7 Dynamics of a Wholehearted Church Part 4 - 7 Dynamics of a Wholehearted Church

You're listening to the road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.

So here's what I say to you.

If your heart's not in the kingdom, if your heart's not in the local church, start giving toward it.

When you start giving toward it, Jesus, it's not me.

It's not Pastor Steve speaking.

Jesus is your heart will follow.

Your heart follows your treasure.

At The Road, our vision is to raise up wholehearted disciples of Jesus Christ.

For more information on the road, visit theroad.org.

We hope you are encouraged by today's message from Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.

We've been in a series called the Seven Dynamics of a Wholehearted Church.

We could have called it the Seven Dynamics of a Wholehearted Person, because all of the dynamics of the early church, if we apply them to our lives, will be true in our lives.

So turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

And this is a seventh one.

This is a seventh dynamic.

If you've been with us any time in the last four weeks, you've heard the messages.

I'm not going to go over each of the of the points again, but let's look at Acts 2.

And this is the early church, and we see, we reflect upon what I believe is the standard or the ground or the foundation for a church.

The kind of church that we want to build here called the Road.

And the Road, God spoke to us seven times, the road less traveled.

We started the road five years ago.

Two years ago, we merged with Chapel Hill's church that was here, and we became two families together.

But I felt like God was leading us to take on these seven dynamics that I see.

And today I want to talk about the seventh one, the last one.

And I believe it's actually one of the most important because it's so freeing in our lives.

So look at verse 40.

So let's just look at Acts chapter 2, verse 40.

Acts 2:40

And what Luke has done in the book of Acts is kind of give us a summation, a summation of what the early church was like.

And with many other words testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation.

Then those who gladly received the word were baptized, and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them.

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, we've talked about that.

Fellowship, we've talked about that.

Breaking of bread, we've talked about that, and prayers, and we've talked about that.

Now, this is the part where it's interesting because it says fear came upon every soul.

And we're going to talk about that a little bit.

The idea of the fear of God, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

Now, all who believed were together and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as anyone had need.

Now look at verse 47, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord continually added to the church daily those who were being saved.

So these particular principles, these particular dynamics, and I use the word dynamic because I think they were changing and growing at all times.

They were dynamic in their very nature, and they're true in our lives.

There was an open heaven released over the Jerusalem church.

And here's my conviction that God wants an open heaven over every one of your lives.

I believe that we should be the richest, the wealthiest, the most joyful, the most excited, the most forgiven, the most free group of people on the face of the earth.

People should be flocking to the church because they see such a difference in our lives because we're kingdom people.

Amen?

Now look at chapter four.

So look at chapter four.

So we don't know if it was a year later, we don't know if it was just a few months later, because the chronological order of Luke doesn't tell us exactly, but we go to chapter four, it might even have been a week later, because we know that there was a point where Peter and John were going to the hour of prayer at the temple, healed this guy, all heaven breaks loose, and as it does, they get arrested, and then we see the prayer in chapter four, the kind of prayer they prayed, verses 23 through 31, as they prayed for more boldness, even in the midst of persecution.

And then it says this.

Look at verse 32.

Now the multitudes of those who believed were of one heart and one soul.

So it's tremendous unity, tremendous happiness, tremendous joy, even in the midst of persecution.

Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed, they're talking about material goods now, was his own, but they had all things in common.

Sounds a lot like chapter two.

And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace, you ought to underline that, great grace was upon them all.

Nor was there anyone among them who lacked.

For all who were who were possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought them the pre proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet, and they distributed to each one as anyone had need.

And Joseph, who was also called Barnabas, by the Apostles, which is translated son of encouragement, a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

Here's the seventh dynamic.

The seventh dynamic, a key part of an open heaven over our lives is whole-hearted giving.

Whole-hearted giving.

If you've discovered the extraordinary nature of the kingdom of God within your heart, you overflow with gratitude.

You just do.

You overflow with gratitude and excitement and joy.

And I'm going to call that extravagant giving, this giving, and I'm not just talking about money and possessions, which is what the principle here we see in Acts, they were doing, it's way more than that.

It's not just, it's a mentality.

It's a viewpoint.

It's a worldview of how you experience great grace in your life and then what you do with it.

I remember, you know, the next day after I gave my heart to Christ in that little chapel at the University of Georgia, I overflowed with wanting to give away what I'd already received.

And so the next day, I uh I called this campus crusade guy.

I asked him to meet me at this particular place, and I wanted that little yellow booklet.

I didn't know how to share it, I didn't know anything, but I told him, hey, I prayed to receive Christ last night.

And so I grabbed the booklet, I said, Don't you, when you shared this with me, you just read it to me.

Is that the way you do it?

And he said, sure, just do it that way.

And I said, great.

And so the next day in the locker room, no, that same day in the locker room, I shared my faith and led a guy to the Lord on the gymnastics team.

Because I was full of joy and overflowing gratitude for the grace that I had experienced, you guys, and so I gave it away.

Giving, giving is one of the most important principles you can ever learn in the kingdom.

It's to give away what you've been given.

You are blessed to be a blessing.

Write that down.

You are blessed to be a blessing.

It's the Abrahamic covenant.

So when God spoke to Abraham and told him to leave his country, he said, I'm gonna bless you that you might be a blessing.

The Jewish nation was called by God from the very beginning to be blessed so that they could be a blessing.

The early church, in my opinion, was an extension of the Abrahamic covenant of being blessed to be a blessing.

If you discover that kingdom principle, you will live with emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual health like you could never experience any other way.

And so I've said to the men many a morning at AIM, and by the way, men, we meet at 6 a.m.

on Tuesday mornings.

Most of you in this room attend at different times, but we come together, and whenever I'm speaking, it seems like every other time I always say two things I want you to remember, guys: the grace of giving and the grace of growth.

Keep growing, keep giving, and you'll stay young.

And some of you in this room look like you need to stay a little younger.

So it's probably not a bad thing.

So I was 22 years old.

I'm raising financial support to be a missionary.

And it's not going well.

And I've raised, I don't know, I think I'd raised like$800 a month or$900 a month.

And I remember back then I needed$1,450 a month.

And you know, you guys know me.

My natural bent is very competitive.

I'm very driven.

I'm a type A personality.

And so I was gonna be, I was gonna raise support faster than anybody else in my staff training, which was 300 new staff.

So I'm thinking, I'm I'm already corresponding.

Back then you didn't have phones and stuff, but we're corresponding, and we're all kind of in this big competition.

Anyway, I hit this wall, and this lady that I'm staying with, her and her husband, we're really good friends of our family.

I'm in Atlanta, Georgia, and we're together, and I'm struggling and just going through all the struggles that go with raising support.

How many have ever raised financial support?

Short term or long term or anything like that?

Okay, a lot of you in this room.

Okay.

So you know what I'm talking about.

Well, this is gonna be my livelihood for the next 10 years.

So I'm setting the foundation by this first time raising support.

And this lady calls me in.

She says, You seem frustrated.

I said, Yeah, it's kind of hard.

I've called these people, gotten nos and all this stuff.

And then she goes, Hey Steve, have you learned how to tithe?

I said, What's tithing?

I didn't know.

Because when I got saved, I got saved into parachurch.

I didn't get saved into local church, even though I'd grown up in the local church, with my dad being a pastor.

Lutherans, Lutherans don't talk about tithing, you know, the way Baptists and other denominations do.

So I hadn't heard, I'd heard the term, I didn't know what it meant.

She said, It means 10%.

Have you ever given 10% of your money to the Lord?

I said, I haven't had any money.

She said, Well, I mean, okay, well, now you do.

Are you tithing?

I went, no.

So she took me through the principle of tithing.

And it just lit me on fire.

I mean, a lot of you in this room, how many have heard a sermon on tithing?

Raise your hand.

All right, see, that's not me.

That wasn't me at 22.

You guys have heard it, man.

You guys have been in the church a lot longer than I was back then.

Maybe when you were 22, you hadn't been in the church either.

Somewhere along the line, somebody told you, which is fantastic because you need to hear it because I heard it for the first time, and it lit me on fire.

And so I just went, oh, because I read Malachi 3 and I read these other passages, and I went, whoa, there's a direct correlation about being blessed and being a blessing.

That's the way it, that's the way it computed me.

It wasn't giving to get, it was more like a prophetic promise.

You know what a prophetic promise is in scripture?

A prophetic promise is when God says, if you obey this in the present, I promise to bless you in the future.

You don't see it right now.

It might even be extended in the present where you don't see it, but God says that if you'll do this, you know, I'll do this.

Great example would be the Ten Commandments.

In the Ten Commandments, it says, honor your father and mother, and what?

It will go well for you.

A recent study was showing that 75% of young people who for 10 years had disassociated or broken off relationship with their parents regretted it.

They regretted it.

And you know why?

Because they don't know this was a secular study, but they're actually breaking a kingdom law.

It doesn't mean that if there's been deep hurt from someone in the family that you feel like it's going to continue, you don't need some boundaries.

It's not saying that.

It's just saying that when we honor, you guys understand you can have boundaries, but still honor and respect your parents, it will go well for you.

It says it.

That's a prophetic promise.

It says to us men, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for us.

So there's a giving component, and I've never seen a happy marriage where both people don't give.

You gotta give.

Because a lot of you are getters.

Right?

Because that's our natural bent is to get stuff.

We want stuff from our wives, we want stuff from our husband.

We're getters instead of givers.

And that's why I'm always emphasizing keep growing, keep giving, keep growing, keep giving.

I'm not talking just about finance, I'm talking about everything in your life.

This early church got it.

And so when I started getting it, I went back four years.

And I figured since October of that fall, four years before I'd given my heart to the Lord, even though I had a full right scholarship, I did have money coming in from some other sources, and I found and figured it all out.

I remember still seeing it on the page.

I probably got it in a journal somewhere because I think I've got all my journals.

I computed it, and I think it came to something like$1,250.

$1,250 that I felt like I owed God, that I was robbing God of.

And so I had$800 in savings, and that's all I had.

So I took all my savings and I gave it away, and then the next bunch of money up to$450 or so, I gave away.

I gave it to the church that I was going to, and then I began tithing.

And 39 years later, you guys, I'm still tithing.

I've never missed a tithe.

And we've been blessed.

And then it's because of the grace of the blessing of being blessed.

The blessing of being blessed, giving it away.

And we're going to look at a passage here, and I'll show you how this works in the kingdom.

That the kingdom works that way, that you get what you give pressed down, shaken together, and running over in a lot of areas.

In a lot of areas.

And some of you are in poverty, some of you are struggling financially because, I mean, you can say demons are in it, you can say it's spiritual warfare, all that stuff.

Guess what?

It is.

It is.

Because you don't have the protection of God over your finances.

And I can't help you.

Except to say, man, you should, we should do some we should do some seminars on giving here.

We should do some seminars like Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey.

That's excellent stuff.

Because that's the first thing he's going to tell you.

When you look at Sir Sir John Templeton from the Templeton Mutual Funds, I studied it years ago.

His seven keys to financial success.

First key, give away 10%.

Templeton funds, knighted by the Queen.

And he's a believer, but he didn't base his principle just in tithing from the Bible, though that's part of it.

He based it in the fact that you'll never find a person who's set free in their finances, who doesn't first learn to possess his possessions, because if you don't, then your possessions possess you.

And that's bondage in your life.

So that's what's happening here.

These guys are fired up.

Look at verses 43 and 45 of chapter 2.

Go back to that.

Because I love this part, because this is true in my life.

And I think it's true in every believer's life who's learned this kingdom principle of extravagant giving.

The fear, fear, it says, then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

You know, when I think in terms of blessed to be a blessing, there is this kind of a layered effect.

That's the way Liz said it.

I thought that was good.

There's kind of a layered effect of love and fear.

That had that layered effect with my dad.

My dad would say, mow the grass.

Or my dad would give me some jobs to do, always on Saturdays.

And I kind of dreaded Saturdays, except that I learned, man, if I can get these jobs done really fast, then I'm done.

I can go play.

But there was love, because I love my dad.

But you guys, there was also fear of what would happen if I didn't do it.

Does that make sense?

So it was fear and love.

I think what's happening here is, and some might call it reverence for God, I'm gonna call it just this sense of fear and awe.

That's the best word I know is awe.

And I and where Liz and I experienced it the most was casting out demons.

Because we've cast out a lot of demons.

And whenever you deal with a demon in someone and you cast it out, it talks back to you, you talk back to it, and you realize the power of the name of Jesus.

By you just saying the name of Jesus, that person shudders.

When you just say the name of Jesus, sometimes they just leave.

They're just gone.

And the person comes back into their right mind, it's done, it's over, it wasn't even hard.

Because you have authority in the name of Jesus, that creates fear.

And so when I hear people taking the Lord's name in vain, I fear for them.

I fear for them because you're messing with the name that shakes the universe.

And you're saying it in a derogatory way, scary stuff.

And we always felt that.

I think Liz and I felt that with our giving.

That we loved God and we were giving out of gratitude, but there was this other part which was a fear of being out of God's will if we didn't give.

Now, if fear is the pervasive attitude in which you give, that's not good.

Same way with your dad.

If it's fear of being out of your father's will more than a love for your father, then there's some issues there, right?

So it's both.

It's layered.

Love comes first, fear comes second, but I just didn't want to be out of God's will.

I did not want to lose the covering of God over my life again, which I didn't have it before.

And let me just tell you this.

Within three weeks after that, all the support came in, and I won the contest, so I raised more support than anybody else.

It's godly fear.

Jesus said, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Now listen to what I'm gonna say, because it may not make sense at first.

We like to say that your money follows your heart, but Jesus says, your heart actually follows your treasure.

Your heart follows your money.

I was gonna do this today, but I I didn't have time.

Um, but I was gonna take a string and attach it to my heart and then attach it to my wallet.

That your heart, and I know this is true because I've seen people reach for their wallet, and just to watch the cringe factor of them doing that and giving, I know there's a string attached to the two.

So Jesus says, I will know where your heart is by where your treasure is.

And we all know this is true.

Because I invest, I invest in the stock market, have a lot of investments in the stock market.

And so I had zero interest in that particular stock, right?

Until I started investing in it.

You know what I'm talking about?

Then when you started investing in it, especially if it was a sizable amount of money, your heart went.

You started looking it up, you started checking.

You'd probably even have an app for that particular stock.

And I have an app for stocks, and I always see how the stock market's doing every day.

And uh, and so we we our tarts tend to go where our treasure is.

So here's what I say to you if your heart's not in the kingdom, if your heart's not in the local church, start giving toward it.

When you start giving toward it, Jesus, this is not me, this is not Pastor Steve speaking.

Jesus says, your heart will follow.

Your heart follows your treasure.

And so God has this incredible kingdom principle that I think is best exemplified in Luke chapter 6.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

So everybody look at your Bible, Luke chapter 6.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

Really interesting passage because money is never mentioned in the passage, but it is.

The law of sowing and reaping.

So I want to call it the law, the kingdom law of sowing and reaping.

Alright.

So let's look at that.

Luke 6, 37 says, judge not, and you shall not be judged.

Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.

Forgive, and you'll be forgiven.

Give and it will be given to you.

Good measure.

Pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom, for with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

So it's this law of sowing and reaping in every era of our life, you guys.

If you tend to be judgmental, you get judgmentalism back to you.

If you tend to be someone who's forgiving, you get forgiveness back to you.

If you tend to be condemnatory, that's why I've said, be careful with politics.

Be careful with saturating your mind constantly with political news and all that stuff, because it can tend, right?

It can tend to make you judgmental.

It can tend to make you condemning.

And if you start doing that, it's going to come back to you.

It ties up your brain.

It ties up your heart.

And before you know it, you're just kind of a grump.

Oh, they're trying to impeach the president now.

Or you're, oh, they're impeaching the president, whatever.

But you know, it's like you become like that which you listen to and what you think about, right?

And so as you think, so you are.

And so he's saying here there's this principle of condemning, judging, but also forgiving and giving.

That it's going to come back to you with the same measure that you gave it out.

Does everybody understand what I'm saying?

Nod your head if you understand what I'm saying.

Because the reality is this that there is a kingdom principle of freedom and bondage.

And you can be wrapping yourself up in so much bondage by the way you think and the way you treat others.

Like the mother who's always screaming at her kids, and then she comes in for counseling because her kids scream at her, and she can't understand why.

Or the person who's been ripping people off secretly all his life, and then he gets ripped off.

And you wonder, what's the problem here?

Because there's something about it, both negatively and positively, that it's pressed down, it's overflowing, it's gonna come back our way.

And so, men and women, I want freedom in every area of my life.

How about you?

I mean, I want I want to be free to think well, I want to be free emotionally, I want to be free mentally, I want to be free spiritually, and that means that what I release, what I bless others with, is gonna come back to me.

And it's actually, this is the part that's that's scary but exciting, it's multiplied.

It's more than what you gave.

So it's the kernel of corn that you gave that becomes a corn cob.

I mean, it's it's really, it's it's that's why it's sowing and reaping.

You plant the seed in others.

You know, when you come to church, you guys are either planting seeds of forgiveness, love, and joy, which I think is most of us here, or we wouldn't be here.

We're just kind of that way, or it's kind of condemning or prideful or arrogant.

It's gonna come back to you, and it's gonna be way more than what you planted.

It's gonna multiply, it's gonna be a forest.

You planted a tree and you got a forest back.

Man, I want I'm not stupid.

I'm smart.

How about you?

You know, I want that kind of a forest.

I want to be blessed, to be a blessing, and that's what I see happening, and the reason that 3,000 got saved.

And then later, the reason 5,000 get saved, I think in that early church, was because they had an open heaven of this beauty of giving away what they had been given.

So, how do we develop wholehearted, extravagant giving?

How do we develop that?

I want to give you three things, three thoughts on how we develop wholehearted, extravagant giving.

Turn your Bibles to Deuteronomy, so it's in the Old Testament, Genesis, Exos, Slavitics, Numbers, Deuteronomy 15.

And it is my conviction, and we'll never know until we get to heaven, I guess, that this might have actually been the passage that was in the heart of the early church, because they would have known the Pentateuch, they would have known this part of the Bible, it wasn't a chapter then, there weren't the chapter and verse headings.

But I think because they were such committed Jewish believers that they may have looked at Deuteronomy 15 in their hearts and said, that's what we've got to do with those in need within our body.

I see three things that come out of this in another passage.

But look at verse 7, Deuteronomy 15, verse 7.

Deuteronomy 15:7

And I wrote in my Bible up at the top, blessed to be a blessing.

Verse 7.

If there is among you a poor man of your brethren within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him, and willingly lend him sufficient for his need whatever he needs.

Beware, lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand, and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the Lord against you, and it becomes sin among you.

Here's the first thing.

First thing.

Listen, listen, it's really important.

Beware of a selfish heart.

You want to learn to be an extravagant giver?

You want to get free in your finances?

You want to get free emotionally?

You want to have more forgiveness flowing out of you toward others?

Beware of a selfish, burdened heart.

That's what he says.

Beware of that.

Because here's what he's saying.

It's really interesting.

He's talking about the year of Jubilee.

That point in time, which I don't think Israel, as far as I know, they never actually practiced it, but it's all through Scripture that in that seventh year or in that 70th year, they were gonna give back that all all debts were gonna be paid.

You're gonna forgive all debts.

So think about it.

You're three years away from the year of Jubilee.

Or you're three, let's say this, there's you're three months away from the year of Jubilee.

And a guy comes to you and he needs$50,000.

You go, hmm.

Smart.

I bet you, you know, if it was followed, that's exactly what happened.

It's only three months away.

Then he has to forgive the debt.

And he's saying, beware of an attitude where you know this guy might not pay you back.

And so you hoard, you hold back.

He's saying, even in light of that kind of a situation, verse 10, I want you to give.

I want you to give.

You'll be blessed.

So, first of all, how many here would say that you struggle sometimes with a selfish heart?

Yeah, of course we all do.

Man, that's that's a struggle.

Just say, I have a selfish heart.

Say it to your neighbor, I have a selfish heart.

And they're going like this, yeah, I knew that.

It's about time you realize that.

You know, you do.

We're all up to no good on our own, right?

A selfish heart.

Now look at verse 10.

Look at verse 10.

I love verse 10.

You, this is God speaking through Moses.

You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved.

So it sounds like that when you hold back giving, you're grieving your heart.

You're so now you're setting your heart free, is what he's saying.

You should not be grieved.

Let me read it again.

You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him.

Comma.

Because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you.

He will bless you in all your works and all to which you put your hand.

Whoa! Talk about an open heaven.

He's saying, I'm gonna bless you not just in your finances, I'm gonna bless everything you do.

So, number two, realize that God is going to bless you.

Realize that and expect him to.

Expect God's blessing.

Give and it will be given to you.

Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over.

We put into your bosom.

For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

Hebrews 11, 6.

But without faith, it is impossible to please him.

For he who comes to God, listen to this, he who comes to God must believe that he is.

Remember the second part?

And that he's a rewarder.

He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

A prophetic promise.

Obey the present for the future promise.

Obey the present, future promise.

God wants to bless you guys.

We should be the most joyful, happy, giving, loving, forgiving, blessed people on the face of the earth because we have the kingdom of God and we have the king of kings and the Lord of Lords.

Say amen.

It's true.

It's been true in my life.

Seven kids.

And I'm not a Mormon and I'm not Roman Catholic.

I've been asked that so many times.

Are you Catholic?

Are you Mormon?

No, I'm a Christian.

They go, what's that got to do with it?

If nothing, you know, never mind.

But you asked the question first.

We had this van that we got in Anaheim, California.

Anybody know what vapor lock is?

Okay, first eight years of planting Mountain Springs Church, I drove a Camry, a little Camry, through some interesting snowfall situations, and a Vaporlock Voyager.

Plymouth Voyager.

White.

Every trip, it would lock up.

And so we had games in the car and food in the car because we knew we'd be going up any hill somewhere in the mountains, and then the engine would cut off, we'd slide over to the side of the road, everybody'd go, Vaporlock! I remember I remember going one time, you know, up to uh Steamboat Springs.

You remember that?

You know how you climb that pass there, you're going up there, and then there's a point where you get to the top, and then it's all down, you know, going into the valley where Steamboat Springs is.

And I remember just praying, oh God, oh God, get me to the summit, get me to the summit.

And I remember I could feel, and you can always feel.

If you've ever had vapor lock in any of your older cars, you know what I'm talking about, you can feel it where there's no air anymore, there's no gas.

And I and it was I was losing it, but I saw that it had like 50 feet more to go.

And so I'm sitting there kind of going, you know, get propulsion up.

Anyway, made it over the top, and I put it in an N.

Neutral.

And for like 15 miles or whatever it is, man, I just coasted all the way in to steamboat springs, put it back into D, it had rested enough, we were good to go.

Never miss the tithe.

Sometimes we had hardly anything.

And God protected us and he watched over us and he blessed us.

We were free.

And I just knew there's gonna be blessing that's gonna come, but this is not even negotiable.

We're gonna do what God wants us to do.

We're gonna obey Him.

Now turn to the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi 3.

I like to call it the Malachi miracle.

You ought to meditate on this this week.

I mean, there's just so much here.

Malachi 3.

Oh my goodness.

Last book of the Old Testament.

I think it's there for a reason.

Because it was uh it's a bridge, it's a bridged passage into the New Testament.

So he, what's happening here is Malachi is challenging Israel for its lack of generosity.

And here's what he says.

Look at verse 8.

Will a man rob God?

What I mean, can you think about that's such an isn't that an interesting thought?

Robbing God.

God, let me just say this, everybody.

God does not need any of our stuff.

He's just fine.

He's doing just fine, he's got everything that he needs.

But yet, God, speaking through Malachi, says, Will a man rob God?

Yet you've robbed me, exclamation point.

But you say, in what way have we robbed you?

In your tithes and offerings.

For you have robbed me, and you're cursed with a curse, even this whole nation.

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, therefore, that there may be food in my house, and try me now in this.

Only place in all of Scripture where we're told it's okay to try God out, to try him, to challenge him on something.

Try me now in this, says the Lord of hosts.

If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it, and I will rebuke the devourer from your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine bear fruit for you in the field, says the Lord of hosts.

Number three.

Third thing, test God in your giving.

Test God.

Believe the promise of God for an open heaven.

We did for 39 years and it works.

And it's affected us emotionally and spiritually and physically and mentally.

It affects everything.

When God gets your wallet, he gets your heart.

And some of you, God needs your wallet, and you'll get your heart.

And it's an open heaven over everything in our life.

God pours out such blessings.

He actually devours the devourer.

He actually puts a hedge of protection.

He puts a He puts an umbrella over you against the enemy, and He gives you an open heaven from blessing from Him.

Isn't that cool?

At least in principle.

Well, make it practice because it'll set you free.

It's joyful, it's fun, it's exciting.

God wants to give every one of you guys in this room an open heaven.

And that's what He did in the early church.

And it's one of those, it's one of those keys, I think, to wholehearted living.

Because here's the greatest giving verse in all the Bible.

Listen, everybody stand with me.

And I want you to say it with me.

This is the greatest extravagant giving verse in all of the Bible.

Say it after me.

I'll say it, then you say it.

The greatest commandment is love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all your soul, with all of your mind, with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself.

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