,760 --> 01:05:36,760
But like I said, if your heart isn't right, the nuts and bolts don't really matter

903
01:05:36,760 --> 01:05:39,760
all that much.

904
01:05:39,760 --> 01:05:41,760
I have experienced God's blessing so many times.

905
01:05:41,760 --> 01:05:45,760
I know so many of you have experienced God's blessing so many times when you give

906
01:05:45,760 --> 01:05:49,760
of your time and your talent and your money.

907
01:05:49,760 --> 01:05:50,760
It's a part of the collective unity.

908
01:05:50,760 --> 01:05:54,760
We are called together as a church, but still, it's not because I have to or I have

909
01:05:54,760 --> 01:05:57,760
to, it's God, I want to.

910
01:05:57,760 --> 01:05:58,760
And so trust God.

911
01:05:58,760 --> 01:06:03,760
If you've been wrestling with a selfish heart, a stingy heart, I just pray that

912
01:06:03,760 --> 01:06:06,760
you go before the Lord and say, God, please help me with this.

913
01:06:06,760 --> 01:06:09,760
I want to trust you in every way.

914
01:06:09,760 --> 01:06:11,760
I want to trust you when it's scary.

915
01:06:11,760 --> 01:06:12,760
I want to trust you when I'm not sure.

916
01:06:12,760 --> 01:06:14,760
I want to trust you.

917
01:06:14,760 --> 01:06:19,760
And watch God just do amazing things in your life, because his word, he makes

918
01:06:19,760 --> 01:06:22,760
promises to us when we trust him.

919
01:06:22,760 --> 01:06:28,760
And I look forward to hearing the testimonies of what God has done and what

920
01:06:28,760 --> 01:06:31,760
God is doing, because God is working amongst his people.

921
01:06:31,760 --> 01:06:33,760
He is working in our church.

922
01:06:33,760 --> 01:06:35,760
He is working in his church worldwide.

923
01:06:35,760 --> 01:06:37,760
And we just want to keep seeing him glorified in every way.

924
01:06:37,760 --> 01:06:38,760
Amen.

925
01:06:38,760 --> 01:06:39,760
All right.

926
01:06:39,760 --> 01:06:53,760
God bless you guys.