Participants: Pastor Dwight Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP041616A
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00:07 [ "Your Name" plays ]
02:25 [ "Shout to the Lord" plays ] 06:05 >> The greatest part about being in a church community is knowing 06:09 that you have a family that looks after you, that prays for 06:12 you, and generally just wants to know how you're doing. 06:16 At at this time, I want to invite you to bring your 06:19 burdens, bring your concerns up to the throne of God. 06:22 [ "Still" plays ] 09:53 ♪♪ 10:39 ♪♪ 11:25 ♪♪ 12:11 >> Amen. Oh, thank you, wind symphony. That was beautiful. 12:17 Hey, boys and girls, nice to have you. Ooh, we still have some coming, 12:20 do we? Oops. Sorry. Nice to have you. 12:23 Is this spring or what at last? Next to the last Sabbath. What's up with that? 12:30 I'm glad you're here, and you look so spring-y. Yes, you do. 12:33 Nice to see you. You know, when we were down in Cuba -- "Cooba" -- just a few 12:38 weeks ago, Ron Whitehead and I are staying on the third floor of a very narrow house, and the 12:42 houses are just side by side. So, another house beside us had a third floor. 12:47 And on top of that roof -- third floor -- that owner had a cage with two birds in it. 12:55 I want you to see the birds. Got them right here. Put them on the screen for you. 12:59 Do you know what those are? Anybody know what those are? What are those? 13:02 Those are cockatiels. They look like parakeets, but they're cockatiels. 13:08 They grow wild in Australia, okay? And they just make a "chirp, 13:12 chirp, chirp, chirp." Every morning when I get up -- "chirp, chirp, chirp." 13:18 Well, a lady in New York City -- Listen to this. A lady in New York City -- 13:21 she loved these. Now, the most popular pet in a cage, bird in a cage, is a 13:27 parakeet. This is number two. She loved to have cockatiels. 13:31 She is a millionairess. Ooh, that means she has a lot of money. 13:36 So, she began to collect cockatoos. Guess how many she ended up 13:40 with. 32! 32 cockatoos. 13:43 So she had to build a special house within her house called an aviary. 13:48 That's a house for birds. Let's see a picture of the lady and the house. 13:52 Ahh. See, this little -- Everything in that picture is the aviary 13:57 inside her mansion in New York. 32 cockatiels. Oh, my, she loved those little 14:04 birds -- "chirp, chirp, chirp." They don't talk -- "chirp, chirp, chirp." 14:07 Oh, she loved those little birds. And in fact, I'm sad to report 14:11 to you she died. She died. And when the lawyers were going 14:16 through her will -- "Let's see. This is to this one. This is to this one. 14:18 This is to that one." [ Gasps ] The lawyers said, "No." 14:21 Yes. One line in her will -- "I want $100,000 to go to my 14:25 cockatiels." $100,000. Now, they live to -- They can be 14:31 up to 16 to up to 36 years of age. So, that's a long time living, 14:36 and she said, "I want to take care of them for the rest of their lives." 14:39 $100,000. Do you know how much that is? Me neither. 14:43 It's just a lot of money. $100,000. Somebody died, and that somebody 14:52 said, "Take care of the birds for me." I'm thinking of another somebody 14:56 who died and said, "Not just the birds -- I want you to take care of all the boys and the girls 15:01 for me because I died for them." Who is that somebody? That is Jesus. 15:08 Did He die just for cockatiels? No. Did He die for every boy and 15:11 girl, man and woman? Yes, He did. And when you know Jesus loves 15:15 you that much, you know what to do with your money. You know where to put your money 15:21 to help Jesus grow His kingdom. How many are glad Jesus loves the cockatiels because He 15:28 designed them? But how many are glad He died for us boys and girls? 15:32 Put your hands up if you're happy. Aww, let's just tell Jesus, 15:35 "Thank you," shall we? Is there a young man -- 'cause I had a girl in first service. 15:39 Is there a young man who would like to pray and thank Jesus for being our Savior?" 15:44 I see a young man right there. Let's go. Would you like to pray to Jesus? 15:51 Is that why you had your hand up? Not sure now? [ Chuckles ] 15:55 Okay. I'll take -- I'll take a young lady. 15:59 Sissy right here, you come here. Come here. Yeah, let's pray to Jesus. 16:03 Let me get you a microphone. Let's -- Let's fold our hands and close our eyes. 16:09 Sissy is going to pray. And her little brother is right there. 16:13 Sissy, what's your name? >> Camille. >> Camille is gonna pray. 16:16 Let's pray with Camille as she thanks Jesus. >> Dear Jesus, thank you for, 16:22 um, letting us have a great Sabbath. >> Mm-hmm. 16:27 >> In Jesus' name. Amen. >> Amen. Thank you, Camille. As you go quietly and reverently 16:32 back to your seats, will you say that in your heart? "Thank you, Jesus, a great 16:36 Sabbath, and thank you for giving us life forever." Happy Sabbath, guys. 16:55 ♪♪ 17:58 ♪♪ 19:01 ♪♪ 20:04 ♪♪ 21:07 ♪♪ 22:18 >> Well done. Yep. I tell you what -- we, as a 22:22 congregation, are blessed to have these students on our campus in this parish. 22:30 Great music. Thank you for that. But that last number -- 22:34 "One Life Beautiful." That's the kind of life I want to live. 22:37 Don't you want to live a beautiful life for the Savior? Yeah. 22:42 Let's pray. Oh, God, you came to live the beautiful life in our midst. 22:51 Just take a few moments now in worship. Open your Word and consider that 22:55 life... how our lives interface with His. 23:01 Make it clear. Let us leave this place upbeat, with courage for the adventure 23:09 that awaits us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 23:13 So, I'm scanning the Bloomberg website the other day, wanted to 23:19 check up on what's the business and economic news coming down 23:22 the pike, and I spot an intriguing headline. 23:24 And of course they always put these headlines where you spot 23:27 them so that you'll look. Here's the headline -- "Join the 23:29 1% and live a decade longer." 23:34 Wow. Whatever that 1% is, I'd like to be a part of it. 23:37 The 1%? It's probably a -- I don't know. "Well, who are the 1%?" I'm 23:42 thinking. 1% of all Americans drive Toyota Camrys. 23:46 Maybe that's it -- live a decade longer. So, I read it. 23:54 "The wealthiest Americans." Oh, great. That's the 1% you're talking 24:00 about? Forget it. I'll never be in that group. 24:05 Very few of us will. 24:07 "The wealthiest Americans can expect to live at least a decade 24:12 longer than the poorest, and that gap, as with income 24:16 inequality, is growing ever wider. 24:22 New research in The Journal of the American Medical Association -- JAMA -- shows 24:26 top-earning Americans gained two to three years of life expectancy between 2001 and 24:30 2014, while those at the bottom gained little or nothing. Plenty of research has already 24:36 shown that health and wealth are intertwined and that they generally improve in tandem as 24:40 you move up the income scale. But this year, wildly divergent incomes among Americans and the 24:46 vanishing middle class --" guess that's the rest of us -- "have been central issues in a 24:52 vitriolic race for the White House. Today's JAMA research shows in 24:56 the starkest terms yet how disparities in wealth are mirrored by life expectancy." 25:02 Now, listen to this for example. "Take a 40-year-old man in the top 1%. 25:07 He can expect to live, on average, to 87. His counterpart in the bottom 1% 25:12 would be expected to perish, on average, before his 73rd birthday." 25:17 Go figure. "For women, who live longer on average --" you go, girls -- 25:24 "the gap was narrower, but still substantial. Life expectancy for the richest 25:29 women is almost 89, about 10 years longer than the poorest." By the way, that little lady 25:35 that we just talked about -- the 32 cockatiels -- she died at the age of 70. 25:39 Millionairess. Kidney stones. I guess it doesn't matter which percentage you're in. 25:47 Nobody has a lock on life, 10 years or zero. What's the title here? 25:54 "Join the 1% and live a decade longer." But I got great news for you. 25:58 I got a title even better this morning -- "Join the 10% and live forever." 26:04 So, what do you want, 10 years or forever? Let's go for the forever. 26:08 Jesus has less than a week to live. No extra decade for Him for 26:13 sure. But in a dramatic episode near the end of His life, the secret 26:17 to the 10% is embedded, and so let's go. Grab your Bible -- the 26:21 Gospel of Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19. We're going to Jesus here on the 26:25 next to the last Sabbath of this school year at Andrews University, the Sabbath 26:28 that finally brings us sunshine after a whole semester. Ah. Luke chapter 19. 26:34 I'll be in the NIV. Any Bible you have -- You got your -- You got any Bibles up 26:38 here, tablets or anything like that? Okay. 26:41 I'll read for you. I'll be in the NIV. Luke 19:28. 26:56 Jesus has just spent the day -- So, what's just been happening? He's just spent the day -- 27:01 possibly the night -- with a very wealthy, in the top 1%, tax collector named Zacchaeus, all 27:06 right -- so, you got the picture? -- who has been, by the way, Zacchaeus so deeply 27:10 impacted by Jesus inviting himself to be a guest with this filthy rich, hated tax 27:14 collector, that Zacchaeus stands up because all the people in town are gawking through the 27:19 open windows, as they did with the wealthy back then. And Zacchaeus makes an 27:23 announcement. So, just turn back to -- what is this? -- verse 8. 27:41 That's double what the Scripture suggests -- two. You see, you can't hang around 27:46 Jesus very long before He begins to rub off on you. And just His presence can ignite 27:51 transformation and reformation in your life. And that which you thought you 27:56 could never let go of, you let go of all because of Jesus. And so Jesus breaks into this 28:02 big grin because here's this little, short, filthy rich tax collector who's just said, "I'm 28:09 gonna give half of it away." And Jesus speaks. What is this? Verse 9. 28:25 He just joined the chosen, the saved. 28:36 Jesus says, "Look, that's why there's religion. That's why there's faith. 28:39 That's why I came. That's why God became human -- so I could seek and save the 28:42 lost." And then He tells him a story. Here it goes -- verse 11. 28:53 This is it. He's gonna be king now. 28:56 So, Jesus said -- verse 12 -- "A man of noble birth went to a 29:01 distant country --" Now, I'm just gonna give you a 29:04 little clue. Jesus is talking about Himself. 29:06 Nobody knows that yet, but He's talking about Himself. 29:16 "I'm gonna come back someday. You won't know when. I'm coming back." 29:19 You got the picture? 29:30 Now, one mina was worth 100 days of wages. So, let's just take the minimum 29:35 wage today. Now, if you're in California, what's the minimum wage? 29:39 Jerry Brown -- God bless you, Governor. It's now up to $15, but let's 29:42 just say for the sake of illustration you're at Andrews -- $10. 29:48 Is it $10 at Andrews? >> $8.50. >> $8.50? 29:52 [ Laughter ] I'm sorry, guys. [ Laughter ] 30:01 Let's just say it's $10. [ Laughter ] Maybe it'll get there someday. 30:07 8 hours a day, how much you gonna make? 8 hours a day, if it's $10 -- 8 30:10 hours a day, how much you gonna make? $80. 100? 30:12 100 days, how much you gonna make? $8,000. 30:15 I want you to see that. So, we're not talking about some piddly, little nothing here. 30:19 It's not a whole lot of money, but it's $8,000. And He entrusted all of them, 30:23 by the way, in this story, not different amounts. Everybody gets the same. 30:28 Doesn't take rocket science to figure out that what Jesus is trying to illustrate here, 30:33 obviously, is the good God of the universe who gives us all gifts. 30:36 Everybody gets gifts. Okay. So, the king goes off, gives 30:45 them all 10 minas each. Nobody's given more. Nobody's given less. 30:52 Of course, that's not true, by the way -- to hit the pause button here -- that's not true 30:55 about Americans. Oh, Americans. I was just reading this last 31:00 week in Steve Corbett's and Brian Fikkert's book "When Helping Hurts" some 31:04 rather sobering stats. 31:05 I'll put them on the screen for you. 31:07 Take a look at this. "While the average American --" 31:09 okay, in this country -- "lives on more than $90 per day --" 31:13 Now, you're not necessarily spending 90 bucks a day, but 31:15 you're living on it -- gas and insurance and, you know, all 31:18 that stuff. So, "the average American lives 31:21 on more than $90 a day, approximately one billion people 31:25 on this planet live on less than $1 per day, and 2.6 billion -- 31:29 40% of the world's population -- live on less than $2 a day." 31:34 And here you and I are, moping through the door, moping through our domiciles, feeling sorry for 31:39 ourselves because we don't have enough money. "Poor me!" 31:42 Yeah, right. Verse 15. 31:49 The nobleman now has become king, and he returns. 31:51 Look at this. 32:01 Just one simple question -- "You know that money I gave you? 32:04 You know that money? What did you do with it? Did you have any money in your 32:08 life? Good. What did you do with it? That's all I want to know. 32:13 What did you do with it?" And the rest of the story's about these three -- He picks 32:17 three of the servants out. They come. Two out of the three -- "Yo, 32:21 master, we multiplied it. Take a look at this. Aren't you proud?" 32:24 The third guy comes up, and he says, "I didn't do a thing with it. 32:26 I know who you are. I didn't do a thing with it." And then the master retorts -- 32:31 punch line of the parable now. 32:33 This is verse 26. The master says -- Now, the 32:35 number-three servant -- "I didn't do anything." 32:50 I love the way Eugene Peterson renders this line. In fact, I have this line 32:53 posted, from Eugene Peterson, on the wall just below the window where I have worship every day 32:57 of my life, okay? So, here's the line. I'll put it on the screen for 33:00 you. 33:02 Quoting Jesus -- 33:12 "So, yo, what did you do with that money I gave you?" Risk your life and get more than 33:18 you ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag. 33:24 And when the story's ended, Jesus waves adios to Zacchaeus, turns around, and now the story 33:29 that we began just a moment ago picks up -- verse 28 again. 33:39 Did you catch that? Maybe you didn't. 33:41 I'm gonna put it on the screen. 33:47 Oh, my, what a blessed thought. You think about this. Whatever is coming my way -- 33:51 Help me out. See if this is logical. Whatever is coming my way, if 33:55 Jesus is going ahead of me, He meets it first. Would that be true? 34:01 This is not a trick question. If He's going ahead of me, whatever's coming to me goes 34:07 through Him. What's ever happening to you right now, what's ever happening 34:11 around you right now has already come to Him. What's ever happening inside of 34:16 you right now, even inside of your body, it's already come through Him. 34:21 Whatever is going on, He has determined -- now, this is -- He has determined, "She can do it. 34:28 That boy -- That boy can make it." If you couldn't make it, it 34:34 wouldn't have come to you. He checks it in advance. That little baby. 34:40 What a precious 6-month-old. You know that mother? God bless her. 34:45 Do you think she dumps the baby in the bathwater, say, "Hey, Junior, let's get a bath." 34:50 Psch! You kidding? You know what a mother does? 34:52 She holds the baby under her arm, and what's she doing with her other hand? 34:55 What's she doing with her other hand? She is checking the water. 34:58 Isn't that right? Is it too hot? Because if it's too hot, is she 35:02 gonna dump the baby in? Are you crazy? The one who goes ahead checks it 35:06 all out. He says, "I think that boy can handle this. 35:10 I think that girl can handle this one." And then it comes to you. 35:14 Wow. It reminds me of that old gospel hymn. 35:19 You probably don't know it. You're not a choir. You play instruments. 35:26 But I need you to kind of back me up, will you, 'cause I'm gonna start singing it. 35:29 And if you know it, please hide my voice so we can do this right, all right? 35:36 ♪ He leadeth me ♪ ♪ O, blessed thought ♪ ♪ O, heav'nly word with comfort 35:47 fraught ♪ ♪ Whate'er I do ♪ ♪ Where'er I be ♪ 35:56 ♪ Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me ♪ You know the chorus. Come on. 36:03 ♪ He leadeth me ♪ ♪ He leadeth me ♪ ♪ By His own hand, He leadeth 36:13 me ♪ ♪ His faithful follower I would be ♪ 36:21 ♪ By His hand, He leadeth me ♪ Boy, there's a whole lot in that little line from Scripture -- 36:32 And He went on ahead of them. Whatever's coming to you will go through Him first. 36:38 Let's keep going, all right? 36:52 Hit the pause button right there. 36:54 Did you catch that line? "He sent two of His disciples." 36:59 Wow! The story begins with "He 37:01 leadeth me," and now the song switches to, "He sendeth me." 37:06 That's pretty good. You know why? 37:08 Because you and I are in the habit of sending ourselves. 37:10 That's why. We say, "Hey, I know what I'm 37:13 gonna do. And I'm sending myself there, 37:15 and I'm sending myself over there and I can handle this." 37:17 And the problem is... when we choose our own place of 37:23 mission, we choose our own place of sacrifice, the reason it 37:26 feels so contrived and appears so forced is because we have 37:29 sent ourselves on a mission for ourselves. 37:32 When we send ourselves, Jesus says, "Yo, yo, yo, come back. Come back. Come back. Come back. 37:35 Come back here. I do the sending. You do the going. 37:37 As the Father has sent me, I'm gonna send you. Let me send you. 37:42 I know what I'm doing. I'll send you to the place where your gifts in this life have 37:46 been shaped for a shining moment from me. Don't you go ahead, girl. 37:50 Boy, stay back here now. I send you." Making a big decision, are you? 37:55 You better be waiting on Him. You better be waiting on Him and saying, "Jesus, what do you want 37:59 me to do with my life?" Some of you are gonna be graduating in a few hours. 38:04 "What do you want me to do with my life? Where do you want to send me? 38:08 I know what I'd like to do. No, no, no, Jesus. You said you do the sending, I 38:11 do the going. Tell me. Show me." Wow. 38:16 "He leadeth me" becomes "He sendeth me." Verse 29. 38:37 Hit the pause button right there. You know what that would be 38:39 like? That would be walking up to a guy's driveway -- So, you see 38:41 this beautiful car in the guy's driveway. You see that the keys are in the 38:43 car. You're getting in the car. You're gonna drive off. 38:45 Jesus said, "Drive off." "Yo! Yo! You! What are you doing? 38:49 Who do you think you are?" Jesus anticipates that's exactly what's gonna happen when you 38:56 drive off with that hot rod. 38:59 So Jesus says, "If they ask you --" What's this? 39:01 Verse 30 -- "If anyone --" Verse 31. 39:10 Well, that will get you a car real far down the road. Jesus said, "You got to trust 39:15 me on this one." Verse 32. 39:23 By the way, that's life. You will always find it the way Jesus said it is. 39:26 You will always find it the way He said it is. You can trust Him to the max. 39:30 They found it just as He had told them, and as they were 39:33 untying the colt, its owners ran up and asked them, "Why -- Why 39:36 are you un-- Why are you untying this colt?" 39:38 And they replied -- catch it -- "The Lord needs it." 39:44 You didn't catch that. Twice in this single narrative, that single line appears -- 39:48 "That Lord needs it," or, as the old King James reads, "The Lord hath need of it." 39:53 Wow! The story begins with "He leadeth me" and then it becomes 39:57 "He sendeth me" and now it declares "He needeth me." "Why do you lead me? 40:01 Why do you send me?" "Because I need you. That's why." 40:06 People go running off after number two when you need the number three. 40:09 "What do you need from me?" "I'll tell you. I'll tell you exactly what I 40:12 need from you. Wait on me. You're getting way ahead of me. 40:17 Come back. Follow me." Whew. "He leadeth me, He sendeth me 40:24 because He needeth me, for the Lord has need of it." Yeah, but come on. Come on. 40:30 A little reality check here. Does God really, truly need anything? 40:33 Tell me. Help me out here. Does God need anything in this universe? 40:37 [ Scoffs ] Of course not. The answer's rhetorical -- no. 40:41 Lookit, you got these Bible verses. 40:42 Let me run them by you. Number one -- Pslam 24:1 -- "The 40:45 earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and 40:48 all who live in it." The whole shebang is His. 40:52 Let's go to the next Psalm, Psalm 50. 40:54 There it is -- Psalm 50 -- "For every animal of the forest is 40:56 mine, and the cattle on a --" what? -- "thousand hills." 41:00 Incidentally, the reports we're getting back indicate that not 41:02 only the cattle on a thousand hills, but He owns the hills 41:05 under the cattle. Let Him go on and speak here. 41:09 Put it back up, please. "I know every bird in the 41:11 mountains. I know the creatures of the 41:13 field. They're all mine," God says. 41:14 "If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, 41:18 and all that is in it." So, if the world is His and all 41:23 that is in it, why does He say, "The Lord needs it"? 41:26 How can the Lord need anything if He has everything? 41:28 I mean, look at Haggai 2:8. By the way, all the money is 41:31 His. Let's take a look at that. 41:33 "'The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,' declares the Lord 41:35 almighty." 41:36 So, what could a God who has everything possibly need? Guess what. 41:43 I can only think of one thing. I can only think of one thing, and I'm gonna let you figure it 41:48 out before we put any more on the screen. I can only think of one thing 41:51 that God possibly needs, what He wants. What do you think God needs? 41:55 There's one thing He needs that He can't get. What do you think it is? 41:59 >> Us. >> Us. To the head of the class. 42:03 You may graduate, in fact, in May. >> Yes. 42:06 >> Proverbs chapter 23, ladies and gentlemen, verse 16 -- "My 42:10 child -- My child, give me your heart." 42:14 He owns everything else in the universe except your heart. 42:18 And that's why He comes to you. "My child, my daughter, my son," humbly He asks, "give me your 42:24 heart." The Lord needs it. But he cannot take it because 42:27 your heart is yours alone to live, and if you've been giving your heart out to 100 different 42:31 people in the short time you're here, there are a lot of people holding onto you now. 42:35 They have an invested interest in you. You got to hang on to that 42:40 heart. It's not worth giving to every flashy soul that walks in front 42:48 of you. The Lord has need of it. He wants that heart. 42:55 And you know why? There is nothing -- Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. 42:59 There is nothing that more quickly, more authentically, and more clearly reveals who has 43:05 your heart than who has your money. Well, I'd drop it, too. 43:13 [ Laughter ] Who has your heart? I'll find out. 43:19 Who has your money? "My child, my son, my daughter, the Lord needs it. 43:30 Oh, but He doesn't need anything, except, of course, your heart." 43:33 But nothing more clearly reveals who has your heart than who has your money. 43:37 Ed Gungor -- let me put his words on the screen. Take a look at this. 43:39 This is rather insightful, I think. 44:12 ...which is precisely the point of this explosive promise in the Bible. 44:16 We'll end with this -- Malachi, Malachi chapter 3. That would be the Old Testament, 44:20 last book. It's always hard to find, but it's just before Matthew. 44:26 Malachi chapter 3 -- take a look at this. Malachi chapter 3. 44:34 Verse 10. God's speaking. He says, "Yo..." 44:55 Did you catch that? The Lord has need of it. Well, what's the need? 45:00 "I need it. I need food in my storehouse. Please. 45:03 I need it, and you have it." Aw, come on, God. You have everything. 45:06 You don't need -- What, are you collecting dollars up there? He doesn't need the dollars at 45:11 all. He's collecting hearts. And He knows that behind -- 45:14 behind -- behind the dollar is a heart. He's going for the hearts, guys, 45:21 not the bucks. It's the hearts He wants. "Bring the whole tithe to me. 45:29 It's 10% right off the top. 10%. Hey, lookit, I understand what you need. 45:37 I'll leave 90% for you. This 10% is for me. It's mine, actually. 45:42 Bring that 10% to me. Wrap your heart up in the 10%, and I'll take care of the 100% 45:48 for you. How's that?" 45:51 For as the Good Book says... or as Jesus put it Himself -- 45:58 Luke 16:13 on the screen. 46:11 "So please give me your heart. 46:13 Give me your money. The Lord has need of it." "How much, Lord?" 46:16 "10%. I'll stretch the 90%. Give me that 10%. 46:22 I'll stretch what's left. I need your heart. And this is the only way I can 46:28 know I have your heart -- if I have your money." I received an e-mail from one of 46:38 our viewers a few months ago. And I'll tell you, this story -- this story is so incredible, I 46:43 got to share it with you, all right? "Hello, Dwight. 46:47 While we have never met, I truly feel like I know you. My son went to 46:51 Andrews University," yada, yada, yada. "I'm a member and an elder in a 46:55 very well-known church far, far away from here. I did this in my life. 47:00 This was my 20th year. But what I'm e-mailing you about is the sermon you preached on 47:06 the double-tithing challenge. I've faithfully pay tithe since I started working as a teenager 47:12 to help pay for my Christian education costs and clothing. It's very clear to me that the 47:17 Lord loves us. Everything is the Lord's, and it's amazing that he only asks 47:21 10% and allows us to keep 90%. My wife and I, for most of our adult life, have also given an 47:26 additional 6% for offering." Wow. Mm-hmm. "We have also -- We have also 47:32 been greatly blessed. But I must say that, while the concept of a double tithe is not 47:37 new, it really hit me the way you presented it and the way the Holy Spirit convicted me. 47:41 You see, my wife has a job, and we need to buy our house. We decided --" 47:51 I'm summarizing now. "We decided that if we triple our house payments -- if we 47:55 triple our house payments, we can have this house by September this year." 48:02 Whew. "We've been so stressed to keep up with this heavy of a 48:06 house-payment schedule. We've used up all our savings to keep the schedule going. 48:09 Therefore, my story --" Now lookit. "So, I hear this presentation in 48:13 the month of August. I talk to my wife, and we decide we will start double-tithing my 48:17 personal business." So, that's what they do. "So, to keep up with our 48:20 payments tripled to be able to pay the house off, we needed more money, not less, but we're 48:25 not gonna return more." That's what he's saying. How could this be? 48:28 This is illogical. "Since the double payments, this is what's happened." 48:32 And he made a little chart. So, this is the story part now. So, he made a little chart. 48:36 And he tells at the bottom of the chart what's happened. So, this is September. 48:42 September. They triple house payments. They find they're gonna be $100 48:47 short. "I was in my bedroom and found a $100 bill that I had no clue was 48:50 there. Thus, our needs were provided for." 48:54 Check your bedroom. That's the point. Just check the bedroom. 48:57 That's where stuff is. You don't even know what's in there. 49:01 Just check it. So, they were $100 short. 49:03 He found $100 in his bedroom. Okay, that's September. 49:06 Now comes October. "We were gonna be $300 short. 49:11 I was in my truck and looked in the console between the seats. 49:15 There, from the prior year, was a check for $300. 49:18 Thus, we met the payment." Now, he puts a little word as an explanation -- exclamation at 49:25 the end of every -- in this little chart. So, the first one, to find $100 49:30 in the bed, his exclamation is, "Amen." The $300 in the truck is, 49:34 "Praise God." "Now, in November, we needed $1,180." 49:41 Whew. They are short. Turns out, at his former job, the director is now -- Her 49:47 husband's been given an overseas trip, and they're going on vacation. 49:50 The woman has used up all her -- She has no vacation accrual time, so they need to hire 49:55 somebody to step in. He had done the job, he stepped it, and he got paid for stepping 49:59 in that month an extra $4,400. So, now the word is, at the end here, "Wow!" 50:07 He types in, "Wow!" This is December. "Needed $500 extra. 50:14 Got an unexpected $1,000 bonus from the place where I work. Covered." 50:18 January -- Now, I'm not going through his whole life. This is January. 50:22 "Was gonna be $1,000 short. Had three checks." Oh, this is one of those 50:25 three-check months. "Had three checks, so received an extra $2,000 and also got a 50:30 cost-of-living adjustment of $960." And what's the exc-- 50:33 The word here is, "Unexpected." Final one -- February. "Was gonna be $1,200 short for 50:39 February. Was asked to cover a certain clinic. 50:42 It increased my pay by $31,000 a year, of which $2,583 per month was added. 50:47 And, by the way," he says, "we also found a $300 check on the kitchen counter from the year 50:52 before, and the counter is not cluttered." Yeah, right. It's not cluttered. 50:56 $300 just sitting there on the clean counter? No way. 51:01 Isn't that something? "Who knows where we go from here? 51:04 But the February raise will cover what we need on a monthly basis --" this is his testimony 51:07 now -- "to get out of debt by having the house paid off by our target date of September and 51:13 have the ability --" [ Sighs ] "Isn't it funny how we go from 51:17 worrying about whether we will have enough money to keep up with our goals to the next 51:21 minute worrying about not entering into the next tax bracket and having to pay more 51:25 taxes? It's a good problem. It's a good problem," he writes, 51:28 "but we need to trust the Lord at all times. Thank you for your ministry. 51:31 The Lord is coming soon." Isn't that something? How'd that line go? 51:34 What was this, Malachi 3:10? 51:36 "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be 51:40 food in my house. And test me -- test me -- check 51:43 me out in this,' says the Lord almighty, 'and see if I will not 51:47 throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much 51:50 blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.'" 51:54 Why give? Because the Lord needs. He needs your heart. 51:59 He wants your heart. He leadeth me, he sendeth me because he needeth me. 52:05 He leads me and sends me and needs me all the way up the road to Calvary because it's at the 52:12 cross where at last we're confronted with the stupendous debt God has paid on our behalf. 52:19 I want to close with these words. 1902 these words were written. 52:24 They're on the screen. 52:49 This is the line -- "He has 52:51 revealed a love that defies all computation --" isn't that 52:56 good? -- "a love that should fill our hearts and our lives 52:59 with gratitude." 53:01 "He has revealed a love that defies all computation." Wow. 53:08 So, Bloomberg boasts, "Join the 1% and live a decade longer." Jesus counter-offers, "Join the 53:20 10% and live forever." So, go ahead. Keep the 10%. Keep the 10%. 53:26 You'll get another decade. Return the 10%, you've got forever. 53:30 Hey, Look. Look. Look. Look. Forever. 10 years. Forever. 10 years. 53:38 Is this really a choice? 53:46 Let's pray. Oh, God, forever, 10 years? What are we thinking? 53:54 Well, we know what you're thinking. You climbed that hill, hung on 54:00 that cross so that you might win our hearts, win us, woo us, draw us. 54:07 It's not the dollar bills you want. You have them all. 54:11 It's the hearts that you're longing for, and so I pray for every heart gathered here or 54:18 anywhere. You may have our hearts. Please take our hearts. 54:26 In Jesus' name. Amen. [ "I am Thine, O Lord" plays ] 54:53 [ Congregation sings ] 56:34 "And now may the God of hope who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ fill you with 56:40 all joy and peace as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the 56:47 Holy Spirit." Amen. ♪♪ 57:12 >> May I take an extra moment with you and let you know how grateful I am that you joined us 57:16 in worship today. I hear from viewers like you across the nation and literally 57:19 around the world, and I'm thankful. 57:21 If you'd like to explore further what we have just shared, I hope 57:24 you'll visit us at our website. It's an easy one to remember -- 57:27 www.pmchurch.tv. We're the 57:32 Pioneer Memorial Church here on the campus of 57:35 Andrews University. So, that's www.pmchurch.tv. 57:38 Click onto that website, and you'll be able to listen to a 57:41 podcast of this material. 57:42 You can download the presentation. You can print off the study 57:44 guide. You may have a special prayer need that you wish to share with 57:48 our prayer partners. Or you may wish to partner with us through a personal donation 57:52 to help reach this generation with the everlasting good news of Christ. 57:55 If you'd rather talk with someone, call one of our friendly operators. 57:59 Here's the toll-free number -- 877 and then the two words 58:02 "His will" -- 877-HIS-WILL. In the meantime, may the grace 58:07 and peace of Jesus be yours every step of this adventurous 58:11 way. ♪♪ |
Revised 2016-05-31