And then, Christ said to them, “I know you. You are they that justify yourselves before men; but God knows your heart.” And we must always remember that—God knows our heart. “That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”

That’s the most powerful lesson I ever read on the subject of giving. We must recognize the fact that God is the sole owner or everything. In Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” In Psalm 50:10-11, “For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. 11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are Mine.” They all belong to Me, saith God. Haggai 2:8, God said, “All the gold is Mine; all the silver is Mine.” In 1 Chronicles 29, and verse 14, David said, after they had accumulated all the wealth to build the temple—he had all the gold. God would not permit David do it, you know, because he was a man of blood, but he accumulated the gold to build the temple. And after he had all the gold accumulated, he said, “Who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for of Thine OWN have we given back unto Thee.” Of Thine OWN have we given back unto Thee!! And that’s exactly what we do in our giving—we just give back to God that which belonged to God in the first place.

Years ago, there was a man going to a place to preach to a congregation in a Gospel Meeting back before the days of many automobiles. There was a wealthy farmer that met him at the train station. They were riding out to the farm in the buggy, and they were discussing the Bible. This wealthy, liberal farmer asked the preacher, “Do you believe that the Bible teaches [that] a man should give at least one tenth of his income to God?”

And this preacher replied, “Yes, I believe the Bible teaches that.”

And in the conversation, this wealthy liberal farmer asked the preacher, “Do you do this?”

And the preacher said, “No, I don’t, but let me explain.” He said, “I have a wife and seven children. My entire salary is only $125.00 a month. I’ve never believed that I could give a tenth of that to God and successfully rear my family.”

And then, this wealthy, liberal farmer—in the conversation—said to the preacher, “I want to tell you how strongly I believe that God blesses one for liberal giving.” He said, “If you will resolve in your heart this next year to give one tenth off of the top to God, not because I’m telling you this, but because you tell me you believe the Bible teaches it; but if you resolve to do this, [then] at the end of the year if you’ll drop me a note—don’t necessarily write a letter, just a postcard—and say, ‘I tried this; it did not work,’” the wealthy, liberal farmer said, “I will reimburse you fourfold for every dime you gave. I’m able to do it financially. That’s how strongly I believe God blesses one for liberal giving.”

And this preacher said to him, “God being my Helper, I’m going to do that.” And he did.

At the end of that year, he said he looked back [over the past year.] He said, “I can’t explain it, but it seemed like everything fell into place better than it ever had in my life.” And he said, “When I realized this, I sat down and cried. I didn’t cry because God had been good to me. But,” he said, “I cried because it took the words of a man instead of the Word of God. God had been telling me ever since I’d been preaching, but somehow or other I could never believe it. This preacher tells me these things [Brother Black means, This farmer tells me these things.]. I believed it. I tried it. It works.”

I challenge you this week to think about how well you’ve been blessed, how good God has been to you, where you live, your bank account, your land, your cattle, your assets. Then ask yourself the question, “Am I going to give this year as God has prospered me?” And I sincerely believe [that] if you will, that you experience a joy you’ve never known before in living the Christian life.

If you’re subject to the invitation, we invite you to come while we stand and sing.