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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 Okay. I wanna talk to you on the subject of what you get when you give to God. And that's on your notes there right here in the notes. What you get when you give to God. And I almost can hear the0:11 objections in someone's mind. Maybe not many, but maybe someone's mind right now is, you shouldn't worry about what you get when you give to God. And I hear that. And it0:23 sounds good. It sounds right. But can I tell you, it's not biblically true? In fact, it's not just so unbiblical. Jesus himself repeatedly taught0:35 us to think about what we would get when we give to God. And I think that sometimes we have so many off views, so many non biblical views when it comes0:47 to money because church people And you're not all church people. You're I I A lot of people here. You're Christians. You're godly people. How many know at all of our locations there's a difference between church people0:58 and godly people? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Church people, not godly people, but church people get funny when the preacher talks about money. Thought that was much1:10 more funny than you did, but anyway. So we have these weird views and we say things like, oh, no. No. We should just give and not worry about getting back. That's not what Jesus taught. This is1:22 not on the screen. I'm gonna read you some passage. This is our Lord. This is our Lord speaking to us. Luke chapter 6 38. Give, and you might be able to finish this. And it will1:34 be given to you a good measure, pressed down, shaken together. Running over will be put into your give and it will be given to you. So you should be worried. You should be concerned. Not1:46 worried, but concerned. You should be aware that giving produces receiving. Then Matthew chapter 6, do not lay up for yourself treasure on earth, but lay up and listen to these1:58 words. These are important. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth cannot destroy, rust cannot destroy, and thieves cannot break in and2:09 steal. Yeah? So Jesus is saying, look, you should give. Because when you give, you are actually putting treasures in heaven for who? For2:21 you. This idea, oh, I don't want to worry about what I get when I give. No. Jesus says, correction. You should. You should concern yourself with this. Mark chapter 10 29. Jesus said this, no 1 who has left2:33 house or brother's mother, sister, father, who has given up things for the sake of the gospel, no 1 of those people will fail to receive 100 times as much in this2:44 life, in this life. Some of you are under the false impression that you are thinking, I'm gonna give, and then, you know, my mansion in heaven will have an extra bathroom.2:57 No, no. First off, I don't know if we're going to be going to the bathroom in heaven. Okay? But secondly, secondly, Jesus is telling us that in this life,3:09 we will gain if we give up in this life for the gospel. Are are we clear? And then and then the last chapter of the Bible, Jesus' last wires to the3:21 church. Revelation chapter 22 verse 12, he says, behold, I am coming soon. This is the last part, the thought he wants to leave at the church. The last chapter of the Bible, he says, and my reward is with3:33 me to give to each 1 according to what he has done. Like those are his final words in the Bible to us. So this idea of I don't want to worry about what I3:45 get when I give is not actually commensurate with the teachings of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And I want to challenge you to give this week upcoming. But3:57 beyond this week upcoming, I want you to live a giving lifestyle. Because I believe that giving is really the truest way to live.4:09 And I wanna talk to you today about the Bible's first giver. His name is Abel. Take your Bibles out. Genesis chapter 4. Stand with me at all locations. Let's read together. Genesis chapter 4 verse 1.4:20 Now Adam knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord. Somebody say, I have gotten. I4:32 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering4:44 of the fruit of the ground. And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering. But for Cain and his offering, the Lord had no regard. So4:56 Cain was very angry, and his face fell. And the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry, and why is your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at your door.5:08 Its desire is for you. You must rule over it. Cain spoke to his brother Abel. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, where is your brother5:20 Abel? He said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? And the Lord said, what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. This is5:32 God's word. Let's pray. Father in heaven, speak to our hearts, I pray, that the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be pleasing in your5:44 sight. Put a guard over my mouth. Restrict me in this moment from saying anything that would harm or hurt your people, and help me to lead them to5:55 you, and help us all to see Jesus. Him and him only. In his mighty name we pray, and everybody said Amen. Amen. God bless you. Have a seat. What you get when you give to God. Let's talk about this guy Abel. We have a6:07 lot of firsts in this text. We have a lot of firsts in this text. We have the first sexual encounter. We have the first child, the first conception. We have the first6:19 sibling. We have the first nuclear family, father, mother, children. We have the first brothers. We have the first offering to God, worship. We have the first sermon from God toward an individual6:31 after the fall. We have the first rejection of God in Cain. We have the first murder, and we have the first expression of justice. But really, what this passage is about is worship.6:43 I want you to think about that for a moment. What happens between Cain and Abel is an issue of worship. They come to God with an offering. Offering is an a picture6:55 of of worship to God. And the scriptures are clear about this. There's no question that there's a difference in the quality of the offering.7:07 The Bible stipulates in the course of time, Cain, you know, when he got around to it, he offered God the the fruits of his soil, maybe some of the leftovers. This is where a lot7:19 of people believe you you give to God. They they pay their mortgage first, and then they you know, they pay their electric bill, and their sewer bill, and they, you know, fund their cars, and their then their hobbies,7:31 and then they they fund their kids, and then they fund their kids some more. And they never stop funding their kids. I'm speaking to you as a person with 2 children in college. Can you hear the7:43 aggravation in my voice? And they just give it all you know money to all these places, then when they've paid everything else off, then if there's left over, they give to God. That was Cain.7:55 That was Cain. The Bible stipulates very clearly that that Abel brought the Firstborn. The firstborn of his flocks, and and the fat portions of his8:07 herds. The fat portions are exactly what you think they are. They were the yummy portions of the meat. Anybody love a good barbecue? Anybody love a good steak on the grill? I8:19 cook the steak on a grill, and my wife hates it when I do this. But I always go out there to cook it, and I shut the door behind me, and I make sure she's not watching because I'll cut off the fatty portions and eat them8:28 right off the grill from her steak and mine. That's the kind of husband that I am. God wanted the best and the first as a8:40 symbol that that Abel and Cain, these men would would honor him, would put him first. Some of you have gotta learn the value of giving to God, because it's8:52 not losing. It's honoring. It's worshiping. And then ultimately, it is receiving His blessing over your life. Abel is an interesting character, and we don't talk a lot about him in the9:04 Bible. But I thought about it as I looked at these, just these short verses, this short pericope that unpacks Abel's very short life. I got I got 3 big ideas from his life that I I want you to write down9:15 so we can build a case for what happened to him and who he is now. Number 1, write this down. Abel had a unique experience in the world. If you think about it, when Abel was on the earth, he was only the9:27 fourth person on the entire earth. Fourth. What are you? The sixth billionth? I think there's 80000000009:39 now. Maybe when you were born, there's about 6 or 5000000000. Okay? If you were born recently, you're probably 7000000000. But think about being the fourth person. That means that Abel had a unique9:50 experience. And he lived on the earth in a time where there were no cities, no bridges, no public parks, no skyscrapers, no10:02 huge towering edifices to the glory of man. He walked the earth before mankind believed that they could build a name for themselves by building structures.10:14 From the Freedom Tower in New York City to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. He lived in a time where he could see the skies lit up with the stars that God not only set in place, but created10:26 with the breath of his mouth. Every night he could stare up into a sky un unclouded by pollution and all of our man made you know10:37 issues. He could look into the deepest recesses of the cosmos and see shooting stars and comets scattering across the sky. Every morning, he woke up to a a10:49 beautiful sunset and a gorgeous sunrise and a gorgeous sunset, put him to sleep at night. And then the moon would cake over his body in the evening hours. This man had a11:00 gorgeous experience as he watched the very animals and the very creatures that his own father had named. Right? He watched the11:11 gazelles run through the fields. He watched the elephant blow his trunk for the first time in his I mean, this guy had a glorious experience.11:23 It's no wonder then that Abel had a worshipful attitude. Because I don't know about you, but when I get out of society, when I get out of where people have crowded my vision for this11:35 glorious creation, and I get out into the woods or onto a mountain or before a lake, I just behold the beauty of God's creation. And there's something inside of me that just wants to say, thank you, Lord,11:47 for this world. I was at Key West 2 Januaries ago. Key West, the farthest reach of the Floridian Keys. And you can go and11:59 you can watch, and it's scheduled. And and there's a sunset. And it's the most gorgeous thing is the sun. There's not a single building, not a single ship. In fact, the boats get out of the way so that you could go to12:09 the pier, you could see the sunset at the base of Key West. And everybody around the sunset time starts to gather around it. Remember it was, like, 6 30 at that time of the year. And they all came around, and they all12:20 crowded. And before I knew it, the whole pier was packed with people from all over the world, all over the country, and they watched as the sun's gorgeous, beautiful representation of the glory12:32 of our God. And the most amazing thing happened, that when the sun finally set, everybody cheered. Everybody just exploded into prayer. And I12:43 was this close from getting up on the edge of the pier and standing up and saying, who are you clapping for? Like you're the big bang12:55 didn't do that. Darwin did not do that. Bill Gates, Elon Musk, they didn't do that. God the father did that.13:07 It's it's to his glory. I mean, you know what I'm talking about? This was Abel's life. Fourth person in the world. Number 2, write this down. Abel had a challenging13:19 relationship with his family, and challenging is an understatement. We focus on his murder. But do you ever think about his name? The name Abel comes from the13:31 Hebrew Havel. It means breath. I always get a kick out of that name. Because if you look with me in your Bibles to Genesis 4, verse 1 and it's not on the screen right now, but in Genesis chapter13:43 4, verse 1, it says this. Adam knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. Notice what happens when Cain is born. She said, with the help13:54 of the Lord I have begotten a man. And then look at the next verse. Second born children, you're gonna love this moment.14:07 The next verse. And again, she bore his brother Abel. Period. Like like Eve, you know, you were14:18 all, like, you know, verbal. When when Cain was born first born how do how many know what I'm talking about? All the middle children, you're gonna get healing right now. Because you're not alone14:30 in that situation. You're your first born kids like mom and dad's best efforts. Second born, you're like, he'll figure it out. She'll figure it out. Do what your brother14:42 says. Cheryl and I had 2, and then we were like, okay. We're done. We had a a girl and a boy. We're like, I'm done. I used to say to people, I'm I got my I got my 2 and I'm through. That's what I used to say. And we had14:53 a third, Jake, 7 and a half years to the day after my second born son. And I did not plan for Jake. I'm so thankful for Jake. I love him. But we were so taken aback. This is a funny story, but15:05 it's true. We were so taken aback by his by his birth that we did not do all the things that you do to get ready for a baby. We we barely had anything. We15:17 didn't know what you know, I don't even I don't even think we got his bed ready, honestly. And then this is the funniest part of the story is that we showed up at the hospital. We still didn't have a name. You know what15:28 I'm talking about? Like, when you have your first born, you got, like, the name before the conception. Your second born, you're like, well, let's name them about a week before they come out. And the third born is like,15:38 we'll find a name eventually. Jake didn't have a name for 7 days. He lived on this earth for 7 days. No name. We got his name from a movie.15:51 I'm a pastor. It's written that pastors should name their kids for bible characters. We were watching a movie and then the character's name was Jake. We're like, we like that. No, his name is not officially Jacob, it's16:02 Jake. This is like the picture though, just you see. Like where was the attention? Where was the interest in Abel from his own mother16:14 and his own father? And I think that the text is intentional to show us the contrast between the beauty of Cain's birth and then the kinda like afterthought of Abel's birth.16:26 And then, of course, his brother hated him. John tells us that his brother hated Abel. You don't you don't murder people you don't hate. I always get kicked out of16:38 when our country calls it a hate crime. Like, as if there's a love crime. Is there a love crime somewhere out there? Every crime against someone is because you hate them. And, anyway,16:50 he was hated by his brother. He was rejected by someone that should have been his example, should have been his confidant. Anybody you you got don't raise your hand, but you got an older17:02 sibling, and they were just there for you. Abel didn't have that. Abel looked up to his older brother and got disdain in return.17:14 This was his life. I wonder who in just this short time that we have had together can relate a little bit to Abel. You're not the chosen 1. You're not the preferred 1. You're17:26 not the smart 1. You're not the beautiful 1. You're not the expert. You're not the person that everybody said, well, they're going places. You're not the 1 voted by your high school class most likely to succeed. No,17:38 you're the afterthought. You're the person nobody looks at. This is Abel. But Abel stands in the annals of17:49 history as a demonstration that a person's life does not get defined by what other people say about them. When God is first18:01 in their life. You see, when you put God first in your life, because Abel, we're talking about Abel today. We're not talking about Cain. He's an afterthought. And Abel's the center of the story because because Abel put18:12 God first, and therefore God gave Abel a great testimony, a great legacy that still lives on thousands of years later after he was dead. I wonder who here needs to know that your life does not have to be18:24 defined by what your family has said about you, by what your friends say about you. You don't have to be about defined by the number of Instagram followers that you have or the number of likes that you have on Facebook18:32 or how many people pay attention to your YouTube channel or how many people listen to you when you speak. But your life can be defined by who you put on the throne of your heart. And if you put Jesus on the throne, he18:42 has a way of exalting you. This passage is about worship. What's getting the worship? The first place of your life. Number 3, write this18:54 down. Abel related to God with a spirit of generosity. A spirit of generosity. He had a love for God.19:05 He didn't build a building. He didn't start a city like Cain would later do. He didn't invent some tool. He didn't heal19:17 some disease. He never preached a single sermon. And not 1 word of his, not 1 word of his is recorded in a holy scripture.19:29 But we're talking about him today because he gave. We're talking about him today because Abel knew that the best way to live is to give.19:42 The best way to make your life outlive you is to make sure that you're doing your living doing your giving while you're living. Amen? This19:55 is what it's about in this passage. The Bible says it just unpacks it for us. Therein, the course of time, verse 3, Cain brought to the Lord an offering. If you got your notes out, just underline offering.20:07 We're gonna get to that word in just a moment. An offering of food of God. Abel also offered the firstborn. Circle firstborn. This is these are intentional words. And then the Lord had regard. Just circle regard.20:19 I I ask you to do these things because if you have a Bible open especially, circle words, underline, highlight. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering. Here here's what I want you to write down. Make20:31 no mistake. Giving is an act of worship that works God's favor into your life. Giving20:43 absolutely leads to getting. I'm a living testimony of this. I should not have the things that I have. I am not worthy.20:55 I wake up every day, and I just thank God for what I have. And I don't have the brains for it. I know I know you think I'm smart, but I'm not.21:08 The Lord gives me things when I least expect them, the things that I share with you from this stage. A lot of times, they're not even in my notes. Because the Lord knows what I write down ain't good enough. He wants to21:20 give you a word in the moment. Amen. And you want words from your father, not words from me. I look at the churches that I get to lead, the children that I have.21:33 There are undeserved blessings. But there is 1 principle that I have preached and I have lived that I have just banked my life on other than21:44 salvation is the principle of giving to God. And I know you can give to the United Way and UNICEF and secular21:56 and hospitals and all yeah. That's great. But there's no giving like giving to God. Next week at all of our locations, you've got an amazing opportunity to go above22:08 your regular giving, your tithes and offerings, and give to the future generational impact of our church and our school. And I think that when you get22:20 to heaven, you may not see it in your life, but when you cross through the pearly gates, you walk through the doors of heaven, there's gonna be someone running up to you saying, thank you for what you gave22:32 when you were on this earth. Because of your giving, I received Jesus Christ and instruction through Waters Church Academy, and now I am here today. That is absolutely22:44 what I believe is going to happen. But worship, worship is about giving. It is. And so when I look at Abel's life, I see worship and giving. And then I think about, well, did he get? Because this22:56 is the title. This is the theme of the message. What did he get? What did Abel get by giving? 5 things, and then we're done. Some of you are like, you're not even on 0.1 yet? Okay. Alright. Let's go23:08 through them quickly. Number 1. Here's what we got. Number 1, interest from God. He got interest. When you give to God, he pays attention.23:20 When you give to God, he takes notice. I loved this phrase when I ran across it. I never even saw it before until I studied this text for you guys this week. Look what it says in chapter 4 verse 4, the last part of the 423:32 when when it says Abel brought his firstborn. And the Lord had, what? Regard. Regard for Abel and his offering. Just look first at the word23:43 regard. The word regard in Hebrew is Sayah. Sayah. Some Hebrew words are cool to say. Just somebody say, Sayah. Sayah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That that just means that you're interested in something.23:55 Like, when you see that girl, young young man who, you know, catches your attention, you can just say, This is what the Lord did24:07 with Abel when he saw Abel bring the first. Sayah. Someone is connected to who I am. Somebody understands that everything he has comes from24:19 me. This is a principle of scripture repeated throughout the biblical text. Psalm 24 verse 1 says, the earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof. First Chronicles24:31 chapter 29, David giving all his money to the kingdom, to the to the building of the temple, says, who am I, Lord? And what am I giving you? I'm only giving you what you first gave me. And Deuteronomy 12 says24:43 that that that that that it is the Lord who gives you the power to gain wealth. Everything that you have right now, God allowed that to be given to you. Some of you think,24:55 oh, I pulled myself up by the push traps, and I went to the school, and I got that degree, and I got the job, and I worked at the internship, and I did all these things. Well, wait a second. Wait a second. Wait a second.25:02 You didn't have anything to do with the people who crossed your path at the right time, did you? You didn't have you didn't even have anything to do with your birth25:15 or where God placed you on this earth. I had a thought. It might be a questionable thought today, but I was at a coffee shop, and and there was a guy serving me the coffee. And he was about my age,25:27 and I just said to myself, you know, the only thing that's different between me and him was God's choice in where we were born. I mean, I couldn't look down on him. I wasn't looking down on him. I was just thinking25:39 about, this is not me. I didn't do this. This was humbling. God chooses. God positions. When when you get a hold of that, it25:51 starts to loosen the grip that you have on your stuff. Because if God gave it to me the first time, God can give it to me a second time.26:03 And what can God what can God give some of you when you let go of what he's already given you? You see, I can't I can't pour anything into this hand because it's closed fisted.26:15 Only way this can can get anything more is I gotta open it up and let what's in it fall out of it so that God can fill it again. Are you getting this? The bible the the the bible says26:27 that Jesus watched as the people gave their temple offerings. And the scripture says in Mark that he saw the rich throwing in large sums of26:39 money into the temple offerings. But Jesus got his. What got Jesus' attention that day was a a poor widow who came with 2 coins, 2 small and she dropped 2 little coins into the offering26:51 box. And the Bible says that Jesus said that he noticed he noticed her. Truly, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offer marks. For they contributed, verse 44, out of their27:02 abundance, but she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had. And then what does he say? All she had to live on. She was esteemed because she gave. Jesus' attention27:15 was on her because she gave. I don't know who I'm talking to today. You you'd like God to pay a little bit more attention to you. Is there anyone and don't raise your27:27 hand here, please. But is there anyone here who's like, man, I wish that the Lord would just kinda, like, pay a little bit more attention to me. I don't want much, but I could use a little bit of a boost. Give.27:40 Give. Be a generous person. Because this is the heart of God. First Samuel chapter 2 30, God says, those who honor me, I will honor.27:53 It's pretty clear in scripture, isn't it? Those who despise me, those who bring me the leftovers, they're gonna be lightly esteemed. And I didn't put this passage on your notes because I didn't want you to freak out when28:03 you saw it coming in, but I'm gonna put it up on the screen. It's the pastor's go to mess it's the pastor's go to passage when it comes to tithing. Malachi 3 10. Bring the full tithe. Bring. You28:15 bring. You don't give it. You bring it. Why? Because it's not yours. I can't give you what's not mine. I bring to God what's his. I bring. The first tithe means tenth. 1 tenth. This I have done this my whole life.28:27 You bring 1 tenth of what you get into the Thor house of God. And God says, put me to the test. I want you to try it out. Some of you have never done this before. This is your week to start. This is28:39 your season to start. And try it. Test God. He actually says it. He doesn't say test me about anything else, but this 1, test me. And then see if I wanna throw open28:51 the windows of heaven and pour such a blessing on your life that there's no more need. And then this verse that comes next, I love it even more than the first verse. Malachi 3 11. And I will rebuke the devourer.29:05 Oh, I I don't know if you've got a devourer on your life, but I got a couple that wanna come after mine. Inflation is a devourer, friend. Anybody notice that the more money the government gives29:17 you, the more money the government eventually takes from you? Anybody notice how quickly the stocks can go down? How quickly your 4 0 1 k can shrink when you were promised that29:29 it would grow? What did you do? You did what Jeremiah talked about the people of Israel. My people have put water into cisterns with holes in them. Instead of trusting in Me, the fountain of living water,29:41 they've trusted in the things that this world can give them. God says, if you put Me first in your finances, I will rebuke the devourer. I give to God's kingdom because I know I bring the tithe. Because29:53 I know that when I do, God steps between me and disaster. God steps between me and and and loss. God steps between me and fraud and identity theft. God steps between me and all these things that could come after my30:04 lifestyle, my life, livelihood, and God protects me and says to the devil who wants to destroy me, I rebuke you. And ladies and gentlemen, God's rebuke is that powerful that when he rebukes, the devil can't stand.30:19 Some of you gotta try it. You gotta test God, and you'll see it happen. Number 2, what did Abel get by giving a happy life? He got a happy life. Now everybody wants happiness, but nobody really knows how to get it.30:32 And what what life does is that it offers us all these these secondary solutions, and they are secondary. And you know why they're secondary? Because the moment that you get it, you realize that it's not what you were30:42 looking for. You think when you're young and if you find love, you'll be happy. And then when you find love, you you realize that love is just complicated, and it's hard, and it's difficult.30:54 And I say this as I say this as a joke, but it's really it is serious. Like, some people as soon as I get married, I'll be happy. No. You won't. I know you wanna I know you wanna laugh there, but it's really true. Like,31:05 marriage just brings in another set of complications. Oh, when I have kids, I'll be happy. No. You know, let me let me go to the concert. I'll be happy. The concert will end. The friends will31:17 leave. The the the the the the house will get old and decrepit. You'll have to call the plumber, the electrician. You know,31:29 this is life. That's so all these secondary pursuits to be happy. Look. You can't put your happiness in them. You have to find your happiness the way God has prescribed happiness to happen.31:41 Now in order to find this in Abel's life, we have to look at the contrast of his brother Cain's life. Look at verse 5 in Genesis chapter 4. It says, but for Cain and his offering, God had no regard. God had no regard for31:52 Cain and his offering. And, so Cain was what? Very what? Angry. Angry, and his face fell. Now the word Cain the name Cain comes from the word gotten, which Eve, his mother, says when32:04 he's born. I have gotten a man. The word gotten in Hebrew is Cain. Isn't it amazing that Cain's name means gotten? Cain, through his name, is teaching us32:16 today that the people who think that if I get, I'll be happy are actually going to be angry, and your face is gonna fall. The word is picturesque in the Hebrews is that he was just downcast. And the word for angry is32:28 he was steaming hot mad. He was steaming hot mad. He was not just angry, like mild. No. He was ticked off because God didn't pay attention to him.32:40 And so on the flip side, if you look at the contrast, you look at Abel, you have a man who God looked with favor on. And he and he blessed. He was interested in. And so if Cain was angry because he32:52 didn't give his best to God, it is not a far fetched rationality to think that Abel was happy because he gave to God. He wasn't angry, and he and he wasn't depressed.33:04 Jesus said these words in in Acts chapter 20, verse 35. He said, it is more blessed to what? Give. Than to what? Receive. You see, when33:16 you receive, you you it's an act of dependence. It's not it doesn't fill your body with a sense of well-being. It's, oh, I guess I need you to help me. Alright. I guess and and we do that, and that's fine. But when you33:28 give, it's like, wow. Look at how was able to help someone. Look. I was able to bless. I was able to think beyond myself. That's all the research, by the way, proves that when you give, you're happier. There was a study33:39 done in 2017 at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. And they took 100 people, broke them up into 2 groups, 50 in 1, 50 in other. They said, we're gonna give each of you 100 dollars33:51 in 2 weeks. The first group, they said, but we wanna take and you are going to take the hundred dollars in 2 weeks that we're gonna give and we need you to start thinking now about how you're going to give it to somebody34:01 else. And the other group, they say, we're gonna give you 100 dollars in 2 weeks, and you're gonna think about what you're gonna do for yourself. And they sent them out to think for 2 weeks, and then they sent them the34:09 hundred dollars. Guess what happened? They hooked up their brains to these instruments to read their neurological synapses, and they, you know, magnetically imaged their34:20 brains, and they found that all the happiness centers of the brain were flaring off to the nth degree in the group that was told to plan to give. And they34:32 realized that they didn't even have to give. They just had to plan to give, and already the happiness sensors started to go off in their brain. And everybody who was planning to spend money on themselves, they no34:44 reaction to the happiness centers of their brain. The point was very clearly made scientifically. You know, when the Bible and when science matches up, listen. Yeah?34:57 Give and you will be happy. I'm so tired of this generation that we keep talking about this younger generation, gen z. They're more depressed than ever before. The35:09 depression is a serious problem. Young Gen Z people, I don't even know who you are, but you're the young people that all the old people complain about right now. And and so, you know, whoever you are, if you say you're35:20 Gen Z, that's fine. I'll accept it. Know, because men can be women now. But anyway, you said I'm Gen Z, that's me. And then they talk about how depressed you are, how sad you are, how lonely. There's no hope for you. You35:31 need a pill. You need therapy. You need, you know, counseling. You need a doctor. You need a prescription. No. I think you need to be a giver. I think you need to give.35:43 Yeah. Z young people, start now when you got nothing. Because it's a heck of a lot easier. I've been like I said, I've been tithing35:54 10 percent since I was 19 years old. And, you know, when you make 16000 dollars a year, tithing 10 percent is like, no biggie. That's what I was36:06 making when I was 19 years old. But when you start to make some money, it's like, woah. I don't know. No. No. No. I do know. He's in control. And he can36:18 do more with my 90 percent than I could ever think about doing with 100 percent. I mean, I just think, man, just wouldn't it be amazing too? Because with giving, there's no co pay.36:33 What's your therapist charging you? What's your school counselor? What's your guidance counselor? What are they costing you? How much you gotta pay for the pills? I wanna know. Because what if you took that money and you36:43 gave it to people who needed it? Or you put it into the kingdom and God started to elevate your heart. That's number 3, by the way. What did get what did Abel get by giving? He got an elevated heart. An elevated36:54 his heart was lifted. His face was lifted. Again, we have to use Cain as a contrast because the text centers on Cain, but it's really37:06 telling us about Abel. Look at it in verse 6. It says, the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry, and why is your face fallen? By the way, can we just stop there for a second and realize something? There were 2 brothers.37:18 1 was doing what was good. 1 was doing what was evil. Who did God reach out to? Which 1? The 1 that was37:30 doing evil. Isn't isn't it amazing? What a picture of God's grace. God doesn't God doesn't come to Canaan and say, shame on you.37:43 You should just be giving more. No. What does he do? The care, the compassion of our father. Look at him. Why? Why are you angry? Why are you sad? Why are you depressed? Why? You know.37:55 You know the prescription. Your your brother's doing it. If you do it it says, if you do well verse 7. What does he say? If you do well, will you not be what? Now the word accepted is a weak word in the English.38:07 It really is. It shouldn't be translated accepted. It actually is the very same word for you're lifted up a face lifted up, exalted. Here's what God is saying. If you do this, will38:19 you not be exalted? Will you not be elevated? Will you not experience my grace in your life? Some of you, this is what God is saying to you now.38:30 Is he a really big God? That that he can take care of you? That he's got the cattle on 1000 hills, that he never runs out of money? That he could find ways to bless you in ways that you can't even think38:42 about? When you give, he will give it back to you. And he pays extraordinary interest.38:53 Proverbs 11 25 says, whoever brings a blessing will be enriched. 1 who waters others will himself be watered. This is how39:05 God has programmed the human condition to operate properly, not by getting and acquiring and keeping and iron fistShow more
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