That Which Cost Me Nothing

Q: What does the Bible say about giving to God?

The Bible emphasizes that a gift to God must involve sacrifice and self-denial to be considered a thank offering. The Bible teaches that offerings made to God should not merely be out of surplus or convenience but must involve genuine sacrifice and cost to the giver. In 2 Samuel 24:24, King David declares he cannot offer to the Lord that which costs him nothing. This principle reflects the need for a heartfelt, sincere expression of gratitude towards God, recognizing His majesty and grace. Without the element of self-denial, offerings may fulfill humanitarian efforts but lack the spiritual significance required for divine acceptance.

Q: Why is sacrifice important in Christian giving?

Sacrifice in giving reflects genuine love and faith in God, enhancing the spiritual value of the offering. Sacrifice is vital in Christian giving because it expresses genuine love and commitment to God. As articulated in the sermon, a gift that costs the giver nothing often reflects a lack of faith and love, revealing that the individual may not fully trust in God’s provision. When believers give sacrificially, it demonstrates their willingness to prioritize God over personal comfort or wealth. This principle is illustrated in Mark 12, where the widow’s two mites were considered more valuable than large donations from the wealthy because it represented her total trust in God and involvement in His work.

Q: How do we know God accepts our offerings?

God accepts offerings that come from a heart of sacrifice and self-denial, reflecting true devotion to Him. God’s acceptance of offerings stems from their alignment with His nature and the intentions of the heart from which they are given. Through biblical examples, we see that offerings lacking genuine sacrifice are not accepted by God. As noted in Malachi 1, God was displeased with offerings that were defective or made without reverence. To ensure acceptance, believers should give from their best and highest, demonstrating their devotion to God, as David did when he refused to accept the threshing floor for free because he wanted to pay for it, thus making it a true thank-offering.

Q: Why does self-denial matter in serving God?

Self-denial in serving God is crucial as it signifies true commitment and love for God over worldly desires. Self-denial is a cornerstone of true Christian service because it involves placing God's desires above our own. In the sermon, the preacher highlights that if service to God does not require sacrifice, it reveals a reluctance to prioritize God and reflects a lack of true love and commitment. Christ calls us to take up our cross and follow Him, which inherently involves a willingness to forsake personal comforts and desires for the sake of His kingdom. Such self-denial is essential for cultivating a genuine relationship with God and is a reflection of our faith and love towards Him.

Now we're turning to the book
of 2 Samuel 24. Preachers, religious leaders,
and churches in this day have led people to
believe that they're doing spiritual works, and that they're pleasing
God, and that they're receiving a
righteous credit to their account because of their so-called contributions
to churches and religious causes, and by their so-called good works
and their occasional religious attention or attendance and they're
being led to feel good about their gifts and about their contributions
and about their righteousness when in reality most of us have never given anything
to God and most of what we call religious service today And I
say this, I trust carefully, prayerfully, most of what we
call good works today and spiritual effort toward God is an abomination
to God. Now, I constantly read in the
paper about a certain church having candy sales. I go to my door sometimes, the
doorbell will ring, and I'll go to the door and there stands
a little boy, a little girl, and they say, you want to buy
some candy, mister? And I say, well, I don't know.
What's it all about? He says, well, I'm selling this
candy for the High Plains Road Baptist Church. We have some
missionaries in Jamaica and we're trying to raise some money to
send our missionaries. Doesn't that sound good? I don't
buy the candy. I don't mean to be cruel. But
if you went out this whole church and sold a million dollars worth
of candy tomorrow to send to Walter and Betty the money to
France and Spain, it would be an abomination to God. You'd
be giving nothing to God. You'd be making no spiritual
contribution, you'd be giving no thank offering whatsoever.
Bake sales, rummage sales, to raise money for missions and
churches. Now listen to me, stay with me.
I read about churches having bond sales. Here's a church going
to build a building for the glory of God. So they bring in a money
raising crew and they have a campaign. And some of you men with money, You buy a barn and you pay $5,000
or $10,000 and they promise to pay you back that money and promise
to give you 6%, 8%, or even 10% on your money. You have made
no contribution whatsoever to the Kingdom of God Almighty.
You have made no contribution. You don't feel good about it.
You have no spiritual work whatsoever. You have prostituted the Kingdom
of God. Rather than feel good, you ought
to feel broken-hearted that you've had any part in such shenanigans. It's not of God. And then we
have young people. I've had some of our young people
some time ago want to pick up Coke bottles and sell them or
have car washes to support the missionaries. Now listen to me.
This is not a spiritual service. And you'll see what I'm talking
about in a moment. Use clothing. We got used clothing together.
Everybody go in their closets now and get out all their old
suits that they don't wear and their old shoes that are no longer
any good and their old jackets and old sweaters, you know. Clean
out your closet and take it to the orphan's home or take it
to the missionaries or take it to somebody and feel good about
it. Don't feel good. It may profit them, that's fine. I'm not discouraging this sort
of thing, the used clothing, do it. But don't consider it
a thank offering to God. It didn't cost you anything.
It didn't take any self-denial, any sacrifice, or any cost. Now
don't go out and say, well the man said don't take up any more
used clothing or used furniture, anything to give to orphans,
don't do it. But don't say it's a spiritual work, it's not a
spiritual work. It's a humanitarian work. It's
not spiritual. It's not unto God. When a man
comes to your home and you give him your new suit, now then,
you can consider a work of righteousness. Not your used one, but the one
you hadn't worn. That's right. Something that
cost you something. Something that deprived you or
some self-denial or sacrifice. Now you'll see what I'm talking
about as I go on. Then of certain Company or sell things to a church
wholesale Fine, I'm glad that they do that helps out a lot,
but it's not a spiritual service unto God She's making no contribution
to God whatsoever. It's not a thank offering It's
not an offering of praise and a person should feel no no good
Has been accomplished as far as his soul is concerned or his
relationship with God at all. I Selling to a church at 10%
off, or 20% off, or 30% off. You've made no thank offering
until you give it. Until you totally give 100% off. Worthless
hillside land. I pastored a church in Chattanooga
that some rich farmer gave the land for the church to build
on. You say, isn't that good? It's a piece of ground he couldn't
use. Why, you couldn't have parked a car on it, hardly. Let alone
plant corn on it. It was nothing but a ditch. It
was downhill and uphill over here. It was an old corner of
his property that he did not need and could not use and nobody
would buy, so he gave it to God. That is not giving anything to
God. One thing about all these projects, now listen to me, about
candy sales and bake sales and rummage sales to raise money,
bond sales, use clothing, use furniture, Articles sold to the
church wholesale, worthless hillside land, all of these things have,
all of these projects have one thing in common. They cost the
person who participates in it nothing. Now get what I'm saying. They cost the person who gives
it and who extends it and who makes the gift nothing. It didn't cost him anything.
I can bring no thank offering to God, which costs me nothing.
And all of these efforts have one thing in common. There is
not anywhere the element of sacrifice or the element of self-denial
anywhere in this. The element of self-denial and
sacrifice is not there at all. And I can show you from God's
Word, as I shall attempt to show you tonight, that that which
costs me nothing and that which does not contain the element
of sacrifice or self-denial is not acceptable to God as a thank
offering or as a spiritual work. Now let me go back over this
introduction and say to you, and let it be clear in your minds,
if you have some clothing you're not using or furniture you're
not using, give it to people. But don't call it a spiritual
work. Don't get any spiritual satisfaction
out of it. Don't feel that it has recommended
you to God in any way. Because it's not. And it's not
the spirit of Christ. It's just the spirit of humanity.
Of doing a good thing, a good deed for a neighbor. I wonder,
as I think about this subject, and as I studied for this message,
and I read this scripture, I wonder, now you listen to me, I'm talking
about myself and you too. Have I ever really given anything
to God? I'm not talking about in return
for salvation. Salvation's free. It's the gift of God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. I'm not talking of the element
of merit whatsoever or being accepted of God by anything I
do, but I'm talking about a thank offering. I'm talking about a
good deed. I'm talking about a spiritual
work. Have I? Have you? Have any of
us, some of you may, and you examine your own heart, have
I ever really given anything to God? Something that cost me
something, something that cost me time, or cost me money, or
cost me sacrifice, or cost me self-denial, something that I
took that was good and I gave it to God for His glory. Now you think over your life,
Have I ever read? Now you say, well, I've tithed
faithfully. The tithe is already the Lord's. It wasn't yours to
give. Now here in 2 Samuel, let me
show you this. And I'm preaching to myself as
well as you. And where I am now is subject we're dealing with.
It is most important. In 2 Samuel, David had sinned
greatly against God by numbering Israel. And God came to, he told
him, he said, I'm going to punish you, David. He sent word to David
by the prophet. And God sends us word by his
prophet. You have a prophet that speaks
to you. Do you have a messenger? You're your own prophet. That's
dangerous, too, you know. It's dangerous to follow a false
prophet. That's terribly dangerous. But
it's dangerous to be your own preacher, to be your own prophet. Even David the king had to get
word from God by a prophet. God sent him a messenger. And
there are people, and really this message that I'm dealing
with tonight, there are folks who've already made up their
mind about it, you know. They don't like what I'm saying,
so therefore it can't be so. It may be. There's a good possibility
it is. Somebody's got to bring you the
message. You're not your own prophet. David wasn't his own
prophet. Samuel, the prophet of God, was
not his prophet. Or Eli, rather. Samuel went to
Eli. Eli was a prophet, but God sent a prophet to the prophet. And he brings us messages. That's
the reason I say, and this is, I've said this quite frequently,
that the greatest gift that God can give to a people is a messenger
who has a message from God, and the greatest curse God can bring
on a people. And if what I'm saying is not
true tonight, how dangerous a weapon it is. The greatest curse God can bring
on a people is to allow them to fall into the hands of a person
who misleads them and deceives them and says peace when there
is no peace. But as I think about this, if God, if that which costs
me nothing is worth nothing, I wonder have I ever really brought
a thank offering to God in any way? Have I ever really done
a good work? Have I ever really given anything to God that cost
me something? David had numbered Israel, and
Joab had objected to it strenuously, but David was king, and his word
prevailed, and God said, all right, David, you have three
choices. I'll give you seven years of
famine, let you fall into the hands of the enemies for three
months, or three days of pestilence from the Lord, the land and David
said let me fall into the hands of the Lord he's merciful not
in the hands of men so the angel came and and smote 70,000 men
and then he stayed his hand and the angel of the Lord was over
here at Arunas threshing floor and David went over there and
the angel of the Lord said build an altar and offer an offering
unto the Lord a thank offering, a praise offering, offer a sacrifice
unto the Lord. For God has stayed his hand.
And so he said, take this threshing floor. So David went to the man
who owned it. There was this huge threshing floor. And there
were the oxen and there were the instruments, the things they
used, the wood and everything. And David said, I want to buy
all this. I want to buy the whole thing.
And the man said, what's my Lord going to do with it? And David
said, I'm going to build an altar and I'm going to offer an oxen
and I'm going to sacrifice unto the Lord a thank offering. God
has stayed his hand. God has withheld his judgment.
God has lifted his anger. God has spared Israel. And I'm going to praise the Lord.
Well, he said, take it all. Isn't that great? I like that
man's spirit. Take it all. I'm not going to
sell it to you, my Lord. Take it. And you know with our good business
judgment, see, so we'd have done it, we'd have taken it. And this
is where so many missionaries have gone wrong on the foreign
fields. They have let American churches
build those churches down there and over there. It sounds good. We say to a missionary, you go
over there and preach and organize a church, and we'll build you
a church, and we'll buy you the land, and we'll put up a building,
and we'll put an organ in it, and we'll put a piano in it,
we'll put songbooks in it. And the missionary says, hallelujah,
God's met our need. And those poor natives there
have given nothing. They've made no thank offering.
They've brought nothing to God. And that's the reason when the
missionary leaves, it all caves in, falls to pieces. Thank God
Walter's not working that way, Mexico that's why he won't let
us pay those missionary of those native preachers down that's
why he won't let us build those churches that's why he won't
let us send the money down there to to build that those people
bring their eggs and their chickens and their little 15 cents and
20 cents offering it takes them five years to build a church
but when they build it they've given to the Lord they don't
have but five eggs and they brought three of them to God have I ever given anything And so the man said, take it,
David, take it. David said, I will not take it. Shall I offer unto the Lord? Shall I bring a gift to God that
costs me nothing? That costs me nothing? A gracious
heart will not serve God with that which cost him nothing.
If it's worth nothing to you, and it means nothing to you,
It's worth less to God. And it means less to God. That's
this thing of trying to serve God with our spare time. And
here, this is the place where a lot of you have never ever
really worshipped God because you've never put forth any effort
to worship God. You worship God when it's convenient
or you worship God when you don't have anything else to do. You'll
come and sing in church or speak in church or worship in church
or do that when you don't have anything else to do. The only
time you'll ever worship God is when you have something else
to do and you worship God instead of doing it. The only time you ever give anything
to God is when you got another use for it and you let that go
and give it to God. That's the truth. And I'll show
you that in Scripture. Now turn to Malachi chapter 1. David, he didn't care what it
cost. He wanted to offer a thank offering
to God and he paid for it. A man offered to give it to him
and he wouldn't take it. He paid for it. Now listen to
this. Malachi 1. These people had some bread that
was stale. They had good bread, but they
had some stale bread, and they said, well, let's use the stale
bread and give it to God. And they had some sick sheep,
and he gave the sick sheep, S-I-C-K, the sick sheep, the ill sheep. Listen to this. In Malachi 1,
verse 6, the last book in the Old Testament, a son honoreth
his father, and a servant his master. If I then, if I then
I be your father, where is my honor? If I be a master, where
is my fear? Saith the Lord of hosts unto
you, O priest that despised my name. And you say, when have
we despised your name? And he said, you offer polluted
bread. Stay your bread upon my altar.
And you say, when have we polluted thee? In that the table of the
Lord is contemptible. And if you offer the blind for
sacrifice, is it not evil? If you offer the lame and the
sick, is it not evil? Offer it to your governor. Offer
him your sick sheep. Offer Him you use clothing. Offer
Him you use furniture. Offer Him the things you don't
need. And see, will He be pleased with it? Will He accept your
person, said the Lord of hope? Will He take your spare time?
I'll come see you when I don't have anything else to do. When
I don't have any company or family or friends or activities or vacations
or these things to do, I'll come see you. Will He accept that?
You expect God to? You know, back in the Old Testament,
the farmer went out and looked over his ranch, and he went out
and picked out the prize bull, the 4H winner, the $40,000 bull,
and brought it to the Lord. The first sling of the flock,
the choice lamb. He didn't go out and pick out
the crippled lamb like we would. He went out and picked the choice
lamb, the number one lamb, the one that everybody envied Him
for having, brought it to the Lord. He went out to the fields,
and when the reapers came in and reaped the fields, the first
hundred bushels that they reaped went to God. Didn't know whether that back
forty or eighty would yield anything, but that first fruits went to
God. That's the Scripture. But that
preachers and churches bow and scrape before people today because
they give a little handout to the church, make a little contribution
to the church out of their abundance. And we just make them feel so
good and so religious and so righteous because they've given
God a tip. They hadn't given God anything.
I wonder if we've ever given anything, if we've ever brought
a thank-offering. God has lifted us from the dunghill
and made us sons of God. God has cleansed us of our sins
and made us children. God has saved our lives from
hell and destruction, and we give Him a 15-cent tip. Turn to Mark chapter 12. Let
me show you a picture of giving, Bible giving. As I say, any thank
offering, any burnt offering, any offering of praise for God's
goodness is not one at all that does not involve sacrifice, self-denial,
if it doesn't cost you something. That's right. In Mark chapter
12, verse 41, listen, and Jesus sat over against the treasury
He sat right here while they took up the offering. Sat right
there so he could watch. And beheld how the people cast
their gifts into the treasure and many that were rich cast
in a whole lot and there came a certain poor widow and she
threw in two mites. That's the seventh part of one
piece of brass money, what it says in my margin. Two mites which make a fathering.
He called his disciples and said to them, you want to learn something?
Verily I say unto you, this widow hath cast more in than all they
which have cast into the treasury. For they gave of their abundance. It didn't hurt them at all. It
didn't even make a dent in their possessions. But she of want
did cast in all that she had, even all her that she gave unto
the Lord. That's what the Master said.
Abraham, God tested his love and faith, and wherein did he
test him? He told him to get his prized
possession, to get that which was nearest to his heart and
dearest to his soul, next to God, and put it on the altar,
and that was his only son. And Abraham gave him Abraham
would have given anything else, but he brought that prize possession
and gave it to God. Our Lord Jesus gave himself for
us. He gave himself. Christ who was
rich for our sakes became poor. This is the thing that troubles
me, and there are four things I want to give you here that
I see that's wrong with what we're doing today and calling
And thank God for every gift that has come and every contribution
and for supplying our needs. But I wonder if we have any right
to feel we've done anything, that we've made any kind of contribution,
that we have any right to call ourselves thankful, grateful
people, when really we've never touched, we've never gone into
where we really where we've really done anything, we've really given
anything. It's been sort of out of the
abundance. It's been sort of out of the
plenty. It's been sort of, I've got a
whole shelf here, why don't you take two or three. It's been,
I've got a whole closet full, why don't you pick out one, God,
but leave me the rest. It's been sort of like the church
kind of gets what I have left, or what I don't need, or my time
is valuable, I know that. And that's the reason I say when
you start taking some of that valuable time and giving it to
God, you've given something. There are four things wrong with
this, present day giving. A gift that costs me nothing.
Now listen to four things, get this, this is out, and I'd be
well to put this down somewhere if you want to. These are my
observations. Number one, a gift to God. Now I'm not, my friends, don't
stop humanitarian work. Don't stop these things saying
that because I'm not doing it for God's glory, I won't do it
in the sense of sharing But what I'm talking about is a thank
offering, this thing of walking with God, giving for the glory
of God, a thank offering, something with
which God is pleased from the hand of a grateful servant. You're not doing that until it
costs you something. And the reason is there's four
things. Number one, a gift, which costs me nothing. which does
not have the element of sacrifice like this widow's might. A gift
that does not have the element of self-denial reveals a lack
of faith. A lack of faith. In other words, say you have
a missionary need and you've got a little money stacked away. Can't touch that. Let's see,
what have we got, honey, in the checking account? We've got $300.
Well, give $30 there. What about that $10,000 over
here in savings? That's for my old age. Things could get tough. We may
need that. You see what that's showing?
Now, I'm not suggesting all that. I'm just giving an illustration.
You know what that's suggesting? That's suggesting a lack of faith.
God can't take care of you in your old age. You've got to have
that to lean on. So it shows a lack of faith.
Our Lord said, now listen to me. Our Lord said, why seek,
why take ye thought for what ye shall eat, drink, or wear?
Your Father knows you have need of these things. It's after these
things that the Gentiles seek. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and all these things shall be added. Now don't misunderstand
me. I'm not suggesting that everybody
here take all their houses and sell them and take all of their
savings out and give it. I'm just giving an illustration.
I'm saying that the reason many times we do not reach in and
reach out with our with a sacrificial self-denial, thank-offering to
God, is we're leaning on the arm of the flesh and we're not
trusting with faith our living God. It shows a lack of faith. Abraham was willing to sacrifice
Isaac because he believed God. God had told him, he said, Abraham,
you're going to have a son, and that son is the seed. That son
is the seed of a great nation, and I'll make of you a great
nation and a great people. And Abraham believed God. And
when God said, now take that son and sacrifice him, he said,
all right, here he is. God said, I'll never leave you
or forsake you. I'll take care of you, even down
to old age. All my people have proved my
sovereign, omnipotent, eternal love. I know you love me, Lord,
but I want to kind of, you know, provide for myself. It could
be that you might forget I'm down here. And a gift that costs nothing reveals
a lack of faith. Here it is, Lord. Here it is. Now you meet my need. Now we
can say that we've given a thank offering. It costs something. Secondly, what's wrong with a
gift that cost nothing? What was wrong with this man?
This man said David take it. It's yours. No, he said I'm gonna
pay for it I'm gonna pay for it. If I'm gonna give it to God,
it's gonna cost me something if it's gonna be a thank-offering
it's gonna come from my heart and it's gonna cost me something
because a Gift which cost nothing reveals a lack of love a lack
of love love liberal And I'm not saying that present-day men
and women are not liberal. I was listening to a man the
other night on television, and his wife had gotten cancer. And
they were talking about hospital costs. And he says, I'd do anything
for my wife. It's cost me everything I have.
It's cost me everything we saved. It cost us everything, but I
willingly gave it. I willingly paid it because I
love her. And that's what I'm saying as far as God's concerned.
We'll do that for a father, a mother, a brother, a sister, but how much do we love God? You know, turn over to Genesis
chapter 29. Genesis 29 verse 20. Listen to
this. You know Jacob loved Rachel. You remember how he loved Rachel
and Her father, Laban, wasn't that his name? When Jacob, he
told Jacob he could have Rachel to be his wife if he'd worked
seven years. And Jacob worked seven years,
and then he gave him Leah, and he married her. And he said,
I want Rachel. He said, work seven more years.
And Genesis 29, 20 said, and Jacob served seven years for
Rachel, and there seemed unto him but a few days for the love
he had to her. Seven years just seemed like
a few days because he loved that girl. And that's the way it is with
a gift of love. Love is liberal. It's open-hearted.
It considers no labor, no cost, no difficulty too great. I wish
I loved God like that. I wish I loved the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ like that. I wish I loved the kingdom of
God like that. But when love is missing, everything
that's done is loss. It's loss. A man will give everything he's
got to heal a son of a disease, but the government comes and
wants a thousand dollars for taxes, and he complains. And sometimes it's legitimate.
But the point I'm making is this. Why didn't he complain over here?
This cost him ten times more. He loves that boy. He doesn't
love that government. He loves that boy. So the test
is love. That's what it is. So I say again,
that costs nothing, that requires no self-denial, and no sacrifice,
whether it be a gift of time, or whether it be a gift of possessions,
or whether it be a gift of voluntary labor, or whether it be a gift
to preach, or teach, or sing, or whatever it is. If there's
not some self-denial, or sacrifice, or effort, or time spent, it
means nothing, and what's missing is the love. the love for Christ. That's the second thing. A gift
that costs nothing shows a lack of faith, it shows a lack of
love, and thirdly, now watch this, a gift that costs nothing
that does not involve sacrifice and self-denial reveals a lack
of regard for the majesty of God. The majesty of God, the
glory of God. Let me ask you this, dare I put
anything off on God that's not the best? The best. The choice part. You know, your
pastor, a lot of your pastor means a great deal to you, and
you've shown that through the years. Suppose I came to your
home tomorrow, just dropped in, and you were having, you and,
say I dropped in on Cecil Madge here and Susan, they were sitting
around the table, I just dropped in. I guarantee you Cecil would
pick out the best piece of meat and give it to me. I know he
would. Because of love, because I'm the pastor, because of the
office or authority that I represent, because I come in the name of
the Lord. The best piece. If the pastor gets the best choice
piece, dare I put anything less off on God? That's what he said
over in Malachi when they brought their stale bread and sick sheep
and their lame and blind sheep. He said, why don't you take that
to your governor and see if he'll like it, see if he'll accept
it. This is the thing about preachers preaching a sermon. Here, you've
given me an hour of your time on Sunday night and this is the
house of the Lord and the people are assembled here. Dare I come
here unprepared? Suppose these girls that sang
tonight, they come over here and practice, they practice over
at my house, they practice at other people's, they practice
and practice and practice. Not that they need practice,
they do well, but they want to do better for the glory of God.
Dare I do anything in the name of God that's less than my best,
my best effort? That's what I'm talking about.
Dare I bring a worthless gift to God? Dare I give God an insincere,
this thing of praying in public? Dare I throw it in? Dare I bring
God the leavings? The less than the best? My spare
time? God have mercy! But I'm afraid
He's not going to have mercy on us. We've given our jobs our best
shot. We've given our companies and
our places we work our best effort and best shot and gave God what's
left. We've given ourselves, we've
clothed our bodies in the finest material and bought the finest
cars, we live in the biggest homes, we go to the classiest
restaurants and all these, we give God what's left. That's something to think about.
Try it, he said, on your governor. Try it on your governor. And then last of all, a cheap
course of religion, a spare time religion, contributions and efforts
in religion that don't cost me anything. that don't involve
my time, and my best, and my study, and my efforts, and the
very choice, the very choice properties, and the very choice
gifts, the number one sheep, and the very best of the first
fruits, that which doesn't involve the best will never be accepted
of God, never. God will not accept second best
from anybody. He won't accept it because our
Lord said let me show you two verses turn to Matthew 16 Matthew
16 verse 24 listen to this Jesus said in Matthew 16 24 and and
this is where we've got to find the meaning of these verses it's
it's more than I know it's more than Ronnie what we call day
this easy believism. It's more than making a profession
walking There's something here that involves more than just
I believe in Jesus He says look at verse 24 of Matthew 16 Jesus
said unto his disciples if any man will come after me Let him
deny himself Take up his cross and follow me for whosoever will
save his life Shall lose it whosoever shall lose his life for my sake
shall find it. What is a man profit if he gained
the whole world and loses soul? He keeps his life and protects
his life and saves his life and benefits his life and prepares
for the comforts and luxuries of this life and neglects his
soul. He loses his soul. But the man that gives it to
God and casts himself and his family and his future and his
present and everything, here it is, Lord, take it. It's yours,
take it. He finds his life. But what should
have profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his
soul? And then another verse, Matthew
13. Let's go back here. Matthew 13, verse 45. The kingdom of heaven is like
unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found
one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had. That's total commitment. Total
commitment. And bought it. Christ is worth
that. Total commitment. That's what
he's talking about. Christ is that pearl. Christ is that pearl. Total commitment. I tell you,
with a true disciple, his religion is not a sideline. It's the mainline. You know, a railroad has a mainline.
And they've got a lot of spurs and sidelines. main line. That's where he does business.
And a man who knows God, Christ is the main line. Christ is the
goodly pearl. Christ is first. His relationship
with the Lord is first. His worship is first. And let
me tell you this, it's safe for me to say, because the scripture
is certainly On my side, when I say this,
if Christ is not Lord, if he's not first, if he's not Lord,
if he's not first, then he's not anything. If he's less than
everything, he's nothing. And this is what David is saying.
It's such a beautiful story. It's so convicting, especially
in our generation. When there's so little loyalty,
and faithfulness, and godliness, and so much indifference, and
carelessness, and so much religious sidelines, you know, when we
all get to heaven, when the rose call up yonder, I'll be there,
so much presumption, when there's so little, so little characteristics
of real saving faith. David said, when this man said,
here it is, just take, David said, oh no, No, sir. Shall I offer unto the Lord that
which cost me nothing? And he bought it for 50 shekels
of silver. And this is where I examine my
devotion time, my prayer time, my time of meditation, my gifts,
my contributions, my preaching preparation, my study preparation,
Anything that's a that's a it's a it's a work of praise and and
anything in regard to God It's anything where God is concerned
It's the choice the best off the top this is what I'm talking
about And that's what God is pleased with Our Father in heaven Lord, we
search our hearts and we're so indifferent, we're so careless
where the glory of God is concerned. We examine our prayers and it
seems so empty, it seems so full of flesh. We examine our so-called
good works and so many of them are motivated by self-love and
pride and self-praise. what little, little, little we
have given and little we have done. When we think of the greatness
of our God, the majesty of our God, the glory of our God, what
you have done for us, when we think of our power to keep us
and our power to provide for us, Thou power supply our needs
according to Thy riches and glory through Christ Jesus, and yet
we trust more the arm of the flesh. We lean more upon our
own wisdom, how we ought to love Thee, how we ought to praise Thee,
how we ought to give of our best to the Master. Anything less
than our very best is unworthy of His greatness and glory. Let
us learn something from this. Lord, be our teacher. Give us
a humble, broken heart and a broken spirit. Make us willing to be
taught, to be rebuked, to be corrected. If I have not loved
Thee before, let me love Thee today. For Christ's sake I pray,
amen.

That Which Cost Me Nothing

What does the Bible say about giving to God?

Why is sacrifice important in Christian giving?

How do we know God accepts our offerings?

Why does self-denial matter in serving God?

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That Which Cost Me Nothing

What does the Bible say about giving to God?

Why is sacrifice important in Christian giving?

How do we know God accepts our offerings?

Why does self-denial matter in serving God?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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