# Do you truly have charity

Key Passage: 1 Corinthians 8:1
Date: March 30, 2024

Will my life count for Jesus? We’re going to talk about a subject that will help you in that tonight if you want your life truly to count for Jesus. First Corinthians chapter number eight. First Corinthians chapter number eight.

And the title tonight would be, Do you truly have charity?

Now, I thought about it when they were singing, you know, Brother Lucas could say, “Amen,” he does. He does as far as his wife, that’s her name, Charity. We’re talking about biblical charity here, all right? And we’ve got to clarify this thing, you know, I’ll tell you for sure, but charity. We’ll look at it in the Bible.

If you like to influence others for the Lord Jesus Christ, truly make a difference, it’s just got to be there: charity.

If you would like to where you’re not so easily put out of shape, true charity. If you like for your marriage and your relationships to be a lot sweeter, charity.

Just for a little bit tonight, do you have true charity? Do I? By the way, none of us have it where we ought to. None of us. Let’s just get that out of the way right off the bat. None of us are where we ought to be at this matter of charity. I, for sure, am not, but I like to grow it.

It is interesting—we won’t take time—but over there in Second Peter, it gives these kind of growing steps, if you will, in this cycle. Up at the top, it’s charity.

And it’s a little cycle there. We won’t get to that, but just charity. Do you truly have charity?

Now, if any part of the message bothers you or steps on your toes, it’s all Brother Frank’s fault because he’s been memorizing, and I shouldn’t—I don’t know—but anyway, he’s been memorizing 1st Corinthians 13, what typically is called the love chapter. But really, the Bible used the word charity.

And just kind of getting that out of the way at the beginning here before we get going. There is a difference, you see. And the King James translators, they knew the word love. Love’s found plenty of other places in the Bible, but they translated it charity on purpose. There’s a little difference.

Charity is a little bit—it’s love. I often say it’s love in action. It’s love in motion. It’s love that’s causing you to move.

Very close to compassion, we studied about in Sunday school, but it’s love in action. It’s love at the second level, if you will. It’s love that’s doing something. It’s charity. And a little difference in the Bible where it’s charity. And so do you have charity? Do I have charity?

And we’re going to start over here in 1st Corinthians chapter number 8 and verse number one. And would you please stand tonight?

First Corinthians chapter 8, verse number one. We’re going to speed read. No, I’m joking. We’re going to take our time for God’s Word.

1 Corinthians 8, verse number 1: “Now concerning things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.”

Just that last statement is pretty powerful: Knowledge puffeth up.

By the way, we have the Bible Institute, and praise the Lord for that. I’m so thankful for that, and we want our men to grow and learn, but it’s not just get knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up. We try to teach the Bible in Sunday school. We really do. I want our Sunday school classes where we’re learning God’s Word. That’s so important. But more than just learning it, because knowledge can just puff up.

But charity, charity, charity, charity edifieth.

For just a little bit tonight, let’s focus on this thing of charity. Would you ask the Lord to help all of us grow in this matter of charity?

When I was very young, I got a job at Sampson Metal and Machine. I was just a teenager. They gave me a very, very important job. It was called the broom operator. Amen. And I mean, I was a cleaner-upper. It was my job, you know, the janitor, whatever we’re going to call it.

And a metal shop, machine shop up front, metal fabrication is in the back. There’s just metal all over the place. And a lot of it’s laying on the floor everywhere. I mean, everywhere there’s metal. And one of my jobs was to pick up metal and put it in the trash bin.

Now, you say, that’s no big deal, but you’ve got to kind of separate metal a little bit because there’s typical metal we use. We think it’s typically called mild steel or just regular steel. Brother Bill’s like, yeah, he knows. He’s a welder. And then there’s stainless steel, very, very different.

And then there’s aluminum. Now, there’s more than that, three major categories. And so I was just a teenage boy, so they gave me a magnet and they said, “All right, if it just looks normal and the magnet works, that’s regular steel, that’s mild steel. If it looks like regular steel, but a magnet doesn’t work on it, that’s stainless steel. And if it’s light steel, that’s aluminum.” Well, that’s pretty good for my simple teenage mind, right?

Well, the gym’s back there like, “Yeah, right,” you know. But sometimes we would have special jobs that would come in that required special steel. And you have to sometimes, because it takes that just a certain hardness steel, that you have that certain steel. And the harder it is, sometimes the more brittle it is. So they just need the right thing.

And so sometimes you could go in the office and get a tester that was actually what—basically what it was. It had a little BB, larger than a BB gun, but a BB in there. And you’d raise it up, and it was in this glass case, and you’d lay it on the steel there, and the bottom was open a little bit.

And you push this little lever and that ball would bounce. It would fall down, it would hit that metal, and it would bounce. By how high it bounced, you knew how hard the metal was. And that was a way you could test it.

But then even sometimes you needed to be more direct about what kind of metal this is, what kind of steel this is. And so you could go, and I never did it, but somebody come out, and they would actually acid test that metal. And it would tell you what kind of steel you had.

Now, the Bible gives us a little bit of testers, if you will, of testing: Do we truly have charity?

We can bring the ball-bearing tester out or the acid test, if you will, and we can find out: Do we truly have charity?

Now, 1 Corinthians 13, we were talking about earlier, gives a lot of things that charity does. You know them. Many of you know. We won’t take time to look over there, but charity suffereth long and is kind. It’s just long-suffering. It’s kind.

Charity envieth not. It’s not jealous of someone, if you will. Charity vaunteth not itself. It doesn’t lift itself up. Charity doesn’t do those things.

Charity is not puffed up. Doesn’t get the big fat head, you know. It’s charity. It does not behave itself unseemly. It doesn’t do weird things.

First Corinthians 13 is very much about what charity does. It helps us understand it very much. But even maybe a little bit beyond that, it gets somebody lists there. For me, I just need, okay, I understand what it does a little bit better now, but what is it? What is charity?

First Corinthians 8 really helps me in that. Charity is mentioned 28 times in the Bible, all right? And this is the first time it’s mentioned in the Bible: it is in 1 Corinthians 8. You just read the first time it’s mentioned in the Bible.

Now, let me explain a little bit about 1 Corinthians 8. It’s really talking about this thing about meats that are offered to idols. And it starts talking about this knowledge.

Now, the knowledge is—the knowledge is: Look, we know that that idol over there is just a piece of wood somebody carved out of wood, that’s a piece of stone, and it’s—it’s no big deal. It’s like any other rock. It doesn’t have any power or nothing to it. We understand. We got knowledge. We know that’s a piece of rock that somebody made. It’s a piece of wood somebody took their pocket knife and whittled out or whatever it is, you know. We got that knowledge.

But for some people, they don’t have that knowledge. And here’s the deal: They would—these false idols—people would buy meat, good meat. I mean, prime rib. Come on now, you know. I mean, ribeye, you know. Filet mignon. No, I know filet. Filet mignon, all that stuff. And it’s good meat. And once they offer to these idols, of course, you know, the idols don’t eat that stuff. They’re a piece of wood, they’re a piece of rock.

They would take that meat, and they would kind of sell it on the backside of their idol-worshipping place, and they would sell it at a very good price. Anybody out there likes a good deal? How many ladies like yard sales and the Goodwill and all those things? Come on now, yeah, praise the Lord. My wife’s a great shopper in those places. I’m very thankful for that. That’s a good deal.

And it’s kind of like that. You could buy good meat at a discounted price. Now he’s saying, look, he said, we got knowledge, we know it, doesn’t matter, you know, because that meat’s been offered to a piece of wood, rock. What’s a big deal there? And so for us, who cares? We got a good deal on steak, let’s eat.

But he says some people don’t have that knowledge. They’ve not grown. Remember, they’re coming out of that. And for them to eat that meat, it kind of defiles or weakens their conscience. Because they still have these feelings that something’s wrong because they’ve been offered to that idol. And they used to be idol worshippers, some of these people. And they haven’t grown to the point they realize it doesn’t matter. That’s a piece of wood, rock.

And so really in this chapter, he’s dealing with that. And he says, look, for those of you got knowledge, he said, you understand, it’s no big deal. He said, but, you know, if me eating this meat weakens my brother and Satan can use it to defile their conscience, he said, I’m not going to eat it.

He said, I know, you know, as far as me and the Lord, not me, there’s nothing wrong with it, but if it hurts someone and it doesn’t help them grow and be edified. In fact, he ends up the chapter saying, “As long as the world stands, I’m not going to eat it.” And that’s pretty hard giving up steak. Anybody want to say amen right there?

Now that’s the context of this chapter. Now look at verse number one here again. I want you kind of understand what’s going on. And I want you just see it. First time charity is mentioned in the Bible. Here it is. Now it’s touching things offered unto idols. We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity—first time it’s mentioned in the Bible—charity edifieth.

You see, charity is all about focusing totally on the object loved. It is loving them unselfishly. If I got to give up some steak, I really don’t care because I want what’s best for you. It’s all about the person that you love.

It’s all about building up the other individual. It’s laying aside your feelings, your faults, everything about you. You’re not really in the picture. It’s not about how you look or don’t look or what it does to you. That’s really not there. It’s all about them. You’re edifying. Your focus: It’s loving unselfishly. It’s all about others.

It’s all about—if it’s directed to the Lord—it’s all about the Lord.

Charity focuses on loving the object unselfishly.

Look over in chapter number 12 of 1st Corinthians. He talks a lot about spiritual gifts over here, all right? And we understand if you’re a born-again Christian, you have a spiritual gift. You have at least one, maybe two, maybe more. You can work at them, by the way. Some things you’re not gifted at, but you can work to get.

And those are very biblical, very proper. There’s some sign gifts that we don’t have in our day and time. And the Bible is completed. They’re done away with. And so we understand that. And some of this will mention some of these things. But the really context here is about gifts, spiritual gifts.

Now look down at the last part of that chapter 12. Look down verse number 28, if you will, there. 1 Corinthians 12:28: “And God has set some in the church: first, apostles; secondarily, prophets; thirdly, teachers; after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.”

Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? No.

Verse number 31: “But covet earnestly the best gifts.”

By the way, chapter 14 really tells us which ones are the best gifts. Let me skip ahead for a second. It’s those that edify others. But watch what he says here. Watch what he says in the last part of this verse here: “And yet show I unto you a more excellent way.”

He said, “Let me kind of just tell you a clearer, a more excellent way.” Just kind of cast out all these gifts things here. And let me show you a more excellent way than just really coveting these best gifts. That’s not bad, but he said, “Let me show you a more excellent way.” Okay.

Now you understand that man put the divisions in there as far as verses and chapters in the Bible. Praise the Lord they did, or else some would still be looking for where we’re reading at tonight. You know, it’s very helpful. They’re very godly men. There’s wonderful stories about the man that God used for the most part to do it. We don’t have time to get into that. It’s an amazing, amazing man. It’s a good thing, but I just want you to know that man put that in there.

Because really, if you read the next—what is it? How many verses are in chapter number 13? You read these next 13 verses. What’s the subject? What do we call it? It is the what? The love chapter, or charity chapter, if you will. I’m trying to get technical and all along. But can I say he’s saying, “Let me show you a better, more excellent way”? It’s not trying to cover it to get all these best gifts. It’s just you have charity.

You just really, you don’t care about yourself so much, you’re just trying to help somebody. You care about them. You’re just focused on doing what I can for them. It’s charity. It edifies everybody else. That’s first chapter number 13, is the charity chapter, the love chapter.

Then go over to chapter 14. Chapter 14. And chapter 14, let’s just step down verse number four there. 14:4: “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth who? Himself.”

They had had all these confusion about tongues, you know? By the way, sometimes it’s easier than trying to settle this tongues issue and if it was available today and all that—just get them to read 1st Corinthians 14 and it’s got to be a man that takes care of a lot of the problems right there.

And it’s got to be done by course. It’s got to be two or three. It’s got to be interpretable. And typically that takes care of the problem, honestly. And that’s typically what I do when it gets to the subject. Just go to chapter 14 and it takes care of all right. Are you doing the biblical? It’s very clear in chapter 14. Very clear. There’s other beyond that, but usually it’s the easiest way to handle it. But he is speaking of the unknown tongue edifies himself.

But he that prophesieth edifieth the church, the people, not himself. Now, look at verse number one, chapter 14, verse number one: “Follow after what?” The more excellent way: charity.

“Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.”

Why prophesy? Because it edifies others. Charity is all about—it’s all about not what I look like, not what it does for me, not how I feel about it, not what I get back from it—it’s all about…

Let me try to put it in shoe leather of our modern-day lives. It would be posting something on Facebook or Instagram or whatever, all these social things, and you don’t care how it makes you look. It’s not about making you look a certain way. It’s about being a blessing.

It’s not about how my post—it’s about, did it help somebody? Did it encourage someone? Did it help someone?

When I grow in charity, it begins to increase the part of my prayer life where it’s not about me. It’s about others. Nothing wrong to pray about yourself. John 17, Jesus actually prays for himself at the beginning of that. Nothing wrong with that.

But your prayer life, where you’re really focused on, man, Lord, I want you to give them a blessing today—that portion of your prayer life grows. Charity. That’s what it looks like.

It’s when you treat your wife in the home. By the way, charity in the home is so key. Man, I think we need revival in our homes of charity.

But it’s where you treat your wife like a queen, not to look good to anybody else, not so she’ll treat you back good. Not so you can get something back from her.

But just because you truly want her to have a good day, to be blessed. You have charity. It’s not about what she does back.

It’s where you treat your husband like your king, not so he’ll brag on you because it makes you feel good when you’re treated like that, because you really care about him and you want to be a blessing to him. It’s charity.

It focuses on the other. It’s raising kids not to make us look good, but for those kids, you want them to grow up and live for the Lord and have a wonderful life and experience the joy of serving God.

It’s where conversations in dealing with other people is not to make me look—you feel good, not so I can be happy and all the rest of that. You want it for them? You want them to enjoy the conversation.

It’s just really where we get ourselves out of the picture and it’s all about anything—building others, giving what they need. And wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if we had revival in America of true charity?

“Others, Lord, others”—let this be my motto. It just becomes more like that. Our churches and our homes. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have politicians that truly had charity? People laugh about that. We’re far from that. Wouldn’t that have been wonderful, though?

Charity.

Now, let me say this about charity: Charity can look on the outside—something can look like charity when it’s really not. Look over in 1st Corinthians 13, if it would please.

Charity can be a little deceiving because on the outside it can look the same whether you have charity or don’t have charity. By the way, don’t try to figure out if somebody else has charity or not; you don’t know, because the outside looks the same.

Okay, look at this, 1st Corinthians 13, if you would. Just the first three verses really deal with that. Chapter 13, verse number one. Y’all there tonight? Amen? Amen. You all are thinking about those refreshments. Well, you weren’t thinking about them until I mentioned it, aren’t you? I’ve seen ranch Doritos back there. Come on now.

Yeah, I mean, come on. Here we go. Let’s get this first verse here in here. Charity looks the same on the outside. It can be different on the inside whether you have charity or not, but not on the outside.

Verse one: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels.” So, man, you can speak even like angels. You can speak where you’re just sound like the best man, the best lady in the world. You care about everybody in the world.

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity.” Now you got the talk, but you don’t have charity. You see, you can say all that. You can have just the right words, but you still don’t have the charity. Okay.

“Though I speak with tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”

After a while, now sometimes, man, somebody just gifted—boy, some people are very persuasive, very, very good personality, very winsome and all that, charisma, all that stuff. And boy, when they can come in a room, they can really win everybody to them. But when you’re around them for a while, especially typically family, they become—notice that’s very important—they become a sounding brass and tinkling cymbal.

Well, I’m going to ask—I don’t think I should ask this. If I was bold enough, I would ask if Ms. Charity ever got tired of hearing Brother Lucas practice on the brass, you know. Maybe when you’re—oh, Miami is—I’m saying it right?—maybe when Miami is trying to take a nap, you know, does it ever sound just like sounding brass? “Wish you would be quiet. I’m trying to put this girl down to sleep,” you know. Trying to think of the illustration. But that’s a little bit of thought, or just a tinkling cymbal.

After a while, it just kind of grates on you. And some of them got all the words, and usually on the outside, maybe at church wherever, they just, man, they win everybody over with their tongue. If you’re around them for a while, after a while you realize it really does become like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal, and you’re like, “Starting to drive me crazy.”

At the beginning, I was talking about if we’re really going to influence others for the Lord, charity—I can look the same on the outside because if you have charity, you’re going to say good things to try to build them up.

But you can be saying all those things but not have charity. And at the end of the day, it’s going to be like sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. Let’s keep going. Let’s keep going.

Look in verse number two, if you would please. Verse number two: “And though I have the gift of prophecy, man, telling the truth, foretelling of the truth.” By the way, I told about spiritual gifts. Somebody has a gift of a prophet, man, they can just weed through all of the rhetoric and just get to the truth. They’re very talented at that. They’re gifted at it. “And I have all mysteries and all knowledge.”

“And though I have all faith, wow, so that I can remove mountains.” Wow, that’s amazing. Mountains of problems right in front of you. You’ve got enough faith to get past all of them.

Watch this: “and have not charity.” You can have all that. Man, you’ve got to understand all knowledge. You get the gift of prophecy. You’ve got enough faith so you can remove mountains.

He got all that outside, if you will, but you still have charity. “And have not charity,” what does he say right there? He says, “I am nothing.” He’s talking about here, and don’t take this the wrong way like humanism, but just a little bit talking about self-worth: “I am nothing.” He’s talking about himself. You can do all these things, but yet if you know inside you really don’t care about them and love them, you look in the mirror, it’s a little bit empty. It’s not the same. We typically know ourselves.

You still—you can do all kind of things for people, but you still feel rotten inside sometimes because sometimes we’re doing that as selfish things and I don’t have charity. I can do all these things and yet I am…

Sad thing, that brings value to yourself. If you truly care about people, that brings value to you.

I truly care about them. I know I really—I truly do. I’m not doing this for all these other things. I’m doing it because I truly love them, and that brings value.

Verse number three, right there, verse number three. He says, “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,” wow, that’s pretty amazing, “and though I give my body to be burned,” wow, “and have not charity.”

I can do all those things, whether it be—whether it be just maybe because I have a beat into me, I’m supposed to do that, or maybe out of character, whatever it may be. But I’m doing those things. The outside looks the same, but I still don’t have charity.

By the way, I think he’s talking to Christians here at the Corinthian Church—saved people going to heaven. And I do all these things, but I’m not truly doing it out of charity, whether it be charity to the Lord or charity of those people. “And have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”

What is it ever Matthew 6 where we’ve been out on Sunday mornings? You do all that to be seen of men? You’ve got your reward, no more. I do all that and I truly don’t have charity. You can give your body to be burned.

When it comes to rewards for the Lord Jesus Christ and we stand before Him at the judgment seat of Christ, 1st Corinthians 3, motives do matter for it. They really do. Don’t be sucked into this thing to be, you know, to be seen of men. Who’s watching me? Who knows about it? Who knows what I did or didn’t do? Man, that’s tough. No profit there.

Charity, my friend, is so vital. Charity it is. By the way, that’s one reason why we can’t earn our way to heaven, because if I earn my way to heaven, it’d all be for me. And that’s not charity.

No, He came out of charity. That’s the thing that wins salvation. It was unselfish.

I had the privilege of witnessing this boy out here on the basketball court this afternoon, and he didn’t get saved, him. But he really listened, and he’s been in the Catholic Church and all about works and all that. Why, I had the privilege to say, “Man, it’s not about what you do for Him. See, He unselfishly gives you.”

He’s like, “Man, you know, this is a little different here,” you know. Why, he—and whether you get saved, you don’t go to church, you don’t grow like He wants you to. Now, the Spirit of God regenerates you, you’re going to have something going on inside. But you—all that don’t save you.

That’s why it’s so hard sometimes. That was with someone, Brother Bill, we were witnessing someone lady yesterday. Man, she just couldn’t grasp this thing. “But don’t I have to do something?” No. Nothing you do gives it to you because it’s total charity.

People have a hard time with that. The Holy Spirit has to grant into them repentance whether they just get it merely all right. It’s not nothing I do. It’s all everything He did.

It’s hard for them to get it. Total charity. Total charity.

Now, motives can be so tricky. The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things. Who can know it? That’s why I really have to go to the Lord: “Search me, O God. Search me. Try me, know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way.”

That’s what David, he brought it to the Lord, “And lead me in the way everlasting.” And boy, I need your leadership to make clear because sometimes it’s hard for us to know. God’s the one that He tries the reins. He’s the one that—can I say this?—charity.

When I truly have charity, then my words—my words, 1st Corinthians 13:1—my words, people know it’s not about how I feel and what it does for me. You’re around them for a while, especially family, typically I’m talking about, and they know he or she, they’re not doing it at it. There’s nothing selfish in it. They’re really trying to help me, that I can make an impact in their life. And they’ll know after a while.

If I have charity, it doesn’t become sounding brass, tinkling cymbal. You’ve heard it said, “They don’t care what you know until they know how much you care.”

But this charity—they’re like, “Man, they’re not doing it just for what they can get out of it. They truly do care.”

And those that become that, you’re running for all—they realize, you know, they really have charity. And they’re more apt to listen. They want your help.

I think about some of the times I was the lowest in my life. I didn’t really care how much they knew for the most part. I just wanted to go to someone that I knew truly cared about Paul. I needed to know they truly cared about—it wasn’t selfish all the right way. It was just they truly cared. And people know that. After a while, it takes time. They’ll get there.

There’s a benefit to having charity. That verse number two there: “You can do all those things, and yet if you’re having that charity, I am nothing.” I am nothing. That’s why you feel it. I am—you feel that about yourself. If you truly, you’re doing that out of charity, and people sometimes don’t misjudge you. They don’t understand. They won’t know. But if you know, you know, I’m doing this really out of true love. I truly care about this.

Nothing feels better sometimes—not what I get back from them, what they say, what they do, all that—and I fool you all that. I just truly, I would like to help them. I truly care about them. At the end of the day, you put your head on the pillow, and you say, “You know, I know where I’m at. From grace of God, I’m there. God got me there. God keeps me there.” You can feel good about that. And it brings a little value to yourself.

And then that verse number three: He says, “It profiteth me nothing.” Hey, you’re truly doing it because you’ve got some charity. There’s some profit there. Some profit there.

Charity. God, would you grow me in this thing of charity? All of us need to grow in charity, all of us. Would you grow me in this thing of charity?

There’s an old Hebrew legend. It’s not Bible, so don’t think I’m saying this. There’s an old Hebrew legend.

They say there are two brothers. They live side by side. They had some lands and fields way, way, way, way, way, way back—Bible times, early Bible times. And they live side by side, and they had these fields and crops and all that. One—one of the brothers was married, had a good wife, a good marriage, and had some kids, had a good family. And the other, he just never married. He was alone.

Side by side their fields are laying. I don’t know if it’s inherited or what, but they just say the legend is it side by side, two brothers. One had family, the other did not. And they both—one night they couldn’t sleep, both of them separately. They didn’t know anything about it. And this is what they were going through.

The one over here, he said, “Well, you know, my brother, he—um—he’s got a wife, he’s got kids. I’m by myself. I’ve got plentiful, you know, harvest. That ought to help my brother. I ought to—hard it.” And they had their sheaves, their harvest, you know, there. And that’s what he was thinking. “I ought to do something for my brother. He’s got more to take care of. I just myself.”

Now, the other brother, the same night couldn’t sleep, and over there in his bed, he’s laid awake at nighttime, and he’s thinking, “You know what? I got my wife to help me. I got my kids to help me. My brother’s alone. I ought to do something for my brother. Man, you don’t have anybody to help him. I got all this help. I ought to do something for my brother.”

And the legend is that both guys that night got up, and they went to their harvest, and they got some sheaves—says the weather story, the legend is right—they got some harvest, and they went to take both of them some of theirs, and they were secretly, when nobody knew about it, nobody knew about it, they were going to add to the brother’s harvest. And they just happened to meet at the property line.

And the one brother was like, “Hey, what are you doing?” He said, “Well, what are you doing?” “I was thinking about you. You don’t have a wife or kids. I thought I’d just bring some over.” He said, “Well, man, I only got me to take care of. I thought…”

And they say those two brothers embraced that night. Had just a wonderful meeting, just sharing in the middle of the night. I’m not saying this is Bible. But the legend says that spot actually became where the temple was built. And the legend says, actually, where those two men hugged and embraced became where the altar of the temple was. God said, “You know, those men had charity. I think I’ll build my temple, my altar there.”

I don’t know that’s true. I’m not telling you.

Charity. Charity. Do I truly have charity?

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? Heads bowed and eyes closed. Maybe you’re there tonight and you say, “Lord, I want you to grow me in this thing of charity. I’d like to grow in this thing of just total, unselfish love.”

“Lord, would you grow me?” I’m going to raise my hand just asking you, “Lord, would you grow me in this thing of charity?” If that’s you tonight, Lord, would you grow me in charity? Would you just raise your hand? “Lord, I’d like to. I need to. I need to. Would you grow me in this thing of charity?” Me too. I’m with your friend. I’m with your friend. Thank you so very much.

Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. Let me just ask you this. This can be a tough prayer, it can be a very revealing prayer. But maybe you’re there and you say, “You know, I’m going to start praying, ‘Lord, would you show me my selfishness?’”

“Would you show me my selfishness? And Lord, I want that because I want you to grow. I want you to point it out to me so I can grow.” But maybe you say, “Preacher, I’m going to start praying that: ‘Lord, would you show me my selfishness?’” Is that you tonight? “Preacher, I’m going to do it. I’m going to start praying that.”

Oh, it’s amazing. It’s amazing. God will grow us. God will grow us. By the way, what does it say? If we confess—well, you can’t confess something you don’t know what’s there.

“Lord, you show me myself. I’d like to grow in this thing of charity.” Would you please stand right where you are? Just please stand. We’re going to have a word of prayer. Let’s just come asking the Lord, all of us, myself for sure, we can grow in this area of charity. Would you ask the Lord to help us to grow in this matter of charity?

Father, thank you for your goodness. Lord, thank you. Your charity is amazing. Lord, I even think about how you gave us as a gift your salvation. And then I fail you a million times when you still give out of your charity. Thank you for being so unselfish, your love to us. Help us to follow in your shoes and your footsteps in this matter of charity. Grow us, Lord, please.

It’s a matter of charity. Lord, would you reveal to us our selfishness so we can grow in charity for you? Bless our people tonight. And Father, we ask for these things in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

You know, on these Sunday mornings, I’ve been trying to say this morning and last Sunday. I keep forgetting it. And it goes in line with tonight. But, you know, when you learn to get along with God and really connect with your Father, He gives you what you need. So this thing about being seen of men is really not as hard because you’ve gotten what you need from the Lord. And then when you get what you need from the Lord, you’re able to give out unselfishly to others because you got what you need from the Lord. And that’s the only way, really, you can have true charity. That’s why this level of growing over there in Second Peter, that’s the top tier. That’s the only way you can get there is really just walking with the Lord. And it gives you everything you need, and you don’t have to worry about all that. You just give out unselfishly because He’s met your needs. Praise the Lord.

Brother Jim and Miss Angela, they are representing Green Bay tonight. I’ll tell you what, you see. They’re awesome. They were interchurch. They moved away about eight years ago. I was asking this morning. They moved away about eight years ago. They went—they backslid. They went up north, man, east, northeast. They went pretty close to D.C. Just straightened it out up there, and they said, “Hey, there’s no hope.” Man, the only guy can do that, you know. So they were in the Baltimore area.

They were in our church about eight years before that. Were a blessing, very involved. They did everything from junior church to bus ministry to nursery. They’re very good at getting kids in a headlock and making them behave. They know how to do all those things. So praise the Lord for that. But praise the Lord, they moved back and they’re excited about coming and being involved in the church. They’re coming home. That’s the way I feel. Amen. Praise the Lord for it.

And what a blessing. By the way, and I’m probably saying more than they should, but they got married. I remember some of their family. And the one side, pretty much all Catholics. And they were like, “You know, what is this cult that he’s getting involved in?” you know, and all that. And I think my name was Pete, Pastor Square, something like that, you know, and all those things. But his brother, Brother Jim’s brother, was here today, and his brother is saved now. And he said, “Man, it’s good to be in church and all that.” And God’s—God’s used it. And what a blessing it is to see that. And I praise the Lord for that.

Brother Jim, he was telling me this morning. Now, he was on me this morning, Brother Martin, Brother Anthony, different ones. Now, he was on me. He said, “Come on, Pastor. They put that tent up nowadays with the truck. We were real men. Back when men and women, we were two—we didn’t have no truck. We put that thing up the hard way about a million times.”

And so you talk to Brother Jim about all those things. I said, “You’ve got to get these guys nowadays.” I tell you what, you know, when we used to walk to school uphill, two miles, both ways, in the snow every day with no legs. Amen. So, Brother Jim will fill you in on all those stories. How about that? All right, you know, so. And we’re looking forward to the fellowship. Hang around. Enjoy the fellowship. Have a good time. And just be blessed to see everybody here tonight. Glad you’re in the house of the Lord.

Tell you what, Brother Jim, usually we have people come stand right here and welcome you in. Oh, we’ve got to make this thing official. If you’re thankful—we were teasing my head this morning—if you’re thankful they’re coming to be a member of the church, would you say amen? Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord for that. We usually have them come stand here, but everybody wants to get food, so we cannot get y’all to kind of stand in the back for a minute. I want you to come by, shake their hand and say—you’ll just come down front. They got to love unselfishly, but come by and shake their hand before you get in line because that’d be tough in line too to do all that. So we’ll just—Brother Jim, Miss Angela, if we can get you down front here, that’d be great. And um, you’ll have to ask him about some of our fall and spring programs and things he worked to make those things happen, all that too. Well, anyway, good to have them here tonight. What a blessing that is. Which way? Which way are we going tonight?

So you’re saying we go this way? All right, they’re saying we go this way. Y’all can fight with Brother Tim if you disagree, meet him out back, you know, and going this way. Come by, shake their hand, let them know you love them, glad to have them part of the church, and get you some food tonight. Amen. We’re going to have a good time with all that. Thank God for the food. Good to have everybody here tonight. Brother Rick Simon, would you lead us in our opening prayer? Thank the Lord for the new members and the food. Would you please, sir?

Original File: Do You Truly Have Charity - Pastor Paul Chisgar - Sunday PM 10302022