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REVIEW
So today, I believe we will be concluding our series entitled “Financially Faithful” where we have been learning how we can be more faithful to the Lord in the financial part of our life. And church, we have been seeing some pretty cool testimonies come out of this from people “finding money” in their pockets and in the washer machine / dryer, people having those who owed them money paying them back out of the blue, people reaping exactly what they sowed, and even a random “estates & inheritances” testimony where someone was randomly included in someone’s will! Praise the Lord! So what we started out talking about were some very important mentalities to have in order to be better stewards of His resources: One of those was that God is actually pleased to see His people prosper. Yes, He actually desires for you and I to flourish financially like we desire for our own kids to be successful in this area. Another mentality we looked at was the belief that God wants His people poor. No, we learned that us having money is not a violation of God’s will for our lives. It’s simply covetousness and greed that the Lord is against. We also learned how we need to possess that blessed mentality that whatever we set our hands to prospers and wherever our feet tread, the Lord will give it to us. Understanding this and that we are redeemed from the curse of poverty is key to possessing our promised land. And finally, we looked at the fact that God calls us stewards, so an important mindset is that everything I possess is His and I am simple handling God’s money. Then over the past several weeks, we have been looking at the main way we can be most faithful in this area – in our giving. We studied the tithe in detail. We learned about how remembering the poor is also to be a priority. And then last week, we looked at the concept of offerings, which in and of itself was an eye-opener. And church when it comes to this subject of giving, I think our greatest takeaway ought to be a couple of things:
Church, just simply adjusting some of these mentalities will drastically change the way we both give and receive in our lives. In fact, I remember hearing the former CEO of Andrew Wommack Ministries, Paul Milligan, once say that the number one reason God’s people don't prosper is because of the way we think. In other words, being successful in this area really has a lot to do with how one thinks about money. And I have found that to be true. In my years in banking, I learned that there was a big difference between the people who had money and those who didn’t. Those who didn’t have much, spent their money frivolously and didn’t balk at overdrawing their bank account or borrowing money. However, those who obviously had a lot of money would not eat bank fees or settle for lower interest rates. Really the “rich” would treat their finances the way the poor should have been, even when they didn’t need to. What’s the lesson, you ask? The lesson is that there is a certain way that people who have money think about money, and that’s one of the reasons why they have it. So in this last week that we are looking at being more financially faithful, I would like us to look at some of these natural ways that we ought to view money. Yes, today let’s move into how to steward the money that we do not give: Notice how I worded that— “… the money that we do not give.” The reason I say it that way is because, as we learned last week, giving is to be our primary focus. We saw how it is why we work a job. In fact, it is why we live and move and have our being. We are, first and foremost, called to be givers of God’s money. But you see, if all there was to prosperity is giving, then many of us in here would be millionaires by now. The fact is, we live in this world too and there are rules to prospering in this world as well. So there is certainly a good portion of finances that the Lord leaves us to handle – to pay for our own personal needs and desires. Amen? But, again, I want to remind you that we are simply stewards of the Lord’s money. So even this money that we are not giving and that we are free to use for our own personal needs and desires is still His. WISDOM FOR FINANCES So let me share with you some wisdom that I’ve gathered in this area. And I will say that this virtue called “wisdom” is the very virtue we should seek when it comes to this area of our finances. You see, possessing this one virtue is what led to one of the riches men the world has seen. Of course, I’m talking about King Solomon. We all know the story, right? The young king had the Lord appear to Him at night, asking him what He shall give him. And Solomon had the prudence to ask for wisdom and knowledge to rule over God’s people. But one thing that I think most believers miss is what led the Lord to ask him this. In Second Chronicles 2:7, we are told “on that night, the Lord appeared to him …” telling him to ask what He could do for him. Well, it’s important to understand what happened on that day. At the end of verse 6, we see that Solomon offered to the Lord one thousand burnt offerings! Can you imagine that? That’s a super significant offering! Well, it was that huge offering that obviously instigated this, right – showing us again that truth that our gift does indeed make room for us (Proverbs 18:16). Amen? But my point is that when God appeared to him, giving Solomon the option for whatever he wanted, Solomon requested the wisdom he needed. Which was essentially Solomon seeking first the kingdom of God, right? And what does Matthew 6:33 teach us happens when we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness? Jesus said that all these other things will be added to us. And guess what? This is exactly what happened to Solomon when he practiced this principle: God then said that because he didn’t ask for riches, the life of his enemies, etc. that with this wisdom towards God’s kingdom would come the riches, honor, and wealth. You see, I think that we can become so focused on the fruit of flourishing in our finances and not always understand the real root of it, which is wisdom. And this is so important in the arena of finances … The Bible teaches us that with wisdom comes riches, wealth and honor. One proverb says that wisdom brings in her left-hand riches and honor and length of days in her right. (Proverbs 3:13-18 & 8:12-18) So this is what Solomon discovered—that if you find wisdom, you will also find riches and wealth. So I think the real key to being financially faithful to the Lord is possessing this virtue of wisdom. Yes, if we just apprehend it, we can get a better handle on our finances. WHAT IS WISDOM? You see, in studying the wisdom of God, you will find that it is the principle thing (Proverbs 4:7) - that is, it’s the “first fruit” in regard to importance and significance in the kingdom of God (literal Hebrew definition of “principle”). In other words, there is no other virtue that we can possess that comes before the wisdom that comes from above. So if wisdom is the principle thing and is this important to kingdom living, what is it? Simply put, wisdom is being skillful or an expert at something. For instance, if someone is skillful and an expert in auto mechanics, then you could say that they have wisdom in the arena of fixing cars. I have also heard wisdom defined as “the correct application of knowledge.” So in regard to auto mechanics, if someone has the ability to correctly apply the knowledge of fixing cars, then they would not only know what an engine is, but they would also know how it operates. This is an example of wisdom from a natural standpoint, but the wisdom we are talking about is godly wisdom and not natural, carnal wisdom… Godly wisdom can be defined as “the principles of right living.” It is having the ability to correctly apply what we know about God’s kingdom into everyday life’s situations – thus producing a righteous lifestyle that is according to God’s standards. So you could say that godly wisdom is being skilled in the arena of kingdom living. So let’s take a look at what wise Solomon taught us about this area of our lives … ACKNOWLEDGING THE LORD IN ALL YOUR WAYS The first point of wisdom that I would like to get across to you is – if all of this is His, then don’t you think we should treat it as such? For example, if say you give 15% of what you earn one month and that leaves you with 85% to spend on yourself, then do you think it is wise to just disassociate God from what you decide to do with that remaining 85%? You see, the answer to a thousand and one questions is simply “be led.” In other words, the answer to every question that arises like “what should I do with this?” or “what do I do here?” is – be led by the Word of God and the Spirit of God. But I would venture to say that very few of us that even tithe and give offerings, actually ask the Lord what we should do with the rest of our income. And the God’s honest truth is – the reason why we do not ask Him things like “Lord, should I buy this TV?” or “Father, do I switch to this company for my telephone service?” is because we still view it as our money to do with it what we please. But even if we viewed it as ours, wisdom would still ask the One who knows all things what we should do with it, right? You see, most Christians lean to their own understanding and intellect on every decision they make. This is why we get that important nugget of wisdom from one of the wealthiest men who ever lived on this planet taught us – King Solomon … He said in Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Notice the first phrase in these verses- “Trust in the Lord.” The God’s honest truth is – we truly are trusting in the Lord when we follow His principles and are obedient to Him. This would be like us trusting in all those passages of Scripture that teach us about seeking first the kingdom of God financially. If we trust Him, we will be radical givers. Then notice that Solomon says, “with all your heart.” He did not say, “with all your head.” In other words, we are talking about not being “head-led”; we are talking about being “Spirit led” from a New Testament perspective. The next phrase is very interesting. It says, “and lean not to your own understanding.” The word “lean” denotes putting all your weight on something or relying on something else for support. You see, God gave us a brain to use but here, He is simply telling us not to put our total confidence in our own understanding. We are to use our head, but we are to put our ultimate trust in His understanding and not our own. When he says, “In all your ways” this denotes not in just what we consider the important “ways” but in all our ways. Regarding financial stewardship, this would mean including the Lord in every financial decision we make. By using the terminology “Acknowledge Him” we can see that the Holy Spirit desires to be acknowledged in every decision we make and every direction we take. The word “acknowledge” here was used in Genesis when Adam “knew” his wife Eve. So this word describes a closeness and an intimacy. This is what the Spirit of God desires to have with us. And last but not least, we have the promise of when we trust in Him and acknowledge Him in all of our ways. It says, “And He shall direct your paths” – not He “might” direct your paths, but He “shall” direct our paths when we trust Him and acknowledge Him. The word “direct” means “to make smooth or straight.” You see, if we are led by the Spirit of God 100% of the time, we would never get food poisoning, we would never make a bad investment, we would never get ripped off, etc. When we learn how to develop that close relationship with the Holy Spirit and are aware of Him in all of our ways, He will make our paths smooth and straight as opposed to hard and difficult. So, my point is that all of these other practical guidelines we are going to give you today are not something to legalistically observe. They are just general guidelines. What is important is that you inquire of the Lord with how you need to do it personally. And this both requires and promotes personal relationship with God and communion with the Holy Spirit—which is our primary purpose and calling. Amen! THE FIRST STEP TO GETTING A HANDLE ON OUR FINANCES Now the first thing that I believe is important in regard to learning to “handle” our finances is really “getting a handle” on our finances. And the only way to really do that is to write everything down. You know, the Lord spoke through the Prophet Habakkuk and said, “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.” (Habakkuk 2:2) While the Lord was referring to the specific words He was giving them, the principle holds true even in our finances:
Therefore, when it comes to getting a handle on your finances, the key is in, first, writing down what you have coming in versus what you have going out and then disciplining yourself to make the adjustments you can clearly see you need, in order to turn things around. Amen? For example, the Book of Proverbs gives us a couple of Scriptures that talk about the importance of this “diligence” … In Proverbs 12:24 says, “The hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor.” This verse describes the primary difference between the boss and the employee. Then in Proverbs 13:4 “The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.” This proverb again differentiates between the lazy soul and the diligent soul- the lazy wants more but doesn’t get it. The diligent gets it instead. So what does it mean to be diligent? I once heard God’s definition of diligence. He said, “It is an energetic drive to achieve by action what it believes.” The Lord said He is a rewarder of diligence (Hebrews 11:6). So after you write it out, let’s look at a good, general guideline of how our finances should be structured. But, again, let me caution you to not become overly rigid concerning this guideline because, for example, a danger of knowing all of the specifics of how much you’re giving is an unwillingness to go above and beyond what you might normally give. So leave some “wiggle” room in there for the Spirit’s periodic promptings. You basically have three categories when writing down your finances:
Now, let’s start with giving since it is the priority, even above our personal expenses… Regarding “giving,” this should be at the minimum of 10% to start off with. I know some of us give maybe 12%-15%, but we should all start with the tithe as our general guideline and then purpose in our heart to give above and beyond that- both consistently by partnering with various ministries and sporadically by giving to various needs that you come across. So, 10% is a good percentage to budget for the giving category. And while we are on that, let me address a question that comes up regarding this… A good question that people who are struggling in their finances ask is- “If we owe a bunch of creditors, do we still give our tithe to the Lord?” And the answer is a resounding YES! Again, you are not giving if you have something left over; you are giving first. That must be the mindset because this Matthew 6:33 principle of seeking first the kingdom of God is what will make the rest of your money go further. Amen? LIVING Now let’s talk about that “general expenses” category- or, the money you live on… A good rule of thumb is that you really want that figure to be at 70%. But this is just the goal. If you are one of the many who’s general expenses are at 90% to (God forbid) 110-120%, you need to do what you have to do to get that percentage that goes towards general expenses down to at a maximum of 80%. In my opinion, a good average is 75%. You may do this by selling your vehicle you still make payments on and buying an older vehicle outright. You may do this by getting rid of Internet, cable etc. You could also get rid of your smart phone with its plan. But it might also be the case that you cannot eliminate any of these expenses because you’ve cut out everything you possible can. In that case, you can think of a short-term extra source of income to get the income number up instead of bringing the expenses down. Just determine what your skills are and put them to good use. Now pride does not like to do this because we think- “I deserve better. I shouldn’t have to do more than those around me.” Well, the bottom line is- you have to do what you have to do. And if experiencing a positive trend in your finances is important to you, then do what you need to do to solve the problem. You’ve heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same things and expecting different results? Well, that applies here as well. Humble yourself and get up a little earlier on Saturdays to start mowing some people’s grass to get some extra income. Just be creative, and research ways that you might be able to generate more income for yourself. You see, you just want to get that “general expense” number down as far as you can so you can- SAVE! SAVING This is a really important one because savings is crucial for one to get out of the financial mess they are in because we must develop this reserve for multiple reasons:
No, the Bible actually backs saving… Proverbs 21:20 says, "There is desirable treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man squanders it." And Proverbs 22:3 emphasizes, "A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished." For example, if we would save $1000 each year and let this money earn 6 percent interest, compounded annually, we would have $24,672.56 at the end of a 15-year period. If at the end of 15 years of saving faithfully, a son or daughter is ready for college or the family needs to move into a bigger house or wants to serve the Lord on a full-time basis, the couple can start to withdraw their savings. They can withdraw $2000 a year for 10 years and still have $15,322.17, or slightly more than they set aside. Isn't this making your money work for you? God has a reason for the principle of saving money. Of course, you are not going to get 6% interest in a regular savings account. This is where investing comes into play. And while many of us do not know a lot about investing, a good scriptural principle to live by is found in the Book of Proverbs… Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” Also, Proverbs 15:22 says, “Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established.” You see, there will be times in our lives when we will be faced with difficult decisions. These decisions will be hard because there will be a lot of risk involved. Say, for instance, when the opportunity presents itself for us to change jobs, move a considerable distance, or get married to someone. These are big decisions that we do not want to miss God on. So how do we make sure we are not missing it when making big decisions like this? Let’s look over at Deuteronomy 19:15… It says, “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits: by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.” As Matthew 18:16 & 2 Corinthians 13:1 both put it- “…every word shall be established.” Now I understand that Moses was referring to a specific situation when he originated this often-used verse, but as evidenced by Jesus’ and Paul’s use of this saying, it has a myriad of meanings. And I believe that one particular meaning is that it is also referring to “every word from God.” So I would quote this verse as saying, “in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word from God shall be established.” In other words, we have a way to establish (i.e. make firm and solidify) everything that God speaks to us. And what way is this? In the mouth of two or three witnesses! You see, not only do we have the inward witness, but we also have multiple witnesses that God will use to verify and establish the direction that He wants us to go! We have the inward witnesses of peace, our desires, what seems good to us, and what we know in our hearts, but there are other witnesses that God has given us so that we can make sure that we are not being led astray by what we think is God. So how do we avoid making these same bad choices that others originally thought were from God? It is through obtaining multiple witnesses. It is through not making any rash decisions when we think we have heard from God- especially on the risky decisions. So what are the different witnesses that we have available to us to protect us from making these big mistakes? I have divided them into three categories:
If what we believe God is leading us to do contradicts what the Bible clearly condemns, then we can throw that idea out the window. For example, if someone believed God told them that they were supposed to be with someone else’s husband and they were committing adultery with that man, then it is rather obvious that they did not hear from God because the Bible clearly is against adultery. So the Word of God is a witness that keeps us from making major mistakes. Other “God witnesses” we have would be if we were to hear God’s audible voice telling us what we need to do or, more subtly, the Holy Spirit speaking clearly on the inside of us giving us direction. But did you know that just having this one witness- the God witness- is not enough when making major, life-altering decisions? Why? It is because the enemy can certainly twist and mimic these so-called God-experiences. Now let’s look at what I call the second witness- Yourself… There is an inward witness that we have within ourselves that is manifested in many different ways. And this witness that we have in ourselves is another witness that we have to help us be established in the direction we receive from God. You see, if we face these bigger decisions that we believe the Lord has put before us (i.e. things that have a lot of risk involved if we miss God), we would be wise to have not just the God witness, but also to have the witness within ourselves. Why? Because, as I just made the point of, we might receive some kind of supernatural experience that seems like God but if it does not bear witness with our spirit then we need to be cautious. In other words, we can receive a word from God, but we also need to have that witness within ourselves in order to confirm what we experienced. God set it up this way! He put that new spirit within us to confirm whether the things that we hear or experience are God inspired or not. This is the second witness! But, on the other hand, if we feel like the Lord is leading us in a certain direction through this second witness and this is a risky decision, we can and should seek another witness such as the first witness we discussed- God. We can do this by asking the Lord to confirm what we are feeling in our heart to do and He might just give us a Scripture or two to confirm this. He might have the Holy Spirit speak gently to our heart what He wants us to do. Whichever way He decides to honor your wise request, it will give you more of a solid foundation to stand on as you step out in faith. But not only will God confirm these inward witnesses through the God witness but He might send the third and final witness to you- Other people. Let me explain… If you have a desire to do something that you feel might be from God or if you just know in your heart that you are supposed to do something, and then you ask the Lord to confirm whether this is his plan for you or not, He might not use that first witness. He might will to use other people as that confirmation. He might move upon someone to come to you and say something like, “Yay, Thus saith the Lord, you are supposed to do this or that!” or He might do it more subtly by sending someone across your path to just make a passing comment that you know to be a confirmation of what you already know in your heart. Either way, God will oftentimes use people whether they know they are being used (i.e. a prophecy) or whether they do not know they are being used (i.e. just a suggestion or comment). But there are other ways to receive this third and final witness such as seeking godly counsel… For instance, if we receive either or both of the first two witnesses, we can go to someone who we believe hears from God, someone we respect, and someone we know will be honest and forthright with us. This is an important part of the third witness that God oftentimes uses to correct us when we are getting off of His path for us. Therefore, we would do good to not only listen to the godly counsel that we are offered, but also to seek out this counsel when faced with a big decision. So we have three witnesses that we can use to let every word be established… We have the “God Witness.” We have the “Inward Witness.” And we have the “Other People Witness.” All three can and should be used when making these big and risky decisions. There is a word used in wise financial investing called “diversification.” This word means “to spread your money around.” In regard to investing the experts say that we should spread our investments around and not put all of our eggs in one basket, because in doing so, we eliminate the risk of a financial disaster. This is just an illustration of what I am talking to you about this week… It is a wise thing to not just invest all of your trust in just one witness because we are always capable of missing it. It would be wise on these bigger decisions to “diversify” and seek two or three witnesses. For in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word will be established. WISE AS SERPENTS Now regarding this wisdom, let’s go over to a New Testament passage of Scripture and look at a statement our Lord told His disciples: In Matthew 10:16, Jesus said to His disciples— “Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Herein lies a great principle for the proper stewardship of our finances: We certainly want to be “harmless” in our dealings—meaning, we are not to get over into hurting others simply because things benefit us. We are not to be that overaggressive businessman who runs over others to get to the place he wants to go. Therefore, we are gentle with our dealings, not harmful. But we are also to be wise as serpents. Now what does this mean? Well, let’s consider how a serpent is indeed wise… Have you ever noticed how snakes spend a lot more time being still than moving? In their natural wisdom, they only make small, calculated movements. I believe this is a very important element of wisdom that we would do good to embrace in the handling of our finances. Take small, calculated steps. Don’t be quick to move and just blare on without giving a lot of thought to where you are going and how you are getting there. For example, many people don’t consider the outcome of their fleshly impulses. They just do what feels right at the moment, giving no consideration to what it will cost them tomorrow. THE BONDAGE OF DEBT This is one of the primary reasons people get into debt… Now another important principle of financial stewardship is to keep out of unnecessary debt and thus avoid the debt trap. Borrowing for a house or car is one thing, but taking on financial obligations that are beyond the ability of one to pay is another. Psalm 37:21 says, "the wicked borroweth, and payeth not again." The minute a person goes into debt, he loses a portion of his freedom. As Proverbs 22:7 says, "The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender." For example, do you remember that example I gave you previously of if we saved just a $1000 each year and let this money earn 6 percent interest, compounded annually, we would have $24,672.56 at the end of a 15-year period? Then we saw that we could withdraw $2000 a year for 10 years and still have $15,322.17, or slightly more than they set aside. Well, suppose we decided that instead of saving $1000 a year, we would go into debt for $1000 to buy maybe some new furniture. And suppose we then continue to increase our indebtedness by $1000 during each of the 15 years, without paying back one cent. With 10 percent interest, compounded annually, on the increase in debt, the couple's debt would have been an astronomical $34,949.74. The debt on $1000 alone for that same period, without any repayment, would have been $4177.21. Far too many people think you can buy now and pay later. That isn't true. I've found that easy credit now makes people uneasy later. It is proven that a person pays more for the use of borrowed money than he or she gets in interest for saving it. WHAT ABOUT CREDIT CARDS? Let’s look at an example of this that we can all relate to- credit cards… When dealing with credit cards, many Americans have the mindset that they are a means of getting what they want today even though they do not currently have the money. For instance, many Americans will say things like- “I can put this new flat screen, high-definition television on my credit card and then I’ll own it.” But the reality is- they don’t really own it because they are going to have to pay for it down the road- plus some! You see, wisdom will not do this. The reason why is because wisdom will consider what something is going to cost down the road before acting on the impulses of the flesh to purchase it now. Now don’t get me wrong- I am not saying that using credit cards is unwise (Sorry Dave Ramsey); it just becomes unwise when we do not handle them correctly. This occurs as we spend money on our credit card knowing that we will not be able pay it back immediately - thus incurring those high interest rates. But if we use a credit card, all with the mentality that we will pay it back at our first opportunity, then there is nothing wrong with them. However, my point is that it is unwise to simply gratify the flesh and not consider the repercussions of those decisions. So, in regard to this, we should do our best to avoid using credit as a means to get what we want today at the cost of tomorrow. Now we can flip this principle of wisdom regarding credit cards because did you know, you can actually use credit cards to your benefit? For example, Shannon and I have used credit cards for some time now that earn us cash back- anywhere from 1% to 5%. Of course, that is not a tremendous amount but when you charge everything you can on it (while deducting those payments out of your checkbook register as if you were using a check or a debit card) then it can add up. For instance, when we have to make a major purchase, we use the credit card even though we might have the money sitting in our checking account. Why? Because we want to earn the rewards with the credit card company on that purchase and then we will turn around and pay it back before the interest sets in. There are some credit cards that earn travel rewards and I know a man who earned a free trip to Hawaii for himself and 3 other family members after just a few years of charging everything he could on that credit card while paying the bill in full every month! This is how credit cards can actually benefit us. So I am not saying that using credit cards is wrong; what I am saying, however, is that it is just how most Americans use them that is wrong. Now there are some strong opinions out there regarding credit cards and whether people should use them or not. I know that some of the most prominent financial gurus out there say we should cut them up, but a rationale I have discovered is - are credit cards really bad, or is how people mishandle them the real problem? As I was writing this about the misuse of credit cards, a particular scripture was ringing in my head… “The law is good if one uses it lawfully” (1 Timothy 1:8)… You see, in the circles that I have run in, most people have this negative perception of the Mosaic and Levitical Laws. We understand that the law was given by God strictly to show us His unattainable righteous requirements - all with the hope of us throwing our hands in the air and asking for mercy. In this case, God sent the Messiah - the Lord Jesus - to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law for us so that when we responded in this manner, He would save us by grace. This is using the law “lawfully.” On the other hand, to use the law “unlawfully” would be to try and fulfill the righteous requirements of the law while rejecting the sacrifice offered through the blood and body of the Lord Jesus. In other words, using the law “unlawfully” would be us using the law as a means of justification before God. So, you see, the law is not bad in and of itself; it is just how people have used it that is bad. Likewise, credit cards are good, if people would use them “lawfully.” But the problem is many use credit cards as a way of gratifying their flesh today without giving any real thought to what it will cost them tomorrow. Let me ask you another question: Does the Bible say that money is the root of all evil? Many would quickly answer and say, “Yes!” But that is not what the Bible says. It says that the love of money is the root of all evil. So it is the misuse and mishandling of money that is the root of all evil. In other words, it is in how one views money that is the real pitfall. Therefore, I view credit cards the same way. They are not evil and foolish if they are used wisely. Now people will say, “Yeah, but statistics tells us that if we have the plastic in our pocket, we will more readily spend it than if we only use cash.” Well, that might be true with some people. And I will tell those people that if they cannot control what they spend if they are using a debit or credit card, then go to the all-cash formula. But I would encourage them at the same time to work on having more self-control and to be more Spirit led. You might say, “Why?” It is because credit cards can be beneficial. They are only detrimental if we spend money that we do not have when the payment on said credit card is due because we should strive to never pay any interest on a credit card. Also, we should not have a credit card that has an annual fee either because unless you spend a lot in order to accumulate a lot of the rewards you earn, the fee will offset any rewards you’re getting. But my point is that you should indeed get rid of your credit cards if you are prone to spend more money because it’s so convenient to, if you are paying an annual fee for the card or you are not paying it off every month and therefore making interest payments on top of the regular balance of what you’ve spent. But if you have these things in order, credit cards can be beneficial to you… How, you ask? By the points & cash back balance you can accumulate. Working in banking, I saw people who will use their debit card for everything. They used it for every little purchase they made and sometimes it got them in trouble because they would forget to write down those purchases and their bank balance would go down further than expected and then when they wrote maybe a large check all of those items hit at the same time and it overdrew their account. And let me say this while I’m on the subject- if you have made it a habit to go into your overdraft in your bank account or have accumulated “NSF” (i.e. insufficient funds fees), you are hurting yourself badly. I have seen people who just live that way and they would be shocked if they actually saw how much money they are paying the bank annually. No, your credit cards and bank accounts should be working for you, not you for them. Another benefit of using a credit card over a debit card, aside from the rewards you can earn on a credit card that you won’t get for using a debit card, is in the event that you card is ever compromised (meaning, somebody gets your card information and starts using it fraudulently) then you have more recourse- because if they use it, even though the bank (w/ a debit card) may eventually be able to get your money recovered, it is a much bigger inconvenience than if your credit card was charged fraudulently. So my point is that credit cards can actually work for you by using them on all of your purchases, knowing that you will have the money at the end of the month to pay the entire balance off, and letting the rewards/points begin to accumulate over a period of time. This is how Shannon and myself pay for a lot of our Christmas shopping. We use a particular credit card that earns cash back and then redeem it once a year for things that make our money go a lot further than normal. So, wisdom will make financial decisions today that will be beneficial tomorrow. In other words, wisdom will invest as opposed to incurring debt! This is the heart of wisdom regarding the financial arena. CONTENTMENT IS KEY A very important principle to living free from debt is being content with what one has. Hebrews 13:5 puts it succinctly: "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." You see, if we willingly violate this godly principle and allow the room for covetousness to enter our heart, then we are opening up other spiritual dynamics that will hurt our financial condition… One area where people often first become discontent involves the old automobile. Too many people trade or sell their cars before they are used up. There's a big difference between fixing up the old junk heap to drive three more years and buying a new car. Many salesmen make the slick remark, "You just make that easy monthly payment." There is seldom anything easy about that monthly payment. It seems to get harder to make all the time. Second Corinthians 6:10 is so beautiful to apply here. It reads: "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." My friends in the automobile business tell me that most cars are good for more miles than most people put on them. Just because a car has over 100,000 miles doesn't mean a person has to get rid of it. Look at some of the buses, trucks and cars still going strong, especially in countries outside North America. They are cars of the same age and mileage that other people junked years ago. A worthwhile saying to remember on contentment is this: "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without." WATCHING FOR WOLVES And have you noticed how easy it is for us to get ourselves into this debt snowball? The world will help you! You see, in the context of Matthew 10:16, Jesus was giving them an admonition because He was sending them out as sheep among the wolves. And you have probably heard before that sheep are, by nature, dumb. Therefore, Jesus was telling us, “Hey, you guys are being sent out like dumb sheep into a world filled with wolves that are ready to devour you. So be wise as serpents, yet harmless as doves!” So let’s consider this in the arena of the world’s economy: If you have done business in this world long enough, you will know that there are indeed wolves in the business world - and they are not just the tax collectors, the car salesman, etc. You need to know that in the marketplace almost a total 100% of businessmen and businesswomen are not looking out for your best interest; they are looking out only for what benefits them. I bring this up because so many of us are naïve. We easily trust that people are telling us the truth all of the time, and in many sales tactics, people tell what they call white lies and purposefully do not tell you all they know because they are trying to get that sale. So we are to be “harmless as doves” in that we are not repaying them evil for evil, but we are also to be “wise as serpents” in that we do not succumb to the sales tactics that they use like “This is a limited time offer: act now!” or “Come on! You know you want this car right now!” Many people “buy” into these forms of manipulation because they are “sheep.” In other words, they are just led around by what others are telling them to do, blindly trusting others. But the truth is, that as the Lord’s sheep, we are to be led around by only one and that is the Good Shepherd. As Psalm 23 so poetically states that when the Lord is our shepherd, we shall never “want” (i.e. lack). He will lead us in the way in which we should go, which is beside still waters. In other words, He will lead us by or through still waters. Most people only see that as saying he will lead us beside the still waters, but how about He will lead us by (or, through) still waters- that is, through peace. You see, we need to learn to be led by peace and as Colossians 3:16 says, let the peace of Christ rule (i.e. act as umpire & call the shots) in our hearts. Saints, if you don’t have peace about something, NEVER do it! Be led by those still waters in your heart as Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would provide living waters on the inside of us. How many of us have had a lack of peace about doing a business deal and then we regret it later? Start to pay attention to that peace on the inside of you before you make a move. This is being wise like a serpent. And this leads me to what I would call – the heart of wisdom. THE HEART OF WISDOM I have found that the heart of wisdom is this: it always looks ahead. In other words, the very basis of wisdom is that it always considers the future when making current decisions. Isn’t this just a common characteristic of a wise person? Through the knowledge and experiences of life, a wise person who chooses to learn from their life-lessons will make adjustments the next go around. In other words, because of what they learned will happen when they do certain things, they consider the outcome of their current decisions. This is wisdom, and this is exactly the opposite of what a fool does. You know, as you read through Proverbs – the Book of Wisdom – you find that Solomon spent a lot of time differentiating between the wise person and the fool. And we also see that in describing the foolish person, he used the exact opposite characteristics of those we see in the heart of wisdom. For instance, a fool will speak without thinking - never considering how what he is about to say will affect him or those hearing him. In regard to this, a fool will vent all his feelings. In other words, what is in his heart will become obvious because he will always let you know what he is thinking no matter how inappropriate it might be. A fool will also just blare on without giving any thought to his destination. He will rarely consider how what he is about to do will affect him down the road. So, you see, a fool conducts himself in the exact opposite manner of the wise. People with the heart of wisdom will not vent all of their feelings. They will consider the effect their words will have before they speak them – and in many respects, godly wisdom will restrain any words that would be hurtful and harmful to the hearers. The wise will also consider where what they are about to do will take them before they move forward – thinking ahead as to whether or not their current decision will lead them away from God’s perfect plan for their life. To put it simply – the heart of wisdom is that it looks ahead and considers where it is going. Let’s now look over at a verse in the 90th Psalm that uses this terminology “the heart of wisdom” (This Psalm was actually a prayer that Moses prayed during the time Israel was wandering in the wilderness for 40 years) ... In this Psalm, Moses prayed for something that I believe we should all pray for consistently for our own lives and the lives of others. In this awesome prayer, Moses shows us how the heart of wisdom applies to our life on this earth versus our life in eternity. So what was it that Moses specifically prayed for that will enable us to gain a heart of wisdom? In verse 12, he asked the Lord to “teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” What a powerful verse this is! What Moses was asking Yahweh was to teach them to count the number of days that they had. What does this mean? Just think about it: the carnal human tendency is to suppose that we will live on this earth forever. Most people (particularly young people) just float through life never considering that their life may end soon. Since this life is all that we have ever known, we just live life never really considering what happens after we die. But life after death is a reality that we must consider! As a matter of fact, eternity is something that we better consider because how we live our life now will determine where and how we will spend eternity. Do you see how vague this is to most people – even Christians? But this is exactly why Moses prayed this for Israel… He prayed that God would teach them to calculate and evaluate their days on this earth so that they would be ready for the next life. So I pray now for all of us… “Lord, teach us to number our days as well - to see how short this life really is so that we would make the most of our time here on the earth. Lord, give unto us this heart of wisdom.” Amen! In the 90th Psalm as well as several other places in Scripture we are reminded of our human frailty. The Scriptures that are ringing in my ears even as I am writing this describe mankind as grass (see Isaiah 40:6-8 & James 1:9-11). And the point of emphasis in these Scriptures is that we are like grass in that we grow up one day and are cut down the next. Some of us are beautiful, glamorous, and successful like the flower of the grass, but we all will suffer the same fate of death regardless of what we accomplish here on the earth. We are all but a vapor. You see, in the world success is sought for. People live their whole lives to make a buck and be able to retire one day. And although there is some wisdom in preparing for our future here on the earth, if that is all we live for, then we are living a life of vanity. You see, our life on this earth is so short in comparison to eternity. And I believe the church has allowed the same mentality of the world to creep into it. We have adopted the same carnal and foolish thinking that is only concerned with this earth-life. This is indeed a grave mistake because a day is coming, soon and very soon, when we will stand in front of our Master and have to give an account for the stewardship of our life on this earth. I personally want the Lord to look at me and say, “Well done good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in little (i.e. in this short life) and now you will become ruler over much (i.e. in the eternal kingdom of God)!” So which end of the spectrum are you going to strive for? Are you going to live for today and be in debt for the future or are you going to live for the future and lay down your life today? Life is short, my friends, so live for eternity! So, in conclusion, we could say that making current decisions that will positively affect our future is the heart of wisdom! By far the most important aspect of this is regarding the spiritual because he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption but he who sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap everlasting life (Galatians 6:8). But we should also incorporate this characteristic of wisdom into our earth-life as well—physically, financially, etc.
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The series that we are currently on is entitled “Financially Faithful” where we are learning how we can be more faithful to the Lord in the financial area of our life. And over the past few weeks, we have been looking at the main way we can be most faithful in this area – in our giving. And regarding this subject of giving, let me reiterate to you that God does not need our money! He is not in lack! God just simply wants all our heart. And if He gets all our heart, then He will get our giving. It is that simple. You see, loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength is far more important than your gifts to Him (See Mark 12:33). However, never forget this one truth: You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving! In other words, you can give money to the Lord without your heart being in it, but when God has all of your heart, He will have all of your wallet or pocketbook as a by-product. God just wants our heart, church! So we spent a few weeks on the first & most foundational type of giving – the tithe. And we’ve learned everything from what the tithe is and why we give it to when the tithe is and where we give it. I would encourage you to go back and listen to those three weeks as we answered all these questions because tithing is foundational to us correctly stewarding our finances. Then last week, we looked at another type of giving that is equally significant in the eyes of the Lord, and that is the giving of “alms.” We learned that this term simply describes gifts given to the poor. And we learned just how important remembering the poor is to the Lord. In fact, I call it God’s soapbox, because throughout the Scriptures, we see that taking care of the poor is a HUGE deal to God. In fact, it was something that He had to constantly correct His chosen people about. However, we learned some important wisdom when it comes to the day & time we live in—because giving to the poor isn’t as simple as it might have been in Bible times. For example, we learned that not all who claim to be poor are “really” poor. You see, in case you aren’t paying attention, in our country we have a lot of unethical, deceptive, and manipulating practices by some people in this area. You don’t have to drive far to see people hanging out at intersections & on street corners begging for money, and in many of these cases, it’s a scam. But the problem is that we as Christians – particularly us who have big hearts and are generous – can have the tendency to be gullible. Yes, we are believers, so when a person tells us a story, we tend to believe them. So if a person gives us some spill, a lot of Christians can tend towards swallowing their story hook, line, and sinker! So our point was that in this day & time and in our culture, we have need of wisdom to know when to give and who to give to. This applies to everything really, but especially in this area of the giving of alms. But the fact remains that there are still legitimate needs out there that the Lord wants His people to have a heart for. And we saw from the mouth of Jesus and in the Book of Proverbs that having this “eye”—this focus on the poor—holds a lot of tremendous blessings. Church, I hope you can see just how important it is that we remember the poor and focus on meeting the needs of those who are really going through difficult times. It is God’s heart! And the Lord wants us to have a heart like His – to meet the needs of His creation with our service, His power, and also with His and our finances. This will yield a life that is blessed, for He will recompense us for every good deed we do in love and by faith. Amen! DEFINING OFFERINGS So this week, let’s take a look at what the Word of God has to say about another type of giving. This is one that I believe we are all familiar with because of how it is threaded throughout the Scriptures – I’m referring to “offerings.” Now when we think of the term “offerings,” we think financial. In fact, in a lot of our churches, we call that time of the service where we collect money, “offering time.” But there were all kinds of offerings that we see described in the Bible, and most of the times those offerings were animals such as bulls, sheep, etc. Other times, offerings were things like crops, fruit, etc. But like we learned with the tithe, one of the big reasons we see that Israel was told to tithe things like livestock and the fruit of the ground is because those things represented money to them back then. Therefore, it is understandable why we primarily give monetary gifts today instead of other things. However, when it comes to offerings, we don’t need to just see it as money or other tangible things that we give to the church, some ministry, or another physical place or person. We need to see “offerings” as us giving something that is precious & valuable to the Lord Himself. So yeah, even though we might be giving a tangible thing to a physical person, place, or thing, what is really supposed to be occurring is us giving a spiritual sacrifice to our Lord Himself. And I don’t think this is what most Christians do when we give in the “offering.” In fact, the word “offering” in Webster’s dictionary is defined like so – “a sacrifice ceremonially offered as an act of worship.” Now there are a lot of words in that one definition that are significant to us understanding what we need to know about offerings. A SACRIFICE CEREMONIALLY OFFERED Notice the first word listed in our basic definition of an offering is that it’s a “sacrifice.” Although this term used by Webster’s is likely specifically referring to the offerings prescribed under the Old Covenant such as the burnt animal sacrifices, I believe that those offerings given under the Old Testament were not only types and shadows of the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion, but they were also examples of what our financial offerings to the Lord should be like – sacrificial. You see, we might see a sacrifice offered back in the days of the Old Testament as the thing itself being offered. But what was of more importance to God was not the thing being killed & burnt, it was how much of a sacrifice was it to the person offering it, to give that offering. In fact, the Lord at one point told His people – the ones that He had commanded to offer these sacrifices in the first place – that it wasn’t about the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. In Isaiah 1:11 – “‘To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?’ Says the Lord. ‘I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats.’” So it wasn’t about the sacrifice; it was about the heart of the one offering the sacrifice. And that’s the lesson for you and I – Is it a sacrifice? Are we honoring the Lord with what we are “offering”? That’s what He was looking for then, and it’s what He’s still looking for now. But the fact is, God did indeed prescribe these sacrifices. In fact, they were to be “ceremonially” offered under the law. You see, God instituted in the Law many different kinds of offerings such as peace offerings, freewill offerings, drink offerings, etc. to be regularly given. And these can all be used as types and shadows of our financial offerings given under the New Covenant. One thing that we can learn about offerings from an Old Testament perspective is that there were a lot of them, and each of them had a specific purpose. For example, the burnt offering (Leviticus 1:3-17) was for the purpose of the general atonement of sin, and there were certain animals that could be used for this type of offering. There was even a specific way to burn these offerings (i.e. overnight). Then you have a peace offering (Leviticus chapter 3), and it was more of a festive offering. It likewise required specific types of animals. And the list could go on and on (i.e. the Grain Offering, the Sin Offering, the Trespass Offering, etc.) With each of these offerings, they were given very specific details on what was considered an acceptable type of offering for each of these, what their purpose was, and how these offerings were to be prepared. In all of these myriads of details, I learn one invaluable lesson: There are different kinds of financial offerings that we can give today, and each one can have its own specific purpose. For example, one type of financial offering in our day might be considered a “partnership offering”— that is, identifying a ministry that you believe in and making a pledge/commitment to giving regularly, a consistent amount into that ministry. Another could be a “seed offering”—which would be a one-time financial gift to a person or ministry for the specific purpose of planting a seed for a needed or desired harvest in your own life. Others might be a “missions offering” (i.e. giving into either a local or overseas mission), a “project offering” (i.e. giving into a special project like a building fund etc.). And this list likewise could go on and on. One specific kind of offering that Shannon and I like to give is what one might call a “Resurrection Offering.” What this is, is that around Easter every year, when we are celebrating the most important day of our faith, we sow what is to us a very significant financial gift to honor the Lord for His victory over death, hell, and the grave and to show gratitude for what that means to us. Now like it is with these types of offerings that we can give today, there is not necessarily Scripture for each of them. However, with some of the offerings given under the Old Testament, there wasn’t always a “Thus saith the Lord” associated with them either. They just came out of the heart of the giver! And to me, saints, this is what it is all about: Our offerings need to come out of our heart! Yes, we need to purpose in our own heart how we can honor the Lord. And I can assure you, when you choose to offer Him something from the right heart, the Lord receives it as a sweet-smelling aroma. (Example of Noah’s sacrifice after the flood in Genesis 8:20) But my point is that like it was under the Old Covenant, there are many different types of “offerings” we can give, and each can have its own specific purpose and intention. But let me say this – the most important purpose & intention is to honor the Lord. Sure, it’s fine to have a reason for giving an offering, but we shouldn’t get all wrapped up in the benefit of giving it and forget the One we are giving it to. Now I want you to notice that in Webster’s definition of an offering that it describes it as a sacrifice ceremonially “offered.” The word “offered” is really where our English word “offering” is derived from – It is something that is offered to the Lord. Now by the fact that it is offered, we can see that it can either be accepted or rejected. For example, if I “offered” you a ride, some advice, or anything like that, then you have the choice of accepting what I am offering or turning me down. Well, when you study offerings in the Scriptures, you find that God didn’t accept every offering. Some He received and others He rejected. (We will look at an example of this a little later). But my point is that there are things we “offer” to the Lord, but that doesn’t mean He receives or accepts them. The motivation of our hearts, the love that is behind them, and the sacrifice that they were to us, are all things that determine whether our offering is accepted by Him. And again, it’s Him we are giving to. I get tickled sometimes because there are people that have made sure I knew what they were giving and were in hopes that I would be impressed by it. In other words, they wanted me to accept & receive their offering. Well, that’s not exactly why we give offerings. No, we want God to be impressed, not a man or a woman, because He’s the One we are ultimately giving to. Amen? THE PERFECT OFFERING So let’s talk really quickly about what does a good, acceptable, and perfect offering that God accepts look like … In Ephesians 5:2 the apostle Paul says, “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” Friends, is there a better example of a perfect offering than Jesus Christ? I think not! Yes, He is the ultimate example of what an offering should look like because He was the best and most perfect offering ever! Why? Because He was a sacrifice! God gave His only begotten Son! He did not give just one of His sons that He could spare! No, He gave His very best and that which cost Him something! But another reason Jesus was the perfect offering was because He was a sweet-smelling aroma to God. That means He was an offering that was well-pleasing and acceptable to God. And do you know why? It was because He was pure and had no blemish. He was totally void of spot & wrinkle! You see, one of the things the Lord had to correct Israel about was that when they brought these offerings to Him, that it wasn’t right for them to bring the blind, lame, spotted, etc. No, these were the leftovers. They were keeping the best because they were more valuable and, therefore, worth more. But Jesus was that Lamb of God without spot or wrinkle! Therefore, He was that most valuable sacrifice that could have been given. Amen! So, the thing we can learn from Jesus’ example is how our offerings can be offerings in which God is well-pleased: First of all, as a general rule, our offerings need to be our very best gifts—something that cost us something. King David said in First Chronicles 21:24 that he would not give to God something that cost Him nothing! This means that our offerings should be our very best gifts that are a sacrifice to us. Secondly, Jesus being a pure and undefiled sacrifice shows us how our offerings should be given with a good heart and void of impure motives. Our offerings should be totally clean and perfect. These kinds of offerings are the ones in which God is “well-pleased.” Now do not misunderstand me, not all of our offerings need to be extreme sacrifices—such as, giving all that we have—but they shouldn’t be simply our pocket change either! Again, we just need to understand that when we give offerings to a ministry or our local church, we are giving unto the Lord! It is not man that we are giving to! Sure, we are giving into His works that consist of other people, but in actuality, we are giving to God. So, my point is that if we are giving to God, our gifts need to be honorable. In other words, they need to be a gift that is worthy of being presented to a King, something that costs us something. OFFERINGS = FAITH GIFTS Now we need to understand that these honorable offerings are always accompanied by faith. We can see this exemplified in the offering of Abel as opposed to the offering of Cain. This is one of our best examples of offerings that God loves versus offerings that God rejects. We all know the story of how God respected Abel’s offering and did not respect Cain’s offering and much debate has been made as to why. Genesis 4:4 says that Abel gave the firstborn of his flock (i.e. the first and, therefore, the best) and of their fat (i.e. their richest parts), but Genesis 4:3 said that Cain “in the process of time” gave of the fruit of the ground. The phrase “in the process of time” literally meant “at the end of days.” So, I believe the problem with Cain’s sacrifice was that it was not a sacrifice at all. He came to sacrifice to God when it was convenient for him. I believe he offered to God what he had left over and what he could spare, unlike Abel who gave the first and the best. You could put it this way: Abel gave sacrificially and honorably, while Cain gave conveniently and dishonorably. This was the big difference between Cain’s offering and Abel’s offering. But did you know that the New Testament teaches us specifically what made Abel’s offering a more excellent sacrifice? Sure, Genesis shows us what they did and didn’t do, but Hebrews 11:4 teaches us why they did the things they did. It says, “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain …” So, how did Abel offer a more excellent sacrifice than Cain? It was “by faith!” Plain & simple. Saints, if you really want God to be well-pleased with your offerings, then they need to be given in faith- for faith is what pleases God (Hebrews 11:6) And it does not require a whole lot of faith for most people to pull a one dollar bill out of their wallet and plunk it in the offering. So am I saying that it is wrong to just give a buck? Of course not! First of all, giving just a dollar might require a lot of faith for some people in tougher financial situations, but what I am saying is that in order for your gifts to be “more excellent,” they need to require faith on your part to give them. You see, God does not focus on amounts; He focuses on percentages! Do you remember the story in Luke chapter 21 of the poor widow who gave two mites? Jesus said that she gave more than all the rest of the people giving their offerings. Why? Because He said that all the rest gave out of their abundance—that is, they gave what they could spare—but she gave all her livelihood! This poor widow did not give more than everyone else from an amount standpoint; She gave more than everyone from a percentage standpoint. Saints, when Jesus looks at our offerings, He is looking from a percentage standpoint. Am I giving what I know I can spare or am I giving in faith? This is the question we should ask ourselves. And this is where Cain made his mistake. His offering was evidently not honoring God and required no faith on his part. Therefore, God did not accept it and we all know well what the end result of that story was. Friends, let’s always make it a point that when we are giving an offering of some sort, to first understand that the Lord is ultimately who we are giving it to! Therefore, let’s make it a point to honor Him with that gift and give in faith! For with offerings like this, the Lord is well-pleased! Amen! WORSHIP THE LORD WITH YOUR GIVING Now in the rest of Webster’s definition, he defines an offering as “a sacrifice ceremonially offered as an act of worship.” This shows us how, when our offerings are given, they should always be offered as an act of worship. How many times have we prepared an offering for the Lord and then, when offering time comes, we just plunk it in the collection box or offering plate without any thought? Sadly, we would have to say it has been more often than not. But, saints, what we need to understand is that when we give our offerings to the Lord it is to be a part of worship. In other words, our giving should be accompanied by a heart that is prostrate and in love with the Lord, and not just something we are giving like we pay a bill. How do we do this? Well, it’s obviously giving cheerfully and with a heart of gratitude! I cannot reiterate to you how important this is to God. He does not need our offerings! He just wants all of you! So when you give Him your offerings that come from a grateful heart, He is well pleased. But when you just give an offering because you feel compelled to or simply out of habit without your heart being in it, then God is not impressed at all. So the best way to worship the Lord in our giving is to engage the Lord when we are giving it, which can be when we prepare it or when we release it. First Corinthians 13:3 tells us that we can give all our goods to the poor and give our body to be burned, but if we are not motivated by love then it profits us nothing. My question was how can you give like this apart from love? And the answer is that you can just do these things out of duty or even greed. You might just feel obligated to give your money to the poor because you have somebody watching or you might just be willing to give of yourself because of the reward you will receive. These are wrong motivations! God wants us, as New Testament believers and full of His Spirit, to give out of our love for Him and His works, not because we will get something in return. No, He wants us to give, not because it will benefit us in any way, but just simply because we want to worship and honor Him through our giving! This is our high calling as born-again children of God—to worship the Lord with our offerings! REAPING WHAT WE SOW & REAPING HOW WE SOW Now in conclusion, I want to share with you some of the benefits of this kind of sacrificial and worshipful giving: Do you remember the story of God asking Abraham to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice to Him? Many do not understand the results of Abraham’s obedience in that situation. God was in covenant with Abraham. So, therefore, God needed a man to be willing to give his only begotten son (his very best) so that the law of sowing and reaping would be fulfilled by God giving His only begotten Son. God was legally obligated to bless man’s obedience according to the law of sowing and reaping. Amen! So what is my point, you ask? My point is that when we, as covenant people of God, give God our very best then that same law of sowing and reaping will take effect in our lives. In other words, when we give sacrificial offerings and offerings that are full of love then we will reap, and they will produce after their own kind! Second Corinthians 9:6-7 says, “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of [a]necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” Whatever manner in which we give to God is the manner in which God will give back to us! So the blessing in giving loving and sacrificial offerings unto God is that God will give back to us loving and sacrificial offerings. And how many of you know that if God gives like this then it is going to be some extremely lavish giving!?! I’m talking about some ship sinking, net breaking, and cup overflowing kind of blessings! It has been well said that you cannot out-give God and that is so true. So even if this message makes you feel uncomfortable because it stretches you, get out of the boat! Start living in the faith zone and watch God pour out so many blessings on you that you do not have room enough to contain them! Amen! REVIEW
In our series entitled “Financially Faithful” we are learning how we can be more faithful to the Lord with our finances. And church, while faithfulness is not a virtue that is esteemed by most Christians, it is actually something that the Lord esteems very highly. In fact, faithfulness is one of the most beautiful virtues possessed by God Himself. To be faithful means you are always there. Furthermore, it means that you will always do what you say you will do. Therefore, you are dependable. You can be counted on. You change not and you swear to your own hurt (no, I’m not talking about “cussing.” I mean you will follow through with what you promise even if it hurts you to do it). Faithfulness is such an important quality to have – and that certainly includes our handling of finances. So what does it mean to be faithful with our finances? It means that we do what He says with it all. So if He tells us in His Word a specific way to steward it, then we do it. And if He speaks to us in our hearts something specific to do with it, then we do it. So to be faithful with our finances means that we properly handle everything that God has blessed us with by heeding His instructions. So over the past few weeks, we have been looking at the Lord’s instructions concerning what’s called the tithe. And we’ve learned everything from what the tithe is to why do we practice it. Of course, there are a lot of opinions out there regarding this type of giving but we looked at how the tithe was not just contained under the law. No, it was both before the law and after the law. Therefore, it is an eternal statute that is a wise practice for us even today. I would encourage you to go back and listen to the past three weeks as we’ve covered the tithe in detail and learned how this fundamental type of giving is vital for each of our lives. Church, tithing is foundational to us correctly stewarding our finances. GOD’S SOAPBOX Now this week, I want us to move into another type of giving that I consider to be just as important in the eyes of the Lord as any other, and that is – the giving of alms. Now this term “alms” might not be a word you are familiar with, but it essentially was a type of giving that the Jewish people believed was important. You see, the giving of “alms” was commonly understood by the Jews as being gifts given to the poor. So like we learned about the tithe - that it was not just some religious type of giving, but rather was the rendering to God 10% of our increase - alms are not just any type of religious gift. No, they are specifically a charitable gift to someone in need given out of compassion & mercy. Now the term “alms” was a word used in the New Testament, both in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts, but it was not used in the Old Testament. However, while the Old Testament did not use this particular term, it certainly implied what the word means because there is so much mentioned in the Bible about taking care of the poor, the widows, the orphans, etc. It was a HUGE deal to God, and one that He had to constantly correct His chosen people about because they were often forgetting its importance to the Lord. In fact, in my studies of God’s Word, I have found that caring for the poor is one of God’s greatest desires. You could even describe it is His “soapbox.” Why, might you ask? Because throughout the Old and New Testaments, you see a common theme brought up – God raising up His prophets to declare His views regarding remembering the poor—especially the widows, orphans, and strangers. Like I said, He often admonished Israel because, although they kept many of the Lord’s ordinances and statutes such as the Sabbath, the many different sacrifices, and even fasted—they often forgot the poor and even dealt unjustly with those in impoverished positions. I could expound on many examples of this, but for time’s sake, let me just give you a few references and you can study them on your own—Isaiah 1:10-20, Isaiah 58, Jeremiah 22:13-16, Hosea 6:6, Amos 5:21-24, & Micah 6:3-8. However, there is one example in the New Testament that I would like us to look at. So let’s look over at Galatians chapter 2 … In Galatians chapter 2, the apostle Paul was recounting his meeting of the other apostles in Jerusalem. In this passage of Scripture, he talked about how they gave him and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship because of their ministry to the Gentiles, but Paul mentions something in verse 10 that has always stood out to me. He said, “They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.” What a powerful verse, saints! You know, if you had just met another Christian and committed to him or her a huge responsibility, do you think that this statement would be the one thing that you would remind them of? To most believers, this wouldn’t have been atop the list of the most important charges they would give others, but to these apostles that had walked with Jesus, this was obviously a very important part of ministry. Do you know why that the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ made this request of Paul and Barnabas? It was because this was one of the focal points of Jesus’ ministry! Jesus gave so much to the poor that he had to have a treasurer steward the giving of His resources. And when Judas, the treasurer of Jesus’ ministry, got up from the table in the nighttime to go betray Jesus, the other disciples said that he was probably told by Jesus to go give to the poor. Now for the other disciples to think that (especially in the middle of the night) shows us that this was obviously a regular practice of Jesus. In other words, Jesus was evidently known for giving to the poor at all hours of the day. And if this was Jesus’ way of operating, then this should be ours as well! Amen? Again, this is why I said at the beginning of this lesson that this type of giving was one of the most important. So, if I am being faithful with my finances, do you think that remembering the poor would not be at the top of my list of priorities? I think not! WHAT ARE ALMS? Now let’s look back to this term “alms” for a moment because if we look at its definition, we can learn a lot about giving to the poor: The Greek word used for “alms” is eleemosyne and described a gift to the poor, a charitable gift, or any act of generosity to someone in serious need (Strong’s). The root word was eleos, which described mercy, pity, or compassion. Therefore, this shows us how this type of giving is to be exhibited in mercy. And perhaps the best definition I have ever heard for mercy is “not getting what one does deserve.” So, when we combine this definition with the root meaning for “alms,” we see that when we give alms to the poor, we are not necessarily giving them what they deserve. I make this point because sometimes people fail to meet other people’s needs because they don’t feel like the person deserves to have their needs met. In other words, they reason their way out of giving to the poor because they start trying to figure out all the reasons why they don’t deserve what they need. Maybe the person did some foolish things to get themselves into that situation. Well, if the root meaning of the word “alms” is “mercy” then this does not mean that we are giving people what they deserve; we are giving them what they now need, regardless of whether they deserve it or not. In other words, we do not need to over scrutinize every poor person we help. If we did that with the sick, we could come up with all kinds of reasons why we shouldn’t pray for people in need of healing. ARE THEY REALLY POOR? However, this does not mean that we just blindly go around throwing money around because someone seems to be in need either. In case you aren’t paying attention, in our country we have a lot of unethical, deceptive, and manipulating practices by some people in this area. You don’t have to drive far to see people hanging out at intersections & on street corners begging for money. We have people that call the church regularly asking us to pay for their hotel, to help them with a utility bill, etc. etc. etc. And what we have realized was that people were just making the rounds and calling every church that had a reputation for helping people. So in wisdom, we had to figure out a way to determine who it was that God expects us to help, because if we would just give to every need that comes to our door, it wouldn’t be long before we wouldn’t have anything left to give. But the problem is that we as Christians – particularly us who have big hearts and are generous – can have the tendency to be gullible. Yes, we are believers. So when a person tells us a story, we tend to believe them. So if a person gives us some spill, a lot of Christians can tend towards swallowing their story hook, line, and sinker! So my point is that in this day & time and in our culture, we have need of wisdom. Yes, we need wisdom in order to determine who & what we give into it. This applies to everything really, but especially in this area of the giving of alms. You see, we live in a world where not everyone who says they are poor or appears to be poor really is poor. For example, did you know that the New Testament teaches us that not everyone who is a widow is really a widow? (See First Timothy 5:3-16). In other words, just because during the time of the church, a woman had lost her husband, that didn’t mean she automatically qualified as a widow that the church was to help. Why? The reason is just because someone is in a certain natural condition doesn’t mean that we automatically are to take care of them. I believe we live in a time & place where this needs to be understood more than it ever has – because here in the United States, people have a means to have their needs be taken care of in a way that they didn’t during Bible times. Yes, back in their day if a woman was widowed, she was in serious danger. That was because women were not educated back then, nor were they physically able to do the kind of work to sustain themselves. The same went for the fatherless. If a child lost his or her parents, particularly their father, then they were in a world of hurt. Not to mention, back then, the poor usually had a reason for not being able to provide for their own needs. We see in the Bible a lot of examples of this such as blindness, lameness, and other physical conditions that kept people from working. In our country, it’s not so much this way. We have a government system that helps people in need (and also those who are not really in need, but I won’t go there). So, the widow and the orphans are not left begging for scraps on the streets and those who truly cannot work are not left high and dry either. For this reason, we must use wisdom from above when determining who are the poor that God is calling us to help. And in my experience, a lot of these are not the people that are asking for it. A lot of times people are struggling and aren’t going around trying to get people to help them. So, we just are to let the Lord show us the legitimate needs, follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and do what seems good to us. Now the Webster’s dictionary defines “alms” as “something (money or food) given freely to relieve the poor.” First of all, notice how Webster’s definition of “alms” purposely makes the point to say that alms are not just referring to money, saying that it can be either food or money. You see, a lot of times we do not feel very comfortable in our day and time giving money to a beggar on the street because many will use it on drugs or alcohol. That is where we can apply this definition. We can always offer to buy them a meal or some groceries. And usually, you can tell really quick what they really wanted when you make them that offer. So, yes, we should still try and show love to those that are obviously just wanting money so that they can buy drugs and alcohol. And the way we do this is by providing them with their basic necessities and not by contributing to their habits in simply just throwing money at them. I have talked to so many believers that seem offended about the subject of giving to the poor because in our nation we have those that are living off welfare and are not interested in working to support their families. And while I definitely understand and agree that those kinds of people are not what God had in mind, we still have those out there who need our help. The Word of God has a lot to say about giving to the poor whether we like it or not so we shouldn’t throw out the baby with the bath water. We should actively be looking for those that are impoverished and cannot help themselves. THE LORD IS OUR RECOMPENSOR! I love how Webster’s definition of “alms” also adds the word “freely.” This shows us that our gifts to the poor are not to have any strings attached. In other words, in order for it to be alms it has to be given out of goodwill and without any service expected from the recipient. You see, so many times when we give, it is because we are looking for something in return. Many give their tithes or offerings to their church because they feel like the church will recognize them for it by returning the favor in some way. Others give to their fellow believers because they feel like they can repay them down the road. Then there are those that give to ministries just to receive some kind of a tax exemption at the end of the year. And there are many other different selfish reasons why Christians give to God’s works. So, this is why I feel like giving to the poor is one of the greatest ways of giving. The reason is because the poor cannot return the favor! They will not be able to pay you back. They usually do not have enough notoriety that they can praise you in front of your peers. Now sure you can give to the poor for the sake of being seen by men, but the poor themselves will not be able to offer you much in return. This is one of the reasons why I believe giving to the poor is the most rewarding type of giving. You see, in my estimation, the best two grounds to sow into are those who will not (your enemies) and those who cannot (the poor) repay you for your gifts to them! The reason I can say this is because when you are in no way recompensed for your giving from man then God becomes your complete recompensor! We should never give because of what we will receive in return, but the Bible is very clear that we can expect God to reward us for giving to those who cannot return the favor. THE LAMP OF THE BODY Now in conclusion, I want us to go over to Matthew chapter 6 and take an in-depth look of an often-misunderstood passage of Scripture … In Matthew 6:22-23, Jesus said, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Many have tried to apply this teaching to many different things, but in order to grasp what Jesus was really referring to, we have to read these verses in context. You see, in the preceding verses (vs. 19-21), Jesus was talking about treasuring material things versus treasuring eternal things, and in the following verse (vs. 24), He talks about serving God versus serving money. So, in context, it is clear that Jesus’ topic is money & possessions. Therefore, verses 22-23 are likely along the same lines since Jesus was teaching on finances before and after these verses, correct? So what does a “good eye” and a “bad eye” have to do with the giving of finances? The answer to that question is found in the Book of Proverbs. So let’s go over and compare a couple of Scriptures in the Book of Wisdom that refer to the “eye.” Let’s begin with the “good eye” … THE GOOD EYE The first example I will give is found in Proverbs 22:9: This proverb says, “He who has a generous eye will be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor.” The word translated “generous” here literally means “good” in the Hebrew language. So this is consistent with Jesus’ wording in Matthew chapter 6, isn’t it? A “good eye” is a “generous eye.” And Solomon goes on to describe what a good eye is focused on. He says, “for he gives of his bread to the poor.” So you could say that a “good eye” is an eye that is focused on the needs and desires of others. Notice that Solomon says if we have this good eye—that is mindful of the needs and desires of those less fortunate than us—we “will be blessed!” Church, there is no question about it! If we focus on others, we absolutely will be blessed! And to be blessed means to be happy & full of joy; it means to prosper despite circumstances; it means to stand out from others spiritually, emotionally, physically, and financially. Another Scripture in Proverbs explains the reason for this state of blessing: Proverbs 19:17 says, “He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given.” This Scripture teaches us that giving to those who are in need is basically like we are lending that money to the Lord. You see, it is a Scriptural principle that God takes personally the way we treat less fortunate people! We need to truly look at the needy like they were Jesus Himself! And guess what? God will be no man’s debtor! He will repay us when we give unto Him—with a great amount of interest, I might add! That is why Jesus taught in Luke 14:12-14 that when we throw a dinner, not to invite those who can return the favor, but rather invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind. And in verse 14 He says, “And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you…” The phrase “And you will be blessed” is the same exact wording that Proverbs 22:9 uses! Why will we be blessed? Jesus said because they cannot repay you, and God will be the One to pay you back. As we have previously stated, God can return the favor a whole lot better than other people can! You see, church, we will reap what we sow, but there are different levels to your harvest. And what determines the level of harvest you receive is your motive in sowing. There are some people who only give when it will benefit them somehow. For example, this kind of person will give to gain some kind of recognition or favor or even to receive some kind of tax-break. Now I am not saying you will not receive any return if you sow into those who can do something for you in return; all I am saying is that if your motives are impure, then you will have just a portion of your reward at best. But the acid test of giving with pure motives is in giving to those who cannot and/or will not repay you. Let me explain … God indeed tells us to honor those who are in authority over us with our substance, but He also tells us to give to two other classes of people. Number one, He tells us to give to the poor. Number two, He tells us to give to our enemies. In these two cases, when we give to them, we usually will not be repaid (by them, at least). But how many of you know that when we are not repaid by the recipient of our gifts, God will reward us? Let me say it this way – If you sow into those who cannot (i.e. the poor) and will not (i.e. enemies) repay you, God will be your full recompensor! This is the best way to get your full harvest! Just thought I would add that in there. THE BAD EYE Now let’s look at what Solomon has to say about the “bad eye” … Proverbs 28:22 says, “A man with an evil eye hastens after riches, and does not consider that poverty will come upon him.” So the exact opposite person that has an “evil eye” (i.e. bad eye) is a person who “hastens after riches.” Or you could say that the person with an “evil eye” is someone who is only focused on his or her own needs & desires. And Solomon says that this type of person will have poverty eventually come upon them. It is just simply a spiritual law! Proverbs 21:13 says, “Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard.” What this verse is saying is that if we ignore those in need around us, then when we have a need and present it to God, He will not hear us. It is that simple! Having an “evil eye” will hinder and even cut off the blessing of God in our life! It’s not that God stops loving us if we don’t take care of the poor; it is just that we stop abiding in His love, and pardon the poor English, but that ain’t good. You see, God’s blessings are conditional upon our location. Let me explain: It is not that God decides to not bless us or answer our prayers if we do not do good to our neighbor. It is that we are removing ourselves from where His protection and provision are when we habitually practice wickedness because we are not abiding in Him. God is a blessing, and when we remain close to Him, we will be blessed. But when we walk in darkness—mainly through practicing self-centeredness—we are not abiding in Him, and therefore remove ourselves from His blessings. Proverbs 28:27 says it this way: “He who gives to the poor will not lack, but he who hides his eyes will have many curses.” So the person who has a “good eye” (or gives of his bread to the poor) will not lack! But, on the other hand, the person with an “evil eye” (or hastens after riches) will have many curses! Wow! That is motivation enough for me to want to be a better giver than I am now! How about you? So let’s look back at Matthew 6:22-23 and see what Jesus was really saying in those verses … Jesus said if our eye is good (or “we share our substance with the poor”) then “our whole body will be full of light.” What does that mean? We can see from the Scriptures that we looked at in Proverbs that it means that we will be blessed in every area of our life—including our physical body. In other words, we will have God’s blessing permeate our whole life—being full of peace & joy and experiencing His blessings in our finances and our health. Then Jesus said that if we have a bad eye, (i.e. we are hastening after riches for ourselves) “our whole body will be full of darkness.” That means, as Proverbs 28:27 says, our lives will be full of many curses. In other words, we will not experience the abundant life that Jesus has made available to us. So the conclusion is this – the thing that determines our lives being filled with the light of God’s life is the type of “eye” we have— either having an “eye” that is focused on the needs of others or having an “eye” that is focused on our own needs. Amen. Church, I hope you can see by now just how important it is that we remember the poor and focus on meeting the needs of those who are really going through difficult times. It is God’s heart! And the Lord wants us to have a heart like His – to meet the needs of His creation with our service, His power, and also with His and our finances. This will yield a life that is blessed, for He will recompense us for every good deed we do in love and by faith. Amen! REVIEW
In our current series called “Financially Faithful,” we are learning how we as Christians can be more faithful with our finances. And if you don’t think you can, think again. We all can stand to improve in this area because it is not one another that we are comparing ourselves against. No, our standard is the Lord and His Word. So, let’s go to another level and learn how to not just be faithful in our own eyes, but to have the Lord look at us and say, “Now that’s my good and faithful servant.” Amen? So over the past couple of weeks, we have been studying what the Bible calls the tithe. And over the course of the past couple of weeks, we have been answering several questions such as: 1.What is the tithe? 2.When is the tithe? 3.Why do we tithe? 4.Where do we tithe? We learned that the tithe simply means “tenth” – or, we might say 10%. So the tithe is not just some random amount that we decide to give a person, place, or thing. No, it’s specifically 10% of our increase, nothing more and nothing less. So the tithe is not an amount; it’s a percentage. Then we answered the question “When is the tithe?”, which is basically that question of whether the tithe was just under the law or do we have to tithe under the New Testament. And we learned that the principle of the tithe didn’t start with the law. No, Abraham tithed well before there was a commandment to do so. Not only that, but the tithe is mentioned in the New Testament as well. So tithing is not just something that was “under the law.” No, it was before the law and after the law. Therefore, tithing is an eternal statute that is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. Then last week, we answered the question “Why do we tithe?”, and we learned that the simple answer to that question is because His Word teaches us to. That’s really the only reason we need to practice it. However, I think the best motivation for doing it is because it’s the right & honorable thing to do and because we love God and seek to honor Him by returning to Him 10% of what He has blessed us with. So this is the simple answer that should refute all other objections. For example, if a person gave me $1,000, I should have no problem with giving $100 back to them. However, if I don’t see that 1K as a gift – thinking I earned it – and don’t recognize who it is who gave it to me, then giving $100 to that person might not be my tendency. So this is why it is important for us to understand where every good gift and every perfect gift in our life comes from. Once we see that, giving back to Him becomes a much easier thing to do. But I offered you another reason why tithing is our responsibility as the people of God – We saw that not only should we tithe back to the Lord because it’s an honor thing; we should tithe because it is a holy thing. Yes, we learned that there are some things that the Lord specifically considers to be His, and the tithe is one of those things. In fact, when you study the principle of the tithe under the law, you’ll find that it essentially was a taxation of Israel. In other words, it was a system put in place by God through Moses for His people to pay for things in the kingdom of Israel. This is why you see the word “render” associated with it – because it is something one “gives back.” So this is why the tithe is still a good practice for us today. No, not because we have to or because of some rule or law, but because, first, we want to honor the Lord like Abraham did, and secondly, we know it consistently provides for the kingdom of God like Moses put into place. Then last week, we ended by answering the question – “Where do we tithe?” In other words, where does the tithe belong and where should we be giving it? And we looked at several Scriptures and determined what God’s Word teaches us regarding this … We saw from Malachi 3:10 that we are to bring all the tithe into the “storehouse,” and this word was used to describe the “treasuries” of the House of the Lord. And in this treasury of God’s house, I’m sure you found all kinds of valuable things including crops, fruit, meat, etc. along with gold, silver, and other monetary items. But we saw that the storehouse that the Lord told them to bring their tithes to was located in God’s “House” (See Malachi 3:10): Now God’s House is not to be misunderstood as just a physical building or Structure. Just because a building is called a church doesn’t mean it really is a church in the sense that God intended it. This is why we need to be led where we plant ourselves and where we sow our seed. Not every ministry & church out there, God approves of. The Lord told them in Deuteronomy 12:1-5 to bring tithes to the place where the Lord chooses, where His name is, and where He has chosen as His dwelling place. So that criteria describes that we bring the tithes to the place God’s tells us, first of all. But we also look for the ministries or churches that represent the Lord’s character & power and the ones where we sense the Lord’s presence. And we learned from Deuteronomy 26:12 that one of their tithes was specifically intended for the Levites, the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows – which we saw describes everything from the full-time ministry workers to the lost and the poor. And while we can all certainly be used of God to individually give to these things, the tithe being brought into the storehouse of God’s House is a means to taking care of a lot of these needs corporately rather than just individually. I bring this up because I believe that if you are a part of a good church that properly stewards their resources to take care of the needs of folks – both naturally and spiritually – then you don’t have to go seek out people who fit this category. You trust your local church to distribute to the appropriate parties. So based on what I read in the Scriptures and believe is wisdom from above, I believe the tithe predominantly belongs in your local church. And why? Because a good, healthy church contains “Levites” (i.e. workers that have devoted themselves full-time to the ministry). It also will take care of the strangers, widows, and orphans. It’s where your children & grandchildren are cared for. It’s where your pastor will visit you, call on you, pray for you, etc. It’s where the physical building is located where you can gather together with other believers. These are not things other ministries provide for you. So I for one, choose to “bring” my tithes to this here storehouse and trust the leadership team to distribute to the needs contained both in our gathering place and to the needs God puts on our hearts outside of these walls. This is where I tithe – because I believe HPC is good ground and is doing the work of the ministry. Amen. AN UNCHANGING ORDINANCE Now I want to finish up our look on the tithe this week by looking at the benefits of this particular type of giving. Yes, there are some very specific promises given to the tither that I for one hold on to. So let’s go over to Malachi chapter 3 and look at some powerful verses about the tithe and what’s promised to the tither. Let’s begin in verse 6 … Malachi 3:6-7 says, “For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers, you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them.” Notice that He didn’t say, “For I am the Lord, and I like to switch things up sometimes.” Nor did He say, “For I am the Lord, and you never know what I am going to do.” No, the Lord does not change, and nor do His ordinances, precepts, and statutes. So when it comes to the principle of the tithe, unless we are specifically told in the New Testament that the tithe has been done away with, then it is wrong to assume that this statute has passed away. I mean, to say such things sounds eerily similar to saying tongues, healing, miracles, etc. have passed away. And I believe most of us would agree today that these teachings are “doctrines of devils.” So one just needs to be careful about talking about all the things that are repeated in the Scripture as “passing away.” In fact, if you study First Corinthians chapter 13 where they get these ideas from, you’ll find that the time frame when things like tongues, prophecies, etc. will pass away is when His kingdom has fully come in the form of the new heavens and the new earth. These verses are not even referring to a dispensation that has occurred yet. No, things like tithing, which was mentioned even before the law, in the law, and after the law is not to be presumed as having changed for us in the church. Now our motivation for giving it might have changed. Our heart in “rendering” it back to Lord might not be the same. But the fact is, it was, is, and always will be a good practice for the people of God. Not to mention, giving above and beyond 10% ought to be New Testament standard. Amen? Therefore, the tithe is just a bare minimum of what every disciple should be giving. And if that’s the case, then why are people squabbling about it? No, those are usually the people who aren’t giving 10% -- and I cannot see a way that those people who say we ought to just be led and purpose in our hearts when & how much to give are being led by the Holy Spirit and by a generous heart if they are not giving at least 10%. God does not change, saints! Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore! This is why I wholeheartedly believe that tithing is the same today as it was yesterday. Amen? Now the rest of Malachi 3:7 says, “Return to Me, and I will return to you, Says the Lord of hosts. But you said, In what way shall we return?” Now this phrase – “Return to Me, and I will return to you” reminds me of the New Testament verse that says, “Draw near to me and I will draw near to you.” (James 4:8). And this is an eternal statute as well – for when one decides to make the steps to draw near and return to the Lord, He will respond by meeting you somewhere in the middle. We see this with the prodigal son when he decided to return to his father’s house and the father ran out to meet him on the road. This is the Father’s heart! But when they asked the question – “In what way shall we return?” – The Lord immediately answered with what He said in verse 8 – “Will a man rob God?” and then proceeds to talk about them not giving tithes & offerings as prescribed in the Law. Did you know that one of the first things to go when someone departs from the Lord is their giving? It sure is! If you want to find out the condition of a person’s heart, all you have to do is look at their “treasure” – for where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. So once a person’s heart becomes cold towards God and the things of God, their money is usually one of the first places that gets affected. Likewise, one of the things that is the first to come when someone returns to the Lord is their giving. Why? Because once the heart is converted, gratitude is the natural response for the grace given. And therefore, giving becomes the natural response. Now that doesn’t mean that the person automatically knows about giving. This is where knowledge comes into play. We must be taught. We must be educated. Then information coupled together with a right heart will result in giving. DON’T ROB YOURSELF Now let’s deal with this response that God gave them to their question of how shall they return to Him. He asks a question – “Will a man rob God?” – and then He answered it by saying, “Yet you have robbed Me!” And I’m sure like many of us would have been, they were legitimately puzzled with this. They had never gone into the treasury of the House of God and taken from it. They had never stolen anything from His tabernacle/temple. So how on earth could they have “robbed” God? So when they asked in what way had they robbed Him, His response was – “In tithes and offerings.” But I’m sure their question was – How is us not tithing or giving offerings robbing God? Well, consider two things: Number one, as we learned last week, the tithe is the Lord’s. He said it was holy to Him – meaning, it was to be set apart unto Him and He viewed that first 10% as His. Therefore, they were simply “rendering” it to Him. So if they weren’t giving back to God what was set apart or consecrated to Him, what were they essentially doing? They were robbing God – that is, taking what was His and using it for themselves. Number two, even the offerings that they were instructed to give under the Mosaic & Levitical laws were not even what they purposed in their heart. They were prescribed. So God evidently viewed what they were choosing not to “render” to Him as stealing from Him. I wonder if God has the same mentality today? Are there things that God considers His today? Well, while we are not commanded to give specific offerings like they were, we have seen that tithing was and is still being practiced both before and after the law. However, I do not go as far as saying one is robbing God if they don’t tithe or give offerings because we do not have commandments to do so like they did under the law. However, like with Abraham, it is something we practice out of our love & honor for the Lord, not out of a grudging obligation. So if I do not tithe, I don’t see it as me robbing God, but I do see it as me robbing myself. Yes, if I choose not to honor the Lord with 10% of my increase, I am robbing myself of the privilege and honor of giving a sacrifice back to the Lord that is a sweet-smelling aroma, holy & acceptable in His sight. I am robbing myself of the opportunity to give to my Creator and Savior with a thankful heart for all the blessings He has already bestowed on me. If I don’t tithe and give offerings, I am the one being robbed; not God. Therefore, it is in my best interest to honor Him with my financial gifts. He even went as far as saying in verse 9 that “You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation.” Usually, people read this as the curse of God coming upon them, but that’s not exactly how it works. He’s not in the cursing business; God’s in the blessing business. However, when one departs from the Lord and from His ordinances, they open themselves up to being cursed – for the absence of light is darkness. So the withdrawing from light Himself will naturally result in darkness. TRY ME! Then in verse 10, the Lord says, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this …” You know, you will be hard-pressed to find another example in the Scriptures where God invites us to “try Him” (i.e. test Him). He’s usually not too keen on us testing Him. But in this case of the tithe, He readily invites us to test Him on it. Now I don’t encourage one to do it with the attitude of – “Well, I’m willing to give it a try to see if God will indeed give me a return on my investment.” Do it for the right reasons. Don’t do it because of what it will do for you. Do it because it’s righteous. Do it because it’s honorable. Do it because you love the Lord. Amen? POURING OUT A BLESSING But He said to try Him now in this and see – “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” Now the phrase “windows of heaven and pour out” can certainly be used to describe the opening up of the atmospheric heavens and rain being poured. We see it used this way in Genesis 7:11 when describing how God opened up the heavens to flood the earth. But it is also used to describe how like rain is a blessing from God, heaven’s blessing is poured out, like He goes on to say in this verse. And again, it’s important to understand that for their predominantly agricultural society, the abundance of rain was definitely a blessing. So the rain was symbolic of the natural resource that created increase in their fields. Rain likely won’t do that for you. For example, if we start tithing, having the forecast change to rain might not be a blessing to us. In fact, for some people that work outside for a living, it might be considered a curse. So what I see the windows of heaven opening up and God pouring out a blessing on us describing is, God’s favor & blessing coming from heaven on whatever type of ground that our increase comes from and supernaturally bringing forth that increase. So if your increase comes from the stock market, we can expect some kind of blessing on our investments to see increase. If your increase comes from sales in a particular vocation, then you can expect opportunities & favor to increase. The list goes on. But the bottom line is God’s blessing is released from heaven on the tither to see increase in their life. This is what the Lord described in Deuteronomy 8:18 when he said it is He who gives us the “power” to get wealth. Church, we need God’s strength to increase financially. We could work our fingers to the bone and burn the candle on both ends, but it’s God’s ability that will yield the best results. In this example, you can till the ground and plant seed all day long, but if the Lord doesn’t give you rain, then all your labor will be in vain. We need God’s blessing upon our hard work. And this is what is promised to the tither. Tithing doesn’t replace hard work and setting your hands to something. But it does release blessing on what you set your hands to, and blesses it. Amen So no, this doesn’t mean that God is going to open the windows of heaven and start raining down money on you. However, what it does mean is that God will send His blessing on whatever you set your hand to and whatever it is that produces your harvest and supernaturally bring that increase. And the cool part about it is, you won’t always be able to put your finger on how these blessings are coming in your life. The bread will supernaturally multiply in your basket. The sandals on your feet will supernaturally last longer. You might not be able to put your finger on it, but it seems like your money is just going further. This is part of the blessing on the tither – It released God’s blessing on us and our things to create increase. So much so that – “That there will not be room enough to receive it.” Did you know that this is EXACTLY what happened to tithing Abraham? The Bible says that God blessed him with so much that the land could not hold him (Genesis 13:6)! This is why he and Lot had to split up. It was because of God pouring out on him such a blessing that the land did not have room enough to receive it. That sounds like Malachi 3, doesn’t it? That same blessing continued to the sons of Abraham as well … We learned that Jacob had instilled in him the principle of tithing (See Genesis 28:22), which undoubtedly was passed down from his grandfather. So while we are never told that Jacob’s father, Isaac, tithed, it is clear that he did. Why, you ask? Because look at the blessing that was on his life: When he dwelt in Gerar, God blessed him so much there that even in the year of famine, he reaped a hundredfold harvest. The Scriptures teach us that “The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous” (Genesis 26:12-13) to where even when the Philistines stopped up his wells, he was able to find another one. Like the cork that always rises to the top, he was the blessed of the Lord! But my point is that the blessing on the Patriarchs’ lives was a literal fulfillment of the tither’s blessing. They knew how to honor the Lord with the tenth of their increase, and they were so blessed that the land couldn’t hold them, and they were envied & hated by the other nations of the land. So the tithe is one of the means by which heaven’s blessing is released on our lives. Again, we might not be able to quantify it. It might not be something that we can explain. But God’s blessing will multiply our seed sown and increase the fruits of our righteousness. No doubt! But it’s important to know this – God’s blessing is generally not going to come straight from Him. He uses other people oftentimes to bless us. Jesus taught us this in Luke 6:38 – Give and it shall be given unto you, pressed down, shaken together, and running over shall men give into your bosom. He didn’t say “shall God give into our bosom”; no, He said men shall give it to you. So just know that when God is blessing you, it will sometimes happen through other people. And sometimes, they won’t even know why they are doing it. But you can! When you see these things from Malachi chapter 3, you’ll know exactly why this person just had it on their heart to do good to you. It’s God’s blessing being poured out on you! Amen. HE WILL REBUKE THE DEVOURER But wait! There’s more … Not only did the Lord promise to pour out the blessing from the windows of heaven, but He also said, “‘And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,’ Says the Lord of hosts;” Now the literal “devourer” that they were concerned about was all those pesky pests that liked to devour their harvests. But this obviously means more than just locusts or other insects & animals that tended towards consuming their crops. This describes the devourer—that is, the devil and his minions. You see, the devil is ultimately the thief, destroyer, and devourer. Sure, natural things like insects, animals, and people can exhibit the same characteristics, but at the root of it all, the devil is one who steals, kills, and destroys. So when the Lord says, “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes …” we are seeing the Lord stand in the gap between our increase and the devil’s desire to consume it. Have you ever had situations where maybe you received some windfall in your life like a financial gift of some kind but as soon as you received that money, unexpected bills arose that drained you of that money? Maybe it was that you were believing God for a new car, and then someone comes out of nowhere and gives you a chunk of money that will help go towards that new vehicle. However, at the same time, you receive that money, something breaks in the house that requires you using that money on it instead of going towards the new car. Well, a lot of times, that’s the devourer. It’s like having holes in your pockets. One step forward and two steps back. Well, the blessing of the tither is that the Lord will rebuke the devourer for our sakes. In other words, on our behalf and for our behalf. So no more one step forward and two steps back. More like one step back and two steps forwards and having another pocket or two to hold more. So the devil cannot destroy the fruit of our ground. No, we have a hedge around us like Job did originally. He doesn’t have access to our stuff. It’s like having a fence up around us. So all of our fruit is protected from being devoured. But the devourer doesn’t just consume fruit that comes up. In some cases, he keeps fruit from ever being produced. This is why the Lord said, “Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field.” So all of those things in our life that don’t like to “work,” we can speak to them and declare that our vines will not fail to bear fruit! Amen! MIXING FAITH WITH GOD’S PROMISES But let me end by saying this, that when it comes to the promises of God, it is important that we don’t just view God’s promises as something we sit back and watch Him perform. It’s extremely important that we mix faith with the promises of God (See Hebrews 4:2). God can give us His Word – He can say many things – but if His people don’t mix faith together with His Word, we can miss out on some good eatin’. So these specific promises we have learned about – take & use them! Especially when it seems like they are not happening. That’s when a person of faith will apply these things – when they don’t see it – for they walk by faith and not by sight! No, this is not all just something that we need to expect God to do while we sit back. Under our new & better covenant, we are taught that we all our kings & priests. Yes, we’ve all been anointed and given authority. Therefore, the power to bless is in our hands & mouths! The power to rebuke the devil is ours as well! So the idea of just letting God do all of this isn’t completely New Testament. We need to cooperate with and work together with Him on these things. So let me give you a couple of examples: When you tithe, bless your tithe. Speak over your gifts (spouses, do these things together) and proclaim in faith that you are honoring the Lord with these gifts and use Scripture to remind God of what He has said. And when it comes to time where it seems like the devil has come in to devour your harvest, stand up in faith and rebuke Him. The Bible teaches us that you and I are to resist the devil and he will flee from us (James 4:7). So when he is infringing on our property, we run Him off. We do this by saying something to the effect of – “No sir! Not today, satan! I’m a tither and you have no right to devour my harvest! My finances are blessed, not cursed. So, get!” This is how we mix faith with God’s promises to the tither. And when we tithe in faith, receive the blessing of the tithe by faith, and resist the devourer by faith, we will more consistently see the manifestation of the promise for the tithe. Amen. REVIEW
So we started out in our current series on the subject of finances by addressing certain mentalities that we are to possess in order to be more “financially faithful” to the Lord. Yes, the way we think is what I consider to be the most important part of faithfully stewarding our finances. Most recently, we learned how we are called “stewards”, and a “steward” literally is described as one who handles the affairs of another. It is defined as a person who manages another person’s property. So you could describe a steward as what we would call today a “manager.” So, last week, we started looking at the primary ways that we can steward or manage the finances that God has blessed us with. And we learned that one the most obvious & primary ways that a Christian can be faithful in the stewardship of their money is in how we give! Yes, it is very apparent that God is huge on the concept of giving because of the plentitude of Scriptures on the subject. Therefore, giving must be one of the main ways that we properly steward His monies, and what He considers us being faithful with those finances. And we started talking about the various types of giving, and began talking about what is both the most controversial and the most important kind of giving – the tithe. I see the tithe as being the first and most foundational type of giving that God’s people honor the Lord with. And what we did was we answered a couple of questions regarding the tithe – the questions of “What?” and “When?” We answered the question “What is the tithe?” by defining the term tithe and found out that it simply means “tenth” – or, we might say 10%. So the tithe is not just some random amount that we decide to give a person, place, or thing of God. No, it’s specifically 10% of our increase. Now I had someone challenge me this past week that according to their understanding of the Scriptures, the Israelites were only told to give their tithe like twice a year. Well, that was because their tithe was from their harvest. So if you only have two harvests a year, then yes, you only need to tithe twice a year. But if your “increase” comes in 12 or 24 times a year like it does with most of us that earn a paycheck, then your “tenth” is given that many times a year. My point is that your tithe comes off of your financial increase, whatever that looks like. But we answered another important question last week, and that is – “When is the tithe?” This question is the biggest one because so many people ask – Was the tithe just under the law or do we have to tithe under the New Testament? Well, first of all, you don’t have to do anything. You don’t have to tithe. You don’t have to give offerings. But you also don’t have to have God open up the windows of heaven on your life and pour out a blessing that you don’t have room enough to receive it. Nor do you have to have the Lord rebuke the devourer for your sakes. You don’t “have” to have any of this in your life, but you do get to. You see, a law-based mentality says, “I got to do this to get that.” But a grace & faith-based mentality says, “I get to do this because I’ve already got that.” And that certainly goes for tithing. Don’t look at it like – What do I have to do? No, tithe like Abraham did well before there was a law, and give him a tenth because of all the ways that the Lord, your Melchizedek, has blessed you. That’s the right way to give the tithe – like our father of faith, Abraham, did. We also saw how the New Testament gives us a couple of examples of tithing as well – both with Jesus saying in Matthew 23:23 that the tithe is something we ought to do and with the Book of Hebrews dedicating some precious Scriptural real estate on the idea of tithing. So we learned that tithing is not just something that was under the law. No, it was before the law and after the law. Therefore, tithing is an eternal statute that is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. Now this week, I want us to answer another couple of questions. Like we answered the “What?” and “When?” last week, today, let’s answer the “Why?” and “Where?” questions. WHY DO WE TITHE? Let’s begin with the question – Why do we tithe? Well, that question can be easily answered with this – Because we love God and seek to honor Him by returning to Him 10% of what He has blessed us with. Like we said, this is why Abraham tithed in our first Biblical example. He didn’t tithe because He was commanded to. It was an honor thing by giving a tenth of the spoils of his victory to the Lord’s High Priest, Melchizedek. So this is the simple answer that should refute all other objections. For example, if a person gave me $1,000, I should have no problem with giving $100 back to them. However, if I don’t see that 1K as a gift and don’t recognize who it is who gave it to me, then giving $100 to that person might not be my tendency. So this is why it is important for us to understand where every good gift and every perfect gift in our life comes from. Once we see that, giving back to Him becomes a much easier thing to do. But I want to offer you another reason why tithing is our responsibility as the people of God – Not only should I tithe back to the Lord because it’s an honor thing, I should tithe because it is holy thing. Do you remember the story of when Jesus was tested by the Pharisees regarding the payment of taxes to Rome? And how Jesus responded to their question of “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” with “Render unto Ceasar the things which are Ceasar’s and unto God the things which are God’s.” (See Matthew 22:15-22)? Now the subject here was taxation. And just like it was with the Jews then, it is that way with folks now – we do not want to believe that we owe a certain amount to our government. However, Jesus was advocating the payment of taxes to Rome just like Romans 13:7 reiterates – “Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.” So the Bible is clear that it is the duty of the people of God to “render” (i.e. pay off or give back) taxes to whom they are due. Now I know a lot of people don’t like this subject and one of the reasons is because they don’t agree with how our government handles our tax money. But consider how much worse of a government system the Jewish people were under than even us. I mean, they were in bondage. They didn’t have many rights at all. It was an oppressive system to where they were being severely taken advantage of with their taxation. So as bad as you and I think we have it here in the United States with how our government handles our tax money and how much they take, it is not a fraction as bad as the Jews had it when Jesus said, “Render unto Ceasar the things which are Ceasars.” So I for one choose to pay my taxes willingly without offense in my heart in having to do so – believing God that my tax money is going to good & useful things and not the part that’s being wasted and going to bad use. But I want you to notice that Jesus did not just say, “Render unto Ceasar the things that are Caesar’s …” He also said, “And (render) unto God the things that are God’s.” So apparently Jesus thought that just as it is our duty to render taxes to our government because it is theirs, He also thought some things are God’s. What do you suppose that is? Well, under the law, God revealed to Israel how the tithe was different than their other forms of giving. He said in Leviticus 27:30 – “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord.” Therefore, the tithe is holy unto the Lord. This means it is separate, different, and set apart unto God. And in this passage, it says that the tithe “is the Lord’s.” So I believe that one of the things that it is our duty to return unto the Lord is that holy thing called the tithe. It’s not for our consumption; It’s for His use. Now we made the point that under our new & better covenant, everything that we have is the Lord’s – for we died, and our life is hidden with God in Christ Jesus. Yes, we were crucified with Christ, and it is no longer we who live, but it’s Christ living in us and through us (Galatians 2:20). So, as the Scriptures clearly state, our life is not our own anymore. We were bought with a price! Therefore, all the gold, silver, etc. is His – meaning, all of our money is something we simply are stewarding for Him as we aim to live our lives seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Now most of us will “amen” all of that, but I’ve yet to really meet anyone who acts like that is true. No, most of us spend the money we’ve earned like it’s ours to do whatever we want with it. If we want a bigger house and we’ve got the money in our account to do it, we get it. If we want a new car and our income justifies getting it, we will go buy it. Very few people inquire of the Lord and ask Him something to the effect of – “Lord, is it okay if I use your money to buy this for myself?” And guess what? While we certainly ought to be led by Him in how we steward the money we’ve been blessed with, it’s not something we have to ask permission on. God has entrusted this money to us to steward properly, but that doesn’t mean He’s against us using any of it for our own personal needs & desires. We just need to be open & willing to give any of it away when He tells us to do so. Not only that, we also need to have a heart to honor Him with what He has blessed us with by tithing, giving Him offerings, and taking care of those in need. This is how you and I properly steward God’s finances. You see, there are a lot of citizens of heaven who do not want to believe that it is our duty to “render” tithes to God. But if you study the principle of the tithe under the law, you’ll find that it essentially was a taxation of Israel. In other words, it was a system put in place by God through Moses for His people to pay for things in the kingdom of Israel. And while I do not personally look at tithing like I do paying taxes, I do come at it with a similar mindset – that it’s not mine to do with whatever I feel like. Like paying taxes, I realize it takes money for a government to run and the taxpayers’ money is what provides the means of the provision & protection we need in our land. Likewise, the tithe serves a similar purpose in that it takes money for the church to operate. Those that preach the gospel should live of the gospel. Any worker in the gospel is worthy of his or her wages. Churches & ministries have the same overhead as other places of business. Therefore, our Father’s business needs money to operate. Therefore, the principle of the tithe is good for the church today the same as it was good for the kingdom of Israel then. So this is why the tithe is still a good practice for us today. No, not because we have to or because of some rule or law, but because, first, we want to honor the Lord like Abraham did, and secondly, we know it consistently provides for the kingdom of God like Moses put into place. WHERE DO WE GIVE THE TITHE? Which leads me to the next question we need answered – “Where?” In other words, where does the tithe go and where should we be giving it? Let’s look at several Scriptures and determine what God’s Word teaches us that the tithe was for and where it was to be given … Now all of these verses are going to come from the Old Testament and specifically are references to the law, but don’t let that offend you. This is not to be viewed as “law or legalism.” But how many of you know that the law was not a bad thing. In fact, the apostle Paul said that the law was good. No, it wasn’t the problem; we were. People’s misuse of the law is what became and still today becomes the issue. But how many of you know that things that were prescribed under the law, we’ve come to discover are good & healthy things? For example, resting one day out of seven is good for us. Eating pork & shellfish is not necessarily healthy. Likewise, tithing is a healthy financial habit, not something that justifies us or makes us holy. But it’s just a wise principle for faithfully handling our finances. Amen? Let’s begin at the end of the Old Testament, in its last Book … Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this, Says the Lord of hosts.” Now the phrase “all the tithes” refers to all the various tithes that they were prescribed to give under the law. Did you know that just as there wasn’t just one Sabbath, there wasn’t just one tithe? Well, don’t worry. I’m not going to get into all of that when I know that some of us are having trouble swallowing just one tithe. LOL! Now the “food” that He was describing was actual food. In fact, the Hebrew word was primarily used to describe meat that came from an animal’s prey. So does this mean that you and I are supposed go obtain some ribeye, prime rib, tenderloin, etc. and put it in the offering/ice box? No, and let me deal with this for a moment … One of the main arguments that the “anti-tithing” people make against tithing is that they make the point that it wasn’t money. And guess what? They are technically correct. What the children of Israel primarily tithed was crops, fruit, livestock, grains, meat, and drink. But this is what these people are missing – The Lord told them to tithe these things because that’s what their increase came in the form of. They weren’t bankers or working in a trade where physical currency was where their bankroll lied. No, they were primarily an agricultural society, so like a farmer in our day and time might grow corn, the corn didn’t become cash until they sold it. And in some situations, the commodities never become cash. For example, I remember on one of my trips to India, going to rural area to hold a meeting in the church, and outside of the church, there was a goat tied up. In my ignorance, I asked one of the church workers why they had a goat at the church, and he said that it was one of their members’ tithes. But the difference with us here in the United States, is that we live in a society that mainly deals with cash. We don’t deal in corn or in cattle, but in cash. So to be so literal as to say that we are doing it wrong because the Lord specifically told them to tithe these other commodities is wrong. Not to mention, I doubt that those that make that point are tithing the things that they were told to under the law. No, most people who bring this up are just looking for excuses and loopholes to avoid doing the thing that their flesh doesn’t want to do. But no, the word “storehouse” in Malachi 3:10 literally described the “treasuries” of the House of the Lord. You find this in a bunch of other Scriptures where this Hebrew word for “storehouse” was used. And in this treasury of God’s house, I’m sure you found all kinds of valuable things including gold, silver, and other monetary items. So the tithe can be one of many things, depending on what is of value in the specific place & time that the child of God is living in. And with most of us, that would usually be physical currency. Now if you want to donate Bessy, Fluffy, or Big Blue (That’s the name of Bruce’s truck) to the church, we will gladly accept them. But I will say, we prefer money so that we don’t have to spend our time exchanging these items for cash. But I want you to notice that the storehouse that the Lord told them to bring their tithes to was located in God’s “House” (See Malachi 3:10): Now God’s House is not to be misunderstood as just a physical building or Structure. Just because a building is called a church doesn’t mean it really is a church in the sense that God intended it. This is why we need to be led where we plant ourselves and where we sow our seed. Not every ministry & church out there, God approves of. In Deuteronomy 12:1-5, the Lord clearly showed them that they were not to worship Him with the idolatrous things that the people had. But in verse 6, He said that they were to seek the place where the Lord God chooses – meaning, you don’t choose to worship in the place, manner, etc. that you choose. No, you seek the place that God tells you to. In other words, you don’t go to church where you want. You don’t praise & worship Him in that place the way you want. You always seek to do His will, not your own. Verse 8 reiterates not doing what’s right in your own eyes. In verse 5, notice that He said that they would go to the place where He has “put His name for His dwelling place” and verse 6 said that this is where their tithes were to be brought. This is very important because when we choose the specific “House of God” that we sow into, we need to make sure His “name” is on that place & people. And I am not talking about that they have some nice fancy sign that has Jesus’ name on it or that they have a big cross or steeple. No, when the Bible speaks of the name of God it is referring to the representation of God. In other words, it refers to His character, nature, power, and authority. So when the Word of God teaches us to tithe to the place where God has chosen to put His name, it is telling us to tithe to the place that God’s character, nature, authority, and power is represented. In our example, He is talking about a body of believers where they correctly represent His nature and character and where they believe in and demonstrate His authority and power. This would exclude many churches today that believe that the gifts passed away with the apostles or that God is some ruthless tyrant who only loves you when you are perfect. In other words, God needs to be well-represented. The other qualification that we see in Deuteronomy 12:5-6 is that the place we tithe to needs to be a place that God has chosen to put His name “for His dwelling place.” In other words, God’s presence and anointing needs to be present there. Some churches you go into have just such an atmosphere that is charged with the presence of God. Some ministers just operate in and even usher the anointing of the Holy Ghost into a service. These are the churches and ministries that God has chosen for His dwelling place! So from these two principles we can learn that we need to tithe to the ministry that is rightly dividing the word of truth—accurately representing the nature and power of God—and also to the ministry that is anointed and carries the ark with it wherever it goes. Now, of course, this does not limit us to a local church, but I personally like to give all or the majority of it to my local church because it is a consistent amount that they can budget and my offerings go to other ministries that I feel accurately represent the Lord and carry His presence. So it is clear that the tithe goes to the storehouse (i.e. the treasury) of the House of God. Now most of us automatically equate a church building as being the House of God, but that’s not 100% accurate. The house of God used to be one building. It started out being the tabernacle. Then it became the temple. Now, we are the house of the Lord. Our body is the temple of God. Why? Because He dwells in us. There are many New Testament Scriptures that state that we today are God’s house (See Hebrews 3:6, First Peter 2:5, First Timothy 3:15, etc.) Yes, we all are His tabernacle/temple, and we all are kings and priests unto our God. And this is why, when you study the law, that you see the tithe being intended for individuals and not just an “organization” of some kind. Now if you go through the many verses in the law that instructed Israel concerning the tithe, you will see that the tithe was meant to go to specific individuals. For example, in Deuteronomy 26:12 for the year of tithing, it went to the Levites, the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows. Now the Levites are the ones that did most of the “ministry work.” In other words, they were the ones responsible for all the natural work like setting up the tabernacle, taking it down, carrying it, manning the fires, etc. This sounds a lot like the staff in churches & ministries, right? Now the priests were the ones who represented God for the people and the people for God. They offered sacrifices and did what we might call the pulpit & podium parts of the ministry. This would be comparable to the five-fold ministry gifts in the church today. Amen? And when you study the tithe in depth, you learn that the Levites were commanded to take a tenth of the tenth that they had received from the people and give that to the priests. And why did God set it all up this way? Because as most of you know, the Levites did not have an inheritance among the people. They were not allotted land like the other tribes were. And the reason being was because as we might say today, they were in “full time ministry.” So because God had called this tribe to serve Him in this capacity, He made provision for them through the tithe. This is why you see in the New Testament so many instances where the apostle Paul had to defend this right that those who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel (See First Corinthians 9:14). Which is, of course, proportional. A person who preaches or ministers in some other capacity 2 hours a week is not supposed to “live of the Gospel.” No, one lives of the Gospel in proportion to how much ministry is a part of their life. But my point is that the main thing that you see the tithe being used for in the House of God is for the “Levite” – those who are called & anointed to full time ministry and live to serve the people. Even Nehemiah had to set the people straight because the Levites were working out in the fields because there was no provision in the House of God. I wonder how many churches & ministries are violating this principle by having their “ministers” out there working secular jobs while having their hands full with the ministry. More than the Lord would be pleased with, I can assure you. But this is not the only purpose of the tithe – we see it is also to be distributed to the “foreigners/strangers, the fatherless, and the widows.” Now I see the foreigners/strangers as a type of the “unbelievers.” In other words, this is those who are (as Paul called them) “… aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise …” (See Ephesians 2:12). So God’s intention for the tithe was to help with what we would call “evangelism” – that is the spreading of the Gospel and bringing people with no hope into the kingdom of God. Finally, the tithe was for the “fatherless & widows.” These two demographics of people represented the most poverty-stricken individuals because back in their day, a widow and an orphan were in serious trouble with no husband or father. So this refers to the poor and to those with legitimate needs. So if the tithe is for these individuals, how do you suppose is the best way to do this? Is it for you to individually go find every widow and orphan out there who has a need? I don’t believe that is what God had in mind. One of the reasons this isn’t practical is because one might be duped into giving to someone who claims to have a need, but they are just working the system, etc. This is why it’s nice to be surrounded by a church family who knows & sees things you might not. For example, like every church, we’ve had people who come here because they are looking for a handout and they go around poor-mouthing to others within the church. And because so many of you have such big hearts and desire to give to the poor as the Lord commanded, you have emptied your wallets and given them what they say they needed. But if you knew what the church leadership knew and had already gone through, you might have realized that this person wasn’t the best ground to sow into. So what’s the lesson here – it’s that God has put this organization called the Church in place to properly steward these things for God’s people. Not meaning that you don’t ever take it in your hands personally to give towards any of those needs. That’s not what I’m saying. But the tithe being brought into the storehouse of God’s House is a means to taking care of a lot of these needs corporately rather than just individually. I can attest that High Point Church is a good steward of your tithe and has been used in my close to 10 years of being here to distribute to a multitude of poverty-stricken people, to the true widows within our walls, and to orphans outside of these walls. We give! We sow! As Galatians 6:10 tells us – we do good to all, especially to those of the household of faith. Amen. For example, I have a personal ministry that I had before I came to Pastor this church, and guess what it does? It tithes just like we are talking about. But we tithe to a specific ministry that is geared towards feeding the poor all around the world and distributing materials all around the world. I know this individual well. In fact, he was one of my instructors at Charis Bible College. But do you know why I tithe our ministries 10% to him? It’s because he takes care of a lot of these things that the Lord told the Jewish people to give the tithe to. In other words, I trust His stewardship and believe that I am fulfilling taking care of specific things that I might not personally be privy to. I bring this up because I believe that if you are a part of a good church that properly stewards their resources to take care of the needs of folks – both naturally and spiritually – then you don’t have to go seek out people who fit this category. You trust your local church to distribute to the appropriate parties. Now if you don’t trust your local church to administrate your tithe properly, then you might be at the wrong church. You need to know those who labor among you, so that you can give in faith to the house of God where He has planted you – believing that they are properly stewarding your tithe by taking care of its “Levites” (i.e. those who work full time within the church), the “strangers/foreigners” (i.e. the unbelievers), “the fatherless & widows” (i.e. the poor and those with legitimate financial needs). Amen? CONCLUSION And there are many other Scriptures I could take you to that teach where the tithe goes, but the bottom line is this – God is not interested in us just going through the motions and checking off boxes. He looks at the heart! So what He wants is a people that purpose in their heart to do the honorable thing. But the fact is, God obviously considers the tithe as a holy thing. He sees it as the thing that we “give back” (i.e. render) to Him. And as long we are giving it in the right heart – in love and by faith – He is pleased. Now based on what I read in the Scriptures and believe is wisdom from above, I believe the tithe predominantly belongs in your local church. And why? Because a good, healthy church contains “Levites” (i.e. workers that have devoted themselves full-time to the ministry). It also will take care of the strangers, widows, and orphans. It’s where your children & grandchildren are cared for. It’s where your pastor will visit you, call on you, pray for you, etc. It’s where the physical building is located where you can gather together with our believers. These are not things other ministries provide for you. So I for one, choose to “bring” my tithes to this here storehouse and trust the leadership team to distribute to the needs contained both in our gathering place and to the needs God puts on our hearts outside of these walls. This is where I tithe – because I believe HPC is good ground and is doing the work of the ministry. Amen. REVIEW
So we started out in our current series on the subject of finances by addressing certain mentalities that we are to possess in order to be more “financially faithful” to the Lord. Yes, the way we think is what I consider to be the most important part of faithfully stewarding our finances. And how many of you know that there is a lot of “stinking thinking” out there regarding this subject? That’s why we’ve looked at God’s will concerning us being blessed and His desire to prosper us. We have looked at how God has redeemed us from the curse of the law, which includes poverty, and how He has redeemed us for the blessing of Abraham. We also BBQed certain sacred cows about these things that religion has taught us. And most recently, we looked at how a Christian should view everything we possess and how we handle it … We discovered that we are called “stewards”, and a “steward” literally is described as one who handles the affairs of another. It is defined as a person who manages another person’s property. So you could describe a steward as what we would call today a “manager.” Now a point I didn’t bring out last week, but that is important to understand is how good managers / stewards are paid well. We see this in Luke 8:3 where we are taught that Jesus had many women who followed Him, one being Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward. And this Scripture tells us that these women provided for Him from their substance (or, resources / possessions). Now why do you suppose Luke made the point of who Joanna was the wife of? It was to show us how this provision was not just minimal; it was significant – because you have to know that Herod’s steward was paid well. Well, in the kingdom of God, it’s similar. The Lord’s stewards who are wise & faithful get paid well too! GOD IS GIVING So now that we’ve spent some time attempting to renew our minds to truths concerning money and the kingdom of God, let’s move into more of the nuts & bolts of being faithful with our finances so that we can perhaps increase our “pay grade” in our stewardship. Yes, as promised, we are going to move into some of the practical parts of our financial stewardship this week— seeing how important of a role this plays in us seeing a multiplication of the monies God has given us. Amen? Now one of the most obvious & primary ways that a Christian can be faithful in the stewardship of their money is in how we give—for giving is such a huge thing to God! The Bible teaches us in the very popular verse, John 3:16, that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. So our very salvation was provided because God gave us something (more accurately, Someone). But it is very apparent that God is huge on the concept of giving because of the plentitude of Scriptures on the subject. Therefore, giving must be one of the main ways that we properly steward His monies, and what He considers us being faithful with those finances. For example, if I were to ask you – Why do you work a job? Or better yet, why does God think you should be working? – What would your answer be? Well, the Bible teaches us in Ephesians 4:28 – “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” Here Paul gives us the motive we should have for working. He says that it should be so that we would have something to give to those who have need. What a revolutionary concept! We don’t work primarily to meet our own needs, but we work to meet other’s needs! For example, if your occupation is that of a carpenter, then your main reason for working should be to build furniture for people who have need of furniture. How many of us truly have this attitude in our jobs? Very few, unfortunately. But this is the example that Jesus gave us and that the early church practiced as well (Acts 2:45 & 4:34-35). Someone might say, “What about my bills? I’m just barely making it as it is!” Well, your job is not your source. God is your source! And I guarantee you, if you put God’s work first, which is meeting the needs of other people, then all these other things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33). But we see here that giving is the primary reason that we are to be working to earn money. Therefore, it seems very obvious to me that giving is the number one priority in being financially faithful. Amen? So let’s start talking about the various types of giving, and this week, I want us to begin talking about what is probably the most controversial and what I consider to be the most important kind of giving – the tithe. This will be one that we probably spend two or three weeks on because there are more questions surrounding it than some of the others. So let’s begin this week by answering a couple of questions. WHAT IS TITHING? You know, the word tithe has almost become a religious cliché in many Christian circles. I’ve found that to a lot of Christians, the term “tithing” is used synonymous with giving. In other words, while they might refer to giving to other people as simply “giving”, they don’t refer to giving to the Lord the same way. Then they call it “tithing” to the Lord. But is “tithing” just anything we give to the Lord? Absolutely not! If you asked many believers what the word “tithe” literally means, most could not tell you. Sure, they know it relates to some religious action of giving to the Lord and His church, but they don’t know specifically what it is. The word used for “tithe” just literally means “the tenth.” We like to say today that it is giving 1/10 or 10%. A tenth of what? 10% of our increase or income. Therefore, technically you cannot “tithe” 5%, 15%, 25%, etc. The tithe is only a tenth and anything less than that is not a tithe, nor is anything above and beyond that 10%. But again, so many Christians plunk some dollars they have in their wallet or spare change they have in their purse in the offering and leave thinking that they "tithed." No, to tithe means we specifically gave a tenth of our increase, whether that be once a week, once a month, etc. It is not putting a ten-dollar bill in the offering like you were tipping a waiter or waitress. However, tithing is similar to how some do tipping. A lot of people look at their bill at the restaurant and then break out their handy calculators and figure up to the penny what 15% is. That’s because these people have been trained that 15% is the standard amount that we should tip our waiters or waitresses. Of course, there are probably some of us that tip based on the job they do. So if they didn’t take good care of your table, you might not tip them anything, much less 15%. Then there are others here that I know don’t even take the time to figure up the tip percentage, but just tip well more than the standard 15% because they have a heart to be a blessing to the waiter or waitress. But here’s what I want you to understand today – tithing is not like tipping. Yes, general giving can be treated like we tip at a restaurant, but if we are giving the tithe, then we are specifically giving 10% of our income to the Lord. Now let me say that this does not mean that we need to become so legalistic about it that we figure out to the penny what 10% is and write a check for $113.37. Like it is with the aforementioned tipping example, rounding up and being extra generous is the right heart to have. It’s like I’ve had people ask questions like – “Pastor, do I have to tithe on my gross income or on the net?” – meaning, they want to know if they are to base their 10% on what they make before taxes or after taxes. Well, the answer I like to give to that is this – What kind of harvest or blessing do you want for your tithing? Do you want a net blessing, or do you want a gross blessing? In other words, do you want a blessing that a net will hold, or do you want a blessing that is a net breaking blessing? I for one, want the net breaking, ship sinking, and cup overflowing type of blessing! Amen? But to answer the question more specifically – It’s not about what you have to do. It’s about what you get to do. And I for one choose to tithe on the gross because technically that is what my job is paying me. And whatever our government decides to take from me in taxes was part of my income. Therefore, I tithe on the gross because it’s technically what I made. Not only that, what this does is it then frees me up that, come tax return time – if I am one of the ones who actually gets a refund – I am able to give part of that as an offering to the Lord because I already tithed on it. I like that option! IS TITHING FOR US TODAY? So now that we have covered what tithing is and how we give it, let’s now start answering the big debate – Is tithing something that Christians are to practice? In other words, was it just an Old Testament principle or is it also a New Covenant principle? You know, the principle of tithing has been under attack for years in the Body of Christ. People have spent a lot of time trying to give us countless reasons why tithing is of the law and, therefore, is not something that is practiced in the church today. And one of the statements that you hear from people that are “anti-tithe” is that the principle of the tithe was under the law. So since we are now under grace and not under law, tithing is not for us today. These people only refer back to the Torah to cite the examples & principles of tithing. But these people don’t know how ignorant they are. Sure, tithing was a part of the law, but it was a statute established well before the law. So just because something began in the Old Testament doesn’t automatically make it “law.” Didn’t the apostle Paul use Abraham as an example time and time again to teach against justification by the law? He sure did! His argument was that when Abraham was around, there was no law. Yet he was said to be justified by his faith in God and not by His works. Well, guess who the first person to tithe in the Bible was? It was Abraham! Not only did Abraham tithe, but his grandson Jacob committed to tithe to the Lord as well in Genesis 28:22. So tithing preceded the law in these two examples, showing us that tithing was not just a part of the law. It was something that was practiced before there was ever a command to do so. So this idea that tithing is only Old Covenant is also false. So when someone asks me “Do we have to tithe?” I like to answer – “No, you don’t have to tithe, but you also don’t have to have to have God’s blessings poured out on you, to where you don’t have enough room to receive it. You also don’t have to have the devourer rebuked for your sake. There’s a lot of things you don’t have to do.” Also, I would answer that question with – “Abraham & Jacob didn’t have to tithe either. But they willingly offered their 10% in a way to honor God for the things He had done for them.” So no, we shouldn’t go into this with the attitude of do I have to do this or do that. Tithing is not about law. It preceded the law, and is about faith, honor, and love. NEW TESTAMENT EXAMPLES Not to mention, how many of you know that there are a couple of New Testament verses that also talk about tithing? In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” So Jesus was addressing these religious leaders and how they were tithing, but while they were fulfilling their religious duty to tithe off of every little thing, they were neglecting the more important parts of the law such as righteousness, mercy, and faith. How many of you know that what is of the utmost importance is, are we practicing what is right in God’s sight (i.e. righteousness), are we walking in love (i.e. mercy or covenant, steadfast love), and are we walking by faith (for it is impossible to please God without faith)? But even though things such as righteousness, love, and faith are the most important parts of our walk, Jesus made the point that “these you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” In other words, while we certainly “ought” to do these weightier matters, we shouldn’t do them at the cost of tithing. So Jesus said right in the Book of Matthew that we “ought” to be tithing just like we ought to be walking in love, walking by faith, and walking in righteousness. Now I know that some people will hear this and immediately come up with some rebuttal like – “Well, Jesus was talking to these Jewish leaders who were still under the law.” That’s a legitimate point, but I’m not one who likes to try to find out what parts of the New Testament are not New Covenant. I think you can get in danger that way. In fact, in Luke 16:16 we have a statement that Jesus made that perfectly describes the dividing line between the Old and New Testaments. It says, “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.” You see, when Jesus referred to “the law and the prophets” this was just the terminology that the Jews used in their day to describe what we refer to as “the Old Testament.” The reason for this is because to the Jewish mind (who Jesus was preaching to) the Scriptures pertaining to their covenant mainly consisted of the law (i.e. the books of Moses) and the prophets (i.e. Isaiah, Jeremiah, the minor prophets, etc.). Of course, there were other books that chronicled their history (i.e. Joshua, Chronicles, Kings, etc.) and others that consisted of their poetry (i.e. Psalms, Proverbs, etc.), but the terminology that they used to describe what we call “the Old Testament” as a whole was “the law and the prophets.” So essentially Jesus was saying, “The Old Testament was until John …” Until John who? Until John the Baptist, or you could say, until John the Baptist came on the scene. You see, when John the Baptist arose in the wilderness preaching repentance, Jesus was saying that this is when the preaching of the New Covenant began to be declared. But Jesus did not call it the New Testament, the New Covenant, etc. What did He call it? Well, let’s look at that verse again: “Since that time (since the time the Old Testament had been declared and since the time John came on the scene) the kingdom of God has been preached…” So just as Jesus referred to the Old Testament as “the law and the prophets” He also used a different terminology to refer to the New Testament. And what terminology was that? He called it the kingdom of God! So what can we gather from this? Again, we can gather that the kingdom of God is not just “a” message of the New Covenant; the kingdom of God is “the” message of the New Covenant! We know this because in this verse (Luke 16:16) the New Testament is called the kingdom of God! So my point is that from the time John came on the scene, this is when the kingdom of God began being preached. Therefore, New Testament teaching did not just begin after Jesus’ resurrection, it began when John the Baptist came on the scene preaching “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.” Therefore, that blank white page you have in your Bible that divides the Old Testament from the New Testament is accurate. New Covenant doctrine did indeed begin in Matthew’s Gospel. So Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:23 are not just being spoken to those under the law, but are words of life for any who will call on His name. THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDECK But Jesus wasn’t the only one who touched on the subject of tithing in the New Testament. The Book of Hebrews also talks about tithing – in the example of Abraham & a man named Melchizedek. Now if you just casually read through the Book of Hebrews, you’ll see a particular statement repeated time and time again. The one that says, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” This phrase is repeated, not one, not two, not three, but SEVEN times. Now if it’s in the Word one time, it’s important. If it’s in there two or three times, then it’s really important. In fact, two or three witnesses in the Scriptures means that it is established. But if something is mentioned in there SEVEN times, how important do you think it is? It’s not just important; it’s perfectly important! Now this statement is an obvious reference to Jesus being our Great High Priest without beginning or end, like Melchizedek typified. The writers of Hebrews had been building their case that Jesus is better than angels, better than Moses, is a better covenant, and now, in Hebrews chapters 5-7, is better than Aaron & Abraham. You see, Hebrews was teaching us that Jesus was not made a high priest forever according to the order of Aaron, but according to Melchizedek. So because Melchizedek was before the law, the high priest lineage that Jesus is presently coming from is not of the law, but under an order that was before the law. We are talking about Genesis, not Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, or Numbers. So this was tithing in the beginning. So Abraham either learned tithing from it being a cultural practice of that day or he learned it from the same place that he learned faith from, God. He wasn’t tithing to keep a rule or to be justified by his works. This is how far people are off and how ignorant they show themselves when they say, “Tithing is under the law.” No, tithing was before the law, it was during the law, and it continues after the law. Tithing is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. So through these three chapters, we are told a lot of this man named Melchizedek, and how Abraham tithed to him and was blessed by him. However, there wasn’t a lot told us about him in the Book of Genesis. Now when you read all of these verses in the Book of Hebrews that talk so much about Melchizedek and tithing – that’s a whole lot of precious New Testament real estate to be devoted to something that doesn’t apply to us anymore. Amen? But let’s look at a few verses in Hebrews 7 … Hebrews 7:1-3 says, “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated ‘king of righteousness,’ and then also king of Salem, meaning ‘king of peace,’ without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. Now we have very little in the Scriptures about this man named Melchizedek. His story was recorded in just three short verses found in Genesis 14:18-20. Here’s what we know: We know that Melchizedek brought out bread & wine (interestingly enough, being a type of the Lord Jesus, he provided the same elements as the Lord did for His Last Supper). He then blessed Abram, and after that, Abram gave him the tithe from his increase. Now notice that Abram was blessed BEFORE he tithed. Not only that, but Abram got this victory BEFORE he tithed. We don’t tithe to get blessed or to get the victory; we tithe because we are blessed and we’ve already got the victory. Amen! You see, it’s important that we understand this because everything in the life of faith in Jesus is done from the standpoint of grace. Jesus did it all! He has already loved us. He has already forgiven us. And He has already blessed us! Now we don’t do anything, including tithing, to try and get God to bless us. We tithe because of the victory we already have in Christ Jesus and because we seek to honor the source of that victory. But again, really the only two things we see about Melchizedek is that he received Abram’s tithes and he blessed Abram. So if he was a type of Jesus, and Jesus is after that order FOREVER, then both tithing & blessing are what Jesus still receives and does today as He did yesterday. Then the writers of Hebrews go on to say in Hebrews 7:4-6, “Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.” So the point we are seeing in these verses is this: The fact that Abraham gave the tithe to Melchizedek proves that he was greater/better than Abraham. Know this – whoever you tithe to is who you are declaring how great they are. Now don’t think carnally about this. As you are about to learn, when you tithe, you are not just tithing to a person or place. You are tithing to Jesus. Therefore, it’s not a man of God or a work of God that you are giving to; it’s God who you are honoring and calling great! Amen! Then “behold” (i.e. check this out!) … Verse 7 goes on to say, “Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.” Notice that this verse does not say that here mortal men RECEIVED tithes, indicating that they only did this in past. No, this is present tense, so this New Testament verse is acknowledging that tithing is a present ministry here on the earth TODAY. But get this … Then we are told “but there He receives them.” So guess who we are giving to when we tithe? Jesus! Yes, He receives our tithes there. Now of course that doesn’t mean that our money magically gets transferred to heaven’s bank account. No, it goes to a work of God here on the earth where physical money is useful. But in reality, your Great High Priest is receiving your tithe. Now it does need to be said that the motive by which we give it is key in both what He receives & how He receives it. This is a point we will touch on next week. But the main point I want you to see this week is that one of the most important mentalities to have when we tithe to the Lord is that He receives them in heaven. Therefore, when I tithe, I am not just giving to some physical person, place, or thing. I am giving it to the Lord Jesus Christ, my Great High Priest, and in doing so, I am declaring that He has blessed me & given me every victory. And I am also declaring His greatness and honoring Him in my giving. Then Hebrews goes back to how Jesus is greater than the Levitical Priesthood by saying in verses 9-10 – “Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.” This bodes well for my Levi then, doesn’t it? This means he gets a lot of the blessing that I will from when I was paying tithes when he was still in my loins! LOL! THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVERMORE So here is the point I want you to get today, saints: Tithing is not just something that was under the law. Not only that, but tithing is acknowledged in the New Testament as well. So tithing was both done by faith (Abraham) and recognized by grace (Jesus). Therefore, It was well before the law was ever established and it has remained well after the law was fulfilled. So tithing is not a commandment. It is an eternal principle that remains the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. So don’t be carried about with teachings that say otherwise. Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore.” Then in verse 9, we see how the writers of Hebrews immediately refer to not being carried about with various and strange doctrines. So what is a good, solid way to not being carried about with different teachings? It is by understanding the prior verse – that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. In other words, like the Bible says about God, He does not change. Now Jesus is called what in John 1:1? The Word! So might we say the WORD is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore? You see, there are a lot of people who believe that the Word of God is not the same. There are those who say that this part of the Bible is not for us today. Others say that another part is not for us today. We need to be careful with that. God does not change, so why would we tend to think that the things He said changes? Now the fact is that while God does not change, we have. What I mean by that is that God has always been the same from Genesis to Revelation, but the way that He deals with His creation has had to change over time. And that is important to understand when reading your Bible because then you’ll know what parts of it are a part of God’s eternal nature & statutes and what parts were intended only for a specific group of people. But when it comes to the way God and His Son are, they are the same. They change not. Therefore, the way they are and the things they say don’t change. Understanding this will do what? It will keep you and I from being carried around with different kinds of strange teachings – some of which have said that tithing is not for us today, that it is only of the law, and that it’s not New Testament. People like to say that tithing is not for us today, that it’s passed away. Well, that sounds a lot like healing has passed away or tongues and the other gifts of the Spirit are passed away. No, church, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore, and this goes for His statutes, ordinances, and doctrine that we have clearly laid out for us in the Word. Therefore, tithing is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. It is not a rule; it’s honor. It’s not law; It’s love. REVIEW
In our current series on the subject of finances and how to be more “financially faithful” to the Lord, we have started out learning about certain mentalities that are important for us to adopt if we are to prosper in this area of our lives. Yes, the way we think about these things is what I consider to be the most important part of faithfully stewarding our finances. You see, I’ve come to find out that our lives will oftentimes reflect the way we think. In other words, as the Scriptures teach us, as a man thinks in his heart so is he. Therefore, we need to correct any wrong thought patterns concerning finances because if we’ve got some “stinkin’ thinkin’” in this area, it will impact our financial lives. So all of these things that we have learned thus far are vital to us moving forward in this area:
GOOD STEWARDS So the title of this week’s message is – “Just Stewards.” Now when you hear that title, don’t hear it as saying that we are only stewards. We are certainly much more than that! We are God’s children! We are Sons of God! We are a royal priesthood, a chosen generation, and His own special people! We are not “just” anything. But the word “Just” is used in other ways too! This word describes “righteousness” as well! Yes, a just person is a person who has been justified, and thereby, been made righteous in God’s sight. But righteousness is not only used to describe what we’ve been made, positionally speaking. Righteousness is also used in describing what one does & their actions. Now as you are taught well about here at High Point, the righteous things we do will not & cannot save us. It is only the blood of Jesus that can do that. And when one believes on the Lord Jesus Christ – accepting His grace – they are made completely holy & righteous in God’s kingdom. But as the apostle John said, it is those who practice righteousness who have been made righteous. In other words, a righteous person will do righteous things. Amen? So when I use the word here, I am referring to the fact that you and I are righteous stewards who do the right thing in our stewardship. So that’s what I want to highlight today – how you and I can righteously and justly steward the finances God has entrusted us with. And that is a big point – while we are God’s children and have been made righteous in God’s sight, we are also called stewards and have been entrusted with various things that God expects us to faithfully steward during our short life on this earth. You know, there are many, many Scriptures that describe us as God’s stewards. The first example of this is in how it all started in the Garden – which is a perfect description of God making mankind His stewards when He planted a Garden and then put man in that Garden to keep & cultivate it. We even see multiple examples in the Scriptures of God’s people “stewarding” for others such as Joseph becoming an overseer over Potiphar’s house, having put him in charge over everything he owned (See Genesis 39:4-6). Daniel was also made a commissioner over Darius’ kingdom, and excelled in his position because he had an excellent spirit (Daniel 6:1-3). Now some of these examples from the Old Testament have to be understood as being types & shadows of New Covenant truths. So I believe that these stories are included to show us what God’s people are viewed as now. First Corinthians 4:1-2 makes a powerful statement regarding our stewardship. Paul said, “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.” Here, the apostle Paul said that he (and other apostles like him) were to be regarded as both Christ’s servants and stewards—specifically stewards of the mysteries of God. In other words, they were stewarding the truths of Christ and of this new and better covenant. Now like in this example, in most of these, we are stewarding “spiritual” things for the Lord Jesus Christ. Probably the most well-known Scriptures concerning this are Jesus’ Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and His Parable of the Minas (Luke 19:12-27). These two akin parables describe to us that the Lord Jesus has left certain gifts to his servants and, when He returns, He expects to see a good return on His investment. And His focus in these parables is on faithfulness—that is, being good and faithful stewards of what He entrusted them with. Now although the financial currency of their day is the illustration in both of these parables, we know that these parables are talking about spiritual things that God has entrusted us with. For example, in the Parable of the Minas, the Lord gave all three of these men the same amount, one mina. This is different than His Parable of the Talents where the Lord gave a different amount of talents to each of His three servants. Here is what I believe is the difference: I believe these were two different parables, teaching the same principle regarding two different things the Lord has made us stewards over. You see, the one “mina” we have all received is our salvation, where every disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ has received the exact same grace, capabilities, and potential. But the “talents” are the gifts and callings that we have each been given a different measure of, as we are not all called to the same ministry. Some have been made stewards over the gift of being an evangelist and having the gift of exhortation. Others have simply been given the ministry of helps. Then others have been given the gift of administrations, the gift of giving, and also the ability to teach. It all varies for each of us. But my point is that Jesus is describing through both of these parables that we are “stewards” – stewarding the various gifts & graces that He has given us. The apostle Peter obviously was referring to Jesus’ teaching when he described this in his first epistle by saying, “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (First Peter 4:10) So here Peter specifically uses the term “stewards” to describe each of us – and he specifically is referring to being good stewards of the various types of God’s grace that we all have been given. JUST FAITHFUL STEWARDS And there are many other Scriptures that refer to us as God’s ministers and stewards of the various spiritual gifts that we have been given by His grace. But someone might say, “Yeah, I agree with that, Pastor. But what does this have to do with our finances?” Well, that’s easy – Do you think the Lord would have given us stewardship over these eternal and precious spiritual things and then said, “Yeah, but all of this natural stuff like your money, that’s yours to do with whatever you want”? Wrong! To me, it is just common sense that if our life is not our own anymore and we have been bought with a price to faithfully serve the Lord with the spiritual gifts that He has made us stewards over, then our natural things are included in this as well. Now I am going to say something right here that you will not hear too many pastors say. And this will shock you; I can assure you… Have you heard preachers out there say, “The tithe belongs to the Lord! So, you better not take what is His and use it on yourself! If you do, you are robbing God!” Of course, some of these things that we’ve heard did in fact come from Scripture. They are quoting from the Old Testament - in both the book of Leviticus and the prophet Malachi - when the Lord said first in Leviticus 27:30&32 that the tithe is the Lord’s and it is holy to Him and then in Malachi 3:8 that His people are robbing Him when they withhold their tithe and offerings. (And notice that this Scripture in Malachi does not just say that they were robbing God because they did not tithe; it says that they were robbing Him when they did not tithe and give offerings. People conveniently leave that part out, don’t they?) So here is my shocking statement. Are you ready? I do not believe that 10% of our income and increase (i.e. the tithe) is the Lord’s today. Someone will say, “Aw, how can you say that? That is what the Bible says!” The reason why I say that is because we are under a different covenant than they were, and there are some major differences now. Let me explain… You see, the tithe was absolutely the Lord’s for the Old Testament saint because their life was still their own, but this is no longer the case under our new and better covenant. You see, the Lord told them that the first 10% of their increase was holy unto the Lord. But now, under our dispensation, it is no longer us who live, but Christ living in and through us (see Philippians 1:21). You see, we need to understand that when we became a born-again Christian, we were crucified with Christ (see Galatians 2:20). In other words, from a spiritual sense, we died, and our life is hidden with Christ in God (see Colossians 3:3). So what does this have to do with the tithe being the Lord’s, you ask? Well, since we are reckoned dead, 90% cannot be ours anymore. Now under the New Covenant, 10% is not the Lord’s; under the New Covenant, 100% is the Lord’s! Amen!?! Now am I saying that we shouldn’t tithe anymore? Heaven’s no! The principle of the tithe was practiced in the Book of Genesis before the Old Covenant was even established; so it is a good principle to start with in our giving habits. But now in this church age, we need to be, first and foremost, Spirit-led in our giving. However, let me caution you: if you are consistently “led” to give less than 10% under this new and better covenant, you are not being led by the Spirit of God! My father in the faith said that if you are not giving at least the tithe, 10% of your increase, then you are not being a good steward of your finances. No, if this is a better covenant established upon better promises, then we should not be giving less than they did under the Old Covenant; I believe we should be giving more! And I for one, have that target at heart - that I am not just going to give my tithe, but I am going to give much more than 10%. Now 10% is certainly a good starting point; but make sure you are giving with the right motive and are listening to the Spirit of God’s directions. But this leads me to my point this week… When we identify with these positional truths that our life is no longer our own and we give ourselves wholly over to the Lord as a result, then we will see that our money is not “our” money anymore; it is the Lord’s money and we are simply stewards of what is His. In fact, the Lord taught us this in His Parable of the Unjust Steward in Luke chapter 16 … Luke 16:1 starts off by saying, “He also said to His disciples …” Now this is significant because what this shows us is that Jesus is piggybacking on the parable that He just finished sharing with the Pharisees and the Scribes (See Luke 15:2-3), which most people know as “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.” Basically, this parable was teaching these religious leaders that they were like this elder son in this parable and were not seeing these tax collectors and sinners as their prodigal brothers who were coming back home. But what I believe was happening here was, after He just finished talking to others about this prodigal son who had squandered all of his inheritance that was in his possession (i.e. he was a poor steward of what His father had given to him), He now took that as an opportunity to turn to His disciples and teach them the importance of not being “wasteful” (i.e. definition of prodigal) of what their Master has entrusted to them. Amen. So, again, Jesus was talking to His disciples here, correct? And then He begins this parable by saying, “There was a certain rich man (Obviously a reference to God because He is certainly “rich,” owning the cattle on a thousand hills, and all the gold, silver and precious stones of the earth are His. Amen?) who had a steward.” So if Jesus is talking to His disciples here, then He is likening all of His disciples (both yesterday, today and forevermore) to stewards of our Rich Master, the King of kings. In other words, the Lord is here calling us stewards of His resources – and not spiritual resources either. No, if you read on in this parable, Jesus is talking specifically about this world’s “unrighteous mammon” (See vs. 9&11). Now what is interesting in this parable is, notice that Jesus said in verse 10 that being a faithful steward of this “unrighteous mammon” is being faithful in “what is least.” In other words, Jesus is calling our earthly riches “the least” thing we can be faithful stewards of—meaning, that our earthly resources are the little things that we are stewards of in comparison to the spiritual things that the Lord has planned for us to manage. As He went on to say in verse 11, if we have not been faithful in stewarding our finances (which are temporal and little in comparison), how can we expect Him to commit to our trust “true riches”? You see, stewarding finances is the “little thing” and is what God will judge us by to be rulers over much in His eternal kingdom. So we can clearly see through this that we are considered stewards of the Lord’s money, and we are called to be good and faithful stewards of these temporal things. In other words, we are not owners of anything; we are stewards of God’s things—and this includes both our spiritual and natural gifts. GOD IS OUR SOURCE James 1:16-17 teaches us that we are not to be deceived but to understand that every good gift and every perfect gift (which would include both spiritual & natural things that are a blessing) come from above, coming down from our Father of lights. Amen. But the reason the Bible tells us not to be deceived about this is because this will be the tendency. You see, this is hard for some people to accept because they have the mentality that their money is theirs because, after all, they worked for it, they earned it by the sweat of their brow, etc. We’ve looked at Deuteronomy 8:18 that says that it is He who gives us the power to get wealth, but let’s recall why the Lord gave them this powerful Scripture. It was meant to exhort them not to forget who gave them this power to get the wealth they had. You see, we always look at that Scripture as saying that it is God’s power, blessing and favor that enable us to get more wealth, but the real point of this verse is to remind them that everything they already had is because of God’s power, blessing and favor. In other words, the Lord was exhorting them to remember where this blessing came from. Amen? Well, we need to remember who it is who gave you and I the energy and strength to go work hard like that. We need to understand that if the One who holds all things together and in Whom all things consist (i.e. In Him we live and move and have our being), if He were to just lift a fraction of the grace off your life, you wouldn’t be able to put one foot in front of another and would have drool running down your mouth. No, you wouldn’t be able to think straight to do all of the things that you just thought you were just so gifted and talented to do. So, we need to recognize that all of those things that we think are just us, are all parts of the manifold grace of God in our lives. Amen? So, once we begin to recognize that God is the reason for our very existence, and He’s the reason we were born at this particular time and in the most blessed nation in the world, when you start to acknowledge all of the grace of God in your life, then you will become more thankful, praising God and giving Him glory. And guess what happens as a result? He starts directing your path and making it smooth and straight (Prov 3). You begin prospering because this is how we set ourselves up for the blessing of God. Amen. You see, when you see the money you have as being by your own blood, sweat and tears, you will tend to keep a tighter hold on it. But once you begin to realize that everything you have is because of God’s grace, favor and blessing, then you’ll be more apt to release it. This is a key to being a giver – because there is more where that came from. Example of the preacher who said, “Alright, reach into the back pocket or purse of the person in front of you, and give like you’ve always wanted to give.” The point of this is - when we see it as someone else’s money, we tend to be more liberal and gracious, but if we see it as our money, we tend to be stingier. So, yes, we need to recognize that every good and perfect gift comes down from above and is not just a result of our own intelligence and hard work. So even though it might look like we’ve earned all that we possess, it is God who gave us the mind and the strength to accumulate it, for which we are to give Him all the glory! GOD’S MANAGERS Now the word “steward” literally describes one who handles the affairs of another. It is defined as a person who manages another person’s property. So you could describe a steward as what we would call today a “manager.” Therefore, we could say that we are God’s managers. Now we can all understand that, right? A manager of say, a store- he or she is not the owner, right? They don’t have to personally pay the bills or the employees, nor are they going to be held responsible for the business itself. No, their “job” is to simply use the resources that the owner has provided them with and faithfully manage said resources. You know, I have been a manager before in a bank, and I’ll tell you, being just a manager of a branch is a whole lot different than being the bank president much less the bank’s owner and being responsible for all of the branches and the bank’s overall success. It relieves one of a lot of pressure. I knew that if we lost a big account one day, I’m still going to get my paycheck. I also knew that if someone brought a lawsuit against us, I wasn’t going to have to personally appear in court. No, I still had food on the table and slept just fine no matter what crises were going on in the bank. And why? Because I knew I was simply the manager, not the owner. Well, that is one of the benefits of knowing in your heart that you are just the Lord’s steward - because it takes off the pressure of feeling like you are the one responsible for everything. In other words, it will help you to rest in Him and truly trust that He has it all under control. Not only that, but if we truly saw that we are stewards of the Lord’s money, we would be handling it differently. I mean, we wouldn’t want to face the Lord one day, having poorly stewarded His resources. That is why we have these other parables that I have already mentioned that teach us this. Again, while most of these other parables are more referring to our gifts, graces, and talents, if the least of these things is money, then we should be faithful in it too. Say, we were working for someone else, and we just decided to take some of their money to use it for personal reasons, well that would be considered embezzling, and we would be fired. It’s called being a bad steward. Well, of course, we are not going to get fired from being a child of God, but we certainly should be inquiring more of the Lord and seeing what He wants us to do with His stuff. But here is another wonderful truth: good managers get paid well too! Working in the banking industry, I saw that there were significantly different pay grades for different managers. You could find some managers making a shade over $30,000 a year and then others making over twice as much as that. And what is the difference? Whether they are a good and profitable manager or not. Yes, you pay your good stewards well. Look over at Luke 8:3… This verse teaches us that Jesus had many women who followed Him, one being Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward. And this Scripture tells us that these women provided for Him from their substance (or, resources / possessions). Now why do you suppose Luke made the point of who Joanna was the wife of? It was to show us how this provision was not just minimal; it was significant – because you have to know that Herod’s steward was paid well. Well, in the kingdom of God, its similar. The Lord’s stewards who are wise & faithful get paid well too! THE MIRACLE OF MULTIPLICATION Now a couple of weeks ago, we looked briefly at the blessings listed in Deuteronomy chapter 28, and we saw that one thing that was said was that the Lord would bless their baskets and their kneading bowls - which I described as the things we carry our increase in and the things we create our increase with. Well, this reminds me of Jesus’ multiplying of the loaves and fishes during His ministry—for how many of you know that that bread & those baskets were absolutely blessed!?! And I believe that these couple of examples of the Lord multiplying the food for the thousands of people illustrate to us some very important principles of being good stewards. Let’s look at the example of the feeding of the 5,000… Now this feeding of the 5,000 is one of the rare instances in the life of Jesus that are recorded by all 4 Gospel writers (Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9 & John 6). Well, I want to look at two accounts of this miracle – Mark 6 & John 6 … Now in Mark chapter 6 we have a beautiful parallel with the great 23rd Psalm - showing us that this is a fulfillment of our Good Shepherd’s willingness for us never to lack, to be led by a place of rest and solitude, to lie down on green pastures and to have a table prepared for them even in the wilderness and for their cup to overflow. Well, in Mark’s account (as well as Matthew & Luke’s), we are told that He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves. Have you ever wondered how He blessed the loaves? Well, John’s Gospel tells us how - John said that He gave thanks! (John 6:11) So when you combine these different accounts together, you can conclude either:
Saints, thanksgiving is how your bread and basket are blessed - that is, being genuinely thankful for all God has done for you and freely given you, and being thankful for all that He is still willing to do for you. However, it is important to understand that this not all there was to this miracle of multiplication: After Jesus blessed the food, He then distributed the baskets to the disciples and then the disciples distributed them to the multitude. Now what would have happened if His disciples had not distributed these baskets? There would not have been the quality of miracle that they experienced – because Jesus would have only been able to only reach so many people being one man. But the mathematics here indicate that the only way they would have been able to feed this 15,000 or so was for the multiplication to take place through His disciples. So here is my point: When you are a “distributing disciple” (or you could say, a “sowing steward”)—coupling together the spiritual principles of God’s blessing being upon your basket and His desire to be your Good Shepherd along with good, sound practical stewardship of distributing what the Lord has given you as He instructs you, you will experience the miracle of multiplication in your life! Amen! You see, the Lord is looking for these sowing stewards and distributing disciples. And when He finds them, 2 Corinthians chapter 9:10 teaches us that He gives seed to the sower and bread for food. It teaches us that He will both supply and multiply the seed we sow and, at the same time, increase the fruits of our righteousness! Amen! REVIEW
So we have started out this new year with a new teaching series on the subject of finances, and I am calling this series, “financially faithful,” because God requires faithfulness from His people in every area of our life, including our finances & possessions. We’ve started off looking at what I consider to be the most important part of faithfully stewarding our finances, and that is, the way we think about these things. You see, I’ve come to find out that our lives will oftentimes reflect the way we think. In other words, as the Scriptures teach us, as a man thinks in his heart so is he. Therefore, we need to correct any wrong thought patterns concerning finances because if we’ve got some “stinkin’ thinkin’” in this area, it will impact our financial lives. For example, there are certain people out there who have the mentality that you spend all you have, you run up those credit lines, and live for today’s pleasures. This is why, statistically speaking, people who win the lottery don’t hold on to that windfall for very long. The same goes for some young professional athletes who come out of very poverty-stricken situations and get signed to huge contracts. A lot of them also go broke. Why? Because of how they think about money. Therefore, our attitude, mentality, and way of thinking about finances can greatly determine how much of it we attract or repel, keep or lose, etc. And this works both naturally and spiritually – meaning, not only does it work in the world, but if one has a wrong belief system about Christianity & finances, then it can also greatly impact this area of our lives. So a couple of weeks ago, we started off this renewal of our minds concerning the spiritual side of finances by looking at the subject of prosperity and asking the question – Does God desire for us to prosper? And we discovered that it is clear in the Scriptures that God indeed has pleasure in the prosperity of His people. In fact, we saw how He told us to continually say this about Him in order to magnify this aspect of Him (See Psalms 35:27). And it’s simply logical as we made the point that there is no parent on this planet who doesn’t want for their beloved children to be successful, thrive, or flourish. No, we all what our kids & grandkids to prosper in every area of their life, including their vocation, finances, and possessions. And our Heavenly Father is no different. Now as we saw in Third John 2, the Lord certainly wants our soul prospering, first and foremost. Kind of like you and I want to have a good relationship with our kids more than anything. So if they started prospering in this life and then didn’t have any more time for you, then you might not be too pleased with their prosperity, right? But if they are doing well in life and they maintain good fellowship with you and aren’t hurting themselves or others with their prosperity, nothing could be much more pleasing than this to any good parent. Amen? Therefore, our hearts need to be okay with this truth that God wants His children to prosper – especially when there are so many Scriptures that back up God’s will to bless the financial lives of His children – because if we don’t embrace this truth, our lives can reject it. Amen or Oh me? Then last week, we looked at some of the Bible verses that many of us have heard over the years in church that seem to contradict this way of thinking that God desires for His children to prosper. We covered the story of the rich, young ruler – the guy who came to Jesus asking how he could inherit eternal life and Jesus eventually responding with telling him to sell all he has and give it to the poor. Well, we learned from that story that Jesus was just getting to his heart in telling him to do this. In fact, we don’t see Jesus asking anyone else to do this during His ministry. So it was apparently just a thing where Jesus knew that this guy loved his possessions, and this was keeping him from fully giving his life over to God. But this isn’t the only stumbling block from the Bible that people use to disarm the teaching of financial prosperity. We looked at another section of Scriptures that has been used to counter the prosperity gospel. These are where those sayings come from like – “Well, the Bible does say that money is the root of all evil” or “I mean, the Bible speaks of being content with just having enough.” So we looked at these verses in First Timothy chapter 6 and discovered that they are not speaking of a Christian’s calling to be poor, but rather of a sober, balanced view of money as believers. We learned that money is not the root of all evil, but rather, it’s the love of money. In other words, it’s not money in and of itself that is bad; it’s the way people can misuse it and think about it that is bad. In one verse, we saw how it was those who desire to be rich that the Scriptures condemns. You see, wealth and prosperity can either be a great asset or a great enemy. If we would not serve money but rather let it serve us by being a blessing to others with it, then wealth would not be able to choke our spiritual development. It is only when we allow money to deceive us into thinking, for instance, that we have to have it or that it is going to make us happy that it becomes error. Therefore, it is trusting in riches and mishandling it in other ways that will hinder our growth and fruitfulness. So we defined what true prosperity is, what it means to be content with such things as we have, and how to use money for the advancement of the kingdom – which is all beautifully described in verses 18-19 when Paul exhorted those who have money is to make sure they are using it to do good, and to give & share. Why? Because of the reward and how it affects us throughout all eternity! Amen! Therefore, there is a general, right way to think about money in order to be good Christians who properly handle our finances. Amen? REDEEMED FOR THE BLESSING Now today, I want us to continue our emphasis on how the way we think & our belief system are super important to becoming more financially faithful. This week, I’d like us to look more into how we see ourselves, how we think in our hearts, etc. So let’s talk today about the mentality that we need to have regarding ourselves and financial increase by looking at an extremely powerful passage of Scripture – Galatians 3:13-14. I for one, have spent a lot of time in the past talking about these verses and how we have been redeemed from the curse of the law, and we can see how this certainly included poverty & lack. But in verse 14, I want you to notice that not only do we see how we have been redeemed from the curse of the law; we also see how we have been redeemed for the blessing of Abraham. That means that the same blessing that was on Abraham’s life has been given to every born-again believer. Amen! Galatians 3:9 says, “So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” Some translations describe him as “faithful Abraham.” So all of us who are of faith are blessed along with the father of faith, Abraham. And again, this is not just any blessing; this is same blessing that Abraham was blessed with. So what is this blessing of Abraham? Many read this to say, “the blessingS of Abraham” – thinking that being blessed is just having a lot of stuff. But this is something that we need to renew our minds on because there is a difference between being “blessed” and having “blessings.” Being blessed is the empowerment to prosper and obtain blessings, but the blessings are not the root of the blessing. They are simply the fruit of the blessing. We are told in Proverbs 10:22 - “The Blessing of the Lord makes one rich and adds no sorrow to it.”Notice that in this Scripture, the blessing of the Lord is separated from riches. We, likewise, need to separate the two because the blessing is not wealth; it is the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18). You see, the blessing of the Lord is an intangible thing. If our house were to burn down today, we are still blessed. Abraham’s blessing is not a donkey, a camel, a tent, etc. It is the root of the things he possessed. So the blessing of the Lord is an intangible thing that affects tangible things. To the Jews, they understood the blessing because they grew up in it. We here in the United States don’t understand it as well. We like to label blessings as things, but they did not see it that way. A great example of the blessing is found in the life of Joseph … In Genesis chapter 39, after Joseph was sold by his brothers, it starts off in verse 1 by saying, “Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharoah, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there.” Have you felt like you are “down there?” So picture what was happening here … Joseph was in his lowest state. He had just been betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery for 20 shekels of silver. Now he, being stripped of his tunic of many colors, was standing stripped of his coat that represented his favor, being sold into slavery. So for all intents and purposes, Joseph looked as though he had been stripped of all favor and had hit rock bottom, being sold into slavery. But then in Genesis 39:2we are told that the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man! The King James Version translates it that he was a “prosperous” man. Mind you, this statement was on the heels of him being in the lowest place of his life. This seems to echo to me what the angel Gabriel said to Mary in Luke 1:28before she would give birth to Christ, experiencing the manifestation of the favor. He said, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.”Again, this was told to her before she even had a clue what God was going to accomplish through her! So what we need a mind renewal of is that it is still the truth even if none of our current circumstances line up with it yet. So here is the lesson we need to learn from this: Even if everything in our life seems to be falling apart and we are in our lowest state, God is still with us and, therefore, He still sees us as prosperous! Amen! Therefore, we need to see ourselves the same—as blessed and prosperous! Our circumstances do not determine whether or not we are blessed; God’s Word determines that we are blessed! Amen! In fact, the Greek word for “blessing” is eulogia – which is derived from the word logos which means “word.” So you cannot separate God’s Word from His blessing. And until we learn to receive God’s Word, we won’t be blessed. His Words are what blesses us—that is, us putting faith in His Words! The blessing of the Lord works in our lives as we mix faith with it. Like we have seen in Galatians 3:9, Paul taught that ultimately those who are blessed with the father of faith, Abraham, are those who are “of faith.” WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE BLESSED? So what does it mean to be blessed? To be blessed describes “divine empowerment.” It means to be favored, empowered, enabled, and destined to succeed. In the Bible, there are several words that are usually translated as “blessing” or “bless.” The Hebrew word most often translated “bless” is barak, which can mean to praise, congratulate, or salute, and is even used to mean a curse. Genesis 1:22 is the first occurrence, when God blessed the sea creatures and birds, telling them to be fruitful and multiply in the earth. Likewise, in verse 28, God gave the similar blessing to Adam and Eve, adding that they were to exercise dominion over creation. When God called Abram to go to the Promised Land (Genesis 12:1-3), He promised to bless him, make his name great, and through him, to bless all the families of the earth. The blessings here are plainly associated with happiness and welfare, both for Abram and others. God is not the only one who pronounces blessings. When Rebekah left her family to become Isaac's wife (Genesis 24:60), her family blessed her by saying “may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the gates of their enemies.” When Isaac was ready to die, he pronounced this blessing on his son, Jacob: “May God give you of heaven's dew and of earth's richness— an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed” (Genesis 27:28-29). In the New Testament, there are two primary Greek words translated as “blessing.” The first being makarios, which carries the meaning of happiness. The Beatitudes of Matthew 5 and Luke 6 describe the happy state of those who find their purpose and fulfillment in God. As in the Psalms, the best life is available for those who love and fear God and order their lives according to His Word. Romans 4:6-8 ties this happy blessing to those whose sins are forgiven, for they know the relationship to God has been restored. Eulogeo focuses more on good words or the good report that others give of someone and also describes the blessing that we say over our food (Matthew 26:26). This word is where we get our English word “eulogy,” in which we speak well of one who has passed away. Ephesians 1:3 blesses God for all the blessings that He gives us in Christ, and First Peter 3:9 instructs us to bless those who mistreat us, because we were called to receive a blessing from God. Tying all of these threads together, we see that a blessing is a statement of goodwill and happiness that is said about another, as well as the condition that fulfills those good words. God's original design in creation was for His creatures, including mankind, to experience prosperity, peace, and fulfillment, but that design was ruined when sin entered the world. Statements of blessing are a wish for God to restore His favor on others or a declaration of His inherent goodness. The ultimate blessing that God has given is the new life and forgiveness that comes through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. The material blessings we enjoy from day to day are temporary, but the spiritual blessings available to us in Christ encompass time and eternity, as well as material and immaterial things. As the Psalmist said, “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God” (Psalm 146:5). Now while it is hard to nail down one good synonym for the word “blessing,” I think the perfect antonym for the word “blessing” is a curse. Being blessed is the opposite of being cursed. So what does it mean to be “cursed?” It means to be damned, doomed, jinxed, to have bad luck, bedeviled. Now be careful about becoming too educated on the curse and curses. Some groups of Christians are so curse minded that they end up living in the curse. They are highly developed in faith for curses. There are these groups who always emphasize different kinds of evil spirits, curses, etc. And while I understand that there is a time where we need to talk about these things, they should be few and far between. If you and I spend more time focusing on and talking about all these evil spirits out there than focusing on and talking about the Holy Spirit, guess what kind of spirit you are going to have show up at your meetings? That’s right—those evil spirits who are being celebrated. No, saints, all you need to really know about the curse is that you are redeemed from it! But a point I want you to see here is that the blessing is primarily transmitted through words. This part is clear when we study the way God blessed people & things. In fact, we see the same in the blessing of Abraham because this is how God blessed him ... We see in Genesis 12:1-3that when he called Abram— “Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” Now a lot of these promises certainly included Abram being blessed financially too. Let’s not over-spiritualize this. Yes, it was God’s blessing on Abraham which is what caused him to increase financially. And this did not hurt his relationship with God either. Even though he was “very rich” (See Genesis 13:2), His commitment to following the Lord did not wane. Notice how Genesis 12:1 says, “Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father’s house, to a land I will show you…” These words “had said” are very significant in this respect: they were words given well before there was ever even a blade coming up out of the ground! And do we not see this throughout Abraham’s life? God would give him grand and glorious promises of what He was going to do for him and then, sometimes a quarter of century later, he would see the manifestation of them. You see saints, God “has said” many things to us! He has promised us that the blessing of Abraham is on our lives, that He wills for us to prosper in all things and be in health, that He has pleasure in the prosperity of His servants, etc., etc., etc. But like it was with Abram, we will not see the manifestation of them until we start seeing ourselves as blessed! You see, Abram had to have his name changed from Abram to “Abraham” and then the fruit of the blessing began to come into fruition in his life. In other words, God had to change this man’s identity before he could receive the promise! Likewise, we need to change our identity as well! We need to start seeing ourselves as a blessed, highly favored, and prosperous man or woman of God. Then when that new identity is formed within us, we change our confession: no longer am I just “Lonnie Willis Dickerson III,” identifying myself by my old name; now I am “Trey Blessed Dickerson!” Saints, this is how real this needs to become to us—that just as we are Trey, Robert, Minton or Shannon; we are blessed! It is who we are! We are just as much blessed as we are who we are! Amen! THE ROOT OF THE BLESSING So like Galatians 3:13 says, we have received the blessing of Abraham. Now you can see the fruit of this blessing throughout his life, but if you want to see a specific description of what it entails, you need look no further than Deuteronomy chapter 28 where both the curse of the law & the blessing of the law are described. Now one might think that the blessing of the law was different than the blessing of Abraham, but I don’t believe there is – for as Romans 10:12says, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.” Yes, just like He is the same God to the Jews as He is to the Gentiles, He is the same God to the Jews as He was to Abraham. On top of that, this “same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.” In other words, He’s the same to all who call on Him, from Abraham thousands of years ago to the church in the 21st Century – and if He’s the same, then His blessing is the same. Amen? So let’s take a look at this blessing that God promised to the sons of Abraham in Deuteronomy chapter 28… Beginning in verse 1, the Lord through Moses said, “Now it shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today…” Then he goes on in verses one through fourteen to describe the blessings that will come upon them and overtake them. Then if you look at verse 15, notice what He says then – “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these (what?) CURSES will come upon you and overtake you.” So in verse 1, the Lord said that if they would diligently obey His voice and observe carefully all of His commandments that all these blessings would come upon them and overtake them, but then in verse 15 he said, if you do not do these things then all of these curses would come upon them and overtake them. But what I want us to do here is ask a legitimate question – because people will read these passages in the dark and not through the light. How many of you know that it’s really hard to comprehend what you are reading if you are reading without the proper lighting? And while I do not subscribe to some of the preachers’ teachings out there that say we need to throw out the Old Testament, I do believe, however, that we need to see the light of the New Testament in order to truly comprehend the Old Testament. In other words, by truly seeing the Light of the world—Jesus— through the New Covenant, we can then begin to see Him in the Old Testament. As it has been so well put – The Old Testament is Christ concealed; the New Testament is Christ revealed. You see, the reason I say this is because people will read verses like this in Deuteronomy chapter 28 and they will say, “Ok, so if I will just obey God’s voice and observe carefully all of His commandments, then I will be blessed and not receive these curses.” But how many of you know this is not what God was trying to teach us here. Answer this for me: According to Galatians 3:13, Who is the Redeemer? In other words, who paid the price and ransom to free us from the curse of the law? Now I know that if you asked this question to a thousand Christians, you would likely get a 100% of them responding with the obvious answer – Jesus Christ. However, if you listen to them over an extended period of time and ask them pointed questions like how do we walk in our forgiveness, righteousness, healing, deliverance, prosperity, you will get the vast majority of them telling you all the things we must do to receive these blessings. Well, what does Galatians 3:13 say again? It says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.” So notice how the apostle Paul here specifically says that it is Christ who has redeemed us. You see, how could Jesus justifiably become the curse of the law for us? It was because He perfectly fulfilled this stipulation – He completely obeyed the voice of His Father and the Holy Spirit, He totally and carefully observed ALL of God’s commandments and His statutes. So because Jesus perfectly, totally and completely fulfilled these stipulations and then hung on the Cross and willingly took the curse of the law anyways, then we, who could not keep all of the law and deserved its curse, can justifiably be redeemed from the curse of the law. Now that is shouting ground right there! Amen! So the way Deuteronomy 28:15 needs to be understood is from the New Covenant basis of Galatians 3:13—that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law, not we ourselves. So again, this verse was coming from the standpoint that, yes, you must do these things – obeying the voice of the Lord and observing carefully all His commandments and statutes – in order to be blessed. But if Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, then the cost is not laid on our shoulders. He paid the ransom for us to live free from the curse. Amen! Therefore, Christ, and Christ alone, has redeemed us from the curse. It’s not Christ PLUS something else. It is Him and Him alone. So when we mix faith with this instead of trying to accomplish it like the Jews were supposed to, then we will start seeing more of the fruit of it. THE FRUIT OF THE BLESSING Now as we begin looking at the different examples that the Lord used to describe how they were going to be blessed in Deuteronomy chapter 28, we need to understand that He was referring to the specific things they could relate to because they were primarily farmers and shepherds. Therefore, we will have to look at the specific things He said, and see how they relate to our current lifestyle & culture. So let’s look at this first example from that perspective: What does it mean to be “blessed in the city and blessed in the country”? (Deuteronomy 28:3) This basically just describes whether we are in one kind of area or another, we are to be blessed. Now by understanding who it was that He was referring to, you can tell why He said this. Why? Because these farmers and shepherds by trade might have been able to see themselves as blessed “in the country,” but they might not have been able to see themselves blessed “in the city.” You see, some people just seem to have a hard time if they are in a particular situation and cannot see themselves successful in something that is outside of their familiarity or comfort zone. While they might do well if they are in the “city” which is where commerce, people, technology, etc. surround them, they don’t do well in the “country” where things operate a little differently. On the other hand, some people just seem to be “cursed” no matter what their situation is or where they are at. They fail in the man-made places, and they fail in the God-made places. The Bible tells us that Isaac sowed in the year of famine and reaped a hundredfold harvest (see Genesis 26:12). This was in the worst economic situation imaginable, and he didn’t just “make it,” he actually prospered and prospered greatly! I am reminded of the story of Abraham and his nephew Lot: When the strife came up between their herdsman, Abraham gave the choice to Lot which land he would take. Of course, Lot pitched his tent towards Sodom (i.e. the city) while Abraham took the lesser land. Do you know why? First off, because Abraham loved Lot and preferred him above himself (this is the way the blessed man or woman will act), but also because Abraham knew God’s blessing was upon him and it didn’t matter who had the better land. He was going to be blessed no matter where his “lot” was (pun intended). Amen! Someone will say, “Well, I just have a tough time if I work out of town where I don’t know people, etc.” No, don’t say that! Rather say, “I’m blessed no matter where I am! I’m redeemed from failure no matter where I am positioned! Amen!” You see, this is why you see the strange inconsistencies in people who win the lottery going bankrupt within a short period of time. How is that possible? Well, it’s because prosperity is not just having more stuff; true prosperity begins on the inside, not the outside. So until we see ourselves as blessed and act like a blessed person acts (i.e. being a wise steward, etc.), we will not keep it on the outside. Then this verse says, “(Blessed shall be) the produce of your ground!” Now, again, the Lord was using the terms that the Israelites understood because they were farmers and shepherds. Their “ground” was the place where their increase and provision came from. So this would describe our workplace—the “ground” by which our increase comes from. Since this refers to our ground, this could also refer to our own business, etc. Regardless, the place where our provision comes from will be blessed! Amen! Did you know that the place you work for is blessed simply because you work there? It sure is – whether you know it or not. We see this in the life of Jacob – how the Lord blessed Laban for the sake of Jacob. Laban himself said, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.” (Genesis 30:27) We also see this in the life of Joseph that the Lord blessed the house of Potiphar because of Joseph. (See Genesis 39:5) Saints, this is the kind of blessing that we should carry into our workplace! Now notice verse 5: It says, “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.” I know that these two examples don’t mean a lot to us today, but let’s look at what they represent… The “basket” was what they used to collect their harvest from the fields (i.e. it was what they used to contain and carry their increase). Amen! So what would this be for us? How about our bank account, investments, purse, or wallet? That’s where you put your increase, right? I can’t help but think of Jesus feeding the multitudes and how, after He had given thanks and blessed the bread and the fish, he gave them to His disciples to distribute to the crowd. Now I envision that if they were feeding thousands of people, the disciples distributed the loaves and fishes in something – maybe in the baskets that they used to collect the fragments, right? But can you see what was happening here? These five loaves and two small fish actually began multiplying as the disciples were distributing them. Now I don’t personally believe that they even physically saw how they were multiplying; but that after they took some out of the baskets to give to people, it just seemed like more was there the next time their hand went to grab some more. Saints, this is how the blessing works, glory to God! Your basket is blessed! So as you become this “distributing disciple” – that is, that believer who sees themselves as a sower – God will supernaturally multiply your account’s bottom line, Hallelujah! Saints, if you are living in such a way that seems like you have holes in your basket and it disappears just as quickly as it you put it in there, that’s the curse, and you are redeemed from that! Jesus paid the price for you to be redeemed from having holes in your pockets! Amen! Now for the kneading bowl: This was the device that was used by the women of their day to knead dough for the purpose of making bread. So our “kneading bowl” would be described as the thing that we use to make our bread. No I am not necessarily talking about your crock pot; I’m talking about your money maker, or you could say our “kneading bowl” is the thing that creates our increase. Amen! So our basket and our kneading bowl describe the things we use to carry our increase and the things we use to create our increase. Deuteronomy 28:6 says, “Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out.” (Compare Psalm 121:8) This means that we are blessed when we start out, and we are blessed when we go out—from beginning to end, we are blessed! Now being blessed does not mean that we will not have challenges – where it does not seem like we are blessed. You will have times and seasons where you will have to operate by faith and not by sight. Job did. The Scriptures teach us that he was the greatest of all the people of the East, living in the land of Uz. And the Bible describes his “greatness” as him, first of all, being “blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil.” (Job 1:1) But then it goes on to describe his possessions- 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys and a very large household. (Job 1:3) Yes, this man was super blessed coming in! But then everyone seems to get hung up on the trials of Job and miss one of the greatest historical points of his story … Although he suffered more than any man should have to suffer—losing his family, his health and his possessions, the Bible tells us in the last chapter of the Book of Job that “the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.” (Job 42:10) Also, verse 12 said, “Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. (Sounds like He was blessed going out, huh?) He also had 7 sons and 3 daughters (Job 42:13). Lastly, we are told – “After this Job lived 140 years, and saw his children and grandchildren for 4 generations. So Job died, old and full of days.” (Job 42:16-17). This verse reminds me of Psalm 91:16 – “With long life I will satisfy him, And show him my salvation.” Saints, we should become so old that even old people call us old—living out fullness of days and experiencing the fullness of His salvation all the way! We should be blessed coming into this world and blessed going out of it too! Amen! So those are just a few of the fruits of the blessing that is on our lives! But we must choose this blessing, and how do we do this? Let’s look over at one more important passage of Scripture … CHOOSE BLESSING! In Deuteronomy 11:26-28 & Deuteronomy 30:19, the Lord set before them blessing and cursing, life and death. In other words, He set it before the nation of Israel. He was not choosing it for them! Now He, in His great goodness, gave them the answer by saying “Choose life!” but He was not going to do it for them. Why is this important to understand? It’s because the majority of the church believes otherwise. Most Christians believe God is the One choosing who’s blessed and who’s cursed. Wrong! I said, wrong! God has given us the option whether we will have blessing and cursing, life or death! And how do we choose life and blessing? Well, Proverbs says that life and death is in the power of the tongue! Amen! So we choose life and the blessing by our faith filled words – by the spirit of faith, believing and therefore speaking (Second Corinthians 4:13)! This is how Paul said that we pull down strongholds & cast down imaginations in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5… The words “pulling down and casting down” come from very similar Greek words that, when broken down, literally mean to “choose down” – indicating that the element of choice is involved in bringing down those strongholds and wrong thought patterns that are contrary to God’s Word. You see, the way that you are going to pull down those strongholds of “I’m just jinxed, If I didn’t have bad luck then I’d have no luck at all.” Stop it! I’d rather curse than speak those things over my life! Plus, that is speaking completely contrary to Scripture. Amen? No, we need to choose the blessing today! And how are we going to choose it? We will choose it with our tongue! Our tongue has the power to choose blessing, life, and grace! Amen? So choose to start being more blessed minded today! Adopt a new way of thinking about yourself that is based on God’s Word. Once we start thinking this way, it will change our behavior. Once we have this mindset, it will change our experiences. Amen. REVIEW
Last week, we started a new teaching series on the subject of finances, giving, and God’s attitude towards it. And I do understand that this subject is a very controversial one in the Body of Christ as there has been much “unhealthy” teaching on the subject. You don’t have to watch Christian television too long to find that preacher out there who is just trying to get in your pocketbook to pad his or her pockets. So, yes, I acknowledge this is a problem and always has been a problem. And this is why a lot of Christians don’t like hearing the “preacher talk about money.” But just because there are abuses on the subject and those out there who preach about it for self-gain, that doesn’t take away from the fact that the Bible has a lot to say about this subject. So let’s not let the misuse and abuse of these things spoil the riches of the revelation of this subject. It will change your life when you start letting God be first in your finances and you learn to seek first His kingdom in this area. Nevertheless, the fact that a lot of Christians don’t like hearing this in church is not just because of the unethical teaching revolved around it. What I have found is that the majority of people who have a problem with when preachers talk about money are those are aren’t “doing” it in their lives. In other words, they are not practicing the biblical principles of being good stewards of their finances. Yes, one of the main reasons people don’t like to hear about this is because they are not doing it. For example, if you are living in sin, you don’t want to hear someone tell you the need to clean your act up, right? Well, we might need to clean up our act in this area. It’s quite possible that people need to do what the Bible says in this area. Amen? So I’m calling this series “financially faithful,” and while to most believers this concept doesn’t mean a lot, it really should – because God requires faithfulness from His children in every area of our life, including our finances & possessions. You see, when one gives their life to Christ, they are committing to be faithful to Him in every area of their life. It’s a lot like a marriage – Sure, we are supposed to have fidelity with our spouse, and yes, the Bible teaches us that even your body is not your own when you get married, but when we become one flesh with our spouse, being faithful means more than just the sexual things. It means that all that is mine is hers, and all that is hers is mine. Therefore, there’s not my money and Shannon’s money. It is our money – it doesn’t matter if I earn it or if it is given to her. Everything is ours. Well, our covenant with the Lord is the same. It is not our stuff and His stuff. He has promised to give us everything that is His. In exchange, He wants everything that is ours – including our finances. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the Lord expects us to give away everything that we possess. He understands that we have needs and desires. But this mentality that it’s “my money” needs to be erased. Our body is His. That means if he needs me to be present somewhere, then I’m there. Or if He needs my hands laid on someone, then I do it. Likewise, our finances are His. So that means that if He tells me to give someone a certain amount of money, then I do it. And if he told me to give it all away, I do it. In fact, this is not just with our body or wallet; this is with our entire life. Yes, our life is His. And what He expects out of His Bride is that we are faithful to Him in every area of our life. Amen? And what is so powerful about this truth is that when we see things this way, it is not quite as difficult to be faithful with our money, because, again, it’s not our money. It’s His! I’m simply stewarding the money He has allowed me to be blessed with. (We will get more into this in the coming weeks). Now we started off last week looking at the way we, as Christians, think about money and what we believe that God thinks concerning it. You see, I’ve come to find out that our lives will oftentimes reflect the way we think. In other words, as the Scriptures teach us, as a man thinks in his heart so is he. Therefore, we need to correct any wrong thought patterns concerning finances because if we’ve got some “stinkin’ thinkin’” in this area, it will impact our financial lives. For example, there are certain people out there who have the mentality that you spend all you have, you run up those credit lines, and live for today’s pleasures. This is why, statistically speaking, people who win the lottery don’t hold on to that windfall for very long. The same goes for some young professional athletes who come out of very poverty-stricken situations and get signed to huge contracts. A lot of them also go broke. Why? Because of how they think of money. Therefore, our attitude, mentality, and way of thinking about money can greatly determine how much we attract or repel, keep or lose, etc. And this works both naturally and spiritually – meaning, not only does it work in the world, but if one has a wrong belief system about Christianity & finances, then it can greatly impact this area of our lives. So last week, we started off this renewal of our minds of the spiritual side of finances by looking at the subject of prosperity and asking the question – Does God desire for us to prosper? And we discovered that it is clear in the Scriptures that God indeed has pleasure in the prosperity of His people. In fact, we saw how He told us to continually say this about Him in order to magnify this aspect of Him (See Psalms 35:27). And it’s simply logical as we made the point that there is no parent on this planet who doesn’t want for their beloved children to be successful, thrive, or flourish. No, we all want our kids & grandkids to prosper in every area of their life, including their vocation, finances, and possessions. And our Heavenly Father is no different. Now as we saw in Third John 2, the Lord certainly wants our soul prospering, first and foremost. Kind of like you and I want to have a good relationship with our kids more than anything. So if they started prospering in this life and then didn’t have any more time for you, then you might not be too pleased with their prosperity, right? But if they are doing well in life and they maintain good fellowship with you and aren’t hurting themselves or others with their prosperity, nothing could be much more pleasing than this to any good parent. Amen? Therefore, our hearts need to be okay with this truth that God wants His children to prosper – especially when there are so many Scriptures that back up God’s will to bless the financial lives of His children. THE ANTI-ADVOCATE However, there is another side to this that we must address – because there are a lot of New Testament Scriptures that seem to take the opposite approach of this. We covered one of them last week in talking about the rich, young ruler – You know, the story of the guy who came to Jesus asking how he could inherit eternal life and Jesus eventually responding with telling him to sell all he has and give it to the poor? Well, we learned from that story that Jesus was just getting to his heart in telling him to do this. In fact, we don’t see Jesus asking anyone else to do this during His ministry. So it was apparently just a thing where Jesus knew that this guy loved his possessions and this was keeping him from fully giving his life over to God. Not to mention, we learned from the Book of Proverbs that when one gives to the poor, that they are lending to the Lord, and He promised to repay them. So this rich, young ruler was not being called into a vow of poverty like so many have taught. No, Jesus was simply targeting an issue in his heart that needed to be dealt with. Do you see that? But this isn’t the only stumbling block from the Bible that people use to disarm the teaching of financial prosperity. There is another section of Scriptures that I would like to address today – and these are found in First Timothy chapter 6. You see, people will use some of the truths from this chapter to say things like – “Well, the Bible does say that money is the root of all evil” or “I mean, the Bible speaks of being content with just having enough.” Let’s look at the verses of this chapter and see what Paul was teaching us about these things … Now it’s important to note that last week, one of the verses we used to describe how God is pleased to prosper His people was also in this chapter where the apostle Paul said in verse 17, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” So we saw how this verse teaches you and I that our Heavenly Father desires to give us, not just some things; no, He wants to give us all things. Not only that, but He desires to give us not just all things, but richly all things to enjoy. But what I want to draw our attention to this week is the context of this wonderful verse. In fact, some of the verses preceding this one seem to indicate that God does not want us blessed and that we are wrong in thinking that God desires to prosper us. But unless we think Paul was schizophrenic, they obviously cannot mean what many have interpreted them to mean when you look at them through the light of First Timothy 6:17. So let’s take another look at verses 5-10 and see what Paul was teaching us through them … THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL? You see, like I said, one of the favorite go-to quotes from the Bible when it comes to this subject of money is the one found in First Timothy 6:10. Now there are many who incorrectly quote it as saying that money is the root of all evil, but that is not completely true. Paul said that it is the love of money that is the root of all evil. It’s like people say in our world today, “Guns kill people!” Well, that is like saying, “My fork made me fat, pencils misspell words, cars drive drunk” No, it’s how we use these things that causes problems. Many Christians have a great misconception about these things – thinking that prosperity is evil. But actually you can look at biblical accounts of those who walked with God and are today considered heroes of the faith, and they were multi-millionaires. Go study the lives of Abraham, David, Solomon, etc., and you will find that these guys were super wealthy but, most importantly, for the majority of their lives, were super godly. So for us to think that prosperity is evil in and of itself is just simply not true. Money is a tool! It is as simple as that. For example, if I have a flathead screwdriver and use it to fix things around the house, that tool is a good, useful thing. But if I start using that screwdriver to break into people’s house by prying open doors, etc. then I (not the screwdriver) am a transgressor. That make sense? So it is only the misuse of tools that is evil. You see, wealth and prosperity can either be a great asset or a great enemy. If we would not serve money but rather let it serve us by being a blessing to others with it, then wealth will not be able to choke our spiritual development. It is only when we allow money to deceive us into thinking, for instance, that we have to have it or that it is going to make us happy that it becomes error. Therefore, it is trusting in riches and mishandling it in other ways that will hinder our growth and fruitfulness. DEFINING TRUE PROSPERITY Now back up to verses 5-9 here in First Timothy chapter 6 because, here, the apostle Paul gives us some good words of wisdom on the subject of money and the prosperity message … Verse 5 says, “…who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.” Now it is important to realize who Paul is referring to here. He is talking about false teachers “who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.” So what you see here is that the apostle Paul is exhorting Pastor Timothy that he needs to withdraw from those so-called ministers & ministries out there whose motives are no different than people who are working a job to see their own needs met and to prosper in life. You see, these ministers still exist today! You can turn on Christian television and not have to look too far to find those out there who are simply looking to get into our pocketbooks. These are those whom Paul is warning Timothy against. But lest we become too critical of them, do we do this in our lives? Is our motivation in life mainly to have more money and possessions? Someone will say, “No money is not important to me!” Really? Well, then why do we spend most of our waking hours trying to get more of it? Most people do! They work 40 hours a week for their needs to be met and to have more than the guy next door. Now sure God understands we need to work and these things are necessary, but let me ask you this question: What does the Bible say that our motivation should be for working at a job? Ephesians 4:28 gives us the answer – It says, “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” On a side note here: Do you see how Paul refers to “stealing” in the same breath as working hard? Did you know that many people are stealing from their employers simply by not working hard? You see, when we are employed, our employer expects us to put our best foot forward and do our job functions as well as we can. But so many do the minimum at work that they possibly can do just to get by and keep their job. How do I know this? Because I used to do it! For years in banking, I just showed up, did an adequate job and stayed exactly in the position that I was at. Then, through a chain of circumstances, I was put into the position where I needed to start busting my tail to prove that I was a worthy hire for a local bank here in Macon. Well, guess what this did? It created promotion in my life. Then the Lord showed me that when he told Israel that He would bless the work of their hands that this implied that their hands were actually being set to something and they were working heartily as unto the Lord. Amen! You see, if our hands are not being set to something and we are not working with the most integrity, God has nothing to bless. So if our hands are not working, He has nothing to increase. A hundred times nothing is nothing! But a hundred times something is a whole lot of something. Just like it was with the miracle of the feeding of the thousands … Jesus had to break the bread with his hands before it multiplied. His Father blessed the work of His hands. Amen! But again what did Paul say here is to be our motivation for working with our hands? “That he may have something to give him who has need.” Wow! Now that’s a revelation, isn’t it? God wants us to work, not just so that our needs our own needs are met, but so that we can be a channel to meet other’s needs! Do you see the focus God expects us to have regarding our finances? He wants our focus to be on meeting other’s needs, supporting various ministries, etc.—namely, seeking first the kingdom of God! And, glory to God, the promises we have for doing this are extraordinary! And one thing I can assure you of is when you do this – You cannot out-give God! He will bless the work of your hands and your seed sown! Amen! But Paul says here that regarding those preachers who are motivated by self-gain etc.— “From such withdraw yourself.” Now you would think that this is common sense, but it isn’t! How do all those televangelists stay on the air with all of their various methods of financial manipulation? Because people keep sending them money! This is when we need to do what this passage of Scripture says, “from such withdraw yourself.” In other words, stop supporting them! Withdraw your support from them! Herein lies a good principle regarding who we give to … If we would just give to the ministries that are feeding us and we know are feeding others, we would eliminate a lot of these bad apples – because the reason they are continuing to minister is because people are evidently supporting them. So just ask yourself the questions: Am I being ministered to here and are others being ministered to? Not giving “grudgingly or of necessity” or, as the Message Bible says, giving because of their “arm twisting and sob stories.” Amen? Then in verse 6, Paul goes on to say, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain.” What Paul is saying here is- This is the definition of true prosperity (i.e. great gain)! It is: a)“godliness” (i.e. being a well-worshipper or being a good God-fearer) Godliness is not an easy trait to define. In fact, it is only used a few times in the New Testament. In short, it can be described as being godly or Christ-like. So “godliness” is actively imitating Him—in love, peace, goodness, kindness etc. How many of you know that God is truly prosperous? And this isn’t just because of all that He has, but because of who He is. This is what makes us “truly rich” as well—not all the things they possess, but possessing true love, joy, peace etc. This is the sign of a prosperous soul. b)“with contentment” (i.e. “a perfect condition of life in which no air or support is needed” (BLB).) So contentment is not a complacent mindset but rather a person who is independent of circumstances, not needing anything else to be happy So the truly prosperous Christian is the one who is godly—that is, actively imitating God and displaying His divine characteristics—while certainly being content (i.e. not needing anything else in our lives to show forth that genuine joy and peace.) Now in verse 7, when Paul says, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that can carry nothing out,” what He was basically saying was – “You’ve never seen a hearse carrying a U-Haul.” Amen! So no matter what we accumulate and have here in this life, we can’t take it with us anyways. So we would do good to lay up the true riches and treasures in heaven, which is what we do now for the kingdom of God. Amen! This is a mentality that takes our money from being a thorn that chokes our ability to bear fruit and makes it a tool for even greater fruitfulness. Then Paul goes on to say in verse 8 that with “food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” In other words, we should be satisfied simply with just having our basic needs met. You see, the moment we get to feeling that we have to have this or that to be happy, is the moment we are not drawing our strength from Christ who alone can satisfy us. The apostle Paul taught this in Philippians chapter 4 when he said that he had learned that in whatever state he was in to be content (verse 11). He knew how to be abased and he knew how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, he had learned to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need (verse 12). But the key to how he learned how to be totally “independent of circumstances” no matter what his circumstances were is found in verse 13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” You see, it is only through Christ that we find true joy, satisfaction, and contentment. The flesh is fickle. It will tell you that you will finally be happy if you get this one extra thing, but then after the newness wears off of it, the flesh will need something else. This is part of what makes the “deceitfulness of riches” so deceitful – because money has a way of lying to us, telling us that if we get some more of it, that we will be happy. That is just a lie! Friends, if you cannot be happy with how things are in your life right now; you won’t be happy if things change. Contentment is learned, not earned! The contentment that Paul is speaking of refers to us being satisfied with our own basic needs being met, but this does not mean that we should be ok with having just enough to meet our own needs. There is a big difference between those two mentalities. You see, we ought to not let our own financial situation affect our joy, peace, and happiness. This is what the apostle Paul is teaching. But we should also not be ok with us just barely scrapping by, because we have a heart’s desire to be more of a blessing to others financially. Amen? Now let me recount a conversation I had one time with a Christian friend of mine … We were discussing the law of sowing and reaping and how when we sow finances into God’s kingdom, we will reap our needs being met in fullness and abundance. Well, he agreed that the law of sowing and reaping is a reality, but he said that he was content to have just have what he had and didn’t feel the need to believe God for more than that. Well, in the most loving way that I could, I looked at him and said, “Brother, you know I love you, but you’re selfish.” He looked at me like I had slapped him across the face! But then I went on to say, “Why? Because you are only concerned with having enough for you. If you are happy with what you have right now, great! But believe God for the harvest that is rightfully yours because of the seed you have sown and then give it away to those who need it!” You see, saints, this is the purpose of prosperity! This is why God wants us blessed in our finances—so that we can have an abundance for every good work (Second Corinthians 9:8)! Yes, we should be content! Absolutely! But that doesn’t mean we should be content to not increase so that we can be more of a blessing to others now! No, that is the purpose of us being free from debt and having more than enough financially. But it has to start somewhere … And that is where the principle of tithing comes in. God is setting us up for having all our needs met in fullness and abundance by us giving Him the first 10% of all our increase! Amen? But going back to what we discussed last week regarding how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God, I can guarantee you that if someone does not give at least this first 10%, they are NOT trusting God with their finances. It’s easy for us to say, “Oh yeah, I trust God with my finances” but if we do not practice the principle He laid out in His Word about giving Him the first 10% of our increase, then we are not trusting Him – because we are not trusting that He can make 90% of our income go further than 100% of it. It’s tight but it’s right! Then, in First Timothy 6:9, Paul brings in that element of Jesus describing these thorns as the deceitfulness of riches even further. He says, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.” This is why Psalm 62:10 says, “If riches increase, do not set your heart on them.” But the key here is found in the words “desire to be rich.” The word “desire” literally describes someone who “wills” to be rich – meaning, they are “disposed” to being rich, they “intend” to be rich, and are money “minded.” These are those who fall into temptation and a snare. Not just those who are rich and have an abundance of possessions. This is why Paul goes on to say what we began with here in First Timothy chapter 6 – “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Being “pierced through with many sorrows” sounds a little like these people fell into a patch of thorns, doesn’t it? And this is exactly what the love of money and the desire to be rich does to people. It pierces and it chokes. It ensnares and it hinders. This reminds me of Mark 4:7, 18-19 where Jesus taught us that the thorns of this world entering into our hearts will choke the production of God’s Word. But, again, it is not being rich and having money that does this to one; it is how most people tend to misuse it and how they view it. We see this later on in this chapter when Paul addresses specifically those who are rich … In verse 17 he says, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty (that indicates that a temptation that comes with wealth is pride and to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think), not to trust in uncertain riches (that sounds a lot like what we said earlier) but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” Now that last little statement there should correct some of our views on wealth and prosperity because Paul describes the living God, whom we are to put all of our trust in, as the One “who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” In other words, He gave these rich people their wealth. And for what purpose? To enjoy it! So God is the One who gives us richly all things to enjoy, not necessarily the devil. Do you see that? So evidently God does not mind us having things. In fact, He evidently doesn’t mind us “richly” having “all things.” He just doesn’t want things having us! And that is what makes “riches” a hindrance in our lives. This is why Paul went on to say in verses 18-19- “Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life.” So Paul’s exhortation to those who have money is to make sure they are using it to do good, good works, to give and to share. Why? Because of the reward and how it affects us throughout all eternity! Amen! INTRODUCTION
Financially faithful. What does this mean? Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean a lot to many Christians. A lot of church people are of the persuasion that when we one gets baptized, that this didn’t include their wallet. But the truth is – when one gives their life to Christ, they are committing to be faithful to Him in every area of their life, including their finances & possessions. In fact, it’s like in a marriage – Sure, we are supposed to have fidelity with our spouse, and yes, the Bible teaches us that even your body is not your own when you get married, but when we become one flesh with our spouse, being faithful means more than just these obvious things. It means that what is mine is hers, and what is hers is mine. Therefore, there’s not my money and Shannon’s money. It is our money – it doesn’t matter if I earn it or if it is given to her. Everything is ours. Well, our covenant with the Lord is the same. It is not our stuff and His stuff. He has promised to give us everything that is His. In exchange, He wants everything that is ours – including our finances. Now that doesn’t mean that the Lord expects us to give away everything that we possess. He understands that we have needs and desires. But this mentality that it’s “my money” needs to be erased. Our body is His. Our finances are His. In fact, our entire life is His. And what He expects out of His Bride is that we are faithful to Him in every area of our life, including the financial part of it. Amen? So let me first give you a quick overview of how this series will likely go: We will spend the first several weeks talking about the spiritual side of being faithful with our finances – what God’s attitude is concerning us & money, what our mentality needs to be concerning us & money, and what are the principles of giving. Then, in the latter part of this study, we will get into more of the practical side of financial faithfulness by me showing you the things that the Lord has taught me how to steward our money. So we are going to tackle this subject from both the spiritual and the natural. Yes, there are laws of giving and receiving and promises that God gives us in this area that we need to renew our minds to and feed our faith on. But we can be doing all the spiritual things perfectly, and if we are not doing the natural things right, we can still suffer in this area. Just like it is with healing, you can feed your faith all day long on God’s Word concerning healing, but if you are eating donuts and drinking sodas all day, you are making it very hard on yourself to live a long and satisfying life. And the reason why is because there are natural laws that God has set up here on the earth that He is not in the business of superseding. For example, you wouldn’t expect a harvest of cotton if have not sowed the seed for cotton. So, yes, there is both a natural and spiritual side to this subject and that is what we are going to deal with in this series on “financially faithful.” Now I am not teaching you anything that Shannon and I do not practice, nor am I teaching you anything that our church does not practice. You see, I believe that giving and proper financial stewardship does not stop with you, the parishioners. I believe it is a universal truth that all believers and ministries should be walking in. Our church gives 10% of everything that comes in. When Shannon and I started out, it was difficult for us. We really struggled in the beginning. So we had to press through for the first close to 10 years of our marriage and things are looking up, praise God. I also practice what I preach when I go overseas. For example, when I go to India and I preach in a certain village, I’ll have a little old widow come to me and give me just a few little rupees because she was blessed by our ministry. Well, those few rupees aren’t much to me, but they were to her. And because I believe so much in this principle, I’ll receive it. A cool little testimony of this is when we went to Mexico, and I taught in this particular church about how the kingdom of God operates, etc., I had a lot of people come up to the altar for prayer for financial things. Well, we saw miracles and breakouts just like we would in praying for the sick. Amen! So it doesn’t matter what country you live in, what the economic situation is at the time; God’s kingdom does not operate according to this natural world. God’s blessing will work (i.e. Isaac sowed and reaped a hundredfold harvest in the year of famine) as we operate according to His biblical principles of financial stewardship, and we will prosper. Amen! In fact, we need to understand that it works the same way in finances as it does with healing and even the salvation of our souls. For faith for finances comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God concerning finances. We need to respect this subject and incline our heart so that we can reap the benefits of it. Now I understand that there are preachers out there who teach on the subject of finances from an ungodly standpoint, but what I am going to attempt to do is teach on this subject both scripturally and ethically. HOW WE THINK ABOUT MONEY Now I want us to start off by looking at the way we, as Christians, think about money. I’ve come to find out that our lives will oftentimes reflect the way we think. In other words, as the Scriptures teach us, as a man thinks in his heart so is he. Therefore, we need to correct any wrong thought patterns. For example, there are certain people out there who have the mentality that you spend all you have, you run up those credit lines, and live for today’s pleasures. This is why, statistically speaking, people who win the lottery don’t hold on to that windfall for very long. The same goes for some young professional athletes who come out of very poverty-stricken situations who get signed to huge contracts. A lot of them also go broke. Why? Because of how they think of money. Therefore, our attitude, mentality, and way of thinking about money can greatly determine how much we attract or repel, keep or lose, etc. So let’s first look at what we learn in the Scriptures regarding the overall subject of finances … MONEY IN THE BIBLE You know, the Bible has a lot to say about the subject of money, riches, etc. Let me give you some interesting “gospel facts” about this subject…
Nevertheless, what I have found is that the people who have the most problem with when preachers talk about money are two types of people:
THERE THE HEART WILL BE ALSO But in Jesus’ constant emphasis of financial stewardship throughout His ministry, He was targeting the heart. He was talking about the motivations of our heart, etc.- using money as a good barometer of indicating where our heart is (Matthew 6:21). So it wasn’t that Jesus talked so much about riches and used it as an object lesson for wrong reasons, but because He was really getting at the hearts of His hearers in an attempt to uproot those thorns that would hinder them from entering into His kingdom. And this is the real issue to the Lord! The real issue is how closely our hearts are connected to our possessions, wealth, etc. Did you know why the Bible has so much to say about the rich & the poor? You find Scripture after Scripture in the New Testament where the rich seemed to be basically condemned and the poor are basically lauded as being heirs of the kingdom. Now this does not mean, just because someone has lots of money, that they are immediately disqualified from being heirs of the kingdom. Nor does it mean that, just because someone is below the poverty line, that they automatically are blessed spiritually. No, all this is saying is that, as a general rule, those with lots of possessions have the tendency to put their trust in their possessions and not in the living God. And this condition of heart is what keeps them from entering into the kingdom of God fully and abundantly. Now what is rich and what is poor is relative. Here in the United States, we think the rich is those who make six figures or either have inherited something to that affect. But we need to understand that the average lower-class income here in America would be considered rich in most other countries. So I say this to say, most of us in this room fall under the “rich” category—just in varying degrees. And this is one of the reasons why it is harder for us in this prosperous nation to enter into the kingdom of God—not necessarily being born again, but more or less the kingdom of God coming nigh to us. But people have taken Scriptures like these and have basically concluded that if you are rich, you’re condemned already. They will cite Scriptures such as that rich young ruler and say that if you want to be a Christian, you have to give everything to the poor. No, that is not what that passage is teaching us. What Jesus was honing in on there was that this particular man was trusting in His riches and unwilling to do this one thing to inherit eternal life – as evidenced by the fact that he went away sad. But how many of you know that there are also Scriptures that teach that when we give to the poor, we are lending to the Lord, and the Lord will repay us (see Proverbs 19:17). So this rich young ruler could have come out better off if he would have just done what the Lord told him to do to inherit the kingdom. But let’s look at this story of the rich young ruler in more detail because it teaches us some invaluable lessons about what hinders us from experiencing the kingdom of God more (see Mark 10:17-31) … This young man came to Jesus – wanting to know what he must do to inherit eternal life – and the Lord referred him back to the various commandments – to which this man responded that he had kept all these things from his youth. Then Jesus targeted the one area of his heart that was not yet yielded to the Lord – his wealth. Jesus said, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up your cross, and follow Me.” (Mark 10:21) Now from an honest evaluation of Scriptures, you will understand that Jesus was not teaching here for people to take a vow of poverty and give everything they have away. But what He was doing here was targeting this guy’s heart and showing him the hindrance to entering the kingdom of God. As Jesus went on to say after he left sad, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God.” This floored His disciples! And why? Because it was evidently not something Jesus said before and because it was uncustomary to the Jewish mind, who attributed wealth to God’s favor and providence. So then Jesus clarified in His next statement when he said, “Children, how hard is it for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:24). So what we see here is that the problem is not having riches; the problem is trusting in the riches that we have. Again, it is a heart issue. A PROSPERITY MENTALITY So this is a major point that I want us to camp on this week because we have a lot of sacred cows in the Body of Christ that keep us from God’s best for us – and this certainly includes finances. Like it is concerning healing, we have heard so much unbelief that God puts sicknesses on us to teach us something or it might not be His will to heal you that now, it is hard for us to receive God’s best for us – which is divine health – because our hearts have been impacted with these sacred cows of the church. Well, we have also been fed lies concerning Christianity & money – like, we are not supposed to have any. How many of you have sat in churches that teach or at least imply that to be poor is to be godly? Now the first thing about finances that we need to address is a very important yet controversial one in the Body of Christ. The idea of how God thinks about it and His will concerning it. There’s a lot of confusion about this in the Body of Christ – some taking the stance that God doesn’t want us having much of anything in this area and others believing that God wants you to have everything. So let’s begin this by looking at the foundation to this subject—what is God’s attitude towards us and money. Now we’ve already established that He does not mind talking about it – for finances is one of the most talked about subjects in the entire Bible. But what I want you to see this week is that God’s attitude towards our prosperity in this area is not the same as the picture religion has painted for us. So let’s look at a few verses that teach us that God doesn’t mind His people having things. In fact, you will learn from these verses that He actually is pleased when His children prosper. GOD’S WILL CONCERNING OUR PROSPERITY The first one I want us to look at is one of my personal favorite verses – Third John 2. In fact, you’ll find that when I sign my name, I like to include this verse. It says, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” The reason I have always liked to add this verse is because this is my prayer concerning all of you—that you would prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. But what I want us to focus on this month is that this verse does not just express my will for you, nor does it just refer to the apostle John’s will for the original recipient of his letter that we call Third John; this passage expresses God’s will for all of our lives! Let me explain … Some have commented on this verse, saying that the truth contained in it was simply the apostle John’s desire for Gaius, to whom this short letter was written. Therefore, they say that this verse does not express the will of the Lord for all believers for all time, but this is simply incorrect. For who are we to determine what parts of the Bible are intended only for the original recipients of the letters and what parts are applicable to us? If this were so, how would we know if what was written to the Romans were just promises applicable to the believers in Rome? Or how would we know if what was written to the Ephesians was just meant for the select church in Ephesus? How then would we know what parts of the Holy Scriptures were written to us? The truth is that all of the Bible was written for our benefit and instruction! All Scripture is given by inspiration of God—being God-breathed so that we can know and understand God’s will for all of our lives. He is no respecter of persons! Therefore, what He moved the apostle John to say to Gaius is what God wills for all of His children along with Gaius to receive and embrace. So Third John 2 is God’s will for all of His children for all time! So let’s delve into this powerful verse, but let’s look at it from the perspective that God is speaking this directly to us… YOU BE LOVED! First of all, notice that God refers to you as His “Beloved” … This means that He is addressing those who (pardon the poor English) “be-loved!” In other words, since this verse is God speaking directly to us, by calling us His “beloved,” He is letting us know that we are greatly loved by Him. You see, this simple truth, if understood correctly, should help us to embrace the truths contained in the rest of this verse that our Heavenly Father wants us to prosper in every area of our lives and live in perfect health. Why? Because how many of you parents out there who truly love your children want anything less than the best for them? No, you want them to prosper in every area of their life and you certainly don’t want them to be sick and suffering! Any parent that wills for their children to be sick and to suffer should be locked up with the key thrown away! Why? Because if any natural parent did the things to their children that God has been accused of doing to His, that parent would be incriminated in just about every culture or nation on the earth today. So how can we believe God is any different—especially when His love for us far outweighs any love that we have for our children? No, you “be-loved” and because God loves you so much, He wants you to succeed and prosper on all levels! Thank you, Father! PROSPERING IN ALL THINGS Now notice what the Lord starts off by saying to His beloved … He says, “I pray that you may prosper in all things.” What an awesome truth! God’s will is that we prosper in all things! Not just in some things; God wants us to prosper in everything! This leaves nothing uncovered! The word “prosper” literally means to be successful, to thrive, and to flourish. So God wants us to be successful, to thrive, and to flourish in every area of our lives! Praise the Lord, our success, growth, and prosperity is God’s will, and He wants us to prosper in every aspect of our life. Did you know God wants you to be successful in your career? He is not just concerned with what we consider to be the “spiritual things.” He wants you to be successful and to prosper in your business, and this happens as you seek first the kingdom of God in your secular job (i.e. as you practice godly principles and make your career’s aim to glorify God and be a blessing to others). He wants you to prosper in your vocation! Did you know that God wants you to thrive in the arena of relationships? He wants you to have such a wonderful relationship with your spouse or significant other that you are in awe of the goodness and graciousness of God! He wants you to have such wonderful friends that add to you and that you can truly trust! He wants you to prosper in all of your relationships! Did you know that God wants you to flourish in your finances? He does not want you struggling to make ends meet and living paycheck to paycheck! He wants you to have more than enough so that you can fulfill the blessing of Abraham that is on your life, which is being blessed, so that you can be a blessing! He wants you to prosper monetarily! You see, being able to be a blessing to others is one of the main reasons God wants you to prosper in every area of your life. Sure, He wants you to be blessed simply because He loves you and wants the best for you, but He also wants you to thrive in every area so that you will not constantly be trying to fulfill yourself and can correctly put your focus on the needs of others. If you have needs that are unmet, that takes time and attention away from meeting the needs of others. God wants our cup to overflow so that we can share with others! Thanks be unto God! DIVINE HEALTH Then notice what else the Holy Spirit told us that God desires for us in this verse … Not only does God want us to prosper in every area of our lives, but He also wants us to “be in health.” This verse alone should dispel the popular Christian doctrine that sometimes God sends sickness into our lives to teach us something. No, God’s will is that we are healthy, not sick. To live in sickness, disease, and infirmity is no more God’s will for our lives than for us to live in sin, transgression, and iniquity! And this is exactly what you see in Jesus’ ministry, which was a perfect reflection of God’s will (see John 14:7&9 and Hebrews 1:3)! Acts 10:38 says that Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil! Why did He go about only doing good and healing everyone who responded to Him in faith? It was because this was (and always will be) God’s will! But as great as healing is, I want you to notice that Third John 2 does not say that God wants us to prosper in all things and be “healed”; it says that God wills that we be in “health!” In other words, this verse tells us that God not only wills that we experience healing, but that we experience divine health. For example, God’s perfect will is for our bodies to be so charged with His resurrection power that when germs or viruses touch our bodies, they die immediately. His perfect plan for our lives is that everything from our eyesight, hearing, and overall health is strong and living well above the norm. And this not only includes wholeness in our physical bodies but also health in our mind and emotions. The prophet Isaiah said that the chastisement needful to obtain our peace was laid upon Him. The apostle Paul said that the Holy Spirit has been given to us so that we can have a “sound mind.” This describes a soul that is whole and not weak and sick. Jesus purchased not only wholeness in our bodies, but also wholeness in our mind, will, and emotions! He wants us sharp and strong in our soul too. Thank you, Jesus! JUST AS YOUR SOUL PROSPERS So God evidently has a greater vision for our lives than we do for ourselves … He wants us to be successful, to thrive, and to flourish in every area of life— which includes prospering financially, relationally, and vocationally! Not only that, but He also wants us to be whole and strong in every area of our bodies as well—which includes being healthy physically, healthy mentally, and healthy emotionally! Someone then might say, “Trey, if this is truly God’s will for everyone’s life, then why do we see so little of it fulfilled in our lives?” That is a good question; I’m glad you asked … The reason God’s will is not automatically experienced in a person’s life is because we have a part to play in God’s will coming to pass! It is true! Contrary to popular belief, just because something is God’s will doesn’t mean that it automatically will come to pass. For instance, it is God’s will to save everyone, is it not? Sure, God wills that none perish but all be saved and come into the knowledge of His Beloved Son (see Second Peter 3:9). But not everyone gets saved, do they? Why? It is because each and every person born on this earth must respond in faith to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sure, the grace needful to obtain God’s will has already been provided, but in order for us to obtain this grace, we must receive God’s will by faith! This is the only way to salvation! Likewise, the only way to receive every other part of God’s will—which is briefly listed here in Third John 2—is also by faith. And this is exactly what the apostle John said at the very end of this powerful verse … Third John 2 ends by saying that God wants you to prosper in all things and be in health “just as your soul prospers.” Now, first of all, we don’t have any problem believing that God wills for our soul to prosper, right? Sure, we all believe God wants us to grow up spiritually, for our hearts to be clean and hungry for God, and for our minds to be filled with thoughts of good and not of evil. We have no problem believing that do we? Well, if we believe that, we also need to believe that God wills for us to prosper in all things and be in health as well, based on this Scripture. Amen? Now the two words “just as” are extremely important because they show us how God’s will of prosperity and health is going to come to pass in our lives… These two words literally mean “according to”, or better yet “in proportion to.” So what the Holy Spirit was saying was that our prosperity and our health is “in proportion” to our soul prospering. In other words, our prosperity outwardly is in proportion to our prosperity inwardly! So I suppose we better find out what it means for our soul to prosper if every other area of our prosperity is tied to that, don’t you? In other words, if our experiencing God’s will for prosperity in every area of our life and living in divine health is according to our soul thriving and flourishing, then I for one want to discover how my soul can prosper! So Third John 2 is more than enough evidence to prove God’s heart for our prosperity. But since it is always a wise thing to hear a truth in the mouth of two or three witnesses, let me give a few more Scriptures that essentially say the same thing … You see, many miss this point because they are overly focused on what God desires for us to be doing. But I want us to look at a few Scriptures that really illustrate to us what His good pleasure is … HOW MUCH MORE? So let’s turn over to the example of Matthew chapter 7 because I believe there is something in this passage that the Father wants us to see… In Matthew 7:7-8 where Jesus plainly said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Well, there were obviously no stipulations added here. But didn’t Jesus know that people might get the wrong idea here? So why didn’t He add something like – “Of course, I’m not talking about indulgences here” or something like that? But here is what I want us to see … If you consider the verses after this – verses 9-11 – you will find that Jesus is expounding on His simple exhortations in verses 7&8 by using the illustration of how we who are evil (in comparison to the goodness of our Heavenly Father) know how to give good gifts to our children, so how much more will He give us good things when we ask Him? In other words, our belief system is evidently very important in this “asking” thing. We need to believe that our good Father will give us what we ask for because we are absolutely persuaded of His goodness and His love for us. Amen! You see, we need to understand that our Heavenly Father wants to give to us good things and to be fruitful! John 15:8 says this is how He is glorified, when His children bear much fruit. Church, it is super important that we understand this—that God desires, wills, and is pleased with us being fruitful, not fruitless. He is not glorified when we are not reaching our full potential and being successful in life. In Psalm 35:27, King David gave us a wonderful truth … He said in verse 27, “Let them shout for joy and be glad, who favor my righteous cause; And let them say continually …” Now there aren’t a whole lot of Scriptures that tell us to say anything continually. Sure, the Bible tells us to let the praise of God be continually in our mouth and to pray without ceasing, but I would venture to say that there are not many things God has told us to keep continually in our speech. So when the Bible tells you to say something continually, what do you reckon we should be doing? Making sure we say this continually! Say what? Say, “… Let the Lord be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” Ok, so first, let’s ask some questions: Why does God want us to say this continually? He’s a God of love, right? So just as it is with praise & prayer, God does not want us to constantly communicate with Him and tell Him how wonderful He is just for His benefit. No, the epitome of love Himself is telling us to do this for our benefit, not His. Amen! Yes, what He is trying to accomplish in us here is found in the first statement – to “Let the Lord be magnified.” You see, to magnify something or someone is essentially to glorify them and to make them bigger. So what I see here is that the Lord wants us to continually say this because He is wanting this truth that it is His pleasure to prosper us to be blown up and made bigger in our sight. Which, in turn, will glorify and magnify Him in the eyes of those who see His goodness in our lives! You will magnify what you talk the most about, just as you will talk about what is already magnified to you. Glory to God! But the fact that God is pleased when His servants prosper is what needs to be magnified to us. But this truth has been more shrunk & diminished in most Christian’s eyes. Then in Luke 12:32, after Jesus was teaching His disciples about not worrying about their needs but told them simply to seek first the kingdom of God, He added the following statement- “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Amen! Here, Jesus was establishing our hearts in a very important truth—that the reason we do not need to fear or worry about our needs being met is because it is our Father’s (Again, calling them back to sonship and teaching this based on the relationship between a Father and a child) good pleasure to give you the kingdom!” So, again, our belief system of understanding the goodness and grace of God is super important to receiving from Him. And this Scripture teaches us that He doesn’t want to give us just enough; he wants to give us His kingdom—the very kingdom that He told us to seek. So what the Lord was saying here is seek first the kingdom because the kingdom holds all the things that you need and desire anyways. Many miss this because they think seeking the things is how they obtain them; No, Jesus taught us to seek His kingdom and we will obtain them! Why? Because every need and desire is found in His kingdom to start with. Amen! You see, Jesus said in verse 31 to seek the kingdom of God and all these things we worry about will be added to us. Then in verse 32, He told us not to fear for it is our Father’s good pleasure to give us that kingdom we are seeking. That speaks volumes to me! Why? Because in one thought, Jesus said don’t worry about your basic necessities but seek first God’s kingdom and they’ll be added to you. Then in the next thought, He says not to fear because it is God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Well, what were they fearing? Not having their needs met. So Jesus was establishing their heart in the truth that the Father wanted to meet their needs. And He was telling them how to see their needs met in fullness and abundance—by seeking the very thing that held the provision that they needed. Then, finally, in First Timothy 6:17, we have another wonderful truth about the Father’s desire for us … He says, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” I just love this verse because even in the midst of a verse that strictly warns people who possess wealth and possessions to not let their prosperity affect their humility towards God and towards man, Paul gives us another nugget of truth about God’s attitude towards our condition. He says that God “gives us richly all things to enjoy.” This tells me that our Heavenly Father desires to give us, not just some things; no, He wants to give us all things. Not only that, but He desires to give us not just all things, but richly all things. You see, God’s not cheap. Nor does He just care about our true necessities. This phrase tells us He has pleasure in watching you enjoy things. Glory to God! You see, when our children are young, we buy them all kinds of toys and things that really don’t have a lot of educational or spiritual benefit, don’t we? We buy them these things just because they enjoy them, don’t we? Well, where does that come from? From our Heavenly Father! Some things God desires to give you simply because you enjoy it. No, you might not need it. No, it might not be something that will draw you closer to Him. (Ex. of the Holy Spirit golf lesson). Isn’t it fun being a parent on Christmas? We love to give our children gifts and to see their faces when they unwrap them. This brings us joy, doesn’t it? Well, this is God’s heart too! This is where we get it from! The Lord writes these things to us today, so our joy may be full! Amen! Church, it is clear when you study both the Old & New Testaments that God is blessed when we are blessed. He doesn’t want His children struggling in their finances any more than you and I want our children struggling. He’s the one who gave us that love for our kids. Well, the King’s kids ought to prosper as well – especially considering the fact that our Father is the King of all the universe. For us to live like poppers would be a perverted thing. Amen? So let’s let our minds be converted in this area – knowing & believing with all of our hearts that our God wants us to prosper. In doing so, we will start attracting it more in our lives. Believe today to be blessed! |
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