Introduction:
Review: Luke 3:10-14 | Matthew 6:21 – For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Faithful Giving
- How should I give? (Mal 3:6-9)
- Why should I give?
2 Corinthians 8:3 - For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means,of their own accord...
- Because giving to God is good for your Wallet. (Mal 3:10-12)
- Because giving to God is good for your Soul. (Mal 3:13-15)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
Supporting Series on Biblical Giving from God's Word:
I Love to Give
(4 part series with audio sermon and notes)
Covering 2 Corinthians 8 - 9
-
00:29-00:31
Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament.
00:31-00:37
If you're having a hard time finding it, just go to the New Testament, go back a couple of pages, and you will be there.
00:37-00:39
We're in Malachi chapter 3.
00:39-00:43
Before returning there, I'd like to tell you this story that I heard.
00:43-00:47
I don't think it's true, but you'll get the point.
00:49-00:59
The story is of this money in this wallet together, decided to have a conversation.
01:01-01:02
Did you hear about this?
01:02-01:08
There was a $100 bill, and there was a $20 bill, and there was a $1 bill all in the same wallet.
01:09-01:10
And they got to talking.
01:11-01:16
And the $100 bill said, "You know, I've had a pretty sweet life when you think about it.
01:17-01:24
I mean, I've been to casinos, I've been to jewelry stores, I've been to some of the high-end places.
01:24-01:29
I've had a pretty good life as a $100 bill." And the $20 bill said, "Yeah, you know what?
01:29-01:32
Now that I think about it, I think I've had a pretty good life too.
01:33-01:37
I mean, I've been to Applebee's, I've been to Chipotle.
01:39-01:43
I've had a pretty good life being a $20 bill." Well, the $1 bill spoke up.
01:44-01:46
He said, "You know, I've had an interesting life myself.
01:47-01:56
I've been to the Methodist church, I've been to the Presbyterian church, I've been to the Episcopalian church." And the $100 bill speaks up.
01:56-01:58
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on, hang on, hang on.
01:59-01:59
What's a church?
02:02-02:18
Today we are going to be talking about stuff and money, in particular God's stuff and God's money, and even more particular, how getting back on track is getting back to faithful giving.
02:19-02:25
Now first, look at chapter 3, verse 6, where we left off last week.
02:27-02:31
Where God says, "For I, the Lord, do not change.
02:32-02:38
Therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed." Isn't it a great comfort to know that God never changes?
02:39-02:40
Isn't that a great comfort?
02:41-02:51
to know that the God of Genesis, who created the world, is the same God alive and active today.
02:53-03:01
The same God in the book of Revelation, who's going to bring all this to a close, is the same God alive today.
03:01-03:05
He never changes. People change, right? People change.
03:07-03:08
God never changes.
03:09-03:13
Notice God points out immediate application of this fact.
03:14-03:22
He said, "That's why you owe children of Jacob, Israel." He says, "That's why you are not consumed." We've been talking about Israel's sin.
03:23-03:31
God says, "You know, the only reason I haven't wiped you off the map is because of the promise that I made to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
03:33-03:42
I don't change. I always keep my word." I'd like to remind you here that God has made a promise to you too.
03:43-03:49
And that promise is stated in probably the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3.16.
03:49-03:49
You know that verse?
03:50-04:06
It says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son," and here's the promise, "that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life." That's a promise that God has made to you.
04:08-04:14
And when we think about God not changing, this is so comforting to me.
04:15-04:21
And knowing that salvation is based on God keeping His work.
04:22-04:25
It's based on God's integrity, it's not based on mine.
04:25-04:26
Isn't that comforting?
04:27-04:36
If salvation was based on my integrity, based on me being faithful, I'd be saved and unsaved dozens of times a day.
04:39-04:39
But it's not.
04:41-04:43
Salvation is based on God keeping His Word.
04:45-04:56
Verse 7, "From the days of your fathers, you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them." There it is. God doesn't change, but we do, right?
04:56-05:01
He says, "You've turned aside." Look at this next statement. I love this.
05:01-05:03
You should underline this in your Bible.
05:05-05:13
The Lord says, "Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the Lord of hosts.
05:14-05:23
And that's really the gist of this whole sermon series called "Getting Back on Track." The Lord says, "Are you off track? Here's the good news.
05:23-05:25
If you return to Me, I will return to you.
05:25-05:30
All you need to do is take one step, and you'll find that God's already been there.
05:32-05:33
Are you off track today?
05:34-05:36
Today's the day you can return.
05:38-05:51
But you say, "How shall we return?" And I'm sure there are people sitting here right now that are saying, "You know what? I haven't felt like I've been on track in my relationship with the Lord in a very long time.
05:51-06:01
I just haven't I haven't felt like I've really been I mean I know God's faithful, but I feel like I haven't been faithful How can I get back on track?
06:02-06:20
Well God says I'll tell you Exactly specifically how to get back on track That's the series we saw week one you get to get back to real worship. What is real worship worship is breathing in God's love and and breathing out reverence for God, right?
06:20-06:21
That's what we saw in chapter one.
06:22-06:25
Breathe in His love, breathe out reverence.
06:27-06:30
Getting back on track also means married people.
06:31-06:34
It means that you have to be faithful to your marriage commitment.
06:34-06:36
We saw that in chapter two, didn't we?
06:36-06:43
God says, "If you're faithless in your marriage, "I consider that you being faithless towards me." God takes that very seriously.
06:43-06:46
Men, if you aren't loving your wives, God takes that very seriously.
06:48-06:52
Then last week we saw getting back on track means getting back to personal holiness.
06:54-06:56
Get your heart in this book.
06:58-07:02
Learn what it means to walk in the Spirit daily.
07:04-07:06
Allowing God to refine you.
07:08-07:09
So what's next?
07:10-07:12
What's the next point of, "Okay, I want to get back on track.
07:12-07:15
What are some areas that maybe I need to pay attention to?
07:16-07:17
Look at verse eight.
07:19-07:24
You know, Israel asks, "How shall we return?" God says, "Okay, here's another one.
07:25-07:26
Will man rob God?
07:29-07:38
Yet you are robbing me." Can we just pause for a second and try to wrap our brains around the concept of robbing God?
07:41-07:42
Can we think about that for a second?
07:43-07:52
God is the most powerful and giving person who has ever been.
07:53-07:58
So to rob from somebody so powerful is foolish.
08:00-08:06
And to rob from somebody who is already willing to give you everything is wicked.
08:08-09:25
But God says, "Israel, do you know to me right now you are robbing me you are stealing from me so you can imagine the question they have again verse 8 but you say how have we robbed you I mean that's a pretty sobering statement Israel says well how have we how we robbed you look at God's answer in your tithes and contributions you are cursed with a curse for you are robbing me the whole nation of you like this isn't just like one or two of you God says all of you are ripping me off so if you want to get back on track there's an area that must be addressed you got to get back the faithful giving. And right now somebody's like, "Oh Pastor Jeff, this is so Old Testament. Pastor Jeff, do you even New Testament?" And yeah, let's New Testament together, shall we? Let's look at the very first major preacher of the New Testament. You're like, "Jesus, right?" No, no, no. Before Jesus, who was the first major preacher of the New Testament? Shout it out.
09:26-09:28
John the Baptist, right? Good.
09:29-09:31
I want you to look at what John the Baptist said.
09:31-09:32
We're going to play a little game here.
09:33-09:39
We're going to play "Do You See a Theme?" I love this game.
09:40-09:44
I play this game all week by myself, and it's so good to have some friends playing with me.
09:46-09:47
Luke chapter 3.
09:48-09:49
Okay, we're playing "Do You See a Theme?" You ready?
09:50-09:57
John the Baptist was going around preaching repentance, And the crowds asked him, "What then shall we do?" Boy, doesn't that sound familiar?
09:58-09:59
That's exactly what they were asking Amalekiah.
09:59-10:01
That's exactly the purpose of this series.
10:01-10:03
How do I get my life back on track?
10:04-10:07
And John's like, "I am so glad you asked." You ready?
10:09-10:10
Do you see a theme?
10:10-10:52
He answered them, "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise." Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, teacher what shall we do and he said to them collect no more than you are authorized to do soldiers also asked him and what shall we do and he said to them do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusations and be content with your wages so when directly asked how do we repent how do we get back on track by crowds, by tax collectors, by soldiers.
10:52-10:53
Did you see a theme?
10:55-11:01
Every answer was tied to getting back on track with being faithful.
11:03-11:04
With money and stuff.
11:06-11:16
OK, OK, OK, OK, you got me there, but you know, honestly, John the Baptist, he was a little rough. But our Lord would never talk like that.
11:17-11:21
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with such a tender heart would never talk to anybody like that.
11:23-11:25
I'll jot these references down.
11:26-11:29
You can look these up later, but I'm going to paraphrase for you today.
11:30-11:32
Luke chapter 18 and Luke chapter 19.
11:33-11:43
Luke chapter 18, a rich young ruler comes to Jesus and says, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" In other words, "How do I get my life on track with God?" Remember Jesus' answer?
11:45-11:47
Long story short, you keep the commandments.
11:47-11:47
He's like, well, I've done that.
11:47-11:51
And Jesus knew the man had an issue with money.
11:51-11:58
He was wealthy and he was not only a possessor of things, those things possessed him.
11:59-11:59
Right.
11:59-12:01
So Jesus knew this man's heart problem.
12:01-12:06
And he said, you need to sell, sell what you have and give the money to the poor and then come and follow me.
12:06-12:08
And the man walked away sad.
12:09-12:14
I want you to see that the call to repentance was directly addressed to money and stuff.
12:15-12:23
But then Luke chapter 19, we see another guy come to Jesus, and his name was Zacchaeus.
12:23-12:25
How many people have heard of Zacchaeus?
12:26-12:26
All right?
12:26-12:28
How many people know his song?
12:28-12:29
Raise your hand.
12:30-12:30
Do you know that song?
12:31-12:31
Do you want to sing it?
12:32-12:33
Okay, ready?
12:35-12:36
Help me out here, ready?
12:38-12:43
Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he.
12:44-13:18
one he climbed up in the sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see love the song and as the Savior passed that way he looked up in the tree and he said for I'm going to your house today give yourselves a hand all right you're all "Oh, what were we talking about? Oh, yeah." You know the story of Zacchaeus, right?
13:18-13:20
What was the first thing he did as a sign of repentance?
13:21-13:21
You remember?
13:22-13:39
First thing he did as a sign of repentance, he said, "I'm giving half of my stuff to the poor, and if I've ripped anybody off, I'm going to pay them back four times when I defrauded them." So like, "If I ripped you off for a dollar, I'm going to give you back four dollars." You remember Jesus' response?
13:39-13:45
He's like, "Salvation is coming." has come to this house, giving back the money wasn't what saved him.
13:46-13:52
But getting right about the money was the evidence that his heart had changed. Do you see that?
13:54-14:10
When it comes to money and stuff and spiritual reality, Jesus said the most profound statement ever made in Matthew 6 and verse 21, when Jesus said, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
14:12-14:13
That is an objective test.
14:16-14:22
Because you understand, church, there are only two books on this planet that will reveal your heart.
14:23-14:26
One of them is this book, the book that God wrote.
14:26-14:27
This book will reveal your heart.
14:28-14:30
But do you know you have another book that will reveal your heart?
14:30-14:31
And it's your checkbook.
14:33-14:40
Your checkbook will reveal your heart Because when you find out where you're spending your money, you find out where your heart is.
14:43-14:50
In other words, if you show me your checkbook, and let me look at your ledger, I can tell you exactly where your heart is.
14:51-14:53
So if you say, "Oh, you know what, Pastor Jeff?
14:53-14:55
My heart is with the church.
14:55-14:58
My heart is with the church, Pastor Jeff. I just love the church.
14:59-15:00
I just love the church, Pastor Jeff.
15:00-15:11
And that's where my heart is. Let me see your checkbook." Like, well, your heart is with entertainment based on where all your money's going.
15:14-15:16
If you say, "You know, Pastor Jeff, my heart's for missions.
15:17-15:28
Just love mission work, love to give the missions. I just have a heart for missions, Pastor Jeff. Oh, I just have a heart for missions. Let me see your checkbook." You have a heart for Arby's.
15:30-15:34
Because Jesus said where your treasure is, that's where your heart is.
15:35-15:39
Don't try to switch it. Well my heart's with mission so that must be where my treasure is.
15:39-15:49
Jesus said no, that's not how it works. All right, so getting back on track with faithful giving, we're going to answer two questions today. The first one is this, how should I give?
15:50-15:53
We're going to address something here so there's no confusion.
15:54-15:57
How should I give? Let's talk about the tithe.
15:59-16:01
There's a lot of confusion about this, okay?
16:01-16:04
So pay attention or I will make you sing Zacchaeus again.
16:06-16:10
We often use the word "tithe" in a generic sense.
16:10-16:12
I've been guilty of that, just in a generic sense.
16:12-16:13
Give your tithe.
16:14-16:17
We use it to talk about giving money unto the Lord.
16:18-16:43
We use it as a generic word, but the word "tithe" literally is the 10% obligation to God that in the days of ancient Israel, Israel gave a tithe, or they gave 10% to the Levites, and then the Levites took that 10%, and they gave 10% of that to the priests, who were sort of a subset of the Levites.
16:43-16:48
But actually, a lot of people don't know this, but in the Old Testament Israel, there were actually three tithes.
16:48-16:49
Did you know that?
16:50-16:54
One went to the Levites, one went to the festivals.
16:55-17:01
Israel threw great parties unto the Lord, and there was a tithe that went for that.
17:02-17:07
And also Deuteronomy 14 says that every three years, another tithe was given for the poor.
17:08-17:15
So understand the tithe in the Old Testament was like, I don't do math, what was it, like 23 and a third percent.
17:16-17:21
Okay, it wasn't even like 10%, it was 23 and a third, right?
17:23-17:24
You're like, "Well, wait a minute, do I have to tithe?
17:27-17:35
I don't live in ancient Israel, and do I have to tithe?" Well, I believe that tithing is a great principle.
17:35-17:37
I do. I think it's a great principle.
17:37-17:41
But tithing is not commanded in the New Testament.
17:43-17:50
The New Testament says so much about money and giving, but nothing about tithing.
17:51-17:54
What does the New Testament say about giving?
17:54-17:56
Really, it's summed up in one verse.
17:56-18:01
2 Corinthians 8, verse 3, sums up New Testament giving.
18:02-18:13
"For they gave according to their means," as I can testify, "and beyond their means, of their own accord." So quickly, what does New Testament giving look like?
18:14-18:19
First of all, it says, "They gave according to their means." You see those commercials? What's in your wallet?
18:20-18:21
What's in your wallet?
18:22-18:23
You give according to your means.
18:23-18:28
God's not calling me to give according to somebody else's means.
18:30-18:31
Right? God's not calling.
18:32-18:35
Jeff, you should give according to Bill Gates' means of giving.
18:37-18:44
I could never, for the rest of my life, if I worked eight jobs, give according to his means.
18:46-18:49
God says you need to give according to your means, right?
18:50-18:52
Not according to somebody else's.
18:53-18:56
Secondly, you see, He says in beyond their means.
18:58-18:59
Beyond their means, what does that mean?
19:02-19:10
Giving beyond your means, means giving more than even what is expected.
19:11-19:20
It means something like this, you know, I was going to buy this thing for myself, but instead of buying that for myself, I'm going to use that money and give that to God.
19:21-19:28
I'm going to forego something I want and give that money instead to God, sort of beyond the regular, right?
19:28-19:30
This last phrase is so important.
19:30-19:34
It says, "Of their own accord." It's a choice.
19:35-19:36
Your giving is between you and God.
19:36-19:38
I don't know what a single person in this church gives.
19:39-19:39
I have no idea.
19:40-19:43
If you threaten my life, I couldn't tell you what anybody in this church gives.
19:44-19:45
We have it set up that way.
19:46-19:47
Because that's between you and God.
19:48-19:48
That's an act of worship.
19:50-19:52
So I would encourage you, here's how you give.
19:54-19:55
Not under obligation.
19:58-19:59
Right? Not under obligation.
19:59-20:03
We're not going to send our elders to your house to break your knees.
20:04-20:07
Like I saw you gave five dollars last week.
20:07-20:10
I think we can shake you down for a little more than that.
20:10-20:12
That's between you and the Lord. Okay?
20:14-20:15
So how should I give?
20:17-20:24
Makes it pretty clear. According to your means, beyond your means, and definitely if you're in accord.
20:25-20:28
Well, why should I give?
20:29-20:32
That's the question we want to look at here. Why should I give?
20:34-20:39
You know, God could have just sent Malachi to say, Israel, give to God.
20:40-20:42
It's a necessary ingredient for getting back on track.
20:43-20:44
Amen, let us pray.
20:44-20:51
While that is true, I want you to see in this passage that we're going to look at that God actually sells Israel on the benefits.
20:53-20:57
God's like, "Here's why you should give." I'm gonna give you two today as we wrap up.
20:57-20:59
Number one, why should I give?
21:01-21:03
Because giving to God is good for your wallet.
21:06-21:07
Look at verses 10 through 12.
21:08-21:09
Giving to God is good for your wallet.
21:12-21:15
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse.
21:15-21:19
Okay, that was just a storage area in the temple.
21:20-21:28
That there may be food in my house and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts.
21:28-21:35
If I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
21:37-21:42
God says, if you give to me, I'm going to make sure that you have abundantly.
21:43-21:44
He goes on, look at verse 11.
21:44-21:57
I will rebuke the devourer for you so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts.
21:59-22:04
the devourer, that's just the locusts, the things that would eat your crop.
22:04-22:12
God says, I'm going to not only bless you, I'm going to stop whatever would take away that blessing.
22:14-22:26
Verse 12, "Then all the nations, then all nations, excuse me, will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight," says the Lord of hosts.
22:27-22:29
certainly says something about the testimony, right?
22:31-22:36
You see, it's not about like those TV preachers, like, look, God gave me a Mercedes.
22:37-22:40
He gave me like-- well, he gave me like eight of them last week or whatever.
22:40-22:41
It's not that.
22:42-22:50
It's I am content and perfectly provided for by my God, which causes me to be generous.
22:53-22:53
That's attractive.
22:55-22:58
That's why all the nations call you blessed.
22:59-22:59
Right?
23:01-23:12
So notice, underline this in your Bible, where it says, "Put me to the test." This is the only place in the Bible that I know of where God uses these words as a command.
23:13-23:15
God's like, "I want you to test me on this.
23:15-23:16
"Put me to the test.
23:16-23:19
"Try me on this." God says, "Look, I want you to try this.
23:19-23:27
"If you give to me, I'm going to give to you." And honestly, some people have a hard time with that.
23:28-23:32
They say, "I'm not sure that this should motivate me to give.
23:33-23:44
I mean, the fact that God gives to me if I give to Him, should that motivate me to give?" Yeah, it should, because God told us this to motivate us, right?
23:46-23:49
I mean, how crazy would that be of God to be like, "Put me to the test on this.
23:49-23:51
If you give to me, I'm going to give to you." And you're like, "You know what?
23:51-23:59
I'm going to trust God that He's going to provide for me, I'm gonna give to him generously and God's like whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa Little presumptuous aren't you?
24:00-24:25
What for doing what you told me to do no You know when you see these things in the Old Testament one of the things you have to try to figure out is Is there a principle here that carries over into the New Testament and absolutely does second Corinthians 9 6 Says if we sow sparingly we will reap sparingly if we sow bountifully we will reap bountifully That's the same principle. It's an agricultural principle.
24:26-24:27
How many people here have a garden?
24:29-24:30
Okay, some of you do.
24:30-24:34
You know, if you go out to your garden every year, when do you plant your garden?
24:34-24:36
Aaron does all this at our house. When do you plant a garden?
24:37-24:37
May? Okay.
24:38-24:47
So if you go out in May, and you're like, "Here's four seeds," what kind of a garden are you going to have that year?
24:49-24:50
Pretty thin, huh?
24:51-25:00
But if you go out into your garden and you're sowing all kinds of seed in your garden, you can expect more because you sowed more.
25:01-25:02
God says this is a truth spiritually.
25:03-25:09
God says, "The more you give to me, the more I'm going to give to you." It's proportionate.
25:11-25:12
It's exactly what God does with money.
25:12-25:19
God looks down from heaven, and when He sees people being generous and giving to advance His kingdom, God sees that, and God's like, "Hey, check this guy out.
25:20-25:21
He's just giving it away.
25:21-25:23
And it seems like the more comes his way, the more he gives away.
25:24-25:25
So let's get more his way.
25:26-25:29
Let's just keep pushing it his way, because he's just distributing it.
25:30-25:33
God sees who the distributors are, and he sees who the hoarders are.
25:35-25:39
And God gets really fired up when he sees somebody distributing.
25:39-25:45
Like, "Yeah, get him more, get him more, get him more." And this isn't conceptual.
25:47-26:01
I was talking to somebody in this church a couple of weeks ago, who says, "Pastor Jeff, my finances don't make sense." This person said, "I was struggling financially, and I made a decision I'm going to get on track with giving to God.
26:01-26:12
I never really was, but I'm going to do that." He says, "Now my finances don't make sense, because on paper I should be in the hole every month, but I never am." How is that?
26:14-26:18
And I shared with him, Aaron and I were in that same situation.
26:18-26:24
You remember that a few years back, when you did our budget, we were $330 in the hole every month on paper.
26:24-26:27
But we never were in reality.
26:29-26:30
How is that?
26:32-26:36
Because if you give to God, God gives to you.
26:38-26:45
And in a message like this, I know there are some people here, I hear what you're saying, Pastor Jeff, but the reality is I can't afford to give.
26:45-26:46
I can't afford to give.
26:46-26:48
Somebody's thinking that right now.
26:50-27:01
And I want to tell you as loving as I can, that if your attitude is I can't afford to give, that statement, I can't afford to give, that statement reveals the problem.
27:03-27:06
That statement itself reveals the problem.
27:08-27:12
Because you're obligating your money out ahead of time and spending it.
27:12-27:20
These are the bills, these are the needs, these are the wants, and you look at what's left over, and you're like, "Well, I don't have enough left over to give to God.
27:22-27:33
Therefore, I can't afford to give." That's why you need to get back to an Old Testament concept that I believe is certainly true in the New Testament, is certainly true today.
27:34-27:35
It's a concept of first fruits.
27:37-27:38
You familiar with that concept?
27:39-27:41
God introduced this to us in the Old Testament Israel.
27:43-27:50
When you get your crop, God gets not just the best portion, but He gets the first portion.
27:52-27:56
Not the leftovers. God gets first and God gets best.
27:58-28:09
And that principle, if you will, by faith, if you will exercise that principle in your own finances, is you're going to see God fulfill His promise in you.
28:10-28:15
When you get paid, the first check you write should be to God.
28:17-28:25
Now look, our church isn't like in some financial crisis that the elders are like, you've got to really squeeze some more money out of these people.
28:26-28:26
We're not.
28:27-28:28
We're not.
28:29-28:30
They're like, well, Matt, I don't like hearing this.
28:30-28:31
I'm going to go to Northway.
28:31-28:32
Great.
28:32-28:39
Listen, if you go to Northway, the first check you write should be to Northway, okay, to advance God's kingdom.
28:40-28:44
It's not about earning money here or boosting our budget or anything like that.
28:45-28:53
This is an act of worship, and for you personally, this is an act of faith to say, "I'm going to give God first and best." That's an act of faith.
28:54-28:58
And you either believe God or you don't believe God.
29:00-29:04
And the only way you're going to believe God is if you do what God says here and put him to the test.
29:06-29:10
And someone might say, "Well, if God blesses me, I'll be glad to give to the church.
29:12-29:19
Like if Aunt Petunia dies or whatever and leaves me money, I'll be glad to give to the church." The answer to that is, "No, you won't.
29:20-29:20
You won't.
29:21-29:22
You absolutely will not.
29:23-29:33
Because if you don't give now, getting a bunch of money isn't going to motivate you to give I don't believe that. I'll prove it to you.
29:34-29:35
I'll prove it to you right now.
29:36-29:44
If you had a dollar to your name, okay, if you had a dollar to your name, and I said to you, "Can you give God one or two dimes?" Could you do that?
29:45-29:47
"Oh, yeah, I could do that, one or two dimes.
29:47-29:54
Yeah, I could give out to God." All right. If you had $100, could you give God $10 or $20?
29:56-30:01
"Yeah, I think so." $10,000 to your name.
30:01-30:03
Could you give God one or $2,000?
30:04-30:07
Like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second here.
30:09-30:14
Do you see how the more the amount goes up, the harder it is?
30:15-30:23
And I think that's why Jesus in Luke 16, verse 10, Jesus said, "If you're faithful with a little, you'll be faithful with much." That's the truth.
30:24-30:27
It's not like, well, I'm not faithful with a little, but if I had a lot, I would be.
30:27-30:32
Jesus is like, "No, it doesn't work that way." You prove that you're faithful with a dollar.
30:33-30:34
God's like, "Well, he handled that.
30:37-30:43
I'm going to trust him to handle more." But don't think that it's going to automatically happen.
30:43-30:46
I can't afford to give now, but if I have a lot, I will?
30:46-30:49
No, you're less likely if you suddenly have a lot.
30:50-30:54
Like, anybody here win that $700 million Powerball lottery last week?
30:54-30:55
Show of hands, how many people? No?
30:56-30:56
Kidding.
30:57-31:01
The lottery is just a tax on people who are bad at math.
31:03-31:03
So here's the test.
31:05-31:15
Here's the test. Will you give God first and best, as an act of worship and as an act of faith, and watch Him keep His word?
31:17-31:22
Because if you do, you're going to find out that giving to God is good for your wallet.
31:24-31:26
One more reason you're not convinced.
31:27-31:29
Number two, because giving to God is good for your soul.
31:31-31:33
Look at verses 13 and 14.
31:35-31:39
"Your words have been hard against me," says the Lord.
31:41-31:49
But you say, "How have we spoken against you?" You have said, look at verse 14, this kills me.
31:49-32:02
You have said, "It is vain to serve God." What is the profit of our keeping His charge, or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts?
32:05-32:08
Talk about complaining about something that you aren't even doing.
32:08-32:10
Right? Isn't that the point of Malachi?
32:10-32:19
God's like, "Get back on track, get back on track, get back on track, and I get so hard to follow the Lord." That would be like me saying, "Oh, it's just so hard.
32:19-32:24
"Oh, it's just so hard milking all those cows every morning.
32:24-32:33
It's just so hard." And you're like, "Pastor Jeff, I didn't know you had cows." Like, "I don't." "Well, then why are you complaining about milking cows?
32:33-32:40
That's kind of what's going on with Israel here." Like, "It's so hard to follow the Lord." And that's the point of Malachi.
32:40-32:56
He goes, "You aren't." But this is interesting because when I read this section and I'm like, "Okay, what does this section have to do with the previous section?" because I don't think Malachi was scatterbrained, and I certainly don't think God is, that he's like, "Let me talk about apples." And all of a sudden I'm talking about oranges.
32:57-33:01
I'm like, "What's the connection here?" And I found the connection.
33:02-33:05
It's actually in the Hebrew word for prophet.
33:06-33:07
Did you see it in verse 14?
33:07-33:09
What is the, not the prophet, like the guy speaking.
33:09-33:12
Like, what is the prophet of our keeping his charge?
33:13-33:17
The Hebrew word for prophet is actually a negative word.
33:19-33:25
Literally, it's plunder or dishonest gain.
33:27-33:32
In other words, what they were saying was, "Serving God does nothing for me.
33:33-33:35
Giving to God does nothing for me.
33:36-33:38
You know what, I should just keep the money for myself.
33:38-33:47
I should keep the crops that I give to myself, because giving them to God has done nothing for me." and that reveals the problem.
33:48-34:03
It's not reverence, it's not worship, it's not any sense of "I'm here to serve God." It's "God hasn't cashed in for me." What a wicked and arrogant and disgusting attitude.
34:03-34:04
Like God owes us something.
34:06-34:11
I heard a story a couple days ago, and I had to do more research because, quite frankly, I didn't believe it.
34:12-34:16
It was on the news, and I looked it up, And this is true.
34:17-34:18
Not making this up.
34:19-34:26
Maybe some of you saw it, but there's a priest in Northeastern Pennsylvania that was arrested for child pornography.
34:27-34:27
Did you see this?
34:28-34:30
He was arrested for child pornography.
34:32-34:33
That's a whole nother...
34:34-34:40
The thing that really stuck out to me is his reason for amassing child pornography.
34:43-34:45
He said he did it because he wanted to get revenge on God.
34:46-34:50
Okay, let's stop there for a second, because believe it or not, it gets crazier.
34:51-34:52
He wanted to get revenge on God.
34:54-34:57
On a scale of one to 10, how much do you think that affected God?
34:58-35:03
Do you think God was like, "Oh man, he showed me." Really?
35:05-35:09
It's disgusting and it's stupid.
35:09-35:11
I'm gonna get revenge on God?
35:11-35:21
God's like shuffling around heaven and the angels are like, "What's the matter, Lord?" "I can't believe what that priest did." But the appalling doesn't even stop there.
35:21-35:23
Do you know why he wanted revenge on God?
35:24-35:26
Because God didn't let him win at poker.
35:27-35:27
True story.
35:29-35:35
God didn't let me win at poker, so I'm going to get even with him and collect child pornography.
35:37-35:42
Do you see how that's a modern-day example of exactly what's happening in Malachi.
35:43-35:44
God didn't cash in for me.
35:45-35:46
I want a pony.
35:46-35:48
Why hasn't God given me a pony?
35:49-35:50
God's so mean.
35:50-35:59
And suddenly we turn into toddlers when it comes to stuff and money, thinking that God should cash in for us.
36:00-36:02
Verse 15, here's the attitude again.
36:02-36:05
And now we call the arrogant blessed.
36:06-36:15
Evil doers not only prosper, but they put God to the test Look at how the wicked prosper. It doesn't matter what I do.
36:17-36:28
These famous actors and actresses, they can blaspheme, they can do drugs, they can sleep with prostitutes, they can do whatever the heck they want to do, and they get away with it.
36:29-36:33
And here's me, trying to be a good person. I don't have two nickels to rub together.
36:35-36:39
That attitude. That attitude says so much about your heart.
36:41-36:45
And I would love to launch in right now to a list of spiritual benefits.
36:46-36:50
To a list of spiritual benefits when you are faithful in giving.
36:51-36:52
I don't have time for that.
36:53-36:56
I will, though, encourage you to check out on our website.
36:57-36:59
We have previous sermon series up.
37:00-37:37
We did a series a couple years back called "I Love to Give." And it's from 2nd Corinthians 8 9 I'd encourage you to go back and give that a listen if you're not convinced that giving is good for your soul But you see in this passage here we have a Malachi the negative example These words spoken like someone discontent ungrateful and bitter And you want to look at what other people have and you don't want to partner with God and trust God to provide for you If that's your plan, I'm going to give you the biggest spoiler alert of your life. You ready?
37:39-37:48
If you're going to be so focused on what other people have and you're not going to partner with God with your finances, you are going to be a bitter and disappointed person.
37:49-37:54
You're going to walk around saying it doesn't matter what you do. Look at how much better off other people are.
37:56-38:02
You'll just echo these same foolish words that Israel is bowing off to God.
38:03-38:16
But, but, when you partner with God in your finances, you get to see miraculous provision.
38:19-38:22
And you get to experience the joy of giving.
38:24-38:27
Which by the way, Jesus said it's more blessed to give than to receive.
38:28-38:30
There's only one way to find out if that's true, and that's to try it.
38:32-38:35
And you'll find that there's no greater joy than giving.
38:37-38:39
But you also get to experience another joy.
38:40-38:43
That's the joy of not being a slave to stuff.
38:45-38:47
Not being a slave? I'm not a slave to that.
38:47-38:53
If my bank account has a dollar in it, or if my bank account has ten million dollars in it, it doesn't matter. I'm not a slave to the stuff.
38:56-39:00
Pardon the pun. You can't put a price tag on how valuable that is.
39:00-39:25
blessing it's so if you want to get back on track need to examine how you're given because being faithful to God according to him being faithful to God is good for your wall and it's good for your soul let's pray father in heaven This is a tough passage, Father.
39:28-39:33
Not to understand, but to apply.
39:35-39:38
And Father, we try to explain our way around it.
39:38-39:54
We try to find loopholes or excuses or try to spiritualize some things when you've made it very clear that if we are going to be faithful to give to you, you are going to be faithful to give to us.
39:55-39:57
And there is incredible joy when that happens.
40:00-40:02
So Father, I pray there's somebody here today.
40:04-40:13
There's somebody here today, Father, that's like, "You know, I didn't know this, and I've never tried this." I pray today is the day that they say, "You know what? I am going to put God to the test on this.
40:13-40:19
I am going to see if this is true." God, I know you're going to show yourself faithful.
40:21-40:32
I'm not losing a minute's sleep wondering if you're going to provide for the person that's going to trust you first, give to you first.
40:35-40:42
Father, there might be somebody here who hasn't been on track in their walk with you because this is an area they refuse to let go.
40:42-40:44
Maybe they become like that rich young ruler.
40:45-40:48
I pray today they become like Zacchaeus.
40:50-40:53
Thank you God for all that you provide.
40:55-40:58
May we never lose sight of the fact that it's all yours anyways.
41:00-41:02
We're not taking any of it with us.
41:03-41:08
We just have a few years on this earth to manage what you allow to pass through our hands.
41:09-41:13
Find us faithful, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Malachi 3:6-15
Why is "getting on track" with giving so important towards "getting back on track" with God? What does this say about our attitude towards money?
What does the New Testament say about "how to give" (see 2 Corinthians 8:3)? How would you respond to someone who says, "You don't have to tithe, that's Old Testament Law."
Why do you think God wants tested in the area of giving? How can YOU test Him (specifically) as He called you to?
The more you give to God, the more God gives to you. Why is this so? How would you respond to someone who doesn’t believe that?
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another. Ask, "How have you been doing getting 'Back on Track'?" What area that Malachi addresses (so far in our series) has impacted you the most? (worship, marriage, holiness, giving)