April 19, 2015 Notes Not Edited
A Sure Bet
1Chronicles 29:1-18
SIS—Giving to God’s work through the church is
not an “easy bet,” but it is a “sure bet” and will bring eternal happiness and
rewards.
This morning I am
looking at the idea of “A Sure Bet—How to Achieve True Prosperity.” In a recent Internet article titled, “The
Twenty Easiest Ways to Get Rich,” here are the top Five. Number one is playing
the lottery. No big surprise there. Most people dream of hitting the lottery
just once, but Las Vegas resident Joan Ginther hit it an unbelievable four
times. According to ABC News, Ginther won the Texas lottery four times over the
past 17 years, winning $5.4 million in 1993, $2 million in 2006, and $3 million
in 2008. Her biggest score came in 2010: a $50 scratch ticket that was worth
$10 million. Number two: Inheriting wealth is another way people have gotten
rich without much work. Christy Walton—the widow of John Walton, a son of
Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton—inherited her husband’s fortune after his death in
a plane crash in 2005. Her estimated worth of $22.5 billion makes her one of
the world’s richest people, according to Forbes.com. In my wife’s case, she’s
decided to take her chances in the lottery. Number three: bet on a long shot at
the Kentucky Derby. Texas software entrepreneur Glen Fullerton won $900,000 in
the Kentucky Derby this year. His pick, Super Saver, with 8-to-1 odds. Number
four: hit a hole-in-one in a “million dollar hole-in-one contest.” Jason Hargett,
a restaurant manager and father of four, was a last-minute replacement in a $1
million hole-in-one competition at the Mark Eaton Celebrity Golf Classic in
Utah in 2009. Hargett sank the ball with his brother’s 9 iron to win the prize.
Number five: Long-term stock investments can pay off. Lake Forest (Ill.)
resident Grace Groner worked as a secretary at Abbott Labs for 43 years. She
bought three specially issued shares of the company’s stock for $180 in 1935
and held on to them over the next seven decades. The shares split several
times, and she reinvested the dividends. By the time Groner passed away this
year at age 100, she had 100,000 shares valued at about $7 million.
This survey came
off the Internet and I cannot vouch for its credibility or accuracy, but it
does demonstrate something interesting. Investing was “number five” in the
list. It is a “get rich quick” list so this shouldn’t surprise us. But, it
demonstrates something very fundamental in the human nature: we tend to look
for the “easy road” to fame and fortune. As someone has pointed out, “the easy
road is crowded.” True prosperity does not lie at the end of an “easy road.” It
takes time, effort, and sensible investing. It also is more spiritual than
material. True prosperity, as the Bible teaches it, is not “an easy bet.” It
is, however, a “sure bet.” Investing your life in devotion and service to God
will most surely lead you to true prosperity—some in this world maybe, but in
the next world for sure.
People are always
looking for a “sure bet,” especially if it promises a quick an easy path to
riches. We live in an “instant
world.” We have instant coffee and make
our lunches in microwaves. But, there is
no such thing as “instant success” or a “quick buck,” for the most part. The key is to pick a good investment and stay
with it over time. A little bit of
discipline can pay off in huge dividends over time. That’s the way to get the best “bang for your
buck.”
I read this week
about a A TOUGH OLD COWBOY FROM TEXAS.
He COUNSELED HIS GRANDDAUGHTER THAT IF SHE WANTED TO LIVE A LONG LIFE,
THE SECRET WAS TO SPRINKLE just A PINCH OF GUN POWDER ON HER OATMEAL EVERY
MORNING. Not much, just a pinch, but to do it every day. The old cowboy assured his granddaughter this
would pay off big in her life. the
granddaughter did this religiously until the age of 103, when she died. she
left behind 14 children, 30 grandchildren, 45 great-grandchildren, 25
great-great-grandchildren, and a 40-foot
hole where the crematorium used to be.
Time, devotion and persistence in holiness will pay off big in life—it
is a “sure bet,” but not an easy bet.
When I talk about
prosperity I am NOT referring to the twisted, erroneous teaching of the
“health-wealth gospel” that turns God into a kind of “cosmic vending machine.”
One simply needs to insert the right formula into the slot and out pops health
and wealth. If you believe that, then the “health-wealth gospel” will certainly
work . . . for the “health/wealth preacher!”
Giving
to God’s work through the Church is not an “easy bet,” but it is a “sure bet”
that will bring eternal rewards and lasting bliss.
Let’s read about a
great project this morning from 1Chron.
29:1-9.
1 Then King David
said to the whole assembly: "My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen,
is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure
is not for man but for the LORD God. 2 With all my resources I have provided for
the temple of my God-gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for
the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the
settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and
marble-all of these in large quantities. 3 Besides, in my devotion to the
temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the
temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy
temple: 4 three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand
talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, 5
for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the
craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate himself today to the LORD?"
6 Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the
commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge
of the king's work gave willingly. 7 They gave toward the work on the temple of
God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents
of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents
of iron. 8 Any who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple
of the LORD in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9 The people rejoiced at
the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and
wholeheartedly to the LORD.
WOW! THAT’S A
BUILDING PROJECT! If you add up all the
gold and silver alone, it comes to 3.6 million ounces of gold and 12 million
ounces of silver. The current price of gold is over $1200 per ounce.
The gold value alone donated to build the temple was over 4 billion
dollars – if I did my math correctly. The silver valued at almost another
2 billion. Then you had some Persian money. Add to that 1.35
million pounds of brass, and 7.5 million pounds of iron. Then don’t
forget the precious stones that the people added to the offering. The construction price is in the multiple
billions of dollars.
I’m sure you have
heard of the famous, “Taj Mahal,” in India. The Persian Emperor, grieving over the death
of his wife, built it as a mausoleum. It
became a national treasure. One scholar
estimates that the Taj Mahal would cost over $10 billion to build today. The Temple would have exceed that by a great
deal today. So extravagant was the
Temple that some skeptical scholars suggest David could not possibly raised
that much money. The Bible says he did. Regardless of what it cost in today’s
dollars, ONLY ONE WORD DESCRIBES THIS
BUILDING PROJECT: “ABSOLUTEL INCREDIBLE!”
OK - two words.
When
God gets involved in a project – He has at his disposal all the resources in
the universe!
What we are viewing in this passage is not something NATURAL, it is something
SUPERNATURAL.
What we need to do
as a people of God is to start working, serving, and giving like we are
children of the Eternal King who owns a cattle on a thousand hills – AND THE
HILLS THOSE CATTLE ARE GRAZING ON!
Lack of resources
must never be used by God’s people as a reason to do less than what God asks us
to do. So, here are three steps you can use to get started as a partner
with God and make an investment that is a “sure bet”—but for now and for all
eternity.
1.
Acknowledging God’s Absolute Sovereignty (vss 1, 10-13)
The
task is great because the temple will
not be for man
but for the LORD God.
...............................................................
10 Then David praised the Lord in
the sight of all the assembly. David said, May You be praised, Lord God of our father
Israel, from eternity to eternity. 11 Yours, Lord, is the
greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for
everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to You. Yours, Lord, is the
kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all.
12 Riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler
of everything. Power and might are in
Your hand, and it is in Your hand to make great and to give strength to
all. 13 Now therefore,
our God, we give You thanks and praise Your glorious name.
Can
you guess how many things in this cosmos God is not the Supreme Ruler over?
That’s right: ZERO, NADA, ZIP! God is absolutely Supreme all the
time, every where – including New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, or anywhere else
evil or disaster touches our world.
God is sovereign in
the bad times, as well as the good time. The old gospel song reminds us: “The God of the mountain // is still God in
the valley.”
DON’T
MISS THIS: The whole lesson of tithing and giving in the Bible is to teach us this lesson: We
are stewards of God’s property, not masters of our own.
Our English word
steward comes from the Old English word: STY WARD. It means, “Keeper
of the pigs.” So, when you get to thinking your something hot, just
remember the Bible calls you a “styward,” or steward. You are a “keeper
of pigs.”
The New Testament
tells us this about stewardship (1Cor. 4:2) 2 In this regard,
it is expected of managers (stewards, KJV) that each one of them be found
faithful.
The word steward
here comes from the Greek word: oikonomous.
It
means, “manager of
the household.” We are managers of God’s
stuff. We own absolutely nothing.
Over the years I
have been blessed by the generosity of God’s people.
From time to time,
I’ve needed transportation somewhere and I didn’t have a car that a church
member thought was suitable for the trip, so they lent me theirs. Or,
I’ve needed a tool that I did not have and could not afford, and someone
graciously lent me theirs. I really am reluctant to accept such acts of
kindness. But, when do accept these “loaners,” I am very mindful all the
time that I am using them that they do not belong to me. I am a
“steward,” a “keeper” of something I do not own. I treat that possession
with the utmost of care and make sure I return in the same or better condition
than when I borrowed it.
That is also true
of God’s possessions. They are not ours. They are on loan. We
must do with them not as we will – but as God’s wills.
This is even true
of our children. They are not ours. They are God’s. They are
only on loan to us. We better be good stewards of God’s children!
When you give a
tenth of your income you are making a statement. You are saying to God
and man: everything I have belongs to god. Or, as the
Psalmist says, “You are my Lord. Apart from you I have no good thing.” (Ps.
16:2)
When a person does
not regularly give God His Tenth, that person is saying: Every thing I have I
worked for myself. I don’t need God for anything. THEN . . . THERE IS A LOUD CRASHING NOISE AS
EVERYTHING FALLS DOWN AROUND SUCH A PERSON!
The most
fundamental reason for giving is to ACKNOWLEDGE GOD’S ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY.
2.
SECOND, Anticipate God’s Blessing (vss 14-16, 18, 26-28)
14 But who am I, and who are my
people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything
comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your own hand. 15 For we live before You as
foreigners and temporary residents in Your presence as were all our
ancestors. Our days on earth are like a
shadow, without hope. 16 Yahweh
our God, all this wealth that we’ve provided for building You a house for Your
holy name comes from Your hand; everything belongs to You.
...................................................................
18 Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Israel, our ancestors, keep this desire forever in the thoughts of the hearts
of Your people, and confirm their hearts toward You.
..................................................................
26 David son of Jesse was king over
all Israel. 27 The
length of his reign over Israel was 40 years; he reigned in Hebron for seven
years and in Jerusalem for 33. 28 He
died at a ripe old age, full of days, riches, and honor.
HE
WHO DOES GOD’S WORK WITH GET GOD’S PAY,
HOWEVER
LONG MAY SEEM THE DAY,
HOWEVER
WEARY MAY BE THE WAY,
THOUGH
POWERS AND PRINCES THUNDER “NAY!”
WHO
DOES GOD’S WORK WILL GET GOD’S PAY.
HE
DOES NOT PAY AS OTHERS PAY
IN
GOLD OR LAND OR RAIMENT GAY;
IN
GOODS THAT VANISH OR DECAY;
BUT
GOD IN HIS WISDOM KNOWS A WAY;
AND
THAT IS SURE LET COME WHAT MAY;
HE
WHO DOES GOD’S WORK WILL GET GOD’S PAY!
The blessing may
not come in this world—and certainly the greatest blessings WILL NOT come in
this world. Verse 15 makes it
clear: “This world is not our
home.” We live as strangers,
often outcasts. The Chronicler repeats
the idea of God’s absolute possession of this universe as we see again,
especially in verse 16: “Everything
belongs to you!” God is not poor
and needy hoping that His people will throw Him a few crumbs from our
table. God has it all—and He can make
more anytime He wants it. He is the
Federal Reserve of the Universe! God is
a “giving God.” He pours out His
blessings lavishly on any—and all—who will take Him at His Word. Verse 28 says, “David died full of days,
riches and honor!”
YOU CANNOT OUT GIVE
GOD . . . HE HAS A BIGGER SHOVEL! Someone once told me about a conversation a
preacher had with a woman who had always been a faithful giver of the church
even though she was a widow for many years and did not have much money.
She always gave her offering to God before she ever spent a penny on
anything else. The preacher was talking with this lady and he could not
help but ask: “How do you give so
faithfully when you have so little but you always seem to have enough.”
God seems to bless you abundantly. The lady answered, “preacher. There’s a little secret. Every week I get my
shovel out and give God a shovel full of all that I have. Then, He gets
His shovel out and gives me a shovel full of all He has. And, preacher,
God has a bigger shovel!”
Oh, I hope you hear
what God is trying to say to you about giving.
God doesn’t need
our money – God wants our devotion. Giving doesn’t fill any need for God
– He has no needs. Giving gets us set aright with God and puts us in
position that God can bless us. GIVING TO GOD IS AN ABSOLUTE – A NO-LOSE
SITUATION.
Look again at verse
28: He died at a ripe old age, full of days,
riches, and honor.
What a promise!
God even gives us the money to give to him as an offering. The more you
give – the more God gives you the ability to give! OBEDIENCE ALWAYS BRINGS
BLESSINGS – ALWAYS!
When you give,
anticipate that God will bless you.
Now, I’m not saying
God will “make you rich.” You can be rich without being blessed – and you
can be blessed without being rich.
Make no mistake
about it – give freely and lavishly, and God will bless you!
3.
THIRD, Accept God’s Challenge (
1Chron. 28:9-10)
Look back at
chapter 28, verses 9-10. David
challenged his son, “As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your
father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and
understands the intention of every thought.
If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He
will reject you forever. 10 Realize
now that the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong,
and do it.”
God would not let
David build the Temple because David had been a man of war and had “shed
too much blood” (28:3). So, David was giving the challenge to his
precious son, Solomon – and what a challenge it was! This was a challenge much
bigger than any man. It was a cause so great, it would be worth dying
for.
It is always better
to die for a great cause, than to live with no cause!
History forgets the
mediocre, but remembers those who press into the unknown. Does anyone
hear remember who invented the kerosene lantern? I doubt it. But everyone
remembers who invented the electric light bulb. Great success is the fruit of
accepting a great challenge. Being
cheap, as we learn from the first two of the “Three Little Pigs,” never leads
to true fulfillment. Usually, just the
opposite.
We serve a “Big
God” and need to be people with “Big Ideas” and “Big Giving.” As someone has said, “Two many people want a
champagne life on a beer budget.” I
don’t advocate drinking as you know, but I do advocate “going big or going home!”
The people rose to
meet the challenge giving billions of dollars to complete the project for God.
Will you rise to meet the challenge today. If you as a church would get
serious about giving to God freely and lavishly, we would see God pour out
blessings that we cannot even imagine. Listen
to this challenge from the very heart of God, Himself: Mal 3:10
10 Bring the whole
tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in
this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the
floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room
enough for it.
We all want more
out of life—and as God’s children, we should.
We should want all the happiness and fulfillment that comes from being a
child of the King. We should expect that
faithfulness to God will bring blessing, because that is what God says. Giving
to God’s work through the church is not an “easy bet,” but it is a “sure bet”
and will bring eternal happiness and rewards.
Start investing
today.
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