WEBVTT 00:00:00.780 --> 00:00:07.140 Okay, good morning. If you are new, it's wonderful to have you here. We have two baby dedications 00:00:07.140 --> 00:00:12.080 later on, and so we've got a bunch of friends and family visiting, and it's wonderful to 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:17.679 have you. Please make yourselves right at home this morning. My name is Kevin, and what 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:21.699 we're going to do now is we're going to spend a few minutes in prayer. As a church, prayer 00:00:21.699 --> 00:00:26.260 is something we love to do, we believe in, and so we're going to pray for our city and 00:00:26.260 --> 00:00:29.660 for ourselves. Then we're going to listen to the scripture reading, and then I'm going 00:00:29.660 --> 00:00:34.600 to share God's word with us. So will you join me as we pray together this morning? Let's 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:42.280 pray. Gracious Father, we come before you this morning to bring you our worship and our adoration, 00:00:42.700 --> 00:00:48.700 to honor you and to rightly align our hearts with you, and to find our rest and our peace 00:00:48.700 --> 00:00:55.039 in you. God, in a world which is starved of grace, a world which cries out for peace and 00:00:55.039 --> 00:00:59.920 rest and is searching for love. Father, we confess that we so often look for these things 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:06.120 everywhere except in you, and yet this morning we come to drink our full in you. Father, this 00:01:06.120 --> 00:01:10.739 morning what you draw near to us is we draw near to you, we pray. Gracious Father, this 00:01:10.739 --> 00:01:15.920 week, this day, we need you, and so come and draw near to us. Let's wash us in your grace. 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:22.259 Wash us in your love, we pray, Father. Heavenly Father, as we look at your word now, we do ask 00:01:22.260 --> 00:01:26.840 that you will open the eyes of our hearts to see the beauty and the truth contained in 00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:31.760 your word, but even more than that, to meet you in your word. God, this morning we don't 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:37.160 just want our minds illuminated, we want our hearts stirred and encouraged and built up 00:01:37.160 --> 00:01:42.400 and strengthened. And so, Father, this morning won't you give us faith where we are lacking 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:47.939 faith? Won't you give us courage where we are fearful? Give us conviction, God, where we 00:01:47.939 --> 00:01:54.219 lack it, and give us grace where we have stumbled. Father, this morning give us eternal perspective 00:01:54.219 --> 00:01:59.259 where we have been short-sighted. Father, as we look at your word, won't you come and 00:01:59.259 --> 00:02:05.659 speak to us, encourage us, and challenge us, we pray. Lord, this morning we also want to 00:02:05.659 --> 00:02:11.460 pray especially for the Young Lives camp happening next weekend. We pray that it will be an awesome 00:02:11.460 --> 00:02:16.180 time. We pray for the young moms that are going on that camp, that you will meet them personally, 00:02:16.180 --> 00:02:22.460 powerfully, and in a way that doesn't leave them the same. We pray, God, for every person 00:02:22.460 --> 00:02:28.439 on that camp, whether a mom, a young child, whether a leader or volunteer, that in some 00:02:28.439 --> 00:02:33.120 way you'll meet with each person. We pray that each one of them will come to know the breadth 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:38.240 and the depth and the height and the length of your profound love and your unchanging love, 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:43.580 and that that will shape and guide them all the days of their lives. God, we pray for the volunteers 00:02:43.580 --> 00:02:48.400 and the leaders. Encourage them and strengthen them, we pray. And then finally this morning, 00:02:48.520 --> 00:02:53.020 Father, we want to pray for the families in Hong Kong. We know our city, this is an area 00:02:53.020 --> 00:02:59.480 of great pain and heartache. So many families, God, are experiencing pain. God, we want to 00:02:59.480 --> 00:03:02.840 lift the families of Hong Kong before you this morning. We ask you to come and minister, 00:03:03.040 --> 00:03:09.800 God. But we pray that for loveless marriages. We pray for children who feel unloved and abandoned, 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:14.860 parents who feel like failures, marriages where there's been unfaithfulness, children who feel 00:03:14.860 --> 00:03:22.880 unwanted, grandparents, God, who feel left out or sidelined. God, come and hear our cries and heal 00:03:22.880 --> 00:03:28.580 our city, we pray. We pray for ourselves, Lord, that we will be salt and light in this city. Show us how 00:03:28.580 --> 00:03:34.660 to get involved and how to be a source of blessing and hope into the families of our city. We pray these 00:03:34.659 --> 00:03:41.879 things in your majestic and your merciful name. Amen. Amen. Great. Let's listen to the reading of 00:03:41.879 --> 00:03:45.460 God's word and then we're going to dive into the scripture. Thanks, Karen. 00:03:48.659 --> 00:03:55.359 The scripture reading comes from Malachi, chapter 3. Please follow along in your bulletins or on the 00:03:55.359 --> 00:03:55.699 screen. 00:03:55.699 --> 00:04:08.839 For I, the Lord, do not change. Therefore, you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days 00:04:08.839 --> 00:04:15.339 of your fathers, you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, 00:04:15.339 --> 00:04:23.699 and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, how shall we return? 00:04:23.699 --> 00:04:35.519 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, how have we robbed you? In your tithes and 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:42.879 contributions, you are cursed with a curse. For you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:51.819 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and thereby put me to the 00:04:51.819 --> 00:04:59.759 test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:07.659 a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you so that it will not 00:05:07.659 --> 00:05:14.519 destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:23.359 hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts. 00:05:24.039 --> 00:05:25.259 This is the word of God. 00:05:26.539 --> 00:05:35.000 Great. Thanks, Karen. Okay. Well, this morning we are looking at this very famous passage in Malachi 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:40.439 chapter 3, and we're doing so because as a church we've been working through Matthew's gospel, and when 00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:47.079 we got to Matthew chapter 6, Jesus talks about one of his favorite subjects, which is money. About 15% 00:05:47.079 --> 00:05:52.720 of everything Jesus said had to do with money, and so we've paused here to consider what is it that 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:58.800 Jesus and the scriptures have to say about money, and we've been doing that for a couple of weeks, 00:05:59.379 --> 00:06:04.600 and part of the reason is because, as we said, Jesus talks about money a lot, and we want to know what 00:06:04.600 --> 00:06:11.020 he has to say. Part of the reason is because the Bible says that money is neither good nor bad, 00:06:11.500 --> 00:06:17.300 okay, but it does kind of have this warning label. It says handle with care, because money has a way 00:06:17.300 --> 00:06:22.980 of getting into our hearts, and the third reason is because Hong Kong, we know, is a city which runs 00:06:22.980 --> 00:06:30.160 on money. It's a driver for so many of us and what happens in the city, and so really we want to be a 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:37.000 church that is looking at it, and so when we get to this, Jesus tells us that money is a gift from 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:42.060 him that he gives us, and he coaches us how to steward it well in such a way that it doesn't curse 00:06:42.060 --> 00:06:47.800 us, but it blesses us and is a blessing to others. Now, we started three weeks ago with Matthew 6, 00:06:47.940 --> 00:06:53.460 and then two weeks ago Oscar looked at Luke chapter 12, and then last week Ed looked at 1 Timothy chapter 00:06:53.460 --> 00:06:59.580 6, and this morning we get to Malachi chapter 3. Now, what we're going to do this morning is we're going 00:06:59.579 --> 00:07:05.339 to look at this topic of stewarding our finances towards the cause of Christ, and specifically 00:07:05.339 --> 00:07:11.300 we're going to try and study the Bible's teaching around tithing, and what we're going to see is we're 00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:16.180 going to do it in a couple of ways. We're going to first look at tithing as worship, then we're going 00:07:16.180 --> 00:07:20.180 to look at the first instance of tithing in the Bible, we're then going to look at the Old Testament 00:07:20.180 --> 00:07:25.000 law at tithing, and then the New Testament, does it still apply to Christians in the New Testament, 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:29.879 and then finally we're going to look at Jesus, our greatest treasure, and how Jesus tithed. 00:07:30.019 --> 00:07:35.839 Okay, so let's dive in. And so the book of Malachi, which Karen read to us, a portion of it, 00:07:36.180 --> 00:07:41.300 is the last book in the Old Testament, and it actually has almost nothing to do with money 00:07:41.300 --> 00:07:46.540 whatsoever. It's got everything to do with worship, and what's happening as you read it, 00:07:46.579 --> 00:07:51.680 it's only four chapters long, it's very short. As you read the book, God has some pretty strong 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:56.900 words to say to the people of Israel, and specifically to the leaders, to the priests. 00:07:57.540 --> 00:08:04.480 And the reason why is because when they would come to him with worship, he would say, you think you're 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:09.139 bringing your worship, but actually you're bringing false worship to me. You come to the temple, you go 00:08:09.139 --> 00:08:14.360 through the motions, but you're not serving me, you're actually serving yourself. And the reason was 00:08:14.360 --> 00:08:18.780 because what would happen is that in the Old Testament, the people would bring their worship, and one of the 00:08:18.779 --> 00:08:24.379 ways they brought their worship was to bring an animal as a sacrifice, or some of their harvest, 00:08:25.299 --> 00:08:30.259 and they would bring it, but they would make sure that they would often bring, we see in chapter one, 00:08:30.659 --> 00:08:38.220 one of the old, sick, dying animals, the one that had been attacked by the wolf, and was kind of like 00:08:38.220 --> 00:08:43.939 hobbling on one leg, and they would bring it to God and say, here you are, God. I love you so much. 00:08:43.940 --> 00:08:53.240 I've decided to bring my offering, except my offering of worship. And God says, that doesn't mean a whole lot 00:08:53.240 --> 00:08:59.600 to you, and therefore, this isn't genuine worship. It's kind of like I had a friend of mine a few years back 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:07.360 who turned 70, and he was really disappointed for his 70th birthday because his son had turned 40 just a few 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:14.399 months beforehand. And at his son's 40th birthday, his son received a book. And he opened the present, 00:09:14.659 --> 00:09:18.779 and he could see he wasn't really interested in the book. And so a couple of months later, 00:09:18.980 --> 00:09:25.580 his dad turned 70, and you can guess what present he gave his dad. This re-gifted book, right? 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:30.720 And I remember this man talking to me, and he was so disappointed, not because he didn't like the book, 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:37.460 but because of the thoughtlessness, the kind of the sense that his son had pretended, had given so 00:09:37.460 --> 00:09:41.740 much care and thought, I went and chose this book for you that I thought you would like. But actually 00:09:41.740 --> 00:09:45.340 what was happening was he just found this thing lying around the house that he didn't need anymore, 00:09:45.660 --> 00:09:50.820 and decided to re-gift it. And in many ways, that's what God is saying that these guys are doing. 00:09:51.180 --> 00:09:55.399 He's saying you bring your worship, but you're bringing something which you actually don't need, 00:09:55.399 --> 00:10:00.160 that which is lying around, that which, it's not costly to you at all. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:04.779 And at one point, God says to them, would you treat your governors like that? Is that how you'd 00:10:04.779 --> 00:10:09.899 honor your civic leaders? Do you think I would be pleased like that? And so God is speaking to 00:10:09.899 --> 00:10:13.800 them, and he's showing them their hearts. He's showing them that their worship is not actually 00:10:13.800 --> 00:10:20.220 worship at all. And God has some strong words for the leaders in Israel's day. And the reason is 00:10:20.220 --> 00:10:25.420 because he says, I'm holding you accountable because you, the leaders, are allowing this to happen. 00:10:26.340 --> 00:10:30.620 He says at one point in chapter one, I wish one of you would just close the temple 00:10:30.620 --> 00:10:35.639 doors. Just shut it up. Put away the instruments. I'd rather you didn't even gather for worship 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:43.440 than be hypocritical like that. And so God speaks to leaders, and he says, you leaders, I'm asking you 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:49.620 to lead your people well. Teach them what does biblical worship look like? And as I was preparing for that, 00:10:49.659 --> 00:10:55.720 I just felt like as a parent, what a challenge that is to me. How am I teaching my kids what genuine 00:10:55.720 --> 00:11:00.800 worship looks like? Or do I teach my kids that worship is just to come to church on Sundays to 00:11:00.800 --> 00:11:06.160 sing the words and to pay lip service to God and the rest of my week to live it the way I want? 00:11:06.660 --> 00:11:12.460 And so God invites his people to put things right, and he calls them to genuine worship. And he does it 00:11:12.460 --> 00:11:17.259 in four ways in this passage in Malachi. We're going to look at them very briefly. Look at the first way 00:11:17.259 --> 00:11:23.000 that he does it. He invites them to consider his dependability. Look at verse six. He says, 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:30.500 I, the Lord, I do not change. And therefore you, O children of Jacob, are safe, are not consumed. 00:11:31.100 --> 00:11:35.879 In other words, God's telling them, and he's telling us, that the very thing we're tempted to 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:42.240 so often trust in is like shifting sands. It's like building your house on the beach, 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:47.899 and it's only a matter of time before the sands shift, and the house comes crashing down. 00:11:47.899 --> 00:11:53.059 Now, I don't know if you've ever experienced this, where you're working, trying to do some work, 00:11:53.139 --> 00:11:58.220 and there's a building site going on next door to you. And you just hear the whole day, the drill. 00:12:00.019 --> 00:12:05.639 And then you hear every now and then them driving the piles deep into the ground, the foundations. 00:12:07.100 --> 00:12:13.639 Does that happen to anyone else? It infuriates me. Okay. But the people that are going to live in that 00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:18.860 building are very grateful for the rock-solid foundations upon which that house is built. 00:12:19.319 --> 00:12:25.000 Why? Because when the storms come, when the typhoons come, those foundations make sure that they are safe. 00:12:25.980 --> 00:12:32.000 Now, look at what God says here. He says, I, I, the one that I'm calling you to trust in, 00:12:32.319 --> 00:12:37.720 I do not change. I'm not faithful one year, but then the next year, a little bit unpredictable. 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:44.340 I'm not rock-solid steady. You can bank your life on me this week, but next week, who knows about that. 00:12:44.920 --> 00:12:51.660 Ah, the Lord, do not change. And therefore, you are safe. And what he's inviting them to do is he's 00:12:51.660 --> 00:12:57.680 saying the things that we look to for safety and security, the things that we trust are actually 00:12:57.680 --> 00:13:04.899 the things that we worship. Come and worship me. I do not change. And therefore, you are safe, 00:13:04.899 --> 00:13:09.419 says the Lord. But that's not else. That's not all that he says. Look at what else he says. 00:13:09.779 --> 00:13:16.559 He invites them to come and worship him fully. Look at verse eight. Remember, the book of Malachi, 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:22.220 we said earlier, is actually not about money at all. It's about worship. And this is God's 00:13:22.220 --> 00:13:27.379 instruction. He says, come and worship me fully. And so look at verse eight with me. God says, 00:13:27.819 --> 00:13:34.559 will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. How have you robbed me, you ask? 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:40.500 Well, in your tithes and your contributions, bring the full tithe into the storehouse that 00:13:40.500 --> 00:13:47.379 there may be food in my house. Now let's think about that for a second. How many people in 00:13:47.379 --> 00:13:52.819 the nation of Israel do you think thought of themselves as thieves? Well, the answer is 00:13:52.819 --> 00:13:57.839 not a whole lot. Because they say, how are we robbing you? What do you mean we thieves? 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:03.699 They say, we haven't stolen anything from you. How have we robbed you? And God's answer 00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:09.000 is, he says, in your tithes and your contributions. Now we're going to talk about tithing in a few 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:14.120 minutes' time. But essentially, tithing was the nation of Israel would bring a portion of 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:20.379 their income towards the temple as an act of their worship. Now remember, in chapter two, 00:14:20.520 --> 00:14:26.120 we said that the people were bringing their tithes. They were contributing something. They 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:31.020 would bring their lamb to the temple and to the priest and say, here you go. The problem 00:14:31.019 --> 00:14:35.539 was that they weren't bringing their best. They were bringing their worst. They were bringing 00:14:35.539 --> 00:14:40.100 the leftovers, the damaged goods. They were bringing the leftover book that they received 00:14:40.100 --> 00:14:44.100 that they didn't really want and re-wrapping it and saying, here you go, God. This is my 00:14:44.100 --> 00:14:51.319 contribution. They were bringing that which didn't cost them anything. And that's why God 00:14:51.319 --> 00:14:56.019 says, bring the full tithe into the storehouse. Not just the leftovers, not just the bits you 00:14:56.019 --> 00:15:01.100 don't need. But there's another sense in which God is accusing them of robbing him. And that 00:15:01.100 --> 00:15:05.759 is because they were treating the things that had been entrusted to their care as if they 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:10.919 owned them. So remember, in the beginning of creation, God says, here, I will give you 00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:18.899 my things for you to steward and look after for me as my stewards. And what happened? Pretty 00:15:18.899 --> 00:15:23.740 soon we started to treat them like they were our things, like we owned them. They belong to 00:15:23.740 --> 00:15:28.940 us. And so when we see the things that are ours as if they're mine, then when I give something 00:15:28.940 --> 00:15:35.100 back to God, that's an act of great generosity, right? But God says, they weren't yours to begin 00:15:35.100 --> 00:15:41.779 with. They were mine. I entrusted them to you for your care. And I'm asking you to just give back a 00:15:41.779 --> 00:15:48.720 portion of what is mine already. And when they said, no, it's mine, God says, you're robbing me. 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:56.920 But that's not all that God says. He also invites them to consider his faithfulness. Look at verse 10 00:15:56.920 --> 00:16:04.060 with me. God says, put me to the test, O Israel. See if I will not open the windows of heaven for 00:16:04.060 --> 00:16:11.519 you and pour down on you a blessing until there is no more need. Now, let's think about this. Why do 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:18.720 you think the people of Israel in Malachi's day would bring mediocre or second rate offerings to 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:24.299 God? Why would they look at their flocks and instead of choosing the very best lamb or the very best 00:16:24.299 --> 00:16:31.019 harvest, they would bring the worst, the lame one, the sick one, the one that had one funny ear and 00:16:31.019 --> 00:16:38.799 only one eye? Why would they do that? Well, the reason is because it's more costly. You've got nine good 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:43.899 lambs and you've got one sick one. You think it's more costly to give one of your good ones. There's 00:16:43.899 --> 00:16:49.299 an opportunity cost. You think of the potential growth of your flocks, the breeding potential, 00:16:49.699 --> 00:16:54.259 the earning potential. To give one of the good ones is going to cost you more than one of the damaged 00:16:54.259 --> 00:17:01.259 ones, the sick ones. But amazingly, look at what God says. He says, put me to the test. Test me in this 00:17:01.259 --> 00:17:08.119 thing. See if I will not respond to what you give me. In other words, while it looks like it might cost you 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:15.379 more to give of your best, God actually invites us to trust Him that we'll be more well-off, more 00:17:15.379 --> 00:17:21.039 blessed, that their future will be more secure by doing the counterintuitive thing and bringing to 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:28.139 God their very best. John Piper writes, and he writes this comment like this. He says, sometimes you 00:17:28.139 --> 00:17:34.159 think you can't afford to tithe, well test Him. And when we test Him, we'll find that we actually, 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:41.500 we cannot afford not to tithe. This is the only safe way to handle our money. This is not a guarantee 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:46.980 of getting rich. It's a guarantee of providing what both our hearts and our bodies need, both 00:17:46.980 --> 00:17:53.620 physically and spiritually. And friends, if we weren't needed to be done here by three o'clock 00:17:53.620 --> 00:17:58.300 this afternoon, I would go even longer. That's a joke. We're going to be done long before three. 00:17:58.299 --> 00:18:06.299 But the point is, I could spend here all day telling you story after story after story of our 00:18:06.299 --> 00:18:12.200 own lives as a family, my own life and my family's life, of how we've taken small steps and just trusted 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:18.859 God of His radical abundant provision. Friends, I want to ask you this. Do you have stories of putting 00:18:18.859 --> 00:18:28.599 God to the test? God invites you, not arrogantly, not superstitiously, but like a child with humble 00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:36.039 childlike faith. He says, put me to the test. See if I will not prove faithful in this. He invites 00:18:36.039 --> 00:18:43.299 Israel and He invites us to consider His radical faithfulness. Last thing God invites them is He 00:18:43.299 --> 00:18:48.379 invites them into a relationship. Look at verse 7 with me. He says, from the days of your fathers, 00:18:48.380 --> 00:18:54.440 you have turned aside from my statutes and you've not kept them. Now return to me. Draw near to me 00:18:54.440 --> 00:18:59.000 and I will return to you, says the Lord. And this is actually what the whole book of Malachi is all 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:04.600 about. In fact, this is what the whole Bible is all about. The Bible is not a book of instructions or 00:19:04.600 --> 00:19:10.860 rules about how to live our life. It's a story of God's radical intervention because while we had 00:19:10.860 --> 00:19:18.100 lost our way, God went beyond the ordinary. God went out of His way to reconcile us back to 00:19:18.099 --> 00:19:26.439 Himself, to draw us home, to return to us that we might return to Him. God's not interested in 00:19:26.439 --> 00:19:31.219 their animals or their harvest as much as He's interested in their hearts. He's interested in 00:19:31.219 --> 00:19:36.879 relationship. Remember the scripture Ed quoted last week in Isaiah 66. God says this, 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:44.360 The heavens are my throne. The earth is my footstool. All these things came about because my hand made 00:19:44.360 --> 00:19:49.600 them. What is the house that you think you can build for me? In other words, God's saying, I don't 00:19:49.600 --> 00:19:55.300 really need your offerings. I don't need you to contribute as if my hands are tied and I need you. 00:19:55.660 --> 00:20:00.500 Everything in the world belongs to me. I've brought them into existence. What do you think you can do for 00:20:00.500 --> 00:20:08.099 me? So if that's the case, why does God invite us to bring our giving to Him? Why does He want it? 00:20:08.779 --> 00:20:13.640 And the reason is not because God wants our offering, not because God needs our money, 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:20.359 because He wants our hearts, because He wants relationship with us. Friends, every time we give 00:20:20.359 --> 00:20:27.500 away of our finances, it's like sticking a knife in the ever-present monster of covetousness and envy 00:20:27.500 --> 00:20:34.420 and jealousy and materialism. Every time we give our finances away, it's like pulling our hearts 00:20:34.420 --> 00:20:40.700 back from the ever-present allure and pill of thinking that an increased lifestyle and having 00:20:40.700 --> 00:20:47.500 more stuff will make us happier. And so God gives us this antidote. He says there's a cancer that's 00:20:47.500 --> 00:20:53.859 getting into our hearts and the antidote is give it away. Give it away. And so that's why His 00:20:53.859 --> 00:20:59.779 instructions is this. He says, return to me. Don't just bring your offering. I could create animals 00:20:59.779 --> 00:21:06.699 out of anything, out of dust. Bring your worship. Bring your heart. Bring yourself back to me. 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:13.019 Okay? So four things we see from the book of Malachi. God invites them to consider His dependability, 00:21:13.659 --> 00:21:20.519 His faithfulness to bring their worship and return to relationship with Him. Now let's talk for a few 00:21:20.519 --> 00:21:27.079 minutes about tithing. Tithing. So what is tithing? Well, originally in the Old Testament, the word 00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:33.400 tithe just means a tenth, ten percent. And the first instance we see of this is in Genesis chapter 14. 00:21:33.779 --> 00:21:41.200 And the story goes like this. Abraham is a great man of God and these foreign armies come and attack 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:47.519 him and his families. They actually attack the town where his nephew Lot lived. And they take Lot, 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:51.879 Abraham's nephew, away as a kidnap. They kidnap him and some others and they take them away. 00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:58.139 And so Abraham hears about this. He gathers a band of 300 soldiers and they go and attack the king of 00:21:58.139 --> 00:22:04.660 Elam that has got his nephew. And so the army, Elam's army, hear that this army is approaching them. 00:22:04.900 --> 00:22:10.119 They get a fright and they run away. And they leave everyone that they've kidnapped as well as the spoils 00:22:10.119 --> 00:22:16.359 of war behind as they flee. And so Abraham comes to where they were expecting a battle and they find Lot, 00:22:16.359 --> 00:22:22.339 his nephew and some others. And they come home with us and they gather all these spoils of war, 00:22:22.399 --> 00:22:28.599 all this gold and silver and all sorts of things. And as Abraham's going home, he encounters this 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:35.059 mysterious figure, this guy called Melchizedek, who the New Testament says is kind of like a picture 00:22:35.059 --> 00:22:40.439 of Jesus. He's both a king, but he's also a priest. And he appears on the scene and he kind of 00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:46.640 disappears and nobody knows where he comes from or where he goes. But Melchizedek gives this amazing 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:52.840 blessing to Abraham. He blesses him abundantly. And Abraham says in response to the blessing, 00:22:53.120 --> 00:22:58.539 he gives him a tithe. He gives him a 10% of everything they've just accumulated in the spoils 00:22:58.539 --> 00:23:06.400 of war. Then a few chapters later in Genesis 28, Jacob, Abraham's grandson, is on his way to 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:14.519 his uncle Laban's farm up in the north of Patagonia. And he's on his way up there. And it's a three-week 00:23:14.519 --> 00:23:19.759 journey or so. And so one night he takes a rest. He lays down on this pillow. And while he's sleeping, 00:23:19.900 --> 00:23:25.660 he has this incredible dream. And in this dream, God promises to bless Jacob abundantly, 00:23:26.019 --> 00:23:32.340 just give him incredible blessings, him and his family and his descendants. And as Jacob wakes up, 00:23:32.339 --> 00:23:38.259 he says, surely God was in this place. And then he says this, he says, God, I make a vow that of 00:23:38.259 --> 00:23:45.819 everything you give me, of everything you bless me, I will give back to you a tithe, a tenth. Now, 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:51.579 notice two things really in common in both of these stories. In both of them, they were a free will 00:23:51.579 --> 00:23:58.480 offering. No one enforced them. No one begged them. The Lord Moses didn't instruct them. Both of them, 00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:03.220 out of their own free will, said, God, this is what we want to do for you. But the second thing 00:24:03.220 --> 00:24:08.420 to notice is this. Both of these vows of saying, God, I want to give something back to you, 00:24:08.660 --> 00:24:14.120 was done in response to the blessing that they had received. In other words, they weren't going to God 00:24:14.120 --> 00:24:20.259 and saying, God, if I give this to you, will you promise to bless me? It was done in response to God's 00:24:20.259 --> 00:24:25.140 blessing to them. And that's very important that throughout God's scripture, throughout the 00:24:25.140 --> 00:24:31.080 scriptures, whenever God asks us to contribute, it's always in response to his blessing to us. 00:24:32.140 --> 00:24:39.200 Later on in the time of Moses, we see that God builds the tithe into the Mosaic law as part of 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:44.000 the way that the nation of Israel was to run. And how it would work was that a couple of times a year, 00:24:44.560 --> 00:24:49.060 sometimes at the end of the year, sometimes in the middle of the year, and sometimes only every 00:24:49.059 --> 00:24:54.500 three years, the nation of Israel, at the end of their harvest, would harvest all their crops, and the 00:24:54.500 --> 00:25:00.119 first 10% they would set aside to bring to God in the temple. At the end of the breeding season, when 00:25:00.119 --> 00:25:06.700 their flocks have produced more flocks or calves or something, something like that, they would set aside 00:25:06.700 --> 00:25:13.339 the first 10% and bring that to God as an act of worship. They'd bring it to the temple. And the reason God 00:25:13.339 --> 00:25:18.839 instructed them to do this is it serves three functions in the Old Testament. The first is that it kept the 00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:25.199 temple going. And so every day, the priests would make sacrifices and sin offerings to God, and they 00:25:25.199 --> 00:25:29.480 would do that from the contribution of the tithes that the people brought. So it was a way of keeping 00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:35.839 the temple worship service going. The second function of Phil was it was a way of providing for the priests 00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:41.279 and the Levites to support them. So in the nation of Israel, the people are all given land to work, 00:25:41.579 --> 00:25:47.799 except the Levites, the priests, are not given any land. Their job is to focus on the spiritual 00:25:47.799 --> 00:25:53.440 welfare of the nation of Israel and the spiritual condition. And they're supported through the tithes 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:58.859 and the offerings. Now again, this is to guarantee the spiritual vitality of the nation of Israel. 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:05.480 And we see that in the Old Testament, whenever the nation of Israel, whenever the leaders neglect to 00:26:05.480 --> 00:26:11.099 teach God's people God's word, the nation of Israel descends into chaos. There's abuse of power. 00:26:11.500 --> 00:26:16.240 There's political abuse. The rich are getting richer. The poor are getting poorer. People are getting 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:22.079 marginalized and alienated. Whenever the leaders neglect their work of teaching and bringing God's 00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:28.079 word, the nation of Israel descends into chaos. And so the absence of good leadership, the spiritual 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:32.859 life of the people is the first thing to go, but it's always the last thing that they noticed. 00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:39.160 And so God says, he sets aside these leaders, and he says, leaders, your job is not to go work in the 00:26:39.160 --> 00:26:45.700 field, not to go breed crops. Your job is to teach God's people their word, to make sure that the nation of 00:26:45.700 --> 00:26:51.000 Israel loves me and treasures me, and that worship is maintained in Israel. And that's why in chapter 00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:56.340 one and two of Malachi, God holds the leaders accountable. He says, you leaders, you're not 00:26:56.340 --> 00:27:01.559 doing your job. And because you're not doing your job, the nation of Israel is suffering. And so the 00:27:01.559 --> 00:27:07.200 contribution of the tithes was to support the priests and the Levites. But then there's a third 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:13.799 thing that the tithe did in the Old Testament. And this was to support the poor and the foreigners, 00:27:13.799 --> 00:27:18.579 the widows and those without families. And so what would happen was every three years, 00:27:19.259 --> 00:27:23.960 they would bring a super tithe or an extra tithe, they would bring it all together, they'd all eat 00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:29.000 it together. But the poor and the widows and the orphans and those without families to take care of 00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:35.619 them, they could take from the super tithe back home and stock up their cupboards, and it was a way of 00:27:35.619 --> 00:27:41.259 supporting the poor in the nation of Israel. And so every Israelite knew that central to their worship 00:27:41.259 --> 00:27:45.500 and central to the well-being of the nation of Israel was to bring their tithes and their offerings 00:27:45.500 --> 00:27:54.420 to God. Now, the question arises, what about tithing in the New Testament? In other words, 00:27:55.299 --> 00:28:03.240 do New Testament Christians, are we duty-bound to bring a tenth of our income or tithe to the temple, 00:28:03.379 --> 00:28:08.619 to the church, like the people of God did in the Old Testament? What did Jesus say? What did the 00:28:08.619 --> 00:28:15.159 New Testament apostles say? One of the things that the New Testament absolutely teaches is that for 00:28:15.159 --> 00:28:20.319 Christians, those that have come to love and trust Jesus and put their hope in Christ, the Christian 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:26.419 no longer relates to God on the basis of the Old Testament law like the nation of Israel did. 00:28:27.319 --> 00:28:32.199 We no longer, that is no longer our mandate for how we live our lives. There are good principles 00:28:32.199 --> 00:28:37.039 there for us to consider, but we are no longer duty-bound to follow the Old Testament law. 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:44.039 Jesus came and he said he fulfilled the law. So are New Testament Christians instructed to 00:28:44.039 --> 00:28:49.859 absolutely give away one-tenth of the income as instructed in the Mosaic law? And the answer is 00:28:49.859 --> 00:28:57.480 no. No. Nowhere does the New Testament absolutely teach that Christians should give away a tithe or 00:28:57.480 --> 00:29:03.240 10% of their income. But what Jesus and the New Testament constantly teach us again and again 00:29:03.240 --> 00:29:10.079 is that what is true for the Old Testament is considered a shadow or a very minimum standard, 00:29:10.180 --> 00:29:16.220 the starting point of what life of faith in the New Testament looks like. In other words, in almost 00:29:16.220 --> 00:29:22.740 every way, what the Old Testament law showed us is like a black and white picture. It's like an image. 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:29.039 It's what one author called training wheels to teach us how to ride the bike so that in the New Testament 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:34.920 we can live fully what God has called us to. We can live in the full extent of his grace and his mercy. 00:29:35.500 --> 00:29:40.299 So in other words, the Old Testament law is like a black and white picture. It's just the initial, 00:29:40.420 --> 00:29:44.940 the minimum, the starting point for what a life of generosity looks like in the New Testament. 00:29:45.079 --> 00:29:51.240 Let me explain to you what I mean. Remember in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus says this. He says, 00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:56.380 I haven't come to abolish the Old Testament law. I've come to fulfill it. And then he says, 00:29:56.420 --> 00:30:00.920 your righteousness should exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees. And then Jesus gives 00:30:00.920 --> 00:30:06.539 six examples of what this life in the kingdom looks like. He says, you've heard that it was said. 00:30:06.900 --> 00:30:11.559 You shouldn't murder, right? That's one of the 10 commandments. That's a good thing. We shouldn't 00:30:11.559 --> 00:30:18.579 murder people, okay? Let that be the minimum at least. Don't go below that. But then he says, 00:30:18.579 --> 00:30:25.139 but I say to you, in light of the gospel, in light of Christ's grace on the cross, I say, 00:30:25.220 --> 00:30:30.039 don't even be angry with your brother. Don't even have hatred in your heart. Jesus says, 00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:34.579 you've heard that it was said in the Old Testament, don't commit adultery. Okay, that's good. In the 00:30:34.579 --> 00:30:39.720 Old Testament, don't commit adultery. Stick with that. But I say to you, in the New Testament, 00:30:39.879 --> 00:30:44.480 in light of my grace, in light of the gospel, don't even look at someone with lustful intent 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:52.500 in your eyes. And then we see this in Matthew chapter 23. Jesus talking to some religious 00:30:52.500 --> 00:30:58.120 leaders and he says, you religious leaders, you're very good at working out the exact tithe on 00:30:58.120 --> 00:31:03.279 everything you have. Even the garden herbs and spices that are growing in your kitchen window, 00:31:03.779 --> 00:31:11.400 you've worked out 10 mint leaves for me or nine mint leaves for me, one mint leaf for Jesus. 00:31:11.400 --> 00:31:19.100 Nine basil leaves for me, one basil leaf for God. You've worked out exactly, even down to the finest 00:31:19.100 --> 00:31:25.460 detail, the tithe on those things. And he says, that's okay. That's not a problem. But the problem 00:31:25.460 --> 00:31:30.340 I have for you is that while you tithe on these things, you've neglected the most important things. 00:31:30.860 --> 00:31:37.960 You've neglected justice. You've neglected showing mercy. You've neglected showing kindness to the 00:31:37.960 --> 00:31:46.059 stranger. You've neglected faithfulness. And so Jesus says, do these things, justice and mercy and 00:31:46.059 --> 00:31:50.759 kindness and faithfulness and love for the stranger, without neglecting the former things. 00:31:51.259 --> 00:31:55.960 You see what Jesus is saying? He's saying the biblical principle of tithing is a good principle, 00:31:56.120 --> 00:32:00.860 and they shouldn't abandon it. There's good reason why God instructed them to do it. God's reminding 00:32:00.860 --> 00:32:06.120 them that he was their provider. God reminds them that they live not by bread alone, but by every word 00:32:06.119 --> 00:32:10.859 that comes from God. They live in a relationship with him. God's reminding them that he is their 00:32:10.859 --> 00:32:16.719 true treasure. But he says, bring your tithe on its own as a religious exercise. That's not enough. 00:32:17.199 --> 00:32:22.079 Just like we saw in Malachi, God's far more interested in the more significant and weightier 00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:29.199 matters of the law. Justice and kindness and worship and relationship with him. And so the apostle 00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:33.960 Paul says the same thing. He writes to the very first Christians, and he says, in light of God's 00:32:33.960 --> 00:32:39.240 incredible grace, in light of the treasures of the gospel, God's radical generosity to you, 00:32:39.840 --> 00:32:45.120 steward your finances towards the cause and the advance of the gospel. And he tells them to set aside 00:32:45.120 --> 00:32:50.340 a portion of their income for the advance of the gospel. And so look how the apostle Paul writes, 00:32:50.460 --> 00:32:55.420 and he writes to the Corinthian church, and he writes this about another church, a Macedonian church, 00:32:55.420 --> 00:33:00.360 and look at what he says. He says, I want you to know, brothers, about the churches of Macedonia. 00:33:01.060 --> 00:33:07.460 For in their severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have 00:33:07.460 --> 00:33:13.320 overflowed into a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:20.779 as I can testify. In fact, they gave beyond their means of their own accord, begging us earnestly for 00:33:20.779 --> 00:33:28.200 the privilege of taking part in the financial gift to the saints. Friends, when I read that, 00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:36.619 I long that someone would one day be able to write that about me, to say that he gave over and above 00:33:36.619 --> 00:33:44.359 his means. He gave way more than was logical or rational. Such was the generosity of his heart. 00:33:45.299 --> 00:33:49.839 I long that one day someone will be able to say that about us as a church. 00:33:50.779 --> 00:33:55.180 We may not be the poorest church in Hong Kong. We may not be the richest church in Hong Kong. 00:33:55.899 --> 00:33:59.460 But wouldn't it be a lovely thing if our church could be known as radically generous, 00:34:00.039 --> 00:34:04.279 outside of ourself, supporting missions, and we'll talk about that in a second. 00:34:05.079 --> 00:34:10.039 Tim Keller in his book writes this. He says, sometimes people ask me, you don't think that now in the 00:34:10.039 --> 00:34:15.800 New Testament we are absolutely required to give away 10% to you? I shake my head and say, no, 00:34:15.800 --> 00:34:21.740 and they breathe a sigh of relief. But then I quickly say, but I'll tell you why I don't think 00:34:21.740 --> 00:34:28.820 tithing is laid out clearly in the New Testament. Think about it. Have we received more of God's 00:34:28.820 --> 00:34:34.660 revelation, his truth, and his grace than the Old Testament, or less? Sometimes there's an 00:34:34.660 --> 00:34:42.019 uncomfortable silence. Are we now more debted to God's grace than they were, or less? Surely tithing is a 00:34:42.019 --> 00:34:45.920 minimum standard for Christian believers. We certainly wouldn't want to be in a position of 00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:51.059 giving away less of our income than those Old Testament saints who had so much less of an 00:34:51.059 --> 00:34:56.880 understanding of what God did to save them. See, friends, in many ways, in the Old Testament, 00:34:56.980 --> 00:35:01.960 the tithe was brought to maintain the temple, to maintain worship, to maintain the priests, 00:35:02.259 --> 00:35:07.639 and to maintain what God was doing in the nation of Israel. But in the New Testament, God's view isn't 00:35:07.639 --> 00:35:12.779 just maintenance. God says, I've got my eyes not on the nation of Israel, but on the ends of the world. 00:35:13.379 --> 00:35:18.019 God doesn't just want us to maintain church. He wants us to advance the gospel. God isn't just 00:35:18.019 --> 00:35:22.819 interested in maintaining what we do here. He wants to take this message and blow it beyond the banks 00:35:22.819 --> 00:35:27.980 so that Hong Kong and Asia and the ends of the world hear about the good news of the gospel. 00:35:28.719 --> 00:35:33.420 Friends, we're not trying to maintain anything here. Jesus' mission is for those that have never heard 00:35:33.420 --> 00:35:39.860 in the furthest corners of the globe to hear Him. Jesus calls us to radical advancement, 00:35:40.039 --> 00:35:44.780 to plant churches, to support missions and missionaries, to help defeat social justice in 00:35:44.780 --> 00:35:51.639 our city, and to support the hurting and the most marginalized in our city. And just like Abraham in 00:35:51.639 --> 00:35:57.260 Genesis 14, and just like Jacob in Genesis 26, and just like the people of God in the Old Testament, 00:35:57.380 --> 00:36:02.980 and just like the saints in the New Testament, why do we do it? Not to earn God's favor, but in response 00:36:02.980 --> 00:36:11.659 to His abundant blessing to us already. Let me deal with what does Watermark do with the offerings 00:36:11.659 --> 00:36:16.000 that come in, and what do we hope to do? I'm so glad you've asked that question. 00:36:18.699 --> 00:36:24.460 At the moment, we are living in a little bit of maintenance mode. We're trying our best to cover 00:36:24.460 --> 00:36:31.019 our bases, and generally the income that comes in, the offering that comes in, generally goes to three 00:36:31.019 --> 00:36:35.900 things. It goes to paying some of the rental for the buildings, office space in Sain Phuon, 00:36:36.440 --> 00:36:43.059 this space on a Sunday. So that's the first thing. The second thing is the salaries of the staff that 00:36:43.059 --> 00:36:49.619 are working at Watermark Church. And the third thing is going to putting on some of the ministry costs. 00:36:50.059 --> 00:36:54.739 And so that's stuff that involves discipleship, and meeting up with people, and hosting people. 00:36:54.739 --> 00:37:00.500 It's things like running outreach events, Life Explored, and Alpha, and other outreach programs. 00:37:01.199 --> 00:37:06.619 And in some small way, it's a very small part of our income, goes towards blessing some partner 00:37:06.619 --> 00:37:12.859 organizations from time to time. But that's really it as it currently is. But let me share with you 00:37:12.859 --> 00:37:19.419 some of our hopes and our dreams for the future. And there's two stages to it. The first stage is that 00:37:19.420 --> 00:37:25.280 really, as elders, we are hoping that in the short term, we can get to the place where we can give 00:37:25.280 --> 00:37:31.420 at least 10% of our income outside of ourselves that has nothing to do with blessing Watermark and 00:37:31.420 --> 00:37:37.639 growing Watermark as a church. And so we've set up these three funds, and this is a screenshot of 00:37:37.639 --> 00:37:43.460 what's going to be on our new website, which is going to come up in the next few weeks. But here's a 00:37:43.460 --> 00:37:48.059 screenshot of what it looks like. In addition to the in-house expenses running the ministry, we want to 00:37:48.059 --> 00:37:53.099 set up these three funds. And the first one is the Watermark Compassion Fund. These funds are set aside 00:37:53.099 --> 00:37:58.980 to assist Watermark families that are encountering financial difficulty. Maybe there's some big medical 00:37:58.980 --> 00:38:04.219 expense they didn't budget for, or someone loses a job. And so there's a bit of a fund to help 00:38:04.219 --> 00:38:09.579 Watermark families and members in time of need. The second fund we are setting up is the Missional 00:38:09.579 --> 00:38:15.099 Justice Fund. And these are set up to support the work of missional justice in Hong Kong through 00:38:15.099 --> 00:38:19.360 serving the poor and supporting our partner organizations. So we've got a couple of partner 00:38:19.360 --> 00:38:24.619 organizations, and we give nothing to them monthly at the moment. Out of our love offering at the end 00:38:24.619 --> 00:38:29.319 of the year, we give them something. But we'd love that actually a regular part every month of our 00:38:29.319 --> 00:38:34.000 income goes towards serving the poor and the marginalized in some of our partner organizations. 00:38:34.779 --> 00:38:39.659 And then there's a third fund we're setting up, which is called Gospel Advance. And this also is our 00:38:39.659 --> 00:38:46.519 Missionary Support Fund. And these funds are set aside to support strengthening and existing churches 00:38:46.519 --> 00:38:52.559 and also planting new churches across Asia Pacific. And then these funds will also be used to support 00:38:52.559 --> 00:38:57.859 and encourage the work of missionaries sent out from Watermark into Asia into the future. 00:38:58.559 --> 00:39:03.399 And so in the short term, we're hoping, I hope that in the next year, we can get to the place where 10% 00:39:03.400 --> 00:39:10.519 of all of our income goes towards these funds beyond ourselves. The long term goal, I would love us to get 00:39:10.519 --> 00:39:16.220 to the place where we can give up to 20% of our income beyond ourselves to support missionaries, church 00:39:16.220 --> 00:39:22.360 planters, the poor and the marginalized, and the hurting in Hong Kong. Now, to be honest, we're nowhere near 00:39:22.360 --> 00:39:29.079 that right now. We had like 1 or 2%, but this is where we committed to where we want to go. So that's just what you 00:39:29.079 --> 00:39:35.920 so you know what happens to the offerings at Watermark. Okay, as we come to close, let's consider 00:39:35.920 --> 00:39:40.940 two last things. The first thing is this. Oh, sorry, let me say actually one other thing before 00:39:40.940 --> 00:39:45.539 we get there. So I guess what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to build a case from the scriptures that 00:39:45.539 --> 00:39:52.779 every Christian, part of our worship is to bring our financial resources and to bring it to God. 00:39:53.219 --> 00:39:57.279 And we do that through the local church primarily. It doesn't have to be only through the local church, 00:39:57.280 --> 00:40:03.920 but primarily. Quick question, when should we start doing that? When do we start? One of the 00:40:03.920 --> 00:40:09.080 things I'm most grateful for in my life is that my parents taught us when I was five or four, however 00:40:09.080 --> 00:40:14.260 old I was when I started getting pocket money, five Hong Kong dollars a month or whatever it was, 00:40:14.720 --> 00:40:20.519 that the first portion of that was to be given to God. And so our kids get pocket money at the moment, 00:40:20.600 --> 00:40:26.380 and they know the first portion of that goes towards God. And even when our kids get licee at Chinese 00:40:26.380 --> 00:40:30.900 New Year, they know the first portion of that they give to Jesus in the act of worship. Now, 00:40:30.940 --> 00:40:34.860 they might not understand all of the details behind it, but we're wanting to teach them from 00:40:34.860 --> 00:40:40.880 the youngest age to honor God and to worship God with what they've been given. And so I want to say, 00:40:41.280 --> 00:40:46.599 if you are a student or if you've just started working, don't think to yourself, one day when I 00:40:46.599 --> 00:40:52.440 earn masses of amount of money, then I'll start. Because the reason is the more you earn, the harder it is 00:40:52.440 --> 00:40:57.579 to start. The very best thing to do is to start when you feel like you're earning almost nothing. 00:40:58.059 --> 00:41:03.139 So if you're earning a hundred dollars a month, that's a great place to start. Start whenever you can. 00:41:03.920 --> 00:41:09.619 Okay, let's, last thing is this. Let's consider why is this so hard and how does the gospel help us? 00:41:10.139 --> 00:41:15.559 Why do we find this so hard? You see, it wasn't just the people in Malachi's day. All of us, even today, 00:41:15.559 --> 00:41:21.500 find it hard to part with our hard-earned money. Why is that? Well, I think there's a couple of 00:41:21.500 --> 00:41:26.519 reasons. The first reason is that we think our safety and our security into the future is found 00:41:26.519 --> 00:41:32.779 in financial stability. We often think you never know what's going to happen. You need a solid nest 00:41:32.779 --> 00:41:37.679 egg built up. You may lose your job. Things may go wrong. We need to save up and store up for the 00:41:37.679 --> 00:41:42.239 future because our safety and our security is in that. For some of us, maybe that's not the reason. 00:41:42.239 --> 00:41:47.879 Maybe for some of us, we think this money is mine. I worked for it. I worked hard for it. 00:41:48.139 --> 00:41:54.099 Why should I share it or give it away with anybody else? Maybe for some of us, we don't feel like that, 00:41:54.199 --> 00:41:58.799 but maybe we feel like others don't deserve my generosity. What have they ever done for it? 00:41:59.159 --> 00:42:03.639 They haven't worked as hard as I have. They haven't taken the risks. They haven't made the sacrifices. 00:42:04.519 --> 00:42:10.539 They don't deserve to enjoy the benefits of my work and my hard effort. And all these feelings are very 00:42:10.539 --> 00:42:14.960 real. These aren't just logical arguments. These are things we feel deeply in our hearts. 00:42:16.219 --> 00:42:22.639 But let's consider the wonder of the treasure that is Jesus. The Bible says to us that when Jesus came 00:42:22.639 --> 00:42:28.880 to us on planet Earth 2,000 years ago, the Bible describes our condition in not very flattering terms. 00:42:29.759 --> 00:42:34.279 Jesus says that we were lost and he came to seek and save the lost to bring us home. 00:42:34.280 --> 00:42:37.460 And the reason we were lost is because we had lost sight of our Father. 00:42:38.240 --> 00:42:43.140 Jesus says that we were dead in our sins. We weren't just slightly skew. We were completely 00:42:43.140 --> 00:42:48.220 dead in our sins. And he came to give us new life. He came to breathe new vitality into us. 00:42:48.460 --> 00:42:54.500 He came to take a dead corpse and to make us alive again. Jesus says that we were like orphans that had 00:42:54.500 --> 00:43:00.480 lost our way and we had no hope. And he came and he included us in the family. And so when God came to 00:43:00.480 --> 00:43:06.960 rescue us, he didn't just send a messenger. He didn't just send a book of instructions. He didn't 00:43:06.960 --> 00:43:13.679 just send a blank check to say, there you go. That should help you. What did he do? He sent his son. 00:43:14.219 --> 00:43:18.840 He sent the greatest treasure that we could ever imagine. The thing that our hearts most desperately 00:43:18.840 --> 00:43:28.159 need and our hearts long for. He gave us his son. But his coming was at a great cost. And what was that 00:43:28.159 --> 00:43:35.219 cost? It was the cost of his blood. See friends, Jesus didn't tithe his blood. Jesus didn't go on 00:43:35.219 --> 00:43:41.699 the cross and say, nine parts for me, one part for you. Jesus gave his whole life. He gave all of it. 00:43:42.519 --> 00:43:47.980 And Jesus came to a world full of hatred and pain. And he came bringing a message that he knew would 00:43:47.980 --> 00:43:53.139 rile the authorities. And he knew it would attract their anger and their wrath. And he knew that it would 00:43:53.139 --> 00:43:58.519 mean that he would end up on a cross. And yet he did it gladly. And friends, one of the reasons why 00:43:58.519 --> 00:44:03.339 we, and I include myself in this, find it so hard to be generous and so hard to part with our money 00:44:03.339 --> 00:44:09.460 and to bring our first fruits to God is because it seems so costly. There are all sorts of opportunity 00:44:09.460 --> 00:44:14.900 costs involved when we give away of our finances. It'll probably mean staying in a smaller apartment. 00:44:15.599 --> 00:44:20.739 It'll probably mean going on less overseas holidays. It'll probably mean eating out less often. 00:44:20.739 --> 00:44:25.459 It'll probably mean getting a smaller car or a secondhand car or not having a car at all. 00:44:26.039 --> 00:44:30.479 And the truth is that there is a cost involved. Giving financially to the cause of Christ will 00:44:30.479 --> 00:44:36.599 involve in some ways walking away from something else. But friends, don't you see the cost that 00:44:36.599 --> 00:44:43.639 involved Jesus to come and rescue us and to save us? Jesus paid the ultimate cost to have our sin 00:44:43.639 --> 00:44:50.219 and our rebellion put upon himself. But he did it not for his benefit, but for our benefit. Not that we 00:44:50.219 --> 00:44:55.939 could have a bigger apartment or a nicer car or eat out more often. He did it that we could have 00:44:55.939 --> 00:45:03.500 the greatest treasure the world could ever know. So that forever and ever and ever for all eternity, 00:45:03.679 --> 00:45:10.199 our hearts could feast on the greatest treasure the world could ever fathom. And friends, to the degree 00:45:10.199 --> 00:45:15.799 to which we see that and understand that, to the degree to which we feel the wonder and the privilege 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:21.180 of the great treasure that is Christ that he offers us, to that degree, the pull and the lure 00:45:21.180 --> 00:45:27.340 of money that it has in our hearts will melt like ice in the summer sun. We will literally feel the 00:45:27.340 --> 00:45:33.539 cords of anxiety and worry that wrap around our hearts starting to just disappear like a vapor. 00:45:34.340 --> 00:45:40.080 In Jesus Christ, we are offered the treasure of incredible security and peace, both in this life and 00:45:40.079 --> 00:45:46.159 forever. In Jesus Christ, we are offered the treasure of indescribable love, a love that can 00:45:46.159 --> 00:45:51.539 never be taken from you, a love that will never walk out the door, a love that will never be unfaithful 00:45:51.539 --> 00:45:58.319 to you, given to us forever. In Jesus, we are given a treasure that we could never buy with all the money 00:45:58.319 --> 00:46:03.319 in the world, with all the treasures in the world, no matter how hard you work or what deal you cut. 00:46:03.320 --> 00:46:09.559 And you know what, friends? Even if you never contribute another cent to the cause of Christ 00:46:09.559 --> 00:46:16.680 for the rest of your life, his love for you won't diminish by one single inch, because his love for 00:46:16.680 --> 00:46:23.200 you is not found in what you do for him, it's found in what he did for you. And so what about financial 00:46:23.200 --> 00:46:29.280 security and stability? When we see that Christ went to the cross to guarantee our internal security, 00:46:29.280 --> 00:46:34.800 suddenly our temporary security becomes an issue. We know that Jesus died on the cross to guarantee 00:46:34.800 --> 00:46:40.260 our forever security. What do we have to worry about in this lifetime? What about feeling like 00:46:40.260 --> 00:46:46.220 our money is not our own? Friends, when we see that we were utterly lost, that we were dead in our sins, 00:46:46.360 --> 00:46:52.040 unable to save ourselves or rescue ourselves, but Jesus came and did for us what we could never do for 00:46:52.040 --> 00:46:58.080 ourselves, we'll see that every single thing we have in our lives is a gift from God. There's not one 00:46:58.079 --> 00:47:03.179 single thing that we have for which we can claim credit. Everything is a gift from God. And suddenly 00:47:03.179 --> 00:47:09.500 we won't have to protect and look after money as if it's our own. What about feeling like others 00:47:09.500 --> 00:47:19.360 don't deserve it? Friends, which one of us deserve the grace of God? Which one of us could say that 00:47:19.360 --> 00:47:26.219 we've never squandered or taken advantage of Christ's mercy? Friends, it's true that when we give of our 00:47:26.219 --> 00:47:32.559 finances to some organization or the cause of Christ, it's true that they may not always steward it the 00:47:32.559 --> 00:47:39.119 way that we want. It's true that that organization may not use it as honorably as you think that they 00:47:39.119 --> 00:47:45.519 should. That is true. And there'll be times that even they may not deserve it. Friends, how many of us 00:47:45.519 --> 00:47:51.899 have never squandered Christ's mercy or His grace? How many of us fully deserve God's mercy to us? 00:47:51.900 --> 00:47:56.980 Friends, when Jesus Christ was on the cross, He knew that while He was being nailed to the cross, 00:47:57.760 --> 00:48:03.660 some of the people were laughing at Him and mocking Him and spitting in His face. Jesus knew that some 00:48:03.660 --> 00:48:09.780 of the people for whom He died would never ever bow their knee and never ever thank Him. That for their 00:48:09.780 --> 00:48:15.720 entire lives they would mock Him and laugh at Him and jeer at His sacrifice, thinking that He is a fool to 00:48:15.719 --> 00:48:23.179 die on the cross. And you know what? He did it anyway. He did it anyway because of His profound love for us. 00:48:25.199 --> 00:48:31.399 One author said it like this, when we're thinking of giving our money away, don't sit down with a 00:48:31.399 --> 00:48:39.000 calculator. Sit down at the foot of the cross. Let Jesus' cross melt our hearts. Friends, when we see 00:48:39.000 --> 00:48:44.799 our hearts and who Jesus is, how He's given everything that we might have true treasure, it'll melt our hearts and 00:48:44.800 --> 00:48:50.920 we'll be the freest people in all the world. Let's come to Him now. Let's pray. 00:48:56.280 --> 00:49:02.780 Heavenly Father, we come before You this morning because this area that we've spoken about, finances, 00:49:02.780 --> 00:49:11.039 is such a massive one. It's one which we are constantly feeling conflicted, God. We want to be like You, 00:49:11.039 --> 00:49:16.119 God, and be generous and to support missions and missionaries and the work of Christ in our city. 00:49:16.219 --> 00:49:21.559 We want the gospel to advance, but oh God, money has a way of finding its way into our hearts. 00:49:22.880 --> 00:49:31.000 God, I pray won't You help us. God, won't You help us, we pray. God, won't You make us radically 00:49:31.000 --> 00:49:39.400 generous like You, God. We pray, God, that we as individuals and we as a church family will become 00:49:39.400 --> 00:49:46.039 more like You, God. We'll steward that which You've given us, not for ourselves, but for Your glory and 00:49:46.039 --> 00:49:54.139 for the good of others. And so we pray, Christ, come and help us. Come and help us, Lord. God, we confess 00:49:54.139 --> 00:50:00.380 that this is one area we so often don't want to bring to You. We bring every other area of our lives 00:50:00.380 --> 00:50:07.079 to You. But God, we do this morning come and we ask You to help us. Come and lead us, we pray, God. 00:50:07.079 --> 00:50:15.299 God, open the eyes of our hearts to see You. Give us an eternal perspective and help us to become 00:50:15.299 --> 00:50:22.400 more like You, we pray. In Your wonderful and powerful name, Amen. Amen.