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Encounters And Honors Christ
Pastor Floyd's second sermon from the series "Big Faith."
$6.00 — $12.00
Without question today we are a blessed, blessed people. Do you realize that God is in the process of creating in you a life message? And do you realize that as he creates this life message in each one of our lives it is through the community of faith, the church of Jesus Christ that we come together and share those various life messages. And when we do that, what happens personally is that we become more balanced. And we do that corporately, the church becomes more balanced.
If you were to take a Abram in the Scripture, and you were to cut him open, and find out, and discover what his life message is, his life message is big faith. That’s what we’re going to talk about today in a brand new way. Last week when we began this series on Big Faith, we talked about how God came to Abram. And God called Abram to leave where he was, to be willing to leave all he knew and had, to go to a fresh new land that he did not know of. When Abram took action and did what God called him to do, which was a huge action of big faith, God blessed his obedience. In fact, God gave him unmeasured blessings, even to the point that Abram broke out in worship to God.
But toady the story continues. We’ll find in the Scripture that denotes Abram’s life is that he and his nephew, Lot, determined that they were going to go in separate directions now that they had arrived. Lot chose the Jordan Valley. Abram went the other direction. In time, a war, a conflict broke out in the Jordan Valley Region. The war took place between an alliance of five kings versus an alliance of four kings. Well the four king alliance won the war. They captured Lot, again, the nephew of Abram, took him along with several others, and took away all of his possessions and resources. Abram found out, and Abram gathered together 318 of his equipped, trained warriors, and went searching for Lot, to rescue Lot from this alliance of the four kings. Abram was successful. He rescued Lot. He also rescued Lot’s possessions, as well as some women and many others.
And then all of a sudden in the 14th chapter of the book of Genesis, as this story is recounted; something happens that takes his faith from here to here. You see that’s what big faith does. You never get settled. Big faith is not only living faith, but it’s growing faith that lives. And so in the 14th chapter of the book of Genesis, we discover a passage that is absolutely powerful for our day.
I want you today to look with me in the 14th chapter, beginning in verse 17, reading through verse number 24. The Bible says, “After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). Then Melchizedek,” you might want to underline or circle that individual in the Scripture, “king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High. He,” that is Melchizedek, “blessed him,” that is Abram, “and said: Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and give praise to God Most High who has handed over your enemies to you. And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but take the possessions for yourself.” Now I think a very profound word is found in verse 22 and 23. “But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand in an oath to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,” listen to this, “that I will not take a thread or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ I will take nothing except what the servants have eaten. But as for the share of the men who came with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they can take their share.”
Big faith encounters and honors Christ. Now what I have found out in life is that we don’t talk about, especially relating to the Bible, we don’t talk about those things that we don’t know a lot about. We might ask questions about them, but we don’t talk about them like we know them. Now we live life, I mean we’re always talking about something we don’t know about, and acting like we know about it. Right? That’s why all of us think we’re so smart. But when the Bible’s in there, sometimes things we don’t understand we just act like they don’t exist.
Well today what I’m going to do is I’m going to talk about something that’s not known about a lot in today’s world. I’m going to talk about an individual by the name of Melchizedek. Now he is one of three individuals in this story. The first person is Abram, remember? God was creating in Abram this message of big faith, and God never lets him rest. He’s always interweaving his life message into Abram’s life. And by the way, whatever your life message is, He is always interweaving that life message in and around you even when you don’t like that as your life message. And that’s exactly what He was doing with Abram. Here He was taking Abram from here all the way to here.
And then there was the King of Sodom. Now the little game show, Let’s Make a Deal” was created by the King of Sodom. He said, “Hey Abram, let’s make a deal. I want the people. You keep the possessions. We’ve got a great thing for both of us.” And then there was the one named Melchizedek. Can you say that name, Melchizedek? Say it out loud. Melchizedek. Melchizedek. Can you spell it? Just learn to say it.
When you don’t quite understand something in the scripture, it helps to look at the entire scripture. And today what I want to do is I want to take you on a brief journey in the Holy Scripture. But before I do that, I want to get us into the heart of who Melchizedek is. In verse 18, the Bible says, “He is my King of Righteousness.” That’s what Melchizedek means. My King of Righteousness. And then he is the “King of Salem,” meaning he is the King of Peace. So here is the King of Righteousness, and he is the king of Peace.
Now notice he is the King of Righteousness, and Peace. Question? Who rules the world with righteousness and peace? At the cross of Jesus Christ, in His atoning death, He died so that we might become the righteousness of God. And to all who believe, it is through this King of Righteousness that God gives to us peace to the level of our belief. We find that in the book of Hebrews. Let’s see what the Scripture teaches us in the 5th chapter of the book of Hebrews. Let me read a couple of verses for your: chapter 5, verse 5 and 6. The Scripture says, “In the same way the Messiah,” the Messiah is Jesus, “did not exalt Himself to become a high priest, but the one who said to Him,” this is God the Father said, “You are My Son, today I have become Your Father.”
Also said in another passage, listen to what he said. “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” Wow. Wonder what that means? Well, where did that come from? That came from Psalm chapter 110, and rather than reading all of Psalm 110, let me read a couple of verses. Notice these two verses: verse 1 and verse 4. “The Lord declared to my lord,” all right? That right there should make you ask a question. What in the world does that mean? “God the Father declared to my lord, the Lord Jesus Christ,” listen to what God the Father said about His Son, Jesus Christ. “Sit at my right hand.” Who’s at the right hand of God today? Who is it? Jesus Christ. Come on, help me out now. I need help. Jesus Christ. He said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies,” what does He say? “…Your footstool.” Next time you put your feet on a footstool, or something that serves as a footstool, that’s what God said Jesus was going to be able to do at the right hand of the Father. I am going to put all of your enemies under your feet and you can prop yourself up, baby, you’re captain, and you’re king. I’m not sure He used the word baby.
Now verse 4, “The Lord has sworn,” the Scripture says, “an oath and will not take it back.” And what does God say? “Forever.” God the Father said to the Son, “Forever You are a Priest like Melchizedek.” I wonder what that means?
And then in Hebrews 7, which to me gives us the real insight, in fact if you are really quick getting to the Bible, and you grew up perhaps where you did those little sword drills, and something called RAs or GAs, or Sunbeams, and that leaves out about 90% of you today. You say what in the world was that? Well, it wasn’t a cult. It’s when we used to teach children the Word of God and missions. That’s what it’s about.
But in chapter 7, verse 1 through 7, listen to what the Scripture says, “For this Melchizedek—King of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham and blessed him as he returned from defeating the kings,” who did he defeat? Huh? The four kings, remember? “and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything; first,” going back to what his name is, Melchizedek, first “his name means “king of righteousness,” then also, “king of Salem,” meaning “king of peace”;” he goes on to talk about Melchizedek, “without father,” he doesn’t have a father, “mother,” didn’t have a mother, “or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life,” indicating the eternal nature, the eternal being, “but,” listen to this, “resembling, resembling the Son of God —,” who was Jesus? He was Prophet, Priest, and what is He? King. Resembling the Son of God “remains a priest forever.” What does God say Jesus is? He is the Great High Priest who represents you before the Father, whoever lives to make intercession for you. Amen. “Now consider how great this man was,” ah listen, look at verse 4, “to whom even Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the plunder! The sons of Levi,” those are the priests, “who receive the priestly office have a commandment according to the law to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their brothers—though they have [also] descended from Abraham. But one without this lineage,” in other words meaning he was a not a Levite, “one without this lineage collected tithes from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.” That means he blessed Abraham. And verse 7 is absolutely one of the most powerful verses in the Bible. So if you’ve got a pen, marker, or my friend Jay Strike says, mascara, would you please underline that? “Without a doubt, the interior,” excuse me, “the inferior is blessed by the superior.”
Abram was the inferior. And he was blessed by the superior. Who is Melchizedek? I believe Melchizedek was Jesus Christ revealing Himself to Abram, the great man of faith. And he was taking his faith from here all the way to here because he wanted to create in this man, this giant of a man, even greater faith and bigger faith. This was a theophany, some would say, an appearance of God. Some would say he is a type of Christ. Some would say he is a shadow of Christ. Call it what you want to, I believe it was the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Risen One who was revealing Himself to this one named Abram because Jesus is without father or mother, without any lineage, He is the One who was, who is, and who is to come. He’s the beginning and the end; the first and the last; the A and Z.
Now everyone here likes to learn Scripture, right? I trust that’s why you’re here, you want to learn, you want to investigate. All of us are at different levels, some of you who want to study the Bible, you like to study the Bible. Some of you like to listen to the Bible being taught. Some of you like to grow in the Bible. You like to grow, and many of you are teachers. I want all of you to sit up and listen. That doesn’t leave anybody out, or less you probably wouldn’t be here today.
I want to give to you what I’m calling today a teaching moment about how to interpret Scripture. If you were to go to seminary we would call this class Hermenedics. But, let’s just talk about a teaching moment about how to interpret Scripture. Here it is. The primary purpose, theme and goal of the Scriptures is Jesus Christ. He is the center of all Scriptures. When you look from Genesis all the way to Revelation, even the book of Leviticus, from Song of Solomon, all the way to the Revelation, the primary purpose, theme, and goal of Scriptures is Jesus Christ. He is the center! Are you listening today? Of all Scriptures! The Bible will begin to mean more to you than ever before when you begin to see it that way.
In the Old Testament He is being prophesied, and forecasted, and looked forward to, and even some of the insights of the Old Testament show Him even as the millennial reigning king of the 1000 year reign of Christ after He’s destroyed all evil in the world. And after the last war has been fought. And in the New Testament you gain insights like never before when you understand the King of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, even from Mathew to Revelation is Jesus Christ.
Now back to chapter 14 of Genesis for a moment in verse 18, he talks about the King of Righteousness. Notice what he did. He brought out bread and wine. Wow. Bread and wine. You ought to think about what that could mean. Do you think the bread and wine that is used there, why did he bring it up? Could it be that he was giving a prophetic word about the coming, atoning death of Jesus Christ when he would stand in as the justice of God for all of the sins of the world? Remember? It was in the upper room that he had that time right before his death, when he gave to the disciples bread and wine that symbolized his death that was about to occur. So the cross was forecast even here in Genesis 14. Jesus is alive in Genesis 14!
Now you listen to this statement today. Are you ready? Now learn this. At the cross of Jesus Christ, righteousness and peace kissed one another. In the atoning death of Jesus on the cross, righteousness and peace kissed one another. It was in that incredible, atoning death where he knew no sin became sin for me so that I might become the righteousness of God in Him. So He’s the King of Righteousness. And to all of those who believe, He becomes the King of Peace. Even Isaiah said one day there’s going to come one who is so great that he will be called the Prince of Peace. I’m telling you, this is a great book. You ought to read it.
And then the Scripture calls him back over to 14 of Genesis. Hang with me now. That He is the Priest to God most high. Meaning Melchizedek is the Priest to God Most High. Who is Melchizedek? Jesus Christ. So Jesus is the High Priest. And here He is seeing, or being seen that He is the Priest of the Most High God! In the Hebrew this is the term El Eleon, which means that He is the strong one. He is the first one. He is the sovereign one. It is Jesus is the first cause of everything! There is nothing without Jesus. It all began with Jesus. It will all end with Jesus, ladies and gentlemen.
In verse 19 the Bible talks about the most sovereign Lord and King. He blessed Abram. And Abram was favored by God. Do you know why God favored Abram? Because of his big faith! And Abram had recognized God as the owner and the possessor of all. In verse 20, he gives praise to God, which is the first praise we see in Scripture. And that first praise that came to Scripture was what? When he brought praise to the sovereign Lord who had handed over his enemies to him.
You know it’s interesting, isn’t it? When in verse 20 when it says that God Most High who has handed over your enemies to you. Can I just tell you something today that perhaps you’ve forgotten in your life? Whenever you have a victory in your life, it is God alone who gives you the victory. All your victories come from the Lord. Now I want you to grab a hold of this because what happened is that Abram embraced, he encountered, and he honored Christ. That’s what we’re talking about today.
Now there are a couple of actions that I want to tell you that Abram took. And these same two actions, we need to take when we encounter, and we honor Jesus. Now before I go to these actions, let me just say a word about honor today. We understand what encounter means. Don’t we? That means that I’m going to encounter you. I’m going to run into you. I’m going to introduce myself to you or vice versa. We’re going to have to deal with one another because we’re like locked in eyes right now. Right? So you see what I’m saying? We have to respond. That’s encounter.
But honor, now you know what? Honor is something the American culture knows little to nothing about. And if anyone ought to be teaching honor, it ought to be the church of Jesus Christ. But we don’t know anything about honoring our leaders. We don’t know anything about honoring our country. We live in day when everybody’s skeptical, cynical, and basically think that they know it all. I’m telling you we need to learn honor. Honor means to give value to. Honor means that someone is special to you and you honor. I always like to watch what happens at a ballgame when the National Anthem is playing, and sung. I mean you can tell a lot about what those people believe about honor. In the typical ballgame you’ve got people kind of lollygagging, looking around like at church during the invitation time. Let’s get this over with so we can get to the real meat of this deal.
And others who are talking. Talking while the National Anthem of the United States of America is being sung? God forbid! I want to tell you something, when the National Anthem of our nation is sung, or played, you need to be on your feet, you need to keep your mouth shut, put your hand over your heart! People have given you this nation by their blood! That’s what you call honor!
Well worthy of honor much more than the United States is the Son of God, Jesus Christ the Righteous One! The United States is inferior to the Superior. So what are these actions what we need to take in order to bring honor to God? Well, the first action Abram took was, I’m going to challenge you to do because I trust you want to do that in your life.
1. To give Jesus at least one-tenth of everything that He has given to you in life. That’s what he said. Abram said when he encountered Jesus; he gave to Jesus one-tenth of everything he had. That term one-tenth we equate with the word tithing. Tithing or giving the one-tenth is not some random gift you make, but tithing is specifically one-tenth of all God has given to you in your life. And I want to underline something: all God has given to you in your life.
The Hebrew word for tithe solely refers to a gift; listen to this that is given solely to the Lord. Not to something else, but to the Lord! This points back to Melchizedek being a type of Christ, Christ Himself. Big faith encounters and honors the Lord by giving one-tenth of all God has given to you.
Now some would say, “Oh listen, I don’t need to, I don’t need to tithe because tithing is the law. I don’t have to live by the law. I’ve been saved by the grace of God.” Now be careful. You’re showing your ignorance. You’re showing what you do not know about the Holy Scripture. 500 years before the Mosaic Law was given, Abram gave one-tenth of everything he had to Jesus, when Jesus showed up in his life.
I like the Believer’s Bible says about this. Relating to tithing it says, and I quote, “Abram commenced it.” Meaning he began it. “Moses commanded it. And Jesus Christ Himself commended it.” I mean I’m telling you Christ practiced it, encouraged others to practice it, and acted like it was a normal practice in the life of anyone who had any kind of commitment at all to the Father, to the Creator, and the Possessor of all. Abram gave one-tenth of everything God gave to him.
Now why is that? Why did Abram, who had been blessed immeasurably, why in the world did Abram when he ran into Jesus, I mean it so impacted his life that he gave an, a one-tenth of everything? I’ll tell you why! It’s because of what we sung in this auditorium a few moments ago at Pinnacle Hills! Because God is greater, that’s why! Hebrews 7:7 tells us the inferior is blessed by the superior! I am inferior. You are inferior. We are inferior and we are blessed by the Superior, Jesus Christ. Therefore, what Abram did is that he honored the Superior because he understood that God is the one who blessed him.
I’ve said this a few times and perhaps it may sound rop to you many of you, but you have what you have, you are what you are, you’ll ever be what you’ll ever be because of God. Period. So act like it. Live like it. Abram wanted to honor Jesus Christ, and God gave him a tangible way to honor Jesus Christ, and that is through the first tenth.
The Bible verifies this again later of course, but then in Malachi chapter 3, the Scripture challenges us in verse 10, “Bring the full ten percent, the full one-tenth, the full tithe into the storehouse, which is the church of Jesus Christ in our day so that there may be food in my house.” That’s where the ministry of the temple took place. “Test me now in this says the Lord of Hosts.” What does God say if you’ll do this? “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven, pour out a blessing for you without measure.” Wow! Praise the Lord for Malachi 3, verse 10.
Amen. Amen. Hey can I ask you a few personal questions today? I appreciate it. Let’s just get down to the real meat and reality of where we are today? Do you honor Jesus right now in your life by giving Him the first one-tenth of all that He has given to you? That’s a yes or no question. It’s not an essay. It’s a multiple choice. It’s not yes, no, maybe, or sometimes. It’s yes or no. So do you?
If you do not, then can I ask you another question? Why not? “Well you know, man, it’s just you know, it’s, I just don’t have a lot, and…” Oh listen; honoring Jesus with the first one-tenth that God gives you has nothing to do with what you have. It has nothing with a lack of what you have. One thing it does show when you do not do it, it shows a lack of honor to the One who is superior to you. That’s what it shows. “Oh Pastor, these have been tough times. I mean you know it’s, things have changed.” Tough times? So tough times give you a reason not to obey God? Tough times give you an excuse not to do what God says do because when you do it you walk in obedience, blessing, and promise, and worship like you’ve never had before? Oh listen, hey listen, let me just tell you the facts of life. If you don’t do it when you don’t have anything, you’re probably not going to do it when you have a lot.
Because it’s not about money. It’s not about a lack of money, or having a plentiful of money. If you make money, the issue, you have got it so shallow you’ve put it down on your level. It’s not about that! It’s about honoring God! Honor! Honor! Honor! Honor! Honor! We are inferior; He is superior!
Next question: Are you teaching your children how to give one-tenth unto the Lord? Are you listening to me? Are you teaching your children how to give one-tenth to the Lord? To honor the Lord with the first-tenth they have? If not, why not? Do you teach them how to dance? Do you teach them how to jump? Do you teach them how to walk? Do you teach them how to throw a ball? Do you teach them how to catch a ball? Do you teach them how to catch a field? Do you teach them how to dribble? Do you teach them how to shoot? Do you teach them how to call the hogs? Don’t you think you have to mentor them in giving the first-tenth unto the Lord in their lives? Parents, that’s why you should, well I say this, parents that’s why one reason is why you should honor God by blessing your kids and honoring them by giving them an allowance. Because you can teach them how to give from that allowance.
This morning in the first service I’m telling you there was a young boy sitting right by his mother, and I mean as soon as I said that’s why you should give your kid an allowance, he poked his mom! I saw him! I caught him! And I talked about it briefly. So all of you young people go home and talk to mom and dad about that, but you better remember, when they do it, you better learn what God says about that. You honor God with at least one-tenth of all God has given to you.
You see if we don’t teach them how to do that, we’re teaching them how to disobey Christ, and dishonor the Lord! That’s what we’re teaching them! We’re teaching them one of two things! Honor or dishonor. Come on now. Help me. Help me. Help me.
Next question: Will you start to honor God today by giving the first tenth unto Jesus? Will you do it? And will you do it God’s way, and that’s through your local church? You see if you don’t start today, or tomorrow, you’re probably never going to start, and if you do not do it then basically what’s going to happen is the blessings of God are going to be limited upon your life. Oh Ronnie, it’s hard. It’s hard times. Hey, you know what? If it’s as hard as you think it’s hard, then you better start living God’s way so you can activate the blessings of God. Cause otherwise, you’re running uphill, baby, and I mean you’re scaling Mount Everest. And you’re not going to make it. You’re going to develop a nosebleed and die!
You see if we do not pledge our allegiance to Christ along through honoring Christ with the first-tenth, then you know what we’re pledging allegiance to? We’re pledging allegiance to the world. That’s what we’re saying. The world is greater than Christ. The American dream. Oh, everybody’s into the American dream. I’m not sure there is anything that’s done more harm to the church of Jesus Christ, and the propagation of the gospel than the American dream. Because some reason we think that’s our purpose, and that’s not our purpose! Our purpose is higher than that! I want to just say to you the American dream is inferior to the superior, Jesus!
So all of you who are sitting there today say oh man that’s the way to go Pastor. Boy they need that because I’ve been tithing many years. Okay, are you growing in the grace of giving the first tenth? Grace requires more from you than the law, or Abram ever would. You see the one-tenth is the floor for your giving; it’s not the ceiling for your giving. Are you growing in the percentage of your giving? I mean beginning October 1, I challenge every one of you, go to 11%, go to 12%, go to 15%, go to 20%. Some of our people give 30 plus percent of all they have to the Lord. Ah man, they must be rich. No. It has nothing to do with wealth. Let me make it really clear. It has nothing to do with wealth. It has to do with honor.
And I just want to say a word about legacy giving for a moment. One day all of you are going to die. It’s going to come. If Jesus doesn’t come, you’re going to die. Do you realize that next Sunday I came in view of a call to this church 24 years ago next Sunday? The last Sunday of the month I started as pastor of this fellowship, the last Sunday of October 1986. And you know when the most incredibly discouraging and disappointing things? It absolutely amazes me that in those almost 24 years I cannot name three families who have left this earth, and gone to be with Jesus in heaven, who have left a legacy of giving God at least one-tenth of all God has given to them in their lives! That is amazing to me! That Christians would die different than they live! And some of us are worth more dead than we are alive! And by the way, if you’re going to die, and you want your kids to get more, you need to die by the end of this year! January 1 it all changes, big guy! The government is going to get a lot of it anyway. You ought to give it to Jesus. He can do a lot more with it than the government will. You’re never going to get this country where it needs to be by bigger, more, this and that and the other. It’s about doing what’s right. It’s about doing what honors God. When the nation honors God, God will bless the nation. And when you honor Jesus with the first-tenth of all God has given to you, I’m telling you, listen to me today, the hand of God is going to come like it’s never come before. The blessings are going to surprise you along the way. And you’re going to have more than you’ve ever had before, therefore, you’re going to have more to give than you ever have been able to give before!
You say that makes no sense. That’s because you don’t understand big faith! Big faith always leads us to a new future with God! So that’s one action he took. It’s one action we should take. But also, notice the second action:
2. We should declare your allegiance, declare your allegiance to Christ Jesus alone. That’s what Abram did. He declared his allegiance to Christ Jesus alone. The King of Sodom told Abram give me the people, listen to this, remember? Let’s make a deal, dude. Give me the people and you take all of the possessions. And you know what Abraham told him, or Abram told him? He said absolutely not. And I think one of the greatest insights of this passage is found in these verses. Abram said I will not take your possessions because if I take your possessions, others are going to one day say that you made me rich! And you didn’t make me rich baby! God makes me rich! And he raised his hand, and he gave allegiance to Christ! And he said I’m telling you Christ Jesus is my Lord. And what Abram was saying is I’m not going to sell out to the world. I’m not going to sell out to a dream. I’m not going to sell out to all that crud. He said it’s the one who blessed me is the one who is superior to me! And I’m inferior to Him. And you are inferior to Him as well.
Wow! He promised God absolute allegiance. Man. What a story. So why should we give and declare our allegiance to Christ? I’ll tell you why. To bring honor to Jesus. To show Jesus He’s special. To show Jesus we value Jesus. We do not value Jesus today. What is the deal? We’ve got a culture that’s trying to place Him on the same level as Mohammad, and Buddha. We’ve got school systems that are attempting to do the same thing. Well I want to tell you man, He is not subservient, nor is He equal to Mohammad, Buddha, or anybody else! He is the Superior One! And that’s who He is! So bring honor to Jesus, and we do it to declare surrender to Jesus!
We talked about that word, surrender to Jesus earlier. Last week we talked about it. Okay, here I am. Anywhere, anytime, anything, the answer’s yes. And then loyalty to Jesus. Oh man. Loyalty to Jesus. Now how do we declare that loyalty to Jesus? He recognized Jesus Christ as the Sovereign Lord who creates and possesses all. And he honored Him with what? The first-tenth of all he had. He held his hand up. He said bro I just want you to know, I don’t want your possessions, and you’re not going to get the people. I belong to Him, and you will never have the privilege of saying you’re the one that blessed me. But Jesus is.
All you have in your life, you have for one reason. Jesus blessed you. You know what’s amazing? We need to learn we cannot out give God. We need to learn that we need to separate ourselves from a system that sucks into a lie. And learn to adore and live by the One and His commands, and His life, and His truth that continues to march on.
I’m reminded of what Billy Graham said years ago. He said these words, “If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will straighten out almost every other area in his life.” Boy that’s a good word, isn’t it? Amen. I like it when old Billy said, when he said everybody needs to come to Jesus. I’m not sure I like that one. I’m telling you he’s right on that one too.
A.W. Tozier said these words, what a profound word, “Any temporal possession can be turned into everlasting wealth.” Notice this next sentence. “Whatever is given to Christ is immediately touched with immortality.” I can tell you this, whatever you give to this world, will one day be touched with fire and obstruction. Oh. Why can’t we see that, Josh? What’s wrong with us? Why can’t we see that? But when we give it to Christ, it’s touched with immortality. Hm.
Robert Murray McCheyne, he was a famous Scottish pastor. And with these words I close today. He said, “There are many hearing me who now know well they are not Christians because they do not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not grudgingly at all, requires a new heart.” And you know what I’ve come to believe? I’ve come to believe that a lot of us struggle in this thing called giving. It doesn’t matter whether it’s money, time, any of that junk; we struggle because we really have not ever been changed by a, an atoning Savior who died to take away our sins, and we’ve never understood the love of God that is greater than us, and covers all of our sin. We’ve never been so changed by this dynamic Savior and Lord to the point where we believe He deserves everything we have. But I’m telling you we need a new heart. And there are many of you today, you need a new heart.
One of our staff members, her daddy got a new heart. I mean he literally got a new heart, a heart transplant. That son-in-law told me, “Yes he’s been given at least another 15 years, but even as great as a blessing as that 15 years, one day that heart will run out.” But when Jesus so gives you a new heart, you’re touched with immortality.
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- http://www.ronniefloyd.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/2Z238L-Encounters-and-Honors-Christ.mp3
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