Welcome to Delight in Grace. the Teaching Ministry of Rich Powell. pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. God's gracious heart for human flourishing. is evident in his conditional covenant with Israel.
In Deuteronomy fifteen, God lays out terms for canceling debts and freeing indentured servants on the seventh year. this message gives us a glance of God's generous love. and it also gives us some principles for our own daily walk. Let's listen to this message titled, remember that you were slaves. This is part three of a message originally preached on August 11th, 2024.
Principle number two. Trust. God's provision. Trust God's provision. We find the promises of blessing in verse 4, verse 10, and verse 18.
If you remember from Deuteronomy chapter 8. Jesus The Lord through Moses is talking to the people of Israel. And said, The Lord brought you through the wilderness. He allowed you to get hungry and thirsty. Why?
So that you can learn what? Man does not live by Bread alone. But by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Listen. your sustenance.
is anchored in God's self-disclosure. Praise God. God's people. are to be keenly aware of that. My sustenance is not up to my savvy.
It's up to God's Self-disclosure. And We are called here then, as we trust God's provision, we are called to trust. The person. Not the stuff. The person.
If you trust stuff you're going to be disappointed.
Okay. You trust the person. You trust God. Ecclesiastes reminds us that God is the one who grants power to do two things. Number one, generate wealth, and number two, enjoy it.
Ecclesiastes 5 verse 19. Paul writing to Timothy, he says, the reason why you generate wealth, there's two of them, primarily for provision. And secondly, for generosity. Provision and generosity. First Timothy 6.
Principle number three. God blesses generosity. Why does God bless generosity? because it reflects his character. He blesses generosity that is true generosity.
God promised to bless far beyond, in this, God promised to bless far beyond any loss that would come about. by letting the land rest the Sabbath year. or by releasing the debtor every seven years. He promised to bless.
Now look at this one that Jesus spoke, Luke chapter 6 verse 38. Give and it will be given to you. Good measure pressed down, shaken together, running over. Will be put into your lap, for with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. Keep your narcissism in check here.
The Lord loves a cheerful giver, he says. Second Paul Paul writes that in 2 Corinthians 9.7. This is why God is calling his people to a generous attitude, not grudging, a generous attitude. Because generosity, a genuinely generous person. Glorifies God.
That's what God is calling his people to because God is generous. And I just already mentioned a little bit of warning there, but. Make sure that our generosity is glorifying God. Not self. Narcissism can masquerade as generosity.
Never forget it. Story that my dad told about this man who came into the church. My dad was a pastor, the man came into the church. And um His brother had died. They were both businessmen.
And the man that had died was just Um Um Mean businessman. It was all about him and how much money he could make. He was dishonest. He treated people poorly. And so his brother comes in to the pastor and he says, I want you to do my brother's funeral.
And if you do my brother's funeral, I will give a very large gift to the church. But here's the condition: you have to tell the people that my brother was a saint.
So the pastor is in a quandary. What do I do? Our church could really use the funds. This guy was no saint.
So he made a decision. The day of the funeral came. And he gets up and he says, This man that lies before you today was a cheat, he was a thief, he was dishonest. A very cruel man. But compared to his brother, he was a saint.
Mm-hmm. God blesses generosity, but let's make sure that our generosity is genuine generosity that comes from the heart. Generosity that comes from the heart is not looking to get something in return. God has lavished His grace on us. And listen, grace.
has Nothing to do. with repayment. Yeah. It has nothing to do. That's why we see so much of God's grace in this, right?
Some debt needs to be forgiven. Do you understand that God has forgiven your debt? and your debt is against an infinitely holy God. Principle number four. Recipients of God's grace are to be distributors of grace.
Recipients of God's grace are to be distributors of grace. Remember that you were slaves. You were slaves in Egypt and you have been redeemed. He says that in verse 15. You shall remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you.
Therefore I command you this today. Don't forget. God's grace in your life and let His grace In you twice. toward you. develop in you a disposition.
of graciousness. People need grace. Yes, no? People need grace. That grace can come in the form of forgiveness, it can come in the form of forbearance, it can come in the form of, you know, they don't deserve it, but I'm going to invest myself in them to help them get a step up.
It could be financially, it could be attitudinally, it could be spiritually. People need grace. And we worship a God of grace. Just as a reminder, God reminded the people of Israel that the grace that he had lavished on them to redeem them and bring them into the promised land, chapter Deuteronomy 9, verse 5, he says, just so you know, it's not because you're such a special people that you're coming into this land. Read it.
It's Deuteronomy 9.5. That's not why I'm giving you this land because you're such a special and awesome people. And we have a tendency, those who are people of faith, have a tendency to develop that disposition. Look how special we are and we're not Let's not forget that we have been redeemed from the bondage that enslaved us. Ephesians 4.32 makes it pretty clear for us in the New Testament, be kind to one another, tenderhearted.
Forgiving one another. Why?
as God in Christ forgave you. 1 John 3, 16, like the John 3, 16, 1 John 3, 16. By this we know, love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought also ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. If anyone has this world's goods, And sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him. Notice the heart there, okay?
Closes his heart against him. How does God's love abide in him? It's a valid question, right? Little children, let us not love in word. or in talk, but indeed.
and truth. And then Titus chapter 3, verse 8. This saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. What is that?
being a gracious helper to other people. That is the character of God. That ought to be the reputation of God's people. And as he ends chapter fifteen. He makes it clear that a chief characteristic of a life of worship.
is sacrifice. All of this has called for sacrifice of some measure. Gracious because God has been gracious. And forgiving because God is forgiving. Kind because God is kind.
Tender-hearted because God is tender-hearted. And we read in verses 19 to 23 through the end of the chapter there that God, as God calls for sacrifice, he's asking for the best, not leftovers. Not leftovers. He's asking He's asking for it from the top.
Well, if I have some time left over this week, I might help somebody out. That's not the attitude he's looking for, is it? You could Carve time into your routine, your schedule, your day. time that you are actually helping someone else. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace.
You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission. Is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good. and your deepest satisfaction in Him. the One Who is Infinitely Good.
We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m.
