1 00:00:15,458 --> 00:00:16,750 Howdy Mars Hill Church. 2 00:00:16,833 --> 00:00:19,833 Pastor Sutton Turner here and I'm in Ethiopia. 3 00:00:19,875 --> 00:00:21,667 And I just want to thank Jesus 4 00:00:21,708 --> 00:00:25,000 for continuing to use Mars Hill Church 5 00:00:25,042 --> 00:00:28,583 to make disciples and plant churches. 6 00:00:29,167 --> 00:00:34,292 Mars Hill Global is the arm of Mars Hill Church 7 00:00:34,333 --> 00:00:35,917 that makes disciples 8 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,833 and plant churches all over the world. 9 00:00:38,917 --> 00:00:40,375 We not only do church planting, 10 00:00:40,458 --> 00:00:43,333 but we help better equip church planters. 11 00:00:43,417 --> 00:00:47,042 Most recently we shipped and now distributed 12 00:00:47,125 --> 00:00:49,500 1,000 bibles into Amharic, 13 00:00:49,542 --> 00:00:52,125 which is the language here in Ethiopia. 14 00:00:52,167 --> 00:00:54,042 And we launched a project 15 00:00:54,125 --> 00:00:59,250 to translate Pastor Mark Driscoll's doctrine book into Spanish. 16 00:00:59,333 --> 00:01:02,583 We have people from over 29 different countries 17 00:01:02,667 --> 00:01:06,167 that are giving on a monthly basis to Mars Hill Global. 18 00:01:06,208 --> 00:01:08,125 So whether you're a member 19 00:01:08,167 --> 00:01:11,083 of one of our Mars Hill church locations 20 00:01:11,167 --> 00:01:12,542 in the United States, 21 00:01:12,625 --> 00:01:18,208 or you're 1 of 100,000 podcasters every single week, 22 00:01:18,292 --> 00:01:19,667 we encourage you to pray 23 00:01:19,750 --> 00:01:23,083 about giving above and beyond your tithe 24 00:01:23,167 --> 00:01:24,625 to Mars Hill Global. 25 00:01:24,667 --> 00:01:28,958 Thank you and let's see more materials translated, 26 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,167 more pastors sent out, more churches planted, 27 00:01:32,250 --> 00:01:34,500 and more people saved by Jesus Christ. 28 00:01:48,542 --> 00:01:51,083 All right, grab your Bibles. Go to Malachi. 29 00:01:51,167 --> 00:01:53,333 You think I would know where we're going today. 30 00:01:53,417 --> 00:01:56,208 Malachi chapter 3, verses 6 through 18. 31 00:01:56,292 --> 00:02:00,292 And, you know, sections of the Bible are like roads. 32 00:02:00,333 --> 00:02:04,625 Some we travel on frequently, some infrequently, some, 33 00:02:04,667 --> 00:02:06,458 perhaps, never at all. 34 00:02:06,500 --> 00:02:08,667 And what that means is depending upon whatever 35 00:02:08,750 --> 00:02:10,500 theological tradition you're a part of, 36 00:02:10,583 --> 00:02:12,167 if you grew up in church, 37 00:02:12,208 --> 00:02:14,667 let's say, there'll be parts of the Bible that you're 38 00:02:14,708 --> 00:02:17,208 more familiar with because you traveled through those sections 39 00:02:17,292 --> 00:02:18,875 very frequently. 40 00:02:18,958 --> 00:02:21,333 So if you come from what's called a reform tradition, 41 00:02:21,375 --> 00:02:23,375 you spent a lot of time in Romans. 42 00:02:23,458 --> 00:02:25,583 If you come from a more practical seeker church, 43 00:02:25,667 --> 00:02:27,250 it's a lot of Proverbs. 44 00:02:27,333 --> 00:02:29,667 If you're from a church that's more charismatic or Pentecostal, 45 00:02:29,750 --> 00:02:31,958 a lot of time in the Book of Acts. 46 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:33,917 And all of that to say that today, 47 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:35,917 we're going through a book of the Bible. 48 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:38,667 So at Mars Hill, we like to explore all the roads 49 00:02:38,708 --> 00:02:41,667 in the Bible and go down to see what God has said 50 00:02:41,708 --> 00:02:44,333 and what God has done and what that means for us. 51 00:02:44,375 --> 00:02:46,750 And we've gone through, in the history of Mars Hill, 52 00:02:46,833 --> 00:02:48,458 more than 20 books of the Bible. 53 00:02:48,500 --> 00:02:51,167 Now we're in Malachi and as we're going through this book 54 00:02:51,250 --> 00:02:53,667 of the Bible, we hit a very curious section today, 55 00:02:53,750 --> 00:02:56,333 Malachi chapter 3, verses 6 through 18. 56 00:02:56,417 --> 00:02:59,167 And the question that is supposed here is, 57 00:02:59,250 --> 00:03:02,167 will man rob God? 58 00:03:02,250 --> 00:03:04,917 Some of you have never even thought of this section 59 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:06,333 of the Bible. 60 00:03:06,375 --> 00:03:08,500 Maybe some of you even grew up in church 61 00:03:08,583 --> 00:03:10,708 and you've never taken a look at Malachi 3. 62 00:03:10,792 --> 00:03:13,250 Some of you, however, have heard a lot about it, 63 00:03:13,333 --> 00:03:15,917 lots of sermons on this section of the Bible. 64 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:18,375 And if you're very familiar with it because it was 65 00:03:18,458 --> 00:03:21,667 a well-worn path at your previous church, 66 00:03:21,750 --> 00:03:25,333 you may have come from something called prosperity theology. 67 00:03:25,417 --> 00:03:28,083 And we're gonna get into all that today because this text 68 00:03:28,167 --> 00:03:31,333 is really the epicenter and maybe the primary text 69 00:03:31,375 --> 00:03:34,333 for what has come to be known as prosperity theology, 70 00:03:34,417 --> 00:03:37,333 something that really took root in America and has gone global 71 00:03:37,375 --> 00:03:39,125 through television. 72 00:03:39,167 --> 00:03:41,167 So that's where we find ourselves today 73 00:03:41,208 --> 00:03:42,667 and it's real timely 74 00:03:42,708 --> 00:03:44,833 because we're at that time of year when people 75 00:03:44,875 --> 00:03:49,458 are giving and receiving gifts, generosity tends to increase. 76 00:03:49,500 --> 00:03:52,750 This is when people make their year-end tax-deductible gifts 77 00:03:52,833 --> 00:03:56,167 to charities and ministries of various sorts and kinds. 78 00:03:56,208 --> 00:03:59,292 This is the season where we start anticipating and preparing 79 00:03:59,333 --> 00:04:01,208 for our budget next year 80 00:04:01,292 --> 00:04:03,000 and how we will steward what God 81 00:04:03,083 --> 00:04:05,000 has entrusted to our oversight. 82 00:04:05,042 --> 00:04:08,333 And so in the providence of God, it's all very, very timely. 83 00:04:08,375 --> 00:04:09,708 So we'll jump right in. 84 00:04:09,792 --> 00:04:13,458 But before God talks about wealth, he talks about worship. 85 00:04:13,500 --> 00:04:16,917 Before he talks about us, he talks about himself 86 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,667 and what he tells us is that he is unchanging. 87 00:04:19,708 --> 00:04:22,042 And Mars Hill, I need you to know this. 88 00:04:22,125 --> 00:04:24,833 This is a bedrock fundamental teaching of the Bible 89 00:04:24,917 --> 00:04:26,833 that God is unchanging. 90 00:04:26,917 --> 00:04:32,500 Malachi 3:6-7, "For I the Lord do not change"-- 91 00:04:32,583 --> 00:04:34,750 couldn't get any clearer-- "therefore you, 92 00:04:34,833 --> 00:04:38,042 "O children of Jacob, God's people, are not consumed. 93 00:04:38,125 --> 00:04:39,667 From the days of your fathers"-- 94 00:04:39,708 --> 00:04:42,875 this is a generational problem of a negative legacy-- 95 00:04:42,958 --> 00:04:45,292 "You have turned aside from my statutes 96 00:04:45,333 --> 00:04:47,625 "and have not kept them. 97 00:04:47,667 --> 00:04:49,833 "Return to me, and I will return to you, 98 00:04:49,875 --> 00:04:51,208 says the Lord of hosts"-- 99 00:04:51,292 --> 00:04:53,708 the God who rules over the angels and the demons-- 100 00:04:53,792 --> 00:04:56,333 "But you say, 'How shall we return?'" 101 00:04:56,375 --> 00:04:58,333 The whole book is a series of arguments 102 00:04:58,375 --> 00:04:59,708 that they're having with God. 103 00:04:59,792 --> 00:05:04,292 They're actually giving accusations toward God disguised 104 00:05:04,333 --> 00:05:08,625 as questions for God and they are arguing and fighting 105 00:05:08,667 --> 00:05:10,125 with him here. 106 00:05:10,167 --> 00:05:16,125 And the basic idea is this, they fundamentally disagree with God. 107 00:05:16,167 --> 00:05:18,500 God says do this, they don't want to. 108 00:05:18,583 --> 00:05:21,000 God says this is right, they say it's wrong. 109 00:05:21,042 --> 00:05:24,000 They're in a position of disagreeing with God. 110 00:05:24,083 --> 00:05:26,125 How many of you've been there? 111 00:05:26,167 --> 00:05:28,167 Everyone should raise their hand, okay? 112 00:05:28,250 --> 00:05:29,708 We've all been there. 113 00:05:29,792 --> 00:05:32,875 We've all been in a place we're like, "I don't agree, Lord," 114 00:05:32,958 --> 00:05:35,417 Which is a weird statement, right? 115 00:05:35,500 --> 00:05:38,583 "I don't agree, Lord. You're in charge. 116 00:05:38,667 --> 00:05:41,917 "Wrong. Perfect and wrong. 117 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,708 And never wrong and wrong." 118 00:05:44,792 --> 00:05:48,042 I mean we find ourselves in those positions. 119 00:05:48,125 --> 00:05:50,500 And they're in this position of conflict with God, 120 00:05:50,542 --> 00:05:53,292 and they keep arguing with God and raising questions toward God 121 00:05:53,333 --> 00:05:55,958 and accusing God and contending with God. 122 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:01,667 And here's what God says, "I don't change." 123 00:06:01,708 --> 00:06:06,458 What that means is they need to change, 124 00:06:06,500 --> 00:06:10,500 and we are no different. 125 00:06:10,542 --> 00:06:14,458 We all reach points-- and some of you are there today, 126 00:06:14,500 --> 00:06:16,833 where we're in disagreement with God. 127 00:06:16,917 --> 00:06:19,333 "God, I don't like what it says in your Word. 128 00:06:19,417 --> 00:06:21,333 "I don't like this part of the Bible. 129 00:06:21,417 --> 00:06:23,083 "I think maybe you got this wrong. 130 00:06:23,167 --> 00:06:25,292 "I don't know if you should have done that. 131 00:06:25,333 --> 00:06:28,000 "I don't know if you should have said it like that. 132 00:06:28,083 --> 00:06:31,167 "I don't think you have any right to tell me to do that 133 00:06:31,250 --> 00:06:33,667 "and to not do that and to stop doing that. 134 00:06:33,750 --> 00:06:35,833 "And God, I disagree and I have some frustration, 135 00:06:35,917 --> 00:06:37,250 "maybe some hurt. 136 00:06:37,333 --> 00:06:40,250 "There's some points where you and I need to come to agreement. 137 00:06:40,333 --> 00:06:42,250 "So here's what I need you to do. 138 00:06:42,333 --> 00:06:43,667 "I need you to apologize. 139 00:06:43,708 --> 00:06:45,667 "I need you to change what you've said. 140 00:06:45,708 --> 00:06:47,667 "I need you to rethink what you've done. 141 00:06:47,708 --> 00:06:49,667 "I need you to evolve with the times. 142 00:06:49,708 --> 00:06:51,375 "I need you to mature and grow. 143 00:06:51,458 --> 00:06:54,375 I need you to catch up with where the world is today." 144 00:06:54,458 --> 00:06:56,083 And God says, "I do not"-- what? 145 00:06:56,167 --> 00:06:57,500 "Change. I'm not moving." 146 00:06:57,542 --> 00:06:59,917 When we talk of God, we talk of his attributes. 147 00:07:00,042 --> 00:07:02,167 Here we see a clear declaration of his immutability, 148 00:07:02,250 --> 00:07:03,875 that means that God is unchanging. 149 00:07:03,958 --> 00:07:10,833 And this is absolutely essential, God does not change, 150 00:07:10,917 --> 00:07:13,625 we must change. 151 00:07:13,667 --> 00:07:20,625 We cannot remain unchanged and demand that God change. 152 00:07:20,667 --> 00:07:22,375 God has no sin. 153 00:07:22,458 --> 00:07:23,792 God makes no mistakes. 154 00:07:23,833 --> 00:07:25,333 God has nothing to learn. 155 00:07:25,375 --> 00:07:27,167 God has no way to mature. 156 00:07:27,208 --> 00:07:31,167 There's nothing in God that should change. 157 00:07:31,208 --> 00:07:35,667 There's everything in us that must change. 158 00:07:35,708 --> 00:07:39,250 And praise God that he's unchanging. 159 00:07:39,333 --> 00:07:43,333 He said, "If I were unchanging, you would have been consumed." 160 00:07:43,417 --> 00:07:45,708 See, God's a loving Father. 161 00:07:45,792 --> 00:07:48,708 He says, "I love you, and I'm still gonna love you. 162 00:07:48,792 --> 00:07:51,417 "And I forgive you, and I still am gonna forgive you. 163 00:07:51,500 --> 00:07:54,167 "And I'm gonna help you, and I'm still gonna help you. 164 00:07:54,208 --> 00:07:56,833 And it's a good thing I don't change my mind." 165 00:07:56,875 --> 00:07:59,833 How many of you parents have felt this way with your kid? 166 00:07:59,875 --> 00:08:02,375 You're like "Were I not in covenant with the Lord, 167 00:08:02,458 --> 00:08:07,750 "we would be down one person in this family very quickly. 168 00:08:07,833 --> 00:08:11,208 "But I love you, and I've committed myself to you 169 00:08:11,292 --> 00:08:12,792 "and I've devoted myself to you, 170 00:08:12,833 --> 00:08:14,792 and you're lucky I don't change." 171 00:08:14,833 --> 00:08:16,917 Any kid who looks at their parent says, 172 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:18,333 "You never change," 173 00:08:18,375 --> 00:08:20,292 parents should say, "You're welcome. 174 00:08:20,333 --> 00:08:21,667 You're welcome." 175 00:08:21,750 --> 00:08:23,375 And that's what God is doing here. 176 00:08:23,458 --> 00:08:25,125 God is saying, "I'm not gonna change, 177 00:08:25,167 --> 00:08:27,333 "but it's for your good that I don't change 178 00:08:27,375 --> 00:08:30,500 because that means that I won't stop loving you." 179 00:08:30,583 --> 00:08:35,083 That being said, we must change, and this is where Christianity 180 00:08:35,167 --> 00:08:37,833 is different than spirituality. 181 00:08:37,875 --> 00:08:41,250 Spirituality says God is not a person, 182 00:08:41,333 --> 00:08:44,750 God's more of a concept and God is not unchanging, 183 00:08:44,833 --> 00:08:46,167 God is changing. 184 00:08:46,208 --> 00:08:49,292 So God evolves and morphs depending upon what culture 185 00:08:49,333 --> 00:08:51,542 God is in or what period of history. 186 00:08:51,625 --> 00:08:54,750 Or God used to say that this is wrong but now that culture 187 00:08:54,833 --> 00:08:57,583 has gone into a different understanding, 188 00:08:57,667 --> 00:09:01,000 God needs to catch up with the times and modify himself 189 00:09:01,042 --> 00:09:03,875 and edit the Scriptures and make some adjustments 190 00:09:03,958 --> 00:09:05,375 so that God can be current. 191 00:09:05,458 --> 00:09:08,167 God's not current. God's eternal. 192 00:09:08,250 --> 00:09:13,333 God doesn't need to change, we need to change. 193 00:09:13,375 --> 00:09:16,750 God doesn't change with the times, 194 00:09:16,833 --> 00:09:22,000 God's working on change all the time. 195 00:09:22,042 --> 00:09:25,333 There's an analogy in Scripture that's frequently used, 196 00:09:25,417 --> 00:09:27,667 it's of a potter and clay. 197 00:09:27,750 --> 00:09:29,083 My daughter is an artist. 198 00:09:29,167 --> 00:09:30,500 She works with this medium, 199 00:09:30,542 --> 00:09:32,500 perhaps some of you have had this experience. 200 00:09:32,542 --> 00:09:35,292 If nothing else, default to your Play-Doh experience, okay? 201 00:09:35,333 --> 00:09:39,125 And the way it works is you grab the clay, and you mold it, 202 00:09:39,167 --> 00:09:42,167 you fashion it, you're in authority over it 203 00:09:42,208 --> 00:09:45,500 to turn it into what you think it should be. 204 00:09:45,542 --> 00:09:52,500 And in the Bible God says, "I am the Potter, you are the clay." 205 00:09:52,542 --> 00:09:55,708 God says, "I shape you. 206 00:09:55,792 --> 00:09:57,333 "You don't shape me. 207 00:09:57,375 --> 00:09:59,083 "I make you into what I want. 208 00:09:59,167 --> 00:10:01,833 You don't make me into what you want." 209 00:10:01,917 --> 00:10:03,333 You get that? 210 00:10:03,417 --> 00:10:06,333 Spirituality says that we are potter, God is clay, 211 00:10:06,417 --> 00:10:10,208 and we get to make him and shape him and if we don't like it, 212 00:10:10,292 --> 00:10:13,667 then we just collapse him and start over and reimagine God 213 00:10:13,708 --> 00:10:16,000 as someone or something else. 214 00:10:16,042 --> 00:10:18,000 God here is saying, "I do not change. 215 00:10:18,042 --> 00:10:19,792 I'm not like that." 216 00:10:19,833 --> 00:10:22,000 God's the same yesterday, today and forever, 217 00:10:22,042 --> 00:10:25,208 and it's a good thing for his children. 218 00:10:25,292 --> 00:10:27,042 That being said, he is unchanging, 219 00:10:27,125 --> 00:10:30,333 but we must be changing so now he's going to talk to them 220 00:10:30,375 --> 00:10:33,292 about ways that he wants them to change. 221 00:10:33,333 --> 00:10:34,958 And they've been arguing with him. 222 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:36,667 Man, it's just a list of accusations 223 00:10:36,750 --> 00:10:39,792 in the form of questions, and they're basically saying, 224 00:10:39,833 --> 00:10:42,833 "We've been pretty good. We're not so bad. 225 00:10:42,917 --> 00:10:44,667 "Our lives aren't that horrible. 226 00:10:44,750 --> 00:10:46,708 "Who are you to judge? You don't understand. 227 00:10:46,792 --> 00:10:48,958 We're really hurt. Times are tough." 228 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:52,250 And God moves from the theoretical to the practical 229 00:10:52,333 --> 00:10:54,667 and he does so through the financial. 230 00:10:54,708 --> 00:10:56,875 He says, "Okay, how about we start talking about 231 00:10:56,958 --> 00:11:01,417 "very specific ways that you've sinned against me 232 00:11:01,500 --> 00:11:03,000 "and you need to change. 233 00:11:03,083 --> 00:11:04,417 Let's pull up your budget." 234 00:11:04,500 --> 00:11:06,875 So they're gonna have a budget meeting with God. 235 00:11:06,958 --> 00:11:08,875 Aren't you glad we're not doing that today? 236 00:11:08,958 --> 00:11:11,375 Aren't you glad I didn't say, "Everybody bring your budget 237 00:11:11,458 --> 00:11:13,875 "and we're gonna go through it here on the screen, 238 00:11:13,958 --> 00:11:16,625 "and we're gonna talk about your money and your giving and 239 00:11:16,667 --> 00:11:19,292 we're gonna see what the Lord says about that, okay?" 240 00:11:19,333 --> 00:11:22,292 Now you should have that moment with the Lord very soon. 241 00:11:22,333 --> 00:11:24,792 You should sit down in the presence of the Lord 242 00:11:24,833 --> 00:11:27,500 with your budget for this year and next year and ask, 243 00:11:27,583 --> 00:11:30,583 "Okay, Lord, let's look at my finances. 244 00:11:30,667 --> 00:11:32,500 "Let's look at your finances. 245 00:11:32,542 --> 00:11:36,167 Let's look at our finances and see how it's going." 246 00:11:36,250 --> 00:11:39,000 But here they're doing it publicly and God is gonna speak 247 00:11:39,083 --> 00:11:40,500 to them practically. 248 00:11:40,542 --> 00:11:45,750 And he has a painful question, it is this: "Will man rob God?" 249 00:11:45,833 --> 00:11:47,750 Big question. 250 00:11:47,833 --> 00:11:50,375 It's a question we all need to ask ourselves, 251 00:11:50,458 --> 00:11:52,375 "Would I rip God off? 252 00:11:52,458 --> 00:11:55,375 Would I steal from God?" 253 00:11:55,458 --> 00:11:56,792 "Will man rob God?" 254 00:11:56,833 --> 00:11:58,333 Malachi 3:8. 255 00:11:58,417 --> 00:11:59,875 "Yet you are robbing me. 256 00:11:59,958 --> 00:12:02,250 But you say, 'How have we robbed you?'" 257 00:12:02,333 --> 00:12:05,833 You notice he will charge them and then they'll ask a question, 258 00:12:05,875 --> 00:12:07,875 that's what guilty people do. 259 00:12:07,958 --> 00:12:10,667 "What do you mean? Could you clarify? 260 00:12:10,708 --> 00:12:12,417 How about this? How about that?" 261 00:12:12,500 --> 00:12:14,208 They're changing the subject. 262 00:12:14,292 --> 00:12:17,042 They're trying to get off the proverbial hook. 263 00:12:17,125 --> 00:12:19,500 Sometimes when you and I have questions, 264 00:12:19,542 --> 00:12:21,333 it's that we're guilty and unrepentant, 265 00:12:21,375 --> 00:12:24,792 not that we really want to learn something. 266 00:12:24,833 --> 00:12:28,000 "In your tithes and contributions"--tithes, 267 00:12:28,042 --> 00:12:30,167 literally a tenth plus the contributions 268 00:12:30,250 --> 00:12:32,500 above and beyond to other things. 269 00:12:32,583 --> 00:12:35,333 "You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me"-- 270 00:12:35,375 --> 00:12:38,417 stealing from God-- "the whole nation of you. 271 00:12:38,500 --> 00:12:40,167 "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, 272 00:12:40,208 --> 00:12:42,208 that there may be food in my house." 273 00:12:42,292 --> 00:12:44,083 This is a section of the temple. 274 00:12:44,167 --> 00:12:47,167 "And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, 275 00:12:47,208 --> 00:12:50,667 "if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down 276 00:12:50,708 --> 00:12:54,000 for you a blessing until there is no more need." 277 00:12:54,042 --> 00:12:57,000 He continues, "I will rebuke the devourer for you, 278 00:12:57,083 --> 00:13:00,292 "so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, 279 00:13:00,333 --> 00:13:03,167 "and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, 280 00:13:03,250 --> 00:13:04,583 "says the Lord of hosts. 281 00:13:04,667 --> 00:13:07,208 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, 282 00:13:07,292 --> 00:13:09,500 "for you will be a land of delight, 283 00:13:09,583 --> 00:13:12,250 says the Lord of hosts." 284 00:13:12,333 --> 00:13:14,833 There it is. 285 00:13:14,875 --> 00:13:18,542 This is the epicenter for prosperity theology. 286 00:13:18,625 --> 00:13:22,958 Let me say what I appreciate 287 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:26,875 about those who are dealing with issues of finances 288 00:13:26,958 --> 00:13:28,333 from this text. 289 00:13:28,375 --> 00:13:30,333 I might not agree with all their conclusions, 290 00:13:30,375 --> 00:13:33,292 we'll get into that, but here's what I appreciate, 291 00:13:33,333 --> 00:13:36,417 I appreciate the fact that they're dealing with finances, 292 00:13:36,500 --> 00:13:39,792 wealth and possessions. 293 00:13:39,833 --> 00:13:43,000 Sometimes pastors are cowards when it comes to finances 294 00:13:43,042 --> 00:13:46,458 because we have fear of you, more than fear of the Lord. 295 00:13:46,500 --> 00:13:48,333 We're fearful of what people think. 296 00:13:48,375 --> 00:13:50,667 We're fearful of what people will say. 297 00:13:50,750 --> 00:13:53,500 And because for many people money is their idol, 298 00:13:53,542 --> 00:13:56,125 pastors avoid it because they don't like the backlash, 299 00:13:56,167 --> 00:13:58,833 the conflict and the controversy that comes when you 300 00:13:58,875 --> 00:14:01,917 start approaching someone's idol. 301 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,500 God doesn't have that kind of fear. 302 00:14:05,542 --> 00:14:09,208 God talks of money a lot, money, wealth, stewardship, 303 00:14:09,292 --> 00:14:10,875 investments, possessions. 304 00:14:10,958 --> 00:14:13,542 God speaks of these things in the Old and New Testament 305 00:14:13,625 --> 00:14:17,333 combined about 800 times. 306 00:14:17,375 --> 00:14:19,000 It's major, not minor. 307 00:14:19,042 --> 00:14:21,000 And some people come along and they say, 308 00:14:21,042 --> 00:14:22,708 "You know, we shouldn't talk about money. 309 00:14:22,792 --> 00:14:24,625 We should be like Jesus." 310 00:14:24,667 --> 00:14:29,375 Well, those people have not read Jesus because 25% of the time 311 00:14:29,458 --> 00:14:31,500 Jesus talked about money. 312 00:14:31,542 --> 00:14:33,917 You can't say, "Don't talk about money, be like Jesus." 313 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:38,000 I am talking about money because I want to be like Jesus. 314 00:14:38,042 --> 00:14:41,333 If you look at Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the 4 Gospels, 315 00:14:41,417 --> 00:14:45,792 25% of all Jesus' instruction and words, it's on money, 316 00:14:45,833 --> 00:14:47,625 wealth, possessions and stewardship. 317 00:14:47,667 --> 00:14:50,083 Most of the parables are all fiscally, 318 00:14:50,167 --> 00:14:54,292 financially related to how we spend our money because as Jesus 319 00:14:54,333 --> 00:14:56,958 says, "Where your treasure is, your heart is," 320 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:00,292 and giving is an indicator of your first love. 321 00:15:00,333 --> 00:15:03,000 So I appreciate that they're willing to deal with finances, 322 00:15:03,042 --> 00:15:04,375 money, wealth, possessions. 323 00:15:04,458 --> 00:15:06,375 I appreciate that they're trying to work 324 00:15:06,458 --> 00:15:07,792 from the section of Scripture. 325 00:15:07,833 --> 00:15:12,792 Where I disagree is how this text is taught that you give 326 00:15:12,833 --> 00:15:17,292 to get because that can feed greed. 327 00:15:17,333 --> 00:15:19,500 That's my concern. 328 00:15:19,542 --> 00:15:26,458 If we love God, we will use money but if we love money, 329 00:15:26,500 --> 00:15:30,917 we will use God to get more money. 330 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:37,333 And the question is, what's the goal, God or greed? 331 00:15:37,417 --> 00:15:40,417 And my fear is that sometimes it is taught like this, 332 00:15:40,500 --> 00:15:42,333 "They're not giving. God says give. 333 00:15:42,417 --> 00:15:44,833 God says if they give, he'll bless them." 334 00:15:44,875 --> 00:15:47,667 So all of a sudden, the text is taught like this, 335 00:15:47,708 --> 00:15:51,542 God's a piñata, lives up in the sky, okay? 336 00:15:51,625 --> 00:15:55,292 God's a full piñata, and the reason that the stuff 337 00:15:55,333 --> 00:15:57,542 hasn't fallen down is you haven't tithed. 338 00:15:57,625 --> 00:16:00,917 So go get a stick called a tithe, okay? 339 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:05,833 And grab your stick and give the full 10%, shazam. 340 00:16:05,917 --> 00:16:11,667 The piñata explodes and out comes all the blessings. 341 00:16:11,750 --> 00:16:18,667 And when we teach it like that, ultimately it's about greed. 342 00:16:18,750 --> 00:16:22,208 It's about giving a little to the Lord 343 00:16:22,292 --> 00:16:24,000 to get a lot from the Lord. 344 00:16:24,042 --> 00:16:26,167 All of sudden, it's more of a Ponzi scheme 345 00:16:26,250 --> 00:16:29,083 than a worship act. 346 00:16:29,167 --> 00:16:30,833 So when we come to this text, 347 00:16:30,875 --> 00:16:33,667 let me unpack it and deal with it, 348 00:16:33,708 --> 00:16:37,083 and let me give you three buckets to put 349 00:16:37,167 --> 00:16:39,583 various sections of the Bible in. 350 00:16:39,667 --> 00:16:41,042 I call them Bible buckets 351 00:16:41,125 --> 00:16:43,250 because I don't know what else to call them. 352 00:16:43,333 --> 00:16:45,000 So think of them like three buckets, 353 00:16:45,042 --> 00:16:48,000 and you go to a section of the Bible and you go, 354 00:16:48,042 --> 00:16:49,708 "Okay, what bucket does this go in?" 355 00:16:49,792 --> 00:16:51,500 Number one is a one-time promise. 356 00:16:51,583 --> 00:16:55,000 God says something to one person or one group of people, 357 00:16:55,083 --> 00:17:00,167 but it's a special circumstance, not everybody gets that. 358 00:17:00,208 --> 00:17:03,500 There's an all-time promise where God says something to 359 00:17:03,583 --> 00:17:07,792 a person or to a people, but it absolutely applies to everyone 360 00:17:07,833 --> 00:17:10,833 everywhere for every time. 361 00:17:10,875 --> 00:17:13,625 And then there is the one-time promise 362 00:17:13,667 --> 00:17:16,167 with the all-time principles 363 00:17:16,208 --> 00:17:18,708 that what God tells them is specifically for them 364 00:17:18,792 --> 00:17:21,375 but principally it's for us all. 365 00:17:21,458 --> 00:17:22,792 I'll give you some examples. 366 00:17:22,833 --> 00:17:28,417 So let's say a one-time promise, what we're looking at here is 367 00:17:28,500 --> 00:17:33,417 that God is making a specific promise to a particular person 368 00:17:33,500 --> 00:17:36,833 and not everybody gets the exact same thing. 369 00:17:36,917 --> 00:17:42,625 So let's say in the Bible there is someone who has a relative 370 00:17:42,667 --> 00:17:47,458 that is very sick and ultimately dying or dead, 371 00:17:47,500 --> 00:17:50,417 and they run to the Lord Jesus and the Lord Jesus says, 372 00:17:50,500 --> 00:17:52,708 "You can go home now. I've healed them. 373 00:17:52,792 --> 00:17:54,500 They'll be well." 374 00:17:54,583 --> 00:17:56,958 That was a specific promise for a specific healing 375 00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:58,875 for a specific person, 376 00:17:58,958 --> 00:18:01,000 and it doesn't mean that every single Christian 377 00:18:01,083 --> 00:18:05,042 gets everyone in their family healed every single time. 378 00:18:05,125 --> 00:18:08,000 God can do that, but he doesn't do it all the time, 379 00:18:08,083 --> 00:18:11,167 that's why we call it a miracle instead of a Tuesday. 380 00:18:11,208 --> 00:18:13,333 It's unusual, okay? 381 00:18:13,417 --> 00:18:14,792 It's unusual. 382 00:18:14,833 --> 00:18:18,167 So Peter gets out of the boat and walks on water a few steps. 383 00:18:18,250 --> 00:18:19,583 Some people will criticize him. 384 00:18:19,667 --> 00:18:21,292 "Oh, he only took a few steps." 385 00:18:21,333 --> 00:18:23,000 That's still pretty impressive to me. 386 00:18:23,083 --> 00:18:24,708 That's a lot more than I've got. 387 00:18:24,792 --> 00:18:26,917 And what you can't do then is say, "Well, 388 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,917 Peter walked on water and then we can all walk on water." 389 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:31,750 I'd encourage you not to try that 390 00:18:31,833 --> 00:18:33,167 unless you're a good swimmer. 391 00:18:33,208 --> 00:18:34,667 It's something very specific for Peter. 392 00:18:34,708 --> 00:18:37,333 And so we don't have like a ministry at Mars Hill 393 00:18:37,375 --> 00:18:39,667 called Walking on Water Ministry. 394 00:18:39,708 --> 00:18:41,042 It's unique, you get that? 395 00:18:41,125 --> 00:18:43,417 One time, one time. 396 00:18:43,500 --> 00:18:45,833 Doesn't mean God can't never do it again, 397 00:18:45,875 --> 00:18:49,458 but it means that God rarely does this. 398 00:18:49,500 --> 00:18:53,500 An all-time promise, God does something, 399 00:18:53,583 --> 00:18:56,083 it applies to everywhere, everyone all the time. 400 00:18:56,167 --> 00:18:59,083 Jesus died on the cross in your place for your sins. 401 00:18:59,167 --> 00:19:01,417 If you turn from sin and trust in him, 402 00:19:01,500 --> 00:19:05,000 all your sin is forgiven and you'll be with him forever. 403 00:19:05,083 --> 00:19:08,167 That's for everybody, okay, and if you're here, 404 00:19:08,208 --> 00:19:09,708 that's for you too. 405 00:19:09,792 --> 00:19:12,458 That's not just for one person or one group of people, 406 00:19:12,500 --> 00:19:15,792 that's God dying on the cross for the sin of the world. 407 00:19:15,833 --> 00:19:20,000 That's a miraculous thing for everyone everywhere 408 00:19:20,042 --> 00:19:21,583 all the time. 409 00:19:21,667 --> 00:19:26,875 And then thirdly, there is a one-time promise with 410 00:19:26,958 --> 00:19:30,208 an all-time principle attached to it. 411 00:19:30,292 --> 00:19:31,958 So here's what's going on. 412 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:38,333 In Malachi 3:6-18, pretty much everyone agrees that 413 00:19:38,375 --> 00:19:43,667 at the very least, it's bucket number one, okay? 414 00:19:43,750 --> 00:19:47,667 Here's the situation, there's a problem. 415 00:19:47,750 --> 00:19:54,208 The problem is they're robbing God, that's what it says. 416 00:19:54,292 --> 00:19:57,417 Now they don't feel like they're robbing God, 417 00:19:57,500 --> 00:20:01,458 but God feels like they're robbing God so this is where 418 00:20:01,500 --> 00:20:04,125 they have the disagreement. 419 00:20:04,167 --> 00:20:07,125 And the situation is this, God made the earth. 420 00:20:07,167 --> 00:20:08,500 God gave it to them. 421 00:20:08,583 --> 00:20:09,917 They are an agrarian society. 422 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:11,875 It's mainly plant your crops, reap your harvest, 423 00:20:11,958 --> 00:20:13,375 that's your business. 424 00:20:13,458 --> 00:20:17,250 So think here in terms of business. 425 00:20:17,333 --> 00:20:21,625 They are generating their revenue 426 00:20:21,667 --> 00:20:24,000 and they're not tithing to the Lord. 427 00:20:24,083 --> 00:20:26,375 So God says, "Because you're not tithing to me, 428 00:20:26,458 --> 00:20:27,875 you're robbing from me," 429 00:20:27,958 --> 00:20:29,875 and a tithe literally means a tenth. 430 00:20:29,958 --> 00:20:33,500 Ten percent off the top, first fruits off the gross 431 00:20:33,583 --> 00:20:36,250 not the net, right? 432 00:20:36,333 --> 00:20:39,083 And they're looking at it saying, "God, 433 00:20:39,167 --> 00:20:46,000 what right to you have to stake claim to 10% of my business?" 434 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,333 How many of you own a business, a small business? 435 00:20:53,417 --> 00:20:55,250 You have investments? 436 00:20:55,333 --> 00:20:59,417 God sees himself as part owner. 437 00:20:59,500 --> 00:21:01,542 You say, "I don't see it that way." 438 00:21:01,625 --> 00:21:03,792 Welcome to Malachi 3. 439 00:21:03,833 --> 00:21:06,875 God sees himself as part owner. 440 00:21:06,958 --> 00:21:10,708 God says, "I gave you the land. It's my land. 441 00:21:10,792 --> 00:21:15,375 "It generates a return. Our deal is I get 10. 442 00:21:15,458 --> 00:21:17,667 You keep 90," which is a pretty generous deal. 443 00:21:17,708 --> 00:21:19,708 He could have done it the other way. 444 00:21:19,792 --> 00:21:22,333 "How about you get 10, I take 90?" 445 00:21:22,375 --> 00:21:25,083 Well, God was generous said, "I'll take 10, you keep 90." 446 00:21:25,167 --> 00:21:26,833 Think of it this way. 447 00:21:26,875 --> 00:21:29,083 Think of it you own a plot of land. 448 00:21:29,167 --> 00:21:33,000 You rent it out to a farmer and your deal with the farmer is, 449 00:21:33,083 --> 00:21:36,500 "I get 10% of all your proceeds from your crops," 450 00:21:36,542 --> 00:21:38,875 and the farmer doesn't give you, the landowner, 451 00:21:38,958 --> 00:21:40,375 your percentage. 452 00:21:40,458 --> 00:21:41,875 That's robbing. 453 00:21:41,958 --> 00:21:43,292 Think of it like mining. 454 00:21:43,333 --> 00:21:44,750 You own a claim. 455 00:21:44,833 --> 00:21:47,958 You allow someone to mine that claim and your deal with them is 456 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:49,333 "I still own the land. 457 00:21:49,417 --> 00:21:51,667 "Whatever you generate for revenue, 458 00:21:51,750 --> 00:21:55,292 I get 10%" and they keep a hundred. 459 00:21:55,333 --> 00:21:57,292 You'd say, "They're robbing me." 460 00:21:57,333 --> 00:21:59,875 Let's use a more contemporary example that some of you 461 00:21:59,958 --> 00:22:03,833 would have directly apply to your vocation. 462 00:22:03,917 --> 00:22:06,833 Let's say you're in sales and your agreement with 463 00:22:06,875 --> 00:22:09,833 your employer is "I get 10% commission 464 00:22:09,875 --> 00:22:12,167 on everything I sell." 465 00:22:12,208 --> 00:22:16,458 So all the revenue from all your sales come into the company 466 00:22:16,500 --> 00:22:19,167 and they don't pay you your 10% commission. 467 00:22:19,250 --> 00:22:20,833 You would say you were robbed. 468 00:22:20,917 --> 00:22:23,500 You'd go to your boss and you'd say the same thing 469 00:22:23,583 --> 00:22:24,917 God is saying. 470 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:26,417 You'd say, "You're robbing me." 471 00:22:26,500 --> 00:22:29,833 "We had a deal that I would get 10% and you're not paying me. 472 00:22:29,875 --> 00:22:31,500 You're stealing from me." 473 00:22:31,583 --> 00:22:35,500 They don't see their income, their business, their portfolio, 474 00:22:35,542 --> 00:22:38,750 their wealth as God's. 475 00:22:38,833 --> 00:22:40,542 They see it as theirs. 476 00:22:40,625 --> 00:22:43,792 They don't see that God is a part owner and that he has 477 00:22:43,833 --> 00:22:49,250 every right to expect a percentage of their income. 478 00:22:49,333 --> 00:22:54,500 And so he says that, "You're robbing me and then the result 479 00:22:54,583 --> 00:22:57,000 "is you're cursed. 480 00:22:57,083 --> 00:22:59,042 "The reason why things are so hard 481 00:22:59,125 --> 00:23:02,333 is because you're stealing from me." 482 00:23:02,375 --> 00:23:07,000 Think of it this way, you're in business partnership 483 00:23:07,042 --> 00:23:09,708 with someone and they're stealing from you, 484 00:23:09,792 --> 00:23:12,083 would you invest more in the company? 485 00:23:12,167 --> 00:23:16,833 No, not till your business partner became more honest 486 00:23:16,875 --> 00:23:20,375 and ethical and trustworthy and stopped stealing. 487 00:23:20,458 --> 00:23:23,625 And what God is saying is, "I've invested. 488 00:23:23,667 --> 00:23:27,083 "You're not responding rightly. 489 00:23:27,167 --> 00:23:32,708 "I won't invest anymore until you change your mind 490 00:23:32,792 --> 00:23:35,875 because I'm not changing mine," 491 00:23:35,958 --> 00:23:39,125 and that's the situation they find themselves in. 492 00:23:39,167 --> 00:23:41,542 So the solution is bring the quote, unquote, 493 00:23:41,625 --> 00:23:46,208 "full tithe" and "I'll pour down a blessing from heaven." 494 00:23:46,292 --> 00:23:48,417 Now the full tithe here is the full 10%. 495 00:23:48,500 --> 00:23:50,333 Make up on all your giving, catch up. 496 00:23:50,417 --> 00:23:53,250 Give what you were supposed to give and what'll happen is then 497 00:23:53,333 --> 00:23:56,750 that a blessing will come down from heaven. 498 00:23:56,833 --> 00:23:59,250 He said that literally it will flood down from heaven, 499 00:23:59,333 --> 00:24:01,500 and this kind of echoes the days of Noah 500 00:24:01,583 --> 00:24:03,458 when the floodgates of heaven open 501 00:24:03,500 --> 00:24:06,708 and the rains came down in judgment. 502 00:24:06,792 --> 00:24:09,708 Well, here he's talking about the floodgates of heaven opening 503 00:24:09,792 --> 00:24:12,375 and the rain of God's blessing coming down, 504 00:24:12,458 --> 00:24:15,292 and it may actually be literal rain. 505 00:24:15,333 --> 00:24:18,250 It says here that their crops are struggling 506 00:24:18,333 --> 00:24:19,667 because of the devourer. 507 00:24:19,708 --> 00:24:21,375 We don't know exactly what that is. 508 00:24:21,458 --> 00:24:24,708 Maybe it's a locust plague. 509 00:24:24,792 --> 00:24:28,208 Maybe it's a lack of rain. 510 00:24:28,292 --> 00:24:31,042 If that's the case, what God is saying is, 511 00:24:31,125 --> 00:24:33,667 "If you will do what I ask you to do. 512 00:24:33,708 --> 00:24:36,375 "I will send rain. I will provide for you. 513 00:24:36,458 --> 00:24:38,000 "I will make your crops grow. 514 00:24:38,083 --> 00:24:40,417 "I will make your business flourish. 515 00:24:40,500 --> 00:24:44,500 This is my promise to you if you will obey me." 516 00:24:44,542 --> 00:24:46,625 That's the deal. 517 00:24:46,667 --> 00:24:49,833 And the big idea here is this is that all the blessings 518 00:24:49,875 --> 00:24:51,250 come down from heaven. 519 00:24:51,333 --> 00:24:53,750 See, they would have thought that their blessings were coming 520 00:24:53,833 --> 00:24:55,792 from their business, coming from the earth, right, 521 00:24:55,833 --> 00:24:58,833 that their blessings literally are coming from the ground up, 522 00:24:58,875 --> 00:25:01,042 from the harvest of their soil. 523 00:25:01,125 --> 00:25:05,500 God says, "No, no, blessings don't come from creation up. 524 00:25:05,542 --> 00:25:08,917 Blessings come from Creator down." 525 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:10,750 Jesus' brother James says it this way, 526 00:25:10,833 --> 00:25:13,750 "Every good and perfect gift comes from above, 527 00:25:13,833 --> 00:25:16,000 from our Heavenly Father." 528 00:25:16,083 --> 00:25:20,792 Ultimately all blessing comes down from God to his people, 529 00:25:20,833 --> 00:25:23,667 and this all foreshadows the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ 530 00:25:23,750 --> 00:25:27,833 who is the greatest blessing of all and he comes down from 531 00:25:27,917 --> 00:25:32,458 heaven, right, that the gates of heaven open and down comes 532 00:25:32,500 --> 00:25:34,875 the greatest blessing in the history of the world, 533 00:25:34,958 --> 00:25:36,292 the Lord Jesus Christ. 534 00:25:36,333 --> 00:25:37,667 God becomes a man, 535 00:25:37,750 --> 00:25:40,500 that's what we celebrate every Christmas season. 536 00:25:40,542 --> 00:25:41,958 So the problem is they're stealing. 537 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,958 The answer is they need to stop stealing and start giving. 538 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:48,458 And pretty much every commentator agrees it fits in 539 00:25:48,500 --> 00:25:50,167 bucket number one. 540 00:25:50,250 --> 00:25:52,833 He's talking to people 2-1/2 thousand years ago 541 00:25:52,875 --> 00:25:55,458 and this is a specific Word for them. 542 00:25:55,500 --> 00:25:59,958 The question then is, is it an all-time promise? 543 00:26:00,083 --> 00:26:02,458 Is it not just for these people in God? 544 00:26:02,500 --> 00:26:07,083 Is this for all of God's people all time? 545 00:26:07,167 --> 00:26:11,667 Those who hold to prosperity theology say yes, 546 00:26:11,750 --> 00:26:13,833 this is the way God always works. 547 00:26:13,917 --> 00:26:17,250 And so then the way this text is taught is you have to give 548 00:26:17,333 --> 00:26:21,042 10% to the local church, and the local church is 549 00:26:21,125 --> 00:26:23,167 the quote, unquote, "storehouse." 550 00:26:23,208 --> 00:26:25,500 There's lots of assumptions in here. 551 00:26:25,542 --> 00:26:28,250 And that if you will give 10%, 552 00:26:28,333 --> 00:26:33,333 God promises to prosper you. 553 00:26:33,417 --> 00:26:36,333 So you sow a faith seed. 554 00:26:36,417 --> 00:26:38,250 You trust the Lord. 555 00:26:38,333 --> 00:26:41,500 You give to get. 556 00:26:41,542 --> 00:26:44,375 You give him a hundred, he'll give you a thousand. 557 00:26:44,458 --> 00:26:47,375 You give him a thousand, he'll give you 10,000. 558 00:26:47,458 --> 00:26:48,917 You give him 10,000. 559 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:50,792 He'll give you a million. 560 00:26:50,833 --> 00:26:53,042 Test him, that's what he says. 561 00:26:53,125 --> 00:26:56,917 And then they collect the offering, okay? 562 00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:58,667 How many of you have heard this? 563 00:26:58,750 --> 00:27:00,833 How many of you are twitching right now? 564 00:27:00,875 --> 00:27:04,542 You're like, "We don't believe that, right, Pastor Mark?" 565 00:27:04,625 --> 00:27:07,083 No. 566 00:27:07,167 --> 00:27:08,708 No. 567 00:27:08,792 --> 00:27:13,083 I would never teach it like that. 568 00:27:13,167 --> 00:27:17,083 I believe very clearly 569 00:27:17,167 --> 00:27:23,500 that this is not an all-time promise, 570 00:27:23,583 --> 00:27:24,917 it's a one-time promise. 571 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:26,875 Somebody said, "Well, you don't believe the Bible?" 572 00:27:26,958 --> 00:27:28,333 Just so you know, I do. 573 00:27:28,417 --> 00:27:30,542 Those of you that have been around a while, 574 00:27:30,625 --> 00:27:32,292 you would back me up on that. 575 00:27:32,333 --> 00:27:34,792 There are times in the Bible when God tells someone 576 00:27:34,833 --> 00:27:37,667 to do something that not everyone else should do 577 00:27:37,750 --> 00:27:39,083 because it's a one-time promise. 578 00:27:39,167 --> 00:27:40,500 I'll give you an example. 579 00:27:40,542 --> 00:27:43,000 Okay, there's a guy named Moses, he gets a stick. 580 00:27:43,042 --> 00:27:44,375 It's called a staff. 581 00:27:44,458 --> 00:27:46,375 And God says, "Throw it on the ground." 582 00:27:46,458 --> 00:27:47,792 What happens to the staff? 583 00:27:47,833 --> 00:27:49,167 It turns into a snake. 584 00:27:49,250 --> 00:27:50,583 Can you do that? 585 00:27:50,667 --> 00:27:53,083 How many of you are like, "It's in the Bible. 586 00:27:53,167 --> 00:27:55,500 I got a stick. I'm gonna do that." 587 00:27:55,583 --> 00:27:57,792 Can you do that? 588 00:27:57,833 --> 00:28:00,333 No, because it's not and all-time promise. 589 00:28:00,417 --> 00:28:02,333 It's a one-time promise. 590 00:28:02,417 --> 00:28:05,000 God then tells Moses, take the stick down to the river. 591 00:28:05,083 --> 00:28:06,500 Put the stick in the river, 592 00:28:06,583 --> 00:28:08,250 and what's gonna happen to the river? 593 00:28:08,333 --> 00:28:11,250 It'll turn to blood, and it does. 594 00:28:11,333 --> 00:28:13,250 Can you do that? 595 00:28:13,333 --> 00:28:15,000 How many of you have tried? 596 00:28:15,042 --> 00:28:17,333 You're like, "I can't do that." 597 00:28:17,417 --> 00:28:20,000 It'd be awesome, but you can't do that. 598 00:28:20,083 --> 00:28:21,417 You know why? 599 00:28:21,500 --> 00:28:23,917 It's not an all-time promise. 600 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,417 You can't say, "Well, God told Moses grab the stick 601 00:28:26,500 --> 00:28:29,542 so as God's people, we grab the stick and we get to--" 602 00:28:29,625 --> 00:28:32,042 No, you don't. 603 00:28:32,125 --> 00:28:37,042 All right, similarly there's a guy in the Bible who's blind 604 00:28:37,125 --> 00:28:41,542 so the answer is take the mud and stick it in his eye. 605 00:28:41,625 --> 00:28:43,750 How many of you are here and you're like, 606 00:28:43,833 --> 00:28:46,208 "Don't do that to me"? 607 00:28:46,292 --> 00:28:48,875 Can you do that? 608 00:28:48,958 --> 00:28:51,333 Can you heal somebody by sticking mud in their eye? 609 00:28:51,417 --> 00:28:52,833 No. 610 00:28:52,917 --> 00:28:54,292 Did God do that? Yes. 611 00:28:54,333 --> 00:28:56,042 Can God do that again? Yes. 612 00:28:56,125 --> 00:28:59,750 Does God do that a lot? No. 613 00:28:59,833 --> 00:29:03,667 It's a one-time thing, not an all-time thing. 614 00:29:03,708 --> 00:29:05,042 I'll give you another one. 615 00:29:05,125 --> 00:29:06,458 A little boy shows up. 616 00:29:06,500 --> 00:29:08,167 Jesus is preaching a very long sermon, 617 00:29:08,250 --> 00:29:11,833 and I would tell you Jesus loves very long sermons. 618 00:29:11,875 --> 00:29:16,042 I would just, as a sidenote throw that out there, okay? 619 00:29:16,125 --> 00:29:17,583 Jesus preaching a very long sermon, 620 00:29:17,667 --> 00:29:19,000 everybody's getting hungry and tired 621 00:29:19,042 --> 00:29:20,833 and there is thousands of people. 622 00:29:20,875 --> 00:29:23,833 So a little boy comes with his lunch, basically a Lunchable. 623 00:29:23,875 --> 00:29:26,167 Think of a little kid with his Lunchable, 624 00:29:26,208 --> 00:29:29,000 and he knows everybody's hungry and he gives his Lunchable 625 00:29:29,042 --> 00:29:32,708 to Jesus, and Jesus multiplies it to feed thousands of people. 626 00:29:32,792 --> 00:29:36,042 Can you do that? Can you do that? 627 00:29:36,125 --> 00:29:39,250 Next time you go to a sporting event or a concert, you say, 628 00:29:39,333 --> 00:29:41,000 "Oh, no need for the concession stands. 629 00:29:41,042 --> 00:29:42,375 "I brought a Lunchable. 630 00:29:42,458 --> 00:29:44,167 "Everybody's gonna be fine. 631 00:29:44,208 --> 00:29:47,167 Jesus is gonna do a miracle." 632 00:29:47,250 --> 00:29:49,042 That happened. 633 00:29:49,125 --> 00:29:54,500 It could happen again, but it doesn't happen all the time. 634 00:29:54,542 --> 00:30:00,208 What we're dealing with in Malachi 3 absolutely happened. 635 00:30:00,292 --> 00:30:04,750 God promised something very specific, 636 00:30:04,833 --> 00:30:07,167 and it's not like this all the time, 637 00:30:07,250 --> 00:30:11,500 otherwise the offering becomes an ATM. 638 00:30:11,583 --> 00:30:15,333 You go up, punch in the code, 10% enter, 639 00:30:15,375 --> 00:30:19,167 out comes all the cash for you and you get more than you give. 640 00:30:19,250 --> 00:30:23,042 My fear again is we don't give to get. 641 00:30:23,125 --> 00:30:25,250 We don't feed greed. 642 00:30:25,333 --> 00:30:28,125 Jesus says, "You can't worship God and money." 643 00:30:28,167 --> 00:30:30,333 And when it's taught like this my fear is 644 00:30:30,417 --> 00:30:33,917 you're not loving God, you're loving money 645 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,417 and using God to get more money. 646 00:30:37,500 --> 00:30:39,000 And then the heart is wrong. 647 00:30:39,042 --> 00:30:41,917 The motive is wrong. The intent is wrong. 648 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:47,000 Now one thing that the prosperity teachers 649 00:30:47,042 --> 00:30:49,625 will say--and some of them are brothers and sisters in Christ 650 00:30:49,667 --> 00:30:52,292 and some love Jesus and some have other things 651 00:30:52,333 --> 00:30:54,333 that they teach that are very helpful. 652 00:30:54,375 --> 00:30:56,833 And I don't want to be unnecessarily divisive. 653 00:30:56,875 --> 00:30:58,750 And I don't want to name names. 654 00:30:58,833 --> 00:31:01,333 And I don't want to make this incredibly negative. 655 00:31:01,375 --> 00:31:04,167 But because they go to this text a lot, 656 00:31:04,208 --> 00:31:06,542 most people's familiarity with the text is solely from this 657 00:31:06,625 --> 00:31:10,292 interpretation which I don't entirely hold to. 658 00:31:10,333 --> 00:31:12,625 But one of the things they will say is, 659 00:31:12,667 --> 00:31:15,333 'This is the only time in the Bible that God says, 660 00:31:15,417 --> 00:31:16,875 'Test me.'" 661 00:31:16,958 --> 00:31:20,292 You heard that? 662 00:31:20,333 --> 00:31:23,875 In Malachi 3, God says, "Give the 10%, test me, 663 00:31:23,958 --> 00:31:27,208 see if I won't prosper you." 664 00:31:27,292 --> 00:31:30,417 They say, "See, this is the only time God says to test him. 665 00:31:30,500 --> 00:31:32,750 Let's put God to the test." 666 00:31:32,833 --> 00:31:34,958 Well, I read some other stuff from the Bible. 667 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,958 It says, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test," 668 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,417 so we have got to be careful with this. 669 00:31:40,500 --> 00:31:43,000 But also since the Bible only says it once, 670 00:31:43,083 --> 00:31:47,750 wouldn't that bolster my claim that it's a one-time promise, 671 00:31:47,833 --> 00:31:51,333 not an all-time promise, that God says it one time 672 00:31:51,375 --> 00:31:53,167 to one group of people, 673 00:31:53,208 --> 00:31:55,917 doesn't say it again to other groups of people? 674 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,875 That would bolster my argument that it's a one-time promise, 675 00:31:58,958 --> 00:32:00,667 not an all-time promise. 676 00:32:00,750 --> 00:32:03,667 You with me? 677 00:32:03,750 --> 00:32:06,000 So now we're on the horns of a dilemma. 678 00:32:06,083 --> 00:32:08,917 God said, "Give and I'll bless you, 679 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:13,833 but I will not tell you give to get." 680 00:32:13,917 --> 00:32:16,458 So what does this section of Scripture have for us? 681 00:32:16,500 --> 00:32:18,542 I think now we're in category three. 682 00:32:18,625 --> 00:32:21,833 It's a one-time promise with all-time principles. 683 00:32:21,917 --> 00:32:24,250 This was God's interaction with his people, 684 00:32:24,333 --> 00:32:28,417 and there's a promise there and for us, 685 00:32:28,500 --> 00:32:31,917 there are principles there. 686 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:36,458 I'll share some of them with you. 687 00:32:36,500 --> 00:32:39,500 I'll call them generosity principles, 688 00:32:39,583 --> 00:32:41,917 and I believe there's a big difference 689 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:46,000 between a promise and a principle. 690 00:32:46,042 --> 00:32:52,250 A promise is "It will come to pass just like this." 691 00:32:52,333 --> 00:32:55,708 A principle is, "This is usually how it works." 692 00:32:55,792 --> 00:32:58,167 See the difference? 693 00:32:58,208 --> 00:33:01,667 The Book of Proverbs is a great example. 694 00:33:01,750 --> 00:33:05,500 It's wrongly taught as promises, it's principles, all right? 695 00:33:05,583 --> 00:33:08,750 So when it says, "Raise a child in the way they should go 696 00:33:08,833 --> 00:33:11,500 and when they grow old, they will not depart from it." 697 00:33:11,542 --> 00:33:13,667 People say, "God promises if you raise godly kids, 698 00:33:13,750 --> 00:33:15,458 they'll grow up to be godly." 699 00:33:15,500 --> 00:33:20,042 How many of you've seen godly parents have ungodly kids? 700 00:33:20,125 --> 00:33:22,458 Because it's a principle, not a promise. 701 00:33:22,500 --> 00:33:24,458 That's how it usually works but, of course, 702 00:33:24,500 --> 00:33:26,500 we live in a fallen world. 703 00:33:26,583 --> 00:33:29,625 It's not always point A, point B 704 00:33:29,667 --> 00:33:31,625 connect the dot every time. 705 00:33:31,667 --> 00:33:34,542 There's human sin, complexity and variables. 706 00:33:34,625 --> 00:33:37,042 Proverbs say, "Without gossip, a quarrel dies down." 707 00:33:37,125 --> 00:33:40,000 So if two people are arguing and you don't talk about it, 708 00:33:40,083 --> 00:33:41,417 it tends to die down. 709 00:33:41,500 --> 00:33:43,167 That's a principle. Is it a promise? 710 00:33:43,208 --> 00:33:45,167 Any of you had an argument with someone, 711 00:33:45,208 --> 00:33:47,500 you didn't say anything and it didn't go away? 712 00:33:47,542 --> 00:33:49,167 You can't say, "God's a liar." 713 00:33:49,250 --> 00:33:52,500 No, no, it's a principle, not a promise. 714 00:33:52,583 --> 00:33:55,125 There are promises that God gives. 715 00:33:55,167 --> 00:33:58,708 "The dead shall be rised," that's a promise. 716 00:33:58,792 --> 00:34:02,167 "Turn from sin, trust in Jesus, you'll receive eternal life." 717 00:34:02,250 --> 00:34:04,333 The Bible's got a ton of promises. 718 00:34:04,417 --> 00:34:06,333 It's also got a number of principles, 719 00:34:06,417 --> 00:34:09,500 and we've got to make sure we understand the difference. 720 00:34:09,542 --> 00:34:12,917 Principles are about wise living, cause and effect, 721 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:16,292 how things tend to work according to how God 722 00:34:16,333 --> 00:34:18,500 has wired the world. 723 00:34:18,583 --> 00:34:21,167 Well, here are 8 generosity principles 724 00:34:21,250 --> 00:34:22,833 from Malachi 3. 725 00:34:22,917 --> 00:34:25,667 Number one, God is generous with you. 726 00:34:25,708 --> 00:34:29,375 They don't appreciate the generosity of God. 727 00:34:29,458 --> 00:34:31,167 They're looking at what they don't have, 728 00:34:31,208 --> 00:34:33,000 not what they do have. 729 00:34:33,042 --> 00:34:35,000 They're not looking at their business income, 730 00:34:35,083 --> 00:34:37,833 they're looking at how they wish their business income 731 00:34:37,917 --> 00:34:42,333 was higher, so there's not an attitude of gratitude. 732 00:34:42,417 --> 00:34:45,042 But God is generous, right? He's given them life and love. 733 00:34:45,125 --> 00:34:47,292 He says he's their Father. He's provided the land. 734 00:34:47,333 --> 00:34:48,667 He has provided an income. 735 00:34:48,750 --> 00:34:50,167 Maybe it's not what they wanted, 736 00:34:50,250 --> 00:34:54,208 but it's certainly a lot better than they deserve. 737 00:34:54,292 --> 00:34:56,042 God is generous. 738 00:34:56,125 --> 00:35:00,625 You and I need to start with this. 739 00:35:00,667 --> 00:35:04,083 We need to start with this assumption. 740 00:35:04,167 --> 00:35:06,083 God gave us the earth. 741 00:35:06,167 --> 00:35:08,042 God made us in his image and likeness. 742 00:35:08,125 --> 00:35:10,125 God gave us the Lord Jesus Christ. 743 00:35:10,167 --> 00:35:11,625 God gave us the Holy Spirit. 744 00:35:11,667 --> 00:35:13,292 God gave us forgiveness of sin. 745 00:35:13,333 --> 00:35:14,667 God gave us righteousness. 746 00:35:14,750 --> 00:35:16,333 God gave us eternal life. 747 00:35:16,417 --> 00:35:19,458 God gave us gifts to serve meaningfully and valuably 748 00:35:19,500 --> 00:35:20,833 and purposefully. 749 00:35:20,917 --> 00:35:22,250 God's a giver. 750 00:35:22,333 --> 00:35:26,167 God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. 751 00:35:26,208 --> 00:35:27,833 Do you get it? 752 00:35:27,875 --> 00:35:29,208 God's generous. 753 00:35:29,292 --> 00:35:30,792 We start there. 754 00:35:30,833 --> 00:35:36,417 Number two, God asks for our worst and our best. 755 00:35:36,500 --> 00:35:39,417 So he's telling the people in Malachi, 756 00:35:39,500 --> 00:35:41,000 "You're committing adultery. 757 00:35:41,083 --> 00:35:42,417 "You're getting divorced wrongly. 758 00:35:42,500 --> 00:35:43,833 "You're stealing money. 759 00:35:43,875 --> 00:35:45,500 "There's all these troubles and issues. 760 00:35:45,583 --> 00:35:47,167 "Bring them to me. 761 00:35:47,250 --> 00:35:50,167 "We're gonna forgive it and sort it out and work it out. 762 00:35:50,250 --> 00:35:51,583 Bring me the worst." 763 00:35:51,667 --> 00:35:55,000 And then God says, "Tithe, bring me your best." 764 00:35:55,042 --> 00:35:59,667 God wants us to bring him our worst, all of our sin, 765 00:35:59,708 --> 00:36:04,250 and our best, our wealth. 766 00:36:04,333 --> 00:36:07,167 And what happens is people get more excited about bringing God 767 00:36:07,208 --> 00:36:09,458 their worst than their best. 768 00:36:09,500 --> 00:36:11,458 Give Jesus your sin. 769 00:36:11,500 --> 00:36:12,833 "Okay." 770 00:36:12,917 --> 00:36:14,250 And your wealth. 771 00:36:14,333 --> 00:36:15,750 "I don't know. I don't know. 772 00:36:15,833 --> 00:36:17,417 "That's Old Testament, I don't know. 773 00:36:17,500 --> 00:36:20,750 It's unclear to me." 774 00:36:20,833 --> 00:36:23,667 God wants our worst and God wants our best. 775 00:36:23,708 --> 00:36:29,833 And God gives Jesus, God gives his best. 776 00:36:29,875 --> 00:36:31,333 Number three, 777 00:36:31,417 --> 00:36:35,917 giving is your autobiography. 778 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:42,000 Who you are is most clearly seen in how you spend. 779 00:36:44,500 --> 00:36:50,000 The difference between a spoken value 780 00:36:50,083 --> 00:36:52,250 and an actual value 781 00:36:52,333 --> 00:36:54,833 is the action around it, 782 00:36:54,875 --> 00:36:56,375 meaning this, you could say, 783 00:36:56,458 --> 00:36:58,750 "I love my family." 784 00:36:58,833 --> 00:37:02,000 If we look at your budget and there's a lot more money 785 00:37:02,083 --> 00:37:04,667 for your hobbies than your family, 786 00:37:04,708 --> 00:37:07,000 we know what or who you really love. 787 00:37:07,042 --> 00:37:10,000 If we look at your budget and there's a lot of money 788 00:37:10,042 --> 00:37:11,375 that goes to some organization 789 00:37:11,458 --> 00:37:13,583 or cause, it tells us a lot about you 790 00:37:13,667 --> 00:37:15,875 and what you care about. 791 00:37:15,958 --> 00:37:20,167 If we look at your budget and a percentage goes to the Lord, 792 00:37:20,208 --> 00:37:25,833 that tells us something about your relationship with the Lord. 793 00:37:25,875 --> 00:37:29,000 I would encourage you to look at your budget from this past year 794 00:37:29,083 --> 00:37:32,500 and next year and ask, "What is this as an autobiography? 795 00:37:32,583 --> 00:37:34,083 "What does this say about me? 796 00:37:34,167 --> 00:37:38,083 How does this reveal who I truly am by how I spend?" 797 00:37:38,167 --> 00:37:39,542 And that's the argument here. 798 00:37:39,625 --> 00:37:41,042 They're arguing, "We do love you. 799 00:37:41,125 --> 00:37:42,458 "We've not been that bad. 800 00:37:42,500 --> 00:37:43,958 "We didn't say anything that bad. 801 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:45,333 Our marriage is fine." 802 00:37:45,417 --> 00:37:47,333 And God says, "Let's look at the finances 803 00:37:47,417 --> 00:37:48,750 because that's your autobiography." 804 00:37:48,833 --> 00:37:50,750 Number four, faith without giving is dead. 805 00:37:50,833 --> 00:37:53,417 In the book of James he says that faith without works 806 00:37:53,500 --> 00:37:55,833 is dead. 807 00:37:55,875 --> 00:38:01,792 Faith is a devotion to God in here that results in 808 00:38:01,833 --> 00:38:04,917 a changed life out there. 809 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:07,750 So James says, "You can't have faith for God in here 810 00:38:07,833 --> 00:38:10,583 and not change life out there." 811 00:38:10,667 --> 00:38:13,333 Malachi is kind of like James in that way. 812 00:38:13,417 --> 00:38:16,500 He's saying, "You say you have faith, 813 00:38:16,583 --> 00:38:19,333 but it doesn't show up in your finances." 814 00:38:19,375 --> 00:38:22,292 So faith without giving is dead. 815 00:38:22,333 --> 00:38:24,375 You can't say you love God in here, 816 00:38:24,458 --> 00:38:26,792 but it doesn't affect how you spend out there 817 00:38:26,833 --> 00:38:32,417 because out of the overflow of the heart, the wallet spends. 818 00:38:32,500 --> 00:38:35,833 Number five, giving begins a changed process in you. 819 00:38:35,875 --> 00:38:38,375 Thus far in the book, these people are not changed. 820 00:38:38,458 --> 00:38:43,042 They are arguing and fighting with God, as some of us are. 821 00:38:43,125 --> 00:38:45,250 And God doesn't say, "Well, get your hearts right 822 00:38:45,333 --> 00:38:48,333 and when your hearts are right, then start giving." 823 00:38:48,417 --> 00:38:51,208 God says, "Start giving" because he knows that that will help 824 00:38:51,292 --> 00:38:52,625 to get the heart right. 825 00:38:52,667 --> 00:38:54,833 Similarly, let's say I'm sitting down with a couple, 826 00:38:54,875 --> 00:38:58,125 a husband and wife and they are at an impasse and in conflict, 827 00:38:58,167 --> 00:38:59,833 what I would never do is say, 828 00:38:59,917 --> 00:39:02,417 "Well, when both of you have a complete heart change 829 00:39:02,500 --> 00:39:03,917 "and feel loving toward one another, 830 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:07,500 then go out on a date and try and mend this relationship." 831 00:39:07,583 --> 00:39:11,208 What I would say is, "Obey God, start loving and serving 832 00:39:11,292 --> 00:39:15,000 "one another doing what God says and see if that doesn't start 833 00:39:15,042 --> 00:39:18,500 a process of change in your heart toward one another." 834 00:39:18,542 --> 00:39:21,500 Do the right thing and then see if you don't end up 835 00:39:21,542 --> 00:39:23,833 feeling the right way. 836 00:39:23,875 --> 00:39:26,000 Don't assume that you must feel the right way 837 00:39:26,083 --> 00:39:29,000 to do the right thing. 838 00:39:29,083 --> 00:39:32,208 So God says, "Start giving and that will be the process 839 00:39:32,292 --> 00:39:34,208 by which you start changing." 840 00:39:34,292 --> 00:39:36,417 And here's what happens, when it comes to giving, 841 00:39:36,500 --> 00:39:41,250 sometimes people, they'll ask this question, 842 00:39:41,333 --> 00:39:43,500 "Why should I give?" 843 00:39:43,583 --> 00:39:45,000 Well, it's good for them. 844 00:39:45,083 --> 00:39:46,417 It's glorious to him. 845 00:39:46,500 --> 00:39:49,042 It's also good for you. 846 00:39:49,125 --> 00:39:53,000 Once you start giving, living as a generous person, 847 00:39:53,042 --> 00:39:57,000 a couple of things happen, you start to become more grateful. 848 00:39:57,083 --> 00:40:00,625 You realize all that you've been given by God and others. 849 00:40:00,667 --> 00:40:05,125 You're more grateful, more thankful. 850 00:40:05,167 --> 00:40:08,917 In addition, you become more compassionate 851 00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:11,708 toward the needs of others. 852 00:40:11,792 --> 00:40:13,375 You stop just thinking about yourself 853 00:40:13,458 --> 00:40:14,875 and you start thinking about others. 854 00:40:14,958 --> 00:40:16,875 You stop thinking about what you want, 855 00:40:16,958 --> 00:40:19,167 you start thinking about what they need 856 00:40:19,208 --> 00:40:22,667 and giving starts to change you. 857 00:40:22,708 --> 00:40:26,667 It starts to change you. 858 00:40:26,750 --> 00:40:29,000 Number six, God is looking for good stewards. 859 00:40:29,083 --> 00:40:31,000 Here in Malachi 3, these are all principles. 860 00:40:31,042 --> 00:40:33,333 God says, "I've got plenty of resources, 861 00:40:33,417 --> 00:40:37,750 "but I'm not giving them to you because you're bad stewards. 862 00:40:37,833 --> 00:40:39,417 "You're not giving generously to me. 863 00:40:39,500 --> 00:40:41,167 "You don't care about the poor. 864 00:40:41,208 --> 00:40:42,833 You don't care about the ministry." 865 00:40:42,875 --> 00:40:45,875 Think of it this way, let's say someone in your family died, 866 00:40:45,958 --> 00:40:47,333 left you a big inheritance. 867 00:40:47,417 --> 00:40:50,208 You had to invest that money, you would be very careful, 868 00:40:50,292 --> 00:40:53,208 I would hope, to find a place that was going to steward 869 00:40:53,292 --> 00:40:56,042 the resources well. 870 00:40:56,125 --> 00:40:58,000 You wouldn't go toward something in your portfolio 871 00:40:58,042 --> 00:40:59,500 or a piece of real estate 872 00:40:59,542 --> 00:41:01,292 or an investment that was upside down 873 00:41:01,333 --> 00:41:03,292 and lost a ton of money and say, 874 00:41:03,333 --> 00:41:05,333 "Well, I'm gonna put it all in there." 875 00:41:05,417 --> 00:41:07,083 I'm not gonna put it in there. 876 00:41:07,167 --> 00:41:08,750 I'm not gonna waste my wealth. 877 00:41:08,833 --> 00:41:10,750 God is like that. 878 00:41:10,833 --> 00:41:12,750 He's looking for good stewards. 879 00:41:12,833 --> 00:41:15,917 He's looking for people who are going to take the money that he 880 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:19,583 gives them and then to use them in a way that is godly and good. 881 00:41:19,667 --> 00:41:21,583 In Luke 16:10 Jesus says it this way, 882 00:41:21,667 --> 00:41:23,583 "He who could be trusted with a little, 883 00:41:23,667 --> 00:41:26,583 could be trusted with a lot," and the context there is wealth. 884 00:41:26,667 --> 00:41:29,000 The context there is wealth. 885 00:41:29,083 --> 00:41:32,375 In addition, life goes better, number seven, 886 00:41:32,458 --> 00:41:33,833 for generous people. 887 00:41:33,875 --> 00:41:35,208 This is not voodoo. 888 00:41:35,292 --> 00:41:36,625 This is not magic. 889 00:41:36,667 --> 00:41:38,125 This is not get rich quick. 890 00:41:38,167 --> 00:41:39,625 This is not give to get. 891 00:41:39,667 --> 00:41:42,125 This is just a general principle for how life works. 892 00:41:42,167 --> 00:41:44,708 I was talking to Dave Ramsey, he runs Financial Peace. 893 00:41:44,792 --> 00:41:46,208 We use it at Mars Hill. 894 00:41:46,292 --> 00:41:48,417 It's super helpful, would encourage you to sign up 895 00:41:48,500 --> 00:41:49,833 for it next year. 896 00:41:49,875 --> 00:41:52,542 I was interviewing him for a project recently and he said 897 00:41:52,625 --> 00:41:55,750 this, and it really made a lot of sense to me that life 898 00:41:55,833 --> 00:41:58,417 just tends as a principle to go better for generous people. 899 00:41:58,500 --> 00:42:01,792 Here's why, would you rather be married to someone who is 900 00:42:01,833 --> 00:42:04,000 greedy or generous? 901 00:42:04,042 --> 00:42:05,708 Well, generous. 902 00:42:05,792 --> 00:42:07,667 Would you rather have as a close friend 903 00:42:07,708 --> 00:42:09,833 someone who's greedy or generous? 904 00:42:09,917 --> 00:42:11,542 Well, generous. 905 00:42:11,625 --> 00:42:13,042 If you're an employer hiring somebody, 906 00:42:13,125 --> 00:42:15,458 it comes down to two candidates and one's greedy 907 00:42:15,500 --> 00:42:17,833 and one's generous, who would you rather hire? 908 00:42:17,917 --> 00:42:19,333 Well, the generous person. 909 00:42:19,375 --> 00:42:21,833 Let's say you've got a company, you're looking to promote 910 00:42:21,875 --> 00:42:23,333 someone into leadership or management, 911 00:42:23,375 --> 00:42:25,750 who are most inclined to choose, 912 00:42:25,833 --> 00:42:29,083 someone who's greedy or generous? 913 00:42:29,167 --> 00:42:34,000 As a general principle, life tends to just go better 914 00:42:34,083 --> 00:42:36,583 for people who are more generous. 915 00:42:36,667 --> 00:42:40,583 It's that reap what you sow kind of thinking. 916 00:42:40,667 --> 00:42:44,917 Their life in Malachi 3, it's going difficult. 917 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:46,333 It's hard. 918 00:42:46,375 --> 00:42:48,167 It's a frustrating season for them. 919 00:42:48,208 --> 00:42:51,167 But part of it is that they've not been a generous people, 920 00:42:51,208 --> 00:42:54,375 yet they're expecting God to be generous with them. 921 00:42:54,458 --> 00:42:59,167 And number eight, you will be tested to rob God. 922 00:42:59,208 --> 00:43:01,708 See, they're in an economic downturn, times are hard. 923 00:43:01,792 --> 00:43:04,750 The first thing they did is they cut their giving to God. 924 00:43:04,833 --> 00:43:09,292 That was the first thing they cut out of their budget. 925 00:43:09,333 --> 00:43:11,167 You will be tested. 926 00:43:11,250 --> 00:43:12,833 I will be tested. 927 00:43:12,917 --> 00:43:19,833 We will be tested, principally speaking, to rob God. 928 00:43:19,917 --> 00:43:23,083 I'll give you a bit of my history and story, 929 00:43:23,167 --> 00:43:26,500 some of you know bits of it. 930 00:43:26,542 --> 00:43:30,625 God saved me in college at the age of 19. 931 00:43:30,667 --> 00:43:35,500 And I'm a 19-year-old college kid, poor, right, 932 00:43:35,583 --> 00:43:37,500 broke college kid. 933 00:43:37,583 --> 00:43:40,583 Didn't even have a car to get back and forth to school, 934 00:43:40,667 --> 00:43:42,833 like just trying to knock out my education, 935 00:43:42,875 --> 00:43:45,333 bumming rides home for the holidays, broke college kid. 936 00:43:45,375 --> 00:43:46,833 God saves me. 937 00:43:46,875 --> 00:43:50,000 I start going to a great church, and the offering plate comes by 938 00:43:50,083 --> 00:43:52,667 and my thought is, I hope somebody here has a job, 939 00:43:52,750 --> 00:43:54,083 I'm not participating. 940 00:43:54,167 --> 00:43:55,917 That was kind of my original thought, 941 00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:58,167 and I'm working my way through college. 942 00:43:58,250 --> 00:44:01,833 And then God convicted me passing the plate every week. 943 00:44:01,917 --> 00:44:03,333 "Hey, this is your church too." 944 00:44:03,417 --> 00:44:07,167 So I started giving occasionally and not very generously 945 00:44:07,250 --> 00:44:09,417 but put in 20 bucks or whatever. 946 00:44:09,500 --> 00:44:10,917 Thought, okay, I'm doing something. 947 00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:13,917 Well, then I married Grace, and we're married between our 948 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:15,583 junior and senior year of college. 949 00:44:15,667 --> 00:44:17,000 She had a semester left. 950 00:44:17,042 --> 00:44:18,792 I had a year left. 951 00:44:18,833 --> 00:44:20,333 And we sat down. 952 00:44:20,417 --> 00:44:23,333 She's like, "Okay, how much are we gonna give to the church?" 953 00:44:23,417 --> 00:44:24,833 I was like, "What? We're broke. 954 00:44:24,875 --> 00:44:27,667 We're married. We're in college." 955 00:44:27,708 --> 00:44:31,000 We were making about a thousand dollars a month, 956 00:44:31,083 --> 00:44:34,083 this was 20 some years ago, 20 years ago or so. 957 00:44:34,167 --> 00:44:36,167 We're making about a thousand dollars a month. 958 00:44:36,208 --> 00:44:39,042 Our apartment including utilities, it's a basement, 959 00:44:39,125 --> 00:44:41,500 you know, little rental in somebody's house. 960 00:44:41,542 --> 00:44:43,875 It's like 200 bucks a month. 961 00:44:43,958 --> 00:44:47,333 Our date night on Friday is either the 99-cent movie theater 962 00:44:47,375 --> 00:44:52,500 or the $1.50 movie theater if we wanted to go big time, okay? 963 00:44:52,542 --> 00:44:54,792 We did our laundry at the laundromat because we 964 00:44:54,833 --> 00:44:57,792 couldn't afford a place with a washer and a dryer. 965 00:44:57,833 --> 00:45:00,333 I look at Grace, she's got the gift of giving. 966 00:45:00,417 --> 00:45:02,042 She's got the gift of faith. 967 00:45:02,125 --> 00:45:03,792 And I look at her I said, 968 00:45:03,833 --> 00:45:05,792 "Well, what do you think we should give?" 969 00:45:05,833 --> 00:45:07,292 She's like, "We need to tithe. 970 00:45:07,333 --> 00:45:08,667 We need to give 10%." 971 00:45:08,750 --> 00:45:10,667 I was like, "A thousand dollars a month 972 00:45:10,750 --> 00:45:12,083 "is all we make. 973 00:45:12,167 --> 00:45:14,083 A hundred dollars to the--we don't have that." 974 00:45:14,167 --> 00:45:16,250 She said, "Oh, well, we just need to pray 975 00:45:16,333 --> 00:45:17,667 and trust the Lord." 976 00:45:17,708 --> 00:45:19,042 I was like mmm-hmm. 977 00:45:19,125 --> 00:45:20,542 How can you argue with that? 978 00:45:20,625 --> 00:45:21,958 She always does that. 979 00:45:22,000 --> 00:45:23,333 And I was like, okay. 980 00:45:23,417 --> 00:45:26,542 I like plants and she likes to pray and so we're good together. 981 00:45:26,625 --> 00:45:28,750 And I said, "Okay, well, we'll see what happens." 982 00:45:28,833 --> 00:45:32,292 So we gave a hundred dollars and boom, 983 00:45:32,333 --> 00:45:35,000 something went out on my truck that we couldn't afford. 984 00:45:35,042 --> 00:45:37,667 I was like, "Well, we can't give to the Lord. 985 00:45:37,708 --> 00:45:39,083 "The truck blew up. 986 00:45:39,167 --> 00:45:41,250 We need the truck to get around." 987 00:45:41,333 --> 00:45:43,458 She said, "No, no, we just need to pray. 988 00:45:43,500 --> 00:45:44,958 We need to trust the Lord." 989 00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:46,458 I promise you this happened, okay? 990 00:45:46,500 --> 00:45:49,167 I came home, I can't remember if it was the mailbox 991 00:45:49,250 --> 00:45:50,583 or under our front door, 992 00:45:50,667 --> 00:45:52,708 somebody anonymous put a hundred dollar bill 993 00:45:52,792 --> 00:45:54,458 in an envelope. 994 00:45:54,500 --> 00:45:57,458 And I showed it to Grace I was like, "You'll never guess." 995 00:45:57,500 --> 00:45:58,833 She's like, "Well, we prayed. 996 00:45:58,917 --> 00:46:00,333 Why are you surprised?" 997 00:46:00,375 --> 00:46:01,958 I was like, "Ah." 998 00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:04,167 I was like, "You gotta be kidding." 999 00:46:04,208 --> 00:46:07,292 She said, "See, the Lord's showing us that he'll provide." 1000 00:46:07,333 --> 00:46:10,083 I was like, "Well, I can't argue with that. 1001 00:46:10,167 --> 00:46:11,833 That's pretty bulletproof right there." 1002 00:46:11,875 --> 00:46:13,875 So then we're married for a few months, 1003 00:46:13,958 --> 00:46:17,083 and she had a college loan that was supposed to be deferred but 1004 00:46:17,167 --> 00:46:19,958 somehow it wasn't deferred and as soon as I got married, 1005 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:23,667 I got the bill and this wasn't part of our budget. 1006 00:46:23,750 --> 00:46:26,083 I said, "Honey, we can't afford this." 1007 00:46:26,167 --> 00:46:30,750 Said, "Oh, you know, well the Lord will figure it out." 1008 00:46:30,833 --> 00:46:32,625 I was like, "Ah." 1009 00:46:32,667 --> 00:46:38,250 I mean when you have a godly wife, so frustrating, you know? 1010 00:46:41,500 --> 00:46:43,667 So I'm like okay. 1011 00:46:43,750 --> 00:46:47,667 Well, we'll see, we'll see what the Lord does, you know? 1012 00:46:47,708 --> 00:46:49,958 You know, okay, whatever. 1013 00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:53,083 I swear to you, I go to Bible study with my pastor. 1014 00:46:53,167 --> 00:46:55,167 My pastor walks up to me he says, 1015 00:46:55,250 --> 00:46:56,667 "Mark, I've been praying for you. 1016 00:46:56,708 --> 00:46:59,375 "I don't know why I feel like the Lord told me 1017 00:46:59,458 --> 00:47:00,833 to give me this." 1018 00:47:00,917 --> 00:47:02,583 He handed me a hundred-dollar bill, 1019 00:47:02,667 --> 00:47:04,000 my second hundred-dollar bill. 1020 00:47:04,042 --> 00:47:05,375 I was like, what? 1021 00:47:05,458 --> 00:47:07,833 I go home I was like, "You'll never guess what." 1022 00:47:07,875 --> 00:47:09,833 She's like, "I bet you I do." 1023 00:47:09,875 --> 00:47:12,292 Like, really, really? 1024 00:47:12,333 --> 00:47:15,500 Now here's what I--I'm not gonna teach this as a promise, right? 1025 00:47:15,542 --> 00:47:17,625 Therefore today give a hundred dollars 1026 00:47:17,667 --> 00:47:19,000 and when you go home, 1027 00:47:19,083 --> 00:47:20,750 there'll be a hundred dollar bill 1028 00:47:20,833 --> 00:47:22,167 underneath your door. 1029 00:47:22,208 --> 00:47:23,875 Okay, am I promising that? 1030 00:47:23,958 --> 00:47:25,875 Some of you are like, "I don't know." 1031 00:47:25,958 --> 00:47:28,500 No, I'm not, okay? 1032 00:47:28,583 --> 00:47:33,583 But principally, the Lord knew that this was a test for us 1033 00:47:33,667 --> 00:47:36,667 and he was going to teach us that we could trust him. 1034 00:47:36,708 --> 00:47:38,500 That's how he did it for us. 1035 00:47:38,542 --> 00:47:40,667 I don't know how he'll do it for you. 1036 00:47:40,750 --> 00:47:43,083 But you're giving will be tested. 1037 00:47:43,167 --> 00:47:45,583 So Grace and I have been giving through our marriage. 1038 00:47:45,667 --> 00:47:49,500 I didn't know I'd be doing this today but our prayer was 1039 00:47:49,583 --> 00:47:52,792 and has been every year, "Lord, this year let us give more 1040 00:47:52,833 --> 00:47:54,500 than last year." 1041 00:47:54,542 --> 00:47:57,167 That's been our prayer for 20 years as a married couple, 1042 00:47:57,250 --> 00:47:59,833 and God's always been very gracious and generous toward us 1043 00:47:59,917 --> 00:48:03,583 to help us to answer that prayer. 1044 00:48:03,667 --> 00:48:06,583 Now some of you right now, I could just feel the resistance. 1045 00:48:06,667 --> 00:48:09,500 You're like, "So God wants my money?" 1046 00:48:09,583 --> 00:48:12,458 Here's what I'd say, oh, he wants may more than that. 1047 00:48:12,500 --> 00:48:16,167 He wants your money, wants your mind, wants your body, 1048 00:48:16,250 --> 00:48:20,500 wants your marriage, wants your kids, wants your business, 1049 00:48:20,542 --> 00:48:23,333 wants your house, wants your sin, wants your soul, 1050 00:48:23,375 --> 00:48:25,250 wants your eternity. 1051 00:48:25,333 --> 00:48:27,708 If you're freaked out about the money, 1052 00:48:27,792 --> 00:48:31,000 that's only the beginning of what he wants. 1053 00:48:31,083 --> 00:48:33,542 He wants everything. 1054 00:48:33,625 --> 00:48:36,542 He wants all of you. 1055 00:48:36,625 --> 00:48:39,792 That's what Jesus is asking. 1056 00:48:39,833 --> 00:48:44,667 Now this leads to an inevitable question that people often ask: 1057 00:48:44,750 --> 00:48:50,458 Should Christians tithe? 1058 00:48:50,500 --> 00:48:54,083 In the old covenant, it's called the law and there are 1059 00:48:54,167 --> 00:48:56,292 specific rules and God's referring to one here 1060 00:48:56,333 --> 00:48:59,125 in Malachi 3 tithing the 10%. 1061 00:48:59,167 --> 00:49:00,625 In addition, 1062 00:49:00,667 --> 00:49:02,333 there's the New Testament new covenant because 1063 00:49:02,417 --> 00:49:04,833 Jesus comes, fulfills all the old covenant 1064 00:49:04,875 --> 00:49:09,208 and then we live in the new covenant under grace. 1065 00:49:09,292 --> 00:49:11,958 So Romans 6:14 says we're no longer under law, 1066 00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:14,458 we're now under grace. 1067 00:49:14,500 --> 00:49:16,833 And the question is well, when it comes particularly 1068 00:49:16,875 --> 00:49:20,000 to the 10% tithe, how does this apply to us? 1069 00:49:20,042 --> 00:49:21,375 Well, in the Old Testament, 1070 00:49:21,458 --> 00:49:24,500 the old covenant, the law was 10%. 1071 00:49:24,583 --> 00:49:28,292 First fruits off the top, gross not net, unto the Lord. 1072 00:49:28,333 --> 00:49:31,333 In addition he talks about contributions in Malachi 3. 1073 00:49:31,417 --> 00:49:34,583 So this would be above and beyond feasts, festivals, 1074 00:49:34,667 --> 00:49:38,625 the poor, 7-year giving, all kinds of things. 1075 00:49:38,667 --> 00:49:43,375 If you amortize it out, it's 25% to 27% of your gross income 1076 00:49:43,458 --> 00:49:45,833 goes to the Lord. 1077 00:49:45,875 --> 00:49:48,500 Now, you go to the new covenant, the New Testament, 1078 00:49:48,542 --> 00:49:51,167 the only time it uses the language of the tithe is 1079 00:49:51,208 --> 00:49:53,667 in relation to the Pharisees and it's negatively because they 1080 00:49:53,750 --> 00:49:57,125 were giving their money without giving their heart to the Lord. 1081 00:49:57,167 --> 00:49:59,458 And Jesus says, "You keep giving me your money, 1082 00:49:59,500 --> 00:50:01,167 but you won't give me your heart." 1083 00:50:01,208 --> 00:50:03,333 That's hypocrisy. 1084 00:50:03,417 --> 00:50:07,292 The Bible then in the New Testament talks about 1085 00:50:07,333 --> 00:50:10,167 giving with very different language. 1086 00:50:10,250 --> 00:50:12,875 If you want to study it, 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 1087 00:50:12,958 --> 00:50:14,625 is the place in the New Testament 1088 00:50:14,667 --> 00:50:16,792 that talks about giving the most clearly 1089 00:50:16,833 --> 00:50:20,875 and the most extendedly, if I can use that language. 1090 00:50:20,958 --> 00:50:24,792 It says that our giving should be, as believers, cheerful. 1091 00:50:24,833 --> 00:50:26,208 I love the Lord. 1092 00:50:26,292 --> 00:50:28,167 I'm glad to give, okay? 1093 00:50:28,250 --> 00:50:29,833 It should be sacrificial. 1094 00:50:29,875 --> 00:50:33,833 Whatever is sacrificial for you. 1095 00:50:33,875 --> 00:50:37,000 And I love that God doesn't just give an amount because if he 1096 00:50:37,083 --> 00:50:39,833 gave an amount, the poor would really strain to meet it 1097 00:50:39,875 --> 00:50:42,458 and the rich wouldn't strain at all. 1098 00:50:42,500 --> 00:50:45,292 God wants our giving to be sacrificial so that rich 1099 00:50:45,333 --> 00:50:48,292 and poor are being generous and sacrificial. 1100 00:50:48,333 --> 00:50:50,625 So it's to be cheerful. It's to be sacrificial. 1101 00:50:50,667 --> 00:50:53,333 It's to be regular, not just "I feel guilty this week, 1102 00:50:53,417 --> 00:50:55,500 maybe I'll feel guilty again next year." 1103 00:50:55,542 --> 00:51:00,583 It's regular and it's also proportional that those 1104 00:51:00,667 --> 00:51:03,667 who make more give more, 1105 00:51:03,750 --> 00:51:08,333 that those who make less give less but all give something. 1106 00:51:08,375 --> 00:51:12,792 That being said, very few people tithe today. 1107 00:51:12,833 --> 00:51:17,458 Of those who profess to be Christians, about 27%, 1108 00:51:17,500 --> 00:51:20,000 so about a quarter, tithe. 1109 00:51:20,083 --> 00:51:22,333 The rest do not give that much. 1110 00:51:22,417 --> 00:51:24,250 The younger you are, 1111 00:51:24,333 --> 00:51:26,292 the less likely you are to tithe. 1112 00:51:26,333 --> 00:51:29,208 Right now most churches, missions, organizations, 1113 00:51:29,292 --> 00:51:33,625 denominations, are held up by older people who are 1114 00:51:33,667 --> 00:51:36,792 more generous and their children and grandchildren 1115 00:51:36,833 --> 00:51:39,958 and great grandchildren are far less generous. 1116 00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:43,875 So the younger you are, the less you give and what that means 1117 00:51:43,958 --> 00:51:47,583 for the future of Christianity is that it is very concerning 1118 00:51:47,667 --> 00:51:50,833 because as the older generation passes away, 1119 00:51:50,917 --> 00:51:54,542 the younger generation is not making up the difference. 1120 00:51:54,625 --> 00:51:58,417 In addition, the people who are least likely to tithe, 1121 00:51:58,500 --> 00:52:02,375 to give at least 10% are those who make more money. 1122 00:52:02,458 --> 00:52:04,000 Proportional to their giving, 1123 00:52:04,083 --> 00:52:07,833 the poor give a higher percentage than the rich. 1124 00:52:07,917 --> 00:52:10,500 And some of you are thinking, "I'm not going to give, 1125 00:52:10,542 --> 00:52:13,083 but one day when I make more, I will." 1126 00:52:13,167 --> 00:52:15,083 Statistically it's not true. 1127 00:52:15,167 --> 00:52:17,333 It's like someone's saying, "I'm going to commit adultery 1128 00:52:17,375 --> 00:52:21,625 to prepare myself for future faithfulness." 1129 00:52:21,667 --> 00:52:23,500 It doesn't work like that. 1130 00:52:23,583 --> 00:52:27,333 "I will rob God so that one day I can be faithful 1131 00:52:27,375 --> 00:52:29,000 with my finances toward God." 1132 00:52:29,042 --> 00:52:31,000 It doesn't work like that. 1133 00:52:31,083 --> 00:52:33,292 It doesn't work like that. 1134 00:52:33,333 --> 00:52:36,125 So that being said, some would come along and say, 1135 00:52:36,167 --> 00:52:38,458 "It says it in the Old Testament. 1136 00:52:38,500 --> 00:52:40,417 "It doesn't say it in the New Testament, 1137 00:52:40,500 --> 00:52:42,458 therefore we don't have to do it." 1138 00:52:42,500 --> 00:52:45,167 I would say, well, let's be careful because sometimes what 1139 00:52:45,250 --> 00:52:48,292 was in the Old Testament is not erased in the New Testament. 1140 00:52:48,333 --> 00:52:50,625 It's actually increased. 1141 00:52:50,667 --> 00:52:52,000 Give you an example. 1142 00:52:52,083 --> 00:52:54,792 In the Old Testament it says, "Do not murder." 1143 00:52:54,833 --> 00:52:57,167 We dealt with that in the Ten Commandments. 1144 00:52:57,250 --> 00:53:00,833 Jesus comes along and says, "Do not murder and do not be angry 1145 00:53:00,875 --> 00:53:04,125 with your brother in your heart." 1146 00:53:04,167 --> 00:53:07,500 Well, that's an increase in the command. 1147 00:53:07,542 --> 00:53:10,708 In the Old Testament it says, "Do not commit adultery." 1148 00:53:10,792 --> 00:53:12,333 Jesus comes along and says, 1149 00:53:12,375 --> 00:53:14,083 "And don't look at anyone lustfully 1150 00:53:14,167 --> 00:53:16,292 in your heart because that's adultery of the heart." 1151 00:53:16,333 --> 00:53:19,167 That's an increase. 1152 00:53:19,250 --> 00:53:24,292 I would not tell you that you have to give 10%. 1153 00:53:24,333 --> 00:53:27,958 What I would tell you is that you need to go home and meet 1154 00:53:28,000 --> 00:53:31,167 with the Lord and talk to the Lord and pray to the Lord 1155 00:53:31,208 --> 00:53:33,125 and set your budget with the Lord. 1156 00:53:33,167 --> 00:53:35,708 In Malachi it's interesting because they gave the money to 1157 00:53:35,792 --> 00:53:40,167 the temple, but ultimately God says, "You are robbing me." 1158 00:53:40,208 --> 00:53:43,042 So here's the deal, God gets the temple out of the way 1159 00:53:43,125 --> 00:53:46,042 and the ministry out of the way and says to his people, 1160 00:53:46,125 --> 00:53:47,458 "It's between you and me." 1161 00:53:47,500 --> 00:53:50,500 You may put it in that account, but it's ultimately my account." 1162 00:53:50,583 --> 00:53:53,917 What I would tell you is you need to meet with the Lord. 1163 00:53:54,000 --> 00:53:55,750 You need to pray to the Lord. 1164 00:53:55,833 --> 00:53:57,750 You need to budget with the Lord. 1165 00:53:57,833 --> 00:54:00,833 You need to pledge to the Lord. 1166 00:54:00,875 --> 00:54:04,917 And whatever that is, if it's cheerful, regular, sacrificial, 1167 00:54:05,000 --> 00:54:11,583 proportional, then do that and don't rob God. 1168 00:54:11,667 --> 00:54:14,500 And my fear is is if I give you a percent, 1169 00:54:14,542 --> 00:54:18,583 you will make it a ceiling and not a floor. 1170 00:54:18,667 --> 00:54:23,833 We would say that a tithe is not necessarily a ceiling. 1171 00:54:23,875 --> 00:54:25,542 "Someday maybe I'll get up to 10%," 1172 00:54:25,625 --> 00:54:27,750 but it's better to see it as a floor. 1173 00:54:27,833 --> 00:54:30,500 This is a good place to start a life of generosity 1174 00:54:30,542 --> 00:54:31,875 and by God's grace, 1175 00:54:31,958 --> 00:54:35,542 aspire to increase our giving through the course of our life 1176 00:54:35,625 --> 00:54:37,958 as we mature in everything. 1177 00:54:38,000 --> 00:54:39,667 You want to grow in Bible knowledge. 1178 00:54:39,750 --> 00:54:41,208 You want to grow in service. 1179 00:54:41,292 --> 00:54:42,708 You want to grow in prayer. 1180 00:54:42,792 --> 00:54:44,458 You should aspire to grow in giving. 1181 00:54:44,500 --> 00:54:46,125 It's part of your spiritual development 1182 00:54:46,167 --> 00:54:48,917 and part of your spiritual growth. 1183 00:54:49,000 --> 00:54:52,583 That being said, 1184 00:54:52,667 --> 00:54:58,250 some of you are going to really struggle 1185 00:54:58,333 --> 00:55:01,833 for two reasons, some of you will struggle 1186 00:55:01,917 --> 00:55:06,667 because you'll feel like God is taking what is yours. 1187 00:55:06,750 --> 00:55:09,042 Well, that's the problem. 1188 00:55:09,125 --> 00:55:11,292 It's his and you should be grateful 1189 00:55:11,333 --> 00:55:13,750 that he shares some with you. 1190 00:55:13,833 --> 00:55:17,167 Others of you will struggle because you'll want to give to 1191 00:55:17,250 --> 00:55:20,708 the Lord to get from the Lord, and you're gonna come to a text 1192 00:55:20,792 --> 00:55:27,000 like this in a way that is more akin to prosperity theology. 1193 00:55:29,417 --> 00:55:34,083 Here's why it's important to study the Bible in context. 1194 00:55:34,167 --> 00:55:41,083 Those who teach Malachi 3:6-18 tend to ignore 1195 00:55:41,167 --> 00:55:44,500 the previous verse. 1196 00:55:44,542 --> 00:55:47,833 This is why if you were to take a line out of my conversation 1197 00:55:47,917 --> 00:55:52,542 with my wife, Grace, and ignore 20 years together in the context 1198 00:55:52,625 --> 00:55:56,208 of the conversation, you could come to a really bad conclusion. 1199 00:55:56,292 --> 00:55:59,458 We need to look at Malachi in the context of the whole Bible. 1200 00:55:59,500 --> 00:56:02,000 We need to look at Malachi 3 in the context 1201 00:56:02,083 --> 00:56:03,500 of the whole book of Malachi. 1202 00:56:03,583 --> 00:56:06,167 Chapter 3, verse 6 God starts talking about wealth, 1203 00:56:06,250 --> 00:56:09,750 but in chapter 3, verse 5, just before that, 1204 00:56:09,833 --> 00:56:13,417 he says something very, very, very insightful. 1205 00:56:13,500 --> 00:56:15,750 Would you like to read it with me? 1206 00:56:15,833 --> 00:56:18,417 Here's what he says, "Then I will draw near to you 1207 00:56:18,500 --> 00:56:19,833 "for judgment. 1208 00:56:19,875 --> 00:56:23,500 I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers." 1209 00:56:23,583 --> 00:56:29,000 He says, "I'm gonna judge some things that really bother me, 1210 00:56:29,042 --> 00:56:32,583 first on the list, sorcery." 1211 00:56:32,667 --> 00:56:35,167 And then chapter 3, verse 6, he goes into finances. 1212 00:56:35,208 --> 00:56:36,542 How do these go together? 1213 00:56:36,625 --> 00:56:41,708 Here's what sorcery is, trying to manipulate God, 1214 00:56:41,792 --> 00:56:44,917 trying to control God, 1215 00:56:45,000 --> 00:56:47,667 saying, "I think I know what God is doing. 1216 00:56:47,708 --> 00:56:49,167 "I don't like it. 1217 00:56:49,208 --> 00:56:52,000 "I want God to do something else. 1218 00:56:52,083 --> 00:56:54,625 "I need to change God. I need to manipulate God. 1219 00:56:54,667 --> 00:56:59,417 I need to redirect God." 1220 00:56:59,500 --> 00:57:02,458 That's sorcery. 1221 00:57:02,500 --> 00:57:04,208 It's spirituality. 1222 00:57:04,292 --> 00:57:06,500 It's paganism. 1223 00:57:06,583 --> 00:57:12,333 This is how non-Christian spirituality thinks. 1224 00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:19,333 "Through karma, you can control your future." 1225 00:57:19,375 --> 00:57:22,542 Goofy books like "The Secret," send out positive energy 1226 00:57:22,625 --> 00:57:25,875 and you'll get a blessing in return. 1227 00:57:25,958 --> 00:57:27,667 Word faith teaching, "If you speak it, 1228 00:57:27,750 --> 00:57:30,667 "it will come back to you, and God will have to bring 1229 00:57:30,750 --> 00:57:33,417 "your words to pass because you have authority like he did 1230 00:57:33,500 --> 00:57:37,750 in creation," which is insane. 1231 00:57:37,833 --> 00:57:40,750 "If you will give, you will get. 1232 00:57:40,833 --> 00:57:43,750 "Give 10% and watch the floodgates open 1233 00:57:43,833 --> 00:57:47,625 "and all of God's blessing will come down into your hand. 1234 00:57:47,667 --> 00:57:49,708 "You can control him. 1235 00:57:49,792 --> 00:57:51,458 "You can control your destiny. 1236 00:57:51,500 --> 00:57:52,917 "You can control your future. 1237 00:57:53,000 --> 00:57:54,667 "You can control your God." 1238 00:57:54,708 --> 00:57:58,333 And God says, "I don't agree with sorcery." 1239 00:57:58,417 --> 00:58:00,250 In fact, "I do not"--what? 1240 00:58:00,333 --> 00:58:04,042 What's the next verse? "I do not change. 1241 00:58:04,125 --> 00:58:06,917 "You don't control me, I control you. 1242 00:58:07,000 --> 00:58:09,000 "I don't obey you. You obey me. 1243 00:58:09,042 --> 00:58:13,333 "You can't decree the future and command that I bring it to pass. 1244 00:58:13,375 --> 00:58:15,500 "I know the future and you need to change 1245 00:58:15,583 --> 00:58:20,750 and align yourself with me." 1246 00:58:20,833 --> 00:58:24,417 Principally I believe that God is generous toward those 1247 00:58:24,500 --> 00:58:25,833 who are generous, 1248 00:58:25,875 --> 00:58:30,333 but I will never make you a promise that God is a means 1249 00:58:30,417 --> 00:58:34,708 by which to gain more wealth so that you can feed 1250 00:58:34,792 --> 00:58:41,583 your idolatry of money, okay? 1251 00:58:41,667 --> 00:58:46,000 And it all comes down to God wanting everything and 1252 00:58:46,083 --> 00:58:51,000 ultimately the Bible summarizes that as the heart, the seat, 1253 00:58:51,083 --> 00:58:52,417 the sum, the center, 1254 00:58:52,500 --> 00:58:56,042 the decision-making headquarters of your soul. 1255 00:58:56,125 --> 00:58:58,750 We may be talking about your wallet, 1256 00:58:58,833 --> 00:59:02,833 but ultimately it's directed by your heart 1257 00:59:02,917 --> 00:59:06,667 and giving reveals your heart. 1258 00:59:06,750 --> 00:59:10,125 We'll close with this, Malachi 3:13-18, 1259 00:59:10,167 --> 00:59:13,125 "'Your words have been hard against me,' says the Lord. 1260 00:59:13,167 --> 00:59:15,542 But you say, 'How have we spoken against you?'" 1261 00:59:15,625 --> 00:59:17,417 They're still arguing, right? 1262 00:59:17,500 --> 00:59:23,292 "You have said, 'It is vain to serve God. 1263 00:59:23,333 --> 00:59:26,083 "'What is the profit of keeping his charge or of walking 1264 00:59:26,167 --> 00:59:29,167 "'as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? 1265 00:59:29,208 --> 00:59:31,167 "'And now we call the arrogant blessed. 1266 00:59:31,208 --> 00:59:33,875 "'Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test 1267 00:59:33,958 --> 00:59:35,500 "'and they escape.' 1268 00:59:35,542 --> 00:59:38,500 "Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. 1269 00:59:38,542 --> 00:59:41,000 "The Lord paid attention and heard them, 1270 00:59:41,083 --> 00:59:43,958 "and a book of remembrance was written before him of those 1271 00:59:44,000 --> 00:59:47,208 "who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. 1272 00:59:47,292 --> 00:59:50,667 "'They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, 1273 00:59:50,708 --> 00:59:56,250 in the day when I make up my'"-- Do you see that line, Mars Hill? 1274 00:59:56,333 --> 01:00:00,958 Just meditate on that for a moment. 1275 01:00:01,000 --> 01:00:04,833 "Treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man 1276 01:00:04,917 --> 01:00:07,500 "spares his son who serves him. 1277 01:00:07,583 --> 01:00:09,833 "Then once more you shall see the distinction between 1278 01:00:09,875 --> 01:00:12,625 "the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God 1279 01:00:12,667 --> 01:00:15,708 and the one who does not serve him." 1280 01:00:15,792 --> 01:00:18,250 God says, "There are righteous people who serve me 1281 01:00:18,333 --> 01:00:22,333 and wicked people who don't." 1282 01:00:22,417 --> 01:00:27,583 And the wicked people, he says, it's all predisposed by this 1283 01:00:27,667 --> 01:00:33,667 particular attitude, "What's in it for me?" 1284 01:00:33,708 --> 01:00:35,333 That's their argument. 1285 01:00:35,375 --> 01:00:37,042 Why would we give to the Lord? 1286 01:00:37,125 --> 01:00:39,042 What profit do we get? 1287 01:00:39,125 --> 01:00:40,667 Why would we serve the Lord? 1288 01:00:40,708 --> 01:00:43,083 How does it benefit us? 1289 01:00:43,167 --> 01:00:46,333 This is consumerism. 1290 01:00:46,417 --> 01:00:51,000 Consumerism is a religion and it's not a new one. 1291 01:00:51,083 --> 01:00:56,500 And a consumer knows what they want and they look at a religion 1292 01:00:56,583 --> 01:01:01,250 and ask if they get what they want without giving very much. 1293 01:01:01,333 --> 01:01:03,625 "I want money, but the God of the Bible 1294 01:01:03,667 --> 01:01:05,000 "doesn't give me enough money. 1295 01:01:05,083 --> 01:01:08,000 "And I want to be praised, and the God of the Bible 1296 01:01:08,083 --> 01:01:09,417 "doesn't praise me enough. 1297 01:01:09,500 --> 01:01:12,833 "And I want to have my way, and the God of the Bible says 1298 01:01:12,875 --> 01:01:14,333 "that he gets it his way. 1299 01:01:14,375 --> 01:01:15,708 "What good is this religion? 1300 01:01:15,792 --> 01:01:18,833 It doesn't work." 1301 01:01:18,917 --> 01:01:21,667 How many of you have approached our church, 1302 01:01:21,750 --> 01:01:26,333 a church in ministry and said, "Well, if I give, what do I get? 1303 01:01:26,417 --> 01:01:29,833 "If I serve, how do they serve me? 1304 01:01:29,917 --> 01:01:34,333 "Will I receive more than I give and if not, 1305 01:01:34,375 --> 01:01:37,208 what use is it to me?" 1306 01:01:37,292 --> 01:01:40,750 God doesn't think like that. 1307 01:01:40,833 --> 01:01:45,250 God doesn't look at you and say, "Where's my profit?" 1308 01:01:45,333 --> 01:01:49,250 God doesn't look at you and say, "I've served you. 1309 01:01:49,333 --> 01:01:51,000 "When are you gonna serve me back? 1310 01:01:51,083 --> 01:01:53,833 When are you gonna match my gift?" 1311 01:01:53,917 --> 01:01:55,667 We can't match his gift. 1312 01:01:55,750 --> 01:01:57,292 It's grace. It's unmerited. 1313 01:01:57,333 --> 01:02:03,083 It's undeserved. It's inexhaustible. 1314 01:02:03,167 --> 01:02:07,167 The ungodly asks, "What's in it for me?" 1315 01:02:07,208 --> 01:02:11,792 And he says the godly ask, "Why would he choose me 1316 01:02:11,833 --> 01:02:16,042 as his treasured possession?" 1317 01:02:16,125 --> 01:02:20,583 What we're talking about here is treasured possession. 1318 01:02:20,667 --> 01:02:25,000 Let me ask you this, what's your most treasured possession? 1319 01:02:25,042 --> 01:02:27,792 What is the one thing that if God took it, 1320 01:02:27,833 --> 01:02:29,875 you would be arguing and fighting with him 1321 01:02:29,958 --> 01:02:32,167 as they are in Malachi? 1322 01:02:32,208 --> 01:02:35,542 You're like, "God and I would have a war if he took my spouse, 1323 01:02:35,625 --> 01:02:41,042 "my kid, my house, my job, my car, my health. 1324 01:02:41,125 --> 01:02:48,042 "If he took that--my reputation, we would have a war 1325 01:02:48,125 --> 01:02:52,000 because that's my treasured possession." 1326 01:02:52,042 --> 01:02:54,667 Here's what God says, 1327 01:02:54,708 --> 01:02:59,708 "You're my treasured possession." 1328 01:02:59,792 --> 01:03:02,250 Hear me in this, 1329 01:03:02,333 --> 01:03:09,125 you are his treasured possession. 1330 01:03:09,167 --> 01:03:11,667 You belong to him. 1331 01:03:11,708 --> 01:03:17,417 All of you belongs to him, and he treasures you. 1332 01:03:17,500 --> 01:03:19,167 He values you. 1333 01:03:19,250 --> 01:03:21,583 He purchased you 1334 01:03:21,667 --> 01:03:24,917 through the gift of his own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, 1335 01:03:25,000 --> 01:03:31,458 that you would be his children, his people. 1336 01:03:33,667 --> 01:03:36,333 Well, this changes everything. 1337 01:03:36,417 --> 01:03:40,000 If we are his treasured possession, 1338 01:03:40,042 --> 01:03:45,708 then he is our treasured possession, 1339 01:03:48,292 --> 01:03:50,667 that nothing compares to the Lord, 1340 01:03:50,750 --> 01:03:53,333 that nothing's as valuable as the Lord, 1341 01:03:53,417 --> 01:03:56,167 that nothing matters as much as the Lord. 1342 01:03:56,208 --> 01:04:00,250 And even if we lose our treasured possessions, 1343 01:04:00,333 --> 01:04:07,333 we'll never lose our treasured possession. 1344 01:04:10,958 --> 01:04:14,667 The world doesn't understand this God. 1345 01:04:14,708 --> 01:04:21,625 I need you to love this God because he has loved you 1346 01:04:21,667 --> 01:04:25,167 and if he's willing to make us his treasured possession-- 1347 01:04:25,250 --> 01:04:28,000 pretty crazy thought, right? 1348 01:04:28,083 --> 01:04:33,375 It is only fitting and right that we would choose him 1349 01:04:33,458 --> 01:04:36,000 as our most treasured possession. 1350 01:04:36,083 --> 01:04:38,667 Amen? 1351 01:04:38,708 --> 01:04:40,583 I love you. We've had a great year. 1352 01:04:40,667 --> 01:04:43,417 We're growing in generosity and maturity. 1353 01:04:43,500 --> 01:04:47,667 And as we prepare for Communion where we give God our worst, 1354 01:04:47,750 --> 01:04:51,500 our sin, and remember God giving us his best, 1355 01:04:51,583 --> 01:04:54,542 the broken body and shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, 1356 01:04:54,625 --> 01:04:57,542 as we collect our tithes and offerings and celebrate 1357 01:04:57,625 --> 01:05:00,375 what God has done this year and anticipate what God has 1358 01:05:00,458 --> 01:05:06,333 next year, I want to share with you from your executive pastor 1359 01:05:06,375 --> 01:05:08,417 and my friend Pastor Sutton Turner, 1360 01:05:08,500 --> 01:05:11,208 a year-end report. 1361 01:05:11,292 --> 01:05:14,500 And here's the good news, there's actually some good news. 1362 01:05:17,542 --> 01:05:20,417 I should know this. 1363 01:05:20,500 --> 01:05:22,542 Gosh. 1364 01:05:22,625 --> 01:05:25,292 That sounded like--thank you, Jesus. 1365 01:05:25,333 --> 01:05:26,833 Howdy, Mars Hill. 1366 01:05:26,917 --> 01:05:29,042 Pastor Sutton, your executive pastor. 1367 01:05:29,125 --> 01:05:34,292 Really excited to give you our church family update for 2013. 1368 01:05:34,333 --> 01:05:38,417 Mars Hill Church has grown in numbers and faithfulness 1369 01:05:38,500 --> 01:05:39,917 throughout this last year. 1370 01:05:40,000 --> 01:05:44,083 It's been an amazing year and just over the last 12 months, 1371 01:05:44,167 --> 01:05:48,167 almost 1100 people have been baptized at Mars Hill Church, 1372 01:05:48,250 --> 01:05:52,125 422 babies have been dedicated, 1373 01:05:52,167 --> 01:05:56,500 219 couples have gone through our premarriage counseling 1374 01:05:56,583 --> 01:06:00,875 and 93 weddings have been performed by our pastoral team, 1375 01:06:00,958 --> 01:06:05,833 and 746 people have been added to our church family. 1376 01:06:05,917 --> 01:06:07,833 Thank you, Jesus. 1377 01:06:07,917 --> 01:06:12,083 Over the past 12 months, our giving per adult per week 1378 01:06:12,167 --> 01:06:17,625 has gone from $37 to $44 and not only has our giving per adult 1379 01:06:17,667 --> 01:06:21,417 gone up, our total number of givers is almost 1380 01:06:21,500 --> 01:06:25,125 4,000 across our 15 local churches. 1381 01:06:25,167 --> 01:06:30,500 And our global audience now numbers 3500 per year. 1382 01:06:30,583 --> 01:06:33,417 Thank you, thank you for your faithfulness. 1383 01:06:33,500 --> 01:06:37,542 So with the increase in givers and the increase in gifts, 1384 01:06:37,625 --> 01:06:40,958 we have beat budget by $1.3 million 1385 01:06:41,000 --> 01:06:43,000 over the last 5 months 1386 01:06:43,042 --> 01:06:46,708 all while we're holding our operating expenses in line. 1387 01:06:46,792 --> 01:06:49,042 So what are we doing with this excess margin? 1388 01:06:49,125 --> 01:06:53,833 We're investing these funds into new homes for our five churches, 1389 01:06:53,875 --> 01:06:58,667 Phoenix, Huntington Beach, Everett, Tacoma and Olympia. 1390 01:06:58,750 --> 01:07:01,417 During these last several months, 1391 01:07:01,500 --> 01:07:04,500 thousands of volunteers have invested 1392 01:07:04,583 --> 01:07:07,292 countless numbers of hours 1393 01:07:07,333 --> 01:07:11,167 into these local churches, and I want to say thank you, 1394 01:07:11,208 --> 01:07:16,167 thank you for loving and serving your local church family. 1395 01:07:16,208 --> 01:07:18,833 But there's still lots to do. 1396 01:07:18,875 --> 01:07:22,833 Right now we're praying for $2 million to come in above 1397 01:07:22,875 --> 01:07:26,833 and beyond normal tithes and offerings to go to things 1398 01:07:26,917 --> 01:07:31,000 like finishing the renovation of our five churches, 1399 01:07:31,083 --> 01:07:35,250 sponsoring additional church planters in Ethiopia and India, 1400 01:07:35,333 --> 01:07:40,500 going from 43 church planters to 73 for 2014. 1401 01:07:40,583 --> 01:07:43,333 Next it's going to go to fund operating costs to get 1402 01:07:43,417 --> 01:07:46,208 Corban University at Mars Hill Church 1403 01:07:46,292 --> 01:07:48,417 and Western Seminary at Mars Hill Church 1404 01:07:48,500 --> 01:07:51,500 launched fall 2014. 1405 01:07:51,542 --> 01:07:56,958 Finally, it's going to go to fund Jesus Festival 2014. 1406 01:07:57,000 --> 01:07:59,500 It's gonna be on Friday August the 22nd. 1407 01:07:59,542 --> 01:08:02,958 It's gonna be outdoor baptisms, a celebration of Jesus Christ 1408 01:08:03,000 --> 01:08:06,875 and an old-style outside revival. 1409 01:08:06,958 --> 01:08:09,083 Mars Hill Church, we are so excited 1410 01:08:09,167 --> 01:08:12,750 to end the year 2013 in an amazing way 1411 01:08:12,833 --> 01:08:17,208 and launch 2014 which is poised to be 1412 01:08:17,292 --> 01:08:20,458 our greatest and most evangelistic year ever. 1413 01:08:27,583 --> 01:08:30,500 Each year, over 10 million Mars Hill church sermons 1414 01:08:30,583 --> 01:08:33,625 are downloaded worldwide for free. 1415 01:08:33,667 --> 01:08:36,208 This ministry is generously supported 1416 01:08:36,292 --> 01:08:38,833 by Mars Hill church members and listeners like you. 1417 01:08:38,917 --> 01:08:42,417 If you'd like to support our efforts to preach Jesus to the world, 1418 01:08:42,500 --> 01:08:45,417 Please consider making a tax-deductible donation 1419 01:08:45,500 --> 01:08:48,333 by visiting marshill.com/give.