Two Things God Needs
Matthew 28:18-20
Intro
The Great Commission is a New Testament statement of God’s great eternal plan of redemption. It has always been his purpose and always will be.
Jesus issued the proclamation: “All authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” This authority is the authority to command and to issue orders to his disciples. He has the authority to request, even demand, our total resources.
In our text tonight, the Lord reveals his worldwide, age long program. He tells his disciples that in their going about from place to place, they should make disciples, and he promises to be with them if they obey his command.
The title of this message is a paradox. In one sense God is not dependent on us for anything. He is all sufficient and could ignore us completely if he wished. God has chosen to limit himself to utilize our talents and our resources though.
For the accomplishment of God’s great redemptive purpose, He needs two things from each and everyone of us here tonight: manpower and material resources.
I. God needs manpower for the accomplishment of His purpose.
a. God needs converted people
b. God needs consecrated people with dedicated minds, hearts, and hands.
c. God needs compassionate people with warm hearts
d. God needs courageous people
i. Jesus said in Matthew 9:37, “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”
ii. Paul challenged the Corinthians with the opportunity of “laboring together with God” (1 Cor. 3:9)
iii. The church has been and continues to be plagued by the curse of insufficient manpower though.
II. God needs material resources for the advancement of His kingdom
a. In a very real sense, God does not need anything we have.
i. He is no pauper
ii. He is no beggar
b. If this is the case, then someone is certain to say, “Why does God need my financial resources?”
i. We nned to understand that our lives and our material resources are wrapped up in the same package.
ii. It is impossible to think of a person in total isolation from his or her material resources.
iii. People who separate God from the economic realm of life automatically place their hearts in material things rather than in the kingdom of God.
c. From the beginning of time, God has commanded people to be givers – not because God was a pauper, but to save people from the tyranny of the material.
i. By the commandment for people to be tithers, God was seeking to enter into the economic activities of people and to show them the sacredness of this area of life.
ii. By commanding his tithe, God was seeking to guarantee that we would invest our lives in spiritual rather than material things.
d. The teaching of the tithe is as old as the Bible
i. The giving of the tithe is based on divine ownership, it all belongs to God.
ii. The giving of the tithe is based on human stewardship.
e. The giving of the tithe works today.
i. Tithing helps spiritualize that which is considered secular.
ii. Tithing brings a new reality and vitality into worship as the tither brings a specific portion of his or her time, talents, and efforts in the form of the tithe.
iii. Tithing greatly helps in evangelizing a lost world through the suppo0rt of missionaries both at home and abroad.
iv. For the members of a given church to begin tithing will revolutionize both the worship and witness of that church.
1. Real spiritual renewal is experienced when people begin to bring themselves with their resources into the work of God.
III. God needs people and money because people need God.
a. God loves and labors to bring his mercy and grace into the hearts and lives of lost men and women.
b. He has given his Son to be their Savior.
c. He has sent the Holy Spirit into the world to work within the hearts of both the saved and the unsaved.
d. God needs every believer to be a messenger of his love and power to save.
Closing
So I challenge you tonight, to give yourselves and your substance to the Service of God. God needs you, and he will use you if you will permit him to.
