Honor The Poor – Remember And Learn From The Poor – Part 2 of 4

Hello, and welcome to Social Media Ministries. My name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We are in the midst of a great sermon series that we are calling “Remember And Learn From The Poor.” So this is about wealth, rich, poor, socioeconomic status, economic class, social class, social statuses, all of that great stuff.

If you’ve missed our sermon last week, please check it out. We’ll have it right here and then we’ll also have a playlist later on in a card that you can check out to view all of the sermons in this playlist. Today we are talking about honoring the poor. Last week, we spoke about how Jesus used the poor. So again, if you haven’t seen it, check it out.

This is also a great opportunity for you to hit that follow and subscribe button, wherever you are watching or listening, so that you can stay tuned and stay updated to future sermons that we have, every week that come out.

So stay on top of that and learn as much as you can to grow your relationship with Jesus Christ. Today again, we’re talking about honoring the poor. Jesus wants you to help those who are less fortunate than you are. Remember last week, we talked about how He called the poor. He ministered to the poor.

They’re obviously very important. Now it’s not just because they’re poor that they’re important, and it’s not that, “Oh poor people are important and rich people aren’t.” No, we’re all important.

Remember that little song—Jesus loves the little children. Well, Jesus loves everyone. They are special in His sight. We’re all important to God and He wants to use you to build His kingdom. Part of doing that is honoring the poor. It’s helping those who are less fortunate than you. Luke 12:33: let’s check this out.

“Sell your possessions and give to the poor”—interesting. “Sell your possessions and give to the poor.” Now, does that mean that God wants you to sell everything you have and give to the poor? No, it means sell your possessions and give to the poor. So what is in your life, number one, that you don’t need—do you have so much stuff that you need more places to put your stuff?

Do you have too much stuff that when you get more stuff you, you, you’re like, “What do I do with this?” and your life is just so overwhelming and you don’t want any more things, but you keep getting them and you don’t know where to put them and your garage is packed and your basement is packed and now you need a storage unit to store more stuff.

That’s too much stuff. Too much stuff. Sell your possessions and give to the poor so look around your house, look around, and see what is around that you no longer need—that you no longer want. That no longer provides enjoyment for you. That doesn’t really matter to you.

I’m talking anything. Little knickknacks that might be sitting around, decorations that you have in boxes that you’ve never looked at, uh toys, old clothing—whatever. Sell it. Give it away. Get rid of it. Get it out of your life. God’s telling you that, “Hey, to have a better life, you don’t need more stuff.”

Simple might be better. Sometimes less is more. We get all these sayings from biblical principles that Jesus was telling you to do. Don’t store up for yourself so much treasure on Earth but store treasures in Heaven.

So if you have a lot of stuff, now might be a good time for you to take a look at what you have and say, “You know what, I don’t need three end tables here. I don’t need a closet that I can’t even move my hangers around because there’s so many clothes in here.”

Maybe get some more space. I don’t need two dressers full of stuff plus a closet full of clothes. I don’t need, need a whole storage unit for all this stuff. Let’s get rid of that and save that 100 bucks a month or better yet, let’s give that 100 bucks a month to another charity or to a church or increase your tithe or whatever.

Let’s give it you’re already spending it. Cut that. Give it away. You’re not going to miss it because you’re already spending it before sell all that stuff. Give it away too. Now I’m not saying go out and get rid of all your stuff.

God wants you to have these things. He wants you to be prosperous and successful. He wants you to have wealth. He wants you to use this wealth to build His kingdom but right here He’s saying that sell what you have give it to the poor.

Think about that. Also what—why does He say the poor? Why doesn’t He just say, “Go, give it away to a relative,” or “Give it to the rich,” or “Give it to someone.” Well, He wants you to honor the poor because they will always be here no matter what day and age we live in.

There will always be poor people and so there are always going to be people who are less fortunate than you. So it’s very easy for you to look around and to find someone who needs your help.

God wants you to help them whether that means they’re poor or whether that means that they’re doing something that you want to support that is still in the same category. You’re helping others. That’s the point here, so if I say to you, “Hey, I want your help, uh, putting some money behind these sermons. We’re going to boost them out around the world and try to reach the lost.”

You’re putting money behind this. Now I might not be poorer than you or you might not be poorer than me because look, I’m better off than maybe the guy on the street corner that you could give your money to, but you’re hoping that by giving the money behind these sermons and boosting this out that we’re reaching more people.

Like that guy on the street corner, so that in doing this, it’s building the Kingdom of God. Do you see what I’m saying? And when you give your money to the church, or when you give your money to a World Vision, or Samaritan’s Purse, or Convoy of Hope, or the Red Cross, or wherever, you know that these organizations are very well off. So it’s not like, “Oh well, the Red Cross is very poor. I’m going to give my money to them.”

No, you know that by giving your money, they are going to go help those that you aren’t able to help. They are going to help the less fortunate so you’re trusting that now it’s not your job to go through and fully vet them all and make sure that, “Well my $57 needs to go to the right certain”— no, that’s a thing of trust.

You do that in faith. You just need to be obedient to God and trust that when you give that money where you think He is directing you to give it, where your heart is stirred, where you’re felt to give that—when you do that in, in your belief and in your heart, you’re honoring the poor.

He will take those dollars and put them where they need to go. You do that in faith just like tithing to your local church. Just like giving—we’ve had plenty of sermon series and sermons on tithing and giving. You can check them out here in a playlist. We’ve talked a lot about money.

It is very very important. It’s all over in the Bible. Look at Dave Ramsey talking about all of the biblical principles of money. It’s a very important concept and we need to get it right because if we don’t, you’re going to lose all your wealth and who’s going to get it? The non-believers, the people who aren’t using it for God.

You need to get your wealth under control and start using it for God. Honor the poor. They will always be with this. Let’s go to Matthew 26:11. Matthew 26:11 says, “The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.”

So Jesus is saying at this time that, “Hey, it is better to honor me.” The poor will always be here and this is still true today. Even though Jesus isn’t physically here with us, He is still here with us, living inside of us. If you’re a Christian, Jesus lives in you. You are—you are dead to the world. You are dead to sin. Jesus lives in you. You are alive in Christ so the poor will always be here.

Jesus is in you. You need to live for Jesus. What does that mean? It means honoring Him with your wealth. Now if he says, “Hey, give 20 bucks to that guy,” and your heart is stirred because you see him on the street corner, do it—whatever. And if He says, “Hey, give your money to this church,” or “Hey, support this ministry,” or “Hey, uh, support this relief organization,” or do this or do that.

That’s you and Jesus. You got to honor Him by listening to Him. You’re listening to Jesus first. The poor will always be here. You don’t need to just go out to the homeless kitchen and with a bunch of $5 bills and start handing them out as they go through the food line.

No, you need to do what Jesus is telling you to do with the resources He’s given you. Think about this: who causes you more trouble? The rich or the poor? Who would you rather honor?

Are you going to give your money to the wealthy or give it to the poor? Take, take this example. You see a, a, a poor farmer or, or maybe it’s um, at a craft fair or a local food stand or even a lemonade stand with a little 8-year-old kid on the corner and they have—they’re selling lemonade for 50 cents a cup and you say, “Well, I’ll give you 75 cents for two cups,” or something like that.

You’re trying to bargain with them and then you go out to eat and your bill comes to $25 and you give them 30–“Keep the change.” Who needed the money more? We don’t really know, but who would it have been better to give that extra money to? You would have been better off honoring the poor.

That little kid with the lemonade stand. Or the poor farm. Or whatever you’re bargaining with and saying, “How much is it?” “Oh, it’s a buck.” “Here’s two,” or 3.75, “Here’s a $5 bill.”

Rather than giving your money to the wealthier people in the working class who may not need it as much— now I’m not saying don’t tip your servers or your waitresses or whatever—you need to be generous—but think about where you’re being generous and where you’re trying to bargain.

Are you going to the nonprofit thrift store when they only have the 25% off sale to try to get more for your money? Or are you going there and your bill comes to 18 bucks and you say, “Here’s 20. Put it toward the mission you support.”

Or are you going to Walmart and spending hundreds and thousands? They’re rich. You don’t need to be giving all your money to them.

They’re causing you the problems. Who is causing you the problems? Rich or poor? I mean most likely, it’s the rich and this is even biblical. Let’s go to James 2:6, “but you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones dragging you into court?” Who is causing more problems? The rich or the poor?

Now hopefully, it’s not rich Christians that are causing the problems. Hopefully, as Christians gain wealth, they become the solution. Therefore, if you are a Christian and you believe in Jesus, you need to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Just like Solomon did, and then God can bless you with wealth.

You need to have the right mindset to remember, and learn from and honor, the poor so that when you get wealth, you treat it properly. And you appreciate it. And you give it back to God and let Him work through you—not just stopping with you. It needs to go through you. Honor God with what He’s given you and He will give you more and more and then you will become part of the solution.

We want rich and wealthy Christians in this world because if more Christians had more wealth and they were using it properly, this world would be a much better place. It’s not the poor people that cause political trouble and change laws, it’s the rich.

Have you ever seen a poor politician? No, usually they’re so filthy rich it makes most of us sick. Remember who’s causing trouble and who’s not and think about where you need to put your time, your resources, your wealth—everything else like that, it’s the classic saying, “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

We need more wealthy Christians. You need to start honoring the poor. It’s a mentality. In order to be very, very wealthy, as a Christian, you need to first understand what humility is, and you need to understand what God wants you to do with your wealth. He’s not going to give you a bunch of money if you don’t know how to manage it properly.

The poor, even though they may be poor here on Earth for their entire life, they will one day be rich. And some rich people who are non-Christians, even though they’re rich here on Earth, they will be very, very poor later on.

So that’s something you can remember and look forward to because the poor will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Let’s go to James again. James 2:5, so back up a verse. “Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised to those who love him?”

God’s promised that those who are poor here on Earth—poor in the eyes of the Earth. They will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven if they believe in Jesus. So if you’re struggling, whether it’s with wealth, possessions—whatever.

Remember that it might not be your path to be very wealthy but accept it and use what God does give you to honor Him. Honor the poor. Honor those around you, and maybe He will bless you with more because you’re using what He’s given you as He wants you to use it.

If he says, “Wow, everything I give you, you use excellently. Let me give you more,” and you’ll use that excellently as well and then more, more and more because you will be able to multiply so much faster with the more He gives you, as long as you’re using it according to His will.

Remember Jesus wants you to treat others as you would treat yourself. That means the rich and the poor included. So if you would be more likely to tip extra on a food bill rather than give extra when you go to a thrift store, that’s not treating things equally.

So maybe you got to level yourself out a little bit in order for God to raise the whole thing and give you more. If you’re being stingy and frugal in some areas and generous in others, are you being generous in the right areas that God wants you to be right in? Or are you being stingy and frugal in those areas?

Because if God says, “Be generous and help my people,” and you’re skimping on your tithe and skimping on your giving but you’re being generous tipping wherever extra money or dropping money into certain places or giving money to people that you don’t even know, what are they doing with it?

Are they Christians? Are they believers? Are they honoring God or should you be giving to places that you know for sure honor God? You see, He wouldn’t give you more if you’re giving extra money to places that He doesn’t want it going because if He gave you more, you’d give more to that place and that’s not where He wants it. So have the right frame of mind on – what does God want you to do with what He’s given you?

Now, I use money as an example but it could be your time. Are you spending all your extra time watching TV and sitting on the couch? “Oh, I just love these new” —whatever— “Avengers movies.” There’s 50 of them out there—however many—and TV series that they’re making on them, cartoons on them. All these movies, all these TV shows, all this stuff and that’s what you do with your time.

You’re watching them all in order and this and that. God’s going to be like, “Why would I give you more if that’s what you do with your time?” Or if He gives you more money and you go out and buy stuff to put in your whatever—in your house—why would He give you more if that’s what you’re doing? Are you only doing stuff for you, or are you doing stuff for Him?

Now I’m not saying you can’t enjoy life and watch TV once in a while or buy things or splurge, but what are you doing with what He’s giving you? And if what you’re doing with what He’s giving you isn’t what He wants you to be doing, He’s not going to give you more. Jesus wants you to treat others like you would want to be treated, rich and poor included. Respect and help everyone. That’s what Jesus would do.

So if you’re selectively doing it to some places and not others, make sure that those places are exactly where God wants you to be spending your time, resources, money, wealth, expertise, advice, influencing ability—whatever. Make sure you do that, you gotta pray. You got to know Jesus more. Develop a deeper relationship with Him. Let Him guide you. Think about where you’re putting your resources.

If you’re spending time growing your Instagram following – what are they following? You? Why do you want more people to follow you? Why don’t you want more people to follow God?

Interesting. What are you using your ability to accomplish? Are you becoming a great influencer so you can make more money? Or you can get free products? Or you can do this? Or are you becoming a great influencer so that you can use that influencing ability to bring more people to Jesus and to influence on behalf of Christian organizations and companies?

Or are you doing that to make money and get free products so then you can use your wealth to do something else for God? See, what’s the bottom line? There’s nothing wrong with being successful and rich and doing something with the sole purpose of making money. That’s what a job is. You’re doing that one job to make money, but then what are you doing with whatever you get?

Are you using it for God? Excellent. Are you using it for you? Not so excellent. What’s the motive, the very very bottom motive? Yes, I may work a job to get money but what’s the motive for that money? See you gotta go deeper, deeper. What’s the root of the cause? What’s the root of the result? What is the root of whatever you’re doing?

It needs to be seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these other things will come to you as well. God wants you to honor the poor and be generous and He will give you more. Let’s go to Luke Chapter 12 Verse 22. Luke 12:22.

“Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about what your or about your body, or what you wear. Life is more valuable than food, the body is more than clothes.’” And on and on.

”Consider the ravens: they don’t sow,” — this is very similar — “Consider the lilies. Not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed as well as them. The pagans worry about all these things. God knows you need them, but seek first His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

All these things will be given to you as well. So if you seek God first, all these things you will have as well. Remember, sell your possessions. Give to the poor.

Wow, “Store up your treasure in Heaven. Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.” Where is your heart? Let’s go to Proverbs 19:7. Proverbs 19:7 “A poor man is shunned by all his relatives how much more do his friends avoid him! Though the poor pursue them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.”

So does God want you to be poor, shunned by all your relatives? No, He wants you to have that mentality of the poor knowing that you need to rely on Him. Knowing that you’re not, not so attached to anything on Earth. Knowing that when He gives you more, you’re going to treat it like it’s His and you’re going to honor Him with your wealth.

What you do with what you have is a test. You’re either a good steward or you’re a bad steward and you’re selfish. Luke 16:10 talks a little bit about this. Let’s go there very quickly. Luke 16:10: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

If God’s giving you stuff and you’re not doing a good job with it and you have a little, He’s not going to give you a lot because He knows you’re not going to do a good job with it. Do a good job with what He’s giving you and He’ll give you more because He can trust you and He knows you’re going to do a good job with it.

Proverbs 11:26: “People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessings crown him who is willing to sell.” You should be willing to part with what you have for God, otherwise people curse the person.

Are you hoarding all your wealth or are you blessing others with it, leaving an inheritance for your children, setting up your future generations, making sure that God’s work is being done here on Earth, or are you just doing your own work here on Earth? Where is your heart?

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be. Are you attached to your bank account? Then that’s where your heart is going. Your worldly possessions—that’s where your heart is going. Or are you attached to God? Seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness, honoring those around you, rich and poor alike, living for Jesus all the time using what He’s given you, being a good steward—that’s what we’re talking about.

Join us next week as we talk about the mentality that you need to have. Let’s pray. Lord, thank you so much for these people watching and listening. I pray that this message is touching them. That they are really taking this to heart and that they will start focusing their lives on what matters.

That they will start seeking first your kingdom and your righteousness and truly understanding what that looks like in their lives. That they will start recognizing what you’ve given them. That they will take a look and see those things they no longer need. That they will simplify their lives. That they would be able to let go of things and give them to you, and that if it means selling some possessions, Lord, allow them to do that.

And Lord, don’t hinder them. If they all of a sudden have motivation to start selling their stuff, bless them with buyers. Bless them with buyers, and then Lord, have them use that wealth for you, and if it’s something that their intentions are wrong, that they think, “Oh, I’m going to go around and sell all my stuff so I can have more money and I can do this,” then stop it.

They don’t need to sell their stuff if they’re not going to use it properly. So give them first, Lord, the right mindset and the right heart, and then once they go out and start doing those things for you, let nothing stand in their way.

Lord, make straight the paths. Make it easy for them so that they know that they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing, and when they start giving more and doing more and spending their time and resources doing the things that you want them to be doing, give them confirmation after confirmation and confirmation, and just bless them abundantly more and more to continue building your kingdom here on Earth.

In Jesus’ name, Amen. Hey, have a great week. We’re halfway through this series so come back next two weeks and share this with someone. Bring them back with you so that you can keep learning about this great topic. God bless.