The Willingness That Precedes the Glory — Carter Conlon

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Tithing, Spiritual Intimidation, and the Willingness God Seeks

First Chronicles, Chapter 29. If you could just keep your Bible open there. We're going to be going there very shortly. But before we go there, I want to share with you this morning that I am in some measure going to speak on tithing.

Now, this is not a message on tithing in particular. And certainly nobody can ever accuse this church of having a money focus. I have been here ten and a half years now. I have this to my knowledge. This is the third time I've spoken on this topic.

Pastor Neal has never spoken on it. And I'm not aware. I've not been in every service, but I'm not aware of Pastor David ever having spoken on tithing. And I have somewhat of a reluctance in my heart to even address it because of what has happened to this issue of tithing in the house of God in our generation.

The very same thing happened in the generation just before Samuel came to be a judge of Israel. There was a very backslidden priest called Eli. And he had sons. And the scripture said the sons of this backslidden priest.

You see, when they made an offering, the priest had a three-pronged hook. And when people came to make an offering to the Lord or a sacrifice to God, the priests were to execute that office. And they were to throw that hook into the pot.

And whatever got caught by it, in other words, came out of the pot was supposed to be the priest's portion. Now, this was a type of the fact that the ministry are to live by faith. Those that preach the gospel are to live of the gospel, yes, but to live by faith.

God tells us we're to live by the same faith that we are proclaiming and encouraging the people to embrace. But these sons of Eli, the scripture tells us that they stood at the door or they appointed others even in their stead.

And they began to demand the choicest cuts of meat, as it is, as the people came in to offer sacrifice to the Lord or to give offerings to God. And they began to pressure the people to give. And they were not willing to live by faith anymore.

And they didn't want just any old sodden piece of meat coming out of the pot. They wanted the fillet. They wanted the prime cut for themselves. And so they began to not only push the people and arm twist them, but even threaten them with, perhaps they even used spiritual intimidation, as if some disastrous thing is going to happen to you if you don't obey this.

And if any man protested this approach, then they would take it by force. They would threaten to take it by force. In other words, there was a forcefulness behind what they were doing. There's no faith behind it.

And, folks, there have been some atrocious things that have gone on in the house of the Lord in the name of God when it comes to the issue of finances. And I believe that it has made even righteous preachers of the gospel somewhat reluctant to even go and speak about these topics.

But it's never fit that the devil should have the last word in these things. Now, the sin of the young man, it says in 1 Samuel 2, just I'm reading this to you, verse 17, was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.

And when I looked that up, the abhorrence means they scorned it. They despised it. They rejected it. They condemned it. Or they derided it. They made fun of it. And we're living in a generation today when you even try to mention a church or preacher of the gospel, and you'll see this very attitude now is not only perhaps dormant in much of the church, but it's very evident in society because they have seen these money-grubbing sons of Eli at the doors of the temple demanding and scheming and planning.

And no matter where they start preaching, you can be sure they're always going for your purse or your pocket. There's no doubt about it. And men abhorred. There was a despising of the offering of the Lord.

People would go to church, for example, or in the temple. And have you ever been there? I don't know. I've been there over the years. You know wherever it's starting, it's going to money. And they're never content with one offering.

There's two. There's three. And the Holy Spirit seemingly is always changing his mind and encouraging them to take another offering and a third and a fourth offering. And each one has a new scheme behind it.

And if you really get to the root of it, there's a violence at the very bottom of it. There's a greed. Now, Satan is a master tactician. He has men and women that he puts in pulpits all over the world that are just really his stooges.

That's all they are. They stand there and they go for the money. And if you were to just look on the surface, you would miss what the master tactician is really after. He's not just after the money. Because remember when he tempted Jesus, he said, here are the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.

They're all mine. And he said, I'll give them to whoever I want to. He offered the kings of this world as it is to Christ. And Christ refused it during his temptation. Now, Satan is not after the money.

He's smart enough to know that you can't bankrupt God. There's absolutely no way. How can you bankrupt the one who created the universe? How can you bankrupt the one who can just speak and create more gold than this world will ever have in a million plus years?

No, he knows he can't bankrupt God. So he's after something much deeper than this. And you see it through the sons of Eli. They caused the people to abhor the offering of the Lord. And I'm going to speak on what I believe in my heart that the enemy is after in every generation.

David’s Willing Offering and the Glory of Solomon’s Temple

He's after the willingness that precedes the glory. Now, I'm going to go there and you're going to understand this in just a moment. First Chronicles chapter 29, verse 16. This is David now. David the king has made preparation for the temple.

This is Solomon's temple. It's built on Mount Moriah. This is the temple where the glory of God is going to come. This incredible glory that was so powerful that nobody could stand even in the presence of God.

And David is praying a prayer because he has been preparing for a portion of his journey. At least his understanding of the house of God began at Mount Moriah. And now he has made preparation for this house of God, this dwelling place of God.

He is passing it on to his son Solomon. And he's praying and he says, verse 16, O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee in house for thine holy name, cometh of thine own hand and all is thine own.

You see, David knew this. God, we're not really being generous towards you. Everything we have has come from your hand. You gave us breath, life. What do we have that you haven't given us, God? He says, I know also, my God, verse 17, that thou triest the heart and has pleasure and uprightness.

And as for me, in the uprightness of my heart, I have willingly offered all these things. And now I have seen with joy thy people which are present here to offer willingly unto thee. O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people and prepare their heart unto thee.

Now, David in this passage is speaking of an issue of the people's heart. And this issue preceded the manifestation of God's glory, which I said was soon to be experienced at the dedication of Solomon's temple.

If we go ahead just for a moment to 2 Chronicles chapter 5, verse 13, the scripture tells us it came to pass as the trumpeters and singers were as one to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord.

And when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music and praised the Lord, saying, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever, that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.

I don't know about you, but I long for this glory of God. We had a touch, a taste of it, didn't you feel that during the worship this morning? This glory. In the Hebrew, it's kavod, and it means weight, honor, esteem, majesty, abundance, wealth.

It's a foretype of the glory which is ours in Jesus Christ. Paul in Corinthians speaks of a fading glory. Now, the fading glory is the glory that came in the Old Testament. Even in spite of the law, there was a manifestation of this glory.

And, of course, the Old Testament temple was part of this. Solomon's temple was part of this glory that Paul says was one day going to fade away, because it was only a shadow of the true glory. And the true glory is found in Jesus Christ.

We beheld him. John says he was full of grace and truth, as of the only begotten of the Father. This is the glory. Everything in the Old Testament was a type and a shadow. It was like a shadow play that was pointing to the real, that one day would burst on the scene.

It was the manifestation of the true glory of God, which was seen in the face of Jesus Christ. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 10,. Even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excels.

Paul said, yes, there was a glory in the Old Testament. There was a glory on the face of Moses. There was a glory that came because of the preaching of the law. There was a glory of God's manifestation in the Old Testament temple.

But there is a glory coming so glorious, Paul says, it makes this previous glory look like it was no glory at all. It so far exceeds the previous glory. You see, the previous glory was an outside glory.

Yes, the glory of God, the weight, the kabbad of God would come into the temple. But it was an outside glory. You had to go to the temple to see this glory. But when Jesus Christ died on the cross, and the veil was rended too, and the way of God now was made to leave the Holy of Holies and come to where He had always longed to dwell, right in the heart of His own creation, and you and I became the temple of the living God, this glory of Solomon's temple came into your life and came into my life.

The Bible says it's an exceeding glory. It's far beyond. I don't have to go to the temple to see this glory. This glory is within me. I have the risen Christ in me. Paul says, it's Christ in you, the hope of glory.

I can get up in the morning and say, glory, the weight of God is upon me. The life of Christ is in me. I'm changing by this image and life of Christ into the very image of my Savior. The glory of God is no longer confined to a physical place that I have to go once a week or month to see.

The glory of God is now in me. Hallelujah. Paul says, if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remains is glorious. He says in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 18,. But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

If you're not living there, you have missed the whole thing. You fail to understand what this is about. Jesus died to forgive your sin, that He may come and live inside of you and recreate you from the inside out and cause you to stand as a light shining in the midst of a very dark and crooked generation, as a living testimony that the glory of God is still among men.

He says in verse 17,. Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Now the word liberty in the Zodiates lexicon of the New Testament is Eleutheria. Actually, it's interesting, the number in the concordance is 1657.

I found that interesting because that's our address here at Times Square Church, 1657 Broadway. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And the word liberty means freedom. It means generosity.

It means an independence, and this is important, from legal restrictions and rules. Here's the issue. Now in 1 Chronicles chapter 29 and verse 14, remember, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's liberty, there's freedom, generosity, there's an independence from legal restrictions and rules.

Willingness as a Supernatural Response, Not Legal Compulsion

In 1 Chronicles chapter 29 and verse 14, David says, Who am I? Now this is after there's been a great gathering of all the substance that is necessary to build this temple. The people have offered willingly.

The leaders have offered willingly. The people have come and they've rejoiced with great joy because they were now being infused, as it is, with the very heart of God in the building of His house so that His presence might be manifested, not only in Jerusalem, but to all the nations.

And David says in verse 14, But who am I and what is my people that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things have come of thee and of thine own hand have we given thee. How is it, David says, that we have been given this ability?

You see, David knew that this willingness was supernatural. If you look at the word willingly in the Old Testament, it means an uncompelled, free movement of the will for divine service or sacrifice. It's like into a volunteer soldier whose country goes to war and knowing even that he may lose his life, he is compelled to give his all because he believes in his heart the cause is just.

He believes that what he is engaging is worth fighting for, it's worth living for and it's worth dying for. And this is actually the word that David used. He said, Who am I and what are my people that we should be able to offer so willingly that we have the supernatural ability of God has come upon us to give to the work of God.

And we're not doing it under legal compulsion. We're doing it willingly. We are being moved upon by the Spirit of God and David knew it was supernatural. He must have known that God had intended and initiated this because he intended a great visitation of his glory.

Now, history has always recorded that this willingness has always preceded something special which God himself had planned. There's a willingness. See, that's what the devil has always been after when he puts greedy men in pulpits.

He's after the willingness of God's people to give. This free will that is not bound by law is not coming into the house begrudgingly because the law of the Old Testament says 10 of your income belongs to God.

Now, that's only a shadow. We're not even bound by that anymore. That's not under the law. If you want to talk about New Testament tithing, the standard is all. It's everything. Look in the book of Acts.

Some people would ask me, Well, what percentage of our income do we give to God? Well, it's somewhere between 10 and everything depending on how willing your heart is to obey God. It's the easiest way I can say it.

The Old Testament 10 is just a shadow. It's a schoolmaster. But the New Testament book of Acts, if you read it very clearly and conscientiously, was everything. It was the lives, the entire lives of the people being gripped and given to the work of God.

There'll never be a move of God without this willingness. And the devil has worked hard in our generation to take this willingness away from the people, to take it out of the hearts of God's people to give themselves to the work of God.

And everything that that involves in the sum total as it is of who we are and what we possess being released to the work of God. In Exodus chapter 35, if you'll look there with me, this is the first indication in Scripture in the Old Testament of something actually being built to house God.

Now, we know that you can't house God. It's impossible. He's omnipresent. He's everywhere. You can't build Him a house. But in some measure, these things happen in the Old Testament to teach us that one day He was going to come and dwell within us.

And it began in the Old Testament in Exodus with the building of a tabernacle. In Exodus 35, 4, the people, of course, didn't understand this. But there was still this infusion of willingness. In Exodus 35, 4, it says,.

And Moses spake to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying, Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord, whosoever is of a willing heart.

In other words, if the person is not willing, don't force them. There's no legal obligation. Everything in the kingdom of God is really voluntary. Even Christ himself stands at the door and knocks. He doesn't force his way into the church.

He's an absolute gentleman. He doesn't force anyone to give anything. There's no arm-twisting. There's no false promises. There's no begging. He said, Let him bring an offering of the Lord, gold and silver and brass, and blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen and goat's hair.

Now, you have to understand, they were building an Old Testament tabernacle, which was like a curtain box, as it is, with an outer courtyard. And they were making garments for the priests who were going to go in and minister to the Lord and minister on behalf of the people.

So there'd be quite an excitement about this. There'd be an awareness that God has destined to live where we live. He's destined to dwell among us. It's in his heart. And he's asked us to build him a house.

Incredible. Talk about the humility of God. I don't know how much more we can even start to address this type of humility when we see that God would let people even think in their minds that they're building him a house.

But nevertheless, that's what he did. And he invited everyone to be involved in the work. And verse 7, he says,. And ram skins dyed red and badger skins and wood and oil for the light and spices for anointing oil and the sweet incense and onyx stones and stones to set for the ephod and for the breastplate.

And every wise hearted among you shall come and make all that the Lord has commanded. The tabernacle, verse 11, his tent, his covering, his tashes, his boards, his bars, his pillars, his sockets, the ark, the staves, the mercy seat, the veil of the covering, the table, his staves, all the vessels in the showbread, the candlestick for the light, his furniture, his lamps, the oil for the light, the incense altar, his staves, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the hanging of the door at the entering of the tabernacle, the altar of burnt offering with the brazen great, his staves, his vessels, the labor, his foot, the hangings of the court, the pillars and the sockets, the hanging for the door of the court, the pins of the tabernacle, the pins of the court and the cords, the cloths of service to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron, the priest and the garments of his sons to minister in the priest's office.

And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. This is like a shopping list like none other that's ever been given to Matt. God says, I require. And you can see all the congregation are there.

And Moses is saying, the Lord has asked us to build a dwelling place for him. And here's what he requires. And he starts reading his list just like I did. And all the people are there listening. And as he finished speaking, you can see all this congregation, multiples, tens of thousands of people head away from this meeting with this man of God.

And it says, and they came, verse 21, everyone whose heart stirred him up and everyone whom his spirit made willing. And so there are people who will hear of the building of God's house and his kingdom and his work, and they will just leave and not be stirred.

But there are people in every generation who are made willing by the spirit of God. There are people who say, God, I don't have much, but what I have, I'm going to get it and I'm bringing it back. And I'm going to give it to you for your glory.

And I'm going to let it be used for you, O God. And they brought the Lord's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation and for all his service and for the holy garments. And they came, verse 22, both men and women, as many as were what?

Willing hearted and brought bracelets and earrings and rings and tablets and jewels of gold. And every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the Lord. And every man with whom was found blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen and goat's hair.

You know, folks, some people have gold, some have goat's hair, but everybody brought something. And red skins of rams and badger skins brought them. You know, I mean, well, you could have you could look at your neighbor and say, God, here's a man next door to me that has twenty five golden rings.

And all I have is a badger skin. But by God's grace, it was on the list and they brought it. Doesn't seem like much if you've ever seen a badger run across the highway. But it was necessary. And everyone that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the Lord's offering.

And every man with whom was found a shite and wood for any work of the service brought it. Some people just had wood and brought that. And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands.

There would be in Moses day as there are in our day. There were those who quite conceivably possessed a lot less than others did. But God put wisdom in their hearts and they had a skill and they took the skill and they began to some people just simply have a thread.

That's all they have or a spool of thread. And but God plants within them a supernatural ability because everyone's contribution is important to the Lord. You have to understand that there are no big people and little people in the kingdom of God.

God says, no, I want my whole church, my whole bodies to be involved in the building of this place where I'm going to dwell. And they did spin with their hands and they brought that which they had spun, both a blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen.

And all the women whose hearts stirred them up in wisdom spun goat's hair. And the rulers brought onyx stones and stones to set for the ephod and for the breastplate and spice for the oil for the light and for the anointing oil and sweet incense.

And the children of Israel brought, verse 29, a willing offering unto the Lord. Every man and woman whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.

Now, the scripture tells us something just phenomenal. In chapter 36, in verse three, it goes on to say, and they received of Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought of the work of the service of the sanctuary to make it with all.

And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning. And all the wise men that brought all the work of the sanctuary came, every man from his work which they made. And they spake unto Moses, saying, the people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded to make.

And Moses gave commandment, and they cause it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.

What a willingness came upon these people that Moses had to make a decree and basically say, stop, stop giving, stop giving. We have too much. We don't know what to do with what we have. Can you imagine having that kind of a problem as a pastor today at church?

The people so moved with a willingness that is birthed of God to say, God, we're not under compulsion here. We're every man, every woman given a choice. But you have worked something so supernatural within us that each one of us, we want to be part of the house and the kingdom that you are building.

And so we take what we have, as little or as much, and we start bringing it. And can you see Moses standing there and the leaders and the people are coming in young and old and rich and poor. And they have everything from goat's hair that has been woven into things, whatever you make with goat's hair, to rings that have been melted down.

And they're bringing it in for the work of God so abundantly. You see, before there is a move of God's glory at any time throughout history, if you study it, you're going to find a people who are willing.

Before revival comes to a nation, you're going to find somewhere a church, a people, a group, an individual. Two or three are gathering somewhere and they are praying and saying, God, I give all I have to your kingdom.

I give you my pride. If you want to speak to my heart about issues, speak to my heart. I give you my family. I give you my future. I give you everything I have, O God, that your glory might be known in me, that your glory might be known in the land once again.

You will always find, you'll never find just all of a sudden the glory appearing. Now, this can happen. God is not bound. But if you search it through history, you're going to find that every major move of God throughout history is always preceded by a people who say, God, we are willing.

I'm willing wherever you send me, whatever you ask of me, whatever you want me to do, God, I will do it. The little that I have, I bring it to you, O God. And I'm trusting you to multiply it. I'm trusting you to receive my sacrifice, my little ability, my my my little life, my little experience.

I bring it to you, God. But you have made me willing to give this to you. And I am believing, O God, that you're going to multiply it and glorify your name. And you just have to turn ahead a few chapters after this to Exodus chapter 40.

You see this willingness that had come into the hearts of the people. And verse 34 says that a cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able, verse 35, to enter into the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode thereon and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Deborah, Barak, Gideon, and Willingness in Spiritual Conflict

The glory comes and it's a type, it's a shadow of Jesus saying, if I have your heart, if you are willing to give what you have to me, it is my desire to manifest my glory in you. It's my desire to come and change you.

It's my desire to make you so much more than you are, to give you so much more than you could ever possess, to take you where you could never go and to make you what you could never be. It's my desire to manifest my glory inside of this tabernacle where I've chosen to dwell.

You'll see this principle, for example, in the book of Judges. You see it all through the scriptures. When the people are under oppression and God comes and speaks and finds a prophetess called Deborah and finds a military leader called Barak, who in spite of their weakness are willing to give what they have to God and for the purposes of God.

And it's this type of life that begins to inspire the people. And after the battle is over, the scripture says they sang a song and it went like this. Praise the Lord for the avenging of Israel. When the people willingly offered themselves, the people willingly offered themselves.

Think of Gideon's day when they're standing against an army of 135 ,000 and 300 standing against odds that could never, ever have a successful outcome without the presence of God and the intervention of God.

But they're willing, even to the death, to offer themselves to the work of God that he might be glorified one more time in the nation. Even the temple, this Solomon's temple that is about to be rebuilt.

You remember in the story where there was a sword, an angel with a destroying sword stretched out over Jerusalem because David had sinned in numbering the people and had in effect turned to pride. And David was instructed by a prophet to head to the top of this mountain called Moriah.

And he headed to the top of the mountain to offer a sacrifice to God. And on top of that mountain, there was a man called Ornan the Jebusite. And he had a threshing floor and he had two sons with him.

It was his income. He had oxen. He had instruments. But he saw, he was a man who saw the need. And David came to Ornan and he said to Ornan, give me this threshing floor. I must make a sacrifice. Ornan, seeing the need, said to the king, this is a type of you and I and the church and Jesus Christ.

And he said to the king, he said, I see the need. I see the destroying sword over the nation. And so I give you my threshing floor and I give you the instruments for my livelihood to break them up and make a fire for the sacrifice.

And I give you the oxen for the sacrifice. And Ornan said, I give it all. I give everything I have to stay the plague of death that has come upon my nation and my city. And David, the king, said, no, I will not take it for free.

I myself will not offer to God something that costs me nothing. And so David says, no, I'll pay you the full price for it. So here you have two men that are willing to give it all. They're willing to give.

David basically says to Ornan, name your price. I will pay it. I will not offer to God something that costs me nothing. And after the negotiation is completed, the Holy Spirit opens David's eyes and you go back in the scripture.

You'll see it for yourself. And David has a revelation. This is Mount Moriah. And David says, this is the temple of the Lord. This is God's house. This is where God dwells. He has this incredible revelation.

And it's an amazing thing. David, this is exactly where Solomon's temple was to be built. It's on a mountain where two men are willing to give everything they have to stay the plague that is upon the people.

In Ezra, after the people were released by King Cyrus to come back into the nation of Israel and rebuild this temple of Solomon, which had been destroyed because of neglect, the king issued a decree and he released those who are willing to go and rebuild.

Willing, though. It was an issue. Even with a foreign king, a Persian king, he made it very clear that nobody could be forced to do this. It had to be willing. Ezra was allowed to take for use all that the people willingly offered for the house of God.

In Nehemiah's day, a little shortly after this, Nehemiah talks about in chapter 11, verse 2, that the people willingly came and offered themselves to dwell within the walls of Jerusalem. It was a willingness.

This willingness to be given to God. This willingness to offer to God everything that they had. Now, First Chronicles chapter 29 again. David says this in verse 2. He says, Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God, the gold for the things to be made of gold, and silver for things of silver, and brass for things of brass, and iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood, onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones of diverse colors, and all manner of precious stones and marble stones in abundance.

Moreover, he says in verse 3,. Because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of my own proper good of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, even 3 ,000 talents of gold, of the gold of Ophira, and 7 ,000 talents of refined silver to overlay the walls of the houses withal.

The gold for things of gold, and silver for things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?

David says, I have prepared of the treasury, the king's treasury as it is of the nation, but he says, more so than this, I have given of my own substance for the building of this house, dangerous to sit under the ministries of people who are not given to the work of God.

And then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes in verse 6, and the captains of thousands and hundreds with the rulers of the king's work offered willingly. And they gave for the service of the house of God, 5 ,000 talents and 10 ,000 talents of drams and silver, 18 ,000 talents and brass, 18 ,000 talents.

And verse 8 says,. And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the Lord. Verse 9 says,. Then the people rejoiced for that they offered willingly, because with a perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord.

And David the king also rejoiced with great joy. They had not given for personal gain. They gave because this was the work of God. There is a principle, yes, in scripture that God will bless us, and God will keep his people who trust in him.

But they were not giving to get. They were giving because they were involved, their hearts were engaged in the work of God. And there was an abiding trust in those who are gods. To say, Lord, I give you what I have.