Offertory scripture:
So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=2%20Corinthians%209:7&version=NKJV
Then the sons of Aaron brought the blood to him. And he dipped his finger in the blood, put it on the horns of the altar, and poured the blood at the base of the altar. But the fat, the kidneys, and the fatty lobe from the liver of the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Leviticus 9:9-10 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Leviticus%209:9-10&version=NKJV
God is telling His people to be givers. Bless those who don’t have. He doesn’t require us to do anything that He won’t bless us with down the road. Tithing is your decision. But it’s a matter of the heart. God loves a cheerful giver.
Sermon message:
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
1 Peter 5:8 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=1%20Peter%205:8&version=NKJV
We have an adversary, he’s the devil, and he wants to devour you. The Old Testament doesn’t talk about our enemy so much, but the New Testament does.
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 10:10 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=John%2010:10&version=NKJV
One way our enemy tries to devour us is by lying and stealing.
But we don’t have to give in to him. We can resist the devil. It says so:
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
James 4:7 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=James%204:7&version=NKJV
We can resist Satan because we have the Holy Spirit of God in us who is stronger than him.
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
1 John 4:4 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=1%20John%204:4&version=NKJV
How can we resist Satan? With God’s strength.
But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:26 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Matthew%2019:26&version=NKJV
Today, we can have a “security system“ to catch the thief and stop him from devouring us. The thief wants to steal unity, whereas God commands His blessings to fall on those who are and stay in unity.
“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Matthew 18:19-20 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Matthew%2018:19-20&version=NKJV
Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.
1 Peter 3:7 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=1%20Peter%203:7&version=NKJV
Don’t let the thief rob you. Especially not your joy.
in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=1%20Thessalonians%205:18&version=NKJV
Encouraging yourself in the Lord = give God thanks in all things = brings up your mood, gets you back in the game.
Don’t let the thief rob you of generosity. People who have more joy are generous. People who are more generous have more joy.
When people back away from church, it shows in their lack of joy. Then in their lack of generosity.
Two more things that we don’t want the devil to rob from us:
Thing #1: zeal
“The thief wants to steal your zeal for real.”
Zeal: Great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause.
When a person’s zeal is gone he or she doesn’t give, he or she complains, and he or she mocks those who still have zeal.
Don’t lose your zeal even when you’re getting older.
Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
Psalm 69:9 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Psalm%2069:9&version=NKJV
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Galatians 6:9-10 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Galatians%206:9-10&version=NKJV
Don’t let the devil steal your zeal, and that’s for real.
Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
2 Corinthians 8:1-4 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=2%20Corinthians%208:1-4&version=NKJV
Joy is not dependent on happenings like happiness is. The church is Corinth is going through a hard time, but they are yet full of joy, generosity, and zeal.
And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Nehemiah 8:5-6 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Nehemiah%208:5-6&version=NKJV
But if your zeal is gone, how to get it back:
Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
Revelation 2:4-5 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Revelation%202:4-5&version=NKJV
Repent. Return to God.
Zeal is a decision.
Thing #2 next week.
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