I Give It All

Stewardship Series: Surrender

I Give it All

I Chron. 21:21-27

Theme: God shows us the need of surrendering all.

Welcome to Stewardship Days here at Mountain View Baptist Church! It is without a doubt one of the most important times of the year where we focus on the basics of everyday life. There could be nothing more basic than realizing all that we have is given to us on loan by God Himself. There are so many misconceptions and this morning it is my prayer we can better understand these truths from God’s Word.

We also want to welcome our first-time guests. It is a delight to have you attending today’s service. Please be sure to connect with us.

A steward is what we call in modern day terms a manager. A manager is one who manages what doesn’t belong to him. As you sit on the airplane traveling from place to place, the pilot is the manager of the airplane which is owned by his company. The responsibility of the pilot is safety for the passengers and wise operation of the aircraft. He does not own the airplane but simply pilots the airplane.

God has given us on loan His resources to steward or manage. If you think about it, our life is on loan to us. Self management is very important in the basics of the Christian life. We have no guarantees of tomorrow. God loans us time in which we are to manage. It is wrong to think, “I don’t have time for God.” Actually, God owns the time and we are to manage time for God through our priorities. It is not you don’t have time, it is what do you do with God’s time.

The basic or foundation of understanding stewardship is surrender. When a pilot has flown his flight, he leaves the plane and the key to the owner. This is what we call surrender. Surrender is what God wants us to learn today about stewardship. If we can understand surrender, we no longer have to “think” we are giving up something that belongs to us.

We so often believe our money is ours and we are to give some to God. The reality is the God owns it all. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein.” (Psalm 24:1) We are not giving out of “our” money, we are returning to God what is already His. This is surrender.

Here in this passage, we learn this wonderful truth of surrender. The chapter opens with an embarrassing sin of David. He ordered Joab to number the people. This was not census of the people for record keeping by the kingdom, but it was a source of pride for David. Joab resisted but David’s command prevailed and he was totally responsible. David and the kingdom suffered a judgment from God for this sin. God dealt with His pride by sending a plague where 70,000 men died. One man’s sin effected the entire nation and now we are taken to one man’s obedience. David was the sinner here and Ornan was the one who obeyed.

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19)

Ornan was living in a very significant place. This was the same sight at Moriah where Abraham offered up his son Isaac. This is where years later Solomon would build the temple of God. Ornan met the king and he teaches us this tremendous truth. This was a place of worship. God ordered it to be here. Because Ornan was willing to surrender this place to God, it would later be the most significant place in the world for generations to come.

David asked for this place in Ornan’s life and his response should be our response. In verse 23, “ . . . I give it all.” Ornan surrenders it all to the king.

What place does the king want in your life? What place in your life does wan you to surrender so you can make a difference in generations to come? Does God want you to surrender to baptism because you are a Christian? What does He want you to give towards the new auditorium for future generation? How are you using your time? Are you thinking I don’t have time for God? God may be asking you to give.

Time or money towards the building so that generations in the future can hear the gospel. I would not want to miss this banquet and do everything I could to be there to see what God is going to do. You might say I don't have time to read my Bible or I don’t have time to go to church. Let me remind your life can change in an instant. God owns time and He can change what you might think is your time. I am not trying to scare you but point out that time is in God’s hands.

“So teach us to number our days, That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)

What place does God want you to serve? There are many places where we can serve. Bus route, connection group, soul winning, or greeting others. Where are you serving and giving back?

Please notice three characteristics of a surrendered heart.

1. Gives honorably v.23

Ornan does not just give but he gives graciously. He gives to honor God in his life. There is a Biblical illustration of someone who did not give honorably. The church was on fire for God in Acts and people were giving their possessions to the church to help further the spread of the gospel. Ananias and Sapphira saw this and they wanted to get in on the recognition. They sold land but kept back part of the proceeds which was perfectly ok. There was no problem with their keeping some back but they wanted everyone to think they gave all.

God took their lives because they did not give honorably. Ornan had already surrendered what he owned to God. When David the king came, it was easy for him to give it all to the king. This surrender came to his life when he recognized that God was the Lord of His life. All he had was on loan to him by God to manage, so he did not hesitate to invest what he had to help others. In this case 70,000 men have died and God was telling David to make a sacrifice to stop the plague.

He did not hold tightly to his possessions because he had already surrendered them to God. This is why I believe in dedicating things to God. When we give honorably, we recognize God is the owner. When we give honorably to God, we give with an understanding and spirit, it is God’s already. We want to honor Him with His instructions.

If you have ever managed a company’s resource, it is an honor but you want to manage properly. That position is a one of trust where the company believes you will manage things properly. What God has given to you to manage is given in trust. Your money, your children, and the time in your life is given in trust. Have you surrendered them to God?

Ornan comes into the presence of the king in v.21 with his face to the ground. He knew it is an honor not only to give to David but to be in His presence. Once he saw it was King David, he gave whatever the king would ask. He offered everything to him.

The reason Ornan gave honorably is because he trusted the king-v.23 “what is good in his eyes.” He knew the king could take it away so he yielded ownership to the king.

Christians today if God is the owner, we need to yield our possessions to Him. Daily we should commit to Him and trust Him with the outcome of their use.

When it comes to giving to God, we should give honorably to Him believing and trusting God will do what is right in his eyes. Our children belong to the Lord and returning them back to Him is what every parent should do.

One Christian parent told me many years ago, I don’t want to give my children to the Lord because He may call them to the mission field. They are given to us for a certain time and then we should return them to the Lord.

Giving honorably means I give with great respect and here Ornan showed great respect to King David. David was instructed by God he was to give a sacrifice and this sacrifice was going to cost something. There is no sacrifice without a cost and here David gave 600 shekels for the threshing floor.

2. Gives completely

Please notice this was not a partial surrender like Ananias and Sapphira. They held back a portion pretending to give completely. Complete giving is surrendered giving.

Ornan said all of his resources are the king’s.

One of the best illustrations of surrender is your keys. Keys are given to you as you manage your home, your car, your job situations, or maybe even your recreation vehicles. When you go to bed at night, you will surrender your keys to a place of safe keeping until the next day when you need them. This nightly surrender is what God is teaching us here. Just as we surrender our keys to a place of safekeeping, we are to surrender everything to God Himself.

When God calls my children to serve Him, I surrender them to the Lord. When God asks me to give a certain amount to Him, I surrender his money back to him. When God asks I give him time to serve, I surrender back to Him my priority of letting God be first in my life.

Ornan gives it all to the king. Let me suggest you give it all to the King of Kings.

Oxen refer to his work or job. Ornan would use the oxen for the work on the farm and his livelihood. He surrendered his job to King David. The threshing instruments refer to his tools or his machines or his cell phones or his computers or his cars. Whatever he used to function in the ancient world, he surrendered it to God.

The wheat represents food for life. It all belongs to God. There was nothing he was not willing to give to the king. Our lives belong to God.

What is it God is speaking to you about surrendering to Him? Maybe you have never surrendered your life to Him? “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1)

If we are to give our lives unto Him, this means our eyes, ears, mouth, feet, and hand are to be surrendered to God. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” (Hebrews 13:15–16)

“No one has ever become poor by giving.” (Anne Frank)

In fact, I have known of many people who became poor because they did not give.

Christians are often guilty of giving to God like I used to give to my siblings. When I would drink or eat something, I always go the first of the drink or food. Many a time I would give them the leftovers; after all, they were my siblings. It is easy to give the leftovers because I don’t want it. It is like the hour after the yard sale. After everything was picked over, the leftovers would be free. The reason is because they don’t want the leftovers.

God is teaching us: We are to give Him everything, not just the leftovers but give completely to Him. Why would a Christian hold out on God? God held nothing back for us sinners. He gave His only begotten Son to die on the cross for our sins. He gave His Son as the payment for sin.

If you are here today and have never received Jesus as your Savior, you can receive Him today. Will you accept Jesus today? Will you let Him be your Savior?

3. Gives unexpectedlyv.24

When we surrender to God, we give without expecting anything back. The human temptation is to give to God expecting Him to return. We don’t give to get back, we give because it is right. The world gives to get back.

One man told me he stopped giving because God did not give back to him. We don’t give to get.

“The most truly generous persons are those who give silently without hope of praise or reward.” (Carol Brink)

Ornan was giving to the king without any expectation. It was not a business deal but simply an understanding of being a steward of his resources. When you have learned to give without expecting anything in return, you have learned the secret of surrender.

Don’t misunderstand this. God is a debtor to no man. You can never repay God for all He has done. He gives without expectation. A steward of our resources is realizing when you give, you surrender back to God what is His.

What do you need to surrender today? What are holding onto so tightly? Today, can be one of surrender for you. We have an altar here so you can lay it down for the Lord. David gave a sacrifice so the lives can be saved. Jesus gave Himself as a sacrifice so that the world can be saved.

When we surrender our resources to God, we can be assured people will be saved.

Will you surrender to Him today?