Introduction:
What Moves the People of God to Give to the Work of God? (1 Chronicles 29:1-19)
- We know Everything Belongs to God. (1 Chronicles 29:10-16)
- We know we only have a Limited Time to give. (1 Chronicles 29:15)
Matthew 6:19-20 - Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
- We know God is Testing Us with money. (1 Chronicles 29:17-19)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
-
00:50-00:54
Open up your Bibles to the book of 1 Chronicles, in chapter 29.
00:55-01:09
You know, many years ago, I went to my doctor for a yearly physical, and the PA comes in, you know, they do all the vitals on you before the other doctor comes in.
01:09-01:16
And I remember she put the blood pressure cuff on me to check my blood pressure, and her eyes got huge.
01:18-01:38
And she said, "Your blood pressure is alarmingly high." She said, "We're gonna have to talk to the doctor about this because this is extremely concerning." And then she left the room.
01:40-02:03
And I'm just being honest with you, I sat on the table with the big tissue paper thing on it And I just, I started thinking about life and maybe some regrets that I've had, some choices that I wish that I'd made different.
02:04-02:06
And my eyes were welling up with tears.
02:09-02:11
She looked pretty concerned.
02:13-02:18
Then the doctor comes in and the first thing he said was, We could talk about this blood pressure, man.
02:21-02:22
Said, I know.
02:24-02:26
And he goes, you've never had high blood pressure.
02:26-02:27
I don't understand.
02:28-02:31
And he looked over at the cuff that was sitting on the counter.
02:31-02:34
He goes, is that the cuff that she used?
02:35-02:35
I said, yeah.
02:36-02:38
Yeah, that's the cuff that she used.
02:38-02:40
He goes, oh, that's for little kids.
02:41-02:42
He goes, no wonder it was high.
02:43-02:50
He left the room, came back with a different cuff They were big boys, and my blood pressure was fine.
02:52-02:54
And the point of the story is this.
02:57-03:05
They were, you could say, testing my heart, but they were using the wrong gauge to test my heart.
03:07-03:12
And when we think about our heart towards the Lord, sometimes, church, we can use the wrong gauge.
03:14-03:15
How is your walk with Christ?
03:16-03:20
We can test that in a lot of ways, a lot of wrong ways, and get a lot of wrong results.
03:21-03:31
But the truth is, there is a gauge that is always accurate when it comes to testing your heart.
03:33-03:36
And that gauge is in how you spend money.
03:38-03:39
Always accurate.
03:41-03:45
And right now there might be some people saying, "Okay, wait, wait, wait, hang on a second, Pastor Jeff.
03:45-03:48
"We're doing a series on money right now.
03:49-03:53
"Is it because of fundraising for a building?
03:53-04:00
"Is that why you're doing it?" Yeah, I thought it seemed like the most appropriate time.
04:02-04:05
So there's three building projects in Scripture, by the way, Harvest Bible Chapel.
04:06-04:09
Bible is our middle name, so let's get biblical about it.
04:09-04:12
There are three building projects in Scripture.
04:13-04:15
Each of them were financed by upfront giving.
04:16-04:19
The first building project was building the tabernacle.
04:19-04:22
That's in Exodus 35 and 36.
04:23-04:25
It's the second building project was building the temple.
04:26-04:27
That's in first Chronicles 29.
04:28-04:31
The third building project was rebuilding the temple.
04:32-04:36
You can read about that in the book of Ezra, especially a first couple of chapters.
04:38-04:40
Today, we're gonna be looking at number two.
04:42-04:48
Under Moses, Israel built this tabernacle.
04:48-04:49
Like what is the tabernacle?
04:50-04:52
Well, it was this portable building.
04:53-05:01
Remember they were traveling from Egypt to the promised land but the tabernacle was this portable building that was used for worship and sacrifice.
05:01-05:05
And it was the place where the presence of God rested.
05:06-05:15
But then when you fast forward to King David's day, He wanted to build a permanent building, the temple.
05:17-05:18
But God didn't permit him.
05:20-05:20
Why?
05:21-05:26
Seemed like a noble endeavor, but God said, "No, you have shed too much blood, David.
05:27-05:30
"I can't permit you to do that." That's in 1 Chronicles 22, eight.
05:31-05:47
So David was like, "All right, if I can't build it, "I'll do the fundraising for it." "And my son Solomon will build it." And that takes us to 1 Chronicles 29.
05:47-05:48
Look at the first five verses.
05:49-06:00
It says, "And David the king said to all the assembly, "Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, "is young and inexperienced, and the work is great.
06:02-06:06
"For the palace will not be for man, but for the Lord God.
06:07-06:47
"So I have provided for the house of my God "so far as I was able, "the gold for the things of gold, "the silver for the things of silver, "and the bronze for the things of bronze, "the iron for the things of iron, "and wood for the things of wood, "besides great quantities of onyx "and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, "all sorts of precious stones and marble, "Moreover, in addition to all that I provided "for the holy house, I have a treasure "of my own gold and silver." And look at this, look at this.
06:48-06:58
"Because of my devotion to the house of my God, "I give it to the house of my God.
06:59-07:14
"3,000 talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, "and 7,000 talents of refined silver laying the walls of the house, and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold, and silver for the things of silver.
07:16-07:24
Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the Lord?
07:26-07:32
So paraphrasing that, David said, hey, I love God, so I'm giving.
07:34-07:43
Now, I was trying to figure out this week how much of David's personal money that he gave.
07:45-07:58
The first source that I looked at said the gold and silver that David gave, the value of the gold and silver would have been about $35 million.
08:01-08:02
Like, wow, that's a lot.
08:02-08:04
I like to look at more than one source, right?
08:04-08:09
To make sure that, you know, we're getting an accurate description here.
08:09-08:31
So I looked up another source and this source said, "Just the gold alone," forget about the silver, "Just the gold alone that David gave "was worth about $5.4 billion." And I thought to myself, it's quite a range.
08:31-08:32
(chuckles)
08:32-08:39
So I stand before you today, church, and say David gave somewhere between 35 million and 5.4 billion.
08:40-08:44
I think it's safe to say he gave a lot.
08:44-08:45
Can we say that?
08:45-08:46
Is that safe?
08:46-08:49
Okay, he gave a lot of his own money.
08:50-08:56
And then after he gives that, David stands up here and he goes, okay, I gave, who's with me?
08:58-08:58
Who's with me?
08:58-09:01
And the people respond, Matthew 6-8.
09:03-09:08
It says, "Then the leaders of the fathers' houses made their free will offerings." That's important, by the way.
09:09-09:13
Please note, this is above the tithe.
09:14-09:16
All right, tithing was the obligation.
09:16-09:19
This free will offering went beyond the tithe, all right?
09:21-09:29
"As did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over the king's work.
09:29-09:43
gave for the service of the house of God, 5000 talents and 10,000 derricks of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze and 100,000 talents of iron.
09:44-09:53
And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord and the care of Jehiel, the Gershonites.
09:55-09:59
So David stands up and says, "Look, I gave.
10:00-10:00
"Here's how much.
10:02-10:06
"Who's with me?" And right now somebody's like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on, hang on, hang on.
10:07-10:08
"Pump the brakes here, Pastor Jeff.
10:08-10:11
"Hang on a second there, King Dave.
10:11-10:16
"Hang on." I thought giving was supposed to be done in secret.
10:18-10:22
Why in the world was David so public about this?
10:25-10:29
Well, the idea that giving is to be done in secret, yes, that is from Matthew chapter six.
10:30-10:31
And we're going to study that next year.
10:32-10:39
Jesus warned us in Matthew chapter six that we are not to give or to pray or to fast for show.
10:42-10:46
And we're going to discover when we get to that passage, it's all about motives.
10:47-10:48
It's about your motives.
10:51-10:53
But see, David here wasn't putting on a show.
10:55-11:08
David wasn't being prideful, like, "Everybody look at me." What you have here in 1 Chronicles 29 is a leader calling on people to give.
11:11-11:15
And you see, in the spirit of King David, I could echo the same thing.
11:15-11:17
I would say, "I believe in what God's doing in this church.
11:19-11:22
"I see the lives that are changed.
11:22-11:27
"I see the people that are saved." So Aaron and I love to give to the building project, and we do.
11:29-11:31
We think of like what's ahead.
11:31-11:40
Imagine when that building is on that property and we're in a community where we can reach more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
11:40-11:52
We have green space where kids can run out and play in the grass instead of the crumbling wall where they go out and play, you know, Humpty Dumpty after church and throw rocks at each other.
11:54-12:01
But we just imagine like, wow, this is going to be such an opportunity to reach more people for Jesus Christ.
12:02-12:07
So Aaron and I are so thrilled to be able to give to this.
12:08-12:12
And I would just say church again in the spirit of King David, who's with me?
12:13-12:18
Who will join us in giving to reach more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ?
12:19-12:32
And look, I got no problem asking, because there is a biblical truth that we're exploring today and that is simply this, the people of God give to the work of God.
12:35-12:47
We can talk about numbers and budget and estimates and all of that, and you can say, "Well, where's the money going to come from?" The people of God give to the work of God.
12:47-12:49
That's how it happens.
12:51-12:52
Look at verse nine.
12:53-12:56
It says, "Then the people rejoiced "because they had given willingly.
12:58-13:02
"For with a whole heart, "they had offered freely to the Lord.
13:04-13:11
"David the king also rejoiced greatly." I love that verse.
13:11-13:13
There was so much rejoicing.
13:13-13:15
The people worshiped and David worshiped.
13:15-13:16
Why?
13:16-13:17
Why were they worshiping?
13:17-13:18
This passage tells us why.
13:19-13:20
What's with all the worship?
13:20-13:29
It says, "Because they gave willingly." There's no arm twisting or guilt trip.
13:31-13:32
They gave willingly.
13:33-13:36
It says they gave with a whole heart.
13:38-13:40
It wasn't like, "Yeah, I guess.
13:41-13:43
"Yeah, I believe in what God's doing.
13:44-14:15
"I want to be part of this." gave freely. This is what biblical giving looks like. And you see here it results in rejoicing. And I got to tell you as a pastor, I look at verse nine. I'm like, oh, there's rejoicing because people so joyfully gave to the work of the Lord. And I look at that verse and I say, how do we get there? Harvest Bible Chapel. How do we get to that place with our fundraising?
14:16-14:27
How can we have such an attitude with our building project to people like, "Oh, I wanna give to this, and I'm so thankful, "and I'm gonna praise the Lord for what He's doing." How do we get there?
14:28-14:28
How do we get there?
14:31-14:37
We find out how they got there, and how we'll get there.
14:38-14:41
Because in verses 10 through 19, David prays.
14:43-14:49
And in his prayer, he thanks the Lord for the way that the Lord made provision happen.
14:51-14:54
All right, so on your outline, here's the question.
14:54-14:58
What moves the people of God to give to the work of God?
14:58-14:59
How does that happen?
15:00-15:02
We're gonna find out in David's prayer.
15:03-15:07
All right, the first thing is this, number one, and it all has to start here.
15:09-15:12
We know everything belongs to God.
15:12-15:18
It has to start there. We know everything belongs to God.
15:19-15:20
Look at verses 10 and 11.
15:22-15:25
It says, "Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly.
15:26-15:31
And David said, 'Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever.
15:32-15:44
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty "For all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours.
15:45-15:54
"Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, "and you are exalted as head above all." That's how David starts his prayers, like God owns it.
15:55-16:01
You realize everything that exists was created by God and for God.
16:03-16:07
Everything that exists, think about that, it was all here before you got here.
16:09-16:14
And this stuff will all be here long after you're gone.
16:16-16:18
God owns everything.
16:18-16:21
You have to start there, including us.
16:26-16:40
And if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, understand God owns you twice over, because not only did God create you, which means he owns you, He also redeemed you by the blood of Jesus Christ.
16:40-16:41
He owns you twice.
16:42-16:46
That when he created you, we're wayward and we're sinful and we're heading to hell.
16:47-16:51
God bought you back with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.
16:53-16:54
You were bought with a price.
16:54-16:56
That's why the Bible says, "You're not your own.
16:57-17:01
You belong to God." So he owns you.
17:02-17:03
All right, look at verse 12.
17:05-17:12
He says, "Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all.
17:13-17:19
In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
17:21-17:34
And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name." Notice David says, "Riches and honor come from God." Now we're getting to some specifics.
17:35-17:48
"Givers love to give because they get this." Listen, everything that you personally own was given to you by God.
17:50-17:53
And right now somebody's objecting, like, "Nuh-uh.
17:55-18:01
"I worked and I earned." Did you?
18:03-18:06
Okay, well, who gave you the ability to work and earn?
18:07-18:08
Who gave you that ability?
18:09-18:11
God did, okay?
18:11-18:15
Everything you have has personally come from his hand.
18:16-18:19
You see, you're a manager, that's all you are.
18:19-18:21
You're not an owner of anything.
18:21-18:22
You're a manager.
18:23-18:28
God is entrusting you with a certain amount of his stuff.
18:30-18:31
I like how one person put it.
18:31-18:47
They said, "God put your name on his bank account." And when you get that, when you get that, giving becomes easy and joyful.
18:52-18:53
Let's do something fun.
18:53-18:54
You wanna do something fun?
18:55-18:56
I need a volunteer.
18:58-19:00
All of a sudden, everybody's like sitting on their hands.
19:01-19:02
Bob Brown, come on up here.
19:03-19:03
Bob Brown volunteered.
19:04-19:05
Actually, Taylor volunteered you.
19:06-19:06
We're gonna do, listen.
19:07-19:09
Everybody give Bob Brown a warm welcome.
19:11-19:13
Bob, we're gonna do something really fun.
19:13-19:15
This is gonna be a blast.
19:15-19:15
Are you ready?
19:16-19:18
Look out at the people that are sitting here.
19:19-19:20
I want you to pick one person.
19:22-19:23
You don't have to say their name or anything.
19:23-19:24
Just pick one person.
19:25-19:25
All right?
19:26-19:27
All right, now give them some money.
19:28-19:29
I don't have any.
19:30-19:30
(audience laughing)
19:31-19:31
You didn't bring your wallet?
19:32-19:32
I didn't.
19:34-19:34
(congregation laughing)
19:35-19:37
To be fair, you never had his wallet.
19:38-19:38
(congregation laughing)
19:41-19:42
Aren't you glad you picked me?
19:43-19:43
No.
19:44-19:46
No, as a matter of fact, I'm not.
19:49-19:58
But if you had your wallet, everybody would think, wait, wait, wait, wait, hang on a second, Pastor Jeff, you said that we were gonna do something fun.
19:58-20:02
Now I'm glad that I wasn't picked because that doesn't sound very fun.
20:02-20:03
How would you like if I asked you up here?
20:04-20:05
So I give somebody some money.
20:06-20:08
You'd be like, well, that doesn't sound very fun at all, does it?
20:09-20:10
No, it doesn't sound very fun.
20:10-20:11
How about this though, Bob?
20:11-20:12
Well, let's change the game up a little bit.
20:13-20:14
Do you have that person in mind?
20:15-20:15
Yeah, I do.
20:15-20:16
Okay, here.
20:16-20:18
I want you to give them this, all right?
20:18-20:19
That's real cash money.
20:19-20:21
I want you to give that person that money.
20:29-20:30
Wasn't that fun?
20:33-20:34
Bob said that was easy.
20:37-20:38
You see the point?
20:40-20:44
That when you think you're giving yours, that's not very fun.
20:47-20:52
But when you realize nothing is yours, giving is fun.
20:54-20:56
Like, hey, this is God's, God gave this to me.
20:56-20:59
So it's fun to give it away because it's God's.
21:01-21:03
Sure makes the game different, doesn't it?
21:04-21:14
When you understand that it's not yours, when you really get to the place and some of you are there, I know some of you are there and some of you, listen, you need to get there.
21:14-21:21
But when you truly get to the place that you're like, it's not mine, then you're no longer going to have an attachment to it.
21:23-21:25
And that changes how you view giving.
21:28-21:30
He goes on to solidify the point even more.
21:30-21:32
Look at verses 14 through 16.
21:33-21:34
David says, "But who am I?
21:35-21:40
"And what is my people that we should be able thus "to offer willingly?
21:42-21:49
"For all things come from you and of your own "have we given you.
21:53-21:59
"For we are strangers before you and sojourners, "and all our fathers," excuse me, "as all our fathers were.
22:00-22:03
"Our days on the earth are like a shadow, "and there is no abiding.
22:03-22:18
"Oh Lord, our God, all this abundance "that we have provided for building you a house, "for your holy name comes from your hand "and is all your own." I love that.
22:18-22:38
He says, "Of your own have we given you." David goes, "God, this celebration we have, really, what we've provided has just come from your hand." And that's the perspective of a biblical giver.
22:41-22:53
As you are not giving God your money, you are giving God back His money.
22:55-22:57
Do you get that?
23:00-23:06
I was trying to think of a way to illustrate that this week and imagine this scenario with me.
23:07-23:08
Just imagine this scenario.
23:08-23:20
Let's imagine that you fell on some seriously hard times in your life and whatever the circumstances were, you were unable to work and have any kind of income.
23:23-23:25
And because I care about you, I say, you know what?
23:27-23:28
I promise I'm gonna take care of you.
23:29-23:29
So here's what we're gonna do.
23:30-23:35
You're gonna move into my house, and I'm going to feed you.
23:37-23:40
And every week I'm going to give you money.
23:41-23:44
You don't have to worry about a job or anything.
23:45-23:49
You come and stay with me, live here, eat here.
23:49-23:50
I will give you money.
23:53-23:54
Are you in that scenario?
23:56-24:02
Well, just imagine that you're living in this scenario and a certain amount of time passes.
24:06-24:10
And I say to you, hey, our home needs a new refrigerator.
24:12-24:13
Would you contribute to that?
24:18-24:21
There's a lot of ways you could respond to my request.
24:24-24:27
One way is this, you could angrily refuse.
24:29-24:31
Like, "Hey, we need a new fridge in our home.
24:31-24:46
Would you contribute to our new fridge?" You can say, "I'm not giving you any of my money." Another option you have is you could reluctantly give me $5.
24:49-24:52
And then be like, "I can't believe he's asking me for money.
24:52-24:53
Can you believe that?
24:53-24:54
Can you believe he's asking me for money?
24:54-24:58
Can you believe the nerve on that guy that he's asking me for money?
24:59-25:00
I gave him some.
25:00-25:02
I gave him five dollars." You have that option.
25:05-25:11
Another option you have is you could proudly give me a hundred dollars.
25:13-25:17
for some weird reason, feel the need to brag about that.
25:17-25:19
You're going to your friends, "Hey, you know what?
25:20-25:21
Pastor Jeff needed some money.
25:22-25:23
I took care of him.
25:23-25:32
I gave him some money." And your friend would be like, knowing the situation, your friend would be like, "So you gave Jeff back some of his own money.
25:34-25:40
We're all so proud of you." Or here's another option.
25:41-25:41
Here's an option.
25:42-25:48
you could happily give me $500 and say, "You know what, Jeff, this is all yours anyways.
25:49-25:51
And you promised to take care of me.
25:51-25:58
And you know, I realized that that fridge is going to benefit me and the rest of the family and anybody else who comes through your house.
25:59-26:12
So you know what, I'm glad to give you back some of the money you gave me." So let me ask you, which is the most appropriate response?
26:16-26:18
The last one is, right?
26:19-26:21
Wouldn't you say that was the most appropriate response?
26:23-26:27
But you see, the same principles apply in giving to the church.
26:29-26:35
We talk about fundraising or just giving in general, some people take option one and just angrily refuse.
26:35-26:41
"No, I'm not giving God any of my money." Obnoxious.
26:43-26:46
Some people reluctantly give a little bit.
26:46-26:58
Like, "Oh, I can't believe the church is always asking for money." So you, you know, you give God just a little, you know, a little tip.
27:02-27:05
Some people give a little more and feel the need to brag about it.
27:07-27:12
"proud of themselves." Yeah, yeah, I'm a pretty healthy giver.
27:13-27:16
Oh, oh, so you're proud of yourself for giving God back what's his.
27:19-27:25
But see, true givers, they get it.
27:25-27:26
Like it's all God's.
27:26-27:31
Hey, this is a great opportunity to benefit not just myself, but so many other people.
27:32-27:35
I'll be glad to give a lot of God's stuff back to him.
27:38-27:44
And you are going to joyfully give when you realize it's all God's anyways.
27:46-27:54
And it's a privilege, it is a privilege to give God back what already belongs to him anyways.
27:56-27:59
So what moves the people of God to give to the work of God?
27:59-28:01
Well, we know everything belongs to God.
28:01-28:04
Number two, right this time, we know we only have a limited time to give.
28:08-28:10
Look at verse 15, let's back up there for a second.
28:11-28:20
Verse 15 says, "For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were.
28:21-28:30
Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding." He says we're sojourners.
28:31-28:32
What's that mean?
28:32-28:34
We're just passing through.
28:36-28:37
It says there's no abiding.
28:39-28:40
None of us are staying here forever.
28:44-28:53
In my old church, there was a man who, he was on staff as a custodian, and he was an elder back in the day, and his name was Lou.
28:54-29:02
And I've heard him speak at funerals, And he would often talk about your tombstone.
29:04-29:18
I can just hear him saying this, I just wanna share it with you, but Lou would say, "On your tombstone, "there will be two dates, "the date you were born and the date you die.
29:19-29:23
"And in between those two dates is a dash.
29:24-29:39
"What are you doing with your dash?" According to Jesus, you can use that dash to invest in eternity.
29:40-29:42
What are you doing with your dash?
29:43-30:01
Matthew 6, verses 19 through 20 says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, "where moth and rust destroy "and where thieves break in and steal, "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
30:04-30:05
That's what you can do with your dash.
30:07-30:08
Imagine another scenario.
30:11-30:12
Imagine another scenario.
30:12-30:23
Imagine that you got a job offer to work in France, but here's the thing, only for six months.
30:24-30:35
"only for six months, "but they are going to pay you "an obnoxious amount of money." I mean, they are going to pay you an insane amount of money for those six months of work.
30:38-30:46
If you took that job, would you take that money and invest in your apartment in France?
30:48-30:56
You know, buying a bunch of paintings and carpet and furniture, and would you invest all of that money in your little apartment in France?
30:59-31:11
Or would you take that money and send it to a bank account in America so you can enjoy it in your permanent home when you leave after your short time in France?
31:17-31:23
Where we make our investments depends largely on where we think our home is.
31:25-31:34
And too many Christians live like this world is our home, but the Bible says heaven is our home.
31:37-31:44
But if you think that the earth is your home, you don't wanna give because you're gonna spend on yourself for your time on earth.
31:44-31:56
But if you really believe that heaven is your home, then you're going to embrace the reality that you have a limited amount of time, your dash, to invest in God's kingdom.
31:58-32:00
That's what David is saying here.
32:00-32:05
That's why, I don't think he was trying to insert a little gloom into the prayer.
32:06-32:21
What David was saying was, "God, we're gonna come and go, "but the temple is going to be used "for worship for generations." I wanna remind you, church, that our opportunity to build isn't just for us.
32:23-32:27
This world is getting darker and darker.
32:27-32:27
Have you noticed?
32:28-32:30
Didn't we just spend like eight weeks talking about that?
32:32-32:34
The world is getting more and more perverse.
32:36-32:42
And sadly, more and more churches have abandoned the straightforward proclamation of the word of God.
32:43-32:45
And too many churches have abandoned God's mission.
32:49-32:59
We have a limited amount of time to give for something that's going to impact generations here and store up for ourselves treasures in heaven.
33:03-33:05
The people of God give to the work of God because we know.
33:07-33:13
I only have a limited amount of time to make a difference with God's stuff.
33:15-33:21
And finally, number three, what makes the people of God give to the work of God?
33:22-33:23
Oh, we're kind of back full circle.
33:25-33:27
We know God is testing us with money.
33:31-33:33
Look at verse 17, look at it very closely.
33:34-33:52
David says, "I know, my God, that you test the heart "In the uprightness of my heart, I have freely offered all these things.
33:53-34:04
And now I have seen your people who are present here offering freely and joyously to you." Do you see that?
34:05-34:07
David says, "God, I know you're testing us.
34:08-34:15
You want to see God who has an upright heart." And David says, "God, I proved that I have an upright heart before you am I giving?
34:16-34:25
And David also was measuring the loyalty of God's people to their God by their willingness to give.
34:29-34:32
God is testing us with what we do with money.
34:33-34:40
Right now, somebody's like, man, I'd rather that God test me based on my church attendance.
34:42-34:43
That's not how he tests.
34:45-34:45
Or somebody's like, you know what?
34:46-34:49
I really wish God would test me based on my motives and intentions.
34:49-34:50
That's not how he tests.
34:51-35:04
David knew an objective test of an uprightness of heart and a sincere love for God, for himself and for Israel wasn't how they spend God's money.
35:08-35:10
What you do with money shows where your heart is.
35:11-35:16
Because the giver says, look, I know that I'm being tested with money, I know that.
35:16-35:23
So I better be very thoughtful and deliberate on how I use God's stuff.
35:27-35:32
Do you remember back in your teenage years, do you remember your teenage years?
35:33-35:36
For some, that was longer ago than for others.
35:36-35:41
But in your teenage years, do you remember taking your driver's test as a teenager?
35:41-35:42
Do you remember that?
35:43-35:45
Now, I don't know how it is now.
35:45-35:47
It was a little different when I was a kid.
35:48-35:51
But you had to study and then you go take the permit test.
35:52-35:54
But I'm talking about the actual driving test.
35:54-35:55
Do you remember that?
35:55-35:59
How many people remember taking their actual driving test?
36:02-36:09
I don't know how it is now, but when I was a kid, I had to go to the state police barracks.
36:12-36:16
and I pulled up and a police officer got in my car.
36:19-36:27
But you know, when he got in the car, he didn't plop down and pull out a clipboard and just start asking me questions.
36:28-36:30
Like, "Oh, I got the information.
36:31-36:31
Ask me, officer.
36:32-36:32
Ask me, officer.
36:32-36:35
I studied the book." He didn't sit down and just ask me questions.
36:37-36:38
What was the test?
36:40-36:40
Drive.
36:43-36:51
I had to show him that I knew how to apply the information that I'd been studying.
36:54-37:04
In other words, I had to show that you know, because your actions in the car were the test.
37:05-37:07
And church, it's the same with money.
37:08-37:10
You have the information.
37:10-37:11
Right?
37:11-37:13
You have the information, it's all God's.
37:13-37:16
You have a limited time to invest in the kingdom.
37:16-37:19
You know money is the basis of God's test.
37:19-37:22
Do you know what happens when you leave here?
37:22-37:24
Is Jesus is getting in the car with you.
37:26-37:33
And he's not gonna say, "Hey, do you remember how that verse goes "in 1 Chronicles 29?
37:33-37:36
"Do you remember how that verse goes?" He's not gonna ask you that.
37:37-37:42
He's not, Jesus isn't gonna say, do you remember the sermon outline?
37:46-37:48
He's gonna say, spend.
37:51-37:52
Show that you know.
37:55-38:00
Because your actions with money is the test.
38:02-38:19
Now listen, This by no means is a beat you up sermon, because I've been told that giving has been very good in our church.
38:21-38:24
I don't know who gives what, I don't.
38:24-38:43
But I do wanna commend you, because even though I don't know who's been faithful, God knows, and you know, if you've been faithfully giving.
38:45-38:50
You know how well you're doing on God's test.
38:53-38:55
Look at verses 18 through 19, where he closes the prayer.
38:56-39:10
He says, "Oh Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people and direct their hearts towards you.
39:12-39:31
Grant to Solomon, my son, a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision." I love how David closes the prayer.
39:31-39:34
He says, "God, keep your people generous.
39:37-39:54
"Keep your people faithful, including my son, "so they may build your building." And I can't think of a better way to close our time here.
39:55-39:58
If our worship team would make their way forward, I'd like you to bow your heads.
40:03-40:05
And again, I'd like to commend you, church.
40:08-40:18
I don't know details, but I have been told that there is so much faithfulness and giving in this church.
40:18-40:19
I applaud you for that.
40:21-40:29
And I wanna encourage maybe those who haven't to get on God's agenda.
40:29-40:33
And there might be somebody here that doesn't wanna hear that and you're gonna go to another church.
40:34-40:39
And to you, I say, when you get to that church, be faithful to give to that church.
40:43-40:44
Because it's all God's.
40:46-40:47
You've got a short window.
40:48-40:48
(whistles)
40:52-40:54
And it's the way that God's testing us.
40:56-41:07
Father in heaven, I wanna thank you for the generosity that you have stirred up in people in this church.
41:11-41:17
And Father, you know I don't have a clue who it is, who all's giving and who's not, but Father, I know that you know.
41:19-41:22
I don't really need to, I just wanna thank you for them.
41:22-41:31
And I pray, Father, for those who maybe have been clutching a little too tightly to your stuff.
41:33-41:38
I pray, Father, that this passage would give us a wake-up call.
41:44-41:46
That we would have an attitude like David and the people of Israel.
41:52-41:55
Because God, it's a sobering thought that you're testing us by the way we spend money.
41:59-42:09
So I'm asking, Father, please, make the spirit of generosity contagious in this church.
42:12-42:33
Because just as the people responded to David's prayer with a massive worship set, Father, the day's gonna come when we are going to respond on site in worship for the way that you've provided through your people.
42:35-42:37
God, I thank you for that ahead of time.
42:39-42:41
In Jesus' name, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Chronicles 29:1-19
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
In Matthew 6:1-4, Jesus says to give in secret, yet in 1 Chronicles 29:1-5, King David announces his giving in great detail. Should all giving be done in secret? If not, when is it appropriate to not give in secret?
How does remembering that “everything belongs to God” encourage us to give joyfully (1 Chron 29:10-16)?
What did David mean that God is “testing the heart” (1 Chron 29:17)? What, exactly, is the test? How is money part of this test? How do we pass or fail?
Breakout
Pray for one another, and for continued faithfulness and generosity in HBC (1 Chron 29:18).