Three Dollars’ Worth Of God Please

Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Introduction

Today there are very few full-service stations around. It’s a place where you didn’t have to get out of your car if you didn’t want to, you could just say fill-er-up Bud or give me 3 dollars-worth, check the oil and the tires please.

And if you don’t mind get the windshield. Well he didn’t mind, it was all a part of the service to begin with.

· Today its pump your own, fill up, or whatever amount you want.

· Check your own tires, or run them low, it’s your car you can do what you want to with it. Remember you make the payments.

· Wash the windshield or leave it dirty, it doesn’t matter if you can’t see clearly, it’s your life and you are in control of it.

· You can say “I’m not hurting anyone but myself.”

The station attendant may even tell you, “It sounds like you may be low on oil do you want me to check it?” Smart people say “sure if you don’t mind.”

Then you have the option to say, no don’t worry about it I will check it later.

You might even wonder, who does this guy think he is, trying to tell me what I need? I know what I need I don’t need him telling me.

But there are a lot of people who put their trust in their mechanic and service technician because he is trained to fix what you need fixed.

You have trusted him for years and you have confidence that he has you and your family’s safety in mind over all else.

In the church today, it is becoming like a self-service. You can either fill it up or get three dollars-worth.

You may tell your pastor or the evangelist, or Sunday school teacher,

“I only need a little, just enough to get me through today.”

Scripture: Matt 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

· If we would be totally honest, the idea of transformation really scares us.

· That is because we know that such a radical change would be quite uncomfortable.

· We realize that with transformation comes a major overhaul of our lives and priorities.

· Your will has to be, to do God’s will.

‎”But here are some that say, “I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please.”

Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep,

But just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine.

I don’t want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant.

I don’t want enough to make me give more than I need to.

1. I want ecstasy, not transformation;

2. I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth.

3. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack.

4. I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please.”

I only need enough to give me that good feeling you get when you come to church and the Saints are praising God and worshipping with all their heart I like that.

I like the music; I like the preaching but just enough to ease my conscience.

· I don’t wont enough that I have to change the way I live or dress

· Or the places I go.

· I don’t want enough to make me feel bad if I sin.

Three dollars will be sufficient. Thank you God!

· Can’t no-body tell me I don’t love God, I love God and I am going to heaven!

· God knows what I am doing and it is no-one’s business what I do.

Give me Three Dollars-worth of Jesus: don’t worry about telling me what I need.

· I can shout with the best of them,

· I can speak in tongues and lift my hands like everyone else;

· I’m as good as anyone else, I live by own rules and it’s no one’s business.

A. Well Pastor I don’t feel like what you’re preaching is for me.

B. I don’t feel any convictions and it must not be wrong.

C. That may be for some but not for me.

Three dollars will be sufficient. Thank you Lord.

· NO fill-up please, that may cost me too much.

· The price may be too much for me to pay, so three dollars-worth of God will get me through for a while!

Here is a Fact:

When you stand before God he will say, “I sent you to the right station to get full service I wanted you to get a fill up, you ask for three dollars-worth.”

1. The problem is “You have been self-serviced too long.

2. You have spent too much time trying to overhaul your life.

3. You may have the service manual {THE BIBLE} but you don’t understand the procedures.

You have tried to fix things own your own and now that you are broken you still want three dollars-worth of God!

You have been instructed on what you need, but you ignored the warning, you drive off without enough to even get you home.

By the time you get home you are drained so low you can’t get enough power to get you going again. You’ve run out.

You don’t have enough to even get you back to where you can get it fixed.

You will have to be towed back or you will be junked out.

I sent you to get your soul checked and you said I will check it later.

You knew you were running to low on the Spirit and got three dollars’ worth?

· It takes more than a one night stand or a pull in once in a while to make sure you got the right amount of worship,

· The right Amount of spiritual direction to get you through.

· It takes more than once a month to make you ready for the long drive ahead of you.

Israel came out of Egypt because God sent them a mechanic {Prophet} that who had been to the school of God and had all the answers and the map to where they were going.

1. They did well until they decided they could fix things on their own,

2. They said they could follow God without any directions from anyone,

3. But they died before they got to the promise land.

When you run out of God you are going to die!

They were on their way, even though they had been in the scrap yard of sin for four hundred years and then the master mechanic pulled them out reworked them fixed their broken bodies, filled them up and sent them out.

Their GPS was a man sent from God.

Somewhere on their travels they failed to keep a check on things they ran low in the Spirit, they failed to follow the manual.

God gave Moses the manual to fix everything along the way but you they failed to let him do a routine check up on them.

Moses had the direction but they wanted to program Moses to give them the short cuts.

They said why don’t we go this way it seems to the best way?

Listen to me, unless you are programed by God you can count on this, you are going to get lost and go in circles just like Israel did!

They thought they knew what was best. They told Moses, we know the commandments. We know what we need and where we are going they wanted to turn back.

· You might have a bible and you may know some things in the bible

· But I want you to know, if you don’t obey what it says, you’re in for a breakdown.

· You will either need a complete overhaul,

· Or you will be towed back to the junk yard, back to {SIN and BONDAGE}

· Back to a broken down life, struggling everyday trying just to survive!

If three dollars-worth of God is all you need you haven’t repented,

You haven’t turned from your sins,

And here’s the truth, you will never make the journey.

It’s long and there are traffic jams and false detours along the way.

There are no short cuts to Heaven if you don’t have more than what you got now, you are in for a major breakdown somewhere along the way.

1. I am not a shade tree preacher,

2. I am not here to patch you up and make you run from week to week, service to service.

If you came here broken, I have all the parts that will keep you running and make you have more get up and go.

I have what you need to make the journey, if that is what you want.

If you are here for a patch up I don’t do patch work.

You can’t but three dollars-worth of Jesus here. This is not a self-service church.

This is an Acts 2-38 station it runs full of the Holy Ghost!

It has prayer to give us extra power.

It has fasting that gives us that extra boost we need.

We have love that can take the most broken down soul and restore it to brand new.

This is a full time Mechanic {PASTOR} on duty here twenty four hours a day ready to help you solve your problem, heals your sickness and gives you directions to live buy.

There is no self-service here,

A. We come for a check-up often,

B. We fill-up every service and in between.

C. If we need repairs we know whom we can trust

D. We know who will always be truthful with us and tell us what we need to fix our problem.

There is no fix me with a little feel good message, we still believe it takes the whole book.

If you want to make the full journey you will have to have more than three dollars’ worth.

How much do you want now? Just tell the Preacher fill me up, I have a long journey ahead and check me over good, because I don’t need any breakdowns on the way.