Money Matters. Do we believe that Money Matters to God? Did you realize that you will find about 800 Scriptures that deal with money in the Bible?
Jesus talked about money more than He did Heaven and Hell combined. He talked about money more than anything else except the Kingdom of God. 11 of 39 parables talk about money. 1 of every 7 verses in the Gospel of Luke talks about money.
I would say Money does Matter to God. However, whenever anyone brings up money in the church, we squirm and cringe as if we are talking about something that is against God. When we talk about money, it is usually about our tithes ad offerings.
What exactly is a tithe? A tithe is a one-tenth part of your earnings or harvest given back to the church. The Bible tells us, tithing is one of the greatest acts of obedience a Christian can practice.
There are principles behind tithing that have nothing to do with the money itself. Tithing teaches us obedience. When God asks us for something, we should be willing to give it freely and gladly.
Tithing is not just any tenth; it is the first tenth of one’s income-salary, dividends, interest-income from any source. By giving the first tenth you are putting God first above all other things and trusting God to take care of the rest. Tithing is giving back to God something God gave in the first place. Everything we have is His any Christian knows that.
Luke 14:33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
The Bible has much to say about money. When it comes to money most people only think about “GETTING IT”. There is a whole other side of money that most think very little about, “GIVING IT”. In fact there is an awesome ministry expressed through giving money.
Would you please stand with me this morning as I read to you the Scripture God has led me to this morning?
1 Corinthians 16: 1-4 Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.
This is morning I believe God wants us to receive a message on Money Matters. First of all as we look at our reading today we see that Paul tells us to take the first day of the week for determining our giving. This tells us that our….
I.GIVING IS PLANNED.
A. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
1. What’s the big deal with determining our giving on the first day of every week?
2. When the Bible tells us an act should be repeated on a certain day, it necessarily implies that the act should be done as often as that day occurs.
3. In the Old Testament, if a holy day was said to be on a certain day of a certain month, then it would be celebrated every year, just as often as that day of that month occurred.
4. For example we read in Exodus 20: 8 -10 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.
5. The Sabbath was the seventh day of the week. This meant it should be kept every week, as often as that day of the week occurred.
6. We use the same kind of language today. If we say, "The club meets on the second Tuesday of the month," you expect it to meet every month at that time, right?
7. If your employer said, "You will be paid on the last day of the week," you would expect to be paid exactly the last day of the week every week. That’s a big deal for many of us who live check to check. I would say that matters to us.
8. Likewise, the Bible so clearly means to give on the first day of every week. And I believe it’s a big deal because we read it in God’s Holy Word.
9. I believe the first day of the week is when we should give, during our time of Worship together as a congregation because that is what we read in the Bible.
10. But what about those of us that miss church from time to time because of whatever reasons that may be?
B. Attendance & Giving.
1. Many Christians fail to give as prospered because they miss worship, then do not "make up" later for what they failed to give when they missed. This is just one of many problems involved in missing.
2. For example, suppose you earn such that you ought to give $50 per week. If you miss a Sunday then just keep the $50 you should have given, you have disobeyed God’s command to give as prospered. You prospered, but you did not give accordingly. In effect, you just stole $50 from God.
3. We are creatures of habit. We have good ones and bad ones but the key is that we outweigh the bad with the good.
4. Regular attendance and giving in church is a good one. But when we skip here or there for one reason or another, we need to be careful that the lack of attendance and giving does not outweigh the good and become a bad habit.
5. It’s easy to create a habit. Just do it on a regular basis and it will soon catch on and become a way of life for you. Ask yourself this morning, do you attend service regular, that is each week and do you give to the church regular?
6. These are individual questions that are between you and God. Not keeping the Sabbath and not giving really doesn’t affect any one else except for you. I have full faith in knowing that God takes care of everything and He does and will provide.
7. The truth of it is that,…..
II. GIVING IS PERSONAL.
A. Malichi 3:8-10 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
1. How powerful is that verse? Can you imagine the floodgates of heaven being poured out on you? It’s an incredible picture.
2. This is also the only verse in the Bible where Gods says, "test Me in this!"
God is telling you to test Him with your tithe. Give Him His share and He will pour out more blessing than you have room for.
3. When it comes to money, it matters to God so much that in all of the Holy Scriptures this is the only place where God Himself challenged His people, saying, “TEST ME”.
4. He did not say, test me when it comes to your salvation or test my love for you, He did not say test me when it comes to your physical healing, or your walk with Him. But when it comes to your money, God says, “TEST ME.” I would say that Money does Matter to God.
5. Today, with our economy being so unstable it’s harder and harder for Christians to understand this verse out of fear that they will not be able to pay for the things they need.
6. God knows the things you need. Matthew 6:31-32 So do not worry, saying, ’What shall we eat?’ or ’What shall we drink?’ or ’What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
7. By giving your tithe you are saying that you put God first, and you trust in Him to take care of the rest. Remember He tells us to "Test Him in this!"
Hebrews 11:6, And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
8. God specifically asks for our faith and trust. When we willingly surrender a tenth of our income, especially when we believe we can’t afford to, we’re telling God, "I believe You will take care of me and provide for me. I believe in your promises" God wants for us to be able to look beyond our circumstances and rely on Him for all our needs.
9. Money is something that we really don’t like to talk about, it’s personal. Money is also one of the hardest things for many people to part with.
10. I encourage you to pray and listen to what God is telling you. Drown out the voice of control, worry, despair and the economy and really listen to what God is telling you.
11. If you truly believe that the Lord is not asking for your obedience in this area then no one can judge you.
B. Don’t let the decision to tithe come from pressure but let it come from prayer.
1. Every Christian should diligently pray and seek God’s wisdom in the matter of tithing.
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
2. Above all, all tithes and offerings should be given with pure motives and an attitude of worship to God and service to the body of Christ.
Conclusion:
Money does Matter to God but not the same way it does for the world. God doesn’t want us to give for His sake but for our own. He wants us to be obedient and give Him opportunities to bless us.
He wants us to trust Him to meet our needs. He wants us to be disciplined and mature so that we are more useful in His service.
He wants us to take responsibility for our Christian family and support our churches. He could do all these things on His own without our money but what would we learn?
It’s an act of Love on God’s part by asking us for things that hard to give up, it makes us stronger.
