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The Generous Life is A Blessed Life
Text
Malachi Chapter 3
1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. 2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ sope: 3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. 4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. 5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts. 6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.13 Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? 14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? 15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
I. Introduction
What does Fortune cookies, horseshoes, 4 leaf clovers, & A rabbit’s foot all have in common? To the superstitious they all stand for Luck.
Athletes would often rather be lucky than good.
songs have been sung about it.
Everyone wants to be lucky.
Poor people use money they don’t have playing a game of luck in which the odds are so stacked against them that it is almost impossible to win.
It seems our society and even some people in the church think that the best and highest level of living is the lucky life.
However, I want to tell you that living a blessed life is even better than trying to live a lucky life.
besides I don't believe in luck I believe in a God that is in control
Why bank on chance when you can live with guarantees?
II. Text
Genesis 5:1-2
1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; 2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
So from the very beginning we have been set up to be blessed. We are born under a curse due to Adam and Eve’s disobedience, but God from moment one was intent on blessing us!
Duet. 28:1-14
1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. 3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. 6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. 7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. 8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 9 The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. 10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11 And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: 14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
did you all notice how many promises of blessing there are for obedient people. Blessed in family, field, finances,
you will be so blessed that verse 6 tells us we will be blessed both going in and coming out.
there is Blessings from every direction for obedience!
We are destined for blessing!
I want to be blessed!
The alternative isn’t a very good one!
So how do we live the blessed life?
I believe there is one sure thing we can do to live a life that will ensure that we will be blessed!
III. Text
In order to live a blessed life we must live a generous life!
In fact, I will go as far as to say that The Generous Life is a Blessed Life!
Proverbs 11:24-25
24 There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. 25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself
those verses basically tells us that the man who gives freely will gain even more; but the one who withhold unduly will become poor
& that a generous man will prosper; & he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed by God
Luke 16:1-13
1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.5 So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
it is very clear that in order to live a blessed life you must live a generous life!
IV. The Generous Life
Generosity is the cornerstone of having a blessed life
the presence of or lack of generosity in our lives gives us a very clear look into the soul, spiritual condition, and life!
A. Without generosity you cannot become spiritually mature.
Some of you think that statement is a bit strong or even wrong!
but I say that generosity is and always will be one of the genuine character traits of the true followers of Jesus!
now days We have changed the standard of measurement of true Christianity to how people dress, sing, testify, etc.
but if you go back to the Bible you discover that in the book of Acts, the community around the church recognized the believers as followers of Christ by their generosity that stood in such contrast to the society that they lived in!
the people of the world recognized true Christians by there generosity
They marveled at the generosity of the church.
The body of Christ would sell everything they owned and pull it all together in order to take care of the widows, orphans, and the needy.
The NT church had a culture of generosity that we have lost!
one preacher said it like this, “If Christ is not Lord over our money and possessions then He is not our Lord.”
Jesus made it very clear that where our treasures are at then that is where our hearts would follow!
If He doesn’t have our money & our possessions then He doesn’t have our heart!
Jesus teaches us in Matthew 25 that we are each given a certain amount of talents and we are expected to develop those talents and then generously give back to the Master.
the preacher goes on to say, “I have never seen a mature Christian who was also not a mature steward.
Giving is a part of growing!”
Your generosity with your time, money, and talent reveals your maturity level! Remember disobedience in one area overrides obedience in another area.
Partial obedience is really complete disobedience.
Lack of giving in any area shows immaturity!
you Can't become a mature Christian while disobeying any of God's instruction Disobedience is a sign of immaturity.
I have never met a parent who said, “My child is mature because they are disobeying me.” No they say, “That kid of mine needs his tail whipped and needs to grow up and do what I tell them to do!”
We acknowledge our children’s maturity when they begin to live up to what we have asked and commanded them to do!
a lot of Christians claim maturity, but they are disobedient in the area of generosity There is a important connection that exists between our spiritual life and our attitude toward money and possessions!
Our attitude either reveals gratitude and trust or it reveals our immaturity and lack of gratitude and trust.
we don’t want to parade around playing the part of a spiritually mature person because we are obedient in one area. If we are not obedient in the area of generosity
we will never become a spiritually mature person just because we can sing,
just because we can pray,
just because you can give a good testimony in public
Have you ever met a stingy mature believer? I haven’t!
Generosity is a key ingredient to become spiritually mature!
B. Generosity goes against our nature!
I read online these words that I think says it best they read “By nature, the concept of generosity is in direct conflict with the concept of self-preservation!”
simply put We’d all like a reputation for generosity our problem is that we’d all like to buy it cheap.
It is when we begin to deal with generosity that the old man flairs up.
Fear of not having enough grips our hearts.
Generosity has a tendency to pick at the old scab left by the old man.
It shines a glaring light on the war that still wages within us!
Have you ever watched the show called hoarders? We sit and shake our heads in disbelief. We can’t imagine living like that. However, the truth is we are all hoarders by nature.
We have been taught get all you can . . . keep all you can . . . the one who dies with the most toys wins . . . When Jesus taught get what you can and then give it all away to help my cause
We are born selfish but Jesus said we must be born again
Generosity is a major tool in killing our old man!
Every time we operate in generosity we put another nail in the coffin of our old man!
how many of you know that we are no longer slaves to sin? Or are we?
Are we unable to be generous to God because we have become slaves to things? We can pay for our iphone bill, but can’t pay our tithes.
We can give our time to eat out, go to the movies, shop for new furniture, but we can’t be generous with God with 2 hours each week?
Who are we serving?
If I am dishonoring God in order to maintain a lifestyle that I can’t afford, then I am not living the life of a disciple, but of a slave!
one man online said “Generous giving is not about doling out extra amounts of money. It is about reorienting the human heart in the direction of Christ so that we become transmitters of the same affection and care that Christ modeled in his time!”
basically This isn’t about the amount.
It is about heart.
You cannot serve God and money!
“Money promises us things that only God can give – security, significance, identity, independence, power and freedom!”
why is it that the so called Christians have problems with being generous?
Those that are closest to Jesus should be more willing to be generous with time, with money, with talents a lot of times it seems just the opposite though
Lets go back to the story of Mary. She takes costly perfume (a year’s salary worth) and pours it over Jesus’ feet. One of Jesus’ close followers throws a fit.
Judas complained about the generous offering!
what Judas teaches us is that generosity or lack of reveals what is truly in our hearts
Let me give you a glimpse into the financial side of our hording nature and also show you how many people supposedly in the body today are faking their spiritual maturity!
one study showed that The average Christian today only gives 2.5% of their income to the kingdom of God.
In America, in 2007, only 9% of all born again adults gave 10% of their income.
a study of how generous we are with our time was done in 2003.
The study revealed that only 21% of American Christians volunteered any time at church in a week.
so does your bank account and the way you spend your time say that Jesus is #1 in your life or is the old man still alive and well
I say if we have truly sold out to Christ then our bank accounts will say so
C. Generosity is met with guaranteed generosity.
One of the reasons that generosity is a key to living a blessed life is that Scripture teaches us that generosity is met with guaranteed generosity!
I want you to be blessed. Generosity will guarantee that!
now i am not preaching a prosperity message about you give this you will get that back
however According to what I read to you out of Proverbs, “A generous man WILL prosper!”
We know this. . . The man who sows sparingly reaps sparingly.
It is more blessed to give than receive.
Luke 6:38 says,
38Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
do We live that?
do we believe that?
I want to tell you that these verses are not just about money or even primarily about money.
It is about every area of life.
If you are generous in judgment, then you will receive generosity when you are judged.
If you are generous in service, then you will receive generosity in service. Forgiveness, trust, respect, etc.
We want God to add His part (the pressed down, shaken together part) without us adding anything to the equation.
notice Who gives first in this passage? Give and it shall be given!
you have to give if you want to recieve
According to the chosen text this morning tithing is one of the things that breaks the curse
You can’t be blessed if you are living under a curse . . .
You can’t pray a blessing on yourself that will override the curse you are willingly and intentionally living under.
Pray for your finances to be blessed all you want, but until you operate in obedience to generosity
However, Tithe isn’t really giving. It is returning. In fact, tithing isn’t really being generous! it is required if you are a Christian
We become generous when we step past what is expected or required and move into what is unexpected.
According to Malachi 3, there is another level of generosity past our tithes that plays an equally important part in opening the windows of blessing it is offerings!
let me put it this way Tithe unlocks the window whereas generosity smashes the window!
And then there is another level of generosity . . . painful offerings. Sacrificial giving has nothing to do with amount. Sacrificial giving has to do with heart. One of the greatest painful offerings ever listed in Scripture is when the widow gave the two mites – all she had.
now I am not up here preaching that Our giving will purchase a miracle or blessings, but I am saying that it can restrict them.
Our lack of generosity closes heaven’s windows because God will not bless what He has cursed.
We can’t pray a blessing on ourselves that will override the curse we are living under.
So if we want to live a blessed life we must learn to live a generous life!
That is why I challenge you to give, and to work & to worship with a sincere heart
I think it's known by everyone here that I am not in ministry for money clearly if I am I not doing A very Good job at it
so I am not preaching this message so I can make more money
I want to keep these church doors open for years to come
lets not let them close on our dime or on our watch as the old saying goes
Conclusion:
I want you to be generous so that you will live the blessed life!
How generous are you?
How generous are you with your time, your talent, and your finances?
Lack of generosity reveals your spiritual maturity and gives us a snapshot of your heart!
The generous life is the blessed life!
God created us in His image.
One of His character traits is generosity.
Is that trait one of yours?
