Good evening. It's good to have you. We are struggling a little bit with microphone. It wouldn't fit on my ear, and so now we got this. And so who knows what will happen as this goes on, but at any rate, really good to be with you. I've always enjoyed coming here. Got got some good friends here. Now we decided to let you have some of our Nashville Christians. I'm expecting a draft pick to be named later, and so you can interview with me right afterwards, and I'll pick somebody that maybe can be equal to these deserters. I mean, these two brothers, brother and sister over here, and their kids, and you're probably going to end up get mom and dad too, and I'm not at all happy with that. So anyway, good, good to see you all. It's good to be be here. And one of the things I noticed as I was looking at this that each of these nights are talking about questions a neighbor might ask. So, this particular question is a question that I would prefer not answering to a neighbor, and if I do answer, it's going to be a very delicate answer. And the reason is, is because, as you most of you would know, when you look at New Testament churches, and you read the book of Acts, and you read the epistles, and you learn about what New Testament Christians did and what they did in local churches, and then compared it to generally what you see in churches today, even among our own churches, you might not even recognize, and the people of first century might not recognize what is going on with Churches today, because the entire identity and the entire purpose that has been now reassigned to churches in our country is quite a bit different than it was in the first century. And for that reason, if a neighbor asked me this question about, well, what exactly does your church do as far as benevolence, etc. I'm going to have to be very careful about how I answer that.
One of the things to keep in mind here is that there are a lot of questions my neighbor might ask me about the Lord, and it's not where I want to start with them. It's not a good starting place at all. It's beginning in the wrong spot. And so my preference is going to be give a brief answer, enough so that they understand what would answer the question, but not so much as to take away from an opportunity to actually get a Bible study with them. And that's far more important, and too many times, Christians ruin opportunities. Somebody asked you a question about instrumental music. You get involved in a discussion with them. Wrong place to begin, wrong place to start. We want to start with some more basic foundational things before we get into these other things and that that's really critical. So, this lesson is really more for how do we, are going, are we going to understand this particular point, and therefore, how are we going to interact when we have a Bible study with someone? And maybe this subject comes up as to, what is the church supposed to do with the funds that they collect? And we'll look a little bit of that, but we're going to talk some more about some other things too, about what the Bible really means, about the way we give.
So, we will go from there and the and the next thing I want to point out here is just, here's how I'd answer the question. A neighbor pops this question on me. Here is the way I'm going to answer this question, because I want a future opportunity to study with them. So, basically I'm going to say, okay, look, here's, we try to follow just what the New Testament says about what churches are supposed to be. And what we do is we take a collection every first day of the week, and the collection is just from us members. If we have visitors, we don't ask money from them, and we don't raise money any other way, because the only way that we raise money is by our own free will offering. And we're not trying to get money from the community. We're not trying to do that. And if you ever visited, you would find that out, that we're not interested in trying to get money from you. That's not what we are about. So, the Bible teaches, in fact, there's three ways that we are to use this particular money that God has had us collect every first day of the week. And I would just outline this collection is used then in three different ways, which would be to spread the gospel message throughout the world, which we attempt to do as much as we can in supporting guys who would teach the gospel in other places. We want to help teach and grow Christians and non-Christians alike within our own community. And so a lot of what we use the money for is to be able to have a place where we can meet and teach and learn more about God. And then, the New Testament directs us then to take care also of Christians who are in need.
Now, usually that is sufficient. In my years of experience in studying with people, I don't have to say much more than that, they go, Oh, okay. Now let's suppose they turned around and said, Well, what do you guys do for the community. What do you how do you use your money for the community? And so in that particular case, my answer would be, well, what we, all of us Christians, are always ready and willing to help anybody who truly is in need. We're at the drop of a hat. If there's somebody who's truly in need, we're going to do whatever we can, personally, to help them. And we, we are on the spot at any time to do that, and we do that quite a bit. So that, that's the way I'd answer that. Okay, done. Now, would you like a Bible study? Would you like to get together and study the Bible together? This is, this is really, really important that we know more about what God wants us to do. That's where I'm going to transition to that.
Now, let's take a next step though, and say, Well, what if I'm in an actual Bible study with somebody, and I'm reading through the book of Acts with them? There's a great opportunity for me to bring this up. And I do this all the time, because when I study with somebody who's new Bible student, I like to begin with reading through, getting after some foundational things, to read through the book of Mark together very rapidly, basically, two, three chapters at a time. Then go ahead and read through book of Acts. And Acts is going to give me an opportunity to talk about some of these details. So, for example, in Acts chapter two, something that struck me from the very beginning when I started studying this particular subject. One of the things that I noticed in Acts two, you see in verse 44, "all who believe were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all or as any had had need." And so one of the things, of course, a little caveat to that, it's very this is an unusual type of setting in which people from all the nations of the world have come to Jerusalem, and probably would have had plenty of money to stay there. They've planned on it and staying but then, of course, Day of Pentecost comes and they hear the Gospel, and many of them become Christians, and they don't want to immediately go back home. And so, it's necessary for everybody to pool and take care of each other, etc. So, you will notice in this "all who believed had these things in common." Later in chapter four, yep, later in chapter four, you'll notice down to verse, verse 34 and 35 he says, "there was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses, sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold, and laid it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need." Now we get a little what the process was here. They gathered this, they gave they brought it together, they laid at the apostles feet, and then the apostles from there had that distributed. So, it wasn't like, Okay, anybody comes to church building door, we're just throwing money out here. The apostles taking care of that, and they're taking care of any of the Christians who have need.
Now that sets up, if you go back to chapter three of Acts, that sets up a unique situation in which Peter and John are heading up to the temple at the hour of prayer, chapter three and verse one, "and a man lame from birth was being carried whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, that is called the Beautiful Gate, to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive some alms, and Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, Look at us. And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, I have no silver and gold, but what I do have, I give you, in the name of Jesus Christ, of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk," etc. So, you will notice something that Peter said there. He said, Silver and gold, I don't have any of that, and I'm thinking, What are you talking about, Pete? You've got the whole church Treasury laid at your feet. What are you talking about? He says, No, what I personally have, I'll give you, but I don't have any money. Because the collection that they were making was for those needy Christians. And that is a pattern that you see going on throughout the New Testament. It's not that Christians aren't going to help anybody as they have ability and opportunities, we'll mention in a moment, but this is a principle that you see over and over again in the New Testament. As a matter of fact, when you go to First Corinthians, chapter 16, one and two, and everybody here who's been a Christian very long knows that text where Paul urges the Corinthian church, just like he says, just like I've ordered the churches of Galatia on the first day of every week, I want you to lay by in store as you have prospered, because I'm going to come later, and you can appoint somebody to go with me if you want, and we're going to take that money to Jerusalem and take care of needy Christians there. We know those collections also were used for other things. Paul tells the Corinthian church that he's aware that they're using their money to support preachers that are there. False preachers, but they were using it.
And then Paul talks about the churches of Macedonia, who sent money to him to support him in preaching of the gospel. So no collections were used for some other things besides needy Christians. But there was a special need at that particular point, and so Paul was instructing all the churches to make a collection. And specifically, he always listed as for the saints, over and over and over again. That's what he says. In fact, when you look at the passages here, and I'm not going to look at all of them, we don't really have time to do that. But when you look at these passages here, you see in in Acts 11:29 and 30, the church of Antioch heard about a famine in the churches of Judea, and they sent money down and distributed that to the elders of these churches who took care of those in need. You see in Romans 15:25, and 20 through 27 how Paul said, the churches of Macedonia and Achaia have sent funds to the poor who are in Jerusalem, poor Christians in Jerusalem. And he mentions that saints, second, Corinthians, eight, He commends the church, churches of Macedonia, and how they also had collected and given beyond their means, even to take care of the poor that were in Jerusalem. There had been a famine there, but I would assume a lot of persecution as well from their own countrymen, which left their goods spoiled, as the Hebrew writer says, and left them in that position. Bottom line is the authority to take the collection and be able to use it for something other than the three areas we've spoken of, whether the teaching and preaching of the gospel or edifying and building up the saints or for needy Christians, there is just simply no passage of scripture that ever authorizes that. And that that is something that would be on the shoulders of a person who said, Yeah, I think we can take the collection to do something else with it. You're going to have to show a passage for that, and that would be necessary.
Now, I'll mention one other passage here, and that's in First Timothy, chapter five and and verse 16. And you notice in First Timothy 5:16, Paul is referring to widows who are truly widows within the church, and he makes a very interesting statement here. He says, "If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened so that it may care for those who are truly widows." So, did you catch that? Paul even limits the monies that are collected by a local church. He limits what can be used, what it can be used for. You can't use it, he says, for just any widow. The widow has to be, if you read earlier in the text, 60 years old, has to have certain qualifications as the previous family, that widow cannot have any other relatives who could take care of them. If it does, church is not to be burdened. Notice the word burdened. Paul recognizes that if the church just simply, universally begins to take care of everybody, even within the body, just from the collection, on a permanent basis. And this is what he's talking about First Timothy five. He's not talking about a one time or a few times. He's talking about a permanent basis. If that were case, the church would be burdened. It would be impossible. If we were called upon as a church to take care of the needy, even in Florence, you couldn't do it. In fact, you not only couldn't do it, but all of your time would be spent trying to do that. And what would happen is, is that we would lose the primary purpose that God brought us together as a group of Christians, which is to reflect His glory and his name. And teach others about the gospel that is the critical, critical need, the spiritual needs. And that's exactly the way Jesus handled it. And we're going to talk a little bit about that in a moment.
So, let me mention two passages that sometimes are used to say, well, the church collection ought to be used to take care of people outside of the church. Well, Galatians, 6:10 after nine verses previous, that is all talking to an individual Christian. Galatians, 6:10, says, "So, then, as we have opportunity, let's do good to everyone, and especially those who are of the household of faith." Each of us as individuals has an obligation to do good to everyone, regardless Christian or not, but especially taking care, of course, the household faith. Those who are Christians. But we don't, as far as our personal funds are concerned, that is not exclusive, that is to anyone that we can see that need help, that cannot help themselves. And that, I think everyone here understands that that'd be very, very important. The second passage, that is something we'll talk about just a little bit more next in a moment in James 1:27 again, referring to the individual Christian. James says, "religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father, is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted or unstained from the world." So, the same person who's to keep himself unstained from the world is called upon to look out after widows and orphans, those who cannot care for themselves. That's an obligation that each of us have. And as I said, we'll come back to that in just a second.
I want to mention one other thing here, though, as far as the use of money, and in this case, the use of funds by us as individual Christians. It has become somewhat common for churches and Christians to decide that the best way to get the gospel out is to go into poorer areas of town and offer some monetary assistance in order to get an opportunity to teach a person the gospel. In fact, I've had many people say, Well, you know, here's a cool thing to do, go down the local laundromat and bring a bunch of quarters, and when you see somebody come in with their clothes, you know, chuck the quarters into their washing machine, and, you know, do that for them, and then see if you can get a conversation going with them. So, I'm going to suggest there's two problems with any of those particular methods, but the, well, I'll just mention these two problems with with this. First, the approach is contrary to the Scriptures. In the sixth chapter of John, you might remember that Jesus fed 5000 out in the wilderness. You might notice the order in which he did it. He fed five, he fed 5000 after he preached. He didn't say, I'm going to feed you all, now, hopefully you'll listen to me. He fed 5000 after he had already preached, and the next morning, they showed up for breakfast, and he said, You didn't see the sign, and I'm not feeding you breakfast. I'm not a king who came to give you physical food. I came to give you spiritual food. Some people have the idea that every time Jesus entered a town, he just divvied up all the money to the apostles, says, go out and start handing it out, and then I'll follow up, and we'll see if we can get people listen to me. That's not the way that that works. As a matter of fact, in John 6:44, and 45 Jesus made a very, very important point to these people who were following him. They said, "No one," He said, "No one comes to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and they shall all be taught of God." There's one draw. There's one draw to Jesus, and that's the gospel message.
Now, you want to teach some people at the laundromat. Well, our washing machine broke down recently, and Theresa said, Well, I'm just going to try that. She went down a laundromat see if she could talk to anybody that was there doing their clothes. You know, you don't have to shove a quarter into their machine to be able to do that. You can just talk to them. And of all the time that she was there, the only person who could speak English was the the owner of the laundromat. So, she didn't get very far with that. She did a few times, and that was the way it was. But at any rate, the bottom line is, if you have a conversation with them, have a conversation with them. You don't have to chuck money at them, made them suspicious. What do you what are you up to? What's going on here? If you draw them by money, you will keep them by money. That's the only way that'll that'll happen. It is not the biblical way to handle our own personal money. I know even in and, hey, I've been in California and some real rough areas, and deal with a lot of drugs, drug people and other kinds of things. And people are on welfare, etc. I have to be extremely careful with those people, that I do not jump to throw money at them when I see their needs. Not to say I don't help some, but I got to be very, very careful, lest they be drawn to the fact that I might give them something, invite them to dinner, whatever. I mean, they're not that down and out, but you're doing things carefully so they're not drawn to you because of the money. That's the critical key. And if you do it where you draw by the money, you will not teach them the gospel. You say, Yeah, I will. No, you won't. The whole, the whole country of the Philippines was ruined by this business years ago, when Americans threw so much money there that Filipinos were becoming Christians because they could dip into the pot and get some money, and they were becoming preachers because, boy, this American money is coming over here. It's happening the same way in India. If I had time, I tell you a cool story about that, but that's the kind of thing that happens.
So, here's the second reason you don't want to do it that way, is that it doesn't work. There was a church a few years ago that practiced that kind of give-them-something first, take-care-of-them first, and then see if you can teach them the gospel. Well, for a two year period, and they baptized 80 people doing that. And when I and a number of other preachers questioned the preacher there about how many of the 80 are attending there or any church, and I've become a part of any church, zero. That didn't surprise me at all, because they were drawn to the money, and once the money dried up, they quit, because that's why we're there. That's the only reason you drew them is because of the money you were offering. So, I'm just suggesting, even as an individual Christian, you have to be very, very careful how you handle that, lest somebody is drawn because you're helping them, not to say he shouldn't help at times, obviously. But if you, if you overwhelm them with that, they're going Cool, man, uh, they're going to be just like the people in Acts or John six, who said, Give me breakfast too. And it's going to be a draw because of the food and that that is not what any of us really are looking for.
Let's talk just a bit here now about James 1:27 and most of you have been Christians very long understand how James 1:27 has been has been used. And what has basically happened is, is we've talked more about what it doesn't teach than what it does teach. And we're going to say, well, you know, it's not talking about taking money from the collection. Well, no, it's not, but is talking about taking money from you and me. And this is a command. And how much, how many of us, how many as individuals, have taken this command seriously enough where we are setting aside money every year so that we can donate it to families who will adopt children? You know, the problem is, and I've heard this a lot of times, where somebody says, Well, why should I help a parent, you know, get their kids? It is not about a parent getting kids. It's about saving children eternally and giving them a home. That's what it's about. It's not about whether or not you're helping a parent get a child. You're helping a child have a family. Unimaginable how many, many children today, whether in America or in other countries, who are, who are in that situation. We hosted a girl, 15 year old, girl a few years ago, from Ukraine. She had been dumped by her mother at five years old, and she had grown up there for 10 years. And when we asked her, if we can, can we help you find a permanent family here in America, she shook her head like this. We were using Google Translate, and she says, No. Looked at her, you don't want a family here in America to adopt you? She wrote on Google Translate, nobody would want a 15 year old. I had to go in the other room and cry, and I thought to myself, you just watch girl. And of course, we did find a fine family that took her and had adopted her. But you know, the these children need a family. And fortunately, because of the great sacrifices of Dave and Dana Carrozza and the establishment of Sacred Selections, we have something we can give to that is scriptural, and we ought to take an advantage of that. And I'm sure there's some other opportunities too. But this is a command, and how many of us then are are really doing it? Do you realize that the that God either rebukes or encourages his people in the Old Testament 42 times he mentions the fatherless and taking care of them? 42 times. Whoo, have we missed that? Have we overlooked that? We need to take this very, very seriously.
In this passage, you know, I thought I was going to be closer to this. He says, "When you have finished paying," this is in Deuteronomy, "when you finish paying all the tithes of your produce in the third year, which is the year of the tithing, giving to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless and the widow, so they may eat within your towns and be filled. Then you shall say, before my house, and moreover, I have given to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me and have not transgressed." Job, mentions this powerful passage, "if I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone and the fatherless has not eaten of it, for from my youth, the fatherless grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother's womb, I guided the widow." And he goes on to talk about what he's done. He says, If I haven't done that, let my shoulder fall off and my arm dangle at my side. This is a, you know, we want to put this plain, this is a sin, not to do this. And we are as wealthy as we've ever been in America. And as Christians, I grew up a long time ago, and we weren't as wealthy as we all are today, and we need to set this aside to take care of that.
Now, one other point I want to make in the last 10 minutes here that we have. If you look over in Isaiah 58 I'm going to give you an idea of how God looks at the true meaning of giving. Isaiah chapter 58, this is a text that God uses concerning fasting, but it applies to any activity that God has commanded us to do, including giving. So, Isaiah 58 probably don't have time to read it all, but we can read enough of it. "Cry aloud," verse one, "Cry aloud, do not hold back. Lift up your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob, their sins, yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God. They ask of me righteous judgments. They delight to draw near to God. Why have we fasted?" Here's them asking this question of God, "Why have we fasted, and you do not see it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it? Behold in the day of your fast, you seek your own pleasure and oppress all your workers." The people are going, God, you know, we did all this, we fasted, we took care of this and this, and you haven't blessed us like we've wanted. And God just turns around and says, Well, the problem is, when you do your fast, you seek your own pleasure and you oppress all your workers. "Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist, fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.Is it such the fast that I choose?" Look at this in verse five, "a day for a person to humble himself, is it to bow down his head like a reed, to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast? A day acceptable to the Lord?" Notice what he's saying, Oh yeah, you guys go out and you get sackcloth and ashes, and you hold your belly like the Pharisees did and say, Oh man, I'm starving to death for the Lord and all this, and you humble yourselves. Is that what I'm looking for, God says? No, no, no. Verse six, "Is not this the fast that I choose? To loose the bonds of the wicked, of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke. To let the oppressed go free. To break every yoke. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house, when you see the naked, to cover him and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?" I bet those Jews be just like us. Well, I thought fasting was just, you know, going without food for a day or two. He says, You know what your fast is outward and it's not doing a thing for you, of what I'm really looking for. The fast is a symbol of something greater I want from you. The fast is giving your life up, and you are doing the fast, and all of this other is gone the way.
I think there's something we need to see here. The fast is just like giving. We can drop buckets of money into the collection plate, but is that really what the Lord is looking for? Is that really what he is requiring of us? I hope we can see something of what really is happening today. When we look at this, God is saying when you think of the fast, I want you to think of spiritual needs. I want you to think of what the fast is supposed to be doing for you, inside you, that's what I want you to think about. That same thing is true of giving, isn't it? I want you to understand why you're giving. It's not just money. It goes far beyond that, and how it affects your heart, your life, and what you are going to give when it comes to yourselves. Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 9:36, and 38 here is a heart that is hard for us to recognize, but it is just as true today. "When Jesus saw the multitudes, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." When he said to his disciples, The harvest, "then he said to his disciples, The harvest plentiful, but the labors are few, therefore pray earnestly to the lord of harvest to send out labors into his harvest." When we look around us, I'm sure everyone here sees the upside down world we're looking at. Would any of us have thought 10 years ago that we would have a Supreme Court justice who doesn't even, is unable to tell you what a woman is? But we would say that's unimaginable, and yet this is where we have gone. But how do we look at it? Turn our eyes in disgust and say, What a bunch of weirdos? Tendency? No, we need to weep and pray. We need to do what we could do, and that's hard. And Jesus looks out and he sees people differently than he way we see them. You know why? Because they're his creation. They're his children. We need to look at every single person we see. When you see them off the deep end and not being able to understand right from wrong, you're seeing people who are harassed by the devil. Who have been destroyed by the influences the devil has put out. They're sheep without a shepherd, and we need to pray for them, very least, have compassion on them. And that is the heart that the Lord is trying to get to us to have.
I hope, in this last minute, just to say this, Do we see what's happening to us today? Have we really stepped back and taken a look at our lifestyles? Include me, all of us. We, have we taken a look, good look at how we live our lives. I'm sure this church is just like every other church I've known, that if there is a monetary need, we'll empty a good part of our bank account to help out in an instant. And that's great. But Paul said something that was deeper than that, when he talked about the Macedonians in Second Corinthians eight, he said they first gave of themselves. You can give one big pile of money and it's not going to make any difference if you haven't first given yourself. That's what it comes down to. I'd like to ask yourself, ask yourself a question. When you're confronted with a spiritual need around you, not a monetary need, but a spiritual need, spiritual need, maybe it's in a neighbor, a friend, a co-worker, whatever, or the needs spiritually of this congregation, what goes through your mind when somebody says, We need to get this done? What goes through your mind, for example, what goes through your mind when you read Ephesians 4:11, through 16, and he says, to get to maturity, every part is to be doing its share. Every equipped part is to be joined and knit together as a church. How do we read that? There's a tremendous effort that has to go into that. It doesn't happen meeting a couple hours a week. It happens with an intentional idea that I'm equipped to do something. I'm gifted to this church in some way, and I need to give this gift in this body, to be joined and knit together with the rest of the group, so that all of us grow together to maturity. How do we look at it when Paul says in Ephesians 4:15, that come to maturity, we're supposed to be able to speak the truth in love, and Hebrews five in verse 12, he condemns those who, for so many years have been Christians and still can't sit down and just explain the Bible text to a friend. What's going on with us when that happens and when there's an opportunity to host a neighborhood Bible study, host a study in our house or whatever, or teach someone, what goes through our minds? I think I know what goes through our minds, because it goes through my mind. It's something like this. Well, that's sure a good thing. I wish I could fit that into my schedule, but you know, we're just really busy right now. Come on, we are too busy. God's cause is like, how much do I have to give? Well, are we serving God like, like we fill out a tax return? You know, what's the bottom line? How much do I have to give, not a penny more? Is that the way it is? Look at what Jesus said, "among the thorny ground, those sown among the thorns. They are those who hear the word but the cares of the world, and those the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things, enter in and choke the word and he becomes unfruitful." What do you think it means to have the word choked? It means time. Time with riches, cares and desires for other things. You can read desires for other things, filling my bucket list. It's time. Tell me the word isn't being choked so that it becomes unfruitful in our lives. I'm scared for us. I'm honest. I know I'm talking to a church doesn't even hardly know me, but I'm scared for us, and I'm talking about all of us. We are cheapening out the time we need to spend to grow to maturity, to reach a lost world, to truly be benevolent to a lost world. Has the present culture seeped into your life? Has it seeped into your church? It's done it everywhere, you're not unusual. We need do what we can to correct. Love y'all. I know those are some hard things, but it is so important for us to give better thought to that. Thank you very much.
