I Give Up: Week 4 - Before You Give!

Tim Ross | August 22, 2021

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Transcription

Hey, y'all. I love you so much. I'm so grateful to be here. We're ready to go, all right? It's all good. All right, if you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to the Book of Luke 6. While you do that, I just want to greet everybody that's watching online. Whether you are here or there, we are so grateful that you've decided to spend some time with us. We are in a series on giving called I Give Up.

The last three weeks, I have focused the message on tithing. Now, this is a giving series, but I could not address giving properly until I addressed tithing. Tithing and giving are two different things. Tithing is not giving and giving is not tithing. Tithe is not an offering and offering is not a tithe. Over the last three weeks, there should have been some things that you heard that confirmed some things for you, enlightened some things for you, maybe even challenged you.

If you haven't listened to those three messages, I want you to go back. I invite you to go back and listen to them so you can have full context to what it means to be a biblical tither. I want to read two verses in Luke 6, and then I need to just slow walk and teach today because this is the first message that I want to give you as it relates to giving. There's a context you need to have and a heart posture you need to have if you are going to be the type of giver that enjoys giving.

Luke 6, starting at the 37th verse, here's what it says, "Do not judge others and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others or it will all come back against you. Forgive others and you will be forgiven. Give and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you give back."

Now, my old-school King James won't let me move past that verse without giving you what it says in King James. I read out of the NLT because they just ironed out so many wrinkles, but some stuff just hits different in King James. If you'll indulge me, Luke 6:38 says, "Give and it shall be given unto you, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosoms. For with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured unto you again."

Anybody ever heard this verse in church? Anybody ever heard this verse quoted before they decided to open up for offering? Anybody ever wound up in an offering line because you weren't going to be able to go home based off this verse? Well, I'll address this later, but I'm going to tell you upfront, that verse has nothing to do with giving. 

If you're taking notes on this message, three words, please write this down for all my nerds in the room, "Before You Give." "Before You Give." Moving from tithe and I could jump right into talking about giving and the joys of giving, but before you give, there's some things I think we need to know. Bow your heads. Let's pray over the word, shall we? Holy Spirit, help us before we give, Amen.

First off, I want you to write down. This is just as a calibrator for you to understand. You cannot become a giver until you've become a returner. You cannot become a giver until you've become a returner. This is why I spent three weeks on tithing. Why? Because you won't understand what giving really is until you understand what returning is. As I've discussed in the past, no one has ever given a tithe.

The only thing you can do with a tithe is return it. You can't give a tithe that never belonged to you in the first place, so you cannot become a giver until you first become a returner. When you learn how to return, that's when you really learn how to give. Here's another statement that I want you to write down. "You cannot become a giver until you've become a forgiver." You will never be a giver of any kind until you've become a forgiver.

There's two things that I want to address based on the verse that we just read that givers don't do. I want to give you the two things that givers don't do. Number one, givers don't judge. Givers don't judge. Let's recall what it says in Luke 6:37, "Do not judge others and you will not be judged." Now, the definitions for this word in the Greek have many connotations. To pass judgment upon, to express an opinion about, to pass an unfavorable judgment upon, to criticize, to find fault with, to reach a decision.

Anybody beside me can admit that you've judged somebody in the past? You've reached a decision on them? You've cast a judgment on them? Here's Jesus's admonishment, letters in red, "Don't judge." If you judge, you'll be judged. Don't reach a decision on anybody. Don't judge anybody. Now, this particular verse has been very, very miscontextualized and people have actually emboldened themselves to live the way they want to live, how they want to live, almost in defiance to scripture because Jesus said, "Don't judge."

What they say if you make any observation about them is that, "You are judging me." The Bible says, "Don't judge." If they grew up listening to Tupac, they will go further to say, "Only God can judge me." All the closet Tupac fans were like, "Hmm, is that what he said? I haven't heard. Who's that?" We're not supposed to judge, but we are supposed to inspect.

In the same chapter just a few verses down, almost as if God knew that people were going to take that passage out of context. He says this, "A good tree can't produce bad fruit and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart."

Here are the two things I want you to write down, "Judgment is an act of pride." When you reach a decision on somebody, you have just caught out the pride that's in your own soul. When you criticize somebody unnecessarily, you judge them. You reach a decision on them. You conclude that, "I have seen all the information I need to see to determine the type of person you are. I judge you," and that's pride.

We're not supposed to judge, but based on what I just read you in that second passage, here's the next sentence I want you to write down. "Inspection is an act of stewardship." You shouldn't judge anybody. You should inspect. To judgment is to reach a decision on. It is to criticize unnecessarily and unfairly. Only God can do that, but here's what we do have permission to do. Inspect.

I will inspect because inspection is stewardship and I'm supposed to do that. Somebody comes to me showing certain attributes and trying to convince me that they are a banana, but the shape is apple, the consistency is apple, the texture is apple. They wear an Apple Watch and have an Apple phone.  I think it's an apple. That's not judgment. That's inspection.

Judgment is me telling you, "Here's how your whole world's going to end based on the way I'm experiencing you right now." That's judgment. Inspection is, "Here's who I know you to be based on the fruit that you're displaying right now." There's a difference between the two. Don't judge anybody. Givers don't judge, but they do inspect, which is why they have the stewardship responsibility on where they're going to give what they give when they give it.

Givers don't give to everybody just because they ask. That's not them making a judgment. That's them being a good steward of what they have and to know where to put it. The two things that givers don't do. Givers don't judge, number one. Point number two, givers don't condemn. To condemn somebody simply means that they are a person that is going to put them in a place to find someone guilty, to pronounce someone guilty.

I will not condemn anybody. I have Bible not to condemn anybody. Romans 8:1 says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation." There's no condemnation that I ever want to bring to anybody. I don't want to pronounce anybody guilty. Givers don't do that. Let me give you the one thing that givers do. One thing that givers do, they give before. Givers give before. Remember the sentence that Jesus says, "If you forgive others, you will be forgiven."

If you're the type of person that can give before, forgive, you yourself will be forgiven. If you judge, you will be judged. If you condemn, it will come all back to you. If you forgive, you will be forgiven. Why do givers give before? It's a question that we need to answer. Why do givers give before? Because they know that what they give, they will receive. Before I read you Luke 6:38 again, I have to give you the context to scripture.

Anytime you are reading a passage of scripture, anytime you are reading a verse, you have to understand the context that it was being placed in. When you miscontextualize a verse, people can run away with it, thinking that it can do something in their life that it wasn't even meant to express. I'll never forget watching a boxing match. This guy went into the ring and he had on some boxing trunks and it had a Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me." He got in the ring with his gloves and he was ripped and he was cut up. He got in the ring and they got in the middle of the ring.

The ref gave the instructions. If you hit right here, that'll still be legal. If you hit below there, it won't be legal, and go to your corners, wait for the bell, and come out and fight. He had Philippians 4:13 on his trunks. You would think this verse is going to be super helpful. I can now do all things through Christ that strengthens me, including win every boxing match that I step into the ring to fight because I have a verse on my trunks. Two rounds later, the dude without the Bible verse on his trucks slipped a jab, and your boy's hipping his follow-through, caught homie on the chin. He was asleep before he hit the ground.

That's not the most embarrassing thing. They had an overhead ring cam and your boy was asleep with the knee up.

They zoomed in on the Bible verse.

"I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me" doesn't mean you'll win a boxing match. If you write under your basketball shoes, it doesn't mean you'll hit every three-pointer. If you put it on your cleats and play football, it doesn't mean you're going to catch every pass. If you take it out of context, it no longer has power. I remember being at a Bible study preaching this. Pentecostal church, right? I said, "Who believes Philippians 4:13 is the truth?" "Amen, hallelujah," everybody started shouting. I said, "Who believes you can do all things through Christ that strengthens you?" "Hallelujah," they were getting hyped. I said, "Do you really believe it?" "Yo." "Do you really believe it?" "Woo."

People were standing up, "Yes." I said, "Then fly home."

"Don't get in the car, walk out the door, and, ta-ta-ta-da, just fly. Fly home." If you take it out of context, it doesn't have any power for you. You go back and read the verses that preface Paul make in his statement and he says, "I have learned to be content in any situation I'm in. I can have money, not have money. I can have a full stomach. I can have an empty stomach. I can have a car."

I mean, he didn't say this, but I'm just elaborating, "I can have a car, I cannot have a car. I can have a house. I can be in an apartment. I can be sleeping at my grandmama's house. It doesn't matter what situation I'm in. I can do all things." Now, it makes sense. The reason why I wanted to give you this preface is because I got to help you with this verse, Luke 6:38.

That's been used to raise so many offerings when Jesus ain't even talking about no offering. The reason why we know he's not talking about an offering because the verse that precedes it, He says, "Judge not and you won't be judged. Condemn and it will all come back to you. Forgive and you'll be forgiven." Luke 6:38, "Give and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full."

Well, Tim, it says "gift." This has got to be talking about money, got to be talking about giving. No. "Pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back." Jesus talking to His first-person audience, they would have heard and known that He was talking about a transaction between a merchant and a buyer.

They would have heard and known and understood with Him making this quote that when a buyer goes to get grain, a generous merchant will literally take the container that the buyer has and he will pour in grain. When it gets to the top, he will take the container and shake it down. He will shake it, press it down, and make room for more. Then he'll pour some more in there until it gets to the top and overflows and spills off into his lap or his bosom.

This can't be talking about giving as an offering because it's an actual fair exchange. The buyer bought something from the merchant and the merchant gave him something back. This is not a free gift. This is an exchange. If we put it in context and Jesus just said, "If you judge, you'll be judged. If you condemn, it'll all come back to you. If you forgive, you will be forgiven," so give and you will receive. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and run it over, shall it be given back to you.

You give judgment? Cool, you're going to get judgment. How are you going to get judgment? In a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. That's the kind of judgment you will get back. Oh, you're going to condemn people. You're going to pronounce them guilty? Cool. Give that and see what happens. It's going to be given to you. How? In a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall men give back to you just what you gave to them.

Oh, you are a forgiver. I'm so glad you're a forgiver. You'll also receive forgiveness. How? I'm so glad you asked. You'll get it in a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall men give back to you. There's three things I've noticed about unforgivers. Three things I've noticed about unforgivers. Here's the first. Unforgiving hearts have ungiving hands. If you have unforgiveness in your heart, generosity is something that's literally not a part of your expression.

If you carry unforgiveness, if you carry judgment, condemnation, and bitterness in your heart, if you can't release that from your heart, then you won't release anything from your hands. You show me somebody who's bitter of heart and I'll show you somebody who withholds with their hands. They simply can't do it because if the heart is not released, the hands won't be either. Well, there's some people that are here who hold grudges really well will say, "Yes, no, I'm still generous," which brings me to the second thing that I've noticed about unforgiving people.

Unforgiving hearts have tied their hands. People with unforgiving hearts literally tie their hands to only a few things that they feel like they can control. "I would help, man, but my hands are tied." "Man, can you pick me up from the airport?" "Oh, man, I would, but I'm so tied up. Maybe you can just call an Uber, doc." Why is it so hard for them to give? It's because they still have unforgiveness in their hearts.

You see, most people would try to convince you that, "Hey, you can just give on top of all the unresolved issues that you have. If you do, it won't be coming from the right place." When 2 Corinthians 9 says that God loves a cheerful giver, that means He loves somebody that has a forgiving heart. You can't be cheerful if you still have unresolved issues and you are still holding people hostage in your head.

"I thought this was a message about giving, man." It is, which brings me to the third thing that I've noticed about people with unforgiving hearts. Unforgiving hearts have strings on their hands. They will only give it to you if they can control what you do with it. They will only give it to you if they can control you with it. "Remember when I gave you that $50 last month? You can't do this for me now?" Man, if you remember it like that, I don't even think you should have gave it.

If you got a total recall on that, man, in the last six years, I've given you at least, I don't know, $525. If I came up with gas, it's a smooth $722. Wow, I'm not sure you ever wanted to do it if you were going to keep reminding me of it. The only way you'll give is if you can control the outcome of the gift that you give. I've seen people leave churches because they've given but then didn't like the direction the church was going in. "Well, I gave a large amount, and so I thought that bought me an opinion."

"I'm trying to figure out how come we don't have this ministry yet." "The Lord called us that way." "Well, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to keep given if this doesn't happen." "Sir, you should have stopped giving a long time ago because that string from your pocket into our account, if you give us the total, which I know you know by heart, we'll write you a check and cut our losses because God loves a cheerful giver, not a reminding giver." I felt that.

A little stanky. Matthew 5:21 says this, "You have heard that our ancestors were told, 'You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.' But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment." I love Jesus when He does this because what Jesus does is He always take stuff from action to heart. You've heard Him said that if you murder, that's wrong. I'm going to tell you, if you even get angry, that's the real thing.

Murder is the action that happens when the heart never gets checked. Let me give you a bar. I didn't even think about giving you this, but you need this one in your life, okay? Whatever doesn't come up and out of your mouth through words will come up and out of your body through actions. Please write that down. I promise you. It took me 44 years to synthesize. That one statement changed my whole life.

"Whatever doesn't come up and out of your mouth through words will come up and out of your body through actions." You show me somebody angry enough to commit domestic violence, I'll show you somebody that can articulate that they're mad. You show me a person that constantly cheats on their spouse, I'll show you somebody that cannot open their mouth and say that I am unpleased, unfulfilled, low self-esteem. Something is causing that. If you can't put a word to it, you will put an action to it.

Jesus is not coming after actions anymore like the law was written. He's coming after your heart. That's all giving is about. It's a hard issue. This is not trying to get in your pocket. This is about trying to get in your heart because if God can change your heart, then He knows He has everything else. He says this, "If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court." Y'all better be happy, some of y'all.

With that fresh mouth you got, you always clapping back at somebody. This is in red.

Showing up white on that screen, but open your Bible. That thing would be in red. If you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell." Y'all better. "So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar," King James says a "gift." "If you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you." You just suddenly remember when you were about to give your offering, "Hey, I'm about to give my offering. I love the Lord. I returned. Now, I'm about to give."

You suddenly remember that somebody has something against you. "Leave your gift, your sacrifice at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice or your gift to God." How will you be a cheerful giver if you don't forgive? Because if you don't forgive, you will not be forgiven. If you pronounce someone guilty, you will not be forgiven. If you don't give forgiveness, you simply won't get it.

This is why I titled this message Before You Give because forgiveness is all about giving before. In anticipation of what may happen, I want you to know I'll release you not for your sake, for my own. I'm freeing myself of the offense because I cannot make myself a prisoner based on your actions. I can't control you. The only person I can control is me, which brings me to John 3:16, a passage we should all know.

I think in this context, warrants us going back to appreciate even more how extravagant God is. "For this is how God loved the world, He gave His one and only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." This is how God loved the world. He gave His one and only Son. When did He give it? He gave before. God so loved the world, He forgave. He gave before you asked. He gave before you noticed. He gave before you had a clue how disconnected you were from Him.

God's grace was given before you asked for it and not just like 10 minutes before  like, "Oh, you want to repent now?" "I guess." "I forgive you. I was waiting for you to realize how salty you were as a person." No. Before the foundations of the world, Christ was crucified for our sins. Three words, please write these down. Let them sink into your heart, "God gives before." God gives before.

I'll never forget the day I gave my life to Jesus, January 14th in 1996, sitting in the back of my parents' church. Holy Spirit makes me aware of my sins. I have never been aware of my sins. Everything I was doing three hours prior to that, I didn't think it was wrong. All of a sudden, I realized I'm disconnected from God and my life is just in shambles. I remember thinking to myself, "I need to go clear up a whole lot of stuff that I've done, then I can come give my life to Jesus."

I got a porn stash under my mattress. I'm sleeping around like a crazy man. I need to go reconcile all of that first and then I need to come, give my life to Jesus. The Holy Spirit is like, "No, you won't do that unless you walk out of here with me. If you try to do that in your own strength, you won't do none of it. You should probably let me in, then we can go get rid all of that because you still like what's under the mattress, I don't."

"You would still be engaged in that promiscuous activity, but if I'm living on the inside, you ain't going to enjoy it no more. I think you need to come out of here with me." I'm thinking to myself, "Will you even forgive me for that though?" "I already have." "Like just now or--" because I'm such an emo. "When did you--"

"When did you do that? You're so sweet. When did that even happen?" "Before you got here." "Before I got to the service?" "Before you got to the Earth."

Here's where I want you to be a forgiver because you've been forgiven. You can't give a good gift with old wounds in your heart. I don't know who this is for, but I feel it. Some of y'all got to let some people go. Not even from your life, from your head. You've given them too much space and it's interrupting his grace. You will never be a giver until you become a forgiver. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes?

I feel as strongly as I can feel it. There are some of you who are supposed to walk out of here lighter than you came in today. Let me say that I can completely understand why you hate them. I can completely understand why you don't like them. They hurt you. They betrayed you. They misused you. They abused you. I'm telling you, not forgiving them is literally imprisoning you.

The offering that I would love you to give today has nothing to do with a dollar in your pocket, automatic debit, a bank transfer. It has everything to do with the offering in your heart. Let's get you out of here lighter by you giving the offering of forgiveness to someone that doesn't even deserve it. If you continue to judge, you'll be judged. If you continue to condemn, it'll come back to you. If you forgive, you'll be forgiven because you've been forgiven.

As every head is bowed and every eye is closed, if there's someone that you need to give the gift of forgiveness to, you may not be able to talk to them personally. They may be dead. They may live on the other side of the country. You may not even feel comfortable having a conversation with them, but you can have a conversation with them in your heart and you can release them so that they don't take up more space in your soul.

If this message is speaking directly to you, I would like you to come to the altar and give a gift of forgiveness to whoever is holding you hostage so that you can walk out of here free. Is there one? Come. Thank you so much for your honesty. Forgiveness is so hard when you've been hurt, when you've been lied on, when you've been mistreated, when you've been abused, when you've been deceived.

It can linger, but it's hurting you way more than it's hurting them. Come on, wherever you are, just keep coming. This is the most extravagant gift we'll give in this whole series, I promise you.  You all can give $5 million next week. If you don't give forgiveness, it wouldn't even matter. Come on. There's somebody else. You're still in your seat. Thank you. I just feel stuff, and so I just call it out. Thank you so much.

Just let them go. Just let them go. What they did was wrong. This doesn't invalidate what they did. It just means they don't hold you hostage anymore. It just means you're free. Thank you. Thank you. Oh God, I'm so proud of you. Let's go. Let's go. Let's get it. I just want to walk you through a prayer. I have a grace to teaching because I've had to do it.  I've been hurt. I've been rejected. I've been manipulated. I've been mistreated and I've had to forgive.

It's the only reason why I can teach this message. I'm not talking to you in theory. I'm telling you what I know. I've walked through this. I just want to lead us all through a prayer. If you're watching online, let's get this offering out.  Let's leave the best offering we can leave at the altar, which is forgiveness. I want to lead us through a prayer. You may be comfortable praying your own prayer. You don't have to repeat after me if you don't want to.

If you just need somebody to guide you, it'll be very, very simple, but I think it'll be very, very freeing. Would you all be opposed to that? You good? Okay. Just repeat after me. Say, Lord, thank you for forgiving me. Today, I give the gift of forgiveness to the person and persons that hurt me. I still feel the pain. I still feel the betrayal. I still have trauma, but I released them from my head and from my heart because I want to be free.

Lord, would you take my pain and would you take my hurt and heal me? Whether I receive apology or not from them, I no longer hold them hostage for my freedom. You got to mean this. I no longer need to hear their apology for me to be free. I forgive them totally, fully, completely. Now, heal me so that I can walk in freedom and become the extravagant giver you've called me to be. In Jesus' name, Amen.

All right, let's just stay here for a moment. This is heart work right here. There's no like, "All right, everybody."  You get something like this up and out. You don't just turn around and start popping confetti. There's some soul stuff happening at this altar. I don't think it needs our altar ministry team to come up. I just think some of you all need to cry some tears that you haven't cried.

Some of you all have tried to be so strong and show them that you're not going to break me. I'm not going to cry about this and you won't get me-- No, you need to cry because it hurts. Stop playing. If you need to cry, cry. If you need to vent, a little vent, but acknowledge what's there because God can free a heart that's honest.  I'm telling you, you will be so much lighter when you leave today than when you walked through these doors.

God, I thank you for what you are doing. I thank you for the soul work that's happening at this altar. I pray for incredible breakthroughs in the hearts and minds of everyone that is here. Husbands and wives, sons and daughters, mothers and sons, whatever the configuration, old mentors, old pastors, whatever needs to be broken, God, I thank you that you are restoring every heart in Jesus' name. Let's all stand. I'm just going to go ahead and dismiss the service, but I want everyone that needs the moment to be here.

Amos, if you'll just continue to play, I just want everybody to feel free to do what they need to do. Let's just detox. Let's get some stuff out. Let's get whatever we need out. This is the moment to do it. He told us to cast our cares on Him because He cares. Father God, I thank you for all the forgiveness that I feel in this room. Thank you that you've made us givers before. Before we give, we give the offering of forgiveness to You. Thank you for forgiving us and bless us as we leave this place but not Your presence. In Jesus' name, Amen.