I mentioned Malachi chapter 3 most people know what that talks about and We will get into this we're going to continue on with these back to the basics Bible study God laid on my heart a while ago Just get back to the basics of why we believe what we believe It's not because man says so because God's Word says so God's Word is the sole authority of everything that we stand upon Not man's opinions, but God's doctrine the Bible says all scriptures given by inspiration of God and it's profitable for doctrine For reproof for correction for instruction and righteousness that the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works And God gives us lessons and teaches us throughout the Bible many scripture verses tells us to compare scripture of a scripture and things like that and we're going to talk tonight about what is the meaning of giving and what are my responsibilities and in this area. I want to talk about what the Bible talks about giving in Malachi chapter 3 starting in verse number 8 it says, Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse. For ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now wherewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing there, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sake, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine cast her fruits before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed, for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord. Host now in this passage of scripture is talking about how does a man rob God? I know when we think about that we think well God knows everything God can do anything Could you imagine the thought of somebody walking up and trying to hold a gun to God and rob God of something? That's not what he's talking about. He's saying, well, a man robbed God and they said, where in as we robbed him? The same question you and I would ask is how can we rob somebody who is all powerful? How can we rob somebody who has everything? How can we take something from them that we can't even see him physically? How are we going to rob him? Well, we rob him of the things that he gives to us that we're not willing to give back in return. And the Bible talks about that, and it says that you'll be cursed with a curse, for you have robbed him, even this whole nation. And then he says, bring ye the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now therewith, saith the Lord of hosts. If I will not open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." What God's saying is, listen, it pays to be obedient. It pays to do what God tells you to do. It pays to be a giver. Giving is extremely important subject in Christianity today, largely because of the immense work needing to be done in the day and age in which we live in. We live in a day and age where we have a lot of work to accomplish, and it takes money to get that thing done. We live in a generation where it costs a lot more money to even buy gum today. We try to run buses, pick people up, do different things, and it takes money to be able to sit in a building when the weather's outside to be able to keep dry and have lights on. Bathrooms to use and things like that. It costs money to do those things, but I want to preface some things here tonight Satan is good at making people believe a lie. Let me just say this. I don't see what anybody tithes in this church Okay, so I'm not pointing the finger at anyone here tonight I'm just preaching what God told me to preach this evening and it's never fun to to preach about money. It's never fun because that's a very sensitive thing that's dear to people's hearts. You know why? Because the Bible says where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. And a lot of people, their treasure is in what they have in the bank account, in their savings account, what they have as far as their property and things of that nature. But it's very important for us to understand the importance of biblical giving and what the Bible says about it and how it's very important for the Great Commission, for edifying of the believers, for all kinds of things. But before you can understand God's principle in giving, you must first understand that it includes far more than just money and monetary resources. When we think of tithing and we think of giving, automatically our mind goes to that green paper. that we call money. God doesn't just want that from you. Part of giving, according to the Bible, goes even deeper than that. In this lesson that we're going to speak to you about tonight, we're going to deal with our responsibility and stewardship of our life as well as our resources. and being a good steward with what we have, what God has given us in our life, not only the monetary resources in which we have. We're also gonna show you God's principle in giving that are there to help believers, not because God needs our money, but it teaches you not to love money more than you're supposed to. Money is a great servant, but it's a terrible master. And oftentimes, that's where our God is. in that money. But our forefathers knew what they were doing when they placed on that money, in God we trust, because they want us to understand it's more about trusting God than it is about trusting in ourselves. But what is the meaning of giving and what are my responsibilities in this area? First, I want you to see that we must be willing to give of ourselves as we are to give of our money. You know, Brother Miller, there's a lot of people that'll give in the offering plate, but they won't give of themselves to God. They'll put some money when that offering plate passes by and they'll think hey I've accomplished something for God, but they're not willing to do anything and give of themselves to God. Let's see what the Bible says about this in 1st Corinthians chapter number 6. Take your Bible there if you would please. This is Wednesday night Bible study. So what better book to study anyway, right? We're going to go through the Bible and see what God has to say about it in 1st Corinthians chapter number 6. We must willing remember firstly we must be willing to give of ourselves as We are to give of our money now in first Corinthians the Apostle Paul under the inspiration of Holy Spirit is writing to the church of Corinth the church of Corinth is made up of who I Believers right good answer believers first Corinthians chapter number 6 verse 19 and 20 says this what? Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost Which is in you which you have of God and ye are not your own for you are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit and which are God's. So God bought you with a price and that price was his shed blood on the cross. Because of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross, his blood that was the atonement, the payment for your sin and my sin, that the Bible says the wages of sin is death. That earning, that payment that Jesus Christ paid on the cross, his blood that was shed was the purchase price for you and I to be able to go to heaven. And when you trust Jesus Christ by faith in his death, burial and resurrection, you're saved by the grace of God. Your sins are covered by the blood. And the Bible says that you're bought with a price. He's bought you with his own blood. He said, therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which belong to you. No, he said, which are God's. So God wants you to give of yourself. He's saying, listen, I bought you with a price. If you're saved in this room this evening, you belong to God. Your life is not yours to live the way you want to live. Your life is there to live according to this book and only by this book. That is God's word. That is what God says for us. Now I'm glad for a gracious God I'm glad for a merciful God when we do disobey and we do go this way that he's willing to forgive if we'll confess our sins He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness But we have to come to the mindset that it's more than just about every time we hear about giving most the time our mind goes to this thing right here And we think about oh Preacher's at it again. He's talking about money. If you want to go back and listen to the messages, how often I talk about money, it's not very often. But the fact is, it's in the Bible for a reason. God put it there for our benefit to teach us what he wants you to know. And by the way, God is trying to help you with your finances as well as with your life. And he's trying to tell you and teach you some things about how to rebuke the devourer in your life that's stopping you from reaching that happiness that you would like to have. And God will bless you. He promises to do it. Remember in the passage of scripture that we started out with, he said that he'll open up the winds of heaven and pour out a blessing that you're not able to receive. See, God wants to bless us. God wants to do that. But oftentimes, Brother Doug, I fear he can't because of us. Because we're not willing to just let God have everything. See, the key to giving the Bible way, and this could sum up the whole message right here. We could pack up and go home. We're not going to because you all die of a heart attack. But this could sum up the whole thing. If God has you, God will have everything you have. You understand? God wants you first. Because you can give and God not have you. You can give in the offering and God not have you. God wants you. God can take a little and make a lot out of it. But God wants you to submit to him. He bought you with a price. He said, therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God. So God bought you with a price. You belong to him. Secondly, God commands you to present your body as a living sacrifice. Romans 12 one. It says, look there real quickly. I can quote it, but I want you to see it. Romans chapter 12, verse number one. Says I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice Holy acceptable unto God which is your unreasonable service No, he said which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world will be transformed by the renewing of your mind and that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. What God is saying in this is that not only does he want us to understand that we're bought with a price, but God commands us to present our bodies a living sacrifice, not just what's in your wallet. He didn't say present your wallet a living sacrifice. He said present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. Okay, completely even, all of us. He wants everything about us. Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. It is not unreasonable for God to ask you to make a sacrifice of yourself. That's not unreasonable. You know why? Because he's not asking you to do anything that he wasn't willing to do for you. He made himself a sacrifice for you. And he's not willing. He's not asking you to do something that he would sit up here on his throne and say, Miss Lisa, you're going to be a sacrifice, but I'll never do that. He's not going to do those things. He is our example all throughout scripture. And he made himself a sacrifice. And he tells us to make ourselves a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable unto God. By the way, it's a command. It's a command for us. You say, well, that word beseech means beg us and things like that. Yeah, but it says I beseech you. You know what he's saying? I'm earnestly pleading that you'll do what I tell you to do. I'm earnestly pleading that you'll just obey me. Why? Because he desires to bless us. God desires to bless us. But he commands you to present your body. And when you present something, guess what you're doing? You're giving it as a gift. Someone else you're presenting it to them. We have the chili cook-off and every year we have a competition in that and we present a winner And we let people know who is the and I think you're the reigning champ from last year, aren't you? Okay, so we got to beat miss Mabel this year and all that but it says you present your body a living Sacrifice by the way, I don't know of many sacrifices that are alive. I Do you, in the Bible? Sacrifices are something that takes a hit, a cut, death. See, Jesus died for you and I. The sacrifices on the altar, there was death. What that means is, presents your body a living sacrifice. You say, what does it mean if you're living? How are you a sacrifice? How can you be alive? And this, what he's saying is, if you're gonna be alive for God, you're gonna be dead to self. You'll be dead to self. Paul said, I die daily. We got to get rid of our things that we think are more important and look at what God says is important. He commands us to present our bodies a living sacrifice. Also under this area of willing to give of ourselves, we have to have a willing mind and heart with a life committed to the service of God. And this is just as important as our financial giving in receiving the blessings of God. Look at 2 Corinthians, if you would please. 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter number eight. This is where you find the Macedonians example on giving the Macedonians an example on giving here. And again, let me repeat what that was a willing mind and heart with a life committed to the service of God. That is just as important to God as your financial gift. Look what the Bible says. Verse one. Moreover, brethren, we do to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the church of Macedonia. How that in a great trial of affliction and the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty, abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves, praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hope, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God. See what it said, they gave of themselves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God. God wants you to have a mind and heart no matter how wealthy, no matter how poor, no matter how much you think you have or you don't have. Listen, the poorest person in America is rich in our world. You understand that? There's nobody in America that should be in poverty. They shouldn't be. Why? Because we have a land where people can get jobs. They can work. They can do things like that. But we live in a great nation. And I understand there's hard times that come. And sometimes there's circumstances that come that are out of our control. But no matter how much money you think you get, no matter how much you don't think you have, that doesn't put your social status, whether you're successful for God or not. God says, listen, I want you to give up yourself to me. Don't you give of yourself to me. We can't look around at somebody and say, well, they have this much money and they have this much money. So they're at a higher status quo than this person is. No, because this person down here who doesn't have a lot may be giving of themselves to God. And this person up here is just trying to give their money. Well, there's a passage of scripture that says that Jesus sat down and the disciples sat down by the treasury It's in those that were rich cast in much But she of her want gave all that she had the lady with the two mites and just threw them in gave of what she had And she gave it all to God and God remembered her more than those that gave a lot why because she gave everything for him Though it may not in the grand scheme of things look like it was a lot God made a big deal about it because of the heart in which it was given It was somebody who was committed to give to God. Somebody who was committed. And then you must also realize that true giving begins with your life and includes the resources that you have. See, because if you have something, it was given to you by who? God. You say, well, I worked for it. Well, who gave you the ability to work? Who gave you your job? who gave us the land we live in. They can afford to pay you. God did. God's blessing is upon us. And so if God has your life, if somebody who understands what true giving is, it starts with God getting you. And then if God will have you, getting the resources that are needed to get the job done isn't a hard task. Because if God has you, you don't have any problem of giving of the things that God gives to you. If God has control of your life, He will have control of your resources. So firstly, we must be willing to give of ourselves as we are to give of our money. Secondly, what is the reason What is the reason for my giving look at second corinthians chapter 8. We were just there Uh in verse number 5 it says and they did that Uh, and and this they did not as we hope had hope but first gave their own selves to the lord and unto us by the will of god insomuch that we desired titus that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also. Therefore, as ye abound in everything in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in the grace also. I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others to prove the sincerity of of your love. So why do I give of myself? Why do I give of the resources? Verse 8, I believe, gives us the answer, Brother Miller, there at the bottom. It says, to prove the sincerity of your love. So what is the reason for my giving? Giving of yourself first and then of the resources proves the sincerity of your love for Christ. It proves the sincerity of your love. He was giving us an example in this passage of scripture, he said, why'd they do this? He said, they did it because they were showing the sincerity of their love. The sincerity of their love. I wonder if you were to judge how much you love God by how much you do for God, how much does God have of you, how much would God think you love him? How much would God think you love him? I read a quote, Brother Doug, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said this, he said, I want to love God so much that when I tell God, God, I love you, he says, yes, Charles, I know. And I thought, wow, how powerful is that? Because the disciples, remember, he asked them, do you love me? And they said, yes, Lord, we love you. He said, well, then prove it. feed my sheep. Charles Spurgeon said listen I want to love God so much there's no doubt in his mind if I love him or not when I say I love him he's gonna look down from heaven and say yes I know it just keep on going and listen if you give of yourself to God in such a way that you're totally submitted to him when you say God I love you guess what God's gonna say I know your actions tell me your actions tell me see it proves the sincerity your love it proves the sincerity of your love but not only what is the reason for my giving not only does it prove the sincerity of your love but look at 2nd Corinthians 8 again verse 6 and 7 look what it says in so much that we desired Titus that as we had abound had begun so he would also finish in you the same grace also therefore as ye abound in everything in faith and utterance and knowledge and all diligence and in your love to see us that ye abound in the grace of Also, look at chapter 9 and verse 8 Chapter 9 and verse 8 says this and God is able To make all grace abound towards you that ye always having all sufficiency and all things may abound to every good work so giving develops an attitude of grace for other works it doesn't take any special talents or ability to Give it takes only grace You understand God gives us the grace to do what we've got to do giving develops an attitude of grace for other works God understands that when we give he teaches us this attitude of the grace of God and what God has done and Giving even though we may not have that much to give also look at Philippians chapter 4 Philippians chapter number 4 Philippians chapter four, verse number 17, it says, not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. Not only is our reason for giving shows the sincerity of our love and develops an attitude of grace, but giving is an investment for eternal riches that we get our eyes off of the earthly riches that fade away, but get our eyes on the heavenly treasures that we can lay up in heaven. See, he said that I don't desire this for you. I desire that fruit may abound. to your account. See, why do we give to missionaries? We heard about the missionary letter tonight. Why do we give to missions? It's so that fruit may abound to the account here. God allows us to give. We give with a heart of love because we want to give to God, but the fruit that goes on out there, understand, because of the giving, because of the willingness and the ability to give, that the gospel can go on in areas that we can't physically reach because we're here, but we can send others on our behalf to reach and that fruit abounds to the account here. And so what a blessing it is to be able to have an investment in eternal riches. Look at Matthew chapter number six. Matthew chapter number six. Starting in verse number 19. Lay not up for yourself treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So what he's trying to teach us, our reasons for giving, is that it proves the sincerity of our love, it develops an attitude of grace for other works, it gives an investment in internal riches, gets our eyes off of earthly riches, and on treasures in heaven. So, the person who benefits from your giving, of yourself, and of your, yes, God, but he gets the glory out of it, but who benefits from it? You do. You benefit from giving of yourself because God blesses you God blesses you and he he gives you rewards in heaven that you can lay up So then next the question is where am I to give now? Listen, i'm not against people giving to other organizations and things like that but I fear that we we're so busy giving to Benny hand and all these other people that we uh, Take away from where god has brought us and what god wants us to do. Look at first corinthians chapter number 16 1 Corinthians chapter number 16. Starting in verse one, now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. And when I come, whosoever ye shall approve by your letters, then will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me. But it said, upon the first day of the week, let everyone lay up in store, as God hath promised, that there be no gatherings when I come. So where am I to give? First, our primary responsibility is to the local church. All giving in the New Testament is done within the context of the local church. Again, I'm not against somebody giving to an organization or giving to a charity or something like that. But I am against you robbing God and giving to something like that. You say, well, I'm trying to be a blessing and I'm trying to be a help. Well, God commands to bring your tithes into the storehouse. The first day of the week God commands to bring it to the local church. This is your church your assembly This is where God you're a member of if you're if you're part of Tabernacle Baptist Church. This is your responsibility God gave it to us to do that and you know, I'm not again I'm not against giving to charity and things like that But I am against you sending money to some guy to get a prayer rag Okay that he wiped his sweat with and that he sends to you and things like that. Listen, I'll do it cheaper. I Okay, I joke about that and the fact matter is those guys are going to answer to God for those kind of things. But you're supposed to give your money to the local church. Why? Because this local church is a body of believers that God has placed in this area to do the work that he wants us to do. And by funding this church, we're able to do more for the cause of Christ because of our giving to this local area. Then, anyone is free to give to causes outside a local church, and God may even use it and bless it, but the local church is the central part of God's plan. If you give outside of it, it should never be done at the expense of what God has commanded you to do here. So if you're gonna give outside of it, make sure you've done what God told you to do first. And bring your tithes to the storehouse. Lay up and bring it to the storehouse on the first day of the week. You say, then why do we take offering on Wednesday night? Because some people don't come to church on the first day of the week. That's why we do it on Wednesday night. Okay, some people don't come to church on sunday. They come on wednesday night And so we give them the opportunity to obey god as they've laid up in store and different things like that And I'll tell you this if you say well preacher you're preaching about giving I'll tell you this any person is welcome to ask any deacon any treasurer anything like that if pastor gives You can check You can look The answer is yes I give to this work just like i'm asking you to do Okay, because God, guess why? God commanded me to. God tells me that I'm supposed to and you're welcome to check you're welcome to ask and Ask them if I give I'll be glad to tell them go ahead and tell you I haven't I'm not ashamed of it why because I know what God tells me to do and what God tells me to give and I Appreciate God giving me the opportunity to give us as he has and the more that we've increased the more God has done And so I really appreciate that but I want you to understand that where am I to give it a primary responsibility is to the local church We shouldn't have to scrape pennies together to keep the lights on at the church because we're sending money to some TV evangelist that we see every so often. Just telling you. And I know it's kind of a touchy subject, but the fact of the matter is you can say, well, it's my money, I'll give it where you want to give it, really. God could take it from you just like that. You better not rob God. Remember, we started out, he said, well, a man robbed God. Where did we rob the in tithes and offerings? But see, here's the thing. People that won't give Miss Jodi to the church are people that won't give of themselves to God. My preacher taught me this a while ago, Brother Miller, when people leave the church, if I were to go check and I don't do this, but if I were to go check, they quit giving to the church about a month or two before they left. They quit financially giving. Why? Because their treasure went somewhere else. And where their treasure is, there will their heart be also. And if you check, most of the time, when somebody gets mad or leaves the church or does something like that, it's because, well, either God called them somewhere or they just quit giving to the work because their heart's somewhere else. And the fact of the matter is, we ought not to be supporting other organizations and letting our church die. We ought to give to the local church first. And you say, well, preacher, you're just saying that because if we have money, you must get a raise. I get a raise when you all vote that I get a raise. Okay, so I don't get to judge all that. The fact of the matter is God commands you to do it and I want you to be blessed. I want you to have the blessings of God upon your life and God wants to bless you, but you ought to give to the local church. What does my money go for? Some people ask that. What does the money that I give to the church go for? Well, it goes for hamburgers. I'm just joking. Okay, just kidding What does my money go for look at 1st Corinthians chapter number 9? 1st Corinthians chapter number 9 and look at a few passages scripture here 1st Corinthians chapter number 9 Verse 13 and 14 Do you not know that they which minister upon holy things live of the things of the temple? And they which wait at the altars are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. Look at Galatians chapter six, Galatians chapter number six. And verse number six, let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. And then look at 1 Timothy chapter number five. 1 Timothy chapter number five. I had somebody tell me about six months ago, Brother Miller, that tithing wasn't in the New Testament. Giving wasn't in the New Testament. That was an Old Testament teaching. Well, I've given you a lot of verses out of the New Testament tonight. And we are a New Testament church, aren't we, according to the Bible? Well, look at, if you would please, in 1 Timothy, in chapter number five, verse 17 and 18, look what it says. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. For the scriptures say, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn, and the laborer is worthy of his reward. When it gets to this area of giving, it's a very sensitive subject because it's talking about supporting or giving to the leaders of the church, the pastor of the church, supporting those that are on staff at the church, they that labor in the word. And this is a sensitive area because I am in that position. So it's difficult to talk about those things, but the Bible says that he that labors in the word ought to be Given by that be able to live by that doctrine that or live by that word and that doesn't mean that we live Just strictly upon reading the Bible. That means that the church has an obligation to take care of the preacher It does why because this is my full-time job. The fact of the matter is this I don't look at it as a job This is a ministry that God gave me but the fact is when we go home and we get out we clock out at night we're pretty much done for the day unless we're on call and A pastor's on call all the time. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. If that means cutting vacation short because somebody died in the church or whatever, we come back. That's just part of the ministry that God has given us. And the fact is, the Bible says that firstly, to support the elders or the leader of the church. Secondly, it tells us in Philippians chapter number four, look what the Bible says there, Philippians chapter number four. verse number 15 and 16 it says now ye Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed from Macedonia no church communicated with me as concerning as concerning giving and receiving but ye only for even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity so first it goes to support the leaders of the church other and then secondly goes to other works of God supported through your church like missions okay it goes to missions and other works that we have bus ministry nursing home ministry the ministries that our church has the monies to go out and to support those things in which we do so we ought to be giving to support the leaders of the church to support The ministries of the church you understand in the society we live in the day and age we live in it takes money to run things It does it takes money to run things, but we wouldn't have an issue with running the things that we have to run if god had you firstly If god has your heart remember, that's the key to the whole message is that if god has you Giving of your monetary things won't be a problem But other works of God that are supported through our church then in Acts chapter number six Acts chapter number six I know there's a lot of scripture a lot to take in but there's something I'm trying to give you help with that you can go back and study later for yourself and I'm not telling you to do this because I say so I want you to go back and look at what the Bible says Okay, I want you to go back and look at what God says That's why I give you these scriptures for you to go back and look at Acts chapter 6 verse number 1 it says and in those days when the number of the disciple Was multiplied that there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration So not only is it to support the leaders of the church and the support of the other works or ministries of the church, but to support those in the church body who are unable to support themselves. Unable to support themselves and who are faithful to the church. Now let me explain something. This does not mean that people who will not support themselves It didn't say that. Who just choose not to work and they just want the church to support them, that's not what it's talking about. It's talking about the widows that don't have their husband anymore that helps provide for them or a person that's unable physically to do the job, to earn the money. We're supposed to help those people that can't help themselves. So people that are faithful in our church, that have been active in our church, that have proven themselves that, hey, they desire to serve God and they're in an area that they just physically cannot do it. It is our job as a church to help them. Our job as a church to help them. You say, like who? Like Miss Carolyn. It's our job to help her. Our job to help her. Miss Freda Britton, it's our job to help her. These ladies, Miss Leslie, it's our job to help her. See, I could go on and on, and Miss Jenny Hess, all those people. Listen, there's a lot of people out there that just decide they don't want to do it. And they want to call the church, and they want to say, you know what, I need this, or I need that, and because you're a church, you're supposed to give to me. Listen, I'm not kidding. I get calls every day. Today, I received 13 phone calls to this church of people asking for food, asking for help with their rent, asking for help with this, and they're not a member of any church. And I ask them the question. I'm like, have you called your church first? They said, well, I don't go to church. I said, so you don't go to church, but you want our church to help you. Why is that? Well, that's what the church is supposed to do. That's the response I get a lot of times. The fact is it is not our job to provide for everybody out there, but to help those in our church that have need, that can't physically do it. So it's not our job. Now, listen, I'm not saying we can't give to somebody on the side of the road if we see them and God lays on our heart to do though, but that is not what the tithes and the offerings of the church are supposed to go towards. They're supposed to go to help those who cannot according to the Bible. And 1 Timothy 5 talks about that as well. I'm not gonna get there for sake of time tonight, but Acts chapter 6 verse 1 talks about that. It said, because the widows were neglected in the daily ministration. We ought not to neglect those who can't help themselves. We ought to try to be a help and a blessing to them. And then, to meet the general needs determined by the leadership of the church. Acts chapter number 11. Look there if you would, please. Acts chapter number 11. Acts chapter number 11 and verse 27 is where we'll start. It says, and in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch, and there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. And the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea, which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. So you know what they did? They saw other needs that needed to be done. And by the determination of the leadership of the church, they said, you know what? Here's what we're going to do. They mentioned it to the church. And every man said, you know what we're going to do? We're going to give to that need. We're going to give to that need. We've been talking about a sound system that we need. We've got to upgrade our sound system. We need help with that. Guess what that happens? That's where you give to that. We give to those kind of things. Maybe we we may need some supplies at the church or help with this That's what the monies go towards. Okay that come into the church. So just to help you It's not like it just comes in and we sit here and we just We take it and stuff it in our pockets and say this is what we do with it any person in here is welcome to see anything that goes out and I try to give the Deacons up updated things as we get them and I'll let them know what happens in the church Why because we ought to be good stewards and it be accountable for the things That God gives to us and that we do with God's money. You notice I said it's God's money but if you Serving God and doing the things that God wants you to do really we should say We are God's and so if God has us he has everything that we have You know, why is it and listen, I'm just gonna hit a rabbit as it runs by Why is it that we always want to give our junk for Jesus? I? That's just a question. I've always had some what I mean by that is some people will come to a church and say preacher I've got this old lawnmower been sitting in my yard for 45 years and I can't get it to run but if church wants it y'all can have it Listen, this is not a scrapyard For us to give to God and those same people that want to give of that They've got three different zero turn mowers and they've got this I want to ask them Why don't you give your zero turn to God? Whoa, hold on, I need that for my business. I can't do that, but I want to get this thing out of my yard. Preacher, you want it. I laugh about that, but that happened with Pastor Biggs. You guys know Pastor Biggs? And he had somebody, Brother Miller, come up to him. This mower had been sitting in their yard for five years. They couldn't get it to run. It was rusted out. Little parts of it were rusted. But Pastor Biggs is a good mechanic. They said, Preacher, if you'll take this mower and just get it out of my hair, you can have it. He said, OK, I'll take it. So he went and got it. And he took it home. And he looked at it and said, there was just a few little parts. He fixed it without mowing his grass. And the guy drove by. Preachers out there mowing his grass with this mower and the guy pulls in and says I didn't know that thing would run Can I have it back? So preacher said hey sure you can have it back. He said my daddy taught me to give things back exactly the way I received them And so he went and he took those old parts, those new parts off, put the old parts back on, gave it back to the guy, and it wouldn't run. The guy said, I thought this thing was running. He said, hey, I gave it back to you exactly as I got it. And so the thing is, that's our mindset sometimes. Not everybody, we have a lot of people in our church that give. But there's a lot of people that say, you know what, I'm gonna give God less than my best. But see, God doesn't want what you have left over. God wants what's most important. I wonder if God told you, hey, I want you to give so and so your car. What would you say? Listen, I've told you about this story already. I fought with God brother Miller on this. I don't know if you've been here since I told this story. I had an AR 15 that I had when I was a police officer. It was all decked out, man. It was a DPMS had a red dot scope on the top of it. It had everything a bipod on the side flashlight on the side of it. And man, I love that thing. I used it in entries when I would go in as a police officer and we'd go do different raids and things like that. Man, I loved that thing. And we had an evangelist, you guys know him, Jason Kendrick, that came to our church up in Michigan and he was talking about an AR-15. And the Holy Spirit just told me, hey, give him your AR-15. And I just kept on going. Didn't act like I understood what the Holy Spirit told me at all. He was speaking in tongues to me that night because I didn't understand it. And then I went to bed that night. Miss Lee said, he just really. I was like, Lord, listen, I'll give you my kids. Don't don't ask him for my gun, OK? I can't do it. And he just kept on me, kept on me, kept on me. Well, next day I took it, put it in a case. And I thought this, honestly, I'm sitting here talking to God probably verbally. I don't even know if I was. I say, God, I'm going to do it. And I'm not doing it with a cheerful heart. I'm going to need your help in this thing. You know, I'm going to try to obey you, but I'm not doing it with the right spirit and the right attitude. And I had to actually stop and pray and ask God to help me with this thing because I was struggling with it. Well, finally, God, he helped me to understand that, listen, I'm not asking you to do something. And then I'm going to sit back here and just say, ha. He said, no, I promised you I'll open the windows of heaven for our blessing in your name. And I honestly, I thought at that time, well, maybe God's going to give me two of them. That'd be a blessing. You know, that'd be kind of awesome is what I was thinking. But I had to come to the place where I just realized I just have to submit and obey God. So I walked up to Brother Jason's camper and I knocked on the door. He opened it and I said, here. And I kind of turned around and just started to walk away. And he's standing there holding it. He unzips it. He goes, oh, brother, brother, brother, hold on. I was like, no, I don't want to talk about it. Just take it, it's yours. And he started crying, tears coming down his face. He said, you don't know how long I've been praying for one of these. And I said, well, you don't know how long I've been praying that I didn't have to give it to you, okay? But the fact is, listen, God has blessed abundantly. God has given me back more than what I could ever gave to him. And yes, that was something I enjoyed, but you know what it was? It was just a gun. You know what, I have another one. God's blessed me with. I have 37 firearms that I own right now. Praise God, I need a few more. I still got room. But the fact of the matter is this, God is blessed. God has worked it out. And you know what? God has given me vehicles. God's provided my needs. God's done all those things. Why? Just because you're willing just to say, Lord, here, I can be a blessing to someone else. See, God wants us to be able to give to meet those other needs of people. I'm not gonna go any further. We got other things to talk about. But where does the money go goes to support the leaders of the church? The other works supported our missions giving bus routes things like that that we have To support within the church body for those who are unable to support themselves who are faithful again who are unable to support themselves Okay, unable to support themselves not hey, I want a handout from the church Okay, you know what we make out of people like that we make enablers out of people like that. Now, am I saying people in our church that are working jobs, that have a hard time, that we shouldn't help them? No. If they're doing their best and they're trying and they're faithful to church and they're giving, we ought to try to be a help and a blessing to them if we can. That's what benevolence is. It's giving with that heart of compassion and things like that. But then other needs of the church, whatever needs we may feel. Maybe we want to Take up a love offering and just help somebody in the church that has something they're trying to do maybe a project that's going on Something like that, but it's as we as God lays it on our heart to do. So listen, it's his money But we look at it as well if I give of that I can't have this or I can't have that you're missing out on what the whole point About giving is if you're willing to give God will give you more You understand but if you're a squeezer God gives you less It's just that simple. The fact is, when God has you, he'll have everything about you. Everything about you. I don't mind people having stuff, but I mind stuff having people. I do. You know what? My father-in-law has a 1979 Corvette. He's got that thing, Brother Jason, you could eat off the engine. It's that pretty. I talked to him just recently when I had seen him, and I said, hey, what are you going to do with that thing? He said, I don't know. I might sell it. I said, what? I said, that's the one you've worked on. You've taken to shows, all this stuff. You're going to sell it? He goes, yeah. It's just a car. And I thought, you know what? He's invested in that thing. He loves Corvettes. I mean, he's got a whole Corvette room upstairs in his house, all these little model car Corvettes. He loves Corvettes. But he said, it's just a car. No big deal. I asked him how much he was selling it for, and when he told me, I almost went and got a loan to buy it. I was like, wow, that's cheaper than what I thought it was gonna be. Maybe I'll get it, but I didn't have no place to put it. So, I didn't do it. But the fact is, it's just a thing to him. And you know what? The guns that I have, I made a decision a long time ago, I'm not selling any more guns. But if God tells me to give them away, they're things. Just things. God tells me to give of this, it's just, it's a thing, it's his anyway. Here's where I take the chance. If I don't give it, he takes it from me. I can either give of it, and by the way, parents, that goes with your children as well. They belong to God. I think there's a lot of kids miss the will of God because parents say, no, they're mine. You know what God ends up doing? That relationship gets strained with mom and dad and different things like that, or maybe something tragic happens. I hate to say that, but they belong to the Lord. You ought to be willing to let God have them. That's why we had the baby dedication here recently with Thomas and Stephanie of them giving their child back to God. God gave it to them, they're giving it back to him. God, you do with it, do with my child as you see fit. Why? Because the child belongs to you. The whole fact of giving, what is the meaning of giving? It's willing to give of ourselves. If we're willing to give of ourselves, we'll be willing to give of our money. What's the reason? To prove the sincerity of our love. to develop an attitude of grace, to give an investment in eternal riches. And where does the money go? Why am I, where am I to give to the church? This is your first obligation, it's here. And then if you want to give to other things out there, then as long as you prayed about it and asked God about it, then go for it. But then where does it go? To support the leaders of the church, to support the ministries of the church, to support those who are unable to give, and then general needs of the church as we have. We're gonna talk later on about how much am I supposed to give, what the Bible talks about that. There's other verses that explain how much am I supposed to give. Here's the thing, you ought to be willing to give anything. You ought to be willing to give anything. Bible talks about what we're what we're supposed to give and how God loves the cheerful giver when he talks about that 10% And we'll get into all that later. Okay, let's have a word of prayer. Well, we love you Thank you for the day that you've given to us tonight Lord with heads bowed eyes closed I just asked you Lord help us to I know this was more of a teaching lesson tonight, but I