Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives.
The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist
Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us
or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look
us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this
message from God's Word will be a blessing to you.
Moving throughout the New Testament this evening, we asked
the question this morning, what percentage is right?
Amen. What percentage is right?
And of course, we looked at the issue of the tithe being the
10th. And I don't believe there's any
contesting that in the Word of God, even as you go to the first
mention back in Genesis chapter #14 and we tied together the
fact of the tithe being given to Melchizedek was 10% that was
being given to God by Abraham. Then we looked at very briefly,
Jake, who also in his own way was tithing to the Lord as well,
and we saw that all of this was done before the law was given.
Now, why is that important? Because we made a supposition
this morning that the tithe was before the law, The tithe was
during the law, and the tithe was and is for today as well.
And so we started by looking at the tithe before the law.
Then we saw the tithe during the law.
We looked at the book of Deuteronomy.
We considered the book of Leviticus.
And then of course, we also spent some time in the book of
Malachi as well, and we saw that we will literally rob God when
we do not give Him that which already belongs to Him.
Amen. It's not for us to decide
whether we are going to give or how much to give, but rather it
belongs to God. And he has decided already when
we withhold it, we are withholding that which belongs
to God. And so we came to the conclusion
at the end of the message this morning that the percentage that
is right is actually not 10% at all, but the percentage is
actually 100. Now why is that?
Because we have to give all of our money to God.
You can't have anything. 100% of it belongs to Him.
And the answer is yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.
No, I'm just kidding. That's not what I'm saying at
all. But that everything you have,
that everything that you are, that everything that God has
blessed you with, it truly all belongs to Him.
And a stewarding life is this. As God has enriched me, I will
make sure that I do with that which he has given to my trust.
I will do with it rightly. Whether it's the tithe, whether
it's the other 90% that I need to be able to spend in a way
that is good and right and honorable towards God, or
whether it's, as the old saying goes, my time, my talents, my
treasure. That all of it belongs to Jesus
Christ 100% and that we give it to him.
Now I know there's some folks here tonight that maybe aren't
members here at Liberty Baptist Church.
And I want you to know that the point of the message this
evening is not to try to induce you into giving to Liberty
Baptist Church. That is not the point of having
a stewardship Sunday. But I will tell you this.
These are the biblical principles that we see that when
you are in your church, wherever God has LED you or wherever God
does lead you, that this is what the Bible teaches about giving
when it considers the Church of which you are a part of.
And so this is not again a telethon I mentioned.
The Jerry Lewis telethon this morning.
I had so many blank stares this morning that nobody knew from a
certain age bracket who even Jerry Lewis was and what I
think. They don't even know what a
telethon is anymore, all all things considered.
I don't think that's the thing. If I said a GoFundMe, everybody
would know what that is nowadays.
Amen. But that's the way money is
raised now a lot of times. But the idea is this is not a
fundraising scheme. This is not pastor preaching
because the church is about to go under and we need to raise
some quick cash or something like that.
No, these are biblical principles that we must
understand. And whether there's money at the
bank at Liberty Baptist Church, and there is, or whether
there's. No money in the Bank of Liberty.
Baptist Church that these principles are good and right
and we don't give depending on what's the spreadsheet on
Liberty Baptist Church's profit and loss statement, but rather
we give because this is good and right and what the Bible tells
us to do. And so we're going to look this
evening at Matthew chapter 23. So why don't you go ahead and
stand for the reading of God's Word?
Matthew chapter #23 We read 2 verses.
If you are able, turn to Matthew chapter 23 and we'll read verse
one. It says this.
Then Jesus spake to the multitude and to his disciples.
Now stop right there. There's two groups.
They're being spoken to here. He's speaking to the multitudes,
that He is speaking to the disciples.
Now. Verse 23, Matthew 2323.
Woe unto you, scribes. And Pharisees hypocrites, for
you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the
weightier matters. Of the law, judgment, mercy, and
faith, these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other
undone. Say, Pastor, what does that have
to do with tithing? Well, we're looking at just a
moment. Doesn't seem to me that Jesus is
condemning tithing here at all. But he is condemning a heart
that maybe is a tithing heart, but not a heart that belongs to
Him. So.
Really, the issue tonight, as we've already seen, is this.
Sure, the tithe is good and right, but God wants more than
your tithe. He wants all of you.
And that includes your heart. So why don't you be seated as we
pray together and we'll do some more exploration of the New
Testament this evening. Heavenly Father, I do thank you
for your word. I pray at you again.
You helped me with this, a very important situation and looking
at stewardship and far more than tithing.
So I pray that you would just help me now as we consider these
things that we do, ask it in the name of Christ, Amen.
So we saw this morning that the tithe was before the law was
given to Israel. We saw this morning that the
tithe was part of the law that was given to Israel.
And we see tonight, thirdly, this evening, we also see that
the tithe was also given during the time of Christ and after the
time of Christ as well. And if you're not following,
that includes us here this evening as well, that the tithe
was not just something that was spoken of in the Old Testament,
but Jesus himself spoke of it as well.
And it's something that is for us, US here today with the text
that we just read. Jesus is talking to the
disciples and he is talking to the multitudes.
He's talking to those who are believers.
He's talking to those who are unbelievers.
And in this statement and he speaking many things in Matthew
chapter #23 he says this, that there is a not a problem with
the tithe. In fact, he is not condemning
the Pharisees for their tithing. You notice what it says here?
It says they are tithing on mint and anise and cumin.
Now this is weird to us. I I was going through the spice
drawer just this afternoon getting some things ready for
lunch. And I was thinking, boy, should
I give 10% of all these shakers that are in here to church?
Could you imagine if we all brought 10% of our spice rack
over to the church and started giving that?
That's kind of strange to us because we tithe with, well,
money, Amen. Please don't tithe your spices,
All right? At Liberty Baptist Church, we
don't have A use for them, but money is OK.
Amen. But, but remember, this is the
Society of which they lived in. It wasn't the fact that they
were going to necessarily tie the money.
They were tithing on their increase, whatever that could
be. That could have been cattle,
that could have been grain, that could have been any number of
things that oftentimes that that tithe was not converted into
money unless someone was coming from a great distance.
And then all of that was used for the Levites and for the
perpetuate perpetuity rather of the temple that all of these
things were being used for that purpose.
And so the Pharisees, they were being so careful in their tithes
that they were literally going through any type of spices that
they could have had. And if they had a spice that
they had not tied on, they were going through and making sure
they gave 10% of cumin. They were making sure they gave
10% of anus. Now you would link to that and
say, man, these guys are really spiritual.
These guys, they are so spiritual.
They're tithing even off of those things.
And once again, Jesus is not condemning the tithe, and this
is important. Was He condemning the heart
behind the one who is tithing? Because what does he say?
You've omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment,
mercy and faith, peace He ought to have done.
And not to leave the other undone.
He even says it's not that you shouldn't have done that.
The tithe. It's that as you are tithing,
you should understand that God doesn't need your human.
God doesn't need your spices. Here's what he desires.
He desires a heart that that will do right before him.
And this is what the Pharisees did not understand.
This is what the Pharisees could not grasp.
But Jesus is the principle being preached by the Savior here is
this, that the tithe itself is not a problem.
Jesus very easily here could have abolished the tithe.
He could have said that the tithe is no longer relevant,
that the tithe is no longer leaded.
But this is not what He said. He is really reiterating
something that was said in the Old Testament that I read very
briefly from the end of at the end of the message of First
Samuel, that to hearken is better than the fat of Rams,
that he doesn't need our offerings, he needs our heart.
You know, when you have the heart for God, as he should, the
offering part is easy. If, if I whip people into a
frenzy about giving, you need to give, you need to give, you need
to give, you could give and the heart not be right.
And you'll give for a while, and then you'll stop giving, because
really, that's not the issue. The issue is you need to give.
You need to give. You need to give.
The issue is this you. Need to give yourself to Jesus
in every area of your life. You need to give yourself to
Him. And you know when you fully give
yourself to Jesus Christ, given of your wall.
It's not nearly as hard. In fact, it's almost something
that can be cheerful as it says it said Corinthians that we
could be cheerful givers. And that word cheerful in the
Greek that has the connotation of of hilarity being this, it's
almost like as the plate goes by.
It's time to give. Say, pastor, I've never felt
like that. Well, okay, let's don't.
Okay, maybe you shouldn't be laughing like that when the
plate goes by. Someone might think you're
touched, but the idea is this, that it's a joy to know I get to
be part of what God is doing. I get to be part of missionaries
working around the world. I get to be part of churches
that are being started around the world.
I get to be part of making sure that tracks are being printed
and a website is on, that a church is open, that it's going
to be ready for people to come in and see lives change.
I get to be a part of that and I get to give you that.
That is awesome. And that's what our heart should
be. And so Jesus starts here, not by
condemning the tithe, but he says this you got.
To get your heart right. When it comes to the issues of
all of life, but particularly the tithe as well.
Now turn to Matthew chapter 6. We made mention of this this
morning, Matthew chapter 6. I read this very briefly, but.
I think it's good for us to read it again tonight, but the
Pharisee had a big problem with this.
The Pharisees had, oh, they had such a problem with this.
Matthew chapter 6, verse #1 Take heed that you do not your alms
before men to be seen of them. Otherwise you have no reward of
your Father, which is in heaven. What did the Pharisees do?
They want to make sure that everybody saw him give.
Everybody saw him give. And by the way, I've said this
before, but just as a reminder to you when that offering plate
goes by and if you put an offering in the plate, you know,
put. Put it face down.
That's always a practice that I have done and I hope that others
would do it as well because you don't need the next person to go
by to see what you were given. That's not the purpose of it.
I'm not saying that if you have it face up that you just want
everyone to give, but I, I just, I'm always have the purpose and
the hearts. Like if I'm giving, I just want
it face down. I just don't want everyone to
see what I'm giving. But the Pharisees, what would
they do? They want to make sure everybody
saw them go. Drop in the treasury, they made
sure. In fact, Jesus made a point of
those Pharisees who were putting so much money in the treasury,
he says. You think that they gave a lot?
Look at this little widow lady over here.
She gave a couple mites. How much is that?
Not a whole lot. And she said she gave more than
them. Why?
Because there was an issue of the heart that was right with
her. Verse 2.
Therefore, when thou doest thine alms do not sound a trumpet.
Before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues, in the
streets, that they may have glory of men, Verily I say unto
you, they have the reward. But when thou doest alms, let
not thy left hand know what thy right hand do it, that thine
alms may be in secret. And thy father which seeth in
secret, shall reward himself, himself shall reward thee
openly. Now drop down to verse #19.
You're very likely familiar with this.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth
and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves breakthrough and steal.
I quote this quite a bit, but lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven, when neither rot, moth, nor rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves do not breakthrough nor steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be.
Also heard a preacher say this once, and it's so right.
Heaven is a great place to do your banking.
I like that. Heaven is a great place to do
your banking. Meaning what?
A lot of people do a lot of work making sure they can get the
best interest rate, they can be at the best bank, they can get
the best APR, all these different things, APY making
sure they get exactly what they need.
But isn't it really about this life making sure that we're
investing in things that are truly eternal?
And part of tithing is this, I'm investing in something that's
eternal. I'm investing in something
that's far beyond me, that when I'm investing in missions, I'm
investing in people who get saved in Papua New Guinea, I'm
investing in people who get saved in South.
Africa. I read a prayer letter from our
friends in South Africa. The Switzer's just a few days
ago got emailed to me and I'm reading it.
And I read about people who are getting saved in a place that
I've never been, in a place that I can barely even pronounce, of
names of people that I can barely even pronounce.
But I thought, you know what? I got to have a little part in
that. By giving to something that was
eternal, you say, well, how much like, you know, $0.05, you know
$0.05 out of everything that they get for, you know, from
liberty goes that no, no, I don't know what the amount is.
I know what we give them a month as a church, $100 a month to our
missionaries. But this is what I know.
Whatever part I had in that. I got to have a part.
And that is incredible that we get to do that to, to lay up our
treasures in a place where it could have real substance.
Now, there would be some who would say, well, you know,
Pastor, I, I hear what you're saying.
You're talking about Kingdom things here, Jesus.
Is not condemning the tithe and and things like that, but isn't
it true that the New Testament is all about grace?
And it's true the New Testament is all about grace.
Now I would also argue the Old Testament is all about grace.
The Old Testament gets a bad rap when it comes to the issue of
grace. Well, the Old Testament is all
about the law. The New Testament is all about
grace. And I want to say you haven't
really read the whole of the Old Testament if you think the Old
Testament is all law and the New Testament is all grace, for
instance. Noah found grace in the eyes of
the Lord. For instance, there were there
was a nation called Israel that kept turning.
Their back on God over and over and over again.
And what did he do? He kept graciously sending them
prophets to be able to try to turn their hearts back to him.
There's a lot of grace in the Old Testament.
But even if we. Were to be able to make the
argument, OK, well, the Old Testament is about the law, but
the New Testament is all about grace.
Here's where the issue with grace and tithing comes in.
I think this is important. There's a lot of people who make
the argument, well, pastor, I don't give the tithe because the
tithe is the law. And again, we've talked about
why the tithe is not the law this morning, But I give the
tithe. I don't give the tithe because
the tithe is the law. Now I give by grace.
And my argument for that is this.
If you were to give by grace, then honestly, you should be
giving more than 10%. Yeah, it went over as popular as
I thought it would, but grace giving says I'm giving more than
10%. Often times people say they give
by grace do more of a tip than tithe.
Now why is that? Well, because the idea of giving
by grace means is I'm free to do whatever I want.
But that's not what grace is. Grace is not I am free to do
whatever I want. Grace is I know this is what God
has said in His Word, but yet I am going to do over and above
that which God has said does grace.
Compel you to do more than the law or less than the law the.
Bible says, by grace, what are we doing?
Do I need the law to be able to tell me no?
The law's been abolished in a sense.
But the idea behind that is that by grace.
I don't need the law hanging over my head to do right.
Because of the grace that's been done in my life and because the
love I have for God, I'm going to do more say, well, where?
Do you get that idea? Well, the Sermon on the Mount,
what did the Sermon on the Mount say?
Well, we're following the law. We haven't killed anybody.
But Jesus said, boy, it's more than just that, isn't it?
It's about, do you have anger in your heart?
No, Jesus didn't set the bar lower.
What did he do? He set the bar higher.
It's not, you know, I, I, it's not like I've had a it's not
like a committed adultery. I'm committed adultery.
I'm not that bad. Well, have have you lusted then
you have committed that in your heart.
So the idea is not that we are doing less, but we're doing
more. Why?
Because our heart is right. With God.
Now, I'm not saying you. You have to give more than 10%.
That's not what I'm saying here, but I'm saying that the argument
is that we are giving by grace. It ought to be more than 10%,
not less. Aren't you glad God's grace
isn't meager in your life? Aren't you glad when God when
God has grace in your life? It's not like someone trying to
hand out a few pennies. I don't know about you, but
God's grace in my life is like Scrooge Mcduck jumping in the
money bin. You've ever seen that before?
And he's swimming around. It's like there's coins
everywhere, that's what. That's what God's grace is in
our life. It's so extensive that if you
were just to really stop and think about it for a moment.
You think? Wow.
Look at me and look at how. Gracious God has been to me in
my life. So the idea of grace giving is
this is if we were to give by grace that we should be doing.
Above and beyond than just that. But oftentimes people use grace
and excuse to do less. Grace says if I should be
compelled to go a mile, I go to Grace says if I've been wronged,
I forgive 70 * 7. Not just once.
If we give by grace today, should that compel us to do more
or less than the law? One would think it would compel
us to do more. So the principle preached by the
Savior is one of giving and tithing, but also giving by
grace. But it's also something that is
to be performed by. A steward, remember.
Let's bring this. Back to who we are here tonight,
that you and I are called to live the stewarding life.
I read this once someone has said that there are three kinds
of givers, the Flint, the sponge, and the honeycomb.
To get anything out of a Flint you must hammer it and then you
only get chips and sparks. To get water out of a sponge you
must squeeze it, and the more you use pressure, the more you
will get. But the honeycomb just overflows
with its own sweetness. Which one are you?
The idea for me tonight is not to hammer you over the tide.
The idea tonight is not to squeeze you over the tide.
The point tonight is this shouldn't just our heart be
overflowing with the sweetness that God has placed in our life?
And it's not really a problem for us to be able to give
because we know as we give, He gives us so much more in return.
I've never felt like I've missed out.
By tithing, I've never felt like, boy, you know, my life
will be a whole lot more fulfilling if I could just hold
on to this 10% for myself. I would just.
I could just fill. Tonight with stories of over and
over and over again how God provided in our lives in ways
that I don't even understand. For probably 10 or probably 15
years now, I've used Excel spreadsheet to do our budget.
It's what I do. It's just it, it just makes
sense to me. It's simple and you know, I can
track everything on the spreadsheet.
There are months that just doesn't make sense.
And I look at what we give and I look at what other obligations
there are. And it's just, I don't know.
But God provides over and over and over.
And why? Because we are stewards and as
stewards as we just give out of a heart that wants to be right
with Him, He always takes care of us.
We have never lacked. Now again, the the the tithe
itself is not a test of spirituality in the sense of,
well, if you are a faithful tither, that doesn't mean that
you are necessarily right with God.
How do we know that? Well, the Pharisees, they tithe
on their spice rack, and they still weren't right with God.
What about Luke 1812? Do you, do you remember the
Pharisee who was there praying? And there was the publican that
was far away from him, or not too far away from him rather.
And that publican says I fast twice in a week.
I give tithes of all that I possess.
But yet, what do we see at the end of that parable?
That Jesus said that one of them was right with God that day.
Who was it? It was that filthy old public
and that text collector couldn't even raise his eyes up in heaven
says, Lord, have mercy unto me, a Sinner.
My goal tonight is not to tell you you need to tithe because as
you tithe you'll know you'll be right with God.
That's kind of backwards. You know what I'm telling you
tonight? You need to be right with God so
you tithe. That's what the Bible teaches.
It's not get. Get your money in now so we can
bless you and tell you that you're right with.
God, that's the Catholic. Way of looking at things.
That's what they've taught for centuries.
Get your money and it will give you a blessing.
Get your money and it will keep your loved ones out of
purgatory. That awful, awful unbiblical
doctrine that's. What I'm teaching here tonight,
it's what the Bible teaches. My teaching is this, not give so
you can get right. It's get right so you can give.
That's what the Bible teaches. 2nd Corinthians 97 also says
this, Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let
him give, not grudgingly or out of a necessity, for God loveth A
cheerful giver. The idea even going into Second
Corinthians as it talks about offerings as well as ties, is
that there is a purpose to our giving, that there is a planning
to our giving. That's why we give not at the
last, but rather at the 1st. I'll be honest with you, even
when it comes to the issues of giving, now it's a little.
Different for me now over the last few years because I'm
self-employed. But this was always the case,
even when I received an actual pay stub and the money was taken
out. When it comes to tithing our
family ties before taxes. Again, that's not the other
thing that's very popular. We say, why would you say that,
Pastor? I say that because I want to
make sure that I give from my whole increase, not just from
what I have after the government has taken their part.
Like I said, it's easier for me now because I have to pay taxes
differently. As someone who's self-employed,
just whatever's the number there, that's what it is, 10%.
And by the way, isn't 10% easy? Just move that decimal over.
That's all you got to do, right? That makes it a lot easier.
I'm not good at math, but I can move decimal over a couple
places. I figured that one out, but
here's what I do know and when it comes.
To the issues of the gross and the net, I've just made the
decision this is between you and the Lord.
But we tied off the gross. Why?
Because I want to make sure that my first fruits even are before
the 1st fruits of the government.
Taking from my first fruits now. I can't show you book.
Chapter and verse about that. But I do also know this.
I heard someone say this here at this church years ago and I
believe it. He said this.
He says do you want God to bless you off your gross or do you
want God to bless you off your net?
I thought interesting way of looking at it, I want God's
gross blessings in my life, not just as net blessings in my
life. And so yes, whether that's
popular. Or not.
That's just something that I have put into practice and we
have put into practice as a family over time.
Why? Because I want the first fruits
of everything that I get to belong to him.
Why? You say?
Well put. Pastor, you're just talking
about just a few dollars here or there, right?
You're just talking about a few dollars here or there.
So just give it to him and trust him that he will take care of
you. Stewardship requires that we
understand again that everything we have doesn't belong to us, so
we give as he directs. The steward doesn't even own
anything. The steward just does on behalf
of the man who owns the house, who tells him what to do and
where to do it. Did Joseph own anything in
Potiphar's house? As far as I know, What I do know
is this is that he was such a wise steward that Potiphar
didn't even know what he owned except what was brought to his
mouth. He trusted the steward.
And Joseph did that even without any of it belonging to him.
He just did it because it was right.
What are we to do? Well, you know this, this car
that I have mentioned it this morning, that's not my car.
It's the Lord's. Car.
So if the Lord needs me to use it for his purpose.
Our Lord means be use it for other purpose.
I'm going to use it for him. This apartment that we have,
it's not our apartment, It's the Lord's apartment.
Actually, it's Avalon's apartment, but the Avalon got it
from the Lord too. But we're renting it.
What do I say, Lord? If I can use this in some way,
they'll benefit your ministry, or in any way I want to.
It belongs to you. The, the things that I own, the
things that I have, all these different things.
And again, talking about so much more than money, my time, my
talents, my treasure, my time. It doesn't belong to me.
There are times we get into situations where we think, well,
I don't have time to do this for the Lord.
I don't have time to do that for the Lord.
It's like, well, maybe I should pray about how the Lord would
want. Me to use my time before I
decide I can't do it. Well, I don't want to use my
talents. I don't want to use my talents
for the church, you know, I just, it's not something I want
to do. I don't want to use my talents
to help other people. You just, you always get
yourself in a mess every time you do that.
So I'd just rather not do it. Who gave me those talents in the
1st place? You ought to pray about it,
that's the Lord. What would you have me to do?
My wife's told this story before and I'll tell it on her behalf
this evening. You know, I love listening to my
wife play the piano. I could just sit and listen my
wife play the piano for forever. But you know, the proficiency
that she has at the piano today has not always been the case.
And I'm not saying she was unproficient earlier, but she
has progressed even over time, just playing so much here at
church. And we first got to Westgate,
and Westgate was at the time a Church of around maybe 3-4
hundred people. There were many different piano
players there. There were a lot of them.
And my wife made the conscious decision when she was asked that
when someone asked if she'd play the piano, she said no.
I don't think so. Now, why would that be?
She just felt there were so many other people that were better
than her. Why would she play the piano?
Now to me today, I can't even fathom that.
But this was 20 years ago. You know why?
I know there's other people that can play better, men and women.
They, they can, they can play better than me.
And she said that she got to a place that in her heart she, she
felt that the Lord was making it clear to her, Who gave you that?
And if you don't want to use it, then you don't have to keep it.
Now, I'm not saying that the Lord was threatening her or
anything like that, but the idea is there are many people who
have had gifts that the Lord's given them.
They didn't use them for the Lord.
They lost those gifts because they didn't use them for him.
And she just made very clear, Lord, if you gave me this gift,
then I need to use it for you. It wasn't much long at longer
after that that she got into a rotation of being able to play
offer Tories. And it was much longer than
after that that that our our music director left and all of a
sudden I became the choir director of a 40 voice choir.
You say, how much choir directing experience do you
have? As much as you think that I did
and which was none. And so all of a sudden I'm
directing a 40 voice choir. I needed a piano player and
Diane was able to help and you know, she's been off to the
races ever since. Why?
Because she had to decide, am I going to be a good steward of
the gift that God has given me? And now you would ask her here
tonight, is she boasting of herself, of that gift?
No, it's the Lord that's done it.
Sure, we have to put in work. We have to put in effort, but
the Lord is the one who truly gives us these things.
I could look at a piano for 100 years and not be able to play it
right. I played it for six months and
that was a disaster in and of as it was.
So what am I saying? God has given you these things.
He's giving you specific talents.
He's giving you specific treasures far beyond the issue
of ties and offerings. Are you willing to say, Lord, it
all belongs to you? I put this in the bulletin this
morning, but I'm going to say it again because nobody reads the
bulletin. If I didn't mention that, some
of you wouldn't even know it was in the bulletin.
One of the things that always, it's, it's funny to me, and this
was true with all four of our children, is that when we go out
to eat, you know, they get those kids meals and usually it's
chicken fingers and fries, those kind of things, maybe a little
bit of a pizza, something like that.
You know, Dad's done with his food and they're still kind of
picking at their food and there's a chicken tender there.
And, you know, I'm of the idea no chicken tender left behind,
you know what I'm saying? And So what needs to happen if
the kids aren't going to eat it, Dad's going to eat it.
And sometimes Dad's going to eat it even if they're not done
because, you know, that's the way it works.
And every time I do they they act like I have physically
harmed them in some way. No.
No, that's mine. That's right.
Now I feel like his dad. This is a rite of passage.
I got to take some of your. Food.
My dad took food off my plate. I'm taking food off your plate.
It doesn't matter that I was only at.
Yeah, Yeah. And some of your food, too.
That's right, son. So I would take food off of your
off the plate. All right?
You OK? All right, Let Dad finish this.
Yes, you are all right. You are a good boy.
OK. And quiet.
Thank you for that. So.
I'll take food off their plate. But you know what?
What the irony of all of that is.
They get so upset, they, they, they actually, they physically,
you could see them get angry. I'm the one who paid for it, and
Diane, we are the ones who paid for the food.
You can't have that. Yes I can if I want the whole
plate. If I take it and just want to
pour it right on my face like this, I can do it.
What? Actually, that would be really
stupid if I did. But why?
Because it belongs to me. We've taught the kids something
at home. There have been times that
they've had some electronics or different things like that.
And I remember the first time my parents, grandparents, crazy
grandparents, I had to figure that out.
But parent grandparents would give them tablets and they'd say
this, oh, can I? Can I have my tablet?
I said, whose tablet is it? Who's is it?
Oh, dad, can can we have can we have your tablet?
Say, what kind of controlling monster are you, Pastor?
You eat their food and take their tablets.
The idea is I'm trying to remind them this doesn't belong to you
to just use however you want because I don't want them to get
to the place where they just take the tablets and like kids
walk around like zombies today, watching them everywhere.
They're not even didn't even know human life is around them.
They're just totally focused on that.
So I'm trying to remind them you don't really use that without
our permission, mom and dads, because we will make sure that
you use it properly. What am I saying?
That if it belongs to me, I'm the one that gets to make the
call. Now let's go a level higher than
me. Who's the one that really does
have it all. It all belongs to him.
And we get upset that he'd say 10% belongs to me.
Who are we to be able to say that when He has given us so?
Much and we concentrate on on what's lost, but we never think
about what's gained and what he has gained.
What we have gained in our life is is joy and blessings and
financial rewards and all these different things.
And again I want to be. Careful how I say that because
I'm not just saying you sow that little seed and all of a sudden
will be tenfold or a hundredfold like some of those Word of Faith
heretic preachers will say, no, no, that's not what I'm saying
tonight. What I am saying is this, you
give as you have been given. Unto and God will bless you in
ways you can't even imagine just.
Prove him he is worthy and he has not proven himself
untrustworthy. We said this morning, moreover,
is required and stewards that a man be found faithful.
Now I'll say this and and and when we're going to be done.
I think we've covered this in an exhaustive way this morning and
this evening, but here's what this comes down to.
I'm going to say it again, that it comes down to the issue of
trust. Let's say you needed some money
and you came to me and say pastor, I, I, I, I need, I need
a loan. Now why you come to a pastor, I
don't know, but you're going to say I need, I need some money.
Can can you, can you spot me? Sure, brother.
How much you need 5 bucks? You're probably not too worried
about my answer for that. They're probably the only thing
you're worried about is, is is pastor actually carrying cash?
Because other than that, 5 bucks is is not for the most part,
most for most of us, it's a big deal.
Hey, can I, can I get 5 bucks? Sure.
You trust that you're going to be able to get it.
Why? Because you look at me as I
would look at you and say, yeah, 5 bucks.
You can handle it. Hey, pastor, can can, can you
spot me? I'm a I'm a little light this
month. OK.
How much? 10 GS?
Boy, that's light. That's lighter than air right
there. Yeah.
I'll write you the check. You, you better run after you
cash it, because that thing's going to bounce higher than the
Empire State Building. You know what?
You're you're not going to trust.
You're not even, you're not even going to ask me that question
because you know, like, I don't, I don't think that's, I don't
think that's the case. I don't think he's got what it
takes to back it up. Now, there's a lot of reasons
you wouldn't ask something like that, but I would say you would
just even estimate the person you're asking.
I don't think this is something that that they would be able
even to, to, to do. Here's the issue when it comes
to the issue of trust, $5 to the Lord, $10,000 to the Lord.
Look, you can trust him no matter what the issue is with
your life, He will take care of you.
You look at me and say, pastor, maybe you'll back me up and
maybe you won't. You could look at someone else,
say maybe you'll back me up and maybe you won't.
Do you really think God won't quote back you up if he said,
prove me, I'll take care of you? Do you really think he's going
to require this of you and then when the time comes leave you
holding the bag? Our God is not like we are and
Amen and Amen to that. He's not human.
He is not frail. No, he is all powerful and has
all, all within his hands. You can trust that.
If he says this is what I want you to do with your life, He
will take care of you, Pastor. If I give him my money, what
will, what will happen? He'll take care of you, pastor.
If I gave him my time, if I, if I just rewrote my calendar and
just made his priorities my priorities.
Even thinking about things like going to church, come to church
on a Sunday night or Wednesday night.
I don't have time for that. You know what that question is?
That's a stewardship question. I don't have time for Sunday on
my mind. I don't have time not to come on
Sunday night and Wednesday night.
It has nothing to do with being a pastor.
It's just I need to be in the House of God as much as I can
because I know myself and I know the Lord.
I want to be here when the doors are open.
You know what that is? It's a stewardship issue when it
comes to our treasure or our, our talents, that which God has
given us. I, I don't, I don't know if I,
you know, I don't know, I don't know if I could help out in a
children's ministry. That's a stewardship issue.
Now, again, should everyone serve in a children's ministry?
Probably not. Maybe not everyone's cut out for
the children's ministry, but everyone cut is cut out for
ministry. Everyone's cut out to serve.
And when you say, well, I just don't, I don't, no, I don't, I
don't think I could do that. That's stewardship issue that
God has given you talents that you refuse to use with his
people. That's a problem.
Now, again, I'm not talking about whatever your trade is
that, you know, the church just uses you for free and that's all
that we do. That's not what I'm talking
about. I'm talking about when it comes
to the ministry of Jesus Christ. Are you willing to say, you know
my gift of being able to talk to people and maybe that is a gift
that God's given you. I'm going to use it for the
children's ministries. I'm going to use it.
I'm going to use it on outreach. That's what I'm going to use it
for that that's what I'm going to use it for.
You know, in my gift of being able to, to, to pray.
I'm going to use it to be able to help with some of the prayer
ministries that we have here or, or, or, or to be able to
encourage ladies with a ladies Bible study to make sure that
I'm there to be able to be a part of that.
These are things that God can do with your life, but not if
you're just worried about this little tiny percentage instead
of we're just saying it's not about 10, it's about 100.
Will you give him everything? It's not just tithing in the Old
Testament. It's not just tithing in the New
Testament. It's not just tithing before the
law. It's not just tithing during the
law and after the law. It's about this.
God's economy has always been this.
It all belongs to him. We do right with what he's given
us in time and talents and treasure.
And that's what the stewarding life is the the real issue that
today how, how do we know? How do we know that today is a
success? How do we know that we're
stewarding as we should? Are the are the bank balances at
liberty just going to go through the roof in the next few weeks?
That's not how we're going to judge it.
We'll judge it by are we truly willing to give God our
everything? And as we do, we'll see this
church go far beyond finances and blessings there to see to
be. He will give us opportunities to
serve in ways we can't even imagine if we're the stewards
that he has asked us to be. Thank you for listening to the
sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church.
If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we
can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at
info@mylibertybaptist.org. Or you can visit us this Sunday
at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA.
May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.