Steven Furtick - There's More Where That Came From (06/12/2017)
Pastor Steven Furtick shares from Ephesians 3:20, building on last week's message by declaring God as our unlimited Source who does immeasurably more. He urges believers to adopt a "more" mindset through faithfully bringing the tithe, living as entrusted stewards rather than entitled owners, giving from relationship and obedience, and trusting God to multiply what we bring to Him, as illustrated by the feeding of the 5,000 and the pomegranate seeds.
Kneeling Before the Father – Our True Source
Praise the Lord, everybody. I ask you to remain standing as we transition into our sermon. I want to read you one of my favorite passages of Scripture from Ephesians 3, verse 14 and following. The Apostle Paul says, I kneel before the Father. In other words, he's saying, I get down and I consider my source. I remember where my help comes from. He said, I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
Last week, I preached to you a message called, Don't Forget Where You Come From. And Paul says that from one Father, from one God, from one source, we all have our existence. Yeah, so before you go spending any money on Ancestry.com, Paul wants to straighten you out and let you know we all got the same daddy. Touch the person next to you. Say, My brother from another mother or my sister from another mister, however it works out. Will you stand there? He said, I pray, verse 16, that out of his glorious riches, out of his glorious riches, that's the source, He may strengthen you with power through his spirit source in your inner being, resource, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. It's as if he's frustrated that God's love is so big and our minds are so small. Don't ever let small-minded people keep you from believing God for big things in your life. Don't ever do it. He said, And I want you to know, verse 19, this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
And here's the verse I really love, my favorite verse in the whole Bible. In the whole Bible! It's been my favorite verse for about 17 years and running. He says, Now to him, source, who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to, watch this, not your intellect or your skill level or your background, but according to his power that is at work within us, to him, that's the source, the glory in the church, that's us, and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. And all God's people said, amen.
Immeasurably More – The Title of Today's Message
Hey, hit back real quick on verse 20. It is there from which I will derive my title. He said in verse 20 that he is able to do immeasurably more. So, last week we said, don't forget where you come from. This week I have a sequel. You ready? My message title this week is, there's more where that came from. Come on somebody. He said there's more where that came from.
Do me a favor. It's important that you follow my instructions very specifically. I need you to find 10 people, exactly 10, not 9, not 11. Don't get over ambitious and find 20. 10 people at your location, come on every location and tell them there's more where that came from. 10 people. Tell them there's more where that came from. Thank you guys. There's more where that came from.
At every location today we bring you greetings in Jesus' name. And, hey, behind me you'll see an army of ninjas setting up some teaching tools for me. I appreciate all these volunteers. They do such a great job. No matter what crazy thing I think of, they pull it off somehow. I told them this week to find me some pomegranates. And pomegranates are out of season currently. But I had to have pomegranates for a very special reason.
The Family Desk – A Reminder of Sacrifice and More
We're not going to talk about it yet. But I finished my sermon last week talking about this desk that's been in my family for many years. My grandfather used to write his sermons on it. He's now gone to be with the Lord. My dad used to pay bills at that desk. And, uh, he used to actually cuss at the power company and the mortgage company. And so this were, this desk has a lot of words etched in it. Some godly words and some other words too. But it's a reminder for me all the sacrifices that were made before I ever got here so I can do what I do today and be who I am today. And I love it. My mom gave it to me.
And I closed with a story. Don't know if you are one of these people who attends church every week. How many of y'all come almost every week? Can I hear you? How would I know if you're lying? But I talked about how my dad called me to this desk before I went to college and he said, now son, I don't have all the money in the world but I want you to know as you go out there on your own you're not on your own because if I have money you have money.
And I talked about how my dad who grew up very poor didn't want me to be limited by the same mindsets that had dominated and limited him for all of his life. And it was important to him that I had kind of a more mindset. One of the things that is so important for us as believers is that our minds are always thinking toward more especially as a church man because if we ever just get satisfied with who we've already reached and we call off the rescue mission that Jesus has called us to and we just think that this becomes about us hearing songs that are comforting to us or feeling God's presence for ourselves.
If church ever becomes our own Snuggie, I guess I'm saying spiritually, then we're really in trouble. And I thought about calling this message open source. A little bit of a play on the term that describes the way a lot of software development is done now, how they open it up and allow people to collaborate. Open source is the new thing. I can't explain it much more deeply than that. That's the extent of my knowledge about open source.
But I thought it's a great term because in many ways, the church is an open source endeavor where God has invited all of us with all of our skills and gifts. It says that he gave some to be prophets, some to be apostles, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers to build God's people up for works of service. And so everybody brings what they have and everybody gives what they can. And together we do more than we ever could alone.
Shifting from Consumer to Contributor Mindset
In fact, when you think about the church, it's one of the only entities on the planet where people just come in and bring whatever they voluntarily decide to bring. It's kind of an interesting thing. You go to a concert, you pay for a ticket, or if you order a good or a service, you typically pay for it before you enjoy it. And it's always bothered me that a lot of people come to church in more of a consumer mindset than a contributor mindset.
And one of the things I want to teach you about several times a year, as long as God allows me to be the pastor of this church, is what it means to be a bringer in many different ways. Whether that's serving with your time, with your talents, many of you do that every week, or with your treasure. And one of the greatest lessons that I ever learned, and I learned it immediately after committing my life to Christ at age 16, it was something that my mom had started preparing me for when she would give me a dime to take to church as a little boy in an envelope to put in the children's church offering.
But it continued on, and when I gave my life to Christ, I had to decide for myself, would I be a person who brought the tithe? I love to teach people to bring the tithe to God's house. Not only do I love to teach about it, I love to do it. And I've been doing it ever since I was 16 years old. Tithe is a word that means 10%. And it's a great privilege and a blessing for many of us who attend this church to get to bring to God every week not just songs that we sing to him, but out of the resources that he's given us, recognizing that it all comes from his hand, and we wouldn't have anything if it were not for him.
It's a great privilege and blessing for many of us to get to bring the tithe and to get to bring the first 10% of our income to God and to preach the gospel through the work of the local church. I love to bring the tithe because not only does it help me to honor God and never forget that every breath I have is borrowed, but I also love to bring the tithe because I see the ministry right in front of my own eyes that I'm able to have just through a simple act of obedience.
There's really no greater privilege that I have than to bring the tithe. Notice I'm saying bring the tithe, not give the tithe, because when God commands you to do something, or let's say it this way, if I give you a pen and then ask you to give it back, you're not really giving it as much as you're bringing it back to the one who put it in your hands to begin with. So I love to talk about bringing the tithe.
Some preachers don't like talking about this. I guess they're intimidated or scared they're going to make somebody mad. I just kind of figure, you know, if I'm going to be scared of anybody, it's going to be of God for not teaching what he wants me to teach and not people because of what they think about what God told me to teach. That's the way I do it. And I know what great results this will work in your life.
So many people are struggling in their marriages and in their lives because of a warped view of resources that God has given and because nobody has ever accurately shown them what God says about it. We want to change some of that today because God has made some promises to people who will bring the tithe, to people who will commit in their hearts and say, everything that I have comes from God. And I'm going to take that first portion of everything that he puts in my hands and bring it back to him.
Testing God in Malachi 3 – Bring the Whole Tithe
God says some pretty awesome things. He says in Malachi chapter three, verse 10, bring the whole tithe. What does tithe mean? Tenth. They even kind of sound alike. It'll help you remember. Was it 2%? No, it was 10 because 10th and tithe. And I heard somebody say to me one time, I'm tithing 3% of my income. You can't 10th 3% of your income. Math major, public school educated, just like many of you, but I got that one.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. And this is God speaking. He says, test me in this. The only time in the scriptures where you'll ever see God telling us to test him. It's like he knows that this one part of our lives tends to have control over us. And he says, I want to invite you to see if you do it my way, if I won't work it out. So test me in this and see, test me and see, see if I will not.
This sounds like something I say to my kids, see if I won't. I usually say it in a negative sense, you know, do that again and see if I won't take your video games for 16 months and see if I will not throw open. Now you see where I'm getting this idea of open source. He said, I'll throw open. God is the source. He said, I'll open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing. I'm not just talking about money. I'm talking about blessings that money can't buy, that there will not be room enough to store it.
God says, see if I won't. See if I won't do it. Now prevent pests from devouring your crops and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe, says the Lord Almighty. And then all the nations will call you blessed for yours will be a delightful land, says the Lord Almighty. Everybody shout more, more.
So, so I want to talk for a few moments. If my father, who was a very limited resource, being just a man with his own issues, if my father could say something as bold as, if I have money, you have money, what must the God of heaven want to say to his sons and daughters today? There's more where that came from.
Four Questions for a More Mindset
And I just want to give you four questions to ask yourself to see if you have a more mindset or what we call a scarcity mindset. And shifting over is as simple as a decision, but it's a process as well. So let me work this teaching screen a little bit. I always like having this. It makes me feel smarter.
First thing I want to ask you, please write these down. It'll give you something to discuss at home or to pray over when you leave. It is always good to write it down. Always. You never know when you might find it six months from now. That's exactly what I needed. I'm so glad I wrote it down.
I want to ask you, do you see yourself as entrusted or entitled? Characteristics of a more mindset, people with a more mindset who live under an open heaven where the provision of God is not just a proposition or philosophy, but it is a practical reality. They see themselves as entrusted, not entitled.
There's nothing I hate more, and I think God is with me, than an entitlement mentality. Amen from a parent. There's nothing I hate more than somebody who forgets where they got it from. I want to give a big shout out to the big man upstairs, Wade Joy. He's in the video room today, for giving me this idea.
We were spending some time… We went back to Shelby, North Carolina, where our core team was originally launched, and we wanted to get back to the source as we're looking forward into the future, not forgetting where we come from, and Wade did a devotion. It rocked me because he said, I've been asking the question lately, am I leading in ministry like one who is entrusted or one who is entitled?
Well, he was only supposed to share for five minutes, and he quit after five minutes, but I took it another 30 because I said, well, what's the difference? And we had a discussion. We said, if you're entrusted or if you're entitled, and it's amazing how those two different viewpoints will affect the way you approach anything in your life.
And we started talking about how people who are entitled don't really say thank you for much. And people who are entitled don't show up early and stay late. You're lucky to have them if they show up at all. People who are entitled, they'll do what you tell them to do, but not anything more. They'll never go beyond. People who are entitled, but people who are entrusted are a little different.
People who see everything that they have as coming from somewhere beyond themselves live a little differently. One person said, you've got to decide, am I an owner or a steward? Is it mine or did it come from a different source?
The Parable of the Rich Fool – Don't Forget the Source
I used an illustration one time. I won't do it like I did. This was years ago. I got in trouble for it because I shared about how my brother-in-law went off to Uganda to be a missionary. And while he left, he gave me power of attorney. And in the illustration, I really had the people going because I talked about how he gave me all of his checks and all of his bills and he let me write his checks for him while I was gone.
Well, I pretended like money got a little short for me and Holly and I started paying some of my bills out of his account. And I strung the people along for about two or three minutes solid. And the people were starting to look at me like with these terrible looks of shame and disdain. And then I stopped the illustration and said, that's not really true. I didn't do that. But that's what a lot of you are doing with God's money because God has entrusted you with his stuff.
And yet sometimes we forget where it came from to begin with. And I wonder how many of you, when I say, okay, God wants you to bring the first 10% because my expectation is that every follower of Christ, if you're not a Christian, you can sleep through this sermon because this is for those of us who love Jesus and believe he died for us.
So, you know what? Don't sleep through it. Just listen to what you don't have to do yet and make sure before you become a follower of Christ that you really want in on this. Because to come to Christ is to say, I want to have everything that you can give, but I want to do everything that you say.
And so I was talking to somebody one time and they said, 10%, that's just so much. I said, is it? Because I kind of thought the 90 that he let me keep was so much. That's what seems like. You want to flip it? You keep 10, God gets 90?
Dude came up to me one time. He said, tithing is cool for people who are just getting started, but come on, man. You know how much I make now? My tithe will be six figures. So I said, cool. If you don't want to tithe, now that God has blessed you, let's pray that God will stop blessing you, and then your tithe won't be six figures anymore and you can afford it.
Isn't that just like humans? The more God gives, the more we want to keep. Okay, okay. You want a scripture. There was a man one time in Luke chapter 12. Jesus was just telling a parable. It wasn't a real man, but Jesus used him as an example.
And Jesus was teaching this crowd one day and somebody started asking him about resources. And he was trying to get Jesus involved in a debate that he had with his brother about an inheritance. So Jesus, instead of answering their question, he just redirects the whole conversation, shifts the altitude.
He said, read verse 14. Go ahead to verse 14. Jesus replied. He said, man, who appointed me as a judge or arbiter between you? Next verse. Then he said to them, watch out. Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. I always love that phrase, all kinds of greed, because it means that I might be generous with my money, but stingy with my time. Or I might be generous with my time, stingy with my money, and neither one is going to make me a productive and effective citizen of the kingdom of God.
He said, so you've got to watch out. Some people spend a lot of money, and some people save it, and some people who save it are just as greedy as those who spend it. I mean, we all have different temptations. But he says something amazing. He says, life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.
To illustrate, he told him this parable. The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. This guy was super blessed. So he thought to himself, what's the problem? He didn't consider the source. He thought what? To himself. Entitled. Just cut God out altogether. What shall I do? I have no place to store my pomegranates.
And he said, this is what I'll do. I've got a plan. I'll tear down my barns, build bigger ones there. I will store my surplus grain. And I'll say to myself, self? You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Assumption. Because he's assuming that God's going to let him live a lot longer. So I'll take life easy and eat and drink and be merry.
But God said to him, you fool. This very night, you don't know what tomorrow brings. Your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? And this is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves, but is not rich toward God for the one who becomes entitled.
Oh, Jesus wasn't mad at the man because he was rich. God doesn't mind you being blessed. He just wants you to remember and be rich toward the one who blessed you to begin with. Who do you think made the grain grow for the man? Who do you think gave him the crop? Who do you think brought him into the place where he could have it? But he became entitled.
A Child's Perspective – It's All God's Wall
I took all of my kids shopping this week. It was one of those things where Elijah was kind of bummed out about something. And so I took him to spend some money to get his mind off of it. And then since I spent it on Elijah, I spent it on Graham. And then Graham, Abby wanted a little mermaid doll. And so it was his whole domino effect.
And Graham said something that really blessed me when we were coming home. First of all, I took the boys out. Graham wanted a Russell Wilson poster. And so he got a Russell Wilson poster. And because there's not a Steve Smith, Baltimore Ravens poster yet. And so we got a Russell Wilson poster.
And we came in and he said, thank you for my poster. And I said, you're welcome, buddy. And then he said, actually, thank you for your poster. I said, what? He said, it's really yours. He's six. I said, it's really mine. He said, yeah, you're just going to let me hang it on my wall.
Hold on. It gets better. Then he said, actually, it's really your wall. I wish I had recorded that. I'm going to need that in the future. See, when you see, it's not really only just God's poster, but it's his wall too. It changes the way that you live.
But we have this problem. We forget where we got it from. So then some preacher gets up and it's like, you can bring 10% of your income because the Bible says so. And you're like, no, preacher, you just want my money. Let me tell you something right now. I don't need your stuff. Long time ago, I decided God was my source.
And I'm trying to help some of you who have never made this decision to see that if you would get over to the place where you 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, open your hands to God with the first 10%. If you start living as one who is entrusted and say, God, you've entrusted this to me. Now I'm entrusting it back. Get your stuff under God's protection. Hang it on God's wall.
Deuteronomy 8 – Don't Forget in the Land of Blessing
But one time, and I got to hurry because I got four of these, but one time Moses was preparing God's people to go into the promised land like how Paul prayed in Ephesians that we would see the spiritual riches that we have. Well, he was getting them ready to occupy a physical land. Up until this time, they had been nomads. They had no place to call their own.
And so he's giving them some instructions in Deuteronomy 8, and he says, Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with Brooks and streams and deep Springs gushing out into the valleys and hills. God's not scared to bless you. God's not scared to help you.
A land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil, and honey. A land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing. A land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. And when you have eaten, here's the important thing, and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
It's his land. He gave it to you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I'm giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart may become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness. He did it. Touch somebody and say, He did it. Come on. If you believe God is your source, touch the person next to you and say, He did it. I didn't get here on my own. I'm not that smart.
Through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land with its venomous snakes and scorpions, he brought you water out of hard rock. Have you ever been between a rock and a hard place, but somehow God got you through it? He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you.
Yeah, there were some struggles, there were some ups, there were some downs, but you're still here. You may say to yourself, my power and strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. In this verse, verse 18, I used to keep this taped on the inside of my wallet. For about five years I kept it there. Now I just use wallpaper on my actual phone, but I kept it taped on my wallet because it said, Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors as it is today.
Don't forget where you got it from, or you'll become entitled, and you'll start thinking it's yours. God doesn't mind blessing you, but don't you forget the blessor. Don't forget him. That's what I'm doing. I'm doing this by myself.
Under Pressure – Acknowledging God's Ownership
Before I go to my next point, I want to play you a song, see if you know this song. If you know it, you can start singing along when you hear it. All right, stop. You know the song? What comes next? Collaborate and listen. Ice is back. Something grabs... Wait a minute, wait a minute. Hold up. Play a little more of it, because I think we shut it off too soon. Can you pick it back up right where it was? Play a little more.
See, a lot of y'all thought it was Vanilla Ice. to the extreme Ice Ice Baby, but some of y'all, Bernie, knew that that was originally from the 1981 Queen David Bowie hit called Under Pressure. See, when Vanilla Ice sampled the bass line from Under Pressure, he thought it was his. For a long time, he didn't pay any royalties to Queen. But see, it wasn't originally Vanilla Ice Ice Ice Baby. It was originally somebody else's stuff.
And see, in the music industry, there's a rule. If you sample somebody else's stuff, you have to pay the person you took it from. Now, we take everything God has given us sometimes, and we get real confused about where it came from. And God says, If you got it from me, will you at least acknowledge where it came from? And some of y'all are like, Ice Ice, what?
This is a more mindset. Everybody say, There's more. Where that came from. Come on. Where that came from. Where did it come from? You better stay hooked up to him if you want to continue to be blessed.
Number two, I'll go quickly on this because it's pretty simple. Do you give out of relationship or reluctance? For God so loved the world that he prayed for them, that he sang about them, that he wrote them a poem called Footprints in the Sand. You remember that first wedding ring I bought you? I bought Holly two wedding rings now. I bought her one when we got married and one at our 10-year anniversary and was happy to buy both of them.
Was broke when I bought the first one. I took $3,000 out of the ATM. I think I left $20 in it so they wouldn't shut down the account. Went up to this pawn shop. Decided not to buy it there. Went in and said, Don't give me a $2,500 ring. I got $3,000. I want to spend all $3,000 of it. What's the biggest one I can get for that?
I'm happy to do it because I love her. Hey, girls, this is going to be a dating seminar for the next 15 seconds. If the dude don't ever give you anything and he says he loves you, be real careful about that. Because love gives.
I'm real skeptical of believers who say they love God or they love their church or they love the gospel, but they never give. If the first impulse in your heart when somebody talks about a need that can be met is reluctance. It shows me that you don't get the gospel yet.
Jesus didn't die for you because he had to. It says, For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame. What was the joy set before Jesus? It was you and you and you. He says, Now I want you to give joyfully.
You know how when we take the offering, a lot of people clap? Why do we do that? 2 Corinthians 9-7. Check out this verse. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.
God loves a, I can't wait to put this on your finger. I can't wait to give my tithe. Wait a minute. Not give it. Bring it. He already gave it. Now I'm returning it back to him out of all… I can't wait. Oh, it said, it said, it said, it said, it said in verse 7. Put it back up. God loves a cheerful giver.
I wonder, could it also read, a cheerful giver loves God? A cheerful giver loves God. Relationship or reluctance speaks about our heart. For where your treasure is, your heart will be also.
Obedient or Optional – The Expectation of Tithing
Number three, obedient or optional. It takes faith to put God first. And that's why when you think about the tithe and bringing the tithe to your local church… By the way, if this is not your church, if you just are visiting here or whatever, take what I'm teaching and do it in your church. Watching online, do this in your church. That's your storehouse where you are fed, where your family is blessed, where your spiritual needs are met, where you're connected.
Do it there. But, you know, in the process of deciding whether or not we're going to trust God with the tithe, we've already disobeyed. Because it shouldn't be a decision. I didn't decide not to snort coke before I came out here to preach today. I didn't pray about it. It's just wrong to snort coke before you preach and other times.
All right, I hear this message. I'm going to pray about it. What are you praying about? Pray about whether to have an affair. You don't pray about what God just told you to do. I'm praying. What is it? You might pray about whether God wants you to do more. But you don't pray about the starting point.
A lady stood up the other day in a meeting we were having, and we were talking about giving in the church. She's just a church member here, just an elevator. She's been in the church several years. What she said was so challenging. I really didn't know what to say.
She stood up, and she's from Nigeria, and she's a doctor. She said, no offense, but I need to say something, if I may. I opened it up for questions and answers, but she heard me say I opened up for sermons because she started preaching to all of us.
She said, in America, you've got it all wrong. It's a little different in Nigeria. You guys get up and preach on giving, and it's like, if you want to, if you can, if you should. In Nigeria, she said, and I can't do it like she did it because it had a little something extra on it because she was saying it, but she said, and she's shaking her head and her hip, and she had her hand on it. It was awesome, and it was very, very impressive.
She said, in Nigeria, you weren't asked if you wanted to tithe. You were expected to tithe. She said, and I see all these people come in our churches in America, and it's like they're deciding whether or not they want to do this or not, but you just need to get up and tell the people.
And so she went on like this, didn't she, for another 60 seconds or so. And I said, thank you. I needed to hear that. Because, see, in my line of work, you know, you get criticized a lot of times, and you can become a little bit of a wimp. I don't want them to think I'm going to say something. Are you going to preach what God says? Or what people want to hear?
And I wanted you to know today that if you're not bringing God the first out of what you have, it's costing you. I can't afford to. You can't afford not to. Y'all are talking a lot to me. I hope you don't back this up. Because 80% of the people in this church don't tithe. 80%! That's a good show, man. That's a good word. That's the offering. I ain't giving crap!
Solomon, the richest man in the world, had this wisdom to offer us. This is a great piece of wisdom for any endeavor, but I think it applies to giving. In Ecclesiastes 11, verse 1, he says, Ship your grain across the sea. After many days, you may receive a return. Invest in seven ventures. Yes, King James says, yea, in eight. You do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north in the place where it falls, there will it lie. That's neat. Whoever watches the wind will not plant. Whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
Let's stay on that verse for a moment. He said, If you consider your situation too much without considering the source, you'll never be generous. And that's what we've got a lot of people doing. Okay, God, if there's one left over, I'll give it to you. Here you go, Mr. Mortgage Broker. Four. You can have four. Five. In my car. In my bills. Got to get my kids in Christian school. Oh, look, Lord, nothing left over for you.
We read Deuteronomy chapter 8, but the New Testament equivalent of it is found in 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 17. Listen how strong Paul is. Command those who are rich in this present world. Y'all all thinking about Warren Buffett. But come on now. If we compare ourselves to most of the world, there's not a one of us in here who isn't rich.
A dude said to me when we were in the paper a couple months ago, you could have sold that house and given all the money to the poor. I said, well, you could sell yours too. Have you sold yours? You living in the woods, survivor man? Okay. I went there. We always want that to be somebody else. All those rich people as I flip to channel 275 on my DirecTV premium package. All those rich people.
Those who are rich in this present world, don't be arrogant. See, there are two extremes when God blesses you. One is to be ashamed. That doesn't honor God. What? He gave you a good gift as his child, and now you're ashamed of it? I bought my daughter a dress, and she wouldn't wear it? That honors me as a father? No.
God says, don't be ashamed, but don't be arrogant either. This is the key. Nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in the source, who richly provides us with every resource. You have to decide. Is the stuff your source or his God?
If you make the stuff your source, you're always going to be scared whether there be enough stuff to go around. If you make God your source, you'll always have all the stuff you need because he richly provides us with everything. Watch this for our enjoyment. He doesn't mind you taking a bite. He just wants his first.
He said, command them. Don't suggest to them. This is not an option. to do good and be rich in good deeds and be generous and willing to share open hands. In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
He says, Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Obedient or optional? How do you see your giving? Obedient or optional?
Multiply or Maintain – The Choice in God's Kingdom
Let's count them out. One, two, three, four. This represents all the income God has given me. Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. I made the decision at age 16 and I've never gone back. The first fruits belong to the Lord. And I've seen him do some remarkable things in my life. Can anybody testify that God is faithful? Somebody around you might need your testimony that God is faithful. He's faithful.
What was our first one? Entrusted or entitled. Second one? Relationship or reluctance. Relationship or reluctance. Number three? We are optional. See, that's why I encourage you. As soon as you finish hearing this message, go home, make it happen. Not next month. Go home, make it happen.
If you don't trust this church, find one you can trust. Don't put your soul somewhere where you don't trust your money. That's ridiculous. And figure it out. $40,000 a year. $80,000 a year. Some of you are blessed beyond that. Some of you maybe don't make that much. 10%. And then set it up. We do it online. It's better. I'm not tempted to do anything else with it.
We were giving 20% of our income before we came to the church, before I was ever a pastor. And now we've tried to increase it. And God's done great things. You know what I found out about God? I found out that in his kingdom, you can either multiply or maintain. Multiply or maintain. Which will it be?
God said, test me. If you will, I will. He made you a promise, but there's a process involved. I'm telling you, it starts with this tithe. It's not a magic trick. I've heard people say it before. Well, if you'll just tithe… No, you have to order your financial world too. You can't just be running up credit cards and tithe and think God's going to wipe it out of the computer.
That's why I want you to go online and see all these budget stuff they put up there and all this free financial coaching. Why? Because we don't want to just tell you to give to the source, but we want to resource you to be able to order your world. And so it's all there. But do it. But do it. Do it. And see if God will multiply.
One scripture said, good measure, press down, shaken together, running over. Or here's one. We were in 2 Corinthians 9-7 a minute ago. Go to 2 Corinthians 9-6. He says he's taken up an offering for the Macedonian church. He says, Remember this. Whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly. And whoever sows generously will reap generously.
And there's a part about each of you giving in your heart what you've decided to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Verse 8. And God is able. He's able. Do you believe this or not? It's a matter of trust. Trust. It's a test of trust.
Do I believe he's able to bless me abundantly so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need... How much of it does that cover? You will abound in every good work. As it is written, they have freely scattered their gifts to the poor. Their righteousness endures forever.
Now, he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store. So he says, Bring it into my storehouse and I'll make sure your storehouse has everything you need. I'll take care of my own and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
That's why you will be enriched in every way, not just with money but with meaning in your life. I want to bless your marriage. I don't want to just enrich your bank account. I want to enrich your relationships. I want to enrich the way you think. I want to enrich you in every way.
Here's the purpose. Remember he told Abraham, I bless you so that you can be a blessing. You can be generous on every occasion. Then you get to not only where you're giving to your church, but now you see where you can meet other needs. You can sponsor a child over here. And then Susie needs a set of tires on her car. And you've got, you guess what? You can put tires on Susie's car and you go, you know, you can start having fun with it. Then it's really awesome.
He said, I'll bless you on every level. So that on every occasion you can do what you need to do. Why our God is a multiplying God.
Feeding the 5,000 – Bringing Limited to the Unlimited Source
I was reading just this week about how in John chapter six, well, actually it's in all four of the gospels. That's the only miracle other than the resurrection that's in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but it's a great miracle where Jesus took some bread and multiplied it and fed 5,000 men and women and children.
But the crazy thing about it is I was reading it in John six, which this account gives us some insight. It says, Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him. And he said to Philip, where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? Jesus is messing with them like he didn't know, like he needed, like he needed some practical instructions, like he needed a name of a store, but he asked this only to test him for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
And Philip answered him, man, it'd take more than a half a year's wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite. Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother spoke up. We don't hear him talk much. We hear Peter talk a lot. But he said, well, here's a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many? They're looking at the what? The resource. I can't do that. I can't afford this. I can't do this.
Jesus said, well, how do people sit down? There's plenty of grass in that place. They sat down. About 5,000 men were there. This took a while. Jesus says, sit them all down. Crowd control. Then he took the loaves, gave thanks, distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He's an unlimited God. He did the same with the fish.
When they all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted. They gathered him and filled 12 doggy bags with the pieces of five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, surely this is the prophet who is to come into the world.
That's always God's purpose is that people would look at our lives and see what he's done and know who he is. He wants you to know who he is. I always thought this miracle was great, but until I connected it with John 6, verse 32, I didn't see the full meaning.
After Jesus had fed all those people and sent them away and shown that he is a multiplying God, the God of all increase, the God of all abundance, the God of all provision, he gives them a little lesson about himself. He said, very truly, I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven, that's the source, and gives life to the world, resource.
Sir, they said, always give us this bread. You're going to love the next line. Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
So here it is. They brought the bread to the bread. They brought their limited resource, we don't have much, to the unlimited source. And you know what God will do when you do that? Come here, Huey, you're going to be God for a minute, just for this illustration. And I declare this... Stand behind that table. On the authority... He doesn't know anything about what he's about to do.
When I bring... This is why I had to have those pomegranates, because the pomegranate has something inside of it more than most other fruits. He said, I can't do that. I don't know. We're already having a hard time making. You know how much money that is. God says, Bring it to me. I am the bread.
And something crazy happens when you bring the first fruits to the one who made the ground that the fruit grew from. Something crazy happened when they brought the bread to the bread of life, when they brought the resource limited to the source unlimited. Watch this. They put it in his hands, and I turned it this way. They showed me how to do it this week. And I want you to take that and cut it right down the middle.
Because God said, I will open your resource. You see what's inside of this? God said, See, to you, if you keep it, this is all it will ever be. That's right. But if you bring it to me, get out of your small thinking and your scarcity mindset and bring it to me. I have some stuff inside. Oh, there are so many seeds in the pomegranate, Huey. Look at all these seeds. Look at all these seeds. Look at all this stuff that God will do if you'll bring him the tithe.
He said, I'll bless it, and I'll break it, and I'll give it, and I'll meet needs. And you know what? Out of that tithe will come opportunity, and out of that tithe I'll feed the poor, and the gospel will… I'll scatter those seeds, and there's more where that came from.
You want some? You want some, Greg? Take it. There's a lot of seed in there.
Recap – Living with a More Mindset
Let's recap. Let's recap. Let's recap. Come on. I'm speaking to somebody right now, but not just so you'll clap but that you'll obey. Clapping isn't going to get you blessed. It's opening those hands and obeying. Recap. Let's review our lesson.
Am I living life as one who is entrusted or entitled? Is this about a relationship or reluctance? Obedient, or have I made giving something optional? I told him, I said, don't play any music when I close because I don't want this to be some emotional thing. Am I going to multiply, or will I just live my life in maintenance mode?
God said, if you'll bring the tithe, I'll bless it. And there's more. Oh, let's see what will happen if we flip the order of those four. Oh, yeah. All I did is flip the order of them there. Oh, there it is. There it is. He said, there's more. It isn't drawing as smooth as I wanted it to. I think the pomegranate juice is messing up my touchscreen. He said, there's more. Oh, you get the point.
He said, there's more where that came from. Now, do me a favor. Touch ten people again, because now you know what the ten was for, and tell them, I believe there's more where that came from. God says, make me your source, and I'll open the windows of heaven, and I'll pour you out so much blessing. Hope you didn't wear a white shirt. Aren't you glad you watch at a video location that you won't have room enough to receive?
Let's take a moment and bow our heads and close our eyes, and let's consider the source. There are many things I could preach about today, but none is more foundational to our heart than trusting God in this area of our lives. Jesus knew it so well. He said, where your treasure is, that's where your heart's going to be.
Are you bringing God to tithe? Is he calling you to trust him? Will you do it immediately? Let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart for a moment. I believe he wants you to see that he's a trustworthy source. If you'll open your hands to him, he'll fill you with every good thing.
Father, I pray that you would give courage, conviction. Call your children into obedience. Many are missing out on the blessings you want to give. It doesn't have to be that way any longer. It's a privilege to give to you, our great God, who has given so much to us.