Extravagant Giving - Is Rich Toward God
John Barnett
James 1:9-11
This morning we are concluding our time considering the new way the Lord measures wealth. James tells us it is not outward but inward. It is not material but spiritual. It is not having but giving.
Jesus pointed this out in one of His most moving stories. He depicts a man who by all outward appearances was a successful man. But then Jesus says
• Luke 12:20-23 "But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?'21 "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." 22 Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.23 "Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.
How do we become rich on the inside, where God sees us?
BY GIVING EXTRAVAGANT GIFTS TO JESUS
Extravagant giving is characterized by:
• Unearthly giving = laying up in heaven for God Luke 12
• Luke 21 Costly giving = letting go of my reserves; hurts give all
• Matthew 26 Timely giving = pouring out on Jesus loving worship
There are no less than 14 specific gifts given to Jesus in the Gospel record. Only two events are repeated in all four gospel accounts. These are the extravagance of Joseph of Arimathea and the annointing of Jesus by a woman. The 14 events are:
GIVING TO JESUS IS WORSHIP.
• Matthew 2:9-12 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, the ...
John Barnett
James 1:9-11
This morning we are concluding our time considering the new way the Lord measures wealth. James tells us it is not outward but inward. It is not material but spiritual. It is not having but giving.
Jesus pointed this out in one of His most moving stories. He depicts a man who by all outward appearances was a successful man. But then Jesus says
• Luke 12:20-23 "But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?'21 "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." 22 Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.23 "Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.
How do we become rich on the inside, where God sees us?
BY GIVING EXTRAVAGANT GIFTS TO JESUS
Extravagant giving is characterized by:
• Unearthly giving = laying up in heaven for God Luke 12
• Luke 21 Costly giving = letting go of my reserves; hurts give all
• Matthew 26 Timely giving = pouring out on Jesus loving worship
There are no less than 14 specific gifts given to Jesus in the Gospel record. Only two events are repeated in all four gospel accounts. These are the extravagance of Joseph of Arimathea and the annointing of Jesus by a woman. The 14 events are:
GIVING TO JESUS IS WORSHIP.
• Matthew 2:9-12 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, the ...
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