Unlimited Provisions

You know, as returning there. All kinds of things happen at Thanksgiving and as your children are learning to give thanks from a pure heart, we sat down to have our Thanksgiving dinner and I had each of the children pray, and I won't mention which one it was. One of our kids said, God, thank youk for our house and thank youk for Mommy, and thank you for dad, and thank you for this turkey that gave up his life. I could barely eat it after that. Second Corinthians 8. We could read a lot here this morning, but let's just simply focus on a couple of verses beginning at verse 8. I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. We have been talking for the last number of weeks, actually just the last two weeks on breakthrough, taking the limits off of our thinking about God and how he would work in our lives. I guess I feel that this is a subject because it's been so relevant to my life that I could go on and on and on with for weeks and weeks. But the Lord is moving us in so many directions here at North Way that I realize that we only have time to attend things for a season and then move on when the Holy Spirit leads into a different direction. But the Lord clearly, for this week and next, and then perhaps in 85, at some point, would have us to talk about this matter of breakthrough, this matter of taking limits off of how we deal with how we see God and perceive him, particularly in one area. And it's in the area of provision. It's in the area of what we expect to see God supply to us. You know, when it comes to any subject that has to do with God and His supply and his provision, whether it be in forgiveness or money or miracle power, whatever we've been talking about in the past. There's two basic mindsets that need to be addressed. One is of the young believer, the young believer who really doesn't have the understanding, doesn't know how God is to work. The other, which comprises many of us here, or is comprised of many of us here this morning, is that of the believer who's walked with the Lord for a while, but who has developed, as it were, an attitude or a predisposition about how they expect God to work. And in no area more than this matter of provision have we developed attitudes and we've developed Mindsets. When I talk about provision, let me say early on, brothers and sisters, I'm talking about the flowing reality of the grace of God. When I'm talking about provision, I mean God's grace poured out in abundance. That's the source of provision. We're not talking about a God who sends out little ditties, but a God who flows in grace. And provision is in grace. And then grace can meet any need. Say that with me. Grace can meet any need, from the most spiritual and profound and mystical to the most tangible and delicate in that which you could hold in your hand, the total provision of God. Now it's easy for us to accept the whole thing that, well, sure, God's grace can take care of my spiritual needs. I want to be born from above. I want to be glorified with God and setting in the heavenly places with him for eternity. But when it comes to the material and particularly the financial, we have the beginnings of some real strife in our spirit. You know, in the parables of Jesus, 16 of the 38 parables have to do with money. For some reason, the Son of God recognized the struggle that we have in understanding and dealing with finances and material things. From God's point of view, basically, our struggles line up along a couple of areas. One of them is we have a predisposition, a mindset, an attitude that says to be poor is to be spiritual. And we have a lot of models that tend to reinforce that mindset. Jesus said, if you go out on. On a journey, a mission, and you have two coats, you've got too much, right? Isn't that what he said? And so it isn't long before we read some of those stories about the disciples going out and we say, if I have two coats or two dresses, am I immediately disqualified from being pleasing to God? Or take St. Francis of Assisi, lived on nuts and things and had nothing. And he's a model of spirituality. Some people even say, well, Jesus was poor. And I would contest that because as I see the Lord Jesus, I see a man who lacked nothing. I see a man who always had what he needed and in fact, always had enough to give to somebody else. That's my definition of abundance. Always having what you need and enough to meet the needs of somebody else. If you've gotten yourself into a mindset that to be spiritual means to be poor, then you have automatically begun to shut yourself off from what God would want to channel through you to others. Now, we abound with testimonies of people who would say, there might be Some here this morning. Well, God told me to sell everything I had and go and fulfill this mission. There's somebody, in fact, I know somebody that just recently moved here to Pittsburgh from another place where God said, you leave where you are, sell your goods except for your basic necessities, and then you begin to draw lines already, don't you? That's what God told them to do, and that's what they did here in Pittsburgh. In fact, they're coming to North Way and waiting on the Lord. And that sounds so spiritual. But I want to tell you something. If you do that because you see someone else doing it and think that's the way to be spiritual, you're in for a real frustrating experience. In fact, how many of us would say that fear number one in our lives is that that's what God might want of me. And therefore I don't even want to get too close to God, because if that's what he wants of me, I don't want to do that. I'd rather like it where I am. Now, on the other side of the equation, there are those today, and particularly in the last 10 or 15 years, who say, no, it's not being poor that makes you spiritual or godly. It's being rich. I mean, after all, hasn't God delivered you from the curse of the law? And what are the three curses of the law? Sickness, death, and poverty. And that theology has burgeoned in the last 10 or 15 years. And the measure of godliness is your ability to tap into that eternal source of wealth and to begin to just evidence that you're in the blessing of God because of all that you have. But you see, beloved wealth, riches, accumulated riches is not abundance. It's the seed of covetousness. And that's why Jesus said so clearly, watch out, be careful, Watch out for covetousness. He said, it's so difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven because of the lure of it, to begin to trust in it and to try to secure it as your own and to put your confidence in what you can generate for yourself. Now, it's not the rich who necessarily are godly. Although it's interesting. If you do a study of the Scriptures, there are more rich saints than poor ones, it seems to me. Then there's a whole group of us sort of in the middle, who don't want to live under the condemnation of being, selling all they have and going out and following Christ. Neither do they want to live in the presumption of being rich. And wealthy and flowing in the absence of God. So they say, just don't bother me about it. And beloved, a lot of us here this morning are just like that. We have decided that we know what God wants of us better than anybody, better than God himself. And so we simply decide, I don't want to live under that condemnation. I don't want to live under that kind of presumption and that gravy train. Let's get on the glory boat to God's highest and best. And so we say, hands off. That includes you, Pastor. I'll make up my own mind. I want to tell you something. It is the most entrenched attitude that I ever face in my ministry is when it comes to finances. No question about it. People would rather blubber off in tongues than talk about finances. Despite what you've heard, People get really knotted up. I mean, it's the taboo topic of the day because somehow we feel like it's going to be an intrusion into what we have come to control. And that's basically exactly what it is. You see, beloved, I think it takes a revelation of the Holy Spirit to live in God's understanding of abundance. Hold your hand there in second Corinthians. And would you just turn with me to Jeremiah, the 33rd chapter. We've been just meditating on these verses in music ministry speaking of the fulfillment of the new covenant. Just listen to this. Would you please read along with me? Jeremiah 33, talking about the new covenant, verse 6. Behold, I will bring it to health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to I love this verse. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth. Who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and the prosperity I provide for it. You see, verse 6. I will heal them and reveal revelation to them. Abundance of prosperity. I know that this is going to require in many of us a revelation. You see, we believe in progressive revelation, don't we? How many of you know more about God now than you did 10 years ago? Can you believe that that might be true about money today? That maybe we can learn something new from God today? Maybe he hasn't revealed of totality of his plan for you. And I want to ask you, instead of arguing back about the things that you've sort of built as an entrenched attitude about tithing and all this, let's deal with God with a fresh openness. Beloved. Because I believe that more than anything, God wants to change our thinking in this. He wants us to learn how to embrace him in his fullness when it comes to his provision to his abundance. He wants individuals to rise up into a new level of maturity and understanding his ways and church. Listen. He wants to take us, a corporate body, into a place we've never been before. I believe that the Lord is at work to bring us. You know, any Boy Scouts here? You can go ahead and put your hand up. All right. Several. All right. Ever had the experience? I forget what they called it when they took you out in the camp in Colorado and they left you in the wilderness for three days. That survival camp, there's a name for it. Yeah. Paul said lost. Yes. But what you had to do was they gave you a thing of matches and I think just nothing to eat and the whole bit. They just said you make it for three days. And you know what? You learned an enormous amount about yourself in those three days because you have to. And you know, it's fantastic, church, because God's putting us in a place where we're going to have to learn this. He's just about to drop us in the mountains. We are turning corners. We are turning corners where we have no choice but to trust God financially. And I'm excited about it because I don't believe God's going to fail us or forsake us. I believe that he's going to do something to loose in us a fountain of faith for his abundance, to meet our needs and to meet the needs of others. We're in the process, rather, of negotiating a rental agreement on a building where, as Ray was saying, we can have ladies come in for counseling concerning crisis pregnancies. And right up here, right visible on the main road, a beacon of hope for people who don't know of any hope. We're seeing things happen in our mission opportunities like we've never seen before. The counseling ministry is burgeoning and they want to have an opportunity to be out there where the people are. This building that you're in again this morning, we're right on the verge of seeing an agreement put together. And I think Fred's going to share some about that in conclusion this morning. But Beloved we're out there and we're going to have to learn what it means to trust God. And breaking through the attitudes that, well, I'm not here. I'm not on the fanaticism end of selling all I have and following Jesus. And I'm not here with those snobby get rich and love it in Jesus people either. But beloved, let me tell you something. The place in between of self satisfied smugness is not pleasing God either. Let me just. And I'm only going to talk for a few more minutes this morning because I want to give ample time for communion. The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, number one, is God's breakthrough to us for our provision. This is the verse for this morning that we see so clearly in Second Corinthians, chapter 8. You see the statement that I get in that verse, beloved, is that God in Jesus made the ultimate statement about his willingness to provide for us. Throughout the Scriptures, God reveals himself as the provider in the Garden of Eden. What does he say to Adam and Eve? He says, I will give thee, I will give thee. He said, just look to me and I'll provide. We go on into Abraham and the emergence of the redeeming purposes of God. Abraham, God says, I'm going to give you a progeny like the stars, a heritage of nations. I'm going to bless you abundantly. And we find out as Abraham goes on, he's the richest guy in the block in terms of God's abundance and every other kind of abundance. Ultimately though, when God requires of him the sacrifice of his dreams, the laying down of his son on the altar, you see, beloved, God will put you through times of seeing who really controls these things. What does he say to Isaac when Isaac said, father, where is the offering? Where is the sacrifice lamp? What does he say? God will provide. Jehovah Jireh. And when God spares Isaac's life and provides the ram caught in the thicket, Abraham names the place, the place of God's provision, Jehovah Jireh. And then we go on in the old covenant and we see over and over again and we don't have time to turn there. But you read in Deuteronomy 28, promise after promise, God will supply, God will provide, God will give. Look to him. And in the new covenant it becomes all the more full. We just looked at Jeremiah 33. God said, I'm never going to run out. In fact, I'm going to make people tremble at what I give to you. Isn't that exciting? Not because we're accumulating, but because we're channels. Channels. Would you just look at yourself and see yourself as a channel of God's provision to a needy world? The Bible then goes on, all this is God's provision in the past and promise to the future. But Hebrews chapter one tells us, in former days God worked through the prophets and through the patriarchs. And he says, but in this day he's revealed himself fully in Jesus Christ, His Son. Jesus Christ is full of grace and truth. He's the personification of God's provision. Now, beloved, we have over here a meager, measly little Christmas tree. You see it, but that's the beginning point, planting, I hope in your mind the seed of what we're going to do for the next three or four weeks around here. And let's celebrate. We're going to celebrate the coming of God's Son in His provision to us in fullness and in life. And every time we sing a carol, every time we sing a chorus for Him, I want it to be for us an expression of thanksgiving for God's supply for His Son, Jesus, because of what God was willing to do. Romans 8:31, 32. One of my favorite verses says, he who did not spare his own son, will he not give us all things with him? Beloved, once God sent Jesus, the rest of it was easy. And in fact in Jesus all things are flowing towards us. That's why Jesus himself could say in Matthew 6:33, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things referring to the things that preceded it. Clothes, food, necessities, all these things will be what added unto you. Jesus himself said that Jesus modeled the very essence of abundance. How many people here today out of your own resource, could feed 5,000 people one time? I hope there's between all of us the capacity to feed about 1400. And that you'll evidence that with your offering. You know, we need about $10,000 for that banquet, folks, and that's not $5 apiece. We need to give freely in specific ways. Jesus had the capacity in his abundance to feed 5,000 people. And you notice how he did it. He took a little bit that someone had and he flowed it, multiplied it. I mean, that story, that parable itself could be the rest of the morning. But you know the story. He took what someone was willing to give him and multiplied it. That's the way that Jesus works. Now when this happens, when we understand Jesus purpose in abundance, we're able to see and meet all of our needs. I want the gals to. If you would put up the scripture verse a little later on here in Second Corinthians and we're going to look at this next week. Paul writes these words and God is able to provide. And you read the words in red with you and God is able to provide with you every blessing in abundance so that you may always have enough of and may provide in abundance for every good work. You will be enriched in every way for great generosity which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. What more can God say about his desire to provide for his people? All, every, always everything. In the King James, it appears seven times. All or every. This is the RS feet. God wants to supply and provide everything that we need. You say, well, that hasn't been what's happened to me. I'm scrounging every month. I've got two kids in college. Does God supply for college? Beloved, I read that scripture and it says to me that God knows what you need and if you've moved it in accordance with his will, he will supply it won't run short. And I have to say to you that if it does, it's not because God isn't willing. It's because most of us have taken into our own hands the methodology that we feel is best. And it generally is not in accordance with the word of God. Next week we're going to talk about the principles. There's only a few that I want to touch in the next week, but I want to talk about it because today it's attitude without which you have nothing but attitude. Having the right attitude, the right heart without the right principles. How many of you know you can be very frustrated. How many of you sit here today thinking I'm really right in my attitudes, but somehow it's a struggle to make may be that you don't know the principles. The second thing, and I want to conclude with this, the first one is in Jesus, God has provided all that we need. And second, as we celebrate his coming, we will experience God's breakthrough. I wish that I could communicate my anticipation more fully today. I just think we're going to see a miracle in the next three or four weeks. I'm not saying that. Listen, as someone who's trying to generate some hype so that you'll make a bigger offering. If you've been here any length of time at all, you know that that's the least our desires. I'm just saying to you, beloved, God's changing us. And if you're part of this body, then you're going to be changed. Either that or get a different ticket. God wants to change us. He wants to transform us and make us released in these things of his abundance. Now, the second point. Celebrating his coming. How many of you recognize that it is the glory of God to supply for his people? Do you know that when you murmur or when you deny God the opportunity to bless you and through you that you're robbing him of his glory? Do you know that some of us are poor because we're too proud? When I say poor, I mean lacking in abundance. None of us are poor based on world terms. I know that. I've been just this last April in Mexico. I mean, I saw poverty. I believe poverty is a curse, not a blessing. None of us are poor in terms of what it means to live on the other side of the mountains of Haiti, make a hundred dollars a year. But we're poor under the definition of not having an abundance. That is, having our needs met and giving to the needs of others. Why? Because we're too proud to handle the blessing of God. We are not able to give him the credit. I read that just the other day. I'm sure I must have read it a hundred times before, but somehow it sunk in. Ever have that experience? Yet if I'll allow God to do something in me, it's. It doesn't make me great. It just means that he's great and I can reflect him and give him the credit. This building, when God supplies it through our hands, when he gives it to us, what are we going to do? Put up a big sign and say, this is now our building? Who's going to own this building? It's God's building. It'll be the place where God can move as he sees fit and do with it as he pleases, and he'll receive the glory and the credit for it. This is what God's after. He wants to be glorified. Would you put that verse up again? Notice the last part of the verse. You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which through us will provide thanksgiving to God. If you're in Second Corinthians, look there, chapter nine, for the rendering of this service. Verse 12. Now not only supplies the wants of the saints, but also overflows in many thanksgivings to God. Under the test of this service, you will glorify God. You will glorify God by your obedience in acknowledging the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others. You will glorify Him I want to be able to boast in God, don't you? When we have this banquet, we're not going down there with some uppity attitude that, well, we just thought that we'd roll off a couple of twenties to make you all happy down here. I want to magnify the name of the Lord. If you look at the prayer request and we're sending out some information about how to pray. We want God to be glorified. We want man to be just put in the background. We want God to be seen as the God who supplies and provides and loves these people and wants to rescue them from the curse of the one who would steal and kill and destroy their life. Beloved, it glorifies God to be a channel of supply to others. How can you believe God for the salvation and the unseen blessing if you can't believe him for the things that you need right in front of you? Which of us who are fathers, we men who are fathers would say to our children, we love you, I love you, I love you, Amy. But not give her what she needs to eat or what she needs to wear to school or a roof over her head. You say, well, Jay, then it's just a matter of degree. I need steaks to eat and I need forty thousand dollar car to drive and I need a twenty room house. Well, beloved, it's not a matter of degree, it's a matter of the heart. How much can God pour through you? There's a brother in the community, I don't know if he's here or not this morning, who's entered into business and is just seeing God at every turn, open doors of abundance, just tripping over himself, making contacts, people calling him and asking him to buy the product that he sells. And you know, people in business. Look at this, this is amazing. This is. I mean, and the guy doesn't work that many hours. He didn't come into it with some silver spoon thing. I mean, no one plopped this business down. Why? Because, for example, just without even thinking a lot about it, he gave $5,000 that Abraham Pothen could go to seminary and learn the skills and the tools that he needs to go back and lead the Bible school in India. Why? Why would he do that? Why did he just $5,000 like that? Because he understood that God is just blessing him to be a channel. The more he gives, the more the doggone thing keeps opening up. How many of us want to be that way, were you saying? Well, that's just a few. Beloved, your heart is the issue you see, seven times in chapter eight of Second Corinthians and twice here in chapter nine, the word grace appears. It's grace, grace, God's grace to give, God's grace to channel. And if your heart is receiving grace, you can give it away. Let me say it again. If your heart is receiving grace, you can give it away. And the more you give away, the more God wants to channel through you. Let's not get into bickering about tithing. Well, I think it's 10% on the net. Well, the New Testament doesn't say anything about tithing. Well, let me ask you, is grace more than the law? Absolutely. And some of us have chosen the easy way out by just Simply writing a 10% check mindlessly. Not, Lord, I want to be a channel, but mindlessly. Well, here it is. Is that the same as giving? Hilariously, as 2nd Corinthians 9 says, no, God wants to use us. He wants to channel through us. Two reasons to glorify him and to bless others. That's it. I want to be part of that. Don't you? Let's pray. Lord, I just pray today in the name of Jesus that as we continue on now with worship that you would do a work in us, Lord God, in our hearts and our attitudes, that there would be a transformation, Lord, of attitude, here in our assembly this morning. That, Lord, the fountain of heaven would be opened, that revelation would take place in our hearts and we could see you as a God who has supplied more than enough and through us would supply to those around us and those in far off places as well, Lord. Now, Father God, we just receive the ministry that you would bring by your spirit in Jesus name, Amen.