WEBVTT 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:41.120 And we are blessed to have as a part of our heritage as a family. 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:43.359 So today's message we pray. 00:01:50.400 --> 00:02:03.760 God sets forth a principle, or in the Word of God, it is but an expression of his character and of his love. 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:08.479 And so God has expressed his moral truth in the Ten Commandments. 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:12.560 He says, keep them, help yourself to happiness. 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:23.360 God has expressed his orderness in natural law written into this universe. 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:35.919 And God has expressed his truth about giving in great laws and great spiritual principles. 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:41.199 He says, do them and you will be prosperous totally. 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:45.520 Not just materially, but totally. 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:53.759 God's five great laws for our total prosperity. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:59.439 Now let me say to you today that these laws of God are not broken by man. 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:06.159 When one violates one of these laws, he really doesn't break it. 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:08.400 He doesn't repeal it at all. 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:11.840 He illustrates it. 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:22.960 If one jumps off the 30th floor of a building, he does not break the natural law of gravity at all. 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:24.080 He illustrates. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:38.000 Today I want to speak on five great laws for our total prosperity. 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:43.759 There are more than five, but I wanted to speak of the five that God's impressed my heart to share with you today. 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:45.360 Law number one. 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:25.680 And David is celebrating this great fact. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:31.040 But David says, Lord, I cannot really thank the people. 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:40.720 Because after all, all the people and all that we've given unto you came from you in the first place. 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:45.040 We have given you but our own. 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:51.600 And that's one of the greatest laws of prosperity in all this world. 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:55.519 God is our source. 00:04:56.319 --> 00:05:02.079 The source of the first Baptist Church is not the economy, it's God. 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:09.759 Your source is not your employer, but the eternal God. 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:12.879 Let me illustrate. 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:18.560 When I board an airplane, I believe in prayer. 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:22.240 I think if you flew as much as I did, you'd believe in prayer too. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:29.439 Every time I get on an airplane, I say, Lord, keep this airplane safe. 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:39.519 And of course, it is the airplane that takes me through the air, and it is the crew who operates the equipment. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:52.399 But behind the visible airplane is the invisible God who is my source of safety. 00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:57.839 You have one employer, I have another employer. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:08.560 There are many secondary ways that God uses to bring the material needs or to meet the material needs in our lives. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:13.360 But all of them come from God. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:16.240 Don't ever forget this. 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:23.600 And that's what David was saying. 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:29.279 When we give, we only give what He has given to us. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:31.600 1 Chronicles 29, 14. 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:35.360 We do not give of our own, we give of that which he's given to us. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:39.439 Simply give it back to him. 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:43.600 That's the first law of total prosperity. 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:46.800 But there is a second law. 00:06:47.199 --> 00:07:01.439 Law number two is this your spiritual growth can never exceed your growth in giving or your faithfulness in money matters. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:03.120 Why I say this? 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:06.319 Because that's precisely what Jesus Christ said. 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:18.079 In Luke 16, 11, Jesus says, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust? 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:21.199 The true riches. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:27.920 The unrighteous mammon is money or material things. 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:35.680 True riches are spiritual riches. 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:39.199 That's what true riches are. 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:41.199 True spirituality. 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:44.480 The true riches are true spirituality. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:57.199 For instance, faith, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, power in prayer, in soul winning, in living for God, in overcoming the world over and over again. 00:07:57.360 --> 00:08:15.120 Now Jesus says, if you have not been faithful in money matters, then you cannot expect for me to bestow upon you true riches, which is true spirituality. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:17.839 Do you get it? 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:20.959 Have you ever seen it? 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:28.160 So many of you have experienced this thing in your own lives. 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:29.680 I've seen you experience it. 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:32.000 I've seen scores of you experienced it. 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:49.679 You remember the tremendous spiritual blessings that have come into many of your lives in recent years when we began to release unto God by faith more of our material things than we ever had in all of our lives? 00:08:50.720 --> 00:09:07.840 And it's been during this period that your life has just blossomed and you've entered into a dimension of faith, of joy, of victory, of vision, of family blessings, business blessings, all kinds of blessings like you never knew before. 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:12.240 Now this is true with the individual. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:14.879 It's true in the family. 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:17.919 It's also true in the church of the living God. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:21.200 You remember what happened in our church? 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:27.759 When we began to trust God in a way like we had never trusted Him in all of our lives? 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:30.080 You remember what happened? 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:33.360 God poured out His blessings upon the church. 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:36.320 In a way that He never had. 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:46.320 Do you realize that it was right in the beginning of our second together we drove that God reached out in this congregation and saved more people than I've ever seen in my life? 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:53.279 And the invitations extended from 1.30 and sometimes to 2 o'clock because the Holy Spirit was moving in such power. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:10:01.440 That was right in the middle of the faith commitment of God's people. 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:24.480 No, when we fail to understand and to obey the principles of giving, we are robbing ourselves of God's best, of the true riches, which is true spirituality. 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:30.960 We see this before our eyes in an amazing way. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:35.600 Now I do not want to believe these things, and I never ask questions. 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:37.840 I really don't because it hurts me too much. 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:48.320 I remember in our first Together We Grow campaign, somebody came to me and they said, You know, a certain brother said, Well, really, you know, First Baptist doesn't need any buildings. 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:54.080 And I'm just not going to give a penny to these things. 00:10:56.879 --> 00:10:59.360 I didn't say a thing, I just prayed. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:02.639 Maybe several people did this. 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:08.080 You see, this person was simply saying that to keep from obeying God in giving. 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:15.039 This person used to be right here, right pretty close in. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:18.320 Sometimes I saw him in the choir. 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:26.159 But I watched him drift and drift and drift and drift. 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:27.440 I don't see it. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:38.799 You cannot be disobedient in material things and receive the blessings of God. 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:40.799 I'm telling you. 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:49.759 If you have not been faithful in money matters, who will trust to you? 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:55.200 The true riches, which is true spirituality. 00:11:56.480 --> 00:12:02.879 If you cannot be trusted with that, why would God trust to you that which is greater? 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:03.840 He won't. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:05.360 He won't. 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:16.399 And so we're dealing with one of the greatest laws of spiritual growth and spirituality in this matter of getting right on the matter of giving. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:18.799 There's a third law. 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:21.600 Law number three is this. 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:29.519 Giving is an investment with God. 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:31.759 Why do I say that? 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:34.559 I say that because again, Jesus says this. 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:41.759 And when we preach on giving, we've got to quote Jesus over and over again because he's the one that told us about it more than anybody else. 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:43.759 What does Jesus say? 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:49.440 In Scripture we've just read in our Bible readings, Matthew 6, 19, 20, and 21. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:52.320 He says, lay not up for yourselves. 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:54.720 Notice for yourselves, it's very emphatic. 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:56.399 He doesn't say lay up for God. 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:10.799 He says, Lay up not for yourselves treasures on earth, but lay up for yourself treasures in heaven. 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:17.919 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:21.120 Now we say get a man's heart right, and you'll get his treasure. 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:22.639 That's not what Jesus said. 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:32.240 Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:34.879 That's what Jesus said. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:42.960 I was talking to a pastor friend of mine who took a church that was about to close its doors, couldn't pay its bill. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:45.200 The Sunday school was down to about 300. 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:46.559 They're now running 2200. 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:49.919 They've had to go to another plant and build a new plant. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:53.279 They had about 500 baptisms last year. 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:55.919 I just preached with him about a week. 00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:58.159 He is with six of his men. 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:02.879 And these men began to talk. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:06.720 And they began to tell where they had invested their money. 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:08.720 And number one told where he had invested his money. 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:13.440 Number two, number three, number four, number five, number six, and finally came to the pastor. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:18.159 Brother Pastor, where have you invested your money? 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:34.240 And the pastor said, Men, since I was 19 years of age, I've been investing 10, 15, and 20% and more with the Lord. 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:44.879 And he said, There's not a bank in the world, there's not a corporation in the world that pays the dividends that I'm getting. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:51.200 And not only that, brothers, your interest goes up and down, but mine's always going up. 00:14:56.879 --> 00:15:08.879 Listen, if you belong to Jesus Christ, and you're investing with Jesus Christ, you're involved in the greatest investment in the world. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:11.039 Nothing compares with it. 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:14.559 And you can't lose. 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:18.240 But had you stopped to think? 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:21.519 This is the only investment that's going to last. 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:23.039 The only one. 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:27.679 You're going to lose everything else. 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:30.480 Now smile, you're on candid camera. 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:35.519 And if you don't like it, just come to me after the service and apologize. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:37.600 This is exactly what Jesus said. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:49.200 If you were to die today, or Christ were to come, you would lose everything that you've invested in this world. 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:54.320 You'd lose your car, your house, your automobile, your clothes. 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:57.279 These things that are so important to you. 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:00.159 Antiques, boats. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:03.759 You'd lose it all. 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:08.639 And all you would have is what you've invested for Jesus. 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:12.399 That's what I'll say to my brothers over in North Carolina. 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:15.759 Who think I'm foolish in giving everything to the law. 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:19.519 And they'll be hearing this tape and they'll really excite them when they hear it. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:21.519 He goes back over there in North Carolina. 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:23.840 Amen. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:30.480 This is what the Word of God teaches. 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:35.440 Giving is an investment with God. 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:40.799 That's the reason some of you love to give so much. 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:48.159 How in the world can some of you give so little and some of you give nothing? 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:50.399 Surely it'll never continue. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:57.200 When this thing hit me in the motel room in Memphis, I said, surely there's no one in the First Baptist Church who won't hear this. 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:04.400 Well, man! I could hardly wait to give my offering this morning. 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:10.240 I was so excited when I saw a new and afraid that giving is an investment with God. 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:12.960 This is the word of God. 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:21.200 Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven. 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:29.119 An outstanding pastor on the West Coast is John MacArthur. 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:38.079 In the church that John MacArthur pastors, they had a budget of$900,000. 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:43.759 Tom, you probably know of John, maybe going to church out there. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:50.720 But anyhow, he's writing a lot of books, and when our men went out there to convention, all of them wanted to hear John MacArthur. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:18:03.440 In one year's time, he raised the budget of his church from 900,000 to three and one half million. 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:06.480 You know how he did it? 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:12.960 God told him that giving is an investment with God. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:22.480 And he shared this with his people, and they got so excited, and they were so wise that they began to invest. 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:26.960 That'll happen right here in our church. 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:31.440 You can't believe what the Bible says and not invest with God. 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:33.680 A man would have to be a fool. 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:49.039 Giving is an investment with God which you can never lose, and it's all you can save, is what you invest with God. 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:52.319 That's law number three. 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:56.000 Law number one is that God is our source. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:02.240 Law number two is that your spiritual growth can never exceed. 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:06.559 Your faithfulness in money matters. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:14.240 And law number three is that giving with God is an investment. 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:16.640 But there's a fourth law. 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:18.160 Law number four is this. 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:25.920 Right giving sets in motion a divine cycle. 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:27.599 Who said this? 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:28.559 Jesus. 00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:30.559 Luke 8.38. 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:31.119 Listen. 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:32.240 Jesus. 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:38.240 Give, Jesus says, and it shall be given unto you. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:41.599 That's what Jesus said. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:47.759 Give, and it shall be given unto you. 00:19:49.359 --> 00:20:03.359 Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall men pour into your bosom, for with the same measure you dish it out, it's going to be dished back to you. 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:08.079 Now here's the divine cycle. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:09.759 It's beautiful. 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:14.160 Giving begins when God gives to you. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:17.759 Remember, everything you have today, God gave it to you. 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:19.759 Not your employer. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:24.880 I find some pastors are scared to death. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:27.599 See, they don't believe God's their source. 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:29.599 They think their church is their source. 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:31.200 And you're scared to death. 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:36.960 If you're looking at man in this troubled economy, churches are scared to death. 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:38.319 They're running scared all over there. 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:44.480 Because if the economy is our source, we'll be scared to death part of the time. 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:50.480 Giving begins when God gives to me and to you, and he is our source. 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:57.279 Secondly, I receive from the hand of God. 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:03.759 Thirdly, I give back to the work of the Lord. 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:14.000 The basic thing being the support of the local church through my tithes and offerings, the base where God's placed me. 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:15.759 That's the teaching of the Bible. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:17.519 I don't just scatter it. 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:21.519 God's placed me in a body under the authority of a pastor. 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:23.039 I'm a part of this word. 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:32.720 And if I give offerings, it should not rob that basic tithe and offering which I'm giving to support the body of Christ where God's placed my life. 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:35.440 So I give to the work of the Lord. 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:42.559 Fourthly, God gives back to me, and then I give back to the work of the Lord. 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:44.480 And the cycle's completed. 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:48.400 That's the cycle. 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:59.839 Now in 1975, we were all just learning, and we taught sowing and reaping, but some did not understand the divine cycle. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:04.000 And I didn't spell it out over and over again. 00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:07.839 And what they did, they gave and got and they kept. 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:11.519 And they stopped the cycle. 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:18.640 Now a cycle is a circle, and once you stop it, it's broken and it doesn't work. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:27.759 Like in your home, if the plumbing is clogged up, the flow will cease until you unclog it. 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:33.119 You see, I was not intended to be a treasure house or a storehouse. 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:34.799 You were not either. 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:37.119 Not even the church is supposed to be a storehouse. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:42.400 I'm never impressed when I go to churches and they say, oh, Bill, we've got$200,000 in the bank. 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:43.920 I say, so what? 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:47.920 Why don't you spend it? 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:54.480 People who don't know anything about churches, then what if when a church has$200 or$300,000 in the bank? 00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:55.440 Nothing to do with it. 00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:58.319 Crowing about having$200,000 in the bank. 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:00.319 God never intended that at all. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:18.240 We're not supposed to be a storehouse or a stopping place at all, but simply a channel through which the money is flowing into the work of God and flowing back into us and flowing into the work of God and coming back to us and flowing into the work of God. 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:20.319 And it's an endless process. 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:28.160 That's exactly the way God works, and that's one of the great laws of prosperity. 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:41.039 All agree that the man with the greatest spiritual power and move the most people in the world in the 19th century was an unlearned man by the name of D. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:41.279 L. 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:41.920 Moody. 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:49.440 It's amazing when we get behind the scene in the lives of the great men. 00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:49.759 R. 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:52.480 Tore wrote his biography. 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:54.000 And R. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:58.960 Tore says one of the reasons that God entrusted D. 00:23:59.119 --> 00:23:59.200 L. 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:07.279 Moody with such spiritual power was because he was free from the love of money. 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:10.559 And R. 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:15.279 Tari says that millions of dollars flew to his hand. 00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:19.039 Notice it went through his hands. 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:20.559 It did not stop. 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:37.680 It went into a world that was lost, and God just blessed the El Moody and blessed him and poured into his life, filled him with the Holy Spirit, and sent him to preach in sophisticated England. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:43.519 And his name lives forever today, and a part of that was his attitude toward riches. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:54.240 In a materialistic world, and a world of an inflated economy, we have to handle money. 00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:03.519 And our money has needed to increase for us to buy groceries, to operate our automobile. 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:10.400 But let me share with you a principle that I shared with the men on the staff just recently. 00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:17.279 If your salary goes up, your love for money should come down. 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:22.559 If that's not happening in your life, you're in trouble. 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:31.279 If your salary has to go up to pay your bills, your love for material things should go down and you should pray much. 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:42.880 Because when you begin to love material things, you cease to love Jesus, and you cease to love souls, and you cease really to have spiritual power in your life. 00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:48.000 Don't give to get. 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:50.799 Don't make this mistake. 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:56.480 But give to get to give to get to give. 00:25:58.079 --> 00:26:08.640 And the divine disciple says that the Lord will keep pouring in you, and you can keep giving, and you become a marvelous channel of God's blessing. 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:14.079 And don't you tell me that that's not Bible, and don't you get up here and say it won't work. 00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:17.680 There's not a person here who's done it that wasn't testified for work. 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:22.640 It's worked in my life and it will work in your life, my friends. 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:26.240 It works in the life of a church, it works in the life of an individual. 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:32.720 Where it doesn't work is where this is used for selfishness rather than the completion of the divine cycle. 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:36.079 Now, what does this mean for you and me? 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:38.400 What does it mean for the church of the living God today? 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:41.359 Well, it means we're not to hoard our money. 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:44.559 If we're Christian. 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:49.920 And it means we're not to go out here and beg. 00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:53.119 You don't have to beg as a Christian. 00:26:54.559 --> 00:27:01.119 And it doesn't mean that you nor the church is going to walk down to the bank and borrow its money to pay its bills. 00:27:03.839 --> 00:27:09.519 It means you're going to give to get, to give, to get. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:18.480 And God will get all the glory because the man who does this knows that God's the source. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:21.359 He's trusting God. 00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:23.519 And the man. 00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:39.279 And he's seeing a miracle not only in his spiritual life, but he is seeing a miracle in his physical life, and he knows that God means what he says because he can count it in dollars and cents. 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:43.200 You see, anybody can come along and say, Oh, God, heal me. 00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:45.680 That's kind of hard to prove sometimes. 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:48.160 Or God save me, that's inner two. 00:27:48.720 --> 00:27:51.359 Or God filled me with the Holy Spirit. 00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:57.039 But there's a greater evidence that God's alive today. 00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:03.440 And that is when a person in need gives. 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:07.279 And God gives to him, and he gives back to God. 00:28:08.079 --> 00:28:11.680 And he sees the miracle of God before his very eyes. 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:14.319 This is happening all over this world. 00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:17.200 It's happening right here in our congregation. 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:20.079 It will happen more and more. 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:24.000 This is the law of total prosperity. 00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:27.440 There is a final law that I want to share this morning. 00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:29.519 Law number five is this. 00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:38.319 Christian giving, true Christian giving is motivated by love for Jesus Christ. 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:41.200 Why do we give? 00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:43.839 Why do we give? 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:45.920 Do we give because there's need? 00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:47.279 Not basically. 00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:49.599 There is great need. 00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:51.519 Overwhelming. 00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:55.839 But that's not the real motive for giving. 00:28:56.160 --> 00:29:01.759 Do we give that we might get a plaque to hang in our study saying that we are one of the big givers? 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:09.920 Do we give to please man or to be seen of man? 00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:12.319 Not at all. 00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:16.000 Proverbs 3-9 tells us why we should give. 00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:17.680 Honor the Lord. 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:24.000 Honor the Lord with all thine substance. 00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:26.799 See, now God knows you need an automobile. 00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:29.119 That's a gift to him, too, if you're living right. 00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:34.480 When you buy that automobile and sanctify it unto God, that's a part of his economy. 00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:36.559 He knows you need a house. 00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:38.160 Oh yeah. 00:29:39.599 --> 00:29:43.440 Honor the Lord with all thy substance. 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:51.119 And with the first fruits of all thine increase. 00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:54.720 That's the reason we give. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:00.079 Though we know it's going to come back, we give to honor Jesus Christ. 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:05.680 We put him under no obligations, no timetable, no slot machine philosophy. 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:08.079 I put in so much you've got to bring it out so much time. 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:09.039 Oh no. 00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:10.480 God's God. 00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:16.640 We honor God because we love Jesus. 00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:21.920 Do you know how John 3.16 reads? 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:28.720 For God so loved the world that he kept his son in heaven to show it. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:31.200 Is that what it says? 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:34.480 Oh no. 00:30:35.359 --> 00:30:40.559 God so loved that he gave his only begotten son. 00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:42.640 How do you prove your love? 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:46.240 By keeping what you have? 00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:48.960 By being stingy? 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:53.119 By giving a tithe when you ought to give three or four tithes to the work of God? 00:30:54.720 --> 00:30:56.720 Not when you love Jesus. 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:03.519 The bottom line is a consuming love for Jesus. 00:31:06.160 --> 00:31:08.000 Did you love Jesus tonight? 00:31:08.319 --> 00:31:08.960 Today. 00:31:13.039 --> 00:31:14.880 That's the bottom line in giving. 00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:17.039 And that's the bottom line in prosperity. 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:18.480 Is to love Jesus. 00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:24.000 I mean love him until you sing about him, talk about him, witness about him, that you're Jesus, God. 00:31:25.359 --> 00:31:27.680 That Jesus is the sweetest thing in this world. 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:32.480 You know his honor is at stake in the church of Jesus Christ, in your life, the way you give, talk. 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:35.039 Everything's Jesus. 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:36.880 Jesus. 00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:38.079 Jesus. 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:40.559 That's the motive. 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:42.559 That's the motive. 00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:50.559 One of the most remarkable churches in the world today is one of the most ordinary churches. 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:55.759 The first Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida. 00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:00.880 Anybody in the world who's ever read their bulletin, even. 00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:07.920 And who's ever been to their services is overwhelmed and says, What in the world's going on here? 00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:16.880 And so a pastor friend of mine in Alabama, not being too far, he says, I'm going to go up there and see if I can find out. 00:32:18.319 --> 00:32:24.079 So he went to hear the preacher preach, and after he heard him preach, he said, Well, this is certainly not the secret of this church. 00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:28.720 And the pastor's not a great preacher nor a biblical expositor if he knows the word of Greek or Hebrew. 00:32:29.119 --> 00:32:30.079 I don't know it. 00:32:31.119 --> 00:32:32.880 He doesn't even use an outline. 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:38.720 I preached with him a week over here at Southern College. 00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:41.039 I couldn't believe it, what I heard. 00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:48.240 The pastor from Alabama said, Well, I'll go to visitation on Monday night. 00:32:48.319 --> 00:32:52.480 And so he went to visitation on Monday night and he saw 500 men go out visiting. 00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:55.599 Well, that was, he said, that's a pretty good number for visitation. 00:32:56.720 --> 00:33:00.720 But he said, that's still not the secret of a church like this. 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:03.519 And then he came to the women's visitation on Tuesday. 00:33:03.599 --> 00:33:05.599 They had a lunch, and 300 women went out. 00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:06.799 That's pretty impressive. 00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:08.640 But the pastor said, that's not the secret. 00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:09.680 There's more to it than this. 00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:11.680 It's not the pastors preaching. 00:33:12.079 --> 00:33:15.680 It's not even 500 men going out or 300 women. 00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:17.519 He says, I'm going to stay until Wednesday night. 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:20.079 I'm going to find out what the secret of this church is. 00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:24.240 So on Wednesday night he went into the midweek service. 00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:28.079 And sat down beside a deacon. 00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:33.200 And he said, Brother Deacon, what is the secret of this church? 00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:37.599 And the deacon smiled and he said, You know, I'm glad you asked me. 00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:40.720 He said, It's very simple. 00:33:41.839 --> 00:33:43.680 Our pastor loves Jesus. 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:47.039 He said, Homer Lindsay Jr. 00:33:47.200 --> 00:33:48.240 loves Jesus. 00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:52.400 And you know he's taught all of us to love Jesus. 00:33:53.200 --> 00:33:56.799 And he says, everything we do, we do because we love Jesus. 00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:02.720 He said, we sing in the choir because we love Jesus. 00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:07.359 He said, we teach Sunday school because we love Jesus. 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:14.079 He said we go out in visitation, on visitation in droves because we love Jesus. 00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:16.320 He said we pray. 00:34:17.039 --> 00:34:20.400 In the church and out of the church because we love Jesus. 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:24.960 And he said, we give and we give and we give. 00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:29.679 And they just built a 5,000-seat auditorium and now they're planning a 10,000 seat. 00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:31.760 They filled it up the first Sunday. 00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:37.440 And he says, we give everything because we love Jesus. 00:34:40.159 --> 00:34:42.400 How much do you love Jesus today? 00:34:45.599 --> 00:34:48.800 We can get caught up in all kinds of things. 00:34:50.400 --> 00:34:52.239 The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus. 00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:53.599 I'm for the Holy Spirit. 00:34:53.679 --> 00:34:58.719 But if we're not careful, we'll get sidetracked and not love Jesus. 00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:02.320 Do you love Jesus today? 00:35:03.280 --> 00:35:03.920 Do you? 00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:08.079 Do you? 00:35:10.639 --> 00:35:16.960 If so, you're willing to serve Jesus and do what Jesus wants. 00:35:19.840 --> 00:35:27.119 Five great laws for our total prosperity. 00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:28.719 Notice what my subject is today? 00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:34.960 I didn't, I'm not pre I've not preached on five great laws for our poverty. 00:35:38.559 --> 00:35:47.760 I have not preached on five great laws for your punishment, for your sorrow, to hurt you. 00:35:49.920 --> 00:35:57.519 I've preached on five great laws that will make your life ablaze for Jesus. 00:36:01.840 --> 00:36:04.079 I preached on five great laws. 00:36:04.239 --> 00:36:10.800 If you live by them, will change your individual life more than anything you've ever done in your life. 00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:15.199