The Spirituality of Giving
The Treasure Principle • Sermon • Submitted
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Transcript
All treasure boxes have locks to keep their contents safe.
All locks have keys. Without the key, the lock remains locked. With the key, the lock can be opened and the treasures can be released.
This is just as true for The Treasure Principle.
Do you remember the treasure principle from last week?
The treasure principle is this
Main Idea - You can't take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.
And in order to unlock all the riches of this principle, you’ll need not just one key, but six!
Today we are going to use two keys and they both have to do with the spirituality of giving.
Yes, there is a huge spiritual component to giving. In fact, if you are not a spiritual person in the biblical sense, giving, the way I am prescribing will make no sense to you.
The reality is, for the unspiritual/unbeliever, everything God says and requires is foolishness. Even the means by which He has provided salvation.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
Your giving is a spiritual act of worship which honors God and demonstrates to Him in a tangible way that you love Him, you are thankful for His providential provision, and you trust Him with everything you have!
Today I plan to walk through two spiritual concepts that you must understand that helps to unlock the Treasure Principle in your life.
Don’t forget The Treasure Principle – “You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead!
Okay, great! Now let’s at the first key that helps us unlock this amazing treasure!
The first key is…
1. God owns everything; I am his money manager
To understand why this is the case, let’s turn to the Old Testament’s book of Psalms for some clarity.
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,
Now think about the implications of this singular verse (ever verse in the bible is important).
Who own’s the earth? “The earth is the Lord’s…”
How much of the earth does the Lord own? To start with the palmist says, “and the fullness thereof,”
Another way to translate this according to the notes in the ESV is, “and all that fills it.”
So, the Lord own’s the earth and all that fills it.
What about all the people of this earth? Those who are alive now and those who have ever lived on this big blue ball? Again, the psalmist is clear. “…the world and those who dwell therein.”
How is it that the Lord can stake such a claim in verse 1 to the world and all who are in the world? That answer is in verse 2…
for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
Who has FOUNDED and ESTABLISHED the World?
· Not Mother Nature!
· Not a Big Bang
· Not a random evolutionary process
· Not some INTELLIGENT DESIGNER.
Who established the world and all that is in it?
The CREATOR GOD describe and revealed in the HOLY Bible.
Now, to be clear, this is not some faint concept found in one obscure text concealed in an ancient Psalm.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts.
God not only owns everything, but He also gets to tell His creation what to do with is.
Look at what Moses has to say about this…
You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
The Israelites ability to produce wealth didn’t come from themselves – It came from God.
Frankly the unbeliever’s ability to produce wealth comes from the Creator God as well.
It is because of HIM that we are even able to “live, move and have our being (Acts 17:28).”
It's not just that God owns all the wealth he owns the ability to give us wealth he has granted us the skills to make wealth. Those do not come from us they come from him.
So, what does this mean for us? If we are His and we owe all to Him, what position do we play in the grand scheme of things?
We are not the owners of the assets that we have. No! We are not the owners but the managers. We must get this right in our thinking.
The world does not get this right on mass. Everything I have is because I earned it or I deserve it and I will fight to keep it.
God’s people, on the other hand should have the spirit that says, it’s all God’s and I have the privilege of managing the resources He has entrusted to me. And is it is my responsibility to manages those resources well. Remember, a MANAGER or STEWARD is managing wealth on behalf of someone else.
It is true that your salvation was and is a free gift from God to you. You did nothing to earn this gift, but God lavished His grace upon you! Thank God for His unbelievable gift!
Our very life is a gift as well. But I want you to change your thinking a little bit. Instead of thinking of all that you have as a gift, I want you to start thinking of all that you have is on loan from God.
That home that you have – God has loaned it to you.
That car that you drive – God has loaned it to you.
That job, bank account, clothing, etc.. All on loan from God.
And one day you and I who are believers in Jesus Christ will give an account at the Bemma Seat Judgement seat of Christ.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
This is the picture of an employee accountable to his employer or a servant accountable to his master.
There was a businessman who said that his life was really changed when he realized it was all about God's ownership. He said once he understood that we were giving away God's money to do God's work we discovered a peace and joy we never had back when we thought it was all ours.
John Wesley once heard the news of his house having burned down and his honest response was this, “No the Lord's house burned down one less responsibility for me.”
Now that may sound unrealistic and I'm not saying he didn't mourn the loss of his home, but perhaps he was trying to talk to himself to tell himself what was true about this house. That it really belonged to God and because it was God's house, he didn't have to have anxiety about the fact that it burned to the ground. He had the right perspective regarding the things that we have here on earth. It’s the Lord’s, and I’m just his manager!
“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.
David looked at what he and his people were giving to the war. Large amounts of treasury money and possessions and he said but who am I and who are my people that we should be able to give as generously that's everything comes from you God and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
I'm his money manager doesn't it make sense that I should ask Him what he wants me to do with what's His?
When was the last time you asked God what he wants you to do with his money?
Have you searched God's word to see how he answers that question what he's already told you about what he really wants you and me to do with the money that is his that he is entrusted to our care?
A Positive, Faith-Filled Example
Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
Jesus says she gave everything that she had. Those two little coins were everything that she had to live on! Wow! This passage convicts me so much!
That took a lot of faith a lot of trust in God to give away everything.
A Negative, Faithless Example
The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Matthew 19 and the rich young ruler unfortunately was not willing to surrender what he had and give it away to follow Jesus.
Question for you…
Does God call all of us to give away everything to follow Jesus? No, in fact, it's a minority of people we see in scripture that He actually calls to do that.
But he does call all of us to surrender all aspects of our life to him. Jesus is LORD of all and we are to submit our lives to Him.
The rich young ruler's unwillingness to trust in Christ was verified by his aversion to part with the money he considered as his own.
You see the relationship of faith and giving in the early church in Jerusalem, Acts 2 and Acts 4.
It talks about how the people filled with God's spirit were moved to great generosity and they liquidated their assets they gave away their possessions to help the poor and the needy.
These changes didn't win them salvation their salvation wasn't dependent on it but rather they gave because they were saved because they were transformed.
So, a transformed life is manifested in transforming mercifulness.
One definition of mercy is “to relieve suffering.” You have the resources to relieve the suffering of those around you.
Meals to the sick in our church.
When someone suddenly loses their job you can mow their lawn.
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Mike Leak’s story about a capital campaign.
Giving increases our sense of dependence on God.
What happens to our hearts if we keep everything?
What happens to our heart, when we build up bigger barns to store all that we have?
We start to depend on ourselves instead of God.
But when we keep what we need and give away what we don’t, our faith grows and our materialism that so easily causes us to stumble into sin, diminishes and begins to disappear!
You might be thinking, “Yeah, that’s great for the rich people and those that have enough to give away, but you don’t understand, I don’t have enough to give. I’m poor, I and I need all I can to survive.
Take a look at the Macedonian churches commends in 2 Corinthians…
We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8:1, we want you to know about the grace that god has given the Macedonian churches. Verse 2, in the midst of a very severe trial they're overflowing joy and their extreme poverty.
You have a very severe trial combined with overflowing joy and extreme poverty welling up in rich generosity.
Now would you ever put overflowing joy and rich generosity in the same immediate context as very severe trial and extreme poverty?
This is God's grace at work in these people.
In the same chapter in verse 6 Paul refers to giving to help the hungry in Jerusalem as an act of grace.
And verses 8-9 goes on to say,
I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
The point? These poor people in the Macedonian churches scraped together whatever they could to help their brothers and sisters back in the church at Jerusalem. It didn’t matter to them if they didn’t have enough. They found enough to help a fellow church that was suffering during to a devastating famine.
My experience in Thailand…
Listen friends. Everything you have is the Lords. He has given you enough to live on! What are you doing with the rest? It’s your glorious and amazing responsibility to Manage His Money and possessions according to His will.
There is great joy in this endeavor.
Okay, what is the Treasure Principle again?
You can't take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.
The first key to unlock the Treasure Principle is…
1. God owns everything I am his money manager
The second key is…
2. My heart always goes where I put God's money.
Last week we looked at Matthew 6:19-20
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
But today, we must review the way Jesus ends His thought in these verses. Check out verse 21.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
It's easy to look at this verse and get it mixed up sometimes we think it's saying something different than it actually is but when you notice this passage, you'll notice that what it is saying is profound.
What it's not saying is that where your heart will be there your treasure moves.
Instead, Jesus is clear! Where your treasure is is where your heart is. In other words, your heart will follow your treasure. So, what do you treasure? Where are your affections? Where are your greatest interests? Are they in yourself and your desires? Or are they in tune with the heart of God?
A good way to find out where your treasure is, is to look at your bank statement and your credit card statement. Where does the money the God has entrusted to you in large part go?
This is a very convicting thought, but if you review your bank statements, credit card statements and your receipts, you'll be able to see clearly where your heart is.
OK So what does this mean? Very simply it means that the place that you treasure, the things that you treasure, is where your heart, your seat of emotion, will reside.
So, do you want a hard for the company Microsoft or the company Apple, then invest your money in Microsoft or Apple and suddenly your heart will be drawn to those places.
What do I mean? I mean suddenly you will be interested in how well Microsoft does or how well apple does financially. Why? Because you have a vested interest in their financial success. The more they succeed the more treasure you will receive. And this is where your heart will spend most of its time.
This is what Jesus is trying to tell us. Again, in this whole section of versus 19 through 21, Jesus is giving pragmatic financial advice. If you invest your treasure in Microsoft, apple, General Motors, Ford company, etc., you will eventually lose everything.
But if you invest in heavenly treasures, you will gain immeasurable, eternal, never ending wealth!
And Jesus point in verse 21 is, be careful of what you treasure. Because if you treasure things that are earthly and worldly you are making a very unwise and bad investment. However, if your treasure is in heaven. If you treasure heaven X! your life on earth will prove out this reality because you will invest in things that have eternal reward.
So let's say you have a desire to have a heart for missions. How does one develop a heart for missions? You start investing in missions. And when you invest in missions, you're taking your treasure and putting it in something that is near and dear to the heart of God and therefore it will become near and dear to your heart as well. Because your heart is going to follow your treasure and you gain a vested interest in wherever you put your money which is, by the way God's money!
So how do I know where to invest my treasure, my money, rather God's money? The simple answer is figure out what is near and dear to the heart of God. After all as a manager of God's money it makes good sense for you too figure out the heart and mind of our God so that you can funnel his resources to those endeavors.
What is near and dear to the heart of God? Well, we've already given one idea and that is missions. But there are other areas that God wants his people to invest in.
His local church! Paul tells us in Ephesians 5
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
This tells us something profound. God loves his people God loves his church God loves his local church. This expression that we come together as a body of Christ in this facility is near and dear to the heart of God. And I believe but this should be our primary area that we give to the Lord that we invest in his ministry. This body of believers is sharing what we have to ensure the furtherance of this ministry which includes the preaching of the gospel, evangelism and discipleship, a place to fulfill the one and others of the scriptures, a place to corporately worship our great God, a place to help feed the hungry clothe the naked house the homeless all of these activities come from this local congregation and we need to be diligent as a local church to be fulfilling these types of activities. And as you invest in this church these things should be at the forefront of our thinking.
The goal that Angie and I have in our giving is at least 10% of our gross income goes back to this local church we are investing in this body we are excited to see what God will continue to do as we make this substantial investment in his church.
We don't simply give to the local church but we start with our 10% to the local church. And guess what we have, as a result, a great heart and a profound love for you Allendale Baptist Church. we also give two missions and other organizations that we believe are doing an excellent job in the propagation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. These are decisions that we get to make as a couple with the money that God is entrusted to us as we manage it on his behalf. you have the same privilege and responsibility with the money God has entrusted to you. Can I tell you something? You will never regret that investment. And secondly God will always take care of your financial needs. After all he wants to take care of his manager.
Once you get a taste of giving and your heart being in the Kingdom of God and God's people and reaching unbelievers all over the world it really changes your perspective and infuses you with joy.
Randy Alcorn said it so well…
When we give, our heart changes. We love people more and we love the great causes more than we ever have before. Our gratitude becomes greater. Our prayers mean more. We see God at work. Money actually has the power to do good. God uses it for good. You know money is not a bad thing, it's a good thing. We can make it an idol and that's bad. Idolatry is bad but scripture does not say that money is the root of all evil, it says the love of money is the root of all evil. God can use money for good. That's what happens when we give. When given in the name of Christ, financial gifts can save lives and bring the gospel and make a truly eternal difference! So that one day when we're with the Lord will be able to rejoice with people who have been reached as a result of our giving and our prayers and the volunteering of our time and efforts on their behalf.
Just like we'll be able to thank people for their investment in our lives watch what happens when you relocate your money which remember is God's money and your time to eternal things the secondary things are not gonna matter as much because we've fallen in love with what's primary your heart really will follow your treasure you really will gain vested interests in God's Kingdom and find far greater joy
Is it possible to change our hearts?