Excelling In Giving

[Music] today on excellent leadership with sama DMA there's nothing God can give you after giving Christ and I want you to think about what you will give to God I want to ask you to give yourself today knowing that even yourself is not good enough for him but at least does a starting point second Corinthians chapter eight verses 1 to 7 and we start from verse 1 it says 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 and not only as we had hoped but they first gave themselves to the Lord and then to us by the will of God so we all Titus that as he had begun so he would also complete this grace in you as well but as you abound in everything in faith in speech in knowledge in all diligence and in your love for us see that you are bound in this grace also so let's title our discussion today excelling in giving excelling in given the ultimate giver is God the ultimate giver is Paul they oppose challenging the Corinthian church that they needed having excelled in everything else to excel in the grace of giving but our ultimate giver is gone John 3:16 for God so loved the world that he did what he gave his only begotten son the first thing we notice is that God's love is the motivation for his given or should we say god-given is motivated by love secondly that God's given is sacrificial for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son very important first John 3:16 says this is how we recognize love in that he laid down his life for us and so we also ought to love our brethren God's motivation for giving is love so we can say that giving is the major proof of love now when you love someone it's important for you to say it but saying it is not enough you can say it without meaning it ok saying it is not enough you need to prove it and the greater proof of love is given first John chapter 3 verse 18 my little children let us not love in Word or in tongue but in deed and in truth I like that let us not love in Word or in tongue but in deed and in truth you can say I love you from tomorrow but not sure the actions that prove that you love me the proof primary proof of love is giving so God's motivation for giving his love our greatest motivation for giving is also love first John chapter 4 verse 19 we love him because he first loved us we love Him because He first loved us well for God so loved the world that He gave well for we saw of the Lord that we give the motivation for giving his love what really can we give that will truly reflect what God deserves what can we give that will truly reflect what God deserves ourselves that's the most that we got as us He gave His only begotten Son the second person of the Trinity God gave God literally the best that we can give is ourselves so Paul was telling the church in Corinth the Macedonians they did not give the way we expected it was material things we were discussing he said what they first of all give themselves to the Lord and then they give themselves to us amazing so money and material things run low in the order of things that we can give God the human soul is the most valuable asset on planet Earth that most valuable as that is the first thing to God Romans chapter 8 verse 32 it says he who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things can you see the ranking he did not spare his own son he gave him up for us all since he gave the son what else can he not give so he says how shall he not with him also freely give us all things you see the ranking anyone that can give a human being can give anything else that's the way it works okay so the most valuable asset that we can give is ourselves so in 2nd Corinthians 8 verse 5 again Paul the Apostle said and not only as we had hoped but the first give themselves to the Lord and then to us by the will of God the motivation for our giving to God is love we give because we love him he gave to us because he loved us how do we know that he loved us he gave himself to us this is how we recognize his love for us he gave himself for us I can't say that many times enough many today do not have a good appreciation of the sacrifice of Christ and you know the result it makes the affection for God shallow when someone does not have a good appreciation a good sense of the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross of what it cost God to arrange for our freedom our salvation from sin it makes our affection for God shallow the first generation of Christians we're willing to lay down their lives you wonder why because they saw Jesus pay the price live Galatians chapter 2 verse 20 even Paul that was not that said I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet it's no longer I that live it is Christ that lives in me he said the life that I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God listen to this who loved me and gave himself for me that was the language of the first generation of Christians he loved me he gave himself for me he fishes chapter 5 verse 2 Paul the Apostle said let us love as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us that's the language loved us and gave himself for us walk in love as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us that was the language you go further down in the fishes chapter 5 verse 25 it says husbands love your wives as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her help me to tell the person sitting next to you he gave himself for you that was the language that was the language but Kristen spoke the first generation of Christians he gave himself for me he gave himself for us why they saw they saw him do it they were there when he was arrested they were there when he was mocked when he was tried they were there when their Lord and Master the Messiah was shamed the weather the way there when his robe was taken away and they put another robe on him and they made a crown from fall put the crown on his head and use a rod to beat it in and the thorns pierced the vase in his head and blood flow down when they tore his bed they whether they were there when he was bitten with Hoss whip and the horse whip tore into his flesh the way that the way there when he was made to carry a heavy wooden cross over a long distance and he fell and stood and fell and stood in the process they were there they were when they put his hand to that cross and hammered the nail in on his left hand hammered it in on his right hand they put his two feet on each other and hammered the nail in and then the cross was lifted up and he was hanging by his weight they were there he was half naked their Lord and their master their language was and gave himself for us and gave himself for us they knew what it meant for God to love them they knew it then so when John wrote in 1st John chapter 4 verse 19 we love him because he first loved us he knew what he was saying we only quote it as a verse of scripture he was not put in any Scripture he was describing his experience we saw his love we experienced his love the reason why we are willing to die for him is because he was willing to die for us see hmm 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verses 1 and 2 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verses 1 & 2 Paul the Apostle said and I brethren when I came to you did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God for I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified Jesus Christ and him crucified that is the foundation of the Christian message all the Apostles said it does not need embellishment this one is not a matter of oratory the power in Christianity is in this message that Christ died he was crucified that's it I believe that every Christian needs to be fed a good diet of Christ crucified messages for our values to be in place for us to have a healthy dose of affection for God having seen Christ crucified his disciples were prepared to lay down his own lives for him also and it showed in the way they gave but the way we need to literally lay down their lives so when it came to giving in church giving to God's work let me read Acts chapter 4 verses 33 to 35 it says and with great power the Apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all nor was there any one among them who lacked for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold and laid them at the Apostles feet and they distributed to each as everyone had need this way God loved us this way so when it came to giving they were not quarreling over percentages they were selling lands selling houses oh my god because it was a matter of love they were not under compulsion from anybody anything that had to do with Jesus I had to do with God they were willing to pay any price to make sure that it worked well we need to find that back in our own day and age so let me describe what it's like to be a God David in the Bible was a God lover the day David fought Goliath it wasn't just because he wanted to marry the king's daughter or because he wanted to get some little bit of money from the King David fought Goliath because of his passion for God when you read his words in 1st Samuel 17 he said who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of God it was God he was thinking about somebody wanted to miss God up David was not going to take it David was a God lover we all know that he proved it 2nd Samuel 24 verse 24 he wanted to offer a sacrifice and somebody wanted to give him okay around I wanted to give him the face that he would use hear what he said 2nd Samuel 24 24 then the king said to around know but I will surely buy it from you for a price nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing so David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver that's amazing if it comes to me giving something to God I can't give something that is cheap I can't give something that is free so I'll buy it from you 1st chronicles 29 verses 3 to 5 1st chronicles 29 verses 3 to 5 David describing what he had stored up for the building of God's house he said moreover because I have set my affection on the house of my god I have given to the house of my god over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house my own special treasure of gold and silver three thousand talents of gold of the gold of Ophir and seven thousand talents of refined silver to overlay the walls of the houses the gold for things of gold and the silver for things of silver for all kinds of work to be done by the hands of craftsmen then he challenged everybody else who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord amazing a God lover the proof of love is given not just given but sacrificial given the sense of value that you have for the person that you say you love will show in your willingness to sacrifice on the behalf of the person Solomon continued from where his father stopped first Kings chapter 3 verses 3 to 4 first Kings three three to four and Solomon loved the Lord walking in the statutes of his father David except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places now the king went to Gyan to sacrifice there for that was the great high place Solomon offered a thousand bond offerings on that altar he had seen his father practice love for God and Suleiman loved the Lord thank you lord and when it came therefore to sacrifice into God he didn't put any cap on it he didn't put any limit on it he just went to town demonstrating his love thank you lord oh thank you lord thank you lord the big question I want to ask there is where are the God lovers of our generation we're the ones that have a good sense of the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross of Calvary where are the ones that are willing to give not just materials but to give themselves first to the Lord the first generation of Christians that saw Jesus died live knew what it meant for God to love them their Lord and Master Jesus is Christ the sinless son of God disgraced shame died on the cross for them oh my god there was nothing that he could not give him there was nothing that they could not give him so I believe that when people give in church it's at different levels but the giving of the god lover is different and the one that does not love God cannot understand it to the one who has not experienced the depth of God's love you cannot understand what this romance is about what this craziness is about they can't understand it thank you lord and they can't understand the fact that when you love God that's where he also loves you like crazy and he shows it in mark chapter 10 a man was asking Jesus very well demand what should I do to inherit eternal life Jesus said obey the commandments he said I've been keeping them Jesus said there's just one more thing you lack you do you are not sacrificial yet in your love sell everything you have distribute to the poor you will have treasure in heaven come follow me and the Mara and away and when he left Jesus said you see what I'm talking about how difficult it will be for rich people to enter God's kingdom the disciple said if that's the case of a rich man what hope do we have jesus said the things that are impossible with God are with men are possible with God the things that are impossible with men are possible with God jesus said so let me read mark 10:28 to 31 then Peter began to say to him see we have left all and followed you so jesus answered and said i shortly i said to you there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the gospel's who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the air to come eternal life but many who are first will be last and the last will be first I was about seven or eight years old in those days we lived in northern Nigeria there were new TV sets where we lived we only listen to the radio in the evening but there was a broadcast station all the way from Monrovia Liberia it was called l1 radio l1 and my dad would put the radio on to that frequency and we would listen to it was a Christian radio station broadcasting all the way from Monrovia Liberia now remember that I'll never forget it that was a choir singing was a song in one of our local languages hey now you're what they said translated to this I'm gonna spread the news I'm gonna spread the news the death of Jesus on the cross on a tree I'm going to spread the news all over the world I don't know what it was well now I can explain it was the Holy Spirit something came on me young boy something came on me and tears welled up in my eyes that song adequately communicated the price that Jesus paid on the cross the painful price that Jesus paid on the cross and I mean tears welled up in my eyes I was crying a young boy and I believe that was the first day I had a sense in that I would speak on the behalf of Jesus Christ all over the world it was the message of the sacrifice of the cross that gripped my heart the next day we had this boys from my dad's office that picked the kids the children of the staff to school hours in the boss on the way to school the moment I cited trees the song came back the tears came back in my eyes as young as I was when you understand the measure of the love of God for you you will love him back when he loved you he gave his son when you love him back you will give yourself and listen to me if you can give yourself there is absolutely nothing else that you cannot give the kind of giving that demonstrates New Testament love the New Testament law of a Christian for God is sacrificial giving sacrificial give it thank you Jesus I grew up in Christianity - no sacrifice - no demonstrating the love of God and today I just want to ask you to meditate for a minute on the love of Jesus Christ for you will you please bow your head for a minute and just meditate on the sacrifice of Jesus for you I want you to just think over the shame and the pain the trial before people that should not have been talking to him the mocking the scourging with ha sweep I want you to think over carrying that heavy wooden cross the driving of the nails through his hands the driving of the nail through his feet the piercing of his sight by the sword I wanted to meditate on God's love for you Romans 8:32 says if God did not spare his son but gave him up for us how shall he not with him also freely give us all things there's nothing God can give you after giving Christ and I want you to think about what you will give to God I want to ask you to give yourself today knowing that even yourself is not good enough for him but at least does a starting point that's the best you could offer give yourself to God and along with that if you can give yourself there's not another she shouldn't be able to give him thank you Lord in Jesus name we pray Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ you saw whom you sacrificed on our behalf we ask Heavenly Father for revelation but every single one of us will have a clearer sensing of the depth of your love for us let the Holy Spirit bring goes to the place of awareness of how much you love us and houses you gave your only Son for us there's nothing else you cannot give with him also Thank You Heavenly Father thank you because your love will provoking us a love for you teach us to know you teach us to love you teach us to love you with the whole of our beings that's the greatest commandment to love you with all our heart and mind and strength help us Holy Spirit in the mighty name of Jesus Christ Thank You Heavenly Father Thank You Heavenly Father [Music] you

Channel: Sam AdeyemiTV

Views: 11,469

Rating: 4.8639455 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: 2ODnDJy0Wg8

Length: 28min 44sec (1724 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 10 2018