Promised Land Stewardship - Prosperity With a Purpose Series, Bill Johnson Sermon | Bethel Church

0:00 The Lord is saying, what I want to do is I want to bring you into promised land living where your labor becomes supernaturally empowered and the miracles are no longer to keep you alive. The miracles now shift to advance you in your effect on the course of history. This is the call of the Lord. Good to see you. We've had a wonderful week. Extraordinary week, really. With a whole bunch of leaders, full house from all over the world. Dear friends, about half of them, a little over half. Been here before, people that we know and run with for years. And then a whole other segment that was brand new. And it's just fun. We had 50 from Russia. I just felt like we were being invaded. The Russians are coming. And it was good. It was beautiful. we had such a great time I think we still have a few here left this service but it was so fun it's usually the Norwegians we usually get about 50 Norwegians at a time and in fact we did in our October last month, our October conference including the young man that was healed of such a severe fatal terminal disease just locked up in his wheelchair and literally was his kind of his last fling and his family flew him here. In fact, they're doing a movie on his story, we were just told.

1:20 And they've already written a book on it. He came here, he was dying. His body couldn't absorb food. And long story short, received prayer that afternoon, took a breadstick, ate it. His muscles are deteriorating. He's locked into a wheelchair. And they had to bring 150 kilos of medical supplies just for him to make the trip. Not sure if he would survive the trip. And he came, not only survived, he got completely healed. Glorious, glorious story.

1:52 I was on Sid Roth recently. He asked, what was the greatest miracle I'd seen? That's so hard when I'm asked that question because first of all, my mind goes blank. And then the second thing is I think of too many, you know. But that was one that came to mind. I thought that's pretty impressive. All right, we're doing a series on the purpose of prosperity, prosperity of the purpose. And we're going to push into this a little bit farther. Last week, I spoke to you again on the tithe, which I've only done one other time in my life, back to back like that. And we took a repentance offering, and apparently your repentance was pretty profound.

2:30 I was very impressed, I'll be honest with you. It was many times more than what I expected, and I expected good. But $144,000 came last Sunday that we're splitting between, I think it's three churches in the Reading area that really need help, and then a couple ministries that really work with the poor. Because I mentioned last week, we're going to split it. We're going to give a bunch to the poor and then a bunch to some churches that could use a lift. And so we're going to do that. So anyway, you guys made it possible for us to be a real blessing. And a real fun thing happen Friday night. Friday night at the Advance, we have a wonderful couple. They come to church when they're in the area. They minister in, I can just tell you, Central Asia. I can't tell you where, but over there somewhere. And we can't actually announce the country. But they work over there in a place that's supposed to be Satan's throne. And they've been ministering there for years. And six years ago, they came connected with us. And the Lord opened them up to the Signs and Wonders Miracle Realm to go with the preaching of the gospel.

3:38 And now this area has hundreds of missionaries that are in the system that are seeing miracles, signs, and wonders. Extraordinary things happen. So we got happy about that. They were here Friday night. And I found out through the grapevine that their mission-sending organization dropped them because they were friends with us. And so we adopted them. They were up for adoption. We said, yep, you're ours. So we gave them the tattoo. No, we didn't.

4:13 But we were honestly so proud of them already. And the privilege just to embrace them, bring them into our family was fun. So I told everyone here on Friday night, I said, hey, this is normally something we do on a Sunday. But these folks had to leave, Jonathan and Cindy, had to leave the next morning, the next day to go back to their country. And so we did it Friday night. So I just told everyone Friday night, I said, all right, you guys have to pretend like you're the Bethel family and join with us. So they stood, extended their hands, praying like they were, you know, part of Bethel. And as we're praying for them, somebody brings up $20, throws it on the ground in front of them. They're sitting here on the stairs and then somebody else comes up, somebody else. Pretty soon the entire place is throwing money. We got a pile of money down here. It's nice when you need a laundry basket to carry the money out. And they started doing that, and I thought, you guys really are like Bethel.

5:09 You look for opportunities, because nobody said anything. They just started bringing money. It was so fun to send them back, not only with a prayer of covering and embracing them as family, but saying, you know what, we're going to back it with money too. So anyway, you guys make me happy. Thanks so much for being so focused on this great privilege that we have to really change the world and part of the way we do it is through giving. Open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 9, and then if you would put a piece of paper in Mark chapter 10, that will help us to move it just a little bit more quickly. 2 Corinthians chapter 9. I almost got everybody in 2 Chronicles first service so you know you have to almost be prophetic to know what I really mean

6:05 in Matthew 6 Jesus makes this statement he says, you can't serve God and mammon. Mammon is a, I personally feel that Jesus was referring to mammon as a spirit that influenced economic, the economic arm of the nations. And he said, you can't serve God and mammon, money. And then he said, you will love the one and hate the other, or you will hold to the one and despise the other. Those two illustrations, love, hate, is those who are devoted to God. Those who hold and despise are those who are devoted to money. Because what happens with money when you're devoted to money is hold. You hold and you despise anyone who has the nerve to bring up the subject of finances, thinking that should be not spoken of in church settings. A week or so ago, I asked you the question. It was one that was posed to me a number of years ago. If you remember before you were born again, and of course many raised their hand. I said, what did you do when the TV evangelist came on and you would hear them preach? Many mocked. Many couldn't change the channel fast enough.

7:34 But right after you got born again and you received the Lord and a preacher came on TV, there was a different approach because the issue was settled here. Because once it's settled here, it's no longer despising. Suddenly there's an embracing because you've settled the issue. And those who devote themselves to money in the name of God actually end up despising anytime anyone brings up the subject. And so it's kind of a good indicator on where we're at emotionally, mentally, spiritually, when we deal with this subject. This is a subject that many find difficult to talk about. I feel like it's so important. And I'm going after this because I have this dream. I have a dream of an unusual level of prosperity, economic prosperity for God's people. But I'm not stupid. I realize that many people can't handle much because they're trust level breaks down. And many politicians around the world, political systems are trying to describe or define to us how much money is too much money. How much should a person be able to earn? And so we have political systems that are trying to control how much a person should earn.

8:46 And the question really is, how much is too much money? It's whatever replaces trust. It can be a thousand dollars for one person and 10 million for another. That is the issue. Jesus is only concerned with the issue of trust, as he deals with in Mark chapter 10, which we'll read in a few minutes. So this issue of blessing, of increase, of prosperity, actually God's not concerned, I don't think, about the external stuff, good or bad. Prosperity biblically has to do with the heart. It's prosperity of the heart. It's the emotional health. It's mental health. It's that our inner world is actually full and alive. I read a quote. The guy said, he says, I've never been poor. He says, I've been broke, but I've never been poor. He says, poor is the inside. And it's a great way to look at life, what God has given to us, what he's promised us. And what I'm looking for is for every person to come into the fullness of what God intended for them. And the reason is this, is as our resources increase, we actually become positioned to shape the course of history through generosity, through service, through investment, through just that economic lifestyle. And let me tell you where my heart really burns.

10:05 I do want you to own a house. I do want everybody out of debt, all those things, which we're going to go after the debt thing next week. And I believe the Lord's going to release an anointing to really abolish debt. I think we'll be able to measure this. So that'll be next week. But the thing that I'm really after is my heart burns for this one call of God. In Matthew 28, he called us to disciple nations. I don't think it's possible without prosperity.

10:33 There are extremes in every subject that matters because the enemy works hard. If he can't counterfeit, then he'll try to encourage you to exaggerate, to take a subject farther than what God is saying and doing. And so we find extremes throughout the body of Christ. One extreme would say that prosperity, money, is what reveals how spiritual we are, or your possessions. The goal for the believer is to amass great wealth and many possessions that I don't like. That's nauseating. You can't find that anywhere in the New Testament. I think that's really, that weakens the power of what the Bible calls prosperity. So I don't like that. But I also equally don't like poverty being held up as a sign of spirituality. Poverty is no more the will of God for your life than it would be for you to stay unforgiven of God.

11:29 Poverty is no more the will of God for your life than it would be for you to be unforgiven of God. The same redemptive brush stroke, if you study through Scripture, the same redemptive brush stroke of Jesus, the blood of Jesus dealt with three realms in just the state of the word evil. Sin, disease, and poverty. All three in one brush stroke of redemption. So I want to see the counterfeit, the embracing of poverty as a lifestyle, that's just the way it's supposed to be. I want to see that broken because it's an absolute lie. But what I don't want to do is somehow create a new elitism and arrogance through money. Instead, I look at finances as favor, divine favor that God empowers me to do good to those who are under my influence. And the way the Lord spoke through the queen of Sheba to Solomon was, God has favored you, Solomon, because of his love for Israel. So in other words, what has been given to you from God is actually to benefit the people you serve. And so that is my approach right there. All right. 2 Corinthians chapter 9. Let's start with verse 6 and let's see how far we can get. But this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity. Don't be provoked by someone to give. Don't ever allow anyone to manipulate you into giving. Always let it be the genuine, authentic expression of the heart. That's the way it's supposed to be. All right. Not of necessity for God loves a cheerful giver.

13:21 For God is able, listen to this verse, God is able to make all grace abound towards you, that you always having all sufficiency in all things may have an abundance for every good work. I mean, I think God might've been in a really good mood when he wrote this one. I mean, this verse is just kind of pregnant with all and every and much, you know. Verse nine, as it is written, this is an Old Testament passage. He has dispersed abroad. He has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. It would be good for you to note that righteousness, excuse me, that generosity is actually an expression of righteousness. All right. Move down to verse 10. Now may he who supplies seed for the sower and bread for food supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruit of your righteousness. While you are enriched in every way for all liberality which causes thanksgiving through us to God.

14:22 The phrase that I want to camp on for just a few minutes here is found in verse 10. May he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of righteousness. Once again, notice the connection between fruits of righteousness and generosity. But here's where the Apostle Paul breaks down what is given to our life. Let's say you receive a paycheck. You receive an inheritance. You receive whatever it is. You have income coming into your life. The apostle Paul breaks it down into two realms, bread and seed, bread and seed. So let me discuss those two realms for you in a moment. But first, my approach to our finances is that I take the 10%, let's say I have $1,000, I take $100 out, it is not mine. I put it where he said to put it.

15:14 It's not to be directed by me. It is wholly set apart to the Lord unto a purpose. And for me to redirect it is to apply self-will to an offering. Excuse me. Self-will to a tithe, something that already belongs to God. The problem that Solomon had, his weakness, I mean, you know, he is a real smart guy, very wise man, impacted Israel with great reformation. But he had one weakness in the foundation. He gave sacrifices on the mountaintops, which were forbidden of the Lord. Even though he sacrificed to the Lord, what's the point? he could justify what he was doing because it was unto the Lord but self-will had entered the offering.

15:58 And the tithe is actually set apart to the Lord. It did not come from the law. It came from Abraham, father of faith, etc. We did that last week. So then you've got the 90%. That becomes the 100. Then you prayerfully discern what goes where. In our lifestyle we've never given as low as 20% of our income. We always, ever since we've been married, we always support world missions. That's a huge value for me, for my wife. So we support people around the world, various kinds of ministries. We always give to the poor. We picked that up about five years after being in Weaverville. Actually, probably a little less. But after we were in Weaverville for a season, I realized in studying the Scripture, I always knew that caring for the poor was important. But I saw how God actually designed Israel's economy with a certain measure of their income was automatically set aside for the poor. And I found that fascinating.

16:50 So I thought, well, I'm going to take that as a principle and apply it to my life. So ever since then, it's been probably 30 years now. We have just consistently, every month, we sow into caring for the poor, taking care of crisis needs or ministries that feed the poor, etc. All right? So there's that element of seed. Seed is what you plant for your future. The beginning place of understanding the difference between seed and bread is you are planting for a future harvest. But here's an area of life I never... It's only been in the last couple of years that I've been open to. I've never discussed it in my life in a public setting except in last service. So this is brand new as of today. And most of you probably haven't had any issues with this. I'm just trying to let you know a little bit of my background, a little bit of my way of thinking. I came from a very strong discipleship background.

17:46 My only approach to money was you make enough to live on, you give the rest of the way, the rest of the way, and had no concept on how to steward what God would give me that was actually to be used by me, for me. That was a foreign concept, and it is biblical. I remind you, Joseph of Armathea provided the tomb. A wealthy man provided the tomb for Jesus. Nicodemus provided care for Jesus in his death. Mary, Martha, Lazarus were a wealthy family that housed Jesus. If wealth is immoral, it would be immoral for Jesus to stay in a wealthy person's home. Because he would be condoning the very thing he's forbidding. So we have some misconceptions. I say we, you may not, but I have had. And so early, when we moved to Weaverville, we bought a piece of property that we were going to build a home on. and it was one of the first things we did because we had a very strong prophetic word about a specific thing we were to do.

18:42 And our folks, Charlie Harper is one of our real estate guys from Weaverville and they drove me around and they showed me this piece of land that I could buy that was about, I think, 25 acres and I would be able to subdivide it, keep a portion for our home. It was right on a creek. It was a beautiful little place. I could sell the rest and it would actually help me to pay for my house. but in my thinking as a pastor I was not supposed to be involved in any kind of investments any kind of business anything of that nature I don't want anything to do with that I'm the man on the ground guy and that's you know to me that was the promised land is man on the ground and so I turned the option down for that and chose the piece of property that I would not get my hands contaminated with business Thank you. I have since changed. You know, I'm glad that Jesus loves stupid people because I am included in that category. And I've done a number of other things that we don't need to go into. But I want you to understand my thinking. My thinking was, I don't want to be involved in investments in business. I'm a pastor. I'm just supposed to depend on the Lord for the daily provision.

19:53 And there's an element of truth there that we are supposed to learn trust by going without. It's a huge part of my discipleship background that I would not train for a billion dollars, let alone a million. And I mean that sincerely. However, in that season where you're learning to trust for the manna, the daily sustenance, the miracles that keep you alive, in that season, he is grooming our heart to be able to learn how to possess with character, to possess with purpose, to prosper with a divine purpose. Because the Lord never intended to leave Israel in the wilderness where he would supply for them every day. He wanted to take them into the promised land and did into the promised land where their labors became supernaturally empowered. And the difference between the miracles in the wilderness, those miracles were to sustain them, and the miracles in the promised land, those miracles We're to advance them.

20:51 The kingdom is a kingdom of advancement. And so we have this area of seed. I believe very strongly my default is always giving, always giving. But I've had occasions in the last few years where I've had a conviction in my heart that I need to rethink things. I need to rethink. I won't change the giving priority. That for me is huge. That's what we do with our resources. I have no goals for income. I only have goals for giving. And so that's what makes me alive. And so I love that part of life. But here's the deal. The Lord has been working into me a shift in thinking where it is also true that seed is to be used for investment. Why? It increases the resource from which you can live and from which you can draw from to sow into other people's lives. And I think it's just, if you look at the story of the talents and the minors, how many of you remember the stories?

21:55 Jesus would teach on these things. He would say, a landowner gave five talents to a person, two to another, one to another. He gave the same illustration of minors. And both of those words, talents and minors, are sums of money. And he would give them to his servants, and they would invest for increase. and the guy who took his money from the boss, which I mean, you know, everything we own belongs to God. We take the money from the Lord that he supplies to us according to the abilities given to us. And we invest. Why? Because God is looking for increase. And the only one that was honestly punished in both those stories of talents and minas, the only one that was punished was the person that took the one talent, the one minor and buried it and hid it. So they would have something to give back to their master. What was the punishment for? That they didn't take risk to advance and to increase what they were given. This kingdom, this king that we serve is so set on the concept of increase and advancement that I'm not sure that we fully realize how devoted he is to increase and advancement. So much so, the scripture says that of the increase of his government, there will be no end. It is constantly increasing. He always takes us from glory to glory. He takes us from one realm to another. Bishop Garlington here several years ago, he says, we go from glory to glory, but it's hell in the hallway. So that would explain a lot right there. There's hell in the hallway, but it's still from glory to glory. And so that's what we're learning is here God says, the apostle Paul brings a word from the Lord about our resources and it's seed and it's bread. Here's the deal. Seed is for the future. When it's given in generosity, it is fruits of righteousness and reward in eternity. I hope that matters to you now, but there's a day coming when that's the only thing that will matter to you.

24:01 it's the only thing that will matter is what was sown into eternity what did I do to impact the course of history and yes it's money but it's also encouraging words it's time, it's all those things but money is the subject of the day alright seed, if I eat my seed if you understand most of us aren't farmers in this room but you understand the analogy that if I harvest corn and I take part of that corn and I take their kernels, the seed of that corn, and I save it for next year's crop. When I plant, I have seed to plant so that I can have a full yield from my acreage, from my farm. If I eat the seed that I'm supposed to use for planting, then I won't have a crop next year. And that's actually the concept that Paul uses to describe the life of generosity. The tithe belongs to God. The offerings are to be directed by your love, by your passion, by what you have a burden for. You can sow into social causes. We can give into missions and helping the poor, which is the priority for me in my life. You can help a political campaign.

25:14 It doesn't matter what you want to do, just where your heart burns, where you have a belief in making a difference. Something happens. Paul said, when this church, the church at Corinth gave, it produced thankfulness in him. So think about this. You actually have the opportunity to do something that brings somebody else closer to God. That's a stunning effect of generosity. You actually have the opportunity to do something in somebody's life that actually who warms up their affection for the Lord, and they give thanksgiving to God. Here's another one. It's in Proverbs, I think it's in the 23rd chapter. I didn't mark it to read it. My apologies, but you can look at it on your own. In the Passion Translation, he does something very unique in this one verse. And in this one statement he says, I think it's Proverbs 23, he says, your generosity will awaken the conscience of the person you give to. Awaken the conscience.

26:19 Man, I love that. Think about this. Generosity in a town, just in restaurants with the people who service in the restaurants, just in the way we treat the people that we do business with, that approach to generosity, to give honor, to give that, you know, the gift card for, you know, a moonstone restaurant to this person because of the great job they did. It's just, it's that whole approach that, of giving honor and celebrating. What are we doing? We actually are awakening an inbuilt divine consciousness of his goodness, his kindness, his generosity. The conscience is awakened through radical generosity. Man, I love that. I love the thought that I can go over here to a restaurant, sit down, and I can awaken something in somebody just by kindness, just by my words of generosity, of not flattery, but honestly reading the poem that God is writing on their life. Because every person is a masterpiece. And taking a moment to look away from my stuff, to read somebody else's stuff, and to honor them, to give them that financial gift, or whatever it might be. But the point is we get to awaken in people a consciousness of God.

27:36 Think about this. What would it be like? I shouldn't say what would it be like. It's happening. What is it like for an entire church family, and not just here, but all across our city, to arm ourselves with an attitude of value for radical generosity? What happens to the awareness of the people in our community. Something happens in our hearts where a thankfulness is aroused and an awareness of a heavenly value system starts to permeate how we view our daily privilege and responsibility. I'm not going to get into specifics because I don't want to violate the people I interact with. But I can tell you for a fact that that verse is absolutely true as we've seen through radical generosity in different public settings people who would be considered very far from the Lord are being drawn very near not because somebody bought them but because they're seeing a lifestyle that is expressed day after day after day after day and generosity is a huge part of it and they are becoming almost mentored in valuing the ways of God my I love that I love that so much I love that so much if you would Let me read one verse to you before we go to Mark 10.

29:00 There's this passage I want to read to you out of 1 Timothy 6. Because there's a part of life that was foreign to me in my discipleship process. So it wasn't foreign in the way I was raised. It was foreign in my big yes to God. In 1 Timothy 6.17, command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. To enjoy. Now I've been on this journey for quite a few years and the Lord is shaking up some of my preconceived values on what was possible and what is proper in the realm of economics and economic influence.

29:55 I don't think it's possible to disciple nations without prosperity. I don't think it's possible. There's not a businessman in this room that can really have great influence on the business community of our city if you don't prosper. There has to be success so that people want to follow your way of life. That's practical, all right?

30:18 This passage says that God creates all these things for us to enjoy. My journey has been really opened up because I've been discovering more and more how good God is as a father. And that may seem silly to you because I would have told you 20 years, 30, 40 years ago that he was a perfect father, wonderfully good. But something in my experience has opened me up to the fact that he is extremely kind, extremely generous, extremely good as a father. And in this experience, I'm starting to see some of the scriptures differently. I wish I could tell you I saw it in the scriptures, and it helped me to see God as a loving father. It's in my encounter that I'm starting to see the scriptures differently. And I'm starting to recognize that God never devalued money. He said the love of money is the root of all evil.

31:12 He didn't say money was. The love of money, those who put their trust in resources instead of God. See, anytime the Lord adds a blessing to your life, if it's in the context of lordship of Jesus, in other words, you obeyed, he rewarded, then it will only strengthen your walk with the Lord. But there is a realm of increase you can tap into that is not because of lordship. It's because of something else. And what happens is it introduces you to a realm of wealth and increase that you don't have the grace to remain thankful in. And you don't have the grace to increase in trust. Instead, the reliance turns to resources instead of to the Lord. He says, don't pursue money, pursue wisdom. All right, so I pursue wisdom. What happens? He says, you pursue wisdom, you get money.

32:02 So now I have an option. Do I shift my focus? If I do, I've chosen where to level off. I've chosen where my maturity level what I can be trusted with just levels off and so he brings us into this into this journey and many of you know I've used the illustration a number of times on my heart for my own family for my own kids on my birthday I buy presents for my children their wonderful spouses and my grandchildren and so they come to my house My whole family loves my birthday, too. It's amazing. They come over to my house. I remember a while back hearing two of my grandkids talk in a side room. They didn't know I was overhearing. One of them asked the other, said, what are you going to ask Papa for his birthday? And I thought, that's, I'm right there on the Christmas. This is beautiful.

32:54 You know, Christmas still wins, but I'm a close second. So that's all that matters, you know. So the thrill that I have in paying attention to my children's interests, my grandkids' interests, if it's music or art, it doesn't matter what it is, is just valuing what they value. And as a dad, you come alongside to champion that value, that pursuit, that thing that delights their heart, that thing that they were made for. and if I were to buy you know a professional lens for Leah she does wedding photography and stuff my daughter and if I were to buy this really beautiful professional lens and then I saw her taking pictures one day and say hey where's that lens I bought you it's not mine anymore but it used to be and it's now yours and where is it and she says oh I gave it away I gave it to a friend of mine I would not be the happiest dad on the planet because I didn't buy it for her as seed. I bought it for her as bread.

33:57 And somehow there has to be the ability to learn how to enjoy what God provides, not as independent from God, but actually as an expression to God. And I found this concept in scripture. I mentioned it in part last week when I was studying this thing of giving and generosity. I found that there's actually three tithes in the Bible. And the second one is very fascinating. Now, that's under law. I understand that's not under law. The Abrahamic tithe was not under law. That's actually from the father of faith who gave to Melchizedek, who is a type of Christ. It's a New Testament concept. All right. But what I found in the law was this principle that I found so rewarding and so provoking. The second tithe, let's say, again, I have $1,000 income. I take $100 aside as that second tithe. And what do I do? I put it aside and I can use this $100 now. I can help the poor. I can sow into the ministry. These were the areas that the Lord had mentioned to them. You could sow into the ministry or what I could do. And it was not only very biblically sound, it was celebrated by the Lord. I could take this money and say, you know what? Let's get the kids together. We're going to buy a lamb. This one, not to sacrifice, but we're actually going to have a family feast in the presence of the Lord, and we're going to celebrate this provision of God for our household. And so here is this holy feast of pardoning, if you will, before the Lord, honoring him for his goodness, his kindness, and that was considered a tithe.

35:33 It was considered a gift. Why? Because it positioned a household to get before the Lord and to honor and to celebrate his kindness, his extravagance, his blessing. That was considered an offering. God has a different view of money and offerings than we do. Much different, much different. If we realize how he views stuff. You know, we take offerings, for example, at our conferences because what we give our guests, we could never afford to give them out of the conference fees. And so I'll stand up and I'll say, you know, we're going to receive an offering tonight. You guys get to help us to honor our guests. I know that many of you spent an extraordinary amount of money just to get here. And this is what I tell them. And I believe it's a hundred percent true. I believe that the Lord took looks at every dime you spent to get here, to be a part of this conference as an offering. And I really do. Cause they're, they're, they're, they're, they're putting themselves before the Lord to receive instruction, impartation because they want to be world changers. And I do believe that's an offering and I really honor and I celebrate that. And then I go a step farther and say, but if you're able to help us on our guests, please do so. And, but that's the approach.

36:49 The Lord looks at things different. This is one that we'll study more next week, but I'll throw it in since I have a minute. There's this weird passage in Proverbs. I shouldn't call it weird. There's this amazing, fascinating passage in Proverbs. So delightful. And in this verse, he talks about these levels of giving. And he says, the person who gives this, the one who gives this, the one who honors here and honors here. And there's about four statements. And then he follows, and it's a paragraph on generosity. And he ends it with, and blessed is he who grows a crop and sells it. I look at that and I go, all right, we've got generosity, generosity, generosity, generosity. A guy's making money and you call that generosity? what is it God celebrates the person who uses their labor to benefit the city they live in And God honors the person who grows a crop and sells it.

37:58 I would have thought he would have said, blessed is he who grows a crop and gives it all away. Right? I mean, anybody else with me on that one? At least that's me. That's my background. I go, man, the only way you can be spiritual is give it all, you know. And yet the Lord is saying, what I want to do is I want to bring you into promised land living where your labor becomes supernaturally empowered and the miracles are no longer to keep you alive. The miracles now shift to advance you in your effect on the course of history. This is the call of the Lord. And part of what is needed for that, obviously, is the greater anointing, greater insights in the word, the boldness to pursue the things that God has for us. But part of it is greater resources. I want to see multiple sources of income for every household in this room. And to do that, not only do I take the seed as giving, which is my default, not a fault, default, but also to take a portion where I learn through wise counsel how to consistently invest.

39:02 This is what I wish I would have done 20 years ago. on a consistent basis to take some portion. You know, if you have to start extremely small, start extremely small, just do something, just get moving in the right direction. Because you'll find, if you'll open up a part of your heart of understanding, you'll find that the Lord will supply for that cause.

39:27 I'm telling you the truth. If you embrace a principle of the Lord and you have nothing to obey with. You have no, you know, say you want to support missions. I don't have any other part of my income to be able to do that. If you start praying into that and looking for that, the Lord will actually start to increase so that you have seed to sow. That's what he does. He provides seed to sowers. How much does he provide? Well, it depends on how much they're ready to sow.

39:55 You position yourself first. see Isaiah says stretch out the cords your curtains your tents the tent pegs, the cords, the length of your dwelling you stretch it out and then God adds the child add the room onto your house then he gives you a baby you don't have a baby, then add a room to your house the whole point is you create room for God to come and do something good I had a friend of mine, a pastor friend that I am indebted to so much, he told me years ago He said, Bill, he says, you need to create a part of your life, a part of what God gives you. You need to create a special, how do I say this without, you need to take what God gives you in insight and teaching, whatever it is that God's given you. And you need to create this category over here where you put this that he's given you.

40:51 You put it in this category and watch to see if he actually wants to bless you there. I don't know if that made sense. In other words, give him a realm to breathe on. And then you'll find, oh, here he's been wanting to bless my household all these years. But I thought the only way I could please him was to give everything away. And now I say, all right, Lord, I'm going to take this book. I'm going to take this tape series. I'm going to take this, whatever it is. I'm going to put it in this category. and Lord, if that's something you want to breathe on and bring increase to my household, then I ask you, Lord, to do just that and breathe on it. Does that make any sense to you? And each person, we have things in our life that we can set aside and say, you know what? Just in case he's wanting to look for an occasion to add blessing to my life, I'm going to put this here and see if he breathes on it.

41:44 I think, I think many in this room would be absolutely shocked at what he would breathe out, what he would bless, what he would bring increase to, where he would pull seed out of another place to make sure that you always had more than enough to sow into these situations. So here's this concept, seed and bread, seed and bread. Seed is for sowing and investing. Both are brought tomorrow. One's eternity. One's next year. the bread is for personal enjoyment and delight I haven't spent much time on this in this series and I'm not sure I'll actually get a chance but let me just throw this in for what it's worth I personally have a very strong conviction about the value of excellence in how we represent the Lord from excellence of speech to conduct the way we interact with people, the way we honor and value people.

42:47 You know, the car you drive, the way you keep your front yard. You know, I told our students here a few weeks ago, I said, you want to change the world? Make your bed. you know it's it's it's got to get down you know we we think so impractical impractically at times that we're actually no good with where we have the greatest most profound influence and that is in this circle of friends that we have you know i i wouldn't want to suggest that you know everybody's supposed to drive a rolls royce or do this that's not the point the point is, is that whatever, whatever he releases to your care, make sure you do excellent with what you have. That's all. That's all. You say, well, I have $20 to buy a shirt, then buy the best $20 shirt you can buy. The point I'm, I don't know, did that come across or did I just offend people? Go big or go home. That's my belief.

43:46 I feel like we represent the Lord. I feel like we represent the Lord. I mean, as strange as this may sound to you, I actually had somebody pull me over in my car to thank me for improving the landscape of Reading. And they were serious. It was an artistic individual. Why? Because he values excellence, values appearance, values in a right sense.

44:19 That's what we've been working on around here for quite a while. It's just trying to do our best. Does it make sense to you? God is an extravagant God, but he hates waste. I don't throw pieces of paper away without pulling paper clips off. I just, I can't, I can't throw it away if there's a paper clip on it. Why? Because that can be used again. it has nothing to do with the amount of money it costs. It has to do with the way you do life. Are you with me? All right, that's got to be enough. Stand up. Stand up. I just,

44:57 with the last two minutes, I saw a lot of conversations going on in the room. So I probably won some friends and I don't think I lost any, but I may have started a few prayer chains. So that's all right though. I could use the prayer, so that's all right. Yeah.

45:19 I want us to pray for blessing. I want us to pray for increase. I want us to pray for prosperity. Next week, I'm going to pray for this Jubilee thing because the Lord did speak to me. He woke me in the night. He spoke to me at an audible voice experience with the Lord. And I believe the Lord has commissioned me to pray a prayer over you. So we're going to do that next week. We'll end the service with that. but today let me just pray for you and then we'll bring up whoever's closing this service Father we just what we want is everything for you we want you to be honored we want you to be delighted that we enjoy the bread you provide we don't want to pretend that we're not happy when you honor us and bless us instead we want to draw near to you because you've been so kind you're always so generous and so good and God I thank you that you're you're a God of not just enough, that you're a God of extravagance.

46:17 You know, some of you have carried into this room today this concept that God is interested in providing your needs but not your wants. And he's an extravagant God. And he's not the caretaker of an orphanage guaranteeing you three meals a day and a cot to sleep on. He's not devoted just to meet your needs. He's a God that wants to dream with you, but he wants to dream with you in the interactive journey of seeing how he would increase you to impact and to bless the people that are under your influence. So Father, I pray this, help us to be rich in heart, rich in spirit, that everybody around us benefits continuously from your kindness. I pray this in Jesus.