I Will Not Give To God Anything That Costs Me Nothing Series

DAVID SERIES: A MAN AFTER GOD'S OWN HEART - PART 18: I WILL NOT GIVE TO GOD ANYTHING THAT COSTS ME NOTHING!

2 Samuel 24:1-25 / 1 Chronicles 21: 13 David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into human hands.” 14 So the Lord sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead. 15 And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing so, the Lord saw it and relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 16 David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown. 17 David said to God, “Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I, the shepherd, have sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Lord my God, let your hand fall on me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people.” 18 Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 19 So David went up in obedience to the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the Lord. 20 While Araunah was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the angel; his four sons who were with him hid themselves. 21 Then David approached, and when Araunah looked and saw him, he left the threshing floor and bowed down before David with his face to the ground. 22 David said to him, “Let me have the site of your threshing floor so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped. Sell it to me at the full price.” 23 Araunah said to David, “Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this.” 24 But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.” 25 So David paid Araunah six hundred shekels of gold for the site. 26 David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. 27 Then the Lord spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. 28 At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there. 29 The tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time on the high place at Gibeon. 30 But David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.

Intro: David: A Man…(Pt.19) I Will Not Give To God Anything That Costs Me Nothing!

Let’s Talk About Stealing: Meaning and Synonyms For Stealing:

To take another person's property without permission or legal right and without intending to return it. Extortion, burglary, defraud, misappropriate, cheat, embezzle, rob, swindle. Survey: 71% of pastors believe that church members have changed from stewards into consumers.” “According to the Barna Research Group (BRG), giving to churches dropped significantly last year, even by those identified as born-again Christians. The nationwide survey of 1,005 adults also found that although 32 percent of born-again believers claimed to tithe, a check of their household income revealed that only 12 percent actually did. 29% of adults surveyed in 1997 actually believe that Bible commands us to tithe.”

Three Kinds Of Stealers:

1. Simple Stealer: This is the common, ordinary thief - cds, cigarettes and batteries to bicycles, cars, bibles, hymnals, credit without paying, towels from hotels, etc. and the like. Why buy when you can just take! Shoplifting - The US Dept. of Commerce estimates that 35 million Americans engage in shoplifting every year. That’s one in every 50 shoppers. About 5 million get caught annually. Who pays for that? We all do because it make prices high to cover losses. Taking candy from a jar, change from a pop machine, or stealing from each other at home – parents. Know this: God knows about it. And there’s no statute of limitations with Him. Make it right! Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Most thieves look left and right, before and behind, to see if someone was watching, but they need to look up! Zacchaeus got saved and restored to everyone he had wronged 4 fold.