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Luke 12:15-21 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Please take your copy of God's Word and turn to Luke chapter 12.
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Over the past couple of months on the Lord's Day, we've been studying the Sermon on the Mount together.
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And we've arrived at Matthew chapter 5 at a text that has created quite a bit of debate throughout the history of the church.
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The text I'm referring to is Matthew chapter 5 verses 31 and 32 and it's on divorce.
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I am very thankful that our church is devoted to verse by verse exposition because it forces us to deal with tough matters such as this.
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I am also thankful that our church trusts me at least.
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It's my perception that you trust me when it is decided that we should wait a few weeks before considering that topic together.
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So, if you came this morning with great anticipation that I would work out all of the complexity of what the scripture says concerning divorce and remarriage, just wait.
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Give it a couple more weeks.
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We will get to it in its proper time, I promise.
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Today, instead, we're going to take a step away from the Sermon on the Mount to consider kingdom giving.
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And we're going to do so for two reasons.
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Besides the reason that I think we should wait on the issue of divorce and remarriage.
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Firstly, as a church, we are under budget for the year.
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We're going to have a members meeting and part of that members meeting this afternoon will be to discuss the details of that shortage.
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But it matters.
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It matters that we're not upholding the budget that we carefully prepared, prayed over, presented to you,
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and that we as a church, as a fellowship together, decided to support.
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Secondly, and more importantly, kingdom giving is a matter of the heart.
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People really don't like talking about money in church.
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There's probably a lot of reasons for this.
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Certainly amongst them is that people apparently need private jets to be ministers of the gospel.
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This is not so amongst us.
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I have a private Prius.
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And I'm doing just fine.
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I think for us, we don't want to talk about money.
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We get uncomfortable talking about money.
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Because any attempt to tell someone how they should or shouldn't spend their money touches them at the level of their heart.
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It addresses their very values.
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And in fact, if as a church we do not concern ourselves with each other's finances,
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we would prove ourselves to be most unloving.
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Jesus spoke about money more than any other one topic, any other single topic.
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So, today my intention is to meddle, not really in the affairs of your wallet,
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but rather in the affairs of your heart.
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And if it makes you uncomfortable for someone to open up what the Bible has to say concerning your finances,
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then you need to pay extra special attention to why.
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My suggestion to you is that your discomfort is a symptom of idolatry.
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You love your stuff, your house, your car, your clothes, your toys, your experiences.
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You find your identity or your security in it.
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And beloved, this is idolatry.
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So this is a gospel issue.
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We have been saved by grace through faith to a God who loves us immensely and has a purpose in this world.
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And He intends to use His people and their finances to bring about this purpose.
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We should want in grateful obedience to submit our whole selves to Him in every way.
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We've spent much time so far in the Sermon on the Mount addressing this very thing.
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What is it that the citizens of God's kingdom look like?
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Peculiar in so many ways.
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Devoted to God and to His kingdom.
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And before I proceed any further, I want you to know that I wholeheartedly share the Apostle Paul's sentiment
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when he wrote to the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 12, verses 14 and 15.
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I seek not what is yours, but you.
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I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.
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So this is a heart matter.
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It is of concern to a shepherd of God's people.
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That God's people steward God's resources well.
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So let's look a bit this morning at Luke 12, verses 15-21.
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And before I read it, beloved, let me remind you that this is God's Word to us.
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It was written for His glory and our good.
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We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
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Beginning in verse 15.
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And Jesus said to them,
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And there I will store all my grain and my goods.
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And I will say to my soul,
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Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years.
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Relax, eat, drink, be merry.
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But God said to him, fool.
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This night your soul is required of you.
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And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?
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So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
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Jesus begins this morning's text with a warning.
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Take care.
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Heed what I'm about to say.
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Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness.
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Whether you have abundance or not, which is where most of us find ourselves.
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Be on guard against all covetousness.
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Jesus says to them,
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Do not break the tenth commandment.
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This covetousness is a boundless grasping after more.
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And I find that to be the very definition of American culture.
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A boundless grasping after more.
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Never satisfied.
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It's never a nudge.
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The thirst for things is never quenched.
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This covetousness is a dissatisfaction with what one already has.
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And the opposite of covetousness is expressed by Paul in 1 Timothy 6, verses 6-8.
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This would be the opposite.
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And listen to what Paul writes to Timothy.
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But godliness with contentment is great gain.
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For we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world.
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But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
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If we have our basic needs met, oh, the contentment that the Christian should have.
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So Jesus begins our text with this warning.
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Be careful.
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Caution against covetousness.
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And he punctuates his warning with a principle.
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He says,
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For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
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You are not who you are because of what you have.
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We are so apt to think that our lives are complete or will be complete, that they are lacking and will be complete if we can just have blank.
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And you should ask yourself that question.
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Run that phrase through your mind.
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My life would be complete if I had blank.
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That house.
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That car.
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That vacation that I can post lots of pictures about.
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A baby.
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Things that cost money.
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They cost great Harley Davidsons as another example.
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Jesus here tells us that this is not what a life consists of.
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One's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
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And then he continues with the parable to help us understand what it is that a life consists of.
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And we see the story of this man who speaks to his own soul, which I just really love about the reading of this particular parable, who abounds, right?
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He has plenty.
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And I know it's easy for us to look at this man and go, that's not me.
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I have no need to tear down barns and build bigger barns.
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But, beloved, each and every one of us has plenty.
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We have far beyond our basic necessities being met.
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When is the last time you wondered where your next meal would come from?
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If our family stopped buying groceries today, we would be fed for quite a while with the groceries we have at our house.
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I think weeks, possibly, we could stretch and make it work.
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I have clothes beyond the clothes that I need.
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We have abundance.
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And I'm not saying any of this is wrong, that we can't have the food and the clothes that we have.
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But we have an abundance.
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But listen to what God says to him.
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As he looks to this abundance, and he speaks to his soul, and he says,
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Oh, lay back and enjoy and spend that abundance on yourself.
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What does God say to him in verse 20?
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Fool.
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He declares him.
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He gives him the title of fool.
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And why?
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Because this man's life is short.
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As each and every one of our lives are short.
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Passing by as a vapor.
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It is the fool that looks to this life for reward and doesn't look to the eternal place for reward.
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Who's so concerned about the day and the now that we're altogether unconcerned about the forever.
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When we do that, beloved, God says to us, fool.
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Fool.
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What are you doing?
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Your life will pass as a vapor.
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And then all of the stuff, all of the things you have amassed.
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Whose will they be?
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And it's a rhetorical question.
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No one's.
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It's all turning into dust.
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One day.
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And verse 21 says,
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So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
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So the way of the fool is to invest in an earthly kingdom.
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To build your kingdom by spending money on yourself.
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This is the way of the fool, Jesus tells us.
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And then in the adverse, the way of the wise is to invest in a heavenly kingdom by being rich toward God.
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God, which we can see later in Luke chapter 12, means spending money on others.
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By being generous with our abundance.
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Of course, doing so in the right way and at the right time.
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But this is what it means to be rich toward God.
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Using what God has given us to leverage for the kingdom of God.
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Luke chapter 12, verse 33 and 34.
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Jesus says,
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Sell your possessions and give to the needy.
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Provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow old.
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With a treasure in the heavens that does not fail.
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Where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
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For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
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Jesus says, listen.
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Listen to the parable I've just told you.
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Now do not be anxious and take the abundance that you have and do the wise thing with it.
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Stop being fools.
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Right?
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Investing money into old money bags.
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Putting it into things that will be destroyed and taken away.
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But instead, invest in those things that are eternal.
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I hope that you, with me, want to be wise.
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That's a genuine desire of yours.
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That you would rather have wisdom than stuff.
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You would rather pay attention to and heed the warning of Jesus.
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And walk in the way of God.
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And look to the eternal.
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Rather than be concerned about such and such.
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Probably the thing that as I make statements and read scripture, you're going, does that mean I can't have?
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Yeah, probably that.
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That you would desire to be rich toward God.
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There are three ways that you can think about your finances.
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Two of them wrong and one of them right.
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First, the wrong ways.
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First, you can think that everything you have belongs to you and can be spent or saved however you wish.
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It's all yours to decide what you would do with it.
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And this is wrong thinking.
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This is the way of the world.
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Second, this would be a wrong way of thinking.
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You could think that a percentage of what you have belongs to God.
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But the rest belongs to you and can be spent or saved however you wish.
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If I just simply write off a percentage of what is mine, then I can do what I would like with what is mine.
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This is also a wrong way to think about our finances.
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The third way, and this is the right way, this is the way we want to think as a church, is that all that you have belongs to God and should be stewarded according to his purpose in the world.
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So your checking account balance belongs to God.
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The home in which you live belongs to God.
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The car that you drive belongs to God.
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Everything you have should be stewarded according to his purposes.
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But I mentioned at the beginning that we're under budget.
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So I want to talk specifically about giving to the church.
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There are many ways to steward God's wealth in the world.
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But where does this leave us in thinking about what we should give to our local fellowship?
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So we're going to look broader at financial stewardship when we get to Matthew chapter 6.
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There's so much more to be said here.
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But today I want to talk specifically about moving toward a biblical practice of the tithe.
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In a 2008 study entitled Passing the Plate, it was discovered that American Christians are growing increasingly stingy.
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And I couldn't find a more recent extensive study.
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But I did find a number of statistics stating that giving is still quite a bit down.
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This study though, entitled Passing the Plate, you can find it if you simply Google search it,
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defined committed Christians.
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This is the category of giver that we're talking about.
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Committed Christians, and very sadly they define committed Christians
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as those who self-reported that their faith is very important to them.
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And who stated they attend church at least twice a month.
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I think that's a sad definition of committed Christian.
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But this is what we're talking about.
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This is the demographic that we're referring to.
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And this study found that this group,
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this committed Christians, American committed, quote unquote, committed Christians,
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make collectively $2.5 trillion a year.
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Which means that this group could be admitted to G7,
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which is the world's seven largest economies.
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Big meetings of G7 that get around and talk about world economic politics.
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So this group could be admitted.
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We would bump somebody out of the G7 conference.
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If this group, this is just a hypothetical,
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if this group were to give 10% of their income,
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that would be $46 billion more than is currently given in any year.
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$46 billion more than is currently given.
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So just to give you an idea, $46 billion.
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This is American, quote unquote, committed Christians giving more.
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Just coming up to 10% giving.
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$10 billion of that would sponsor 20 million children for a year
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through Compassion International.
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Just $330 million would sponsor 150,000 indigenous missionaries
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in countries closed to religious workers.
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Just $330 million would sponsor 150,000 indigenous missionaries
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in countries that are closed where we can't go.
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Those dollars could go.
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$2.2 billion would triple the current funding of Bible translation,
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printing, and distribution.
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And after all that, after we accomplished these things,
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sponsored 20 million children for a year,
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sponsored 150,000 indigenous missionaries,
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tripled the Bible translation and distribution budget,
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after that, we would still have $33.5 billion left to spend.
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A great amount of equity for the kingdom of God.
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However, the median amount given by these, quote unquote,
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committed Christians is just $200 a year,
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which is just over half of 1% of after-tax income.
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It's an astoundingly low amount.
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So what does the Bible teach concerning the tithe?
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I will tell you that I desperately want to make the tithe a law.
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I feel like we'd just fix all that real quick if we would just say,
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you must, right?
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To be accepted by God, you must give 10% of your income.
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But I can't.
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And I won't.
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Because I don't believe that the Bible does.
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Our dear friends, Wes and Liz Sheldon, are now living in Salt Lake City.
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Mormonville, I like to call it.
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And Wes has a co-worker who is nominally Mormon,
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but he's marrying into a family that are very committed Mormons.
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And so they therefore must be married in the temple.
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Otherwise, the marriage isn't an eternal marriage.
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It's just a temporal marriage.
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So it's a very unloving thing to not marry a Mormon girl in the temple.
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Because you're just saying, yeah, for now is good, but not for forever.
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And in order for them to be able to use the space,
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he has to catch up on his tithe.
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And I said, how do they know?
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And he said, they have to submit all their tax records.
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Wouldn't that be wonderful?
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Boy, the end of the year would be a lot more fun around here.
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But I can't do this.
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But here's the danger.
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We go, okay, let's look at what the Bible has to say about the tithe.
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And I believe that it's no longer a law.
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We're not committed.
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If we don't do this 10%, we're not pleasing to God.
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What is the adverse of that?
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People go, okay, well, I'll give what I feel like giving.
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What I can remember to give.
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After I've taken care of all of my other obligations,
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I might have a little bit of change left over.
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And then I'll contribute.
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Half of 1%.
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Half of 1%.
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Right?
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So what does the Bible say?
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How do we properly walk into this and balance this out as an issue of the heart?
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Okay.
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So let me show you.
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There are two types of giving taught in the Old Testament.
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The first type of giving taught is required giving in the Old Testament,
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which was meant to support the administrative work of the government.
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And at this time, remember that Israel was a theocracy and the Levites, the priests, were agents in God's governance.
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Right?
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So this commanded giving was part of the function of the nation state of Israel.
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So we see the very first time in which the word tithe is used, this first commandment using this.
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Literally, it means tenth part.
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It's found in Leviticus chapter 27 and verse 30.
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Every tithe of the land, whether the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's.
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It is holy to the Lord.
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To be set apart to the governance of God's people.
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So it was like the income tax of the day.
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It was used for funding of national festivals.
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You can read about that in Deuteronomy chapter 14, verses 22 through 29.
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And there were smaller tithe requirements that were intended to provide for the poor.
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So it was also social welfare.
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It was safety netting for them as a society.
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An example of that is Leviticus chapter 19, verses 9 and 10.
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When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge.
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Neither shall you gather the gleanings after you harvest.
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And you shall not strip your vineyard bare.
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Neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard.
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You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner.
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I am the Lord.
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God in His graciousness provided a way for His people to leave behind some leftovers for people to come along and glean after.
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To be cared for.
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So this is the required giving.
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The second type of giving taught in the Old Testament was voluntary giving.
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And this was voluntary given to the temple.
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Exodus chapter 25 and verse 2.
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God says,
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Speak to the people of Israel,
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that they take for me a contribution from every man whose heart moves him.
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You shall receive the contribution for me.
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I'm commanding you to take up, right?
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However people have been moved to give.
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1 Chronicles chapter 29 and verse 9.
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Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly,
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for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord.
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So those are some examples of this other type of giving that we see in the Old Testament Scripture.
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So these are the two types of giving, right?
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Voluntary from the heart and required,
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which went to support governance.
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And this would be my case for this Old Testament command
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no longer being a present command, right?
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Because we do give to the governance of our land.
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We participate in the giving of taxes.
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Matthew chapter 22.
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Jesus talks about paying to Caesar.
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What is Caesar?
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Paul talks in Romans chapter 13 about submitting to authority and paying your taxes.
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So we have that type of thing covered, right?
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And don't try to get out of that one because they'll come with guns.
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Which is the weirdest thing that IRS agents carry guns.
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I digress.
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So, tithing cannot be taught as law.
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I don't believe so.
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But, it can be taught as a principle.
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It can be taught as a principle.
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Something for us to pay attention to as we question this in our own lives.
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It can be taught as a principle.
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That is to say, 10% is a really great place to start.
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It's a really good place to start.
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Now, if you find yourself in a position where you cannot,
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in giving in that way, you would actually become a burden to the church.
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You would have to turn around and then with our post-tax dollars support you.
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Maybe you ought not to and very prayerfully consider such a thing.
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But I think, by and large, for most of us,
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I'm going to venture to say all of us,
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but at least most of us can and should use 10% as a starting point.
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And then, I suggest,
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it should be a principle that is exceeded, if possible.
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We should be looking for further ways to store up treasure above.
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Right?
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We want to be rich toward God.
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Not toward ourselves, but toward eternal matters.
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So, let's take a look at what the New Testament has to say on the matter.
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As I give you just four reasons.
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I think there are some more, but four reasons.
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To give, to look toward, and hopefully give at least a tenth,
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and then go above and beyond, if possible, that.
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So, try to settle into these and really hear.
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Look at both some Old Testament and some New Testament texts.
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But let's try to tie the teaching together.
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So, first, giving at least a tenth today is in keeping with the purpose of the tithe in its day in part.
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We're going to talk about the governance portion of it,
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but it also provided for the Levites.
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Numbers chapter 18, 20 and 21.
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And the Lord said to Aaron,
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You shall have no inheritance in their land,
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neither shall you have any portion among them.
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I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.
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To the Levites, I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance,
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in return for their service that they do,
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their service in the tent of meeting.
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So, the Levites didn't have a portion in the land where they could profit from it.
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They were instead given to a very specific task of administering temple worship.
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And so, they received a tenth portion.
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And there are still men and women who set aside vocational employment,
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the ability to earn money in secular employment,
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in order to serve the needs of the church at home and abroad.
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Right?
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We have ministry partners that our church supports for this very reason.
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Right?
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The Whetstones,
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Osiyama Obeye in Brazil,
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the Zwingke's in Germany,
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they could not do the work they're doing
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if Christian people didn't give generously to that very work.
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Myself.
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I'm included amongst these people who,
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for many years, worked a job,
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but the strain of our church.
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I love working for our church.
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I shouldn't say it that way.
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The many things that our church needs done,
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right,
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at some point necessitated me stopping working a job in that way
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and being able to be supported
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and to be able to support my family
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by working for the church.
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Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5,
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verse 17 and 18,
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Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor,
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especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.
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For the Scripture says,
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and this is Deuteronomy 25, 4,
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You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,
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and, this is quoting from Luke 10, 7 and other places,
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the laborer deserves his wages.
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Interestingly here,
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Paul is saying to Timothy, right,
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that the elder,
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especially the one who labors in preaching and teaching,
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right,
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should get paid for the work that is being done.
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And I find it really fascinating
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that he actually says that it is worthy of double honor.
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And I actually think he's referring to pay in that case,
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although I'm not complaining about my income
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and would not suggest I make twice as much as you do.
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But there are a lot of churches
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churches,
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a lot of churches,
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that will figure out what the average income is
32:27
of the members of their church
32:29
and pay the pastor that income, right,
32:32
because they don't want him to think too much of himself.
32:35
Oh,
32:36
pay the man for his work that he's doing.
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1 Corinthians 9,
32:41
verse 13 and 14,
32:42
saying,
32:43
do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service
32:46
get their food from the temple?
32:48
And those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings?
32:52
In the same way,
32:53
the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel
32:55
should get their living by the gospel.
32:58
So, principally speaking,
32:59
giving at least a tenth today,
33:01
right,
33:02
is keeping with that purpose of its provision for the Levites.
33:06
And so we look to provide for those who are not doing secular work,
33:12
but rather are doing work specifically for the church and beyond.
33:18
Secondly,
33:19
giving at least a tenth today honors God as the owner and giver of all things.
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It is a wonderful exercise to carve off a substantial portion of the income that you receive
33:31
as an exercise in remembering that this belongs to God.
33:37
Everything I have is His.
33:39
And when I take that time to stop and write the check,
33:43
to make it a mental exercise,
33:45
to actually have to consider it,
33:47
it's so good for our hearts.
33:50
That's why I've told you guys again and again and again,
33:51
it would make sense for me not to give to the church
33:55
because I'm getting paid on dollars to get taxed
33:58
and I turn around and I give that money back to the church.
34:00
It'd actually be more fiscally efficient for me just to take a pay cut
34:05
for what I would give back.
34:06
Are you tracking me on that?
34:08
It doesn't matter if you don't.
34:10
It would be.
34:11
And I will not do that because I need it to hit my account
34:16
and I need to turn around and write a check back out of my account.
34:19
It's not as efficient fiscally,
34:21
but it's really good for my heart.
34:24
It's good for Sam and I to talk about what we will give to the church in this year.
34:28
And that's why we don't do automated online giving,
34:34
both because it's silly to pay a percentage to somebody
34:36
to process that kind of thing,
34:38
but also because you need to go through the exercise of doing it.
34:44
That's why we pass buckets.
34:46
I look back, the last time I preached on giving
34:48
was when we actually started passing buckets,
34:50
and I think it was six years ago when we did that.
34:53
And we do it not to guilt you into giving,
34:56
but to remind you that it matters.
34:58
So all those Sundays that you go,
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next Sunday.
35:03
I know we're forgetful people,
35:05
but do something to set a reminder.
35:07
Help yourself to do this
35:09
because it's good for you to consider
35:11
that God is the owner and giver of all things.
35:16
Deuteronomy chapter 14, verse 22 and following.
35:23
God commands,
35:23
you shall tithe all the yield of your seed
35:26
that comes from the field year by year.
35:29
And before the Lord your God
35:30
and the place that He will choose
35:32
to make His name dwell there,
35:33
you shall eat the tithe of your grain,
35:35
of your wine and of your oil,
35:38
and the firstborn of your herd and flock.
35:41
Listen to why.
35:42
Begin to verse 23.
35:43
That you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.
35:51
To reverence Him rightly as we should,
35:55
as the giver of all good things.
35:59
It is such a healthy exercise.
36:02
And I'm suggesting to you
36:03
that if you will practice this principle,
36:05
which is not the easiest principle to practice,
36:08
a tenth bites in to the income that you have.
36:12
It really presses upon you to stop and consider.
36:18
God is the owner and giver of all things.
36:21
Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 26,
36:25
citing from Psalm 24, 1,
36:28
For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
36:32
So, giving at least a tenth is keeping with,
36:37
at least in part,
36:38
this Old Testament purpose of the tithe.
36:41
It helps us honor God as the owner and giver of all things.
36:46
Thirdly, it protects our hearts from the wiles of money.
36:54
The deception of money.
36:57
The writer of Hebrews writes in Hebrews chapter 13,
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verse 5 and 6,
37:03
Keep your life free from love of money.
37:08
How many of us can honestly say,
37:10
My life is free from love of money.
37:15
I think I struggle with that statement.
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I think many of us would.
37:19
Oh, it is deceptive.
37:21
Boy, does it tug at our hearts.
37:26
And be content with what you have.
37:30
For he has said,
37:32
I will never leave you nor forsake you.
37:37
So we can confidently say,
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The Lord is my helper.
37:41
I will not fear.
37:42
What can man do to me?
37:46
Keep your life free from the love of money.
37:51
The deception that everything depends on these zeros and ones.
37:59
Because you are God's.
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And God is yours.
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Let me read to you from Matthew chapter 6.
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And we will look at this text at greater length
38:11
when we're back in the Sermon on the Mount.
38:12
But verse 19 and following,
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Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount,
38:17
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth
38:19
where moth and rust destroy
38:21
and where thieves break in and steal.
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But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven
38:26
where neither moth nor rust destroys
38:27
and where thieves do not break in and steal.
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For where your treasure is,
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there your heart will be also.
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The eye is the lamp of the body.
38:39
So if your eye is held through,
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your whole body will be full of light.
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But if your eye is bad,
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your whole body will be full of darkness.
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If in the light in you is darkness,
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how great is the darkness?
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No one can serve two masters,
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for either he will hate the one and love the other,
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or he will be devoted to the one
39:00
and despise the other.
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You cannot serve God and money.
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And this language,
39:08
this use of this term eye,
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it's not talking about the physical eye,
39:13
but also could be translated heart.
39:17
The heart is the lamp of the body.
39:20
So if you are devoted in the way
39:23
you should be devoted to God
39:25
and His coming kingdom in your heart,
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then you will be in all things devoted to Him.
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In the way that you arrange yourself,
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the way that you steward your finances,
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the way that you love your family
39:37
and your neighbors,
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the way you're concerned,
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or not concerned,
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about your house.
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And this thing is so clearly punctuated
39:46
at the end of verse 24.
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You cannot serve God and money.
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I'm going to give you an example from history.
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I'm going to give you a man named John Wesley.
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Yes, we are okay quoting John Wesley here.
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Now, I wouldn't give you this
40:08
as a complete example,
40:09
but I want to give it to you
40:10
as an example of lavish,
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expounding, growing generosity.
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In his first year as a pastor,
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his income was 30 pounds.
40:25
And he found he could live on 28
40:27
and so gave away two.
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You see why I'm not using him
40:30
as an example in that case.
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I figured it would have been good
40:33
for him to give to the church
40:35
that he was a pastor of.
40:37
But I digress.
40:38
So he gave away two
40:40
because he could live on 28.
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And this is the part I really want you
40:43
to pay attention to.
40:44
In the second year,
40:45
his income doubled,
40:47
but he held his expenses even.
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And so he had 32 pounds to give away,
40:54
which was a comfortable year's income
40:56
in that time.
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He gave away a whole other living.
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In the third year,
41:04
his income jumped to 90 pounds.
41:06
I don't know what he was doing
41:07
to make this happen,
41:08
but he had tripled it in three years,
41:11
but it jumped to 90 pounds
41:13
and he gave away 62 pounds.
41:17
In his long life,
41:20
Wesley's income advanced
41:22
to as high as 1,400 pounds in a year,
41:26
but he rarely let his expenses rise
41:29
above 30 pounds.
41:32
So there was a man that saw,
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I have needs, clearly,
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a place to live,
41:38
clothes to put on,
41:39
food to eat.
41:41
I am sure that Wesley traveled,
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took a holiday from time to time.
41:45
I don't think that he was a pauper,
41:47
but he found,
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I can live on this.
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What should I use the excess for?
41:55
Heavenly reward.
41:56
That's what I should use it for.
41:58
You see why it's so unloving
42:00
to withhold this kind of teaching from people?
42:03
I fear someday,
42:04
many Christians will be in heaven
42:06
and they'll go,
42:06
oh, if our pastor had only told us.
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I could have had that kind of a house,
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but instead I live in this kind of a house
42:13
because in my short years on earth,
42:17
I spent it on myself.
42:20
I tore down my barns
42:22
and I built bigger ones.
42:27
Fourthly,
42:28
giving at least a tenth today
42:29
is a means for good works
42:32
which glorify God.
42:34
We ought to care,
42:36
beloved,
42:37
primarily as people
42:38
about the glory of God.
42:40
God would be known as he is
42:42
in the world.
42:44
And we get to accomplish that
42:46
certainly with our words,
42:48
primarily even,
42:49
but also with our good working,
42:52
spending generously
42:54
to solve the issues
42:57
of our world.
42:59
If there's anybody
43:00
that should be pushing back
43:01
against the curse
43:03
and all of its effects
43:04
in the world,
43:04
it should be the church.
43:06
He's saying,
43:07
we're a people
43:07
who are set against the curse.
43:10
We want to see it reversed.
43:13
It finally will be
43:14
when our Lord and Savior returns.
43:19
Paul writes to the Corinthian church,
43:20
2 Corinthians 9,
43:22
verse 6 and following,
43:24
whoever sows sparingly
43:25
will also reap sparingly.
43:28
And whoever sows bountifully
43:30
will also reap bountifully.
43:33
Each one must give
43:34
as he has decided in his heart,
43:36
not reluctantly
43:37
or under compulsion,
43:39
for God loves
43:40
a cheerful giver.
43:42
And God's grace,
43:44
God is able to make
43:44
all grace abound to you
43:45
so that having all sufficiency
43:47
in all things
43:48
at all times,
43:49
you may abound
43:50
in every good work.
43:53
As it is written,
43:55
Psalm 112, 9,
43:57
He has distributed freely,
43:58
He has given to the poor,
44:00
His righteousness endures forever.
44:04
He who supplies seed to the sower
44:05
and bread for food
44:07
will supply and multiply
44:08
your seed for sowing
44:09
and increase the harvest
44:11
of your righteousness.
44:14
So we've been given resource
44:16
for the sake of bringing forth
44:18
the fruit of righteousness.
44:21
That's the Nathan version summary
44:22
of that, right?
44:23
So we ought to do it cheerfully.
44:25
We ought not do it
44:26
under compulsion,
44:27
under a law,
44:28
but we ought to do it
44:28
because we want heavenly reward,
44:31
right?
44:32
We want to see God's kingdom come
44:35
that we might rejoice
44:37
in its riches forever.
44:40
And the primary way
44:42
that Christian people should do this
44:44
is giving to their local church.
44:46
And I know our culture,
44:48
we have a lot of churches
44:49
that just seem to not need
44:50
any more money.
44:51
And that very well may be true,
44:54
right?
44:54
Big and elaborate
44:56
and lavish budgets.
44:59
Just don't be part of a church like that.
45:00
Be part of a church
45:01
where you can look at the budget
45:03
and wholeheartedly agree with it.
45:06
Say, yes,
45:07
this is spending that is consistent
45:09
with God's purpose in the world.
45:11
I can support this.
45:14
Just imagine
45:15
if a church that's devoted
45:17
to God's word
45:18
and spending money in God's way,
45:19
if those people would pour out wealth,
45:23
what could be accomplished
45:24
in that way?
45:26
Wouldn't we love to see
45:27
some of our ministry partners
45:28
fully supported by our church?
45:31
Not having to worry about
45:32
fundraising efforts.
45:34
Not having to constantly call
45:36
and remind their supporters
45:37
that they need them
45:38
to actually do the thing
45:39
that they said they would do
45:41
so that they can feed their family.
45:43
Wouldn't it be good
45:44
for that to happen?
45:46
Wouldn't it be good
45:46
for us as a church
45:47
to be about praying for
45:49
unreached people
45:50
and have a young couple
45:52
in our church
45:53
just burn with the desire
45:54
to go to that unreached people
45:56
and for us just to say,
45:57
go.
45:59
We've got your back.
46:00
Right?
46:01
We can cover this
46:02
because we have all this money
46:03
and we don't know
46:04
what to do with it.
46:05
Clearly,
46:05
the Lord was setting it aside
46:07
for you
46:08
and for that people
46:09
to hear the gospel
46:10
of Jesus Christ.
46:12
Right?
46:12
That is so much more valuable
46:13
than our homes
46:14
and our cars
46:15
and our whatever it is
46:16
that we're investing
46:18
so heavily in.
46:23
What is the storehouse
46:25
that God is talking about
46:27
in Malachi 3, verse 10?
46:31
I would suggest to you
46:32
that it's the local church.
46:35
Collectively stewarding
46:37
these resources together.
46:40
God says,
46:41
bring the full tithe
46:42
into the storehouse
46:43
that there may be food
46:45
in my house
46:46
and thereby put me
46:47
to the test,
46:48
the Lord of hosts.
46:49
Says the Lord of hosts,
46:50
I will not open
46:52
the windows of heaven for you
46:53
and pour down for you
46:54
a blessing
46:55
until there is no more need.
46:59
A wonderful thought that is.
47:01
What a wonderful thing
47:02
that would be in our church
47:05
that we would be able
47:06
to have the means
47:08
at our disposal
47:09
for every possible good work
47:12
that we could come up with
47:13
to the glory of God.
47:17
So those are four reasons
47:18
that giving
47:19
at least
47:20
a tenth today
47:22
is something
47:23
that ought to be
47:24
seriously considered.
47:26
And if you
47:27
stop to consider
47:29
the very front edge,
47:31
I know many of you
47:31
don't even have budgets.
47:33
Let me presume
47:33
for a second that you do.
47:34
You sit down
47:37
and you start
47:37
with giving.
47:40
And you ask the Lord,
47:41
Lord, would you have him give
47:41
a tenth
47:42
and possibly beyond?
47:44
And then you begin
47:45
to arrange
47:45
everything out
47:46
beyond that.
47:48
How very neatly
47:49
the rest
47:50
works itself out.
47:52
You begin to say,
47:53
I'm going to devote
47:54
all that I have
47:55
to the kingdom
47:56
of God
47:57
and then see
47:59
what may fall
48:00
out
48:00
and beyond that.
48:02
I could say
48:03
so much more
48:03
about tithing,
48:05
about saving,
48:06
about retirement.
48:06
I mean,
48:06
there's a lot of things
48:07
to be said.
48:08
I don't want us
48:08
to be foolish
48:09
with our dollars.
48:11
I think that we need
48:12
to very prayerfully
48:13
on the front end
48:15
seek God's will
48:17
and how he would
48:18
have us directly
48:19
invest
48:20
in kingdom things.
48:24
Bring the tithe
48:25
into the storehouse
48:27
and just see
48:27
what God
48:28
might do
48:29
in your life
48:30
and in the life
48:31
of our church.
48:34
So in conclusion,
48:35
giving at least
48:38
a tenth of days
48:39
and keeping
48:39
with the purpose
48:40
of the tithe
48:41
in its day
48:42
because it honors God
48:44
as the owner
48:45
and giver
48:46
of all things.
48:47
It helps protect
48:48
our hearts
48:48
from the wiles,
48:50
the dangers
48:51
of money
48:51
and it's a means
48:53
for good works
48:53
which are to the glory
48:55
of God.
48:56
May we be a people
48:58
set apart
48:58
in every way
49:00
with hearts
49:00
so devoted
49:01
to the worship
49:02
of our living God
49:03
and so set
49:03
on the coming
49:04
of his kingdom
49:05
that we would
49:06
gladly spend
49:07
and be spent
49:08
for the sake
49:09
of others.
49:11
May we be a people
49:12
who are rich
49:13
beyond our wildest
49:14
imaginations
49:15
with heavenly wealth,
49:18
a wealth
49:18
that moths
49:19
and rust
49:20
cannot destroy
49:21
and that thieves
49:22
cannot break in
49:24
and steal.
49:25
Let's pray.
49:26
Amen.