Offering That Which Costs Me Nothing

1 Chron. 21

By: Jeff Smith, W. Knoxville, TN

 

FILING INFORMATION:

2001014

Subject: sacrifice/giving/contribution

Preached Originally: 03/04/01 – Rapid City, SD

 

Introduction

A.    There is in our culture a strong prevailing attitude to get something valuable while spending as little as possible - not talking about being a "wise shopper", or even a good steward - talking about the many who want "something for nothing" - some will spend as little effort as possible (NONE if they had their way) - they don’t want to be put out at all, yet want something of value

B.    Tragically, this attitude has even crept in among the Lord’s people with respect to worship and work in the kingdom

C.   There is an event that is recorded in the life of one of God’s greatest servants His attitude is one that should help rid us of the spirit of "wanting something for nothing"

D.   Serving God, whether in worship or work, ought to cost us something

 

I.  WHAT HAD DAVID DONE?

A.  David desired to take a census (vv. 1-4)

1.    The fact that "Satan moved" David to do it indicates it was sinful - Joab tried to dissuade David, but to no avail

2.    Why was this sinful?

3.    the fact of taking a census was not sinful => Moses had taken 2  (Num. 1, 26)

a)    Moses had been instructed by God to do so

4.    The error must have been in David’s reason for doing so

B. Knowing the size of his army he would be congratulating himself, all his military accomplishments => personal pride

1.    Chron. 27 describes the organization of the army

2.    Perhaps David was planning some military campaign

a)    he even numbered the Hivites & Canaanites  (2 Sam. 24:7)

b)    Perhaps he would draft them into the army

 

 

II.  WHAT WAS GOD’S JUDGMENT?

A.    God was not pleased with David’s actions  (v. 7)

1.    This prompted David’s realization that he had sinned  (v. 8)

2.    God gave David a choice for his punishment  (v. 12)

a)    3 years of famine in the land

b)    3 months fleeing from the hands of his enemies

c)    3 days of pestilence from the Lord

 

III.  WHAT WAS DAVID’S RESPONSE?

A.  David chose to "fall into the hand of the Lord, and not hands of men"  (v. 13)

1.    he knew God to be merciful

2.    men are not merciful

B.    God sent the pestilence upon Israel  (v. 14)

1.    as a result, 70,000 Israelites died by the Lord’s pestilence

2.    David soon learned the great number he took great pride in was reduced by 70,000 in one fell swoop by God’s hand

3.    man at his best is helpless against God, His power

    1. God fully intended to destroy Jerusalem as well, but He changed His mind  (v. 15)

1.     David mourned over the death of his brethren, seeking mercy from God (v. 17)

2.     he admitted his own guilt, the innocence of "these sheep"

3.     he knew he had failed as a leader

4.     he showed the same intercessory concern as other great Bible leaders

a)    Moses  (Ex. 32:32)

b)    Paul  (Rom. 9:3)

    1. As a result of David’s intercession, God instructed him to build an altar on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite (v. 18)

1.    offer burnt & peace offerings as sacrifices (v. 26)

2.    David makes his offer to Ornan for the site  (v. 22)

3.    Ornan offered to give David everything needed for the altar and sacrifices  (v. 23)

4.    David refuses, saying he would not "offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing"  (v. 24)

 

IV.  APPLICATIONS

    1. it is in this final response of David that we find the theme for this lesson
    2. David would not offer something "that would cost him nothing"

1.     David could have reasoned, "What a great opportunity!! I won’t have spend anything  at all, and I’ll still be offering my sacrifice!!"

2.     such was not David’s spirit

3.     this is the reason he always stands out as a faithful servant of God, especially when he has sinned and needed to repent

4.     David wants to be reconciled to God

a)    He will do whatever is necessary to achieve that reconciliation

b)    He always knew it wouldn’t come free

c)    IT WAS GOING TO HAVE TO COST HIM!!

d)    what do you suppose accounted for David’s attitude?

5.     he saw himself as a penitent sinner in need of God’s mercy

6.     this was clearly his motivation for buying the land, not taking it all as a gift

a)    he wanted to have the sense of "sacrifice" or "giving" to God

b)    as far as David was concerned, there was more to it than just offering up some animal as commanded by God  (v. 18)

c)    he gave himself first before giving to God  (cp. 2 Cor. 8:1-5)

    1. We need to cultivate this mindset in ourselves as we serve God today

1.    we are to offer up "living sacrifices" to God  (Rom. 12:1)

2.    it is not just a one-time sacrifice

3.    it is on-going, continual

a)    consider Paul in 2 Cor. 11:23-28

b)    instead of always looking for the "bargain" or "something for nothing", we should read this and feel ashamed at how little we’ve sacrificed

    1. Application #1 => our giving

1.    the most obvious area where this would apply

2.    we say we want the church to be able to do more for the gospel

3.    we say we want benevolence to flourish to needy saints

4.    do we want these, but are unwilling to sacrifice financially to help achieve it?

5.    or would we rather find a way to help that "costs me nothing?"

    1. Application #2 => our time in working for the Lord

1.    we say want the church to grow, both numerically and internally

2.    do we want this, but are unwilling to give the time, effort to help achieve it?

3.    or would we rather find the loophole in our schedules that "costs me nothing?"

    1. Application #3 => our effort in studying the Bible

1.    we say we want more knowledge of the Scripture

a)     "I’d give anything to know the Bible like bro. …"

b)     do we want this, but are unwilling to give the time, devotion to help achieve it?

c)     or would we rather find the shortcut that "costs me nothing?"

2.    to know something in school without studying = cheating

3.    how is knowing the Bible without studying going to be any different?

 

Conclusion

A.  In short, this lesson is about sacrificially giving God our best

1.    does God get the financial left-overs?

2.    does God get whatever time we have left after pursuing our own interests?

3.    does God get the "student" we are without us putting in the time to learn His will?

5.    If we’re happy and content to give God something "which has cost us nothing," then that is the same as saying we’ve placed no value on what God receives

a)    we say we want to give - we claim that we want the church and ourselves to grow

b)    But we aren’t willing to invest the money or the effort or the time - we would rather find the "something for nothing" shortcut that, in our minds, will achieve our goal without us having to be put out

B.  David rejected that spirit => it was not a "bargain," but was "robbing God" Have you?