Our Poor God

And as you saw from your bulletin, the title of our sermon is Our Poor God. Our poor God. You may find that to be a very interesting title. God is referred to as our Father. Jesus Christ taught us that when we read this book.

But I want you to imagine, imagine Warren Buffett, one of the richest men in the world. Imagine Warren Buffett being your father. Warren Buffett has said to be worth $73 billion. Do you think you'd worry about making your house payment if your father was Warren Buffett?

How about Bill Gates? Bill Gates is actually worth $80 billion. I don't think you'd have to worry about groceries if he was your father. Or how about Jeff Bezos? He is the fastest-growing billionaire in the world today. Jeff Bezos, although he's not now as famous as Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, Bezos is worth $70 billion. He is the CEO, the head, the chief, the originator of Amazon. For all those who did not know who Jeff Bezos is, would you worry if he was your father?

About going to the bank to get a loan? Probably not. But now, imagine one of these three individuals as your father coming to you and saying, you need to give me some money. I don't have enough. I need you to write me a check. What would your reaction be? Would you go, yeah, right?

The question I have for you today in this message is, do we worship a poor God? Do we worship a God that is so poor that we would have more trust in a human than a God of the universe? Do we worship a God that needs anything from us? Is our God a self-sufficient God? Is He truly sovereign? Let's go to a scripture. Go with me, if you will. New King James Version. Psalm 24 and verse 1. The earth is the Lord's and all its fullness. The earth is the Lord and all its fullness. The New Living Translation actually says, the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. Do you believe that? He owns it. He has it. He controls everything. Well, if you believe that, then you realize that God is not broke. As a matter of fact, He's loaded. Deuteronomy 10, if you will. Join me in Deuteronomy 10. Deuteronomy 10, verse 14. Another statement about our Father, God. Similar to Psalm 24. By the mouth of two witnesses. It's a matter established. I think this pretty much establishes who God is, what He is, and what He has. Deuteronomy 10, verse 14.

It says, indeed, heaven and the highest heavens belong to, what? The Lord. Your God. Also the earth with all that is in it. In it. On it. Encompasses it. Beneath it. Above it. Have you thought about that? Heaven and the highest heavens. Is that one and this one way out here and that one way, way, way, way out there. All belong to God. Go down to verse 17. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords. The definite article there. The great God. Mighty and awesome.

Who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. He doesn't take a bribe. You ever tried to bribe God? I have. I'll admit. I've tried to bribe God at times and say, Well, God, if you'll just do this, I'm going to make sure I do this. You know I found out it didn't work. Matter of fact, I knew a man one time that actually said, I asked him why he played the lottery. And he said, because I told God that if you let me win, I'll give a lot to the church. He's still waiting. Shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.

Look at that sentence. Now, just think about it because we sometimes have a hard time picturing God in that way. But we just saw Warren Buffett here. What would it take to bribe Warren Buffett? Well, you know, I'm going to call him and I'm going to tell him, if you give me the greatest and latest stock tip, I'll send you $1,000. I'll call Jeff Bezos if I could get there and go, you know, I really want this thing shipped to my house. Would you go ahead?

I'll send you an extra $20 and have Amazon send that to me. Why? It would be a joke, right? So can you imagine God when people, including us, try to make a deal with God? Well, God needs us. God doesn't need anything, does He? God doesn't need me. I need God. Face it. God doesn't need any of us. He puts it in the States of Respect, He says, see that rock out there?

I can raise that rock up. I can raise stones up and do this work. But He doesn't. He lets us be a part of it. Part of His work. A part of His family. You know, as an MP, part of the Melchizedek priesthood, I like us to go back to where we were when I first brought this up months ago.

I like you to go back to the original in Genesis 14. Genesis 14 is... Let's go back to 18, where we've read this time and again, but there's always something a little new for us. Like us go to Genesis 14 in verse 18. Said, then Melchizedek, king of Salem, meaning peace, brought out bread and wine. He was the priest. Deaf and not article again. The priest of God Most High. And Melchizedek blessed Abram and said, blessed be Abram of God Most High.

And then he puts these words to tell us all just how poor God is. Right? Because mine says, possessor of heaven and earth. Possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hands. These enemies of anywhere between 10,000 and 100,000 men. That 318, well about 320 men, decimated. So he allowed that. So God not only is not poor, he's not limited in power either. Is he? Who has delivered your enemies into your hand and he gave him a tithe of all.

So Abram gave Melchizedek a tithe. Why? Why? Why would he give? What was Melchizedek doing? Would you think he was doing God's work? Would you think that Abram just said, well hey, I had a good day. Look at all this excess stuff I have. I just give him some. But was this the only individual he'd ever come across in his entire life?

Who actually said, you are blessed by God Most High? And he knew who Melchizedek worked for. The king and a priest? Sure he knew him. But what's interesting here? He said, now the king of Sodom, because you remember the story where Abraham's nephew Lot and his whole family, and the whole city of Sodom was taken by these four kings who came together. And they had actually, you can read the story earlier, I won't go through that, they had gone from the Ammonites to every city around and had conquered them, made them slaves and took everything they had.

You're talking about city after city after city. You're talking about a lot of stuff. A lot of stuff. And it was all put to an end by Abram, 321 men. So here, the king of Sodom said to Abram, give me the persons and you take the goods for yourself. Today's terms, it was probably hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars of stuff in today's terms. Because they had conquered all this land, took everything everybody had, and they had it.

And Abram and his men destroyed them. God gave him the power to do that. He delivered those guys into your hand. But Abram said in verse 22, said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted my hand to the Lord. That's a strange statement. Why would you lift your hand? High, God! No? No, let's read. I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God most high. The, what does he say? Possessor of heaven and earth. He recognized who, what, and where God was. As hopefully all of us have. It's a bigger story here. And he says that I will take nothing from a thread to a sandal strap.

And that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich. Why? Because he wanted to make sure everyone knew who made Abram rich. Was Abram rich? Yes. In his time, for his time, he was rich. Very rich. He had no problem tithing. But he wasn't going to take anything that God did not give him, even though it says that God allowed this.

And enabled him to have this victory. But he didn't take it. Didn't want it because he said, I raised my hand. He's like, I'm talking to God. And said, God, you're the one that gives me everything. God, you're the one that I listen to. You're the one. I don't need anything from anyone else. Just you. Verse 24, except only what the young men have eaten, and the portions of the men who went with me, Aner, Eschkel, and Mamre, let them take their portion. Three other men who joined, 318. We see something here that obviously was at Salem. We see a part of the world where there is violence.

We see a part of the world where there's strife, war. But we also see a city called Salem where there is peace. Where there is a righteous rule. Because he was a priest of the Most High God. There is a work, an example, a city on a hill, even way back then. A work that was being done by the Melchizedek priesthood. You do it. I do it. The church collectively does it. We pay tithes. We pay tithes of money.

Money comes when it goes. But I go back to the first question. Is God so poor that he needs my money? Is God so poor that he needs your money? Was Melchizedek the priest so poor that he really needed a brahm's tithe? And it says tithe. 10%. Why 10%? Why not 6? Why not 8? 9? How about 15%? Why not? Why 10%? I find it interesting that when you Google that question, you have a variety of answers.

The Bible doesn't tell us. The Bible just tells us a 10. One actually said because the groups of 10, I forget how you put it exactly, is part of a mathematical equation that all mathematics is formed around. It didn't really go into anything different. One actually said it's so simple that anyone can figure it.

And God made it for everybody. And so even if you could not read or write, which many of the Bible couldn't, you could actually what? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. And this also said that if you happen to have a finger to cut off, you could actually count with your toes. Now, I think that's a little bit odd. I don't know why God chose 10.

It's not my job to know that. Maybe sometime I can ask him and he'll tell me. But I'm sure that's not going to be very important when I actually have the opportunity or we have the opportunity to meet and talk with him. You know, Roman government at this time taxed their people. When the Roman government came in, they taxed at a rate of 20%, according to historical sources. We, as a nation, basically tax anywhere between 15 and 35%.

So you take the average, we are about like the Roman society. 20% average is what it takes. Well, what makes us, as a nation, think we can tithe whatever we want? Now, you may say, well, you just said 10%. Well, no, you take this nation as a whole, basically says, I tithe.

It just means I give. They have actually changed the meaning of tithe, where they don't understand it. And I've read that in three or four articles, even this week, where they're talking about a tithe, and they didn't even mean 10%. Well, that's what God meant, 10%. But it's interesting that the average Christian in America, and this is held for the last five or six years, as I've checked P.U.

and I've checked different sources on this, the average Christian in America gives to their church 2.3 to 2.5%. That's him. That's the average. That's what Americans give. They give money. Now, it wasn't always money that I actually started out with. Go with me, if you will, back to Leviticus 27. Leviticus 27. Leviticus 27 and verse 30. God's instructing his followers at that time. And he says, Well, the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's.

It is what? What's it say? Holy. It is holy to the Lord. And the tithe was 10%. So they were instructed whether you grew because they didn't have this. Okay. This came later. They came in. They mostly had fruits, vegetables, livestock, all kinds of stuff. But he said it is holy to the Lord, which kind of tells it is God's.

It's not mine. But then he says in verse 31, If a man wants at all to redeem any of his tithes, he shall add one fifth to it. 20% tax. Whoo! God sounds pretty tough. Why would somebody want to redeem it? Well, yes. I have to realize that if you raise crops, you may have a very lean time getting through the year. And this spring harvest may be very small or short. So you may have to borrow some of that till the feed, till the fall harvest gets there.

He says if you do it, it's so important that you put 20% more with it. And concerning the tithe of the herd of the flock, or whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord.

Pretty easy. Here was a rod, and here the lambs come through, and you had a good year, and they may have had two lambs, may have had one, so forth. Your goats have one, two, and they pass through as you're counting them. He says, okay, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. That's the Lord's. Pretty simple. And in verse 33, he shall not inquire whether it is good or bad.

So maybe this tenth one is scroungy-looking goat. And he says, I hate to give that to God. That doesn't matter. That's the tenth. Okay? Now that changes when there's certain offerings, but at this time this is what the normal life would be. God says, if you do this, I will do this. I will bless you. I'm the one. Remember? I'm the possessor. But it seems people today don't really think about God as owning it all. And he said, nor shall you exchange it, and if he exchanges it all, then both it and the one exchange for it shall be holy.

It shall not be redeemed. These are the commandments of the Lord. You realize that when you give 10% tithe, when someone tithes, you are saying that 100% of everything is God's. You are recognizing God owns it all. It isn't a mindset of, well, I think I'll do this today. But you are actually saying that by giving that 10%. Now, Jesus Christ talked about the pearl of great price in Matthew 13, where there's this pearl, and it's like worth so much that the person actually sells everything he has to have it, to get it because he knows the value that's there. How much is your knowledge and your calling worth? Is it a pearl of great price?

Only you can answer that. And brethren, we all answer that, don't we? Every time we deal with this. Every time our focus, because our world's no longer with sheep, goats, crops, fruit, this is basically what this world revolves around today. Pearl of great price. How valuable is it to you? It's interesting there's an actor. Most of you would probably know him. He starred in quite a few different series. Rocky series, Rambo series. His name is Sylvester Stallone. Does most people know who Sylvester Stallone is? Most of you probably do not realize that Sylvester Stallone was exceedingly, or excessively, if I can say that word, poor.

He had no money and he wanted to get into acting. And he actually traveled to find out more things about acting. So he actually went overseas when he was a young man. He came back to the States, tried to get into acting. Nobody really... They didn't like his look and they didn't like his sound. And his wife was working in a job and he was out every day trying to find something.

And he started writing then to try to come up with some money or try to get his foot in the door. And he actually came to Miami and he studied down here. Studied about writing, looked at different scenes and so forth, and could picture movies being shot down here in Miami. He could picture things that could be done, but nobody would give him a break.

And so he actually happened to be up north and watched a boxing match. As Muhammad Ali was pummeling some poor schmo named Wettner. And he just kept beating him and beating him and the guy wouldn't quit. And he was so inspired by that he started writing. And he spent 24 hours straight writing the story about an underdog boxer who got his shot. And he had the script. And he took it down to all the places he had been before and they actually looked at the script and said, Wow! There's something here.

They said, we would like to buy it from you. And he was so poor at the time, they barely were getting by, that just before he went and wrote the script, he was so poor that he had to sell his dog. The dog was the only thing that had been following him around. He said at the time, it was the only thing he said even his wife was strained relations because he kept believing in himself. Someday, he would be a star, that he could do this. So he actually, to get food, sold his dog for $50 to a guy by a liquor store so he could get some food to eat.

And in about a month, the script was written. He took it down and the people offered him. And this is 1974, $100,000 for the script. More money than he thought he would ever. And he said, no, it's worth more to me than that. I know what it's worth. Turned it down, walked out of the office at the time and thought, what am I going to do? How do I tell my wife? How do I tell her? She's been working hard at this job and I've been out here just trying to find something. And he didn't tell her for a week. And then the company called and said, we like the script so much, we'll give you $400,000. $400,000 for the script.

And he said, well, it'll make a good movie, but I want to be in it. And they said, no, we don't want you in it. We just want the script. And he went home, told his wife that he turned it down. Well, you can imagine that night how things went in that household. But he so believed, he kept coming back, because he had actually been in a movie. He actually made one movie called The Lords of Flatbush. I actually saw the movie many, many years ago. And everyone in it was terrible. It was not a good movie. So I could see what they were thinking. Well, they wanted the movie so badly that they came back and said, we'll give you the starring role for $400,000. And we will pay you, as the actors' fee, $20,000, which was a ridiculous amount. He took the money, and he made the film. And it became Picture of the Year in 1977 or 1978. I can't remember which one. What an Oscar!

Interesting part was that this was the thing that skyrocketed him to fame. Now he's worth, it's estimated, between $400 and $500 million.

But I thought it was so interesting, because that story, because he realized the Pearl of Great Price that he had.

One of the most interesting parts to him was that he actually went back after he got the money, because he got in parks. When he got enough money, he went back to that liquor store to find his dog. And he offered the guy $150. The guy wouldn't sell him his dog.

He finally ended up buying his dog back for $15,000 and had to put the guy who owned it in the movie.

In case you remember the show or see the movie, you will actually see that the actual dog that he runs with was that same dog in that movie. He actually put the dog in a movie, too.

Pearl of Great Price. Do we have it?

I think so.

I believe so.

In Hegai 2, verse 8 or 9, it actually says that God owns all the silver, owns all the gold, he owns everything.

He is the one.

He is the one.

But the interesting part is that this is so important to people today. You realize, and William might know this or others might know this, that the latest statistics come out and say that 78% of all incarcerated people today is because of this.

Bill probably knows, too. He worked for police for years.

78%.

Everybody wants this.

Everybody needs this.

It makes.

But you see, God says what?

He owns it all.

He owns it all.

Tony got a question for you.

Can you come up here?

Yes. Now, I'm doing this for demonstration.

I have ten dollar bills.

All right. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

If I am God, you know what I do for Tony?

I give him a hundred dollars.

See, I own it all and I give him.

Right? I give him everything, all of it.

And what do I ask back?

Ten dollars. Ten percent.

That's all I ask.

That's all God asks, right?

Why do people argue about that?

Thank you, Tony.

Glad you handed me back my money.

It sounds silly, doesn't it?

That God gives us everything. And He only asks back that when it comes to this.

What does He ask of you for your health?

What does He ask of you to give back for your family?

What does He ask you to give back of your intellect?

What does He ask you to give back for your gifts?

For those of you who are teachers, and we have quite a few teachers, and I spent time the other day with one of our members here as a teacher, and he's gifted.

God says, I want ten percent. No, He doesn't. Does He?

He didn't say He wanted just this.

But He gives us everything.

You have children. Does He say, I want your child? No.

Now, some of you may say, I wish He did, but this is unique.

This is a beautiful thing that God has done.

It's just that people don't grasp it.

I went on the Internet and read many articles.

I actually watched YouTube videos, one after another after another, about churches and what they teach about tithing.

And it's overwhelming. They say, you don't have to tithe today.

That's something from the Old Testament. You don't have to tithe.

You give whatever you want to give.

It doesn't say.

And one actually says, God doesn't need your money.

But He wants you to give something anyway.

A self-sufficient God. We have, right?

Dave Ramsey, the financial guru who is on TV, radio and so forth, Dave Ramsey, who is actually from Nashville, Tennessee.

He has a very popular show.

And he's a very good teacher. If any of you have never heard him, you have financial questions, Dave Ramsey will.

I actually bought many of his books and given him various people because he is a Bible-based teacher of finances.

But Dave Ramsey, actually by the age of 26, was a multi-millionaire in real estate. After he got out of college, he went to University of Tennessee.

And within three or four years, he lost it all.

He had the fancy cars. He had everything you could think of.

And he lost it all.

Had a family, had kids. He's like, what in the world am I going to do?

You know what happened? He was forced down to his knees because he knew there was no way. How is he going to feed his family and everything else?

And that's where he believes that God showed him, you forgot about me.

And he teaches that now he is a multi-multi-millionaire.

And he said he wouldn't have a dime if it wasn't for tithing.

And in his teaching philosophy, he teaches tithing.

He just says, no, I mean, at first, if you want to be successful, this is how it is.

This is what he believes. This is what he's seen.

That the success comes because he realizes, just like Tony there, God gives him 100%.

And he just says, just need to invite. So everything is a very good story.

So is God so poor that he needs my tithes? That he needs your tithes?

Why would he do that?

I was talking to my wife when I was putting this sermon together, and we actually talked about it, but I actually put the numbers together, is I have actually been following and tithing for 40 years.

And her a little less after she got out of college.

And so I actually went back and looked at our income and thought about, for the last 35-40 years, how much tithe, how much did I give to God? And you know what I found out?

Over $250,000 is what I've tithed over 40 years.

Now you take that over, invested over 40 years, at the time, I could be having this.

Because you're talking a half or three-quarters of a million dollars as you talk, accelerated rate and compound interest at $250,000 would be more like three-quarters of a million dollars.

God doesn't want me to have this! Because that's not, anybody that's been to my place will be like, that's not mine, right? You can look at the company car, you'll realize that's not one.

I don't think United's going to give me company car.

Was it a poor investment on my part? Is it a poor investment on your part?

How much money have you invested in a Pearl of Great Price?

Or would I say, how much of the hundred percent have you given back and do you regret it?

Because I have known quite a few people, I'm sure Dwight does too, over the years who have left this way of life.

And one of their main complaints is you run into them later, they took all my money.

Church doesn't take any of your money. God doesn't take any of your money. You're to give it freely.

And if you can't give it freely, God only really wants it.

But yet they, right Jeff? You probably heard the same thing from various people. Any of you have?

Oh! What I could have done! What I would have been! I could have been this guy! See, there's Dwight right there! Right?

Oh, I could have been! What is most important?

I had to learn to be a giver. My parents taught me that, as hopefully many of you, your parents taught you that.

That it's more blessed to give than to receive. That's sometimes not easy to do.

It's not part of human nature to give. That's not human nature. That's a godly. It's part of a godly nature to give.

Because most of you just want this. Doesn't this look good? Wouldn't you look good?

You know, and you'd have to think, wow! If Bruce had this, we could have a bigger Bible study. Right?

And wouldn't more influential people, you know, they would look and go, wow, this is Bruce's house and this is where we have the Bible.

Well, I'd like to go.

You see, all this is about you and me and our relationship with God, who owns it all.

Deuteronomy 8 and verse 18 says, God is the one that gives you the power to get wealth.

He's the one.

Any talents or abilities, anything that you have is behind.

So, is tithing required?

Let's see what Christ says about it. Right? Since He is our model, a part and founder of the Melchizedek priesthood, what does He say about it? Okay?

Let's go to Matthew 22. Matthew 22, as we begin to wrap up here today. Yes, this will come to an end. And no, we will not be passing the plate around today. It would be a good one to do that, though.

Matthew 22.

Matthew 22 and verse 21.

Matthew 22 and verse 21. Because they asked, they brought a coin, a denarii, to ask Christ and said, wait a minute, is it okay about this denarii having Caesar's face on it? And He says, is it lawful for us to pay taxes? And Christ said, well, you remember the story, right? Well, whose face is on it?

It's Caesar. Well, you have to realize that the Herodians and the Pharisees got together to throw this at Christ. They were trying to put Him on the spot. And why did they do that? Well, they actually called them hypocrites. Why? Because He knew they were all about this, right? They were all about having stuff, and they were just trying to put Him on the spot. And He said, do what? Render to Caesar's that which is Caesar's, right? Because He knew that's what they look like. Because they were like, ugh, we love it, right? And even though they put on a different act and they look different, inside, this is what they look like. And that's why we have to make sure that we do not look like this inside. Matthew 23 and verse 23. What did Christ say? Matthew 23 and verse 23 says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! Why? He knew what they were all about. It was about this. This is what they look like underneath those nice fancy robes.

For you pay tithe of mint, anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone. So is Christ teaching about tithing? He just said it there. Yes, you should tithe. But you shouldn't leave justice, mercy, and faith so that this is your real personality. So Christ does teach.

Our Scripture, Luke 18. Luke 18. Go with me, please. We all know this story, but I want to hit it with a little different angle. Luke 18 verse 18. You can always remember that. Luke 18. 18 is the rich young ruler. Verse 18 says, Now a certain ruler asked him, which would have been a Pharisee, saying, Good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? So Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good?

No one is good, but one that is God. You know the commandments do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your mother and father. He said, Oh, great! All these I have done for my youth.

So when Jesus heard these things, he said to him, You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me. But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And then verse 24, And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, How hard is it for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God? Abraham had riches to be in the kingdom of God?

Yes, many have. But not many people can handle it. And what's more important to God? Have you seen your son had children? If you had all kinds of money, we've seen what's happened to a lot of children. They got the money. They didn't really work for it. Ended up committing suicide. Ended up having all these problems. And people say, I wish I'd never given them the money.

Well, God doesn't want that. He loves us so much, He wants to make sure. And He wants us to prove we can handle it. For it's easier for a camel to go through the needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And those who heard it say, Whoa!

Then who can be saved? Because we only know those who are rich. And they come across as very religious. But He said to them, the things which are impossible for men are possible with God. So if we can handle it, it's very possible with God. God doesn't mind. He'd love to give it to us. As long as it wouldn't rule us instead of us rule it. Then Peter said to him, See?

We have left all and followed you. Peter's laying it out. You know, he's the bond one. Oh, wait a minute. What are you talking about? Us. And what did He say then? Christ said to them, As surely I say unto you, There is no one that has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in the present time and in the age to come.

Look at that. Many times more in this present time and in the age. What's it about? It's not about the money. What is happiness worth? What is peace worth? Do we have it? Do we have enough of it? Let's think about Christ. In Mark 6, it actually says what Christ did. Mark 6, verse 3, it said, Is this not the son of Joseph the carpenter?

What kind of carpenter do you think Christ was? Do you think He was a good one? Well, if you follow Scripture, say whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Colossians would actually say, He does. You do anything you do as unto God. So I believe He was probably a pretty good carpenter. Wouldn't you say that? Do I have a yes? Yes. Yes. And if He was a pretty good carpenter, He'd been a pretty good steward. Do you think He made good money? I think He made a profit.

I don't think He went out, Oh, well, let me charge you half of what I took to do this. I don't think He'd do that, do you? So if He made a profit, my question is, do you think Jesus Christ tithed? Do you think we should tithe? We'll wrap this up today. Does this describe your life as it is now? You know, it's a very tranquil picture as we look through and try to find one that thought of peace.

You have peace in your life. Is Jesus Christ the Lord of? He's the Prince of Peace. Does He reign your life? Luke 12, verse 32 says, It's Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom of God. It is the Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom of God. In Matthew 25, verse 34, He says, Come, inherit the Kingdom of God prepared for you from what?

Foundations of the world. Last Scripture, if you will go with me to Romans. Romans 8, many of you know this. Hopefully you do. Romans 8 is such a powerful chapter. Romans 8, verse 18 says, For I consider the sufferings of this present time, and not worthy to be compared, with the glory which will be revealed in us.

For the earnest expectations of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to fertility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it to hope. Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. We will inherit all things, not a car, not a house. But because our Father owns it all, the entire universe, our inheritance is pretty big.

So we have a choice of putting things forward and having a nice house and a car and money for 70 or 80 years. Or we can own the world for eternity. Doesn't seem like much to weigh. This has been a sermon about tithing. I hope you understand what I'm getting to, because I'm not here to beg you for money, to ask you that you need some so I can have a raise. I don't care.

But I'm here to help you realize what it took me for a long time to realize is that everything's His. I'm His. Out there, I'm His, and I owe everything to Him. So I want you to think about one thing. My brothers and sisters, our Father, He's rich.