Give with joy

Fellowship is the priority

“Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bride chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.” Now that is the thing He’s saying to them is that: It’s more important to be related to Him and to have fellowship with Him than to fast. There’s one thing today, friends, to be religious and put up a front, it’s another thing to enjoy fellowship with the Lord Jesus and love Him.

Only God can forgive sin

“Who can forgive sins but God only?” Only God can forgive sin, you see. No judge has any right to let a criminal off. His business is to enforce the law. God’s the moral ruler of this universe, and He must defend His own laws. He can’t be lawless. That’s just one thing even God can’t be. Having made the laws, why He obeys those laws. And His laws are inexorable; they’re not changed at all. But you and I are guilty before God; we need forgiveness of sins, and He forgives—not just because He’s big hearted; He forgives us because Christ paid the penalty for our sins.

God in the flesh

Well, now the Lord Jesus came to this earth. He did not lay aside His deity, but He did lay aside the garments of glory and beauty. What’s that? He laid aside His prerogatives of God and He came just as a human being. He was born a baby. It was George MacDonald that said, “They were looking for a King to lift them high. But He came just a little baby thing that made a woman cry.” There should have been instead of just that few paltry numbers of shepherds there and the wise men that came later. The whole world should have been there. He laid that aside, friends. He was God, manifest in the flesh.

Jesus changed everything

When Christ came to this earth, He did something quite unusual. This Tabernacle was always horizontal to the earth; it was always put out there on the wilderness march. May I say that what Christ did now is make it perpendicular. The cross is here on earth but He’s up yonder to cleanse us and to forgive us our sins. That’s where the Holy of Holies is and the throne of God’s become a mercy seat and we approach there. We don’t go horizontally to God today by going actually to a building or to a man, but we look up and go directly to Him today, and we go through Christ. There’s one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.

Give with joy

Whatever you do for God, you’re to do it enthusiastically. That’s the way He wants it done and that’s the way He wants giving done; is to give like that. There was that motto years ago, “Give till it hurts.” Well, God says, “If it hurts, don’t give. But if it helps and makes you joyful, then give.” And that’s the way a child of God should give to the Lord’s work. Do it joyfully. This is something that’s really enthusiastic that needs to be done today. Even the offering ought to be done with great joy. We should give that way.