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Amen, all right, we are in Proverbs chapter number three and we'll start reading in verse 27 it says withhold not good from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of thine hand to do it say not unto thy neighbor go and come again and tomorrow I will give when thou hast it by thee devise not evil against thy neighbor seeing he dwell securely by thee. The title of the sermon this evening is the power of thine hand, the power of thine hand. Now Christmas I believe is a good time to put this verse into practice why is that? Well because God has enabled every single person whether it's in our church or in this world to have a certain amount of power or capabilities to be a blessing to someone else and the Bible's telling us here that we should not withhold good to whom it is due when God has given us the power to be able to give it. You see the Bible teaches us that God doesn't just bless us just to bless us for blessings sake he blesses us so we can be a blessing to others and one of the ways that you can become successful in your Christian life one of the ways you can prosper and be spiritually successful is that you bless others or you look for opportunities to be a blessing to others how is that? Well look at what good you have or what good God has given to you and seek to be a blessing to others in that way Now this isn't just for Christmas although we can apply it for Christmas but this is something we should be applying all year round and in fact it's a concept that God has first exemplified to us because you think about it the Bible tells us, go to Romans chapter number 5, Romans chapter number 5 you know the Bible tells us that we didn't have power to save ourselves you know by our own righteousness we couldn't be justified before God we didn't have righteousness the Bible says that our righteousness was as filthy rags in the eyes of God the Bible says there's none that do it good no not one no one is good enough no one is perfect enough to go to heaven it's it's impossible so look what the Bible says in Romans chapter 5 verse number 6 for when we were without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly for scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet per adventure for a good man some would even dare to die but God commanded his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us so the Bible's telling us there that when we were without strength we can say power Christ died for the ungodly so when we were without strength when we were without power the power that was in God's hand he showed unto us through his son he sent his son to die for us okay it's a concept that we see there go to Romans chapter number 8 and look at verse 31 in Romans chapter 8 it says here in Romans chapter 8 verse 31 what shall we then say to these things of God before us who can be against us he that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect it is God that justifies go to Romans chapter 13 Romans 13 so we see here that God was willing to give up his son in order for us to be saved he wasn't willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and the Bible tells us that he was willing to sacrifice Jesus Christ because he understood that we didn't have the power to save ourselves look at Romans chapter 13 look what it goes on to say here in verse number eight oh no man anything but to love one another for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law what is that well withhold not good when it is in thy power of thine hand to do it you know we should not withhold it why because we should owe no man nothing but to love one another the Bible says Bible says in verse number nine for this thou shalt not commit adultery thou shalt not kill thou shalt not steal thou shalt not bear false witness thou shalt not covet if there be any other commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying namely thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself love worketh no ill to his neighbor therefore love is the fulfilling of the law you see we should seek to own no man anything whether finances or anything of that matter but we should try to hold them our love right by fulfilling that great Commission that great commandment excuse me go to Romans chapter number one Romans chapter number one so as we see the example that God has exemplified to us we should seek to want to exemplify that in our personal lives whether it's through soul winning or whether it's with our brethren to own no man anything but know that when we have when it's in our power of our hand to give something to be a blessing we should give that look at the Bible says in Romans 1 verse 14 I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians both to the wise and to the unwise so as much as in me is I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek you know we're in debt to El Mani amen we're in debt to the cities around we're in debt to Jerusalem Judea Samaria and the othermost parts of the world what do we owe them we owe them the gospel we owe them a clear presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ we owe them a clear understanding the ministry the word of reconciliation is what we owe them and when we go out there we should have that in our minds that way we're a debtor both to the Greek into the barbarian both to the wise and to the unwise and let me say this we all have it in our power we all have it in our hand to be able to give it right we should owe no man nothing we should owe no man the gospel you know there's a lot of churches out there that have the power they have the gospel they have the resources necessary to see a lost and dying world save but guess what they just they just keep it to themselves they withhold the good right to whom it is due even though it's in their power of their hand to do it there's a lot of Christians who are saved but they're not doing anything with their life they're not seeing anybody saved they're not going out sowing they're not doing great things for God even though God has given them the power to be able to see someone saved even though God has given them the power to change someone's life but they're withholding the good to whom it is due even though it is in the power of their hand to be able to give it you know and any Christian who is saved has no excuse obviously you know a couple weeks ago I preached on the seasons of life and there are certain seasons where you go through different seasons where you can't do as much as you did before but at the end of the day when you just accumulate your entire life and you observe it you look at it for the most part we can give the gospel all the time you know and look excuses are like armpits we all have them and they all sting maybe not all but you know what I'm saying okay what I'm saying is this is look we all have a good excuse why we can't go out and preach the gospel right but at the end of the day it is in thy power of thy hand you know it is God has bestowed upon you the ability to do so well I don't know how to preach the gospel you didn't learn you know I just haven't memorized the verses then memorize the verses what else you got you know well the thing is is you know X Y & Z then you know what stop making excuses and if God has enabled you to do it figure it out you know you've heard the phrase you know where there's a will there's a way well I got a better one where there's God's will there's a way you know when God commands us to do something he enables us to do it he's not gonna command us to do something we cannot do he's not gonna come he's not gonna make us do something that we can of ourselves actually put into practice and obey now go to 1st John chapter 3 obviously this is we could apply this principle to the gospel that it is in our power it is in our ability to be able to do so more so in our church where soul winning is constantly emphasized we're always preaching about preaching the gospel and soul winning there's many good soul winners in our church there's no reason why we should not go out there and preach the gospel and look thank God for the over 2,000 souls that we've seen so far since we started the church but you know what 2018 is almost behind us 2019 is right around the corner we want to do greater works in 2019 than 2018 we want to see more souls say we want to train more soul winners we want to cover more ground why because God has given us the power to do it why not do it you know let's out so in the mega church this supposedly has the gospel and they're saved and they're doing they're doing great works with their bus ministry and so on and so forth let's outdo these so-called churches with their discipleship program why because God has given us the power to do it you know we don't want to become a byword in a proverb type of a church where God has given the candlesticks in this church to be able to go out and preach the gospel and we're just like hiding it under a bushel you know and look reevaluate your soul winning this coming year how much fruit did you bear this year how many souls did you see saved this year you know you ought to desire to exceed that you know and not by comparing yourselves among yourselves that's unwise but compare yourselves with yourself compete with yourself and see can I outdo myself in 2019 okay so that applies to the gospel but it also applies just being a blessing to our fellow brethren all right look at 1st John 3 17 but whoso hath this world's good sounds familiar and see if his brother have need and shutteth up his own his bowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him my little children let us not love in word neither in tongue but indeed and in truth the Bible says so here we see that someone who says that they have the love of God in them but they shut their bowels of mercy or compassion towards their brother when they have a need you know in other words what he's saying there is that you're a hypocrite you're a hypocrite why because if God has enabled you he's not just trying to make your life luxurious he's not just trying to make your life comfortable the reason he enables us with the resources that we have is so we can be a blessing to someone else specifically to our brethren now obviously we want to be a blessing to the unsafe for the sake of being a good testimony etc but at the end of the day you know we ought to desire to do good unto the those of the household of faith as the Bible says go to James chapter 2 James chapter 2 withhold not good to whom it is due when it is in the power of thine hand to do it 2019 you should think of yourself as saying you know what what good do I have and how can I impart that good into someone else you know if we're not careful we remain babes in Christ for the rest of our lives just taken you know and there's nothing wrong with taking when you need to grow there's nothing wrong with taking knowledge when you need it or taking blessings when someone wants to be a blessing but at the end of the day it's time to grow up at the end of the day it's time to become mature in the Lord at the end of the day guess what it's time to mature in the Lord and start thinking upon other people that's how you grow up in the Lord is by thinking about other people not about yourself not about how you can benefit from a situation but how you can benefit others look at James chapter 2 verse 14 it says what does the profit my brethren though a man may say he have faith and have and have not works can faith save him if a brother or sister be naked or destitute of daily food and one of you saying to them depart in peace be warmed and filled notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body what does it profit what is he saying what is it gonna profit them you see we're not justified by our works as the Calvinists like to say before God okay they they claim that they believe in one saved always saved but they'll but they but they what they'll do is they'll sneak in and they'll say yeah but if you know you don't do the works you weren't really safe to begin with you little liar you don't believe in one saved always saved you little deceitful devil you don't believe that you don't believe what the Bible teaches about eternal security because they're adding works to salvation you see and they'll they'll pull out James 2 all the time don't they they'll pull out Matthew chapter 7 don't they but the reality is is that we are justified by our works but not before God who are we justified by our works before man that's why at the beginning of the chapter says have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect of persons that means we can have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ but he's commanding us not to have it with respect of persons okay he goes on to say there in verse number 17 even so faith if it hath not works is dead being alone does it say being not existent no it says being alone yea a man may say thou hast faith and I have works show me thy faith without thy works people just skip over that he says show me thy faith without thy works so there's something to show them right well how do we show our faith that we have faith in Christ by the words that come out of our mouth by our own admonition by the confession of our mouth you know that if thou should confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thou shalt be saved so he says there thou hast faith and I have works show me thy faith without thy works and I will show thee my faith by my works now I don't know about you but I want to be in that second category not for salvation but to mature in the Lord because look Ephesians 2 verse 8 through 9 for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast and then you have someone as devilish as James White I'll show you that anybody they skip verse 10 you know they skip verse 10 you know his whole entire discussion with pastor Jason Robinson who Jason Robinson motored him by the way I don't care what any of his Calvinist you know follower said James White got motored by by a pastor Robinson amen what a hypocrite James White is a hypocrite he's a devilish hypocrite and I'm explaining to you why okay number one because he's a Calvinist that's number one and we could just end it there if I wanted to okay before the discussion they you know they're they're smashing they're just talking all kinds of junk about our movement about the new IFB you know they like to pull out Ephesians 2 verse 8 through 9 for by grace are you saved through faith and then he says but they always you know they never read verse 10 what he's referring to is the fact that verse 10 says for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works you know that we should walk in them so they go into this entire him and his butt buddy Jeff dirtbag they go into this entire dissertation as to why don't you read verse 10 verse 10 verse 10 8 9 then 10 we don't read 10 9 8 read 8 9 10 and then when pastor Robinson actually comes on and he begins to defend his position about the the this biblical predestination because there is a biblical predestination he uses Ephesians 1 and it talks about he quotes the verse where it talks about and whom he also trusted so he's saying those who are predestined are those whom have trusted in Christ and then James what does James White say oh you can't read the Bible backwards that's not proper exegesis you hypocrite you're trying to read the Bible backwards and Ephesians 2 verse 8 through 9 and 10 through 10 and all of a sudden when it's convenient for you all of a sudden when it fits your theology all of a sudden when someone actually confronts you on your stupid doctrine hey that's not proper exegesis I don't care what it is if exegesis is something that you believe someone needs to do in order to study the Bible I don't want nothing to do with it because I don't want to learn from a Calvinist and here here are his two cop-outs when he's debating people this is full of debate reprobate this is what he this is his two things that he uses he uses these esoteric arguments we so what is that these swelling words as the Bible puts it to make himself sound smart he has five minutes on his debate and you utilize every single minute of that of that time so he can make himself sound smart he doesn't argue his point he just uses the just grab at the source is what he does and he just uses that to just make you look stupid and then the second thing he does is he's if if you debunk what he's saying he said this is his cop-out right here well I'm talking about in the original languages you don't know the original languages you're not you're not 2,000 years old buddy were you there when they actually spoke it do you know how they pronounced it you don't know yeah but but the Jews but the but the Jewish rabbis and historians I can care less about them I'm not gonna learn from some Christ rejecting Jew how to pronounce a word you know so these are his two cop-outs I don't know where I was going with that but it was oh he uses James to he likes to use James to to say you know that that you have to be you have to have works James shoes works so he speaks out of both sides of his mouth and I can't wait till that man splits hell wide open because James White is a devil I don't care what anybody says make a clip out of that make a video out of me on alpha and Omega or our beta ministries or whatever you want to call it beta and Omega ministries I have zero respect for any Calvinist I have zero respect for Jeff dirtbag and and James wine as his brother Fannin likes to call him these guys are not men who are capable or who are apt to teach the Bible they teach the seat okay now look what it says thou believeth that there's one guy that I'll do as well the devil's also believe in tremble but wilt thou know O vain man that faith without works is dead was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar so in Romans chapter 4 we see that Abraham was justified by believing on God but it wasn't when he offered Isaac upon the altar you see when he believed God was years prior to him offering up Isaac upon the altar but he just likes to skip all that and just say well no this is justified by works no this happened after long after that's the difference between Romans 4 and James chapter 2 see us thou how faith wrought with his works and by works was faith made perfect now we don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater because at the end of the day we do need works not to justify us before God but to justify us before man you see it says there by works was faith made perfect we need to complete our faith how do we do that well we complete our faith by actually applying what we're listening to you know by actually putting works into the faith that we have by actually being a blessing to others by actually keeping the commandments owing no man anything but our love first and foremost by preaching the gospel but secondly being a blessing to those of the household of faith you see we want to make sure that when we roll into 2019 we don't have a dead faith we got to have a living faith amen you know I want to show my faith by my works I want to make sure that in 2019 I'm doing my best to strategically be a blessing to people why not just to benefit them but so I can grow in my Christian life you're not gonna grow if all you want is gimme gimme gimme you know a lot of Christians are like that aren't they they're just a bunch of gimmes is what they are what do they say my name is Jimmy I'll take are you give me or something like that you know we can't be Jimmy's Christian Jimmy's you know when we're brave when we're babes in Christ we can do that because you know babes they need a lot of attention they need they need prayer they need someone to take them under their wing but after that you know they need to grow and be a blessing to someone else okay now go to Philippians chapter 2 withhold not good to whom it is due when it is in thy power of thine hand to do it he said well I don't have a lot of power who said anything about the capacity how much power you have or how much you don't oh you understand I don't have as much as you who said anything about having more or less than me when is in thy power of thine hand to do it what it is whatever God has given you you see you may have less than someone in our church but that doesn't excuse you from being a blessing to everyone else I said well I don't have as much as any so I'm not gonna do anything at all no that's a bad that's a bad attitude that's not a good perspective to have and here's the thing if you want to increase what you have then you have to use what you have that's the way you increase it you see if you remember the parable of the talents you know some had less than others but guess what at the end of the day because they use the talents that they had they actually doubled their talents whereas the guy who had one talent stayed with that one town because he didn't do squat with it we're gonna just to be look at Philippians 2 verse 1 if there if there be therefore any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels and mercies fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded having the same love being of one accord of one mind let nothing be done through strife or vainglory but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves that's kind of hard to do naturally to think of someone more highly than you would think of yourself why because the Bible says no man ever yet hated his own flesh but nourished it and cherished it so this takes a supernatural walking in the spirit type Christian to actually think of others better than themselves look what it says in verse 4 look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others that's not a verse for to steal okay cuz I'm gonna look at on everyone else's thing see what they got going no it's saying look look look to benefit someone else let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus look at verse 20 for I have no man like minute and like-minded who would naturally care for your state for all seek their own not the things which are Jesus Christ go to Acts chapter 20 this is all just introduction here Acts chapter 20 verse 35 says I have showed you all things how that's so laboring he ought to support the weak and to remember the words of our Lord Jesus how he said it is more blessed to give than to receive a lot of people have that backwards you know especially Christmas Christmas what you get me you know that I'm not to be our attitude children have that attitude don't they I mean my son right now he understands the concept of Christmas now he knows the concept of Christmas he knows Christmas is he doesn't know the Christmas associated with the birth of Christ as much as he knows the Christmas associated with presents you know and we have to teach him like hey I mean obviously as a child that's normal children are gonna have that attitude I had that most kids have that but as you grow up you know it's not about you anymore amen it's about giving to someone else it's about how can we take the resources that God has given to us or to me and be a blessing to someone else not how can tell the people be a blessing to me you know let me just go ahead and talk about the needs that I have so you can provide for my needs kind of thing you know well I know someone who did that who was a pastor from the pulpit you know he would he would literally do this like he liked he liked pens okay and he liked like really nice pens or whatever and and he was like preaching one time and he pulled out his pen he was talking about he liked the cross pens cross pens and he was like hmm I like pens I really like pens I'm not sure why I said that and then he just put it away and then he just went on with the sermon it's just like you serious you know did you want everyone to take a note on that one real quick like just to show everyone that's childish I don't care if you like pants you know if that's not part of the sermon you know that if that's your plug-in to try to get something from people you know that's not what you should do okay and here's the thing is is as we grow we need to we need to realize that it is more blessed to give than to receive why is it more blessed to give than to receive because one for one is when we actually give God actually promised us to give back to us so when we give we actually open ourselves up to God actually showing himself strong on our behalf you know and just know this I mean mark it down you can never out give God you will never I'll give God even if you give your very last might you will never out give God and I can testify that just for my personal life but also from the testimonies of others how much they have given or how much they have sacrificed and God always comes through and he always outgives them always you know take out at his word you can never out give that that's why it's more blessed to give them to receive why is that well I mean if you think about it whatever you give them you actually receive more from God but here's the thing you don't receive it to consume it upon your own lust you know why God gives you more because he sees that you're a steward of that which God has given to you already and therefore he'll multiply that what you have so you can continue to give it see what I'm saying you know you preachers are back in these you know they used to have this illustration where they're giving to God are they given they're getting something from God and then just give it away right you receive and you give it away and then they would receive it and put it in their pockets and then God won't give everything's like take it out of their pockets give it away and then they'll keep receiving it and really that's that's a good illustration of how it works that's why it's more blessed to give than to receive okay now let me give you some principles regarding the power of thine hand and this is like a church family type of a sermon just to prepare us because you know we're all at different levels of spirituality but we all need to hear these truths in order for us to grow in our Christian life and realize hey it's not just about getting it's about giving okay now number one let me just say this is don't expect to give what you don't have okay so when you hear something like this go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 when you hear something like this oh man you know I mean how I don't really have well what God's not expecting you to sacrifice or to be a blessing of something you don't have look at 2nd Corinthians 8 10 says in here and I give my advice for this is expedient for you who have begun before not only to do but also to be forward a year ago now therefore perform the doing of it as there was a readiness to will so there may be a performance also out of that which he have for if there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not so God is not necessarily interested and how much you have it's the determination do you have behind what you're gonna give so as soon as you get as soon as you determine I'm gonna give it what God is interested in is this are you really gonna give it it's not the amount that you have it's not the amount of blessings or resources do you have it's is it's this if you say you're gonna give it you say you're gonna help are you gonna keep that valve okay that's what he's talking about and look we need to recognize that obviously everyone's blessed in different ways with different resources more than others but don't don't have this excuse or don't have this attitude well I don't have as much as others so I'm not gonna give at all I don't have as much as others so I can't be a blessing at all that's not the way it works because at the end of the day listen to last week's sermon count your blessings we all been blessed with something okay go to us you're in second Corinthians chapter 8 look at verse number one this goes on with point number two we often have more in our hand than what we admit or even realize I don't have anything well hold on hold on there cowboy yes you do you know you're not living in you know the middle of Africa in a hut with mud under you drinking dirty water as far as I know you know you live here and it seems that you're pretty well to do it all of us are regardless of our financial status why well number one cuz we're safe number two we have the Word of God that teaches us character to be able to get something to give someone to get to someone else look what the Bible says in verse number one moreover brethren we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia how that in great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality for to their power I bear record yea beyond their power they were willing of themselves praying us with much entreaty that we should receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the Saints now one problem that a lot of old IFB churches have okay is that obviously we understand that they're not very deep on doctrine you will not hear anything deep doctrinally doctrinally in any old IFB Church it's as shallow as you know a cup of water as far as doctrine is concerned but one subject they do go deep on is giving I mean when it comes to giving they exegesis that to its full extent they dig down deep and they make sure they get at every single verse then they memorize the verses they priest the little sermon ets before the offering I mean they go down deep when it comes to giving okay and you know what that does is that that causes people to kind of resist giving to that church sometimes cuz it's like this is all this you know they all the IP churches they're against the prosperity gospel preachers but they're basically doing the same the same thing in a conservative way you know when they pray for the offering which I'm not against praying for the offering when they pray for the offering it's just like they give a sermon at point number one you know go to Malachi or you know it's just like they just give you an entire Sherman because that's what's important to them is money but here's the thing is we need to have balanced preaching obviously and teach the whole counsel of God thoroughly but at the end of the day you know these these preachers they want to get money so they can build their palaces or you know get their vehicle that they want or whatever it may be they want to consume it upon their own lust but this concept of giving is important because it's biblical but you don't hear us talking about giving all the time because that's not the most important thing as far as resources are concerned as far as monetary gifts are concerned just giving of yourself is very much important how about this giving of your time for someone you know giving of your time to go soul winning or giving of your time to spend time with the brother who needs you you know giving of your time is actually more valuable than money if you think about it time is far more valuable than money why because once you lose time it's gone forever you can never regain it when you lose money you can get it again whereas time is gone once you lose it and what I'm saying here is this is not something that just applies to monetary resources it applies to just every aspect in general because the Bible tells us that the Corinthian Church gave of themselves first right they gave of their own selves the Bible tells us and we ought to have that that mentality that when we were blessing someone hey we're just going to go all in whatever thy hand finding to do do it with thy might the Bible tells us okay now a perfect example of someone who did not realize what they had in their hand is who Moses and making all kinds of excuses why he can't be the the general for Israel and God's like what is in your hand he said yeah but it was a rod brother me here you know it's a rod you know it was yeah but here's the thing when used for God was used to do great things and that's the principle there is doesn't matter how if you have just a wooden rod if you're willing to use it God will multiply it if it's just two fishes in some loaves God can use it and multiply it to be a blessing to others you see the little lad with the two fishes in the loaves could have just consumed it upon himself but guess what because he gave it unto the Lord he multiplied it I believe he's the one who actually kept up the the extra fishes and loaves because there's like more baskets that were left with fishes and loaves after he gave it and they multiplied it and that's how it is and do you think he just gave it to him just so he can consume it upon his own lust or something no he probably said you know this kid's being a good steward let me give him more so he can abound with blessings there and more by giving to someone else as well now go to mark chapter 12 mark chapter 12 here's a good here's another good example look at mark 12 verse 41 the bible says here in verse 41 and jesus sat over against the treasury and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury and many that were rich cast in much and there came a certain poor widow and she threw in two mites which make a farthing and he called into his disciples and saith unto him verily I say to you that this poor widow hath cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury for all they did cast in of their abundance but she of her want or of her lack did cast in all that she had even all her living so whatever she had obviously was very a small amount in comparison to what everyone else was giving but percentage wise it was a lot more why because she had she gave all that she had now what is the principle here is like you know we need to make sure that we take inventory of what we have and look again it's not monetary not just time but how about this how about talents hey we're looking to start an orchestra yeah an orchestra in our church in 2019 i see the snickers i see the hey it can happen all right you say mcdonald's but it can happen all right we got a piano player here we got uh we got a rock star guitar now i'm just playing we got brother brother chevy or as my brother my son likes to call him brother brother chevron okay that's what he calls him but here's the thing there's people in our church that can play instruments or here's the thing there's people in our church that can learn to play an instrument oh no i'm just here because i just want to go so many oh amen good go so many well i just want to come listen to well good listen to the preaching so what else can you do why don't you take inventory of your capabilities you know you got so much character and so much discipline for your job why don't you use some of that stuff for the church too amen why don't you learn an instrument pick up an instrument to learn why not you know praise god for with the instruments that god has given to you or what if you're just able to sing we're not going to have you sing a special by the way if you're able to sing but maybe you can learn the songs and help others learn how to sing okay sorry brother polities that's that was your calling right god called you to do that go to galatians chapter 6 galatians chapter 6 but here let me give you a good motivation as to why you should not withhold good to whom it is due when it is in thy power of thy hand to do it what's in the power of thine hand today may not be in the power of your hand tomorrow and the worst thing you can do is actually miss out on a blessing where you have a resource today and you have the ability to be a blessing today but you forgo giving it for whatever excuse you can come up with and then when it's gone you no longer have that opportunity look at the bible says in galatians 6 verse 9 and let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not as we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all men especially unto them who are of the household of faith go to mark chapter 14 so the bible's telling us as we have opportunity what does that mean it's not always there an opportunity is a moment of time when you have the power to be a blessing to someone you know when we even in the matter of soul winning we have a small window of time to get a lot done and for every person is different why because we're all not we're not all going to die at the same time unless like a rocket just just just falls in here someone just comes and shoots us all up or whatever sorry to be so morbid you know we're all going to die at different times and so for some people the time may be more minimal than the others you know you need to take opportunity now oh i'll just learn throwing you know i'll get really serious about it in the summer of 2019 or whatever no take advantage now how do you how do you even know boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou know it's not what a day may bring forth because a day may bring forth death how about that you know a day may bring forth sickness a day may bring forth tragedy and something that can strip you of the resources and the time made available to you to be a blessing to someone else determine now to go slowly determine now to preach the gospel but just in resources in general you know seek opportunities christmas is a great opportunity to be a blessing to people okay and look we're not christmas is not here yet for for the hispanics is tomorrow for the rest of the world it's on tuesday okay but you have an opportunity you know and seek to be a blessing to someone why you have that opportunity hey how about this seek to be a blessing to your family while you have an opportunity to do so as a father seek to be a blessing to your children while you have that opportunity to do so because look every father and every parent thinks that they're going to outlive you know their children and it's possible that you might but it's possible also possible that you may not okay i it's it's a horrible thought to think of right for a parent to lose a child you never want to outlive your children but it's possible you know why don't you seek to be a blessing to your children while there's still time yeah but i don't you know but they may outlive me yeah but you don't know that so as you therefore have opportunity do good to your children hey wife why don't you seek to be a blessing to your husband amen and all god all the men said amen all right all right you know some of them were just like amen amen that's right that's right yeah park it right there when i go on points like that people go old ivb on me you know amen come on that's right parking preacher shake that bush you know all that good stuff seek to be a blessing to your husband you know i know he annoys you and irritates you just kidding you know you can come up probably come up with a long list of things that are wrong with your husband but you know at the end of the day those things won't matter if your husband's taken away from you tomorrow i guarantee you won't think of any of those things if your husband were to go tomorrow and vice versa we'll skip the the reverse side of that i'm just kidding hey seek to be a blessing to your wife as you have opportunity to do so because you don't know when the power to do good is taken away from you you don't know when you have that when the opportunity is taken from you and and many things circumstances just come up things can happen where god no longer enables you to be a blessing to someone else okay now look at mark 14 verse 1 here's a good example of this after two days was the feast of the passover and of unleavened bread and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft and put him to death but they said not on the feast day lest there be an uproar of the people and being in bethany in the house of simon the leopard as he sat at me there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious and she braked the box and poured it on his head and there were some that had indignation within themselves and said why was this waste of the ointment made of course that's referring to judas for it might have been sold for more than 300 pence and have been given to the poor and they murmured against her and jesus said let her alone why trouble ye her she has wrought a good work on me for you have the poor with you always and whatsoever you will you may do to them good but me ye have not always what is he telling him this is a small window of opportunity for you to do something for me while i'm on this earth and she was willing to spend this spikenard this ointment is very costly on him because she understood there's a small window of opportunity for me to be a blessing to my savior you know to to worship him and and be a blessing to sacrifice do whatever i can he says look the poor you're always going to have with you but me you have not always he goes on to say in verse eight she had done what she could she uh she has come a forehand to anoint my body to the burying verily i say to you wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world this also that she hath done shall be spoken of her she's spoken of for a memorial of her so look two thousand years later we're still talking about her two thousand years later we're still talking about this lady who by the way probably spent a good amount on that ointment but you know what in comparison to what she received the honor that she's receiving two thousand years later it's worth it it's worth it but you know what she only had that small window of opportunity to do it and this is a principle you can apply to every single member of your family how about this how about your parents you know as you therefore have opportunity do good into your parents because you never know when they may go and they will go one day you know put your differences aside i understand that you may have parents who are unsaved and you want them to want to get them saved and i'm not talking about reprobate parents okay let's just throw that out okay and and you know my parents are reprobate okay then i'm not talking to you okay you know go find some other parents to be a blessing to or something what i'm talking about is those parents who are not reprobates okay and you know they're not going to be around forever you want to make sure that you honor and you love them you reverence them you show them respect and and do good to them because we only have a small window of opportunity to do that you know yeah but they just annoy me you know they don't understand the reprobate doctrine you know it's probably because you're annoying that's probably what it is you're just an annoying little brat okay you're probably just an annoying little brat that's probably why your parents because here's the thing let me just remind you is that your parents wipe your butt when you're a baby you probably don't remember that but they remember it and then you come around and tell them that they're wrong and you just get on them and all these things you know that's probably why they're annoyed at you and they're resisting you and look the reprobate doctrine is not the most important doctrine okay sorry to break it to you it's not this most important doctrine that they need that you need to teach them you know don't burn your bridges with your with your parents don't burn your bridges with your family over these doctrines they are important but they're not so important that you just cut ties with your with your brother or with your sister or with your mother or father because they just disagree with you on it okay it's not going to matter once they die and then you no longer have that opportunity you know withhold not good from your family withhold not good from your mother withhold not good from your father and one of the reasons that i love christmas the christmas season it really draws family together doesn't it you kind of put your differences aside if you have differences and you just you spend time with your family and you kind of put that aside now i'm not saying that like go put your differences aside like alcohol whatever like yeah go for it drink your whiskey man you know we're family that's not what i'm talking about you know we should not have any type of fellowship like that during the christmas season and the reality is is that if there is a difference that deals with you having to sin in order to be with them then you should not partake of that alcohol or or just things that are just ungodly we should not be partakers of that but if it's minimal things like your beliefs because you've been just trying to impose that upon them and they're just so stupid they just don't get it no it's probably just annoying is what it is and look annoying people don't get a lot done annoying people can't convince anybody of anything much okay so what's the point there the point is this is that hey you have power right now you have a window of opportunity right now do good do good to your mom do good to your wife do good to your father do good to your husband do good to your children do good to them because you have this small window of opportunity to do that uh you're in galatian six here's another thing is just remember the principle of sowing and reaping so here's another good motivation to do good remember the principle of sowing and reaping look at verse six let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him to teach it in all things be not deceived god is not mocked for whatsoever man soweth that shall he also reap now look we should be a blessing because god commands to be a blessing but the reality is is that you're going to need someone to bless you when you're in need okay and the worst person to be is the one who chose not to be a blessing and then now they're in need and no one wants to be a blessing to them because they weren't a blessing you know they may that might sound wrong but it's right i'm promising you okay people are more apt to help or to bless those who have blessed them in times past sow good seeds now so you can reap that blessing don't be this person that just takes and takes and has never been a blessing then when you're in need no one wants to be a blessing to you because you're just a selfish spoiled little christian brat who only took and never gave okay now go to matthew 18 let me show you an example of this now matthew 18 is a parable of the jews and the gentiles let me just just put lay that out there right now okay this is about the jews and the gentiles but we're going to make a secondary application which i think is a good application look at verse 23 therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king which would which would take account of his servants and when he had begun to reckon one one was brought unto him which owed him 10 000 talents but for as much as he had not to pay his lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and his children all that he had in payment to be made the servant therefore fell down and worshipped him saying lord have patience with me then i will pay thee all then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the dead amen man what a huge blessing but the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants which owed him 100 pence and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat and said pay me to that oldest i mean this guy has got some anger issues i mean you seriously do you ever just grab someone by the like you just grab them they're like pay me what you owe me where we at verse number 29 and his fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought him saying have patience with me and i will pay thee all and he would not but when he cast them into the prison to he should pay the debt so when his fellow servants saw what was done they were very sorry and came and told unto their lord all that was done then his lord after that he had called him said unto him oh thou wicked servant i forgave thee all that debt because thou desires me shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant even as i had pity on thee and his lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors to he should pay all that was due unto him so likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses that's a sad story this guy's forgiven all this debt and after all he does immediately afterwards he goes and collects a debt which is a lot less than what he owed you know this is a guy that just did not understand hey someone's been a blessing to you you should actually go and do likewise if someone's helped you go and do likewise now go to second carinthians chapter number 10 keep in mind though you need to make sure that you sow good seeds now that's a good motivation and look i'm not saying that being a blessing is convenient because it's not convenient and it's not meant to be convenient sorry sacrificing of your finances resources time whatever is inconvenient it's always inconvenient because your sacrifice you're giving something that belongs to you to someone else but it's time to grow up time to grow up and not just do things that are convenient do things that are inconvenient knowing that you shall receive a blessing in the end okay inconvenience yourself whatever may be inconvenience yourself for your brethren and look here's a here's a good here's a good way to to to make sure to help you to understand what if jesus needed something from you of course we would give it the drop of a hat we give everything that we have but the thing is the bible teaches us that as we do it unto our brethren we're actually doing it unto christ so a way to help you to give to withhold not good to whom it is due when it is in that power of that hand to do it is to recognize that you're doing it as unto the lord but when you choose not to do it to someone even though when it's in that power of the hand to do it you're basically saying no to the lord okay that's the principle there let me skip some things here go to actually go to matthew 13 excuse me matthew 13 now look you know i mentioned this already but the my last point is this is just increase the power of thine hand increase the power of thine hand you may not have a whole lot to give but that doesn't mean you have to remain there you could actually increase your resources you could actually increase your ability your capacity to be a blessing to someone else and in 2019 you should okay you know say you know what's lacking in my life and what's something that i can increase so i can be a blessing to others you see we ought not to desire resources to consume upon our lusts we should actually increase our resources so we can expand our blessing you know i want the money and the resources to just flow to faithful word baptist church of elmani so why are you trying to get like a a beamer or something like that you want like a what do you want i don't want any of that you know what i want i want our church to be able to expand the capacity to be able to reach people but we can only do that based upon the resources that come to this church you see what i'm saying so obviously we need resources obviously we want more resources we want more money amen we want more money but what for so we can continue to reach more people so we can take missions trips so we can go across state and across country and go just everywhere preach in the gospel and see more people saved not so we can build a freaking fountain in our church building a golden fountain just look at the water you know it's like what for you're consuming it upon your own lust oh but we want to buy this street jack treeber we just want to buy this street right here what for use the street that's already here oh you just want to buy another building what for to put all my pianos in you fool that's not the reason why we should accumulate resources resources are to be gone from god so we can give it out for the furtherance of the gospel amen that's what it's for not for just monetary things that are just going to burn they're not going to mean anything look i like the piano we have amen guess how much we paid for this piano free 99 free 99 and it sounds great we don't need four or five different pianos in our church six pianos or whatever you know that's not that's not a good that's not a good investment of our resources and look that's not going to guarantee god given us continue to give to us more and more you know what's going to guarantee is that when we take the resources all right how can we use this to further the gospel let's take a trip to indio let's go let's go to inglewood inglewood always up to no good you know why because there's nothing to do with good no not once we're going to go over there and preach the gospel amen that's what resources are for to go to the ghettos to go to conton to go to these areas where independent fundamental baptists don't want to touch with a tenfold pole because they're afraid of the gang members oh there's bloods and crypts over there yeah they need the lord the bloods need the blood of christ amen that's what resources are for is to reach people with the gospel and look to the resources are there to help us pay the bills to feed ourselves so we can continue to further the gospel that's what it's there for so let's pray for an increase this year amen increase of finances increase of talent hey we need some flute players violin hey look mark bought himself a violin amen he said does he know how to play it nope he said how do you know because i heard him hey but you know what he's increasing his ability he's like you know what i got discipline i got character i'll buy the violin and i'll learn it hey we need some more song leaders now we need song leaders who can sing though okay you know that's probably not in that's not in the power of everyone's hands okay but if you're able to sing hey well i just want to come and sin and just listen i don't want well then you know what remain a babe in christ your whole life then you know but if you have a talent and ability use it and perfect your abilities as well okay so what i'm saying is this is increased look at matthew 13 verse 12 for whosoever hath to him shall be given and he shall have more abundance but whosoever hath not for him shall be taken even taken away even that he hath you know what i noticed about these churches that want to use all their resources just to glamorize their own buildings they actually lose all that money now there might be thousands upon thousands and millions coming in but guess what there's a lot more going out in debt because of that so don't be fooled by oh wow they got so much money yeah but they're in major debt our church is not in debt you know why because you can't put god in debt you cannot put god in debt he owns the cattle on a thousand hill all the silver and gold and as long as we use what he's given to us to further the gospel we will never run out okay now uh i'm pretty much done i'm done so what's the message said the message is simply this what is in the power withhold not good you know to whom it is due when it is in thy power of thine hand to do it you know think about that when you look when you see your brother on sunday morning think about that you know this coming year when you hear about a need hey take opportunity meet that need you know when when when a lady in our church has a baby okay and look we got a list of like six ladies in our church so you got plenty of opportunities okay we got six ladies all right we had seven but janelle had to have the baby okay i'm just kidding we have six ladies who are with child right now you know what when those children are born that's an opportunity for us to be a blessing you say well how can i be a blessing bring him a pizza because she's not she's not gonna be cooking you know and her husband's probably not gonna cook either you know their their lives are being altered a little bit because there's a brand new life there okay they need to pay attention to that life so what we can do as a church is be a blessing and say hey what can i do to be a blessing to this family here you know i don't know how to cook but i but i know how to put out five dollars and go to the go to little caesars and you know pick up i can do that i can pick up a little caesars pizza you know i know that's not the most healthiest or whatever but i'm talking about you know whatever you can to be a blessing and look don't just look at the bullets and say okay they're you know these ladies are pregnant no keep in mind that these ladies are gonna have babies you know and and seek to be oh but i'm single you even more why why because you can attend unto the lord without distraction yeah that's what i'm doing so many yeah but also being a blessing to others pick up some food order some food do whatever you can to be a blessing to someone else because here's the thing one day you're gonna get married one day lord willing well lord willing one day you'll get married and lord willing one day you'll have a child and guess what you're gonna need someone to reciprocate that same blessing to you as well and you will see how hard it is once when you have a child and you just have a lot to do you know you're going to want your church to to be there for you but they can only be there for you if you've been if you've been there for them and i'm not saying that that's that's the stipulation i'm saying in their minds they're not going to be thinking about you if you weren't thinking about them the people who leave the impression upon other people is those who have gone out of the way inconvenience themselves to be a blessing to someone else and then later on they remember oh i remember when this person was good to me they did this for me let me go ahead and be a blessing to that person you know don't withhold good to whom it is due when it is in the power of thy hand to do it amen inspire heads in our board of prayer father we thank you so much for the fact that you blessed us with your with your son jesus christ and we're thankful for all the wonderful benefits that you've given to us i pray that you continue to increase our resources lord not just as individuals but as a church so we can so we can uh just apply this even more and just be a blessing to other people and i pray that you'd help us to do so because at the end of the day it doesn't come naturally to want to be a blessing or to be a blessing we have to on purpose walk in the spirit think upon others and and and do that lord and i pray god that you'd help us to do so and especially during this christmas christmas season that we would think upon others not what we can get out of other people but what we can give to others and in jesus name we pray amen