Episode 975: Growing Faith | Part 3

of course, concluding our very short series about how to grow our faith. We say things all the time that are true things that really matter to us like I totally trust the Lord. I mean, it just rolls off the tongue. But if I really and truly trust God, how do I demonstrate that? It has to be beyond just words, right? How is my trust or my faith in God demonstrated through my actions? Even James says faith without works is what? It is dead. Now a lot of people have pitted that against other scripture, but it really is just the evidence. I can say, for example, I trust this stool, and I can say that it looks well made. It's made out of a certain kind of wood. Even the salesman told me I can trust in that stool, but until I do what? Until I actually sit in it. Do I really trust that chair? I've always lived that illustration. Sometimes I don't want to get up out of that chair, though that's the problem. So what I say coupled with what I do really does form the basis of trust. So how do I demonstrate my faith in Christ? I can say all the right things. I can say I believe in the Bible from cover to cover, from the table of contents to the maps. We even don't believe in the maps, don't we? But what I've discovered is that there's just one area where God consistently tests our faith and that's in our giving. And you know, I'm not embarrassed or ashamed to talk about giving. I used to be when I was a young pastor, I would hire it out. I would get a guest preacher to talk about giving. So I could be critical just like the rest of the congregation, right? Can you believe he said that? And even since then, since I've kind of grown and matured as a pastor, I really only speak about it maybe three times a year. As God leads me, but it always has to I go, pastor, I invited a guest today and you're talking about giving. Come on, it's such a downer, right? And I understand that many people, and maybe even in this room or watching a lot, maybe you've been hurt in a church where the pastor just, you know, manipulates you and says, hey, we're going to keep passing that offering plate till we get what we need, you know? But also understand we're not that church. And that we want to deal honestly with this really important spiritual principle. What I've discovered is that this is the area. Do I really believe that if I seek him first as we just say, by the way, we got a little soul in our church don't we, when we sing songs like that? I love that. Do I really believe that if I seek him first and everything else will be provided for me? Do I believe what Jesus said about generosity being the path to the blessed life? Do I say yes and amen with my actions? When we say we believe, we typically meet it in a passive way. What's happening in our head? But the Greek word for believe in the New Testament is much, much stronger than that. It means to entrust ourselves to its truth. The Greek word is "pistueo." It means that I'm willing to risk everything in my life for that truth. So when I say I believe in Jesus, it's not just saying I believe that he existed or that I believe he did the things that the Bible says it means, I believe everything he said so much in such a profound way that it affects how I live. I have so much confidence in this. I live like his truth depends on it. There's a Christian speaker named Ken Davis and he talks about his beginning days of learning to love, speaking in public and he talks about that speech class he had in communications. Some of you remember that communications class, right? We had to give a couple of speeches that semester. He talks about being in that class and giving that speech and he's talking about in his speech the law of the pendulum. So he takes out a toy and it's attached to a string and he puts it on the chalkboard. Do you remember chalkboard, right? Then don't have those now. And he would swing it as he's talking about the law of the pendulum and he makes a tick mark every time it swings because if you know the law, it gets shorter and shorter and shorter until it comes to rest. And so then he pulls the class. He says how many of you believe in the law of the pendulum and every hand goes up including the professor. And just when the professor is ready to call on the next speaker, he says, wait a minute. And he brings out of the ceiling a pendulum that's made of metal weights that weighs 250 pounds attached to a parachute cord swinging from the ceiling and he asks the professor to stand on his desk and he brings that 250 pound weight all the way up to the professor's nose. And he lets the pendulum go and it swings all the way across the other side of the room. And as it's coming back towards the professor, the professor dives off of his desk at the last second. And so then he pulled the class and said how many of you think the professor believes in the law of the pendulum and nobody raised their hand, right? I think it's very much like that. I think it's very much like asking us if we believe in the laws of giving that God gives us in Scripture. Because what I believe is that giving is really more than anything else what makes God real to us. It's one of the most tangible ways that we can express our faith on a regular basis. And I believe one of the reasons so many people get stuck in their faith journey is because it never moves beyond words. There's never any circumstance in which they really put their faith to the test. So let's begin where the Bible begins with this very simple truth and your outline is that money is a trust test, isn't it? What you think about money determines your behavior. Jesus explains it like this in Luke chapter 16, whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. And whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? See, money is a test. And how much God can trust us with the really important things. The things that are way more important and money, you see, Jesus is telling us in this passage that money is really a small matter in God's eyes. But if I can't handle a small thing like money, how in the world can God trust me with things that are far more valuable than money? Think of money as God's kindergarten. That it's one of the first classes we take in our faith building life. To ever qualify for God's graduate school, you have to first pass the money test. Malachi chapter 3 verse 10 says, bring all the ties into the storehouse. Test me in this as the Lord Almighty and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. Now, to my knowledge, maybe Malcolm could correct me on this later in private. We would only do it in private, right, that he would correct me. Now, I appreciate that about Malcolm. To my knowledge, there's no other place in Scripture where God makes an offer like this. Because God is God. He doesn't even have to make an offer like this. He could just say, just do it. I'm God. You just do it. And that would be that. And we would have to accept that. But instead, he makes a tithing proposition. By the way, tithing just means 10%. That's what it literally means. Give 10% to me. God says, and watch what I will do in response. He said, generally, I would say to you just free advice here, testing God's never a good idea. And yet, here's the one place that it's actually encouraged. And not just encouraged, but he gives us a promise that when we do it, he's going to bless us. He's going to provide for us. But what I hear more than anything else is, pastor, pastor, that's Old Testament. Pastor, you just don't understand. Come here. I'll get Malcolm up, explain it to you in private later. Old Testament. Well, let's look at the New Testament, number two in your outline. See the New Testament actually echoes the same promise. And here's the promises that God makes in the New Testament. Paul uses a farming analogy when he wrote to this young church called Corinth, and they wanted to give an offering. So our main passage will be this passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 9 where he says, "Remember this, whoever so sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever so generously will also reap generously. Each one should give what he's decided to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able to make all grace abound to you so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, and you will abound in every good work." And he goes on to say, "God gives seed to farmers and provides everyone with food. He will increase what you have so that you can give even more to those in need. You will I'll be blessed. every way and you will be able to keep on being generous, then many people will thank God when we deliver your gift. Now doesn't that sound exactly like what I read in Malachi a moment ago? Paul said when did they give? It forces them to depend on God and then we see just exactly how God takes care of us. This is how faith grows. Faith grows by putting ourselves in a position to have to trust God and God has all kinds of ways to provide for your needs and by the way they're not always monetary. The Bible teaches this in such a way that God has instilled this in all of life and it's called the law of the harvest. The law of the harvest simply as you reap what you. So exactly it applies to every area of your life. If you plant apple seeds you're gonna get apples, not pears. If I plant kindness I'm going to reap kindness. Does that mean I'll never be criticized? No, but it's a general principle that if I plant the seeds of kindness then I will reap that same thing. The same thing is true with things that are negative like criticism. If I plant the seeds of criticism and I become this keyboard warrior and I'm criticizing everything I can think of then I shouldn't be surprised once some of my replies in my inbox are critical. But here's the trick question. If I plant two bushels of wheat will I get back two bushels of wheat? No. If that were true there would be no farmers. In fact you can expect 67 bushels for every two that you plant. See the principle is that you will always reap more than you sow. Now some people will reason will pass you soon so get all of my debts paid off. I'll start giving. And God is saying no you're you're missing the point when you start giving that is when I will meet your needs because that's faith isn't it. Galatians chapter 6 we heard at a moment ago don't be misled a man will always reap just the kind of crop he sows if he sows to please his own wrong desires he will be planting seeds of evil and he will surely reap a harvest of spiritual decay and death but if he plants the good things of the spirit he will reap the everlasting life that the Holy Spirit gives him. So this law teaches are you ready that I am in charge of the quality of my own life. If I make good choices life is better than if I don't. So remember reaping is both positive and negative. So when God says you will always reap what you sow he's not punishing us he's just telling us that's how life works. And I'll tell you the this is a principle in other words it doesn't always it's the ratios not always one to one is it. But in general if you don't study for the test the night before you're not going to do well on the test isn't that true. If you if you love to go above the speed limit you might get away with it sometimes but not always and it really hurts when you don't get by with it. So it's true in every aspect of life it's true in farming as we just saw. In other words it's a natural law it's the way that God has designed things to work it doesn't matter whether you believe it or not. It doesn't matter whether you're a Christian or not this is true and life is true in farming as Paul just showed us it's also true in families. I can't tell you how many parents and grandparents I have counsel over the years when they have a child an adult child or maybe even a teenager that's involved in addiction. And they'll tell me you know pastor I'm paying their apartment rent because they can't afford it. And how many times I've had to really coach and counsel that that parent or grandparents say you know when you're when you're paying that rent that that that loved one of yours is taking what they would be paying for rent and they're going to use it to feed their addiction. I've recommended this book if you've not read this book and you struggle with any relationships you have. Listen the book Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend it's one of the most phenomenal books I've ever read about this idea of the law of the harvest. And they say some amazing things in this topic such as sometimes however people don't reap what they sow because someone else steps in and reaps the consequences for them. If every time you overspend your mother sent you you money to cover check over grass of high credit card balances you wouldn't reap the consequences of your sprint spin thrift ways. Your mother would be protecting you from the natural consequences the hounding of creditors or going hungry. See when you rescue someone from the consequences of their behavior you enable them to continue to be irresponsible. They go on to say the law of sewing and reaping has not been repealed. It is still operating but the doer is not suffering the consequences. Someone else is. Today we call a person who continually rescues another person a codependent. In effect codependent boundary less people co-sign the note of life for the irresponsible person. Then they end up paying the bills physically, emotionally and spiritually and the spin thrift continues out of control with no consequences. He continues to be loved, pampered and treated nicely all in that sweet. Some of us need to repent of taking the consequences away from the people that we love the most. It's true in friendship. I've always had a hard time having sympathy for people who come to me and say they don't have any friends. Because if you want friends you need to work on being a friendly person. If you work on yourself to be a friendly person I promise you you will have friends. I've offered this free advice for almost 19 years as your pastor. All you have to do is go up to someone that you don't know well and say hey after services today can I take you to lunch? What are the two magic words? I'll buy. I have never in my 60 years of life turned down free food. And you will have plenty of friends. And in all seriousness I know I say that jokingly but if you commit yourself to being a friend to guess what lonely people. If you will commit yourself to being a friend to lonely people not only will you have friends you'll make a huge impact in people's lives. That's ministry. But you have to stop building walls and start building bridges. I heard someone talk about the younger generation and I know most of them are not in this service. They're going to be in the next service but some of you have kids and grandkids and they're saying they're not marrying anymore. They're not having children anymore. And then during this interview the man said the most profound thing I've heard about that generation he said nothing great will happen in front of a screen. Wow. So take a risk and your loneliness will disappear. It's true and failure. Ernest Hemingway believed that he could live however he wanted to live without paying any consequence. To him moral laws were just superstition and a hindrance to his own sense of fulfillment. Someone once wrote an article about how Hemingway lived his life that he drank too much. He smoked too much. He had all kinds of illicit relationships and at the end of the article the writer boasted about how Hemingway ignored the standards of society and yet was a tremendous success. And the last line of that article was this the wages of sin is death but obviously for him Ernest Hemingway it paid off. Anybody believe that? Well six months later he killed himself with a shotgun and he wrote a note and in that note it said my life is as empty as in a vacuum tube and a television with the plug pulled out. See Hemingway wasn't free. Hemingway was a slave to his own desires and his life proved how true the law of the harvest really is whether you're a believer or not. We're free to make choices but we're not free to choose the consequences. And of course in our topic today it's true and finance. Most people would agree about the law of the harvest and all those other areas I just named. That's when I get the amen's. But in this area we stop short don't we? Paul devoted an entire chapter to teach on this principle and the first thing he teaches them is to live and light of the laws of the harvest. Let me read the verse again verse six but remember this if you give little you will get little. A farmer who plants just a few seeds will get only a small crop but if he plants much he will reap much. By the way the only thing that grows without planting seeds are weeds right and who wants those? Then Paul reminds them of this powerful principle. God owns it all. Verse 10 for God who gives seed to the farmer to plant and later on good crops to harvest and eat will give you more and more seed to plant and will make it grow so that you can give away more and more fruit from your harvest. See God is telling us he even owns the seed. that we're just managers of God's resources. But even if you are a tither, I'm gonna tell you a truth that you may or may not know. You have never given anything to God. And neither have I. We only return it to Him because we can't give to God something that He already owns. So what we're saying is this, God, you are so good to allow me to manage these resources and this offering I'm making today reminds me that it's all yours. Because there's really just two ways to think about this topic. How much of my money will I give to God or how much of God's money will I use for myself? Then Paul teaches them to always protect the seed. Back then seed always came from your previous harvest. You couldn't run to lows and get some more packets of seeds. Every harvest, the farmer had to set aside a certain percentage of that previous harvest to ensure the future. 1 Corinthians 16 too, on the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money and keeping with his income. So he tells them to be like the farmer in that way that every time you get paid, set aside a percentage of that for seed money. And if you have to protect that amount, protect it at all costs. You have to plan for it. You'll never get this done in a half hazard way. The temptation is to use the seed money for ourselves. Without the seed though, there's gonna be famine in the future. Listen to this powerful Psalm, Psalm 126. Those who cry as they plant crops will sing at harvest time. Those who cry as they carry our seeds will return singing and carrying their bundles of grain. I wanna tell a story that's in context of that Psalm. A missionary told this story as he served in West African. It reminds me so much of my experience when we were missionaries in Southeast Africa in the early 90s in Malawi. He tells a story like this. I was always perplexed by Psalm 126 until I went to Sahel, the vast stretch of the Savannah, more than 4,000 miles wide just under the Sahara Desert. And the Sahel, all the moisture comes in a four month period of May, June, July, and August. And not a drop of rain falls for eight months. The ground cracks from the dryness. The year's food must be grown in those four months. People grow mylow and sorghum in small fields. October and November are beautiful months. The granaries are full, the harvest has come. People sing and dance, they eat two meals a day. The sorghum is ground between two stones to make a flower than a mushy consistency of cream of wheat. The sticky mush is eaten hot, rolled into little balls between their fingers dipped in a bit of sauce and popped into their mouths. The meal lies heavy on their stomach so they can sleep. December comes and the granaries start to receive. Many families omit the morning meal. Certainly by January, not one family in 50s eating two meals a day. By February, the evening meal diminishes. The meal shrinks even more by March and children succumb to sickness. They don't stay well on a half a meal a day. April is the month that haunts my memory. In it, you hear the babies crying at night. Most of the days pass with only an evening cup of gruel. Then inevitably it happens. A little boy comes running to us father with sudden excitement. Daddy, we've got grain. Son, you know we haven't had grain for weeks. Yes, we have, daddy. Out in the hut where we keep the goats, there's a leather sack hanging on the wall, are reached into it. And daddy, there's grain in that sack. Give it to mommy so she can make flour and tonight our tummies can sleep. The father stands motionless sun. We can't do that. That's next year's seed grain. It's the only thing that stands between us and starvation. We're waiting for the reins and then we must use it. The reins finally arrive in May and the young boy watches as his father takes the sack from the wall and does the most unimaginable thing. Instead of feeding his weakening family, he goes to the field with tears streaming down his face and he takes the most precious seed and he throws it away. He scatters it in the dirt. Why? Because he believes in the harvest. The seed is his. He can do anything he wants with it. The act of sewing hurts so much that he cries. Do you think when African pastors preach on Psalm 126 it means something? Because most of us in America, we just give out of abundance. But how often does that challenge our faith? Have you ever said I believe in God's harvest so much that even when other needs in my life are there, I will make it a priority to give. Am I saying we should give away our last meal? I'm not saying that. I'm saying that it's not always easy to give away the seed. As C.S. Lewis said, I'm afraid giving is more than merely giving away that which we could afford to do without anyway. And then Paul taught them your attitude toward giving reflects your view of God. Verse seven, each man should give what he has decided and is hard to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver. And so you see, we don't pressure people. We don't try to manipulate people. I don't look to see what people give. And frankly, I'm probably not mature enough to handle that anyway. But we don't want to avoid this topic like I used to do as a young pastor. Paul says, God loves a cheerful giver. And you say, God, I know you aren't demanding this but inviting me to this building adventure, faith building adventure. One final principle to know and not to do is not to know. Isn't that true? The problem is rarely a lack of knowledge but the application of what God has already taught us. Verse eight again, and God is able to make all grace and bounty so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Isn't it more blessed to give than receive? Paul said, you'll be enriched in every way for all your generosity. And then all the way back in the Old Testament. We see it from cover to cover. Deuteronomy 15, give freely and spontaneously. Don't have a stingy heart. The way you handle matters like this triggers God. Your God's blessing and everything you do, all your work and ventures. See, all of the Bible teaches this, that the generous life is the key to a blessed life. And please know that the main reason I teach this is not what I can get from you but what God can do for you. You know what I love about a church like Lakeside? I've always loved this about Lakeside. Lakesides are an incredibly generous church but when you give a dollar, if you were to give a dollar today, a portion of that dollar would go to help feed people in Hood County and an amazing ministry called Loes and Fishes, a portion of that dollar would go to an incredible addiction ministry called Celebrate Recovery. So people could be set free from addiction. A portion of that dollar would go to help our preschoolers and their families learn the gospel in a beautiful facility, by the way. Our children will also learn the gospel in our student ministry. And even some of you will go from this room into a life group class and you'll be reading from material that has been purchased because someone gave a dollar today. A portion of that dollar will go to help people right here in Hood County and their churches that may not be as strong as Lakeside in and through our Baptist Association. Some of that money will go to the state of Texas. We call Texas Baptist where you will find Texans. Texas Baptist on the front lines of disaster relief and a strengthen churches and a start churches in the state of Texas. And to help plant churches in the North America Mission Board as we partner with churches and Seattle, we've partnered with churches in Washington, DC and in Colorado and many other places that we don't even know about because a portion of that dollar goes to places where we're not even physically there. A portion of that dollar will go to support the thousands of missionaries for of which those missionary families call Lakeside their home. We're able to reach the world by just giving a dollar. Can you imagine? I've always been proud of Lakeside for that reason because we are making a difference even when we don't know about it. Don't you think that's gonna be the greatest blessing of heaven? Said on that day in September, I gave a dollar, tongue in cheek, right? And it went and purchased a Bible for the persecuted church in China so that someone could come to Christ. I had a friend that was a missionary in China and he was always running from the police because he was able to lead 1500 people to Christ every single month. And he wasn't saying that to Bragg, he was saying that to glorify God. And aren't you grateful that you're a part of a company? That's what we call that ministry, by the way. We call it the company. We're a part of that company, aren't we? What a great company to be a part of. The benefits are incredible, aren't they? Let's stand together as we have our time of invitation. I'm gonna invite our pastors in the room to join me at the front. I wanna make sure that everyone listening online or even in person has made their reservation in heaven. I wanna make sure that heaven is as full as possible because we were faithful to share the gospel. It's expressed in this very simple acoustic. The liturgy reminds us of this powerful truth that God created you for one reason and one reason only. And that is to have a relationship with you. But God knows you just like He knows me and He knows that we have sin in our life. And so because of that sin, God can't be near sin. God is. Holy, that's what holiness means separate and because of that it creates a dilemma that the world has struggled with outside of Christianity, they teach, "Well, just do good things and if you do good things, maybe God will take you back." But that's not a good plan. It creates anxiety, have you done enough? And God takes away that by giving us the perfect plan. God the Father sends God the Son in history and actual history to live a perfect life and to die on the cross for our sins in our place. And he utters this phrase, "It is finished." It's an accounting term, it means it's paid for. That is our gift, the gift of forgiveness of our sins and the gift of eternal life. But a gift is not a gift unless it's received. And how do you receive the gift of eternal life? God tells us in his invitation. Not mine. God says, "Every person who trusts in Christ alone has promised the gift of eternal life." If you never receive that gift, let today be the day you receive the gift of eternal life because that life begins in a supernatural way. The moment you say yes to Him, it doesn't say go clean up your life first and then come He says, "Come just as you are and I will do the miracle, I will do the healing of your heart. I will take the sin out of your heart so that I can be in your life." And that supernatural experience begins the moment you say yes to Him and last unbroken into eternity. If you've never received the gift of eternal life, come and take the hand of one of our pastors. And we're here to receive you for anything that God has put on your heart. We consider it a privilege to serve you here at Lakeside. So let's pray and sing this final song. Father, thank you for your goodness and the good news of the gospel that today might be the day for someone to be born again. In Lord, those of us who are born again, as we walk out of these doors, that we would be missionaries in a lost and fallen world. And we pray in Jesus' name, amen and let's sing together.