A Sharper Focus

Complete Stewardship Part 1

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: ASHF

Program Code: ASHF000189A


00:19 Hello, friends,
00:20 welcome to our Wednesday night Bible study
00:22 here at the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:24 We thank you for taking the time
00:26 to tune in and join us
00:27 for a very thought-provoking topic tonight.
00:30 We're talking about stewardship.
00:32 And I would encourage you to get your Bibles
00:35 and invite your family or friends to sit down
00:38 and watch this thoughtful hour
00:39 that we're gonna spend together,
00:41 walking through the Word of God.
00:42 We thank you for taking the time
00:45 because there's no more special time
00:47 than when we pause to open God's Word together
00:50 and listen to what the Holy Spirit has to teach us
00:54 and wants to say to us.
00:55 We're gonna tell you in just a moment
00:57 how to get a copy of the lesson,
00:58 but before we go any further,
00:59 bow your heads with me
01:01 as I invite the Lord to be with us this night.
01:03 Father, we thank You for the opportunity
01:05 of studying Your Word.
01:07 We thank You for the Word of God
01:09 that is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths.
01:15 We do pray that tonight as we open the Word
01:16 that the light will illuminate our souls,
01:19 that our minds will not only be informed
01:22 but that our lives will be transformed.
01:25 So come and be our teacher, we ask.
01:27 In Jesus' name we pray,
01:29 Amen.
01:30 Now we're on a new lesson.
01:33 Lesson number 43.
01:35 Go to this following website,
01:37 ASF.3ABN.org
01:40 and download lesson number 43,
01:42 The Truth About Complete Stewardship.
01:45 The Truth About Complete Stewardship.
01:48 And we encourage you to download that copy
01:51 and you can join us easily.
01:53 And if you have your Bible and a pen and a willing heart,
01:57 you will learn quite a bit from tonight's topic.
02:00 But before we go any further,
02:02 we always sing our theme song
02:03 and our theme song is...
02:04 What is it?
02:06 Victory in Jesus.
02:07 Let's sing this song together.
02:16 I heard an old, old story
02:19 How the Savior came from glory
02:23 How He gave His life on Calvary
02:27 To save a wretch like me
02:31 I heard about His groaning
02:34 Of His precious blood's atoning
02:38 Then I repented of my sin
02:42 And won the victory
02:46 O victory in Jesus
02:50 My Savior forever
02:53 He sought me and bought me
02:57 With His redeeming blood
03:01 He loved me ere I knew Him
03:05 And all my love is due Him
03:08 He plunged me to victory
03:12 Beneath the cleansing flood
03:16 I heard about a mansion
03:20 He has built for me in glory
03:24 And I heard about the streets of gold
03:27 Beyond the crystal sea
03:31 About the angels singing
03:35 And the old redemption story
03:39 And some sweet day I'll sing up there
03:43 The song of victory
03:45 Key change.
03:46 O victory in Jesus
03:50 My Savior forever
03:54 He sought me and bought me
03:58 With His redeeming blood
04:01 He loved me ere I knew Him
04:05 And all my love is due Him
04:09 He plunged me to victory
04:13 Beneath the cleansing flood
04:17 He plunged me to victory
04:20 Beneath the cleansing flood
04:27 Amen. Amen.
04:29 Now tonight our topic
04:31 is The Truth About Complete Stewardship,
04:36 The Truth About Complete Stewardship.
04:39 And I think we have maybe 50 minutes, 45 minutes,
04:42 not exactly sure how long,
04:44 but we're going to take the time
04:45 to really walk through the Word of God together.
04:48 You know, when we mentioned the word stewardship,
04:52 let's say that word together,
04:53 stewardship, what do you hear?
04:55 Steward and then you hear ship.
04:59 Owner and then you hear ship
05:02 or apprentice and then you hear ship.
05:05 Now steward is a person who takes care of something.
05:10 Years ago, on the airplanes
05:12 as every now and then, I make this mistake,
05:14 I call the flight attendant steward, stewardess.
05:19 And my wife said, "They're flight attendants."
05:21 I said, "Stewardesses."
05:23 She says, "Flight attendants."
05:24 So one day I was excited, somebody said,
05:26 "Where's the stewardess?"
05:28 I felt justified.
05:29 But a steward, let's look at the definition,
05:32 I put this together for us tonight
05:34 so we could lay down the foundation.
05:36 Just before I bring that to you though,
05:38 let me just make these statements.
05:40 When we hear the word stewardship,
05:41 what do we think right away?
05:43 What do we think?
05:47 Right, but we think money.
05:50 Normally, when a stewardship Sabbath is held,
05:52 they're gonna talk about, what, money.
05:55 Talk about tithe and offerings.
05:57 And so when we think about stewardship,
05:59 we often think about money.
06:00 But tonight, we're going to see
06:02 that stewardship has many components to it.
06:05 But let's begin with the definition of stewardship.
06:07 Here it is on the screen.
06:09 And this is from
06:10 the Holman Bible Dictionary.
06:15 We find this definition given, a beautiful definition.
06:17 I like that.
06:19 And I'll read that in your hearing.
06:21 It says, "Utilizing
06:22 and managing all resources
06:25 God provides for the glory of God
06:29 and the betterment of His creation."
06:32 Utilizing and managing how many resources?
06:35 Say it together, all resources.
06:37 God provides for the glory of God
06:40 and the betterment of His creation.
06:42 Now obviously, the author there is Charles Bugg
06:45 from Stewardship in the Holman Bible Dictionary.
06:48 But simply stewardship means
06:50 you are involved in someone else's property,
06:53 you are responsible for someone else's property.
06:58 Now you may be responsible for a lot of property,
07:02 you may be responsible for a little bit of property.
07:05 You may be responsible for somebody's doggy
07:07 on the weekend, that's stewardship.
07:10 Somebody may say, "Take care of my field."
07:13 That's stewardship.
07:15 Somebody might say,
07:16 "I'd like you to watch my children
07:17 for the weekend."
07:19 That's stewardship.
07:20 Somebody might say, "Here's $5,000,
07:23 hold it till I get back."
07:24 That's stewardship.
07:26 Somebody might say,
07:27 "I need you to work for me for seven hours."
07:31 Now how many hours did they just ask you for?
07:33 Seven hours.
07:35 So if you work for four hours, is that stewardship?
07:37 No. It's not good stewardship.
07:38 Right, it's not good stewardship.
07:40 It's flaking out.
07:42 So stewardship comes in many, many categories.
07:46 Let me give you one.
07:47 And I'd like you to write these down
07:48 as I reveal them on the screen.
07:50 These are the five areas of stewardship
07:52 we're gonna be talking about, notice them.
07:54 Very importantly, the first one is time.
07:57 Together, second one, temple.
07:59 Third one, testimony.
08:01 Fourth one, talent.
08:03 And the fifth one, treasure.
08:06 Right? Let's one more time say that.
08:07 The first one is... Bring that up one more time.
08:10 Time, temple, testimony,
08:13 talent and treasure.
08:16 We call them the five Ts.
08:20 I try to make it very easy to understand.
08:22 So when you talk about time, temple, body temple,
08:26 when you talk about testimony,
08:28 what the Lord has done for you,
08:29 you know, the Bible says,
08:31 "Let the redeemed of the Lord
08:32 say so."
08:33 Then you talk about talent.
08:35 Another word for talent is gifts.
08:37 And then you talk about treasure.
08:38 We all know what that is, right?
08:40 Tithes and offerings
08:41 or whatever somebody may give to you.
08:43 But when we talk about stewardship,
08:44 we have to get to the premise.
08:47 And we're gonna talk about that in just a moment.
08:48 I don't wanna run ahead of myself.
08:50 But let me make a point.
08:52 No steward owns what is placed
08:57 under his or her stewardship.
09:00 They don't own it.
09:02 That's why they call a steward.
09:03 Now if I owned it,
09:05 I wouldn't be a steward
09:06 except for the way I'm using it.
09:08 If it's something that I was given
09:11 or something that I gained from my own work or labor,
09:14 now there's a different kind of stewardship.
09:17 What am I going to do with it?
09:18 All right, but we are all always stewards.
09:22 Can we agree on that?
09:24 Nobody owns anything.
09:27 We'll see that in just a moment.
09:28 So let's begin with the first question.
09:30 Look at the first question tonight.
09:33 Over what did God give man dominion,
09:38 question number one,
09:39 after the creation of the world?
09:41 Over what did God give man dominion
09:44 after the creation of the world?
09:47 We're gonna go to Genesis 1:26.
09:50 And for those of you that don't have a Bible,
09:51 I'll have it on the screen in just a moment.
09:53 But we have to understand
09:55 that if we don't know anything,
09:58 everything came from somewhere.
10:00 I'm trying to allude to it.
10:02 But you know exactly where I'm headed with that
10:04 because the question is the answer itself.
10:06 Over what did God gave man Dominion
10:09 after the creation of the world?
10:11 Let's look at Genesis 1:26.
10:14 And here it is.
10:15 "Then God said,
10:17 'Let Us make man in Our image,
10:20 according to Our likeness.
10:23 Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, '"
10:28 These are the things they were stewards over.
10:30 "'Over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air,
10:34 over the cattle, over all the earth,
10:38 and over every creeping thing
10:41 that creeps on the earth.'"
10:43 So how much was Adam given stewardship over?
10:48 Everything.
10:50 From the smallest insect to the largest plant,
10:54 from the biggest animal to the smallest bird,
10:58 from those things that were in the ocean...
11:00 Now this is a very powerful thing
11:01 because when you think about stewardship nowadays,
11:04 a lot of people don't treat the planet
11:06 like it doesn't belong to them.
11:09 That's a problem in our world today.
11:11 Pollution is everywhere.
11:13 I was watching,
11:14 and I like nature stuff,
11:17 like National Geographic and stuff like that.
11:19 I like things about nature.
11:21 Think about this.
11:22 Have you ever seen the pictures of those whales?
11:25 There was a whale that had washed up on shore,
11:29 and he was wrapped in plastic.
11:32 Somehow he got caught in a net of a boat that was dragging...
11:37 cleaning the ocean, and then it popped.
11:40 And it wrapped the whole body of the whale.
11:43 And he was wrapped.
11:45 He had plastic all in that net.
11:47 I saw other pictures
11:49 where you can tell where the animal began
11:50 and the plastic ended.
11:52 That's why in some countries, they don't use straws anymore.
11:54 We travel, and in some countries,
11:56 you don't get straws anymore
11:57 because when they try to dump the garbage,
12:00 they dump it where?
12:01 In the ocean.
12:03 Some places in America,
12:04 they take barges 20, 30 miles out
12:06 and dump it in the ocean.
12:08 And it's killing the reef,
12:11 it's killing the waters,
12:13 it's making some of the most pristine places
12:14 in the world, a dumping ground,
12:17 much of the coral is dying
12:18 because people don't treat the earth.
12:21 Look at the things that God gave them
12:22 dominion over,
12:23 look at that again, "Over the fish of the sea,
12:26 over the birds of the air, over the cattle,
12:30 over all the earth,
12:31 over every creeping thing that, " what "
12:33 that creeps on the earth."
12:35 So how much did God say
12:37 He was going to hold man responsible for?
12:40 Everything.
12:41 And today,
12:42 that kind of stewardship is gone down the levy,
12:44 people think that, "Well, you know,
12:46 this is our world we could do with it as we please."
12:48 And now whether people believe it or not,
12:52 in the Midwest, farmers are complaining
12:54 about the weather is so bad, so much rain.
12:57 The weather patterns are changing.
12:59 It's affecting farming.
13:00 In some countries, the greenhouse gases
13:02 are affecting the earth, the cities.
13:04 We go to Asia sometimes
13:06 and you see people walking around,
13:07 like in the Philippines,
13:09 they have on these face masks
13:10 because the smog is so thick,
13:13 because the world is being destroyed.
13:16 We are pulling from the earth all the resources,
13:20 the oil, the gas,
13:22 we are literally emptying the earth
13:25 and we expect there not be earthquakes.
13:27 One of the reasons why there's so many earthquakes
13:29 is because the earth is being killed internally.
13:32 All the stuff that would support the land,
13:34 the oil, you know,
13:35 land floats on oil,
13:37 well, there's no oil under it,
13:38 what happens to the land, it's coming down.
13:41 And so a slight tremor
13:42 can now turn to a massive earthquake.
13:44 So we find that the stewardship
13:46 that God gave to man is something vitally important.
13:50 But it should be more important to Christians
13:52 than it is to just people of the world.
13:53 And so we have people that are environmentalists,
13:55 we have scientists, we have archaeologists,
13:58 but then on the other side that we have politicians.
14:02 And depending on the position of the politician,
14:04 they could say there is no such thing
14:06 as global warming.
14:07 And the other guy said, "Well, there is global warming."
14:09 And the land is being literally destroyed.
14:14 But now let's look at something
14:16 that's so vitally important.
14:17 Now we know God gave Adam stewardship.
14:19 But what happened to Adam? What happened to him?
14:21 Let's talk about what happened to Adam.
14:23 He sinned.
14:25 When he sinned, the very thing that God gave to him
14:28 was taken by the arch-enemy called Satan.
14:32 He lost dominion.
14:33 And now the devil had control over the earth.
14:38 And to this very day, you can see to a great degree,
14:40 he has control over what happens on the earth
14:43 in so many ways, in so many cities.
14:46 But let's look at the next question.
14:49 How do we know
14:51 that the world was not created for man to own?
14:54 That was important for the...
14:56 The world was not created for man to own,
14:58 how do we know that?
14:59 Let's go to Psalm 24:1.
15:02 And once again, it's gonna be on the screen
15:04 for those of you that may not be
15:06 where you have access to a Bible
15:09 because the topic is about stewardship,
15:11 and right now,
15:13 we're just talking about general stewardship.
15:16 But during the topic,
15:17 we're gonna cover time, talent, testimony,
15:20 treasure, and temple, all right?
15:23 Psalm 24:1, look what the Bible says,
15:25 this is how we know
15:26 that God did not create the world for man to own.
15:28 Here's what some Psalm 24:1 tells us,
15:32 let's read this together.
15:33 "The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness,
15:38 the world and those who," what,
15:41 "dwell therein."
15:42 So how much of the world belongs to God?
15:45 All of it.
15:47 So now if you treated somebody's property
15:50 the way that they wouldn't want you to treat it,
15:52 to whom are you accountable?
15:55 To the owner. Let's go to Revelation.
15:57 Just came to my mind. Thank you, Lord.
15:59 I know that certain texts that come to my mind,
16:02 and I know it's not me thinking about them,
16:04 but the Lord bringing them to me.
16:06 Let's go to Revelation chapter 11.
16:08 Let's go to Revelation chapter 11.
16:10 And we're gonna go to the second part
16:11 of this question in just a moment,
16:13 but the earth belongs to the Lord
16:14 and everything on it
16:16 and everybody in it, right?
16:18 Look at Revelation chapter 11.
16:20 And we are going to look at verse 18.
16:24 Verse 18.
16:26 And this fits into the context of how the world is today,
16:30 all right?
16:31 Verse 18 of Revelation chapter 11, the Bible says,
16:34 "The nations were," what,
16:36 "angry,
16:37 and Your wrath has come,
16:39 and the time of the dead that they should be judged,
16:42 and that you should get this
16:44 reward Your servants the prophets, and the saints,
16:48 and those who fear your name,
16:50 small and great,
16:52 and should destroy those who," what,
16:54 "destroy the Earth."
16:57 So you find in the very beginning,
16:59 God gave man stewardship,
17:00 but He's saying by the time of the judgment,
17:02 those who are also going to come into judgment
17:04 of those who destroy the earth
17:06 because He said, "I gave you this world,
17:08 and this is not the world I gave you."
17:10 This is not the condition that it was supposed to be in.
17:13 And you have taken no regard
17:14 to what you're doing with the earth.
17:16 Now you can argue about whether it's political or not,
17:18 but I know the world today is not the same world
17:20 that I was being raised in.
17:22 I mean, the weather patterns are so different.
17:24 In so many different places,
17:26 the weather patterns have changed drastically.
17:28 Some of the worst hurricanes,
17:31 more torrential downpours of rain,
17:34 tornadoes are increasing
17:36 not only in frequency but intensity.
17:38 The world is going haywire.
17:40 And then
17:42 don't talk about those who manipulate
17:44 that try to create rain, they seed the clouds,
17:47 they try to make it rain,
17:49 they have these radio waves
17:50 that whatever they try to do to manipulate weather.
17:53 The earth is not responding in the natural sense
17:55 after thousands and thousands of years.
17:58 Let's go back to the second part
17:59 of question number two.
18:01 We found out, so far,
18:02 based on Psalm 24:1
18:04 that the earth and everything in it
18:06 belongs to the Lord.
18:08 But look at the second part of it.
18:10 Deuteronomy,
18:11 this is actually Deuteronomy 10:14.
18:15 Excuse me for my little faux pas there.
18:17 I put Deuteronomy chapter 20.
18:18 My wife said, "There's gonna be a typo."
18:20 I said to her, "Absolutely not."
18:22 But she has the best eyes for detail.
18:25 It's Deuteronomy 10:14,
18:28 it's correct on your syllabus.
18:29 So you might wonder why is it different on the screen.
18:31 Listen to what the Bible says.
18:32 So let's go ahead and show the text.
18:34 I've already made the disclaimer.
18:36 The Bible said, "Indeed heaven and the highest heavens
18:40 belong to the Lord your God,
18:43 also the earth with," what,
18:45 "all that is in it."
18:48 How much?
18:50 But look at this,
18:52 this even goes farther than the earth,
18:53 it says, "Indeed, heaven and the highest heavens
18:58 belong to the Lord your God,
18:59 also the earth with all that is in it, "
19:02 everything around us,
19:04 even the heavens, the planets,
19:06 the constellations, the stars,
19:08 the galaxies,
19:10 it all belongs to the Lord.
19:14 That's how we know
19:16 that God did not create it for us to own it.
19:19 The Bible says, "The meek shall inherit the earth,"
19:21 right?
19:22 But the meek didn't create the earth.
19:24 It's gonna be the reward for those
19:26 whose stewardship was found faithful,
19:29 the meek will inherit the earth.
19:30 Before we go to question number 3,
19:33 go with me to 1 Corinthians 4:2.
19:37 Just a thought came to my mind that this now comes up.
19:40 1 Corinthians Chapter 4
19:42 1 Corinthians 4:2, all right?
19:47 Because I made a statement a moment ago,
19:48 the meek shall inherit the earth.
19:50 It's gonna inherit a pristine recreated earth.
19:54 the meek will inherit the earth.
19:56 And that's in one of the Beatitudes.
19:57 I'll tell you about that in just a moment.
20:00 But 1 Corinthians 4:2,
20:02 listen to the passage.
20:05 "Moreover it is required in stewards
20:10 that one be found, " what,
20:12 "faithful." Right.
20:13 So if God gives us something,
20:15 He says,
20:17 "Please, please take care of it."
20:20 I don't know how many of you have children.
20:24 But I know that when I was a kid,
20:28 I didn't know much about stewardship.
20:32 Can I use the example?
20:33 My dad's watch, he had a gold watch.
20:36 I think I may have told the story about 400 years ago.
20:40 But it fits right here.
20:41 He had a gold pocket watch
20:43 that I always saw hanging off of his pant belt.
20:46 It went around the loop in his belt
20:48 and I could always see that chain
20:49 and it's in his pocket.
20:51 And he didn't wear a watch as much but he had this,
20:53 and he'd always pop it open and close it.
20:56 Pop it open and close it.
20:57 And it was really nice,
20:59 it was a gold pocket watch,
21:01 had a porcelain face.
21:02 And I always admired it.
21:04 I wanted to see how it worked.
21:07 So one day, when he took it off,
21:09 he put it onto the dresser.
21:12 And when I knew he was in anywhere around,
21:13 I picked it up to see if there are any buttons, any dials,
21:16 anything that would tell me how it worked.
21:19 You know, and I was little.
21:21 I was little and stupid.
21:24 I just want to preface it by saying
21:25 'cause what I did next, you're going to say it anyhow.
21:28 So he wasn't around.
21:30 So I took the watch,
21:31 took it outside to the front of the house,
21:33 and I just couldn't get it open with a screwdriver.
21:37 So I thought I need a more persuasive instrument.
21:41 So I got a hammer.
21:44 And I turned the watch on the side
21:46 'cause I wanted to see how this thing ticked.
21:49 I turned the watch on the side.
21:50 And I hit that watch.
21:54 It opened up.
21:56 I saw everything that worked,
21:58 but I don't know why does fear often hit you
22:00 after you do something dumb?
22:02 Why does it not keep you from doing dumb things?
22:06 Because I was driven by it, I want to see how it worked.
22:11 It opened up I saw all the cogs, wheels,
22:14 the springs, they were everywhere.
22:16 Well, you know, you can't unbreak something.
22:18 But I tried to unbreak it.
22:19 And I put it in there.
22:21 I piled it all up.
22:22 I took that thing inside,
22:23 and I threw it under my dad's dresser.
22:27 Well, I heard my name.
22:30 About too long after, I heard my name.
22:32 And he was a Barbadian, so he said, "Junior."
22:38 You know, that's when kids get death.
22:40 "Junior."
22:43 And then he did a really long Junior.
22:47 I thought if I don't answer on the fourth one,
22:48 I know I'm in trouble
22:49 'cause I've met his belt before.
22:52 So he asked me the question
22:54 that I already had determined the answer.
22:56 "Did you, kid..." "No."
22:58 But what was I going to ask you?
22:59 "Did you break my watch?"
23:03 "No.
23:06 No, papa."
23:07 As if the word papa was gonna help.
23:10 Man, he asked me one more time.
23:13 He took off my belt.
23:15 And he showed me what made the watch tick.
23:19 I just put it that way.
23:21 He showed me what made the watch tick.
23:28 It was not until after that
23:30 that he explained to me
23:31 this is my gold watch with a porcelain face.
23:35 It was pretty, but it was destroyed.
23:37 It was horrible.
23:38 And then so I was not a good steward.
23:42 No, not at all.
23:43 But he taught me another valuable lesson
23:45 when I got older.
23:47 It's good for little stories every now and then.
23:49 One day, when I just got a good job,
23:53 just started working.
23:54 I got a Saks Fifth Avenue credit card.
23:57 And it had a higher limit
24:00 than I had a salary to cover it.
24:02 And I just got happy.
24:04 You know, credit cards can make you happy.
24:06 And but they don't make you unhappy.
24:09 They make you happy until the bill comes,
24:11 and you are unhappy.
24:13 So I figured if I don't answer the phone,
24:16 this is before texting, this is before emails,
24:19 if I don't answer the phone, the bill will go away.
24:22 Can I say with the word,
24:23 not?
24:24 They kept calling, and one day I picked up the phone,
24:27 and they said, "This is Saks Fifth Avenue.
24:29 Is there a John in there?"
24:30 You know the whole thing.
24:32 And he hung up the phone, he said,
24:33 he called me Junior no matter how old I was.
24:35 He called me Junior.
24:36 "Junior, that was Saks Fifth Avenue.
24:38 They said you haven't paid your bill
24:40 in X amount of months.
24:42 How much do you owe them?"
24:45 Do you know
24:46 he paid my $700
24:49 credit card bill.
24:51 And he said don't do that again.
24:54 That blew me away because he was from Barbados.
24:57 He was the kind of man, I wish I had money to...
24:59 He was the kind of man
25:00 that if you went to the store with $1,
25:02 and it was 97 cents, he'd say, "Where's my three pennies?"
25:05 He required stewardship of...
25:07 But he surprised me, he paid my debt.
25:12 And I didn't use that card anymore.
25:14 Now I'm older,
25:16 and I'm a man of stewardship.
25:17 Praise God. Can somebody say Amen for me?
25:19 I pay my bills on time,
25:20 nobody's ringing my house trying to find me
25:23 hiding under a tree somewhere,
25:24 or trying to hide in a bus station,
25:26 trying to change my identity.
25:27 If you're not a proper steward, you can run from the debt,
25:31 especially if as a student loan.
25:34 A student loan, they'll find you no matter
25:36 what continent you're on,
25:38 and they'll say your bill is due.
25:40 But suffice it to say,
25:43 look at the third question.
25:45 The Lord didn't give us anything,
25:47 therefore, nothing that we have belongs to us.
25:50 Look at question three, question three.
25:54 Here's the question.
25:55 Over how much in the world
25:58 can we claim ownership?
26:02 Over how much in the world can we claim ownership?
26:06 1 Timothy 6:7. 1 Timothy 6:7.
26:13 How much can we claim ownership?
26:15 Here's the answer.
26:16 I'd like us to read this together
26:18 because this applies to every one of us
26:19 regardless of where you're from or what you do.
26:22 If you read it at home, I think I might hear you.
26:24 Are you ready together? Here we go.
26:26 "For we brought," how much,
26:28 "nothing into this world,
26:31 and it is certain we carry," how much,
26:34 "nothing out."
26:36 Oh man, if we had only learned that lesson,
26:39 how much should we bring in?
26:41 My mother-in-law used to say,
26:42 "Look at the hand of a baby when he comes into the world."
26:44 That's what he brought.
26:46 Nothing.
26:47 Just his fingerprints.
26:49 And when we leave,
26:50 I saw a bumper sticker many years ago
26:53 on the back of a car, it says,
26:55 "He who dies with the most toys wins."
26:59 And I thought how does he win?
27:02 He's dead?
27:03 So I want to exit out,
27:05 I never got a chance to exit out,
27:06 but I was gonna put,
27:07 "He who dies with the most toys dies."
27:11 'Cause no matter what you have...
27:13 Right?
27:14 And there's some people try to defy this text,
27:17 there was a man that had a Corvette.
27:19 This is an old story.
27:21 He had a Corvette,
27:22 he got buried, they dug the hole.
27:24 People saw the cemetery with a big hole being dug,
27:27 and they thought, "Are they burying a giant?"
27:28 No, they put this. He loved it.
27:30 In his will was, "I want to be buried in my Corvette,
27:35 beautiful red Corvette."
27:36 So they dug the hole.
27:38 This was in Jet magazine years ago,
27:40 they dug the hole the size of a Corvette.
27:43 And at the funeral, with a crane,
27:44 they're lowering him in his Corvette into the hole.
27:50 Like he was gonna drive somewhere.
27:53 Where is he going?
27:56 Huh?
27:57 Where the drivers can't. Where the drivers can't.
27:59 "I want to be in my Corvette.
28:01 I want to be in my Corvette."
28:02 You're not going anywhere.
28:04 I also know of a pastor that died in New York City.
28:08 Reverend Ike was his name, Reverend Ike.
28:11 Another one, James Cleveland.
28:13 When he died, they buried him in his casket was in plexiglass
28:18 so you could see it all the time.
28:19 It's like...
28:21 And then gold coffins.
28:22 Why are you gonna spend money on a gold coffin?
28:25 Keep the money for the family that survives you.
28:28 Why are you doing that?
28:30 You know,
28:31 oh, yeah, there's another one.
28:32 I know this to be true.
28:35 My sister's friend,
28:36 I say this with all due respect.
28:38 When her father passed away,
28:40 she cashed a paycheck
28:42 and put that cash in the coffin.
28:45 This happened a few years ago,
28:47 you know what I would have done?
28:48 If I was like in that line,
28:50 I would have taken up my checkbook,
28:52 I would've counted up the cash,
28:54 and written him a check, and say,
28:55 "When you get to where you're going,
28:57 the check is good."
28:59 That's ridiculous,
29:01 but people do that.
29:02 They want to take their money to the grave.
29:04 The Egyptians when they build those pyramids,
29:07 every wealth of the king was put in that pyramid.
29:10 King Tutankhamun was one very well-known for that.
29:12 In the museum, in Cairo, Egypt, they have all this gold.
29:17 They were buried with all their gold,
29:20 all their accoutrements.
29:22 They thought that somehow
29:23 when they died on the other side of the river,
29:26 they're gonna have access to all this stuff.
29:29 But what does the text say?
29:30 One more time, for we brought how much?
29:32 Nothing into this world.
29:34 And it is what?
29:36 Certain, we carry how much?
29:39 Nothing out.
29:42 I don't know.
29:45 You know what I like about this text,
29:47 it makes us all the same.
29:49 Am I right? Am I right, Iris?
29:52 I don't care how many buildings have your name on it,
29:54 I don't care how many islands you have.
29:56 When you die,
29:57 you ain't taking diddly with you.
30:00 You're not taking anything with you.
30:03 That's why somebody once said,
30:05 "They hold on to life loosely,
30:07 but they hold on to God tight."
30:11 Because there's nothing you have.
30:15 My good friend T. Marshall Kelly,
30:18 he says, "The rich man was there.
30:20 But his money when death came was left far behind.
30:25 And the angel that opened his record, not a grace,
30:28 not a trace of his greatness could find."
30:31 So all that wealth,
30:33 it doesn't do anything,
30:34 we can only make it to the kingdom
30:36 by the wealth of Christ.
30:38 Amen somebody?
30:39 So how much do we bring? Nothing.
30:40 How much can we take out? Nothing.
30:42 Nothing, nothing.
30:44 Nothing in, nothing out.
30:45 Go to question number four.
30:47 We're going to spend some time in Luke.
30:48 Luke is a powerful passage.
30:51 The Lord communicated some valuable lessons
30:54 through Dr. Luke.
30:55 And we're going to spend some time
30:56 in Luke chapter 12,
30:58 but don't run ahead of me.
30:59 And we going to break them down
31:01 a question by question, question by question.
31:04 So far, we found out
31:05 that the world was created by God.
31:07 God gave Adam stewardship, he lost it,
31:10 the devil possessed it,
31:12 but the earth still belongs to the Lord,
31:14 the heavens belong to Him.
31:16 We brought nothing in, we take nothing out.
31:18 But here's question number four.
31:21 Here's question number four.
31:22 What caution
31:24 does the Bible give about materialism?
31:27 What caution does the Bible give
31:29 about materialism?
31:31 Luke 12:15,
31:34 Luke 12:15 was where the answer is found.
31:39 Luke 12:15,
31:41 and here's what the Bible said.
31:44 "And He said to them," that's Jesus to the multitude,
31:47 He's talking to the crowd that sat with Him,
31:49 and He's the teacher, He said,
31:52 "Take heed and be aware of," what,
31:55 "Covetousness,
31:57 for one's life
31:59 does not consist
32:02 in the abundance of the things he possesses."
32:07 Wow.
32:10 Covetousness, the tenth commandment,
32:12 "Thou shalt not covet."
32:15 That means, you know, what that means?
32:16 There's some people that gather and...
32:18 Have you ever heard of a hoarder?
32:20 There's some people that are hoarding.
32:22 In my sister's building, in New York City,
32:24 there in Ebbets Field, on the 12th floor,
32:26 in one of the sections of the building,
32:28 there was a fire that happened not too long ago,
32:30 maybe about a year ago, I think,
32:31 maybe a little less than that.
32:35 And they found out in this '80's apartment
32:37 that obviously the fire started
32:38 with an electric spark in a plug,
32:40 but her entire apartment
32:41 was filled with boxes of newspapers.
32:44 And she walked, it was so much stuff,
32:46 she walked in a path through her apartment
32:49 because there was no place to walk.
32:51 And the apartment went up like a matchbox.
32:53 Because when you have all this newspaper,
32:55 all these boxes,
32:57 all this material, this fuel for fire,
33:00 but that's what happens.
33:02 And I want to just make a caution here
33:04 because it's not a blanket statement,
33:05 but I know this to be true.
33:06 In some cases,
33:08 sometimes, the older a person gets,
33:10 the more they become a hoarder.
33:12 That's what my wife and I are protecting ourselves
33:14 against hoarding.
33:16 We are getting us a long dumpster.
33:20 I made the statement on television,
33:22 somebody sent me a letter from Belize.
33:25 They said if you had several places,
33:26 if you have stuff, send it to us.
33:28 No, if you want stuff, come and get it.
33:31 I'm not mailing anything.
33:33 We got junk.
33:34 We've been married for 36 years,
33:36 we have stuff, we have boxes we haven't opened in 11 years.
33:39 But, you know, in your mind, you say, "Don't throw it away
33:41 because something's valuable in it."
33:44 We're hoarding, hoarding.
33:46 Man, this text spoke to was big time.
33:49 But it's not because of this text, we decided...
33:52 We have a shed, we have a garage.
33:55 I know some people with garages
33:56 that you can't even park your car in the garage.
33:59 Oh, you open a garage, it's like an avalanche.
34:04 Don't throw that away, there's something valuable.
34:06 Guys collect pieces of wood.
34:08 Women, patterns or some...
34:11 I know people that bought
34:12 all the beanie babies years ago,
34:13 remember Beanie Babies?
34:15 Somebody bought
34:16 the whole collection of Beanie Babies.
34:18 They thought that somebody it's going to become valuable.
34:20 Well, 12 million other people bought the whole selection too.
34:22 How valuable can it get?
34:24 And they hold on to these things like,
34:25 "One day, just before I die,
34:27 the value is going to go up like astronomically."
34:30 Possessions. Am I right?
34:33 A man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things
34:36 he possesses.
34:38 Here's the lesson,
34:39 "Don't let your possessions possess you."
34:42 That's another form of possession.
34:44 Possession, possession.
34:45 It's worse than demon possession.
34:48 You can exercise...
34:49 You cannot exercise,
34:50 you can cast the demon out of somebody,
34:52 but some people will hold on to things as long as they live.
34:55 Now I'm just laying the foundation
34:57 for the topic on time, talent, testimony,
34:59 treasure, and temple.
35:00 Okay, let's look at the next question.
35:02 So how much do we own?
35:05 How much do we own?
35:08 How much owns us?
35:13 That's a serious question.
35:14 How much of your stuff owns you?
35:17 I already got talked about
35:18 the dangers of going on vacation?
35:20 You know why going on vacation is hard?
35:22 Because we take stuff with us.
35:27 That shows how much we love our stuff.
35:29 We need bigger suitcases for stuff.
35:33 And what makes it worse is, you go on vacation with stuff,
35:36 and then when you go on vacation,
35:37 you're already in your hotel,
35:39 somebody says, "Come and spend a night with me
35:41 so you have to decide how much stuff
35:43 from your stuff you're going to take."
35:45 So you take a small pile of stuff.
35:47 And they really throw you off
35:48 while you're visiting your friend,
35:50 somebody says, "Hey, come stay by us too."
35:51 So you got stuff at your friend's house,
35:53 and at the hotel, and you got more stuff at home.
35:55 That's why we buy alarms,
35:57 not to protect us but to protect our stuff.
36:01 What's wrong with us?
36:02 Am I right?
36:04 And this is what the problem is in our world.
36:06 We got locks protecting stuff.
36:08 But do you know what happens?
36:09 This is a sad commentary.
36:11 There are people that woke up this morning
36:14 that will not go to bed tonight.
36:16 And all that stuff
36:19 won't mount to eternal life.
36:21 Look at the next question.
36:22 This is powerful.
36:24 We're going to break down Luke chapter 12.
36:26 Okay, here it is.
36:28 What will the outcome be
36:29 of those that are possessed by their possessions?
36:34 Wow.
36:36 Look at Luke 12:21.
36:42 Luke 12:21.
36:45 This is the story.
36:47 The Lord used Luke chapter 12
36:48 in the same way He used Matthew chapter 6,
36:50 but Luke 12, isn't that a powerful text?
36:52 You're looking at it, right?
36:54 Look at what the Lord said.
36:56 And this is a story about a man who had a lot of possessions.
36:59 He tore down his old barns, put up new barns.
37:02 He sat down, and he said, "Take either.
37:04 I have a whole lot stored up for years.
37:07 I'm good."
37:08 And look at verse 21,
37:10 "But God said to him, 'Fool,'"
37:14 Verse, verse 21.
37:19 Verse 20.
37:22 Verse 20. Thank you, honey.
37:25 Verse 20.
37:26 "But God said to him, 'Fool!
37:29 This night, your soul will be required of you,
37:35 then, " what's the question,
37:38 "'whose will those things be
37:41 which you have provided?' "
37:44 Who's going to get all that stuff?
37:46 You know what?
37:48 One of the worst things that happens
37:49 is when people die without a will,
37:51 you want to see family,
37:53 you want to see the love and families.
37:55 No love loss,
37:57 people fighting over stuff.
38:01 They want to get all that stuff
38:04 so that when they die,
38:05 somebody fights over their stuff.
38:09 Only the Lord Jesus can call somebody a fool,
38:13 but here's what the passage is saying.
38:15 When we put more...
38:17 When we put more stock in the stuff
38:19 we have than in our eternal life,
38:21 that's a foolish decision.
38:22 Am I right?
38:24 That's exactly what is being said.
38:26 So let's go on further.
38:27 So the question is,
38:28 "What will the outcome be of those
38:30 that are possessed by their possessions?
38:31 What will happen?"
38:33 They will lose their soul.
38:34 What is a profit of man
38:36 if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?
38:39 They will lose their salvation.
38:42 Question number six. Question number six.
38:47 Since we don't own anything,
38:50 what should our attitude be?
38:52 What should our attitudes be?
38:55 Okay.
38:57 And Luke 12:22, 23.
39:03 Okay, here it is.
39:07 "Then He said to His disciples,
39:10 'Therefore, I say to you, '"
39:12 what's the next three words?
39:15 "'Do not worry about your life,
39:17 what you will eat,
39:20 nor about the body, what you will,'" do what?
39:23 "'What you will put on?' " Why?
39:26 Verse 23,
39:27 "Life is more than food,
39:28 and the body is more than," what?
39:31 "Okay, so what do we worry about?"
39:33 The two things that we just mentioned.
39:35 What am I going to eat?
39:37 What am I going to wear, right?
39:40 Wasn't that the concern in the Garden of Eden?
39:44 Eve, her appetite was the first problem,
39:48 and then her clothing was the second one.
39:51 She ate the wrong thing
39:52 and lost the clothing she had.
39:55 What am I going to eat?
39:58 What am I going to wear?
40:02 Confession is good for the soul, heart,
40:04 and the reputation.
40:05 I have shirts that I've had too long.
40:11 And I got to get rid of them.
40:16 I'm just saying that lightly, I got to get rid of them.
40:18 I don't wear them.
40:20 Got to get rid of them.
40:21 So much stuff.
40:23 So what's more important?
40:27 And this is a very powerful question.
40:29 And the question that is being asked here...
40:33 Well, the statement that is being made,
40:35 the Lord is saying,
40:36 so many of us worry about our lives.
40:38 We worry about our life.
40:40 He says, "Life is more than food,
40:43 and the body is more than," what?
40:44 "Clothing."
40:45 So food and clothing, the two things
40:48 that drives most of the economy,
40:50 food and clothes.
40:52 Okay, you have massive department stores.
40:54 What do they sell?
40:57 Okay.
40:59 Right.
41:00 Walmart is food and clothes.
41:03 There are other stuff, even they have automotive.
41:05 Macy's, what do they sell?
41:07 Clothes, mostly clothing.
41:10 Chocolate.
41:11 Okay, food, food, right?
41:15 It falls in the category of food.
41:16 See food and clothes, food and clothes,
41:19 it drives the industry, it drives the industry.
41:22 Fast food places drive the industry.
41:24 Food.
41:28 Don't worry about what you're going to eat
41:29 or what you're going to wear or what you're going to put on.
41:31 Now let's see why.
41:33 Question number seven. Question number seven.
41:37 What promise has the Lord made to those that trust Him?
41:42 What promise has the Lord made to those that trust Him?
41:46 And this is huge.
41:47 The word trust is a powerful thing.
41:49 Because what happens is when you don't trust Him,
41:51 what do you worry about?
41:53 "What am I going to eat?
41:54 What am I going to wear?
41:55 What am I going to eat?
41:57 What am I going to wear?
41:58 What am I going to put on?"
42:01 Wow.
42:02 So here's the answer.
42:04 Are you ready for it?
42:05 Luke 12:28,
42:07 here it is.
42:08 "If then God so clothes the grass,
42:13 which today is in the field
42:16 and tomorrow is thrown into the, what?
42:18 Oven.
42:19 how much more will He clothe you.
42:23 O you of," how much faith?
42:25 "Little faith." Little faith.
42:28 And when you look at that,
42:30 what promise has the Lord made to those that trust Him?
42:33 What will He do?
42:34 He'll clothe us.
42:36 He'll provide for us.
42:37 He will.
42:39 And when you look at the example
42:40 of the children of Israel,
42:41 we haven't gotten to the time, talent,
42:43 testimony, treasure, and temple yet,
42:44 we are just doing the foundation about ownership.
42:47 We haven't even gotten to those areas.
42:48 We're going to spend some time each week
42:50 on time, talent, testimony, treasure, and temple
42:52 because these are the things stewardship...
42:55 I'll be honest with you.
42:56 Can I say...
42:58 Not that I'm being dishonest,
42:59 but I'll be open with you.
43:01 The greater problem the church has today is stewardship.
43:06 Now watch this.
43:09 In many cases, one of the reasons
43:10 why many churches start giving breakfast
43:12 on in the morning
43:14 is people come to church for food
43:17 before they come for worship.
43:21 You got to pay people to come,
43:22 you got to give them food to come to church.
43:24 If we say we're having a two-course meal
43:26 before Bible studies, man, people come for food.
43:30 We did that,
43:32 but people started leaving after they ate.
43:34 So we stopped doing that
43:35 because it started revealing the heart.
43:37 I'm more concerned about food
43:40 than about a thoughtful hour in God's Word.
43:42 And it's a sad reality.
43:44 You say food, people will show up.
43:46 Somebody says, "We make food, they'll come and eat."
43:49 But the Bible is saying, in essence,
43:52 if we worry about food more than our betterment,
43:56 then we are putting things in the wrong perspective.
44:00 But we're going to look at the next two questions,
44:01 you're going to see some very valuable,
44:03 powerful lessons
44:04 that are brought out
44:05 because the Apostle Paul
44:07 now brings and adds to this picture.
44:09 The issue is we don't have faith.
44:11 That's what the last,
44:12 "O, you of little faith, "
44:14 we don't have faith.
44:15 So we have to get it all together ourselves.
44:17 If we trusted God,
44:18 then our faith will be intact,
44:20 but we say,
44:21 "God can't provide."
44:23 But let's look what the Apostle Paul says.
44:26 Question number eight.
44:27 How does the Apostle Paul reiterate God's ability
44:31 to take care of us?
44:32 How does the Apostle Paul reiterate God's ability
44:36 to take care of us?
44:37 Look at what he says in Philippines 4:19,
44:42 look at what he says.
44:44 And I'd like us to read this together.
44:47 And it says, "And," what?
44:49 "My God shall supply," what?
44:51 "All your needs,
44:53 according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
44:57 How much of our needs?
45:01 But now... This is it.
45:02 I highlighted two words.
45:06 It depends on who your God is.
45:09 'Cause if the true God is your God,
45:11 you don't worry about it,
45:12 you know, He's going to supply all your needs.
45:14 But if your money is your God,
45:16 if your education is your God,
45:18 if your job is your God,
45:20 you're going to work like a horse,
45:22 you're going to kill yourself,
45:23 you're going to work overtime,
45:25 you're going to work triple time,
45:26 you're going to try to put all that money in the bank
45:27 because you want to provide all your need.
45:31 We do it, right?
45:32 But who does the Bible say is going to do it?
45:35 Now He's not going to do it for lazy people either.
45:38 You're not going to sit home on your couch,
45:40 like Proverbs, there's a text in Proverbs about a lazy man.
45:43 The Bible says, "The lazy man doesn't go out on the street."
45:45 And here's why.
45:46 He says, "There's a lion in the street.
45:48 And if I go out, I'll be eaten."
45:52 That's a text in the book of Proverbs.
45:54 I thought that was funny how the Bible put it.
45:56 The lazy man wouldn't go looking for a job,
45:58 so I got to modify this.
46:00 Don't stay home and sitting on your couch
46:01 and playing video games all day long and say,
46:03 "My God shall supply all my needs."
46:05 No, He does not bless laziness,
46:09 He blesses stewardship.
46:11 And that's where we're going to get
46:12 into stewardship of your time, all right?
46:15 So this text is not for lazy people,
46:18 but this text is for those
46:20 who recognize the stewardship of everything
46:23 that they own belonging to God,
46:24 but in fact, you'll see why in a few questions.
46:27 If we get there tonight, fine, if not,
46:29 we'll cover it at another time.
46:31 So how does the Apostle Paul reiterate God's ability?
46:34 What is God going to do?
46:36 Tell me together.
46:37 Supply all of our need.
46:40 Now thank you.
46:42 Say it again.
46:43 Needs, not wants.
46:45 Don't pray for a Lamborghini
46:49 or helicopter or the things you don't need,
46:51 it could be something smaller than that.
46:54 You know, but I'm just making an emphasis.
46:56 Yeah.
47:00 Don't pray for stuff that you know you don't need,
47:03 right?
47:05 'Cause God's not going to supply it.
47:06 And we have these prosperity preachers nowadays
47:08 that are living high on the hog,
47:10 four and five planes, three mansions,
47:12 you know?
47:14 And one pastor said to me,
47:16 "I have more money in my pocket than you make any year."
47:18 That's fine.
47:20 But how much is your ticket to heaven?
47:21 Can you purchase one?
47:23 No, you can't.
47:24 So that doesn't even matter
47:26 'cause God will supply all of our needs,
47:28 according to whose credit?
47:29 His riches in glory.
47:31 Let's go on to the next one.
47:33 We have to get some more in here
47:34 before we wind up this topic for tonight
47:36 because we haven't yet touched
47:38 time, talent, testimony, treasure, and temple.
47:41 And we're not going to cover that tonight.
47:42 I doubt that.
47:43 But when we get to those five areas,
47:45 you're going to see something that,
47:46 for the most part, we have missed.
47:49 One of the reasons
47:50 why the church is begging for help all the time
47:54 is because we are not stewards,
47:56 we are members.
48:00 Membership, and discipleship,
48:02 and stewardship are not the same.
48:06 How many people sign up for health club memberships
48:10 in January?
48:12 How many people go?
48:15 Clubs from December till February.
48:18 Deal, 50% off, $75 a month.
48:23 Everybody's...
48:25 They make millions in December, January, and February.
48:29 No, and people sign up for stuff
48:31 they never take advantage of.
48:34 New Year's resolutions,
48:35 "I'm going to lose that"
48:37 And they hit the date.
48:38 And you know what?
48:39 They go to the health clubs, they pay all this,
48:41 and they don't show up.
48:42 But the health clubs don't care because...
48:48 and you sign a contract,
48:50 and they say, "Well,
48:53 this special goes for two years."
48:56 And if you go for two months,
48:59 they have the next 22 months free.
49:02 It's amazing.
49:03 But look at this.
49:05 Question number nine.
49:07 How did Jesus compare
49:09 the children of the world with the children of God?
49:14 Let's go to Luke 12:29, 30.
49:17 How did Jesus compare
49:19 the children of the world
49:21 with or to the children of God?
49:25 Wow.
49:29 Yeah.
49:31 When I was in New York City,
49:32 this text really jumped out at me.
49:34 Out here, nobody's rushing downtown
49:36 Thompsonville to go to the Shell Gas Station,
49:39 I guess only to store.
49:40 That's really...
49:42 That and Dollar General are the only two stores
49:44 we really have in town.
49:45 There's a little restaurant, but we're not rushing.
49:48 But the bottom line is, look at this.
49:50 Very powerful comparison
49:51 the Lord brings in Luke 12:29, 30.
49:55 Here's what the Bible says,
49:57 "And do not seek what you should eat
50:02 or what you should," what else?
50:03 "Drink, nor have an anxious mind."
50:07 There are people that are anxious.
50:09 "For all these things,
50:11 the nations of the world do," what?
50:13 "Seek after.
50:15 And your Father knows that you need these things."
50:20 Isn't that powerful?
50:22 He said... Look at the nations.
50:23 They want... What are we going to drink?
50:25 What are we going to eat?
50:27 And what are the...
50:28 Anxious, anxious, impatient.
50:34 When we go to Olive Garden, and it's crowded,
50:36 we go someplace else.
50:38 Thirty-five minute wait, I'm not that hungry.
50:41 I'm going someplace else.
50:43 And, you know, anxiety,
50:45 this world today,
50:46 we live in a pill popping society, anxiety.
50:50 And what the passage is really talking about
50:52 is we want everything said ahead of time
50:55 and we don't give God room to provide.
50:58 "What are we going to eat, what are we going to drink,
51:00 what are we going to wear?"
51:01 And we don't give God room to provide.
51:04 And what happens? We deal with, what?
51:06 Anxiety.
51:07 And by the way, anxiety is affecting every age group
51:12 because we live in a society
51:13 that you just have to click a button and it happens,
51:15 a nanosecond, you know?
51:17 So the question is,
51:19 "How did Jesus compare the children of the world
51:22 with the children of God?"
51:23 The children of the world are anxious.
51:26 The people of God are trusting, right?
51:30 The children of the world are anxious.
51:33 The children of God are trusting.
51:35 The children of the world are providing their own needs,
51:38 but the children of God has a Father
51:40 who provides their needs.
51:42 Can you imagine being raised in your house
51:43 and your dad just stays home?
51:47 And you say, "How are we going to eat?
51:48 Our dad is not working."
51:50 Is our dad working?
51:52 Come on.
51:54 He owns everything.
51:58 Since He owns everything,
52:02 we don't have to worry.
52:04 Now this next one.
52:08 Wow.
52:11 Question number 10...
52:16 "What is the highest indicator
52:19 that we believe God is our provider?"
52:22 What is the highest indicator
52:25 that we believe God is our provider?
52:32 Wow.
52:34 This is the highest indicator.
52:37 Okay, can we all read it together?
52:38 We all know it. It's the text.
52:40 Every time the clock in the car hits 6:33,
52:43 my wife always says 6:33.
52:45 6:33 is...
52:47 We know this, and 5:22 is our anniversary.
52:50 Okay, let's look together,
52:52 with some energy together,
52:53 "But seek first
52:55 the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
52:59 and all these things shall be added to you."
53:04 Right? How many things?
53:06 Every need you have.
53:08 He says, "You seek My kingdom and My righteousness,
53:12 and all these things shall be added to you."
53:15 If you only realize the amount of money today
53:17 that people are spending to just provide
53:18 their own needs.
53:20 Somebody...
53:23 The story fits right here.
53:25 Somebody talked about all the degrees they had,
53:28 and somebody else said,
53:29 "Well, how much did you pay for your degree?"
53:32 They said, "Around $255,000."
53:35 And the other guy responded,
53:37 "I didn't go to college.
53:40 And everything you have, I have."
53:42 So which one of us is smarter?
53:45 He said, "Before you answer that question,
53:48 who's providing your need?"
53:50 "Well, I got a job, I got an education,
53:51 I got a great salary."
53:53 Not a bad thing,
53:54 but don't put your accomplishments
53:59 ahead of your God.
54:01 Huge difference.
54:02 And that's what this text is all about.
54:05 "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
54:08 and all these things shall be added."
54:10 We must qualify ourselves and prepare ourselves,
54:13 but don't ever put your preparation
54:15 ahead of your God.
54:17 That's a dangerous thing
54:18 because can we hit one more real quickly?
54:21 The next text tells us why.
54:23 Let's go there.
54:24 Question number 11.
54:25 Got to get this.
54:27 "What is the attitude of those
54:28 that think they are the source of success?"
54:30 Deuteronomy 8:17,
54:32 Deuteronomy 8:17, "The attitude..."
54:35 And when you get a chance to read the whole,
54:38 read the whole of Deuteronomy chapter 8.
54:40 It's powerful.
54:41 It brings together
54:42 what happens to the children of Israel.
54:44 They had their houses, their lands, their possessions,
54:47 their properties, their wealth, their clothing, their food,
54:50 they had all these things,
54:52 and then look what happens.
54:54 Look what happens.
54:56 Deuteronomy 8:17.
54:58 The adage of those that think
55:00 that they are the source of success.
55:02 Deuteronomy 8:17,
55:04 look what the Bible says.
55:05 "Then you say in your heart,"
55:08 what do they say, "My power,
55:10 and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth."
55:15 That's what they say.
55:16 He says when you get your houses
55:17 and you live in them,
55:19 your land, and you eat of it,
55:21 your crops, and you're blessed by it,
55:22 and then you say, "My hand, and my power,
55:26 and my might have gotten me this wealth."
55:29 Ain't that sad?
55:31 All the Lord has to do is just let your heart
55:35 pause for five seconds,
55:37 longer than it needs to, in the hospital.
55:40 All that possessions don't do anything.
55:41 I've never met anybody in the hospital that said,
55:44 "I wish I worked more."
55:47 I've never met a soul that said,
55:48 "I wish I had more stuff."
55:50 "I just want my health.
55:52 I just want my...
55:53 I'll give anything for my health."
55:55 Yeah, yeah.
55:58 Yeah.
55:59 "I need more time with my family.
56:01 I'll do anything to get my time with my family,
56:03 my health back, I'll do anything.
56:05 If I could get out of the hospital,
56:07 I'll go to church, I promise."
56:12 Your power and your might,
56:14 you've worked yourself,
56:15 and some people have strokes before their time
56:18 because they're working themselves into a stroke,
56:21 and their bodies can't handle
56:23 their tenacious desire to possess.
56:26 Let's hit the last one.
56:27 We're going to end on Deuteronomy 8:18.
56:30 Since you're already there,
56:31 what have many successful people forgotten?
56:33 Here it is,
56:34 what have many successful people forgotten?
56:37 Here it is.
56:38 Verse 18.
56:39 "And you shall remember the Lord, your God,
56:41 for it is He..."
56:44 Deuteronomy 8:18.
56:46 Thank you.
56:47 "You shall remember the Lord your God,
56:49 for it is He who gives you," what?
56:51 "Power to get wealth,
56:53 that He may establish His covenant,
56:56 which He swore to your fathers,
56:58 as it is this day."
57:01 God has covenanted to provide all of our need.
57:04 Amen somebody?
57:05 But He says, "Don't forget."
57:08 You shall remember something
57:10 that this society has forgotten
57:12 is they forgot to remember the Lord.
57:15 He's the one who blesses us
57:16 and gives us power to get wealth.
57:18 Isn't that a powerful thing?
57:19 You think you're the one that gets your success?
57:21 Get sick and see what happens.
57:24 All of a sudden, you have an accident
57:26 and see what happens.
57:27 Then all of a sudden, you're calling on the Lord.
57:30 My wife and I have testament to this sense.
57:32 We've been sick before,
57:34 but I'm going to say like David the Psalmist.
57:35 I'll transition tonight and end on this note.
57:39 This is confession.
57:41 I was young, now I'm old.
57:43 I've never seen the righteous forsaken,
57:45 nor they are seen begging for bread.
57:47 Can we say amen to that?
57:49 If you remember the source of our successes,
57:51 you never have to worry about your needs.
57:54 God will provide them far greater than you can.
57:57 Friends, if it doesn't make sense,
57:59 keep on studying.
58:00 One day, it will come into A Sharper Focus.
58:03 God bless you.
58:05 Let us pray.


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Revised 2019-05-23