HONOUR GOD WITH WHAT YOU HAVE

August 18, 2002 am


TEXT:

My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:

(Proverbs 3:1-11)

This passage begins with a note about trusting God will all our hearts.

  • That is really trusting God.
  • It's putting every bit of excitement into it.
  • Not being as excited over anything else and desirous of anything else like this.
  • Putting it FIRST, and not in a "convenient time" slot.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him.

  • This means whatever you do, always keep in  mind the Lord.
  • He is always with you, and keep that in mind.
  • Live a life that would be pleasing to Him.
So this is speaking about a genuine Christian life.

  • Not just calling yourself a Pentecostal, or attending church.
  • But its living everyday with a genuine consciousness of God's will and living to please Him.
Then He says it will be medicine to you.

  • Health to your navel and marrow for your bones.
  • In other words, medicine.
  • Keep you strong.
We have got to realize that if there is anything the Lord is going to put at the top of our lists concerning health and well-being, it is going to be our Christianity.

This is speaking about a victorious Christian life.

Verse  7 says to not be wise in our own eyes.

  • In other words, we really have got to live the type of life that doesn't do what we think we should always do.
  • ...in our wisdom.
  • So often we live being wise in our own eyes, and do not even realize what we're doing.
  • We do not even think to pray and seek God's will about something.
  • And this can be due to only one thing.
  • We automatically figure our ways that we can come up with are best.
  • Our wisdom is perfectly fine.
  • And when we get into deep troubles, we instinctively panic and refer once again to our wisdom and try to conclude an answer out of the mess.
  • We should pray, and trust in God.
  • But the reason we do not is because we're so used to trusting in our own wisdom.
We really need to shake our lives and start to learn to trust in God and in His wisdom.

When trouble comes and we don't know what to do, we need to trust in God to help us.

  • Once you've prayed for Him to help, STAND STILL AND SEE HIS GLORY.
This brings upon us a protection.

  • It's like Jesus' words about the wise man hearing God's word and doing it.
  • This makes the wise man's Christianity a strong one that can resist storms of life.
  • WHo gives two cents for a persons' christianity that cannot keep them standing before storms of life.
  • I want to see the Christianity that is attacked by hell and keep on standing!
The church that Jesus built on the rock is something the gates of hell cannot prevail against!

Then we come to verse 9.

  • Honour the Lord with our substance.
  • Now, in those ancient days of Old Testament life, their substance was their belongings.
  • And to honour God with what belonged to them was to give an offering to God.
  • It also mentions the firstfruits of our increase.
  • This is TITHES.
  • I believe we should still give tithes and offerings for the work of God, because we need money to do the work of God.
However, let's look at the top issue God would think about in this point.

  • Our substance is what we have.
  • And we need to honour God with that.
  • What we have. in God's eyes, that is most important, is a new life in Jesus, where He has taken the old life and destroyed it, wiping out all our past sins, and making us new creatures.
That is our substance.

That is what we have.

We need to honour God with that.

  • How?
  • Appreciate  it and live a life that is conducive to such things being true of you.
So many people are so worldly minded and carnal and fleshly minded that they simply spend their time dwelling on the things that the godless people dwell on.

  • They hardly know anything about what God did for them when He saved them, because they are simply not caught up in the things of God.
  • And God has done a fantastic work in their lives!
  • He gave them eternal life.
  • And they're more interested in the newest fashion in clothes, or the keeping up with the Jones's next door, or trying to act like some sinner movie star.
  • Messing up in some mid-life crisis in their mid-forties and looking like teenagers or flirting around and dwelling on sex all the time.
But the things of God are absolutely the most important things anyone could ever appreciate.

  • And treating these miracles He gave to us like the miracles they are is honouring God.
  • Living our lives as clean lives, set free from the filth of the world, simply honours God and shows respect towards Him.
Paul said that presenting our bodies to God as a living sacrifice is our reasonable service.

Do you live like a Christian everyday?

Do you treat people as Christians should treat people?

Come on, now.  Think about it.

The Jews would take their SUBSTANCE and bring it to the temple and offer it to God as appreciation and praise to Him for having all they had.

  • We need to praise God for all that He made us!
  • New creatures!
  • Seated with Christ over all powers of evil.
  • Set free from our sins.
  • Having His name on our lives, to be able to cast out devils, and heal the sick, and work miracles.
The reason so few Christians ever see miracles through their lives is because their minds have not been on these things of God enough, to even understand they have them.

  • And they've been pre-occupied with the things that the world is pre-occuppied with.
  • They just go with the flow.
  • They dance in Church and then go home and curse and swear with the world.
  • They forget God when they're around certain friends.
  • In other words, they do not acknowledge the Lord in all their ways.
  • In just some of their ways, such as when in church, or when around other church people, they acknowledge the Lord and act Christian.
And the firstfruits of our increase.

  • Spiritually speaking (and spiritual speaking is the most important sense of things there is), firstfruits is the resurrection life we have in Jesus.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

(1Co 15:20)

Just like the first crops harvested were given to God in an offering called firstfruits, Jesus Christ was raised up from the dead after the cross as the first of many more.

  • So He is called the firstfruits.
  • And if His resurrection is the firstfruits, and I was raised with Him in His resurrection, and that is my new life, then my firstfruits I offer to God is the life I live in resurrection power!
  • I acknowledge the fact that I am risen with Christ.
  • I understand it.
  • I even honour God with it by checking it out completely, and make myself come to realize what its all about.
  • I learn about it.
  • When the preacher preaches about it, I perk up and listen!
And God is so honoured by me as I appreciate this resurrection life He gave to me by enjoying it and all of its blessings and benefits.

It honours God when you live like you are resurrected and seated about the devil.

  • Don't whine and complain about the devil on your back all the time.
  • Realize you have more power in the resurrection power God gave to you than the devil has in anything.
  • You've got the name of Jesus.
  • Cast the devil out of your life, home and family.
  • Take control and rule over the affairs of your life instead of being shoved around by the devil all the time.
  • This honours God and what he did for you.
Imagine giving a person a valuable item, such as a car, or a really nice set of clothes, or anything.

  • And you never see them with it.
  • You never hear them talk about it.
  • By all appearances, it's as though you never gave it to them, and as though they forgot all about it.
  • It doesn't honour you very much, does it?
  • That is the way God sees so many believers.
  • You would never know God gave them power to heal the sick, or cast out devils.
  • You'd never know God gave them victory over the devil.
  • You'd never know God gave them eternal life.
  • No praise.
  • No worship.
  • No testimony.
  • Its veritably thanklessness.
  • An "I don't care attitude" towards God.
  • After he gave His life and all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.
  • He gave us truth.
Aren't you glad for this One God, Jesus' name truth?

  • Baptism in Jesus' name.
  • Oneness of the Godhead.
  • Some people live as though God never gave them those things.
Honour God with your substance!

With your firstfruits!

And what else did God then say He will do?

So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

(Pro 3:10)

Barns filled and presses full of wine.

  • What do you suppose is in the barns, if we read about presses full of wine?
  • BREAD or GRAIN.
  • BREAD and WINE speaks spiritually of the truths of the cross and all of its blessings for us.
When you value your Christianity for what it is worth and are serious about it, and honour God with what He gave to you in this new creaturehood, you will be jam-packed full of revelations from God about who you are.

  • As much as giving offerings of grain in Old Testament times would see God fill their barns and winepresses, as a sort of REAPING WHAT THEY'D SOWN IN GIVING...
  • ...when we honour God with the wonderful blessings He gave to us because of what He made us, He'll absolutely fill us with so much revelation about who we are...
  • ...shed more truth to you because you honoured Him with the truths He gave to you by realizing them and living them in your life.
In other words, to get more victory and more joy in serving God, APPRECIATE WHAT YOU DO KNOW and are aware of.

  • If you know to pray for the sick for healing, then start laying hands on them.
  • Enjoy what you presently understand, by living like its true of you.
  • God will not bless you with more truth when you don't honour Him with the truth He's already given you by living like it.
  • Skip church half the time, and dwell on the things that the world dwells upon, and never appreciate the things God has been merciful to give to you, causes you to remain unblessed.
He started out saying , FORGET NOT MY LAW.

It's like Revelation 22:

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

(Rev 22:14)

If you keep His word, and live it, then He opens His gates up for you to come on in and feast on more fruit of eternal life.

  • Feast on more bread and wine.
  • Honour Him with what commandments He's already given to you, by obeying them, and get ready for a whole lot more revelations about who you are in Christ!
The tree of life!

  • After he tells us to keep his commandments, he is saying we have access to the tree of life.
  • After Proverbs 3 tells us to not forget his commandments and law, we read the words we just preached to you, plus...
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

(Pro 3:13)

Who are the happy Christians.

  • Who are the ones whose face always gives you a smile and sense of victory?
  • The ones who live these words I am preaching to you.
  • Who take their Christianity as it was meant to be taken... as their everything!
  • Living like this is WISDOM.
  • Ask yourself if you're really happy or not.
  • Seriously.
  • Is life happy for you?
  • Is there happiness in your family?
  • At your work?
  • Here in Church?

Recall that Jesus said that the WISE man is the one who HEARS THE WORD AND DOES IT.

  • His christianity is protected.
  • God keeps His hand on this one's life.
  • He is blessed.
  • WISDOM.
She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

(Pro 3:18)

Wisdom is a tree of life.

  • Here it is again -- HAPPY is the person who holds wisdom.
  • Want to live a happy life?
  • Is your lack of commitment and taking God seriously worth living an unhappy life?
  • Is your willingness to please friends and forget God around certain people worth living in such unhappiness?
God promises to make you HAPPY if you grab this wisdom and hang onto it.

  • Its a tree of life!
Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

(Pro 3:16-17)

Become slack, and you will lose your happiness from God.

Get committed and tie yourself to the altar and be a living sacrifice.

  • Always committed.
  • Might have to rid yourself of certain friends.
  • Swallow some pride and be humble and repent.
Some here are unhappy and miserable and life is getting to be a drudgery.

  • Swallow your pride and come to grips with reality and serve God like you can serve God!
  • Stop fooling around with your soul and eternal life.
  • Get committed.
  • Today, start a committed life
  • Forget the past failure.
  • Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
  • Make it a good one!
Revelation says if you keep his commandments you have right to the tree of life!

  • Proverbs 3 says to keep his law and be wise by obeying His word, and this wisdom is a tree of life
  • Feast away!
  • Enjoy God and your victorious Christian life!