Now, let me preface this message
with a couple of comments. I am not a religious promoter
trying to raise money to support a budget or program which I have
organized and which I am conducting. We don't have a budget here.
We don't have a budget committee. We don't get together at the
end of the year and determine a budget for next year. We operate
month by month. What God sends, we use to preach
the gospel, to minister the gospel. If God sends a lot, we use a
lot. If the Lord cuts it down, we'll cut out the work. We're
not going to operate on credit. We had a television program in
St. Kitts. I had one here in Huntington,
one down in Madisonville, Kentucky that's paid for by people there.
Radio broadcast in Florence, Kentucky, and we had a television
program on St. Kitts. And I came in the office
one Monday morning, and Martha, my secretary, says, we need $2,300
for St. Kitts broadcast this week. I
said, what do we have in the treasury? He said, eighteen hundred.
I said, drop it. If the money's not there, we're
not going to spend it. If God sends in more, we'll add it.
But we're not, we're not, I'm not promoting a program. And
my message this morning is not a stewardship message. We're
stewards of the grace of God. And if you're a good steward
of the grace of God, you'll be a good steward of all of the
means of grace. But I'm not promoting giving.
Not at all, but I made this study years ago on giving for my own
benefit. I knew there was something wrong
with the way the average preacher approached this business of giving.
I knew there was something wrong with arm-twisting, pledge-signing,
stewardship Sundays, making folks feel bad because they didn't
do something. I knew there was something wrong with that. And
I wanted, for my own benefit and understanding, to get into
the subject of giving, so that I might give scripturally, so
that God might bless, and that I might give according to His
will. And then another read, to restore
the joy of giving. There's a joy in giving. There's
a happiness. And the Bible says here, God
loveth the cheerful. a cheerful giver, a hilarious
giver, a person who gives from a heart that rejoices, not that
holds it tight and feels grudgingly and of necessity, but he gives
willingly and cheerfully. And that's how this message is
born. And I wanted, and I have, I have
the answer. I have it right out of here.
I'm as cocky and confident as any prophet that ever walked
on this subject of giving, because I have the message. I have the
way that God has taught us. Now, there's so much false teaching
and preaching on the subject of giving. It's as phony and
false as any as any subject that's dealt with today, and we need
to find out what the Lord says about it, what God says about
it, what the apostles say about giving. Most preaching on the
subject of giving puts men and women under one of four false
conditions. Sinful places is what they are.
The first is giving because it's your duty. Giving because it's
your duty. preachers preach. Now, you know
this is true, and I do too. They go back to Malachi chapter
three, and they put believers under a law to give ten percent
of what they have. Now, there's hardly a person
in this building that hasn't heard tithing preached, and I
was taught tithing from the time I had a paper out as a little
boy. My pastor and my father taught me to give 10% of what
I had. And when I made my collections
on Saturdays, some of you did the same thing. I'd take out
of every dollar a dime and say, that's God's, the rest of it's
mine. And that was under the law. There's no question about
that. The Jewish nation tithed under law. There were 12 tribes.
The tribe of Levi owned no land. They ministered about the temple.
And they were supported by the things of the temple. And all
the other tribes gave 10%, not just of their money. They gave
10% of their sheep, 10% of their cattle, 10% of their horses,
10% of their camels, 10% of their food, 10% of their spices, 10%
of their clothes, 10% of everything. Ye tithe anise, cumin, so forth
Christ said. They tithed everything. And that
Levitical tribe, that tribe of Levi, lived off that time. The
people were required to do it. They wanted the law to do it.
They wanted the law to be circumcised. Every male that opened the womb
was circumcised. That was a law. You better do
it. They kept a Sabbath day. Saturday was a Sabbath day. From
the sun going down on Friday till the sun going down on Saturday
was a Sabbath day. You didn't cook. You didn't wash.
You didn't walk. You didn't pick up sticks. You
didn't do anything. That was a law of the Sabbath. They had
their feast days and all the rest. Now, the preachers today,
they're not ordering anybody to be circumcised. But it's in
the Old Testament. They're not ordering anybody
to keep the Sabbath we didn't keep yesterday. Our Lord lay
in the tomb on the Sabbath day. He is our Sabbath. But they don't
require men to keep that Sabbath day under the law. They don't
require men to keep the feast. They don't require us to bring
the purification sacrifices, the turtledove, nor the sheep,
nor the lamb. We're not required to live under
the dietary laws of Moses and the Old Testament. We're not
required to live on anything but the time. And the preacher goes back to
the Old Testament and picks up the time. Why? Because they've got to support
a program, and that's the reason. They've got to have that money. Got to have it. And they can't
trust the graciousness and the spirit and the heart and love
of people to give freely, willingly, they've got to coerce them and
make it their duty. And I'll tell you this, anything
I give to God or to my neighbor or to the church or for the preaching
of the gospel, because it's my duty, God won't honor it. It's contrary to the principle
of grace. It's contrary entirely to grace. But there are people
right now who are under this burden, and it's not their fault,
it's the preacher's fault. He put them under that burden and gives them a duty of responsibility. And they feel guilty if they
don't give that. My friends, ten percent doesn't
belong to God. Everything belongs to God. He
said, if I were hungry, I wouldn't ask you. He said, the cattle
on a thousand hills of mine, the silver and gold that hadn't
even been dug out of the ground is mine. You're His. The earth is the Lord's, and
the fullness thereof, and the well, and they that dwell therein. We put a fence around our property,
but God doesn't put up fences. It's all His property. We brand
our cattle. He doesn't brand His. They're
all His. We get copyrights on our songs, but the The bird song,
no copyright on it, it's God's song. Here's another rule under which
people operate, another motive for giving. It's not only duty,
but reward. Now you hear this, you'll hear
it on television, you'll turn any program on tonight. If you'll
give ten percent, God will reward you. If you'll give 10%, God
will give you a better job, a bigger home, a bigger car, and He'll
prosper you materially. In other words, you give to get. And that's contrary to grace.
Giving to get something in return is selfish. It's contrary to
the grace of God. Actually, our Lord Jesus Christ
told us to give and to lend, hoping for nothing in return. Is that right, Cecil? Hoping
for nothing. He tells us to lend without interest,
usury. That's what interest is, usury.
Lend to our neighbors and friends without usury. Now, I know the
bank's in business and they've got to operate and they charge
interest, but you don't. You're not supposed to. That's
contrary to the Word of God. You lend one of your brothers
money, don't you? Christ forbade that. He said, you lend, hoping
for nothing in return. You give, hoping for nothing
in return. If I give because it's my duty,
or I give because I hope to get something back, that's sinful. That's contrary to grace. Now,
you know that's so, and I know it's so. It's contrary to grace. I'll tell you another motive
that preachers use. And that is the motive of fear.
If you don't pay your tithe, God will punish you. If you don't
give your tithe, God will collect it through a tragedy. I heard
an old preacher say one time, you either pay your tithe or
God will take it out the back door in a coffin. You don't believe
that, do you? You don't believe that, Shirley.
That's a poor reason to give, isn't it? That's a poor reason
to help others. If you don't give, God will punish
you with financial tragedy and failure. I'll tell you this,
you may give cheerfully and willingly and abundantly and God may be
pleased to prosper you and He may not. It's all in his hands. He'll do what he will. He'll
prosper you or he won't prosper you, but I'll tell you this,
it won't be because of something you did, it'll be because of
what Christ did. That's so. So don't get under this syndrome
of fear. Don't do that. The Lord God doesn't
work that way. And then the fourth thing under which preachers place
people is this thing of praise. Praise. Now, people like to be
praised. I do. You do. We're all cut out
that way. We've got too much in our flesh.
We like to see our names in print. We like to hear people and know
how generous we are. We like to, when we do something,
we want folks to know about it. And Christ said that's wrong.
And you know, a lot of preachers use this. They'll get on the
radio and say, so-and-so sent us so much, and so-and-so, and
here's a card comes in, this so-and-so is going to send $100
a month. Our Lord said, when you do your alms, don't sound
the trumpet before you. He said, when you pray, pray
in secret. Don't tell somebody you pray
three times a day. Don't tell somebody you get up
every morning and pray. Don't tell somebody you fasted
last year. He said, when you fast, wash
your face and comb your hair that men might not know that
you're fasting. Carry your burden before God,
your intercession and your prayer and your study life. I've heard
preachers get up and say, well, this morning at 4 o'clock when
I was having my time alone with the Lord, I discovered something
in the Word. He wanted you to know he'd been up praying at
4 o'clock. That's exactly why he said that. Why didn't he just
say, the Lord showed me something in the Word? Why did he have
to say I was up at 4 o'clock? No time with God. Why is 4 o'clock
better than 8 o'clock? What if you live in California
and it's 4 o'clock over somewhere else, you know? I was up at 4
o'clock Tokyo time one morning. But that's just, you see, it's
pride. It's nothing but pride. And we
reek with it, and God won't bless it. And any time we appeal to
people to do certain things, and we're going to call their
names, or recognize them, or praise them, or brag on them,
we lose our reward. Christ said, if I give to the
scene of men, that's my reward. And when they brag on me, that's
it. It's counseled out in glory.
Did you know that? It's counseled out. It's exactly
right. If I give an offering, say the
church is in trouble and I give an offering and I say, and everybody
knows about it, it's cancelled out in glory. I might as well
have bought me a new television, because it's cancelled out. God
says, you have your reward. Well, giving out of a sense of
duty, and my friends, this is so. And the thing about it, I
know tradition is a hard thing to break. And traditions like
the tentacles of an octopus wrap themselves around us and have
to be cut off one at a time. They're hard to break, but I'm
telling you this is true. Giving 10% because it's your
duty, giving it in order to get a blessing for that reason, that
motive, giving because you're afraid not to, or giving to be
seen of men is sinful and contrary to the grace of God. That all
right? And that's why I'm so confident.
I know those things. Our prayer ought to be, my prayer
ought to be, God teach me to pray privately, secretly, in
the closet, before the throne, sincerely, from my heart, on
behalf of my brethren. Teach me to pray. Not to go through
a ritual, not to go through somebody come out and say, say a little
prayer for me. There ain't no little prayers. But we've got to have a little
talk with Jesus. If you have one with Him, it'll
be something big, brother, I'll tell you that. There'll be no
little talk. But we've got in this pressure cooker and can't
get out of it. Teach me to pray. Lord, teach
me to love. Not to talk about it, not just
to sign it on my letters, but genuinely, fervently, quite hard. affectionately, for God's glory,
to love people who are my brethren and who are
not my brethren. To love them. Not to tolerate them, but love
them. And Lord, teach me to believe. If you will believe, you'll see
the glory of God. That's what he said. If you'd
believe, you'd see the glory of God. We don't see the glory
of God because we just flat don't believe. We do up here We've
got some doctrines we believe, but what we want to really believe
is to see the glory of God, to believe all things are possible
to them that believe. And then, Lord, teach me to give.
Now, in the New Testament, there are two chapters on practically
on nothing but giving. 2 Corinthians 8 and 2 Corinthians
9. And I'm going to give you this
morning, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 words, 8 words. You can just write down the words
in the scripture and go back and read it again. You don't
need to write the whole notes on the whole message. Just write
these eight words and the scriptural reference. Now, 2 Corinthians
8, verse 7. 2 Corinthians 8, verse 7. Paul calls giving a grace. G-R-A-C-E, grace. Giving is a
grace. 2 Corinthians 8, 7. Now listen
to it. He's been talking about their
making up a bounty, making up an offering for the other churches
and the other missionaries and other people. Therefore, verse
7, as you abound in everything, you abound in faith. This was
a believing church. You abound in utterance, that
is, preaching. They spoke in other languages,
the gospel. Utterance. You abound in knowledge.
knowledge of God, knowledge of his son, the gospel. You're bound
in diligence. You have zeal and enthusiasm. You're bound in your love for
the apostles and to God's preachers. See that you're bound in this
grace also. Abound, overflow in this grace
of giving. He calls it a grace. We want
to overflow in faith. We want to believe. We want to
overflow in diligence and enthusiasm and preaching and knowledge and
love for one another. We want not just to reach the
bare minimum, minimum requirement, we want to overflow in these
graces. Well, he said, see that you overflow in this grace too. This is a grace. Faith, love,
diligence, knowledge, utterance are acts and works of grace,
so is giving. Giving is a mark and evidence
of grace in the soul. That's the reason I'm saying
this. There's no believer who has not faith. Can't be a believer
and not have faith. There's no believer who has not
love. There's no believer who has not a knowledge of Christ.
Even so, there is no believer who does not kill. It's a grace. Giving is a great generosity.
There's no such thing as a greedy believer. There's no such thing
as an ungracious believer. It's just not so. Just not so. All right, here's the second
word. The next verse, verse 8, is the word love. I speak not
by commandment. I'm not commanding you when to
give or how much to give. Now, if tithing is enforced,
then, my friends, I can speak by commandment. You know, but
you know this, now listen to me, hold your seat there. 21 epistles in the New Testament,
Romans 3rd Jude. The word tithe, tithing or tithes,
is not in any of them but one, Hebrews, three verses where Paul
talks about Abraham tithing. Now you find it. Here's twenty-one epistles of
the apostles Paul, James, Jude, John, and Peter, writing to the
churches. He tells them how to observe
the Lord's table. He tells them how to baptize. He tells them
how to preach, what to preach. He tells them what to do about
tongues, going to law, marriage. He deals with husband and wife.
He deals with children. He deals with the home. He deals
with elders. He deals with deacons. He deals with pastors. He deals
with every subject. He doesn't say one word about
time. Not one word. It's not in there. I'll give
you a $100 bill tonight, you'll find tithing or tithes in any
epistle of any apostle to the early church, except when Paul
in Hebrews talks about Abraham paying tithes to Melchizedek
and Levi paying tithes in the loins of Abraham. Now, if tithing
is required, why didn't the apostles teach it? They don't leave us
in the dark on everything else. Why didn't they teach tithing?
Well, they taught giving. They didn't teach tithing. They
taught the grace of giving. The grace of giving. And giving
is a grace, all right? The word love. I speak not by
commandment, verse 8, but by occasion of the example of others,
the forwardness of us, and to prove the sincerity of your love. He's saying here, I'm not ordering
you to give anything. You know, even when Ananias and
Sapphira, now, when the early church, because of persecution,
people lost their jobs, they lost their families, they lost
their homes, they lived together, and they had all things common,
and some of them sold their property and houses and gave it to the
apostles to distribute to the poor people who didn't have anything,
and Ananias and his wife Sapphira said, we got a piece of property
over here, let's sell it and let's give it to the apostles.
I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll sell it and we'll keep
half of it and give them half of it and we'll tell them we
did like the rest, we gave all of it. And so they concocted
that little scheme between them. They wanted the praise of me.
So they sold the property and then and I said to Sapphira,
I said, now put the rest of it there in the in the cookie jar,
and we'll take this to Peter." And he brought it to the apostles,
and everybody was bringing their gifts and putting them out. And
Ananias said, we had a piece of property, Simon, and we sold
it, and we want to give it all to help the poor in the church.
Peter said, Ananias, that was yours. You didn't have to sell
it. Nobody told you to sell it. Nobody
commanded you to sell it. Why are you lying to the Holy
Ghost? Was it not yours? He said, I'm not ordering you
to give. Nobody's ordered to give. What
is the motivation? It's love. I want to help Bill
Clark over there preach the gospel because I love the gospel he
preaches and I love him. I want to help the young people
of our church because we love them. We want to keep the gospel
going over the tri-state area on the television because we
love them. We love Christ and we love needful people and we
want them to know the gospel. You ladies help one another because
you love one another. You feed your family because
you love your family. You men go out and work. You
work so hard. You punch a time clock. You go
to work every day. You work hard. You give yourself
in the coldest weather and the hottest weather. Why? You love
your family. The Father loved us, and He gave
the Son, and the Son loved us, and He gave Himself. Thanks be
unto God for His unspeakable gift. Look at verse 9. Giving is a grace. It's the evidence
of grace in the soul. And the motive for giving is
not duty or commandment, it's love. I did it because I love
you. This church gives me a car every
two years to drive around preaching the gospel. Why do you do that?
Because you have to, because you love me. And you love the
gospel I preach. That's why. If I thought it was
for any other reason, I'd ride a bicycle. love. Paul said, I may give all
my goods to feed the poor, and have not love, it profiteth me
nothing. That's right. All right, here's
the third word. Look at 2 Corinthians 8.12. Here
it is. For if there be first a willing
mind, there it is, the word According to that, a man has. Our giving
is to be based on what we have. Now here, hang on, I'm going
to destroy another tradition. Like, excuse me, skeet shooting
when you throw something up and blow it to smithereens. I'm going
to throw up your pledge card and ever pledge anybody ever
sign and shoot it right out of the sky. It's wrong. You come
to church next Sunday and I pass you out a pledge card In 1986,
you're going to give so much, you're tired of it. Don't you
think? It's contrary to the Word of
God. That's exactly right. Let me show you. It says right
here in verse 12, There first must be a willing mind. I'm giving
because I'm willing. I give because I'm willing. It
is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according
to that he hath not. What do you have right now? What
do you have? I'm not talking about what you
plan on making next year. I'm talking about what do you
have? Then you give based on what you have. Any preacher or
religious organization that implores you and commands you and encourages
you to promise to give So much money next year is contrary to
what this book says right here. That's right, Gerald. It's wrong. I can't give what I don't have.
I'm saying this is 11-18, December 29, 1985. I can't say tomorrow
I'm going to do anything. I've got a television broadcast
tomorrow night. God willing, I'll be there. I'm not signing
a card saying I'll be there. That's presumption. I say God
will. And next year, I plan to give
for our missionary program for this church. How much? I don't
know. It's according to what God gives me. Totally according
to what He gives me. I can't give what He doesn't
give me. You know what a preacher said one time? And we get caught
up in these things. He said, now, if you'll sign
a pledge card that you'll give fifty dollars a week in 1986,
something good will happen that wouldn't have happened and something
bad that would have happened won't happen. Chew on that a little while.
Boy, that's why folks sign cards. We give willingly. The word duty
is not here, the word tire is not here, the word responsibility
is not here, the word debt is not here, the word is willing,
willing. You say, but you keep on many
more words, you're going to cut this offering. No, I'm not the
least bit afraid. You know what, it will increase
it when people get the joy of it. And then the next word is proportion.
Look at 1 Corinthians 16. Let me go back and pick one up
here. 1 Corinthians 16, verse 2. 1 Corinthians 16, verse 1,
Paul, you have it. 1 Corinthians 16, 1, Paul said,
now concerning the collection for the saints. This is what
we're going to talk about, collection. Take up a collection. Take up
an offering. As I've given orders to the churches of Galatia, I'm
going to give them to you upon the first day of the week. Let
every one of you lay by and store, how? As God has prospered proportionately. As God has, not as you expect
God to bless you, as He has blessed you proportionately. Now everything
I have came from God, and then you have. Who maketh thee to
differ? What is thou that thou dost not receive? So my gift
to the church and to the gospel and to others is in proportion
as God has He uses the word equality, too. In other words, the person
that has a lot, well, he should give a lot. The person that has
little, he should give proportionately according to what he has. And
the amount doesn't make any difference. Our Lord Jesus Christ has instructed
us to give willingly and cheerfully from
our hearts because we love him, and the amount doesn't mean anything
to him. He was standing by the offering
one time when the people come by giving their offerings, and
one widow lady came and laid two coins. And some of those
people had bought stacks of money and tired of everything they
had, deeds for property. She put two coins. And our Lord
said she had given more than all of them. is how she gave. She gave of
what she had. She gave all she had. It wasn't
the amount. And that's the same thing. I
know there are missionaries, and they tell me, they say, some
churches, this church can send large missionary offerings. There
are some smaller churches that only send $15, $20, $25. Well,
because they can't send $500, should they quit? Oh, no! No! Their $20 is just as blessed
and important as your $500. It is! It is. It certainly is. You know, I'm
a steward of the grace of God. The Lord's blessed me and my
family. And He's given me the stewardship
of whatever He's given me. And as a good steward, I'm going
to share it. You don't want to invest it. That's about the talent.
You know the parable of the talent. Use it. Some people, God entrusts
them with a whole lot. Well, they have the responsibility
to use it to bless more people. Some people, God's given them
a little bit. Well, be a good steward. If you have ten talents,
five talents, or one talent. The man with one talent is just
as responsible to be a good steward as the man with ten. You say,
I don't have but two horses. Well, use them for God's glory.
As if you had a whole herd of horses. I don't have but just
a hundred dollars. Well, use it for God's glory.
You're just as responsible and accountable for the glory of
God as a man that's got 200,000. He's responsible for that, too. It'd be a good story. I heard
a story one time, a salesman got on an airplane, and he sat
down beside a believer, the child of God. They'd never met one
another. And the airplane started up, and they went up there, and
the salesman, you know, like most salesmen, they want to talk.
And he turned to the believer there, to the man sitting there
reading his book, you know, and he turned to him and said, I'm
in business with my father. And he said, I am too. And the salesman said, we're
in the jewelry business. And the believer said, well,
we are too. You know, it says he'll make
up his jewels. And the sailman said, well, my father and I just
deal in the best jewels. Oh, he said, my father and I,
we deal in the best jewels too. Well, he said, I'm in business
with my father, and my father has trusted me with a lot of
his business. He said, my father trusts me
with a whole lot of his too. He said, well, I'm on my way
now to a meeting with my father. The believer said, I am too.
And the servant said, well, I hope I can give a good account. The
believer said, I hope I can, too. That's a good story, isn't
it? I hope I can give a good account.
Trusted me with a whole lot. He said on the first, here's
the fifth word, the word everyone, on the first day of the week,
let every one of you, let's teach our children to give. Let's teach
them to give. I don't have any rules or regulations
how to go about it. I know the tithe is not the way.
But if we can teach them, say when we take up a missionary
offering or something, encourage them to have a part in it. Encourage
them to share with their neighbors, friends. Encourage them maybe
to give something they have to somebody else. Just some way
teach our children how to give, how to be generous. By nature, we're takers. By nature,
we're hoarders. And you learn these things early.
Somebody said one time that a child's behavior patterns are established
by the time he's five years old. His behavior patterns. And maybe
we need to teach these little ones to turn loose of some things,
or to share with their buddies, or to have a part in the offering,
I know giving's a grace, and it's learned from the Holy Spirit
and the Word of God, but at least we can instruct them. There's
got to be some knowledge up here before it can be in operation
in the heart. All right, the next word, turn
to 2 Corinthians 9, is the word liberally. Liberally. Liberally. In 2 Corinthians 9,
6, it says, This I say unto you, now here he uses the illustration
of the farmer. This I say unto you, that he
that sows sparingly will reap sparingly. Now, here's a farmer.
He has the seed. In order to reap, he's got to
turn it loose. He can't keep it in his hand. He's got to turn
it loose. He's got to plant it. And if he extends you with his planting,
if he says, well, I'm not going to plant just one seed here and
one seed there, that's how he's going to reap. But he that soweth
bountifully, bountifully, scattereth the good seed, the precious seed,
bountifully, he says he's going to reap bountifully. That's the
law of sowing and reaping. Even so, he that soweth sparingly
will reap sparingly. You see that? Liberally, liberally,
generously. Now here's the seventh word,
the word purpose. Now every man according as he
purposes in his heart. Now I'll further shoot down tithing
with that verse right there. If tithing is the way to give,
then I don't need to do any purposing. Do I, Jim? If tithing, there's
no need for me to make any purposing. There's no decision for me to
make. It's been made. My pastor said tithing. I don't
have anything to say about it. Oh, yes, you do. He said, let
every man, watch it now, verse 7, every man according as he
purposes in his own heart. No preacher, religious organization,
or law determines what I put in that offering this morning.
You know what determines it? It's my purpose in my heart. That's exactly right. And anything
else, God won't receive and God won't bless. It's my purpose
in my heart. I dare anybody in this world
to challenge that. That's God's Word. as a man purposes
in his heart, so that, watch it now, not grudgingly or of
necessity, but God loveth it cheerfully.
And the only thing I can give cheerfully is what I'm willing
to give. The only thing I can give cheerfully
is what I've purposed based on God's love for me and my love
for Him. That's the only thing I can give
Richard cheerfully. I can't give it. I can't give
something that's required cheerfully. Sometimes that'll break my knuckles,
get me turned loose. But if I made the decision in
here and I purposed in here to do it, well, I'll run up to you
and put it in your pocket. I'll run up to you and put it
in your pocket. I'll say, hey, this is what my wife and I want
to do. We talked it over. We're not doing it because you
expect it, or you demand it, or you require it, or our law
requires it. We're giving because we love
Christ. We love you. This is what we
purpose to do. No more, no less. God will bless
that. And the next word, and I'll quit.
As unto the Lord. And I've found that in several
passages. Whatever you do in word or deed,
do it. as unto the Lord, for the glory
of God." Whether you eat or drink, do it for the glory of God. This,
I believe, is the motivation for all things worthwhile. I've said this would solve all
labor and management disputes. The people who work others, you
ladies work cleaning ladies in your homes, you have folks who
come to your house delivering merchandise, newspapers and all
that. All of us, most of us, have somebody
in our employ in some way. You treat them like you want
to be treated. As you would that men should
do unto you, do you even so unto them? That's what Scripture says.
Treat them, the labor's worthy of his hire. Treat them like
you want to be treated. And you men that work for others,
work as unto the Lord. We're not apple polishers. In
other names, we had the Navy part, you know. But we're working
as unto the Lord. And when I go to work, and even
studying, preparing Sunday school lessons, books and studying for
messages, I'm working unto the Lord. I'm not trying to please
men. I'm trying to please God. And whether I'm sweeping a floor,
or putting a motor together, or putting in gas, or cleaning
a windshield, and a man's paying me for that, give him my dead-level
best, as if God was my boss. Is that not right? That's what
the Word of God teaches. Give him all I've got, as unto
the Lord, for the glory of God, to please Christ Jesus, as if
the business belonged to my God. And it does. And it does. And in this thing of giving,
in this thing of teaching these classes, dare I come unprepared? In preaching this message, dare
I come unprepared? This is God's business. And when
I give, I give. I'm not giving to Brother Mayen
or the church. I'm giving to God, for the glory
of God. Now that's the solution. It all goes back to grace and
love and the right ordering of the heart before the living God. I hope that's a blessing to you,
but I say this to you as I approach this subject and preach it to
you, without one doubt in my mind, this is New Testament gift. That's what the Bible says about
it. You can rest on it. And I say that just as confidently
as I say you can rest your soul on the mercies and merits of
Jesus Christ. I would not lead you astray.
That's New Testament giving. That's the Bible giving. Our
Father, thankful for your Word. We're not left to our own minds
and reasoning, which is foolishness, tradition, carnality. But you've
given us your word. You've given us your word. And
we love it. We love it. Our shepherd's gone
before us, and we love to follow him. We love to do his will and
glorify his blessed name, who loved us, gave himself for us. Lord, teach us to pray. Teach
us to believe. Teach us to rest in thee. Teach
us to love one another. And Lord, teach us to be generous.
Christ, so merciful and generous to us, so forgiving, so loving,
help us to be like our Lord. In His name we pray. Amen.