Now, I wish I didn’t have to treat the latter part of that verse, but it’s in there and I’ll read it: “and there is he that withholds more that meet, and [but] it tendeth to poverty.” Someone says, “How could God do that?” I don’t know. I just know God said, “There’s the man that scatterth abroad. I see that he increases.” There’s that man that’s selfish, holding it back, and God says, “I’ll see that it tendeth to lead him to poverty?” Which the meaning is simply this, that which we ought to give to God, and we do not give it, we’re not blessed with it. No, I don’t think a man’s ever been blessed with money that he holds back that he ought to give to God as he’s prospered.

For instance, let me give you an illustration. Now, this is just a simple little illustration. Well, here’s a man in this congregation—according to what God has blessed him, he should be giving $100.00 a week. There may be those who ought to be giving $500.00 a week, I don’t know, or $50.00a week. I don’t know what your prosperity is. But we’re, for the sake of illustration, [saying that] here’s a man who ought to be giving $100.00 a week. But notice that selfish reasoning. He said, “I’m not going to give the $100.00. I know God has blessed, and I ought to do it, but I’m going to keep $50.00 for myself.” Then I console myself by saying, “I’ll still be giving more than the average member of the church.” (And if this would make you feel any better, you’d be giving four or five times more than the average member of the church through out America [if you kept back $50.00 of what God had prospered you, and just gave the $50.00]).

I’m just as convinced as in your midst I stand that man is never blessed with that which he holds back, that he knows in his heart he ought to give to God according to what God has prospered him. Let me read the verse to you again: “There is [he] that scattereth [abroad], and yet [he] increaseth; and there is [the man] that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” Now, notice verse 25—that’s the verse we’re concerned about: “[But] The liberal soul shall be…made…fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself[or shall be watered again]” [Proverbs 11:25].

You know what our basic trouble is? We just…can’t…trust…God, can we? Oh, we believe in God—oh, yes. But do we trust God? You know, there’s a great difference in believing and in trusting.

Years ago, when our children were small, the Barnum and Bailey Circus came to Mobile, and our excuse for going, of course, was to take the children. And so, we went to the Circus. And it was really interesting. After they had done many, many things out there, finally there was a man down at the south end of the tent up on a platform—possibly like 30 or 35 feet above the audience. And he said, “If you will notice, there’s a cable stretched across the top of the tent, and this man on this bicycle is going ride that bicycle across that cable!” And I shall never forget… My son was about five or six years old—that age when they believe everything you tell them? And so, this excited my son, and he asked me, “Daddy, you believe he can do it?” And you know what I told him? I said, “Yes, son. I believe he can.”

Now just suppose some man sitting behind me had heard that conversation. So, this man on the platform says, “He’s getting ready to ride the bicycle across the cable. Is there any man in the audience who believes he can do it [and] will come up and ride on the handle bars with him?” And the man [sitting behind me who heard my conversation with my son] taps me on the shoulder. He raises his hand and says, “This man will ride with him! I just heard him tell his son [that] he believes you could do it!” There were not [There would not be] enough men in that tent to get me on the bicycle!

But someone said, “Did you believe he could do it?”

“Yes, sir, I believed he could do it.”

“Well, if you believed he could do it, why didn’t you ride with him?”

“I didn’t TRUST him!”

And that’s the way many believe in God! Oh, YES, I believe in God! I believe God will do what He said! But, do we trust God? Do we trust Him to the extent [that] we’ll do what He said? Oh, there’s a great difference in believing and in trusting. And our basic trouble with our giving—we just…can’t…trust God. Our faith is not that strong yet—that is, with many.

In Malachi, the 3^rd chapter, beginning with verse 8, we read these words: “Will a man…rob God?” That’s some of the strongest language we read about in the Bible—“Will a man rob God?” Let me ask you, would you? Well, of course, you would say, “No.” Suppose I pass a slip of paper down each pew, and say [that] you can fold it up; you don’t have to put your name on it. [Then] I would ask, “Would you rob God?” What would you say? I have an idea [that] every individual would say, “No.” That’s what those Jews said. Malachi asked the question, “Will a man rob God?” And the Jews challenged him. They asked, “Wherein have we robbed Thee [God]?” He said, “In your tithes and in your offerings [“In tithes and offerings.”]. And you’re cursed with a curse: the whole nation is cursed, because you robbed Me [God].” [“Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation.”]