INTRO: A little girl was given two dollars by her father. He told her that she could do anything she wanted with one and the other was to be given to God on Sunday at church. The girl nodded in agreement and asked if she could go to the candy store. With visions of all that she could buy with her dollar, she happily skipped toward the store, holding tightly to the two dollars in her hand. As she was
skipping along, she tripped and fell and the wind blew one of the dollars into a storm drain at the curb. Picking herself up, the little girl looked at the dollar still in her hand and then at the storm drain and said, "Well, Lord, there goes your dollar."
Sadly, many of us Christians have the same attitude toward giving. First me, then God.
TS: We began going through a series called "Beauty and the Beast." Behind a bill or coin you’ll find either a beast or a beauty. How do we bring out the beauty of the dollar, God’s provision, and crush the beast? By exposing the lies with the truth and acting on the truth.
Some of these lies (myths, fairy tales) we have looked at so far are:
1."More will be enough."
2."Character does not really count."
3."Possessions are powerless."
4."Giving means subtracting."
i.Key of ownership.
ii.Key of eternity.
iii.Key of destiny.
iv.Key of passion.
v.Key of freedom.
Today concludes the series on the beauty and the beast. The last lie we are going to look at is "Money has nothing to do with spirituality."
-This is a huge myth. Money in regard to tithing and offerings is a spiritual issue.
-Larry Burkett, famous Christian author and financial counselor says, "How you handle money is the clearest outside expression of your spiritual condition (outward expression of an inward experience).
I. Hebrews 11:6b, "Without faith it is impossible to please God."
A. God wants us to have faith in him, to believe, to trust him.
1. It’s hard to trust God – we may say we trust him, but our actions show that we don’t trust him.
a. Faith is active – James basically tells us if there is no action to your faith, it’s dead.
-Meaning you have no faith.
b. Having faith in God is probably the most difficult struggle you will have in this life.
-Let me explain:
i. God wants us to depend on him, to trust him with everything, even our own lives.
-We are his. He has bought us with a price, but yet he gives us a free choice to follow him, to be obedient to his commands.
ii. When we are obedient to his commands, this shows that we love and trust him.
-John 14:15, "If you love me, you will obey what I command."
Problem: It’s sometimes difficult to obey the Lord because he asks you things that are impossible to do.
-Such as: Love those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Forgive those who offend you.
-God has called us to die in order that we may live. (Die to our own desires, so we can live in Christ.)
TS: We are called to trust God or have faith in him. It sounds simple, but it’s extremely hard to do. So God helps us.
3. God has principles he has set forth and when we break these
-We damage our relationship with him (which ultimately damages us).
TITLE: Beauty and the Beast – Part 5
TEXT: Malachi 3:6-12
I. Background. The Jews have returned home after their horrible ordeal in Babylon. They rebuilt Jerusalem, and had a mighty move of God. But they had become cold religiously and lax morally.
A. The Lord does not change. V. 6a, "I the Lord do not change." God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
1. If God punished sin in the past, he will do so in the future. He is the same; he never changes. In regard to tithing.
2. People will say: "That’s the Old Testament, Pastor. We’re not under it anymore. It does not relate to us."
-Untrue.
-How many women felt pain in childbirth?
-How many have lost a loved one within the past couple years? (Adamic Covenant)
-How many have seen a rainbow recently?
—God’s promise to never again flood the earth. (Hope that covenant is still for today.)
B. The concept of tithing is for today. Just as the children of Israel were instructed to trust in God, we today are instructed by the text to trust in God.
-V. 8, "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me."
2. They were robbing God of tithes and offerings.
a. Tithing is one-tenth or 10% of one’s income given to God through the ministry of the local church.
-Tithing is not an invention of the church or a principle developed in the old covenant of the Mosaic Law.
-Tithing first occurred as an act of faith by Abraham.
Point: Tithes and offerings are simply a trust issue between God and his children.
3. Let me give a simple example to help you understand. If I make $1000 a month gross, I would tithe $100 a month to my local church.
-It wouldn’t be a tithe if I gave it to the Billy Graham Association or some missions program. That would be considered an offering.
a. V. 10, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse."
-A storehouse is where you’re being fed, where you and your family belong and have decided to worship together.
Summary: We’ve briefly looked at: What is a tithe? (10%)
Where does the tithe belong? (The local church) Offerings are over and above a tithe.
TS: Let’s look at what happens when we don’t obey. To learn this, let’s look at what happened to them.
C. What happens when we don’t obey? V. 9, "You are under a curse
– the whole nation of you
– because you are robbing me."
1. Simply, you are under judgment. It’s a terrible thing to be under the judgment of God. I’ve experienced it on a few occasions. After you’ve been taken to Father’s woodshed, you don’t want to go back.
-Let me say one more thing about Father’s woodshed. It may take time to get out.
Example. At Damascus Way, as a counselor in the re-entry program for ex-cons, I got burned out, gave up, and wouldn’t minister to the guys anymore. The Lord told me and I refused to listen. He countered, "You don’t, I’ll remove you." Being young and stupid I said, "Then do it."
The next day I was done and out on the street looking for another job to support my family. God opened the door to a job "that was a crusher."
-God not only broke me physically but mentally. Yes, I begged God to help as the months passed. Then one day God finally spoke to me and released me from the woodshed.
-Dad wanted me to understand something about how miserable life can be without the blessing of God.
D. Let’s talk about the blessing of God. V. 10 instructs to bring the tithes in and he challenges the people to test him in this. (This is the only place in scripture where we’re told to test the Lord.)
1. God will throw open the gates of heaven.
2. The blessing is more than we can handle.
3. He keeps the devourer out of our lives.
4. Others will call you blessed.
E. Testimony time. Revelation 12:11, "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony."
1. Friends, I’ve shared some thoughts and scriptures with you. Now I’m going to ask some folks to come and share their testimonies.
2. These folks will testify. (I could ask many saints.)
In Conclusion
-More information about tithing is available in a paper that Pastor Chad wrote. It covers more scriptures about giving. If you are interested in a copy, please let me know.
-Tithing is a spiritual issue, not a money issue.
