We've been going through Romans, and we are at Romans chapter 12, where Paul talks about generosity and giving. And I decided to take a little detour since Paul talks about this.
Now for editorial. uh purposes here. Our editor, I'm sharing this at the very beginning because it can make it very easy for our editor to take this out because the TV will not allow me to share what I'm about to share.
So I'm gonna make it easy for the editor. You can cut this part out and then I'll get back into my sermon. But I did not realize.
Alright. How big an issue This money thing is among Christians Until I read 1 Timothy 6:10, for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. And you see this publicly this past week. Chip and Joanna Gaines are Christians, ostensibly, who basically have partnered with HBO. Which stands for Hell's Box Office, partner with them.
To basically produce a Gay little house on the prairie. Uh starring a Gay couple. And when Christians said, I don't know that this is right. Chipped with a very tone-deaf response. Maybe the Christians ought to just sit back, listen, and learn something.
Okay, Chip, what would you like us to learn? That Jesus is wrong? About this issue? The apostles were wrong about this issue. Christians for the last 2,000 years have been wrong about what do you want us to learn?
Matt Walsh has a great video on this thing, but what do you want us to learn? That there's some kind of hidden code in the book of Revelation that says in the last days a shiplap aficionado and a woman with a glue gun would set the church right on this issue? What do you want us to learn? But here's what happens. We gotta make some money.
We've got to partner with HBO so we will compromise over this issue of money. Maybe Paul knew what he's talking about. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Let's read that again. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
Now, editor, you can bring me back into the TV thing here. Mm money. I told you this before. People who study breakdowns of marriages say over and over again, particularly with young people. Money stress is the greatest cause of marriage breakups, particularly among young people.
It does cause all kinds of evil. Matthew 12:32, Jesus says that the money issue, money problems can choke out and destroy. Your spiritual life.
So, don't tell me we shouldn't be talking about money. I told you last week, Jesus talked about money and possessions more than anything else in the Bible because he knows that can be the greatest source of blessing in your walk with God, but it can also be the greatest source of problems in your walk with God. And so we last week, for those of you who aren't here, we went to 1 Timothy chapter 6. Turn there if you would. 1 Timothy chapter 6, and from this we'll extract some biblical principles for money management.
Paul says in verse 6: Now, godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. For which some have Strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
But you, O man of God, Flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.
Now, skip down to verse 17 because last week Paul goes and talks about the lordship of Jesus, how Jesus is king of kings and lord of lords, and then he goes back into the money issue in verse 17. Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty. Nor to trust in uncertain riches. But in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy, let them do good that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life. And last week I said the Bible is very clear.
on how to handle money and finances. Remember that? And I said, the first principle is this: jot this down. To have biblical stability, like. Stability in your finances.
Your finances are a mess. If you're a young couple and you're just starting out and you're trying to get this thing done right, I said the Bible gives us some great, beautiful principles. And number one is understand the concept of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Remember, you're not an owner. You're a steward.
Owners have rights, stewards have responsibility. When you got saved, you repented of your sins, you turned to Jesus Christ, you surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, He washed you of all of your sins, He forgave you. Jesus is Savior. But he's also what? Lord, which means he owns everything.
It ain't your bank account, it's his bank account. It's not your card, it's his card. Everything you have, everything you are, belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you understand that, That is the Key pivotal step in getting your finances straight. They're not your finances, they're Jesus's.
And then secondly, last week we talked about tithing your income. Remember, the first 10% of your income goes to the Lord.
Now Chad, I am so strapped, I can't give ten, I've never tithed. I can't give 10% of my income to the Lord. I think you can, but I would say this: if you're given 1%, that's fine. Go to 2%, then 3%, then 4%. Build yourself up to 10%.
But if you want, listen, God has natural laws in place, and one of the laws I think God has in place is when that 10% goes to God, everything else starts to fall into place. And we talked about it last week. And first 2 Samuel 24, David says this. If I'm going to worship God, I'm not going to give God, I'm not going to worship God in a way that doesn't cost me something. Hey, have you read this in the Old Testament?
Every time God's people came to worship God, have you noticed this? They would bring something to God. Have you noticed that? They'd bring part of their herds. They'd bring part of their resources.
Every time God's people came to worship God. They bring him something. Offering, giving to God was an integral part of the worship. Without giving, there was no worship. Which had I seen?
if you sing or not, are you surrendering things to God? Are you surrendering your possessions to God? That is an incredible act of worship that we see all throughout the Bible. You are a giver. Listen to me.
You are a giver if you're a worshipper. If you're not a giver, you're not a worshipper, even though you sing.
Okay. And so that was the second thing we talked about. I was thinking about a guy that uh I knew, grew up in extreme poverty in eastern North Carolina. And now God, he blessed him. He's very, very wealthy.
And I heard him give his testimony one time. And he said, I was a drunk, grew up in a pool hall. I was a wicked, godless man, got radically saved on a Sunday morning. Sunday evening I just can't say. Sunday evening, there's a knock at my door.
I open the door, and it's the pastor and the deacon. And they said, Congratulations, you're now born again. You're now part of the kingdom of God. They had a Bible in this hand and tithing envelopes in this hand. And they said, From now on, you read the word of God every day and you give 10% of your income to the Lord.
He said, I started on the very first day I was saved doing something that Christians who've been saved for 40 years in this church still haven't done, and that's tithe my income to the Lord. And he said, God has honored that and blessed it.
So, number one. Understand lordship. Whose money is it? This is money. Number two.
Tithe your income. Have I lost you yet? All right, number three, learn to be content. Look at verse 6.
Now godliness With contentment. Is great gain. Walking with the Lord, serving the Lord, loving the Lord, and being content with what you got is great gain. Listen to me. The inability to be content.
All right. Wanting the newest. The best. The just released gotta have more than worse. That will absolutely devastate your finances.
Listen to this formula I came up with. Coveting? Plus credit. equals catastrophe. You don't have a contented lifestyle.
You've got to have the newest, the latest, the best. And you got the credit. I can't buy it now, but shashing, shashing, I can put it on my credit card. If you don't get this coveting thing under control and you've got a lot of credit, it's going to end in catastrophe because you won't learn to be able to wait on God. You will see something, want it, charge it, and before you know it, it's gotten away from you.
And here's one of the biggest problems among young people today. See, there's a false demonic God loose in America today. This demon God is called credit. And that demon God is decimating our young people. They get married at age 21.
And they want the lifestyle. Of their parents on day one, even though it took your parents 40 years to get that house and that lifestyle, y'all want it on day one, so you charge it on the credit card. And I'm telling you, if you don't get this thing under control and if you don't learn to be content, it will absolutely devastate you. We've got some young people today, y'all need to do some plastic surgery. Get that credit card and just cut it up.
Paul is very clear on this. We've got to learn to be content. And I'm going to tell you. I'm not bashing, we got people in our church here in the advertising industry, okay? I'm not bashing you.
Particularly if you're tithing. Keep doing what you're doing. But here's the thing: the advertising industry is not helping us. Because what they are doing They're really good. They're really slick.
They're good at convincing you that your life ain't worthwhile unless you have that latest iPhone. You're something less. If you don't have this. I'm just telling you, the advertising industry is feeding this covetousness. I gotta have more, more, more.
The best, the newest, the brightest, the shiniest. My wife and I were on an airplane. I think it was when we were going to Jerusalem a couple months ago. And she watched, you know, how you're on the airplane and you can watch like movies in front of you. You know what I'm talking about?
Like, they'll have it in the seat in front of you. She wants this documentary. on the advertising industry and it was really fascinating. She said it was an advertising true story. There's an advertising company trying to sell anti-aging skin cream.
to middle-aged women. Anti-aging skin cream to middle-aged women. And it was really interesting. What the advertisers did to try to sell this skin cream is they got a 19-year-old, good-looking female model. And they're like, you know what?
She's pretty. But there's some things that we could fix on her. And so actually they take this beautiful model. And they airbrush her a little bit to look even better. And so now they are using, I want you to listen to this, an airbrushed 19-year-old model to try to convince middle-aged ladies that if you buy our product, you'll look like her.
That's the standard that these women are being forced to try to succumb to, and it doesn't work that way, folks. But see we get sucked into the advertising thing. I the other day Darla was talking about when I went on a mission trip, and she said, Remember years ago, you went on this mission trip to Guatemala and you got me a little jade bracelet? I said, yeah, I remember that. And she opens her phone to look at something, and an advertising popped up.
Looking for a jade bracelet? Go to this website. See, we are living in a culture that is feeding this covetousness. And Paul says, hey, Let them deal with that stuff. Y'all need to be different.
You need to learn to be content. Godliness with contentment is a great gain. And listen to me: the biggest secret about stuff, I'm gonna give you this. Are you ready? This is the biggest secret about stuff right now.
It's never enough. Have you noticed that? In fact, jot this down. You can look up later on. Ecclesiastes chapter 5, verse 10 says this: The more you get, the more you want.
They asked the billionaire John D. Rockefeller one time, they said, How much money? Will it take to make you content? He said. Just a little bit more.
It's a problem with money. Just a little bit more. You're on the Atlantic Ocean and you're on a raft and you're stranded in the middle of the ocean and you get really thirsty and you say, you know what? I think I'll drink a little bit of this water to slate my thirst and you drink a little bit. Will that satisfy you?
What happens? You want more. And that's what happens with stuff. It's never enough. I went fishing with a lost man several years ago, didn't know Jesus.
We're in this beautiful bass boat. And he's tumbling by the bass boat. I'm trying to talk about Jesus, and he's talking about the bass boat. And he said, Chad, this is the newest, greatest, best bass boat out there. And he said, I kept going to the dealership.
Seen that bass book. He's just the shiniest thing in the world. And I tried to fight it. But I couldn't fight it.
So shiny. Beautiful. And he said, Chab, I finally went and bought the bass boat. And he said, as soon as I took it out of the warehouse. He said it wasn't quite as shiny anymore.
It was really weird. And he started talking about new gadgets he wanted. Because the bath boat wasn't enough, I got to chase after something else and something else and something else. See, when lost people don't have somebody to satisfy them or something to satisfy them, they look to stuff to satisfy them. You don't need to look to stuff to satisfy them.
You have the lover of your souls, you have Jesus Christ, the treasure above treasures. That's who you have. And so how do I break this? This addiction to wanting more stuff. Have I become content?
Let me give you two pieces of advice right here. Number one: know the difference between wants and needs. Look at verse 8. Paul says: Look, having food and clothing, with these will be content. Paul says, Followers of Jesus Christ, they don't need the stuff.
There's a difference between needs and wants. Wants are in one category, needs are in a different. Jesus Christ has already said, my God shall supply all your what? Needs. Do you need that?
Or do you want that? Might be a good question to ask every time you're about to buy something. Do I need it? Or do I want it? Know the difference between wants and needs.
Second way to be content is just ask Jesus to help you.
Okay. I'm about to give you right now the most quoted verse in the NFL and the NBA. You ready? Look at what Jesus says, or apostle says in Philippians 4:13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
And you got that touchdown? How do you do it? Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Man, you're knocked out of the ballpark, Christian athlete. How did you do it?
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Man, you slammed that ball in his face. How did you do it? How did you sail through the air and slam that ball? I'm a Christian.
Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. The Apostle Paul did not write Philippians 4:13 to help you get a touchdown or slam the basketball. Look at the context of Philippians 4:13. The context is this. Philippians 4.11.
For I have learned In whatever state I am. To be what? Content. I know how to be abased. That means I know how to be humbled.
And I know how to abound. I know how to have plenty. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, to abound and to suffer need. Paul, how do you do that? How do you learn just to be content in whatever state you find yourself?
Verse 13: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That verse is about learning to be Content. And so I'm begging you right now: if you're wanting to get control of your finances, get control of this, I want. I want, I gotta have, and learn to say, no, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can suppress the flesh.
I can keep my eyes on Jesus, and I can say no to the advertising industry and say, I don't need the newer car. I don't need the latest, whatever. How? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Does that make sense?
All right. Fourth little advice. on how to have financial stability. Here's the next one. You ready?
Get out of debt. Get out of debt. Actually, let me just say this about the contentment thing. Google this. Have you ever heard of this trend?
It's kind of popular, been popular for the last couple years. It's called minimalism. Have you heard about this?
Now there's artistic minimalism, that's not what I'm talking about. There's this movement called minimalism where wealthy people are saying, you know what, I'm tired of stuff. And we're going to get rid of all the extraneous stuff, and we're going to pare our lives down to the basics that we need. And they're doing studies on people who are embracing minimalism, and they're happier than the people who have all this stuff. Maybe you ought to learn from the Word of God.
Just forget about all this stuff, pare down, and just be happy with what you need, okay? All right, now look at the next one. Get out of debt, verse 10. For the love of money Is a root Of all kinds of evil. For which some Have strayed from the faith.
Do you see this? Wanting the stuff, wanting acceptance by the world, wanting more, more, more, more. It's actually pulled people away from the faith. In their greediness, and watch this: have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Why is this?
How does money And stuff. Pierce you with many sorrows.
Well, I'll get specific in a second, but let me give you a general statement here. You ready? General.
So, here's the question: How is it wanting more stuff, having more stuff, how does that pierce you through with sorrows? And here's my answer: Look, the more things you have, the more stressed you are. The more things you have. The more stressed you are. That minimalism thing I was talking about, and Google that, it's kind of interesting.
All these people, and they're not, most of them are even Christians. I said, look, the more stuff I had, the clutter messed with my mind. It just made me out. I just got rid of stuff and I was so much happier. That's what Paul says right there.
More stuff you have. The more stressed you are. Ecclesiastes 5:12 says this. The sleep of a laboring man is sweet. You know what it means?
The sleep of a blue-collar man that doesn't have a whole lot, but he works hard and he earns what he's got. He has sweet sleep whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep. It's interesting. There's a guy, I realize, this guy, Randy Alcorn. He's a great preacher.
He's talked a lot about wealth and money management. And he said, no, look, this is not a spiritual statement. What I'm about to give you is not a spiritual statement. If you're driving a BMW, I'm not bashing you. I'm giving you a practical statement here.
Alcorn said, I met as a pastor. This guy in my church at a restaurant. Because this guy in my church, a wealthy, wealthy guy. And we get there. Hey man, how's it going?
And the guy's just kind of, hey, great, great, great, great. And the guy says to the waitress, the wealthy guy says to the waitress, I want to sit in that corner right over there. Rainy size a little bit. That's a big deal, but that's fine. He said, we go to the corner.
And the guy says, No, no, Rain, I'm going to sit in that seat. You sit there, I'm going to sit here. It's like okay. And so Randy said, I'm sitting here, and the guy's sitting here. And I'm trying to have this conversation with the guy, and he keeps looking out the window.
He'll look at me for a second, looks out the window. His head keeps jerking out the window. Look around. And he said, I finally said, man, I'm not trying to get in your business here, but you seem a little bit stressed out. What's going on?
You had to sit here. You had to sit in that seat. You keep looking out the window. And he said, Pastor, forgive me. He said, I just bought this brand new luxury car.
and it's parked right there and I wanted to sit where I could just keep my eye on it the whole time. God couldn't even enjoy a conversation. 'Cause there's stuff. Again, that's not a spiritual statement. That's a practical statement.
Randy said, the guy that was there, he said, now, conversely. He said, a few days later, I'm in my pastor's study. And my phone rings, and I pick it up, and it's one of the youth in our church on the other line. He said, Pastor, I got to come clean with you. He's oh no.
Well you got to come clean about. He said, I'm the one that put that dent in your car. He said, dent in my car. He said, I leave the study, I'm on the phone, I walk out in the parking lot, and he says, I'm looking at my car, and there's so many dents on it. I said to the guy, what dent are you talking about?
And he said, I opened my door and I put the ding in there. That's me. He said, Pastor, can we handle this without involving insurance? The pastor said, absolutely. Matter settled, we don't need insurance, and he hung up the phone.
That's it. I'm just, we've settled the matter. It's done, it's over with.
Now, again, I'm not making a spiritual statement. I'm just telling you: the more bigger, better signer stuff you have, Ecclesiastes is right, more stressed out you are.
So that's part of what Paul means by the more stuff you have, the more pierced you are with sorrows. But let's get specific. One of the most common ways that verse 10 manifests, you know, being pierced with sorrows because of stuff. is debt. And Dave Ramsey, I agree with most of what he says.
He's exactly right on this. You know, Proverbs 22:7 says this: the borrower. Is a slave to who? A lender. I'm not sure.
I got a lot of slaves in this church right now. You've gotten yourself in a lot of debt. That is horrible. And again, it's You go to the Bass Pro Shop or Cabelis, and the first thing you walk in, and they're there, and they say, Would you like to open a Bass Pro Shop card? If you do, you get this nice hat.
Sure, I want to get a hat. Absolutely. Let's fill this thing out. I love Bass Pro and Cabelas, but when I come in, they assault me like that. Hey, come on, and I was like, No, and please let this be the end of the conversation, okay?
And here's what I always say. I always tell them this. You can use this. I said, I shouldn't. Gosh, and now I'm going to give you my secret.
Y'all know what I'm talking about, these places you go to, and they want you to get a credit card, credit card. Here's what I always say. And this is true. I said, uh, no. You know, I prayed to the Lord a few years ago and I said, Lord, if you get me out of debt, I'll never open another credit card again.
And God's gotten me out of debt, so I got to be loyal to what I told the Lord. They don't know what to say. They're like, ugh.
Okay, and they kind of sink on here, okay? But no, no, I yo yo yo get get get the best first car and you'll get a hat By all means. And then you go to TJ Maxx. Would you like to save 15% today by opening a TJ Maxx credit card? Sure, why not?
and you open another credit card. And then you. Want to go to college and you get student loan debt. And you get out of college, and I can't drive this old plunker. I'm a college graduate now, so I'm going to go get a car on credit.
And then you get married, and somebody says to you, You've been married 20 minutes, you don't have a house yet. You got to go get you a house. And pretty soon we are strapped with debt and it is piercing us, verse 10, with many sorrows. And so I did this. In order.
Intentionally. You got to get the um coveting thing under control first. If you don't get the coveting thing under control, you will never get out of debt. You got to finally say, stop, time out. I'm going to stop living for my wants, and I'm going to start living for my needs.
I'm gonna start making sure Jesus provides my clothes, my house, a roof over my head, but I don't need the stuff. I gotta get the coveting stuff under control first. Then you can start getting out of debt. And how do you do that?
Well, I'm not a. Financial counselor. We got great financial counselors here in the church that we can get you connected with. But I will say this: number one, how to get out of debt. Make a decision.
As a family. Y'all gonna do this? Can't tell you something. Your debt. Maybe the best blessing you've ever had for your family.
You just didn't realize it. Because I talk to families all the time. They're like, we're so divided. Husband, wife, kids, we're so divided. How can we be unified?
Can't tell you a great way to get unified. You have a family meeting. where mom, dad, and kids get around the table. Here's what you do. You say, kids.
First of all, we want to thank God. For how good he's been to us. Hey, let's just start talking about some things God's done for us.
Well, he saw us through that, exactly. He saw us through that. Great. He's given us this. That's great.
And so you spend a few minutes just telling us how good God is. Then you say to your family. Kids, we've gotten ourselves in a little bit of a mess here. We're in debt. And the Spirit of God has convicted us that we as a family, we've got to get out of debt.
So guys, let's work together and let's get out of debt. Which means birthdays, we may have to scale back a little bit. Christmas, we're gonna have to scale back some. This car may have to go another two years. I know we want a new car.
I know your friends laugh every time you see it. They see mom and dad going down the road. I get it. But kids, we are convicted by God that we've got to get out of debt. Can we work together now and let's make this a goal as a family to get out of debt?
That's going to bring incredible unity to your family.
So how do you get out of there? Make sure everybody in the family's on board.
Well, what if my kids aren't on board? Tell them they can find another house, and somebody else can feed them, and somebody else can pay for their iPhone, okay? Whatever. And then, secondly, I have found this: you start with the little debt and pay that off first, and then take the monthly stuff that you're paying on that little debt and attack the next smallest debt. You know what I'm saying?
You start from the small, go up. You got to get some victories along the way. Start with the smallest debt and then just kind of work your way up. But through God's power, God knows your heart, He knows your mind, He knows your passion, God sees your heart, and God is going to work with you to get you out of debt, okay? I'm running out of time here.
So, let's review this: biblical concepts for financial stability. Number one, understand the concept of lordship. You're not in control. He's in control. You know, lordship sounds mean.
Ah, he's it. The most liberating thing in the world is for me to know I'm not in control of this church. It's his church. I'm not controlling my finances. It's his finances.
Understand the concept of lordship. Number two. Tithe your income, 10% goes to the Lord. You can either do 100% partnering with Satan. Or you can give, you can do 90% partnering with God.
Tithe your income. Number three, learn to be content. Know the difference between needs and wants. To get off this crazy merry-go-rant of needing more, better, the best. Start scaling back your life.
Number four, get out of debt. And then number five, here's, I'm gonna explain this. Cheap. The end in mind. Look at verse 7.
For we brought nothing into this world. And it is certain. We can't carry anything out of this world. Here's my word of encouragement for y'all today. You ready?
Because my gift is encouragement. Here's my encouragement. You are going to die. There you go. That's my encouragement right there.
You're going to die. All this stuff. You're so worried about. Yeah. If Jesus Terry's in a hundred years.
You'll been forgotten and all this stuff will be forgotten. You're so worried about this stuff. This is... You're going to die one day. Keep the end in mind.
As we're so worried about the newer, the best, the shiniest getting in debt. This is not, listen to me. I do this at funerals all the time, okay? Here's what I want you to do. When I count to three, on the count of three, when I go one, two, three, I want you to blink your eyes once, okay?
Y'all ready? Have you heard me do this before?
Okay. One Two. Three, blink your eyes.
Okay. That blink. is one six billionth of your life. If you live to be 76 years of age. One six billionth of your life.
If you live to be 76 years old, that one little blink. And yet, when you look at eternity, Your 76 years here on planet Earth. is faster than that blink. See, we're living for the blink. We should be living for eternity.
And Jesus is so clear about this. Jesus says things like this. Let me give you some words from the man right here. Here's what he says: Matthew 6:19. Don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth.
Where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal? Verse 20. But do what? But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Y'all got a big bank account here, or you got a big debt account here.
But let me ask you something. What are you storing up for there? Again, Jesus says this in Matthew 6:33. The context is worrying about stuff, worrying about money, worrying about clothes, worrying about things. And Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, don't worry about that stuff, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things.
Clothes, stuff, all that'll be given to you. It'll be added to you. Your focus needs to be on the kingdom of God. Heavenly things. Here's what Jesus says again.
Matthew 19, 21. Jesus said, If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven. And then come and follow me. I've talked about for years the funnel principle. You're just a funnel.
You know what a funnel is? Yeah. Like if you're changing your oil and your lawnmower, you got a phone or your pork. You're just a funnel. God pours resources into the five.
expecting you to pour those resources out. To bless others, to advance the kingdom, to do God's work. But the moment you clog up the bottom, I think God stops pouring into the top. Jesus is a great investor. He says, I will invest in people who will take my money and bless the world and advance the kingdom.
But you clog at the bottom, Jesus, like you're on your own. Let's listen to a pastor talk about World War II. During World War II, when there was a shortage, we're trying to fight the Germans and we're trying to fight the Japanese, and there's a shortage all over America, the average citizen would scale back on their lifestyle and use those resources to support the soldiers on the front lines. Like there's a gas shortage. We gotta use gasoline to go Bomb the Germans and bomb the Japanese and do all this kind of stuff.
And so people would scale back on how much they would drive so there'd be more gas for the war effort. There was a shorting of a shortage of stocking material.
So, ladies would stop wearing pantyhose and they would take gravy browning stuff and spread it on their legs, almost like a self-tanning thing. They would scale back to support the war effort. Beloved, there's a war effort going on. We're here to fight the kingdom of darkness. We're here to save souls of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We're here to send people around the world. Why don't we adopt a warfare mentality and back off a little bit on our stuff so that we can advance the kingdom of God? It's your beloved. When you start understanding he is Lord. When you start tithing your income, When you start being content with what you got, listen, when you adopt this kind of lifestyle, Everything.
changes. If you don't hear anything else, what I'm saying is get your mind off the present age. And remember the end. One day you will die. One day this life will be over.
and all this stuff you've collected. What's gonna happen? I kind of retire this illustration because I've used it so much, but I love this thing. It's the best illustration I've ever heard on that. James Dobson said that his grandma.
Was just a sweet, quiet widow lady. He said, the sweetest little lady in the world. And he said, Grandma was so sweet. until you started playing Monopoly with her. He said, she became vicious.
She was ruthless. He said, growing up, we'd always play grandma, and grandma would always win. And every time she would win, she would say the same thing as she's cleaning off the board in a really cocky way. She says, Well, you know what? One day you'll learn how to play the game.
He said, My goal in life was just to beat my sweet little old grandma. And he said, when I was 10 years old, I played every day with a friend just to get better and better at Monopoly. And then I visited my grandma's house that summer. And he said, We played Monopoly, and I destroyed Grandma. I took the last dollar she had.
Hotels, houses, park lane, radio stations, utility, all of her money was gone. And he said, I couldn't help it. I just like in your face, old lady. And he said, I'm dancing around, I'm having a good time. I'm sogging it to her.
And he said, My grandma's just sitting there, just sweetly smiling. And he said, when I was through dancing around and putting my finger in her face, she said, Are you done? He's like, yeah, I guess I'm done. She said, I'm very happy for you. You've learned how to play the game.
She said, now there's one more lesson. that you have to learn. And she took all the stuff I had gained. and put it back in the box. And she says, In the end.
It all goes back in the box. And she shut the lid. And the game was over. Those of you who want the new, bigger, better, and you're getting yourself farther and farther in debt, and you're so concerned about money, can I just tell you? In the end.
It all goes back in the box. And one day we're going to bring your box. In front of this church. And we'll give you a nice service. I'll preach a nice sermon.
And then we're going to shut the lid to that box. And it's over. Only one life. How soon will pass? Only what is done for him.
will last. It all goes back in the box. Come pray right now. Father. I pray in the name of Jesus, a very simple prayer for my brothers and my sisters, and for me, Father.
Just make us content with Jesus. Make us content with Jesus. Why trade Jesus in for the shiny stuff? I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I'd rather have Jesus, Father, than riches untold.
I'd rather have Jesus than houses or land. I'd rather be led by his nail-pierced hand than to be the king of a vast domain or held in sin's dread sway. I'd rather have Jesus than anything, Father, this world affords today. Help us to be content with Jesus. With Jesus.
In His name we pray. Amen. He doesn't Talking about keeping the end in mind. Kind of a communion thing. Let's do communion.
If you're a born-again believer, this is for you. Thank you so much. If you're not a born-again believer, I mean this. Just watch us observe this. 1 Corinthians makes it very clear: this is for those of us who have surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ and we're following Him.
And communion is a beautiful reminder. When I drink this blood, The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from how much unrighteousness? All in righteousness. I don't care what I've done, who I've done it with, how many times I've done it, how wicked I've been, the things I've said, the things I've thought. I don't care what you have done.
If you're a born-again believer, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, he died on the cross to wash you of that sin. You are forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ. This brand is a Powerful reminder. Of that That body that was beaten to within an inch of his life. Whip to pieces.
Hung on a cross, God took his wrath out on Jesus. God, if you're a born-again believer, God is not mad at you because he took out all of his anger on his own son who never sinned but who became sin for us. God has taken out his wrath on Jesus Christ, on the body of Jesus Christ. I'm a reminder of that when I take this. But did you know That Jesus also gave us.
Communion. To remind us. He's coming back again. Y'all believe he's coming back? Y'all believe today could be the day that Jesus Christ comes back?
Because the Apostle Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 11:26. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until when? until he comes back. This is my reminder. that there's more to this world than what I see.
Jesus is coming back again. I've said it a million times. I'm going to tell it to you a million times more. We act like we are in the land of the living and we're going to die and go to the land of the dead. That's not true.
If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, you are now in the land of the dead. But praise God, you are headed toward the land of the living. And this reminds me of that. I'm reminded. That if you're a lost person, I is as close to heaven as you're ever going to get.
But if you're a born-again believer, This is just close to hell. as you're ever going to get. Because we got a better home waiting for us. As often as you eat this bread. And drink this cup.
You proclaim the Lord's death until He returns.
So would you stand with me now? We're doing some different kinds of cups here. This Remember I told you? A little chill went up my spine one time because I got so frustrated trying to open this thing, and I said, I can't say something about enduring communion. That's a straight.
Half the hell if you cuss during communion.
So I was like, I ain't gonna do that.
So we got something easier. Um I want you to take out that piece of bread first. That man died for me. It should have been me hanging on the cross. That should have been me experiencing the wrath of God.
We believe in something called the substitutionary atonement. He died. in my place. Don't ever forget that. And Jesus said, this is my body.
Which is broken. for you. Take it easy. And open that juice. I'm going to tell you one thing I've learned as a pastor.
You ready? Revelation, it took me a long time to realize this. Here's my revelation. We all come to church smiling and dressed up and all this kind of stuff. We're all just a bunch of messed up people.
That's the revelation I've learned.
Some are better at hiding their sins than others.
Some are better at hiding their crazy than others. But we are all just a bunch of messed up people serving a wonderful God who has made us right through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ is Son. Cleanses us. from all unrighteousness.
Take a drink. You know, a noted psychiatrist told Billy Graham one time: I could release half my patients. If I could release them from a sense of guilt. Deal will absolutely destroy you. What is the cure for guilt?
Nothing but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can y'all remind us of that right now? Let's just sing this to the Lord as a song of gratitude for what Jesus did for us at the cross. Y'all lead us right now. What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my Home and peace, nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my right justice. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Lord, precious is the gold. That makes me white as snow.
Found I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Lord, precious is the flow. That makes me white as snow. See how good you know your Bible, how well you know your Bible. Revelation 12 says that there is a An enemy that comes after you.
He hates you. He wants to devour you. And we overcome Satan. anybody know how? By the Blood of The Lamb.
You know what that means? Satan's biggest weapon against you will be whoa. I just saw you raise your hands. Aren't you the lady that had the affair a few years ago? Hey, I saw you did it aren't you the guy that did fill in the blank?
Satan continually reminds us of our past. Yeah. And through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can say, you are right, Satan, but all that stuff has been forgiven through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it neutralizes Satan. And so you heard me say that it's four. When Satan reminds you of your past.
You remind him of this future. You're gonna burn forever. I'm gonna live with the Lord Jesus Christ forever. I overcome Satan by the blood. of the lamb.
Which means you leave here today, not with your head down, doing the Charlie Brown walk, feeling sorry for yourself. You leave here today with your head held high as a son or daughter of the Most High God, knowing who you are and whose you are and where you're going when you die. Whereas the Bible says Kezak. Wehrmach. After I wrote the older shit.
He emeha Ago nine? Elehecha beho a shetelak, which means be bold. Be strong. Y'all don't want to be afraid and you don't want to be terrified of anything. Why?
Because the Lord your God is going to be with you everywhere you go. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen and amen. God bless you, beloved. Let's go change this world for Jesus Christ.
God bless you.
