Several months ago, maybe a little
longer, Brother Larry Brown had gone with me to a meeting, and
while I was studying, preparing to preach, he spent some time
with some young couples in the congregation. On the way home
that evening, he asked me with great concern,
how do you give direction to these young people? They seem
to have nothing on their minds except advancing in their careers,
getting property, securing some wealth, and it seems to just
consume them. Perhaps the problem is that too
much consumes us, and our children learn from us. Tomorrow morning,
those of you who aren't retired will get up and go to work as
you do every week. Why? Why do you set your clock when
you're tired, get up, hurry off to work, stay late, keep with
the job? Sometimes you despise what you're
doing. Sometimes it gets aggravating, but you just stay with it. Now,
I'm not talking about what kind of work you do. That doesn't
matter. We live in a society that far
too much honors and praises professionals, people whose jobs require college
education, doctors, lawyers, and politicians, and executives. They're the people who have influence
in society, and other folks bow and scrape before them. Now,
don't misunderstand me. It is altogether proper that
we give honor to those to whom honor is due. If I know that
a man has gone to the trouble and labor to have earned a degree
in medicine or something else that gives him a title of doctor
out yonder, I'll probably call him Dr. So-and-so. When I meet
my family doctor, I say, Dr. Hendrickson. That's proper. That's proper. Unless he insisted
that I do it. I'd call him Bub, but that's
just proper. Not in here. Not in here. If he was sitting where you are,
he'd be Finley, just like your Bob. Or Brother Finley, like
your Brother Bob. That's all. We honor those whom
honorees do. And yet, we ought never look
upon one person with contempt and another with adulation just
because of their social status. That's horrible. That's horrible. Honest labor is honorable labor
no matter what it is. No matter what it is. It doesn't
matter whether you work for minimum wage by the hour or you make
a million dollars a year. It doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter. Honest labor is honorable labor. It's of no consequence
as far as a man's character is concerned, what kind of work
he does, how much he makes or how much he has of absolutely
no consequence. But my question has nothing to
do with the kind of work you do. My question is, why do you
do it? What's your reason for working?
Now, I have a reason for asking the question. There are, as far
as I can find in this book, just three reasons. Just three reasons. Just three honorable reasons
for labor, and for work. Let me give them to you. I hope
none of you will be surprised to recognize that in this book,
among those reasons given for working and working hard, there
is not one word about gaining riches, getting more stuff, or
increasing social status. That's just not a reason for
working. That's the reason for hogs to grunt and push one another
out of the trough. That's not a reason for working,
not for men. That's the reason for animals to growl and fight
and snarl at each other when they're trying to get the same
feedings off. That's not a reason for men to
live and work. Not according to this book. All right, let's
look at some of them. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
1. You turn to Ephesians chapter 6, if you will. Let me read a
couple passages to you. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10,
31, whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do,
do all to the glory of God. Do all to the glory of God. In Ephesians 6, verse 5, Paul
is addressing this matter of labor. Be obedient to them that are
your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling,
and singleness of your heart as unto Christ, and not with
eye service as men pleases, but as the servants of Christ, doing
the will of God from the heart." When you get up, what's the clock
in the morning? And you're given a task to do
that you just really don't care much about doing. And other folks
will shove it off and do a half-hearted job. And you tend to want to
grumble. You say, why on earth did the
supervisor give me this job? Understand, God gave you the
job. And you're there to serve God
and do His will, not the supervisor. Look in Colossians 3, verse 22. Obey in all things your masters
according to the flesh, not with eye of service as men pleasers,
but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And look at verse 23. And
whatsoever you do, do it heartily. Do it heartily. But Brother Don,
you don't have to do what I do. I know what I've been there.
I have done it. I know what it is to Earn my
living by burning rubber off of copper wires and stacking
the wires together. If you think that's fun, try
it sometime. I know what it is to scrub toilets
behind other folks. I've done it. I know what it
is to clean up surgery rooms behind doctors who got paid good
money for making the mess. I've done those things. Do this
heartily? How can that be? Fear in God. Fear in God. And whatsoever you
do it heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men. Now watch this,
verse 24. Knowing that of the Lord you
shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the
Lord Christ. Well, I thought I was serving
folks that write my paycheck. You are. You are the Lord Christ. I thought I was serving folks
who owned this business. You are. The Lord Christ. The Lord Christ. In all things, we are His servants. First and foremost. When we go
about our daily employment, whatever it is, let us seek to honor our
God in the work we do. All right? Now turn to 1 Timothy
5. First reason for labor, first reason for any man to work, is
for the glory of God. 1 Timothy chapter 5. Here's another. Verse 8. If any man provide not
for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he's
a reprobate. Doesn't matter how religious
he is, how zealous he is, how much he professes to know, doesn't
matter how much he reads the Bible and recites Scripture,
he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. How
can a fellow be worse than an infidel? He pretends to serve
God, but he's really an infidel. He pretends to be pious, but
he's really an infidel. A man who won't work is just
about the most useless thing that walks on the top side of
the earth on two feet. He's denied the faith. He's worse
than an infidel. It is the responsibility of every
man to provide for his family. I recall days when men considered
it an honor. to take care of their families.
It is the responsibility of all men to provide for their families.
That provision reaches beyond physical things. You men, like
the one talking to you, are responsible to provide for your families
spiritually. The behavior of my family with
regard to the things of God is my responsibility. It's not my
wife's, not my daughter's, it is my responsibility. Every man
is responsible in his house before God to be prophet, priest, and
king to his family. What do you mean by that? It
is my responsibility to teach that woman the things of God.
To see to it she's here so that she can learn the things of God. It is my responsibility as God's
priest in my house to lead my family in the worship of God. And it is my responsibility as
king in my house to rule my house for the glory of God. Well, that's
not consistent with political correctness of this age. Well,
I've never really thought that was much of a motive to do anything
or think anything. It is every man's responsibility.
And if he's a man who believes God, he'll fulfill it, to be
prophet, priest, and king in his house. We ought to be motivated
every day as we labor with our hands in the work God's given
us to do, to do that work, whatever it is, to the best of our ability,
for the glory of God and the good of our families. But there's
a third reason for working, a noble biblical principle. which ought
to have high priority and great motivation for every child of
God in his daily employment. Come back to Ephesians chapter
4. We ought to work, thirdly, so
that we might enjoy the high honor and the great privilege
of giving. Look at Ephesians 4.28. Let him that stole steal no more,
but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which
is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth." Well, Brother Don and I never
really thought about working today so I could have something
to give to folks who need my help. You ought to. working with
his hands, that he may have to give to him that needeth. If
we belong to Christ, if we're his servants, we ought to make
it the business of our lives to purposefully provide for those
things where provision is needed. Open-handedly, with open hearts,
generously giving ought to be a high priority in our lives. Now there are numerous examples.
Let me call your attention to a few of them. You remember back
in 2 Samuel, David was looking for a place for the ark of God,
a place to build the house of God. And he found just the right
place. It belonged to a fellow by the
name of Ordon. And he sent some fellows down
and said, I want to purchase this place from you. And Ordon
said, oh, you want to purchase my threshing floor to offer sacrifice
to God? And to build a house for the
Lord, to find a place for the ark of God? He said, Oh, King
David, take whatever you want. It's all yours. I'll give it
to you. And David said, No, sir. No, sir. Well, what would be
wrong with taking it? He said, I will not sacrifice
to God that which doth cost me nothing. You name your price
and I'll pay it. Some years ago when we were Working
on building this building, one of the men that was in it downtown
was looking for some things to purchase. He talked to the fellow running
the business, the fellow who owned it, and said, you know,
you ought to consider helping us out a little bit. After all,
we are a church doing the Lord's work. You could just give these
things to us and write them off. I grabbed him by the arm and
we went outside. I said, don't ever. Never. Never. We don't grovel before
people so that they might help us serve our God who have no
interest in serving our God. We'll pay our way. God's people
support things, but we won't grovel before others. We don't
let other religious folks whose God needs their help beg and
scrape. We don't. And he understood. It'll never happen again. No,
I won't sacrifice to God. That which cost me nothing. That
woman in Mark chapter 14, she brought that alabaster box of
ointment, valued at 300 pence. Now in our thinking today, that
doesn't seem like much. Do you remember in the parable
of the laborers in Matthew 20, what every man labored for all
day long? Penny a day. That woman brought
what was considered to be a year's wages, and just poured it out
on the master. Why this waste, Judah said. He
said that because he didn't understand what she was doing. He didn't
have a clue what was going on. And the Lord Jesus said, She
hath done what she could. She wrought a good work on me.
The Macedonians, out of their deep poverty, Paul said to the
Corinthians, using them as examples to how we ought to give, he said,
these Macedonians, out of their great poverty, gave according
to their power, yea, and above their power, they gave generously. The Philippians, poor group of
people, when Paul was in prison, sent their gifts down to him.
I can't imagine what they sent him. I suspect maybe some blankets
somebody made to keep him warm, maybe something to eat that he
could have some nourishment, or maybe just some chocolate
chip cookies one of the ladies baked. I don't know what they
said, but whatever it was, Paul said, this is a sweet smelling
sacrifice to God, your generosity. Now tonight, I want us to look
at Luke chapter 21, verses one through four. We find here a certain poor widow
whom the Son of God holds up for us as an example of what
consecration to God Almighty really is. He looked up and saw
the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury, and he saw
also a certain poor widow casting in feather two mites. And he
said of a truth, I say unto you that this poor widow hath cast
in more than they are, for all these have of their abundance
cast into the offering of God, but she of her penury, of her
deep poverty, hath cast in all the living that she Few events
in the life of our Lord while he walked on this earth are more
commonly overlooked than this. Few of his sayings are less discussed
than that which is now before us. Our Lord saw the rich men
casting in their gifts into the treasury. Now, without question,
it is proper that those who have more should give more. That's
seldom the case, but that's the way it ought to be. Matter of
fact, while I was preparing this message, I was looking for something
else and ran across this statistic. I don't know when it was taken.
Folks who made between $10,000 and $20,000 a year, on average
in this country, gave 2.5% of their income to charitable causes. Folks who made over $100,000
gave 1.5% of their income. And when the rich do give something,
seldom is this not so. Seldom. It comes with all kinds
of strings attached and orders as to what you're supposed to
do with it. But these rich men came and cast their money into
the treasure. Then our master spotted also
a certain poor widow. I can, well, let me read into
it a little bit. I'll just picture it. These rich fellows came along
and they And I've got a $20 bill here. For the Lord. And then this woman sneaks in,
embarrassed because of what little she had and what little she could
do. She doesn't want to drop it into
the box. to make too much racket and everybody
knows she just puts some coins in. She cast in her too much. And the Master said of a truth
I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than
they all, for all these have of their abundance cast in unto
the offerings of God. But she of her penury had cast
in all the living that she had. Now let me show you four things
here that ought to be very plain. First, the one who observed these
things. It is the Lord Jesus Christ,
our God. We're not informed at all that
our Master was told anything about these people. And yet,
He knew everything about them. He who is God our Savior is the
omniscient God of glory. He knows all. He knew all about
every one of them. He knew how much each possessed.
He knew how much each gave. He knew why they gave it, and
he knew how much each kept for themselves. Now, I stress that,
and I stress it every time I get opportunity, because he who gave
his all to redeem us, is himself the mighty God. You know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that though he was rich,
yet for our sakes became he poor, that we through his poverty might
be rich. Let us never, never for a moment
imagine any thought that diminishes in any way the eternal Godhood
of our Savior. If He who is our Redeemer is
God, then whatever He does shall prosper. He cannot fail. And if He fails, He is not God. He who puts away our sin is God
Almighty in human flesh. And he willingly assumed thy
nature and took on himself the deep poverty of being made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. No wonder when Paul thought on
these things, he exclaimed, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. Now, look at this. Mark tells
us, if you want to look at it later in Mark 12, that he beheld
H.O.W. He beheld how the people cast
money into the treasury. He didn't just see what they
did. He saw how they did it. He saw what was behind it. He
saw why they gave. Our God observes all things. He looks beyond the fact that
you're here tonight to why you're here. He looks beyond the fact
that you do something to why you do it. He looks beyond the
fact that I'm here preaching this message to why I'm here
preaching this message. All things, including our thoughts,
our motives, and our hearts, are naked and open to the eyes
of Him with whom we have to do. Pretense is foolishness. He is a fool who tries to pretend
with God. He's an absolute fool. What we
are before God Almighty, that we are. All right, now look at
the second thing. The Holy Spirit here describes
two Giffords. There were many, but he really
describes just two. Chapter 21, verse 1. He looked up and saw the rich
men casting in their gifts into the treasury, and he saw a certain
poor widow. I have only one thing to say
in this regard, because I want to get to other things, but hear
this. There are many, many people in this world who are rich, very
rich. rich in material things, even
rich in religious tradition, ceremony, and activity, who are
utterly poor, utterly destitute before God, for they have no
faith in Christ and no grace and no Savior. And there are
many very poor people in this world. I know a lot of them. Very poor people who are rich
infinitely. indescribably rich because they're
rich toward God. You see, riches and luxury, ease
of life and earthly exaltation are not in any way, any indication
whatsoever of God's favor. And poverty, affliction, earthly
sorrows are no indication of His disfavor. Job was a rich
man. And God brought him down to nothing.
And then he was really rich. David was a man of great wealth.
King in Israel. But you look at his house. And
he envied folks around him. Because their sons and daughters
honored them. And his sons and daughters despised
him. Lazarus. at the rich man's gate. Rich in grace. The only doctor
he had was a stray dog that came around and licked his sores.
And the only food he had was what the rich would look disdainfully
upon and throw his way without even speaking to him. Oh, but
rich toward God. Rich toward God. Full of grace. and the rich man, very religious,
very wealthy, altogether destitute of grace. Those who have Christ
have all. And those who are without Christ
have nothing. Nothing. I often have to check myself. discussing things, drive down
the road, visit family, friends who don't know God, just continually
amass more and more and more. What do they do with this? How do they do it? Oh, leave
it alone. That's all they've got. That's
all they've got. And they're poor, dirt poor in
their souls. But those who are dirt poor in
their pocket, who have Christ are indescribably rich, for having
Him we have all. Now, let's look at their gifts,
verses 3 and 4. In the temple, in the Old Testament,
God required by His law that men pay tithes on all that they
possessed. But there were also those who
were so inclined who brought voluntary gifts, what the Scriptures
speak of as freewill offerings. And they put them into a box
as they came into the temple. They brought their voluntary
gifts, whatever they were, something beyond tithes, something beyond
what was required by the law. They put their gifts into the
box. And these things were used to
maintain the temple and maintain the offerings and maintain the
sacrifices and maintain the priests and their livelihoods and their
families. Now, in our Lord's day, the worship of God had degenerated
to nothing but formality. and tradition, as far as the
Jews were concerned and the temple activities were concerned. But
still, it was customary for people, whenever they came into the temple,
to drop a little something in the box. It was just customary.
And so they would come and bring their freewill offerings. Many,
we are told, who were rich, cast in much. But our Master called
our attention to this poor widow. She had only two mites to her
name. I'm talking about everything she had that day, and everything
she had in the bank, and everything she had at home, and everything
she had with her. Just too much. And she put it
in the collection box. Now, look what the Master says.
Verse 3, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath
casted more than they ought, For all these have of their abundance
cast in unto the offerings of God, but she of her penury hath
cast in all the living that she hath." Now men looking on, look
at that and they say, well what foolishness. But inexcusable folly. What misplaced zeal. It'd be
condemned by everybody who saw it as unnecessary, a useless
act of presumption. After all, God didn't require
this of her. Nowhere in the scriptures is
it required. Nowhere. Her work was useless because
it was just two mites. Now what do you reckon we're
going to do with two mites? Which missionaries do you think
we're going to support? What do you think we're going to do
with two mites? Can't even buy postage stamp
with it. What are you going to do with your two mites? Keep
it. It was looked upon as presumptuous
because she had given all. She had not exercised any wisdom
or prudence with regard to her future. Honey, how are you going
to eat tomorrow? How are you going to feed your
children tomorrow? This is stupid. This is stupid. That's the way
men would look at it. But the Son of God not only approved
of it and accepted the gift as a sacrifice well-pleasing to
God, He said to His disciples, boys, come here. Let me tell
you something. This is what God calls giving.
This is what God calls giving. Though she gave only two mites,
our Savior commends her gift as something great and good.
Great because it involved great sacrifice. We have given God nothing until
we've given God what we need. Did you hear me? I forgot who
it was, someone said in a Reddit years ago, our gifts really are
measured not by what we give, but by what we keep. We've given
God nothing until we've given God what we need. It is good
work because she gave us unto the Lord for the glory of God
to the utmost stretch of her ability. Listen to this. Now, you ladies, please don't
take offense to what I'm about to say. I tell my wife all the
time, I don't mind leftovers at all. Her leftovers are better
than most folks get first time up. I just don't mind it at all.
But when it comes to serving God, leftovers are contemptible. I read this, I forgot where I
got it. I thought it was appropriate.
Leftovers are such humble things. We would not serve to a guest.
I've never known her to put out leftovers for anybody except
me. She does it for me because it's alright. We wouldn't serve
them to a guest. None of you ladies would think
about inviting just any stranger into your house and giving them
leftovers. And yet, we serve them to the Lord who deserves
the very best. We give to Him leftover time.
Straight minutes here and there. Leftover cash we give to him,
such few coins as we can spare. We give our youth to the world,
to hatred, lust, and strife. Then in declining years we give
to him the remnant of our life. He won't have it. He won't have leftovers anywhere. Read Malachi chapter 1. He won't
have it. I have met, over the years, a
few fellas who were very religious, very devoted,
real concerned about things of God, who said to me, you know,
I'm getting close to retirement, and I think once I retire, I
might pastor somewhere. I might serve the Lord. And I used to kind of bite my
tongue and let it go. It won't happen again. Next time
anybody says to him, it ain't going to happen bud, just go
ahead and work yourself to death. God's not going to have your
leftovers. Not your leftover time, not your leftover energy,
not your leftover money, not your leftover anything. He deserves
and will only have that which we give to Him willingly. This
poor woman's gift in itself was small and insignificant. even
contemptible in the eyes of men, but it was highly valued and
highly esteemed by the Son of God. All that was given by the wealthy
was given out of abundance, just the overflow, the excess. What they had left over after
buying everything they wanted and throwing away everything
they wanted to throw away and saving everything they wanted
to save. They gave a portion. She gave all. They gave out of
their wealth. She gave out of her poverty.
They had much remaining. She gave everything she had,
all her substance. John Gill made this comment.
She cast in all that she had, even all her living, her whole
substance, all that she had in the world. What was to have brought
her food for the day, she left herself nothing, but gave all
away, and trusted God's providence for immediate supply." Oh my God, teach me to live like
that. Faith in Christ is but the giving
of my whole self away, trusting Him. to provide all for me all
the time. These men gave out of a sense
of duty. You see, you can give because
you have to. That's legalism. That's tithing.
Or you can give because you know you ought to. That's still bondage. Or you can give because you want
to. That's called giving. You can serve God because you
have to. You can serve God because you ought to. Or you can serve
God because you want to. And you'll do one of the three.
You'll do one of the three. If you serve Him because you
have to, it's not because you want to. If you serve Him because
you ought to, it's not because you want to. If you serve Him
because you want to, you serve Him. Just that simple. Nothing
complicated here. They gave to be seen of men. She gave because she loved to
redeem her. They gave to get glory. She gave for God's glory. They gave what they didn't need. She gave everything she needed. They gave spare change. She gave everything. I've heard
lots of folks talk about this woman's gifts and say, well,
I've just given my two mites. It's not much. Kind of acting
humble, you know. I recall Brother James Watson,
several years ago before he died, told me about an incident out
in Taylor. And you remember James passed a real small congregation
out in the middle of nowhere, and a fairly wealthy neighbor
was visiting. Everybody knew he had some money, and he had
made some kind of contribution. And somebody said something about
it, and he said to James, he said, well, I just give my two
mites to the Lord. And James said, oh, don't do
that. He said, what do you mean? He
said, well, I don't want, we don't have any need of all your
cattle, and your house, your Cadillac, and your house down
on the beachfront. He said, what are you talking
about? He said, that woman's two mice and everything she had.
Everything she had. What's the lesson? Turn to 1
Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 7. I'll show you the lesson. And
it won't take me but a minute. Every man, as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give. You will never hear this preacher
suggest in any way how much you ought to give, I'm not about
to tell you, for any cause. I won't even suggest. I'm not
about to. What about tithing? I hope none
of you even think about asking the question. We don't pay God
taxes because the law requires it. Nowhere in the New Testament
is tithing taught. Nowhere. Nowhere. All such systems as that, folks
being motivated to tithe because you're scared God's going to
whip it out of you if you don't give. Pay the tithe or God's going
to get you. Give more and God will give you more. I get angry when I talk. Think
about it, much less talk about it. God's people are not mercenaries. Not God's people. That's good
enough for Ishmael. Isaac doesn't need such. God's
people give, not grudgingly or of necessity. For God loveth
a cheerful giver. And I'm not just talking about
money. I'm not just talking about money. Believe me. I'm not just
thinking about money. I'm talking about your whole
life. Everything you give to God. Everything. Everything. You might say, well, I just can't
do this, can't do that. This come up, that come up. Well,
go ahead and do that. That's all right. That'll be
all right. Oh, no. You don't need to be here. No,
it's all right. I understand. I understand. I
do understand. I really understand. And don't,
unless you want to. Now, if you want to, come on,
you might get a blessing. And you might be a blessing.
I just don't know whether, oh, that's too much to go down to
Mission Field and spend my life down there. Don't go. Don't go. Oh, Brother Don, I sure would
like to go serve God down there. I believe the Lord said it. Go
ahead, he might use you. He might do it. I just, I can't
pastor. I can't pastor. I know two men,
went to school together. One of them pastored a little
church and just couldn't live on the money. He quit pastoring,
gave it up, went and made a million dollars. Been trying to get back
at it ever since. They can't do it. The other one stayed with
it. Pastored a little church for
50 years. Oh, how God blessed him. what I wanted to, the other one
didn't. That's the difference. Not grudgingly or necessity,
God loveth a cheerful giver. Now let me see if I can motivate
you. Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 8. Paul calls on the Corinthians,
all of chapters 8 and 9 are taken up with a matter of giving. And
in this matter of giving, he calls on the Corinthians and
says, prove now the sincerity of your love. And look what it
says in verse 9 of chapter 8. Here's my motive. For you know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know it? I do. That though he was rich, Possessing all the glory of His
eternal Godhead. Rich, possessing all things. Rich, holy, without seeing. Rich! Yet, for your sakes. For you. For your sake. For your sake. For me. He became poor, dirt
poor before God, made sin, forsaken of God, contemptible object of
God's holy wrath, justly condemned because of sin my sin made His. He became poor. So that this poor man, this poor wretched worm of dirt, through his poverty, might be
made rich. Rich before God. Now, Don Fortner, Give Him all. What on this earth could be more
reasonable? What are you going to hold back?
What are you going to keep for yourself? What excuse are you
going to use? The rich, out of the great abundance,
make a show. The poor, who are rich in grace,
have no concern for the show, but give all their substance
to God Almighty.