Rick Warren - God’s Promise to the Generous—Part Two

Hey, everyone, thanks for joining us today on Pastor Rick's

Daily Hope, the Bible teaching Ministry of Rick Warren. Today

we're bringing our series called the Habits of Happiness to

a close. In this series, Rick dives into the Book

of Philippians and helps you discover God's path to true

and lasting happiness. And now over to Rick with the

final part of a message called God's Promise to the generous.

Every time you're generous, what happens is a change takes

place in you. Every time in you your heart moves,

just another tweak up the dial toward God. You become

more like Jesus. You become more loving. Every time you give.

You the Bible says, you give a cup of cold

water in Jesus' name. He said that counts. Every time

I practice generosity, I become a little bit more like Jesus. Philippius,

Chapter one, verse eleven says this your lives will be

filled with the truly good qualities which only Jesus Christ

can produce for the glory and praise of God. Now,

what we're talking about here is extremely counterculture, because everything

in our culture does not say give. Everything on our

culture says get would you agree we're living in an

increasingly self centered culture. Ever, I agree with that narcissism

is on the ride. It's all about me, me, myself, I,

my stuff, my things, my needs II III. Now the

middle letter of crime is I, and the middle letter

of pride is I, and the middle letter of sin

is I. I have an eye problem. And when I'm generous,

what does it do? It gets the focus off me,

and I stop thinking about me, and I start thinking

about others. Philippians two four and five says this, don't

just look out for your own interest. You realize how

counterculture that is, but look also to the interest of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ.

Jesus the Bible says he became poor that we might

be enriched. Number four, The fourth reason our benefit of

generosity is every time I'm generous, I strengthen my faith.

I strengthen my faith. My faith gets stronger. Why is that?

Because when I give, when I take something that I've

got and instead of using it on me, and I

use it to help you, then I'm going to have

to depend on God to help me. Let's say, you know,

I've got some money that I want to. I need

to pay my bills with and I help you because

you're in a tough fix. Now, I've got to trust

God all I've only got a certain amount of time,

and I got to get all my stuff done, and

I stop and I help my neighbor with my time. Now,

I've got to trust God to help him that all

my little bit of time left, He'll expand it and

make it work so I can get stuff I need

to get done. When I only have a certain amount

of energy, and I go invest it in helping somebody

else when I go, I've got all the stuff on

my to do list to do. That's a statement of

faith because I'm going God, I'm gonna trust you that

I'm not gonna worry about it, but I'm going to

pray about it and expect you to take care of

my needs. Every time I give, my faith grows stronger.

Every time I give, it's like a muscle, it just

gets stronger. Philippians four to six says this, do not

worry about anything. Instead, pray and ask God for everything

you need, always giving thanks. In other words, I'm just

going to trust God to meet my needs. Number five,

the fifth benefit of generosity. Every time I'm generous, I

invest in my eternal home. The Bible says, every time

I invest, I'm generous when I give time, money, energy,

whatever I invest in my eternal home. Now, Jesus called

this principle quote storing up treasure in heaven. This phrase,

he says, store up for yourselves, not for God. It says,

store up for yourselves treasure in heaven. Now, you want

to know how many times Jesus used this phrase when

he says store up for yourselves treasure in heaven. He

didn't say it once in the Bible. He didn't say

it twice. He didn't say it three times. He didn't

say it four times. He didn't say it five times.

Jesus said the phrase store up for yourselves treasure and

heaven six times. Now, I want you to listen very closely.

Anytime Jesus says anything six times, you better listen to it,

because if you don't, you're the one who's gonna get hurt.

In the long run, You're the one who's gonna miss

the blessing. You're gonna miss the benefit. Anytime Jesus says

anything six times, then I better figure out what that means,

because he's going get the message. This is really important.

Life is not about storing up things here on earth.

Life is about storing up things in heaven. It's like

banking in heaven. It's investing in heaven. Now. You can

store up things either here on Earth or in heaven.

The Bible says, don't store up a whole bunch of

stuff here on earth, where thieves can steal it, where

rust can rust it, where moths can eat the clothes away.

So it says, store up in heaven. Now that makes sense. Why,

because you're gonna spend a whole lot more time in

heaven than here, and you're gonna need the storage, the spoils,

the rewards in heaven far more than here. You're only

getting eighty years at the most one hundred on this planet.

That's not very long. Everything you store up here on

Earth you're leaving behind, but storing up treasure in heaven,

you're gonna get to enjoy that for trillions and trillions

and trillions and trillions and trillions of years. So it

obviously makes more sense that I should be investing more

in eternity than here and now, because I only get

to enjoyed here, and anything I've got here, I'm leaving here.

You can't take it with you. I've said many times,

you never see a hearst pull on a U haul truck.

You can't take it with you, But the Bible says

you can send it on ahead. Now look at what

Paul says here. He says, I invest in my internal home.

He says, I'm really glad you Philippians are being generous

because he said, you're actually storing up treasure in heaven.

You're you're gonna get the reward there. He said, you

will be rewarded for everything you've given away. You're given

away your time, You're going to be rewarded in heaven.

You're given away your energy. You're gonna be rewarded in heaven.

You're gonna give away your money. You're gonna be rewarded

in heaven. Philippians four seventeen. Paul says, though I appreciate

your gifts, you Philippian Church, I love you guys. Thank

you you helping me out. What really makes me happiest

is the well earned reward circle that the well earned

reward that you will receive because of your generosity. He says,

you're storing up treasure in heaven. I love it. The

New American Bible says, I want you to have the

profit that a cruise to your own account. That word

in Greek, the profit that a cruise is interest bearing account. Okay,

interest bearing account. I want to ask you are you investing?

How are you doing on your retirement account. I'm not

talking about the retirement account here, I'm talking about your ER,

your eternal retirement account, not your IRA, the individual retirement account.

How you have you sent anything on ahead? Is there

going to be anything in heaven there for you to

build on? Are you all piloting it up on this side?

That is a fatal mistake. That's why Jesus says six times.

You really need to consider this. You're not gonna live

very long here, but you're gonna live forever there. You

need to send it on ahead. This is a statement

of faith, and this is an investment in your eternal home.

The contemporary English version says, I want you to receive

the blessings that come from giving. Did you know that

there's a verse in the Bible and Proverbs that says

every time you give to the poor, God says I

consider it as a loan to God, and I will

repay it, says He who gives to the poor loans

to the Lord, and he will repay where in heaven.

In heaven, God says, when you give to help somebody else,

you are actually storing up in heaven. You're building your

eternal home. Now, how do I do that? Look at

this next verse verse Timothy six, verse eighteen and nineteen.

Give happily, Circle that and happily. Okay. Bible says, God

loves a cheerful giver. I saw bumper. Shicres say he

also accepts from the grouch. But actually, actually, if you're grouchy,

don't give. Why because you don't get any it for it?

Because God doesn't want the money. God wants your attitude. Okay,

he doesn't care. In fact, the Bible says very clearly,

you should never give out of guilt, and you should

never give or be generous out of pressure. If anybody

ever pressures you to give or makes you feel guilty

to get, you should not give. The Bible says it

very clearly why because God doesn't want it. God need it.

God doesn't want it. He wants your heart. Okay. If

my kids are forced to give me a gift. It's

not much of a gift, but if they come and

enjoy it, Daddy, I got this for you that really

warms my heart. Give happily to those in need, and

always be ready to share whatever God has given you.

Are you a giver or you take her? By doing this,

you will be storing up real treasures for yourself in heaven.

It is the only safe investment for eternity. So every

time I'm generous, I are in the gratitude of other

I show what really matters. I become more like Jesus.

I strengthen my faith, and I invest in my eternal home.

Then number six, when you learn this from the Book

of Philippians, every time I'm generous, I make God smile.

Every time you are generous, you make God smile. You

make God happy. Generous giving is an act of worship

that honors God. And notice this Philippians four eighteen. Your

gifts are like a fragrant offering to God, a sacrifice

that God accepts and is pleasing to him, pleasing him.

It makes God smile, It makes God's happy. Now, those

of you are parents, are you happy when your kids

are selfish and won't share their toys. No, are you

happy when your kids learn to share their toys? Of

course you are. Are you happy when when your kids

are generous? Of course you are. So is God. God

loves it when his kids learn to be generous. Every

time you're generous, you're not selfish. You give away money,

you give away time, you give away energy, not for

your own benefit. God goes, that's my boy. That's my boy.

Do you see how generousy he was? Just in that's

my girl. Do you see how generous he was? They're

my kids. God takes pride why like father, like son.

God is the most generous person in the universe, and

he wants his kids to be the same way. This

is one of the habits of happiness. It's not the

only one, but it's the one Paul ends with. We've

looked at integrity, we've looked at humility, we've looked at reliability,

and we've looked at productivity, we looked at serenity. Now

he's talking about generosity. God is watching you every day

of your life to see what you do with what

He's given you. He's watching to see how generous you are.

And this everything I just said, is the premise behind

the greatest promise in the Bible. Okay, this he's ending

the book with this promise. But when God says, are

like these Philippians who were noted for their generosity, He said,

when you give out of gratitude, when you give to

become more like Jesus, when you give to stretch your faith,

when you give to invest in your home in heaven,

when you give to show what really matters most, and

when you give to please God. Then God says this promise.

Look at the promise Philippians four nineteen. Then God will

meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in

Christ Jesus. God says, you are never never going to

outgive me. So God says, let's play this little game.

You give to others, you give to me, I'll give

to you, and we'll see who wins. Then God will

meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in

Christ Jesus. Now this is, as I said, the greatest

promise in the Bible. So I want us to memorize it,

and let's memorize it in the new International version. It's

easy to memorize it in that Philippians four nineteen. You

need to learn this one. Now, remember the hardest part

to remember the versus the address where it is in

the Bible. So you always say the verse before and

after the reference where it is the address. And you

memorize something, not by reading it. You memorize by saying it.

We learn we memorize with the ear, not with the eye.

So look up here on the screen and let's say

Philippians four nineteen, allowed together and say the reference at

the beginning of the end. Okay, ready, Philippians for nineteen.

God will meet all my needs according to his glorious

riches in Christ Jesus, Philippians for nineteen. By the way,

you guys, what is in Philippians for nineteen? God will

meet all my needs according to his glorious riches in

Christ Jesus Philippians for nineteen. Now, how many needs? Will

God meet all my needs? Why does he meet him?

In Christ Jesus? What does that mean? It means because

Jesus Christ died for you. He's already paid for everything

you need. Because Jesus Christ died on the cross for you,

he made a way for you to be in harmony

with God, to be at peace with God, and He

paid for everything you need in your life. So let's

try it one more time. Philippians for nineteen. God will

meet all my needs according to his glorious riches in

Christ Jesus. Philippians for nineteen. Now that's a verse you

ought to dale card. Put it on your refrigerator, put

on your car visor, and you keep reading it because

it's a great antidote to worry this week. When you

go God, I don't have enough time to get all

is done. God will meet all my needs according does

glorious riches in Christ Jesus Philippins four nineteen. God, I

don't I'm not feeling good today. I need strength, I

need energy. God will meet all my needs according to

his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. God. I need a date.

God will meet all my needs a glory glorious riches

in Christ Jesus. God, I need peace of mind. I

am so stressed out. God will meet all my needs

according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. But you

got to remember the premise. Before the promise, God says,

I'm watching to see if you're generous. Now let me

close with this. There are two ways to be generous.

Write these down by reason or by revelation. I want

to explain this to you. You can be generous by

rea or you can be generous by revelation. One of

them gets God's blessing and the other doesn't. One of

them requires faith and the other doesn't. Now, the Bible says,

according to your faith, that will be done to you.

So you want to do the one that requires faith,

and that is not by reason but by revelation. There's

two ways to give. For instance, if I see somebody,

let's see, let's just take the example of the Philippines,

not the Philippians, the Philippines. Okay, the Philippines had this

terrible tragedy, this tsunami, this typhoon that happened. Ten thousand

people died. We have Filipino families in our church who

lost loved ones in that typhoon. Now I say, I

read about that and go, man, I need to help

these people. I want to be generous. Now there's two

ways I can figure out how to help those people.

I can go, okay, I can give by reason and

say what's a reasonable amount that I can give? And

what I do is I look at my check book

and I figure out what I got, I could give that,

and it's a reasonable amount. I don't have to pray

about it. It doesn't stretch my faith. I just go

that's what I can afford to give. That does not

get the blessing of God, but it's the way most

people give. Millions of dollars are given to charity and

philanthropy every year by reason. People look say, how can

I help this particular charity? And I'm going to write

out a check and it's a reasonable amount. It's what

can I afford to give. The other way is to

give by revelation. And this makes giving our generosity an adventure.

It stretches your faith. It's like we read on the

front side of this about the Philippians. It said they

gave more than they were able to give. How do

you do that? How do you give more than you're

able to give? You're not given by reason, you're given

by revelation. You say, instead of saying, what can I

afford to give to help this need? You go, Lord,

what do you want to give? Through me? And God's

always going to give you an amount that is way

beyond what you think, so it forces you to trust him.

I have done this literally hundreds and hundreds of times

in my life, where I go, God, I have no

idea what I should give to help this person, to

help this cause, to help our church? What I have

no idea? So just put an idea, and it's always

something that I'm going There's no way I can do that.

There's just no way, no way, God, no way. It's

not reasonable. And God says, what you want to give

by reason or revelation? Oh, you know, you know me.

Of course. I want to stretch my faith. I want

to grow, I want to be challenged. I want to

go at the end, go, shoot, God did that one.

It's just a flat out miracle. There's no way I

could have done that on my own, And so I

give by revelation. I learned to be a generous person

from a little boy because my parents were the most

generous people I've ever met in my life. They lived

to give. I grew up I didn't have a problem

being a taker. I didn't have a problem being a

miser because I grew up in a family watching my

dad be incredibly generous, watching my mom being it wasn't

hard for me. It wasn't hard for me at all

to be generous because I grew up in a family

where my parents modeled it. If you have kids, you

need to model generosity for your children so they don't

learn it to be selfish little brats that they learned

to be givers in life. So you discuss now, some

of you say, Rick, I've never done this, for this

is a new experience for me. I've never given by revelation,

so I don't know how to do this. Let me

give you a couple suggestions. One would be, if you're

not tithing, that would start there just picking them out

and just start giving on a regular basis and say God,

we're gonna do this, and just picking them out and

set it up. I would encourage you to do that.

If you're not doing it, I do it. Second thing,

if you are tithing, you're already giving. Let me suggest

an idea. And I actually learned this from my parents.

My parents developed the habit of at Christmas time giving

a gift to God equal to the mount that they

were going to spend on Christmas on everybody else. Now,

think about this. Can you imagine going to a birthday party,

by the way, whose birthday is Christmas. It's not yours,

it's Jesus' birthday. What are you giving the birthday boy

for Christmas? Can you imagine going to a birthday party

and everybody gives the gifts to everybody else except the

person whose birthday it is. What's wrong with this picture?

By the way, you know where we got the idea

of giving Christmas gifts to each other. It's from the

wise men. The wise men brought the first gifts at

Christmas to the baby Jesus. So you might want to say,

I don't want to give more to other people than

I'm given to the Lord who saved me, created me,

and made me. Now we've been in this series on

the habits of happiness. We've looked at all these different habits.

I want to end the series with the words of

Jesus Christ himself. Look at there the last verse on

your outline talking about the habits of happiness. Jesus said this.

Remember the words that Jesus himself said, there's more happiness

in giving than in receiving. You guys, if I had time,

I would give you my life as an example of

this verse. Because God taught me how to be generous

at a young age. To the point now you know

my story that Kay and I give away ninety one

percent of our income and live on nine raised it

every year for thirty eight years, and I am the

happiest guy on the planet. Why Because there's so much

more fun in giving than in receiving. That's the habit

of happiness. That's power heads for prayer. Lord, I want

to thank you. I want to thank you for all

the things you've given to me. Thank you that you

made me, thank you that you created me, thank you

that you gifted me. Thank you that you've saved me.

Thank you for freedom, thank you for help, thank you

for eyes to see, you in ears to hear. If

you've never invited Jesus Christ in your heart, the first

thing you need to do is you need to give

yourself to God. That's what the Philippians did. They gave

themselves to God. First, you need to say this, Jesus Christ,

thank you for all that you've given me. I want

to give myself to you. I want my life to

be in the center of your plan. I want to

live for the per that you made me. I want

to trust you, I want to follow you. I want

to learn to love you. I want to give myself

to you, and I pray this in your name. Amen.

You know, if you just prayed that prayer for the

very first time, or you just recommitted your life to

Jesus again today, would you let me know about it.

There's something real about sharing your commitment. So write me

Rick at pastor Rick dot com and say, Rick, I

prayed that prayer of commitment. I gave my life to Christ.

And I'll send you some material that will help you

on your journey with Jesus. And I'll also pray for you.

God bless you.

What a moving message from Rick, and I'm also so

moved when we hear from you. In fact, here's Rick

with a letter from one of our listeners.

Have you ever taken a step of faith with no

idea what's next? Well, with the help of Daily Hope,

Nicole did just that. She wrote this note to me, Hello,

Pastor Rick. A close friend of mine suggested I listened

to Daily Hope four years ago, and while I had

faith and I loved the Lord, I was lost. But

Daily Hope rescued me. My relationship with Jesus grew in

ways and I never knew possible. I was soon baptized,

and over the next four years I grew in boldness

and in faith in the Lord, and I even left

a high powered and high salaried position to follow a different,

purpose driven path with the Lord's guidance. It's been a

literal step forward in faith without knowing the next steps,

certainly not something I was capable of years ago. And

already God is showing me his goodness. You know, as

my husband explores his own relationship with Jesus again, your

ministry is literally a God's sin. Your ability to teach

the good news and ways that are easy to understand

and apply, it is just amazing. We also follow your

suggestion to find a good local church. So thanks for

all you do for believers and those who are seeking

Christ around the world. Rick You're loved and appreciated and

no doubt a vessel of God's grace and mercy. Signed Nicole, Well, Nicole,

I'm so glad that you've grown in your relationship with

Jesus and you've taken the important step of getting baptized.

What an important step this is, finding a church home,

really listening to the Lord, and living a purpose driven life.

All of that happens when you take time to listen

to God's word. I love how your friend shared daily

hope with you, and now you've shared it with your husband.

You know any of you can do this. Anybody can

do this. You can share daily hope with your friends,

and with your relatives and with people you don't even know.

And well, then watch how God brings life to others.

Do his words.

Be sure to join us next time as we look

into God's.

Word for our daily hope.

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