Does God Care About My Finances?

Happy Sunday everybody, it's going to be in church. Hey, give somebody an elbow so it's going to be a good one today. It's going to be a good one. You guys know I ask every Sunday at Church how many Christians brought your Bibles to Church, Christians who love the Lord, brought your Bibles very good. You can open up to Matthew chapter 6 and also Malachi chapter 3 will be a little bit ahead and at the end Matthew 23. So Matthew 6, Marker and Malachi 3, a little later, Matthew 23. If you're new or you haven't been here last couple of weeks, we are in a series called By Popular Demand and what that means is we didn't design this series here at Church, it wasn't the pastor's, it wasn't the leaders, it was you guys by the survey that you filled out during Resurrection weekend this year, everybody filled out the survey and we ask you, hey, what topics would you like us to talk about and preach about from God's Word, what questions do you have? And as always, you guys ask some great, great questions. And so we do this because often when we see Jesus teaching anytime in the New Testament, often it's because somebody kind of raised their hand and asked the question and Jesus takes advantage because when there's questions, he brings answers. Amen? So our production team and our creative team, they prepared a wheel. Let's get the By Popular Demand wheel on the board. There we go and they have prepared this multi-billion dollar technology button. On the count of three, we're all going to say By Popular Demand and we're going to press the button. Are you ready? Here we go. One, two, three. By Popular Demand. Let's go. Let's see what it is. Let's see what it is. What is today's subject? What did you guys pick? What question did you ask? Does God care about my finances? Come on, give it up. You guys asked another great question. Another great question. Does God care about my finances? All right, so today's subject is one that everybody has to deal with.

Everybody is affected by. Everybody has a philosophy on how this should be used, and yet nobody teaches us enough about it when we're growing up in school. Most people like to talk about it and even criticize the other way other people use it, but they don't quite often like for a pastor to talk about it in church. We're talking today about money. Everybody say money. Now, people don't usually mind if you talk about money in general, but in church, for some reason, it can be a sensitive subject. And let me just say I get it. I get it because, unfortunately, throughout history and years, there have been some bad examples of pastors and churches who have not handled money with integrity or transparency from pastors taking verses out of context, manipulating people to give to preachers, teaching a prosperity gospel under the false pretense that if you sow on a certain amount today, by midnight tonight, you'll be a millionaire. These types of ideologies that are not biblical in any way or others who simply just lack financial integrity and zero accountability. Thankfully, that's not the case with most churches and pastors, and definitely not here. We are very transparent about everything when it comes to the church finances, but we also want to be good stewards because we want to honor the Lord. Now, I am a pastor here at this church who believes that whatever Jesus talked about, I should probably talk about. Whatever Jesus preached about, if I'm a pastor in the Christian church who follows Jesus, I should probably preach on some of the things that he preached about. And Jesus did talk about money a lot. In fact, there's over 2,000 scriptures in the Bible on money. Check this out. Jesus talked about money more than faith, prayer, or even heaven. 40% of the parables that he taught were related to money or financial principles, including the parable of the talents. So the big idea today, I want to give you kind of in a sentence here, the big idea today is this. God cares about your finances

because he cares about your heart. He wants you free. He longs for you to trust him, and he wants you, he wants to open windows of blessings over your life. Amen? So the title of today's message is precisely the question. Does God care about my finances? Let's pray. Lord, we invite you into this moment and we ask you, Holy Spirit, please speak to our lives, minister to our hearts, help us understand principles from your word that will help us in this area of our lives so that we can honor you and so the rest of us. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. I want to share with you today five biblical truths about money. Something kind of interesting regarding Jesus' teaching about money is that Jesus never asked for money, but he did receive money for his ministry if you read in the gospels. There were people including even women who were entrepreneurs who had businesses who also helped fund a lot of the ministry of Jesus and the disciples in the time that the ministry was active. Now here's a question. Why would Jesus consistently talk about something that he never overtly asked for? That's a good question. Maybe it's because of what he was truly after. And you need to understand that Jesus is always after something. And let me just tell you the more you read the word and the more you get into the word, the more you understand that Jesus is always after people.

He is after hearts. He loves people and so he wants our hearts. His desire is not to have part of you. His desire is to have all of you. His desire is not to have 50% or 60% of my heart and me. His desire is to have all of me. And so let me give you truth number one today. Truth number one, biblical truth is about money. Two number one is money is a heart issue. What is money? A heart issue. I want to read together in Matthew chapter six, which by the way, this is an excerpt from the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus talks about many different subjects, kind of a big collage of subjects in a powerful, powerful sermon. But in this part of the text, Matthew six verses 19 to 21, it reads, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal but store up for yourselves treasures where? In heaven where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal." Here it is, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Jesus connects our money to our hearts. Ask me why, ask me why. Because what we do with our money

reveals often what's most and strongest in our hearts. Jesus is always after our heart. Let me give you a line here for those who take notes. God is after your heart, not your wallet. So for anybody who's scared right now, holding really tight and clenching, your butt cheeks, don't worry about it. Nobody will force you to do anything you don't want to do. Maybe, maybe Jesus talked about money because he knew that nothing has the power to connect with, capture, and even contaminate the heart like money. He knew how easily money could become a rival with him in our hearts. He knew that if you truly want to know a person's heart, don't just listen to their lips, look at their bank account. Ask me why, ask me why. Because lips lie, but numbers don't. Are you with me? All someone has to do worse to see what where you are most invested is to follow the trail of your time, your talents, and your treasures. That includes your finances. Truth number two. So the first one, it's an issue of the heart. Truth number two, you cannot serve two masters. Can you say it with me? You cannot serve two masters.

Jesus continues on in verse 24 of Matthew six, and he says, no one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Isn't that an odd comparison? That God would say you cannot serve God and money. He didn't say you cannot serve God and your spouse. He didn't say you cannot serve God and your job. He did not say you cannot serve God and your children. As if saying, hey, hey, those things really aren't gonna compete. He said you cannot serve God and money. This is an interesting comparison because you know the greatness of something by what you compare it to. Let me give you an example. Let me give you, let me give you an example, okay? Nobody get riled up as just an example. If we talk about basketball players in history, but I heard a lot of LeBron, right? I might have heard LeBron, I heard Kurt Coby, somebody there. Last service, which was Spanish, somebody sent you a kill, but it was Spanish service, so. (audience laughs) My point is, my point is, you're gonna hear LeBron, you might hear Coby, but can I say, can we agree that whatever name is mentioned there is a high, is a high weight, right?

You're not gonna say there, goodness, Larry Bird. Larry Bird. Although he was amazing, but he's not up there. Are you with me? So there's, you know the greatness of something by what it's compared to. If I say, hey, similar side on the soccer side, Leonel Messi or? I don't know, yeah? Last service, we had a other generation, so we heard Belé and Maradona, right? (audience laughs) My point is, my point is, whatever name you mention there, it's a heavy weight, right? Because you know the greatness of something by what you compare it to. And our God says that the only thing fighting for ultimate authority in your life that's on the same level as him is what? His money. That's how potential, potentially powerful and dangerous money can be. He knew that the number one competitor for the ultimate authority in your heart is not your job, it's not your kids, it's money. Now think about this, we have a God who has a voice. And if he has a voice, what does he do? He speaks, he talks, right? And we see it from the beginning of creation and the Lord spoke and he created.

And in the Word of God, we can see that God speaks, for example, God says to us, his children, find your identity in me. God speaks to his Word and says, hey, believe in me. God says in his Word to us, trust in me with all of your heart and don't lean on your own understanding. This competitor that God has in the heart, which is money, also has a voice, which means that money also talks. What will money tell you? Money will tell you, trust me like you trust God. Money will tell you, believe in me like you believe in him. Money will tell you, let me open some doors for you. Money will tell you, let me give you some power. Money will tell you, let me guide you. Money will tell you, let me be the one who determines the decisions that you make and don't make. Money will say, let me be the one you refer to first. Does anybody following me? Now, there's nothing wrong with working hard, saving money, investing wisely, building a successful business, working hard making. That's, these could be good things. The problem comes when we expect money to do what only God can do. And by the way, money lies and makes false promises. Money promises security, but it cannot guarantee tomorrow. Money promises identity, but it cannot tell you who you are. Money promises freedom, but an uncontrolled desire for more can become another bondage and change in your life.

Money promises happiness, but the next purchase that ever seems to satisfy us very long. Money makes promises that cannot keep. Only God can be the true foundation of your life. And if you fall for the false promises of money, eventually you discover that you thought you owned the money when in reality the money owned you. And so, Jesus is intentional here. Now, here's the good news. God is a better master than money will ever be. Let me give you this quote. If money is your master, you'll never have enough. If God is your master, you can learn to live with enough. God calls us to trust him, to walk in wisdom and to discover that our life is worth more than just possessions. Are you with me? Are you tracking with me? Truth number three. You honor God with your first and your best. Say it with me. You honor God with your first and your best. I want to go to Malachi chapter three. Some people are like, I knew today was a day that I should have not come to church. I promise you, it could change the rest of your life. This principle. Malachi chapter three, this is one of the key passages in scripture about tithing. And if you don't know what tithing is,

I'm gonna explain it a little bit. If you do know what it is, I really encourage you to ask the Lord to open your heart and your mind to it even more. Malachi chapter three, verses six to 12. In the book of Malachi, it's a lot. The Lord speaking to his people to return to him. And it says in Malachi three, verse six. It says, "I, the Lord, do not change." Pause, the Lord doesn't, what? Ever since the time of your ancestors, you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept me telling them, hey, you keep living outside of my ways. You're not doing things right. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord Almighty. But you ask, how are we to return? Will a mere mortal rob God, yet you rob me? But you ask, how are we robbing you? And God says, in tithes and offerings, you are under a curse, your whole nation, because you are robbing me, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty. Who says it? The Lord Almighty. And see if I will not check out this promise. Throw open the windows or the floodgates of heaven

and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent the pests from devouring or crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe, says the Lord Almighty. Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land, says the Lord Almighty. So the book of Malachi was written between 430 and 400 BC. After Israelites had returned from exile, the temple had been built, but they were still living, not right. They weren't living right according to what God had called and to live, and the condition of their hearts prevented them from giving to God when it comes to tithes and offerings. Often, the reason you don't give to God is not because you don't have, it's because of the condition of your heart. Sometimes it's because you don't have, but that's because your life's out of order, and God's not first. God is addressing their hearts here in the book of Malachi, and their hearts are causing them to withhold something that they should be returning to the Lord. They were blind to the fact that God had given them something and they were supposed to take a portion of what God gave them and return it to him. Now, if you notice, there was a very, very awesome blessing in Malachi chapter three. I call it the windows of heaven open blessing,

and I don't know about you, but this is the promise. The promise that God says in exchange, in exchange the condition for you when you come back to me, when you honor me with your tithe and offering, God says there's a promise, but the promise is conditional. And what is the promise? The promise is I will open the floodgates of heaven of blessing over you. Now, I don't know about you, but if there's a blessing that I want to sign up for, it's that one. And so here's what I want to say is this is an awesome promise that is available. The promise is available. However, there is a condition. It's a conditional promise. In other words, you and I have a role in it. We have a role in righteousness. We have a role in obedience. Throughout the Bible, we see that God partners with us. Constantly, it says if we move towards God, he will move towards us. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. If you want the windows of heaven, the floodgates of heaven blessing on your life, you can't just say, well, Jesus, I accepted you as my savior. I'm ready for the floodgates to open. I mean, you could say it, but that's not the key that opens the floodgates. Is anybody following me? When you and I return and release to him the tithe,

that the first 10%, then this is the key that unlocks the windows, the floodgates of heaven blessing. That's the key. Have you ever had a door that you lost the key to it? And it's like, where's that key? Well, this is the key that unlocks it. Now, this passage reveals God's concern for faithful worship and for his provision for his people under that covenant. Everybody say with me, tithe. It's not a bad word, okay? Some of you are like, never said in my life. It's not a bad word, it's okay. Tive, tithe literally means the definition is a 10th. In our terminology nowadays, 10%. So why give a 10th? Why not give whatever we feel like giving or whatever we feel in our hearts to give? Because biblical giving is not simply about the amount, it's also about the order and the priority. Let me show you a verse. Proverbs three, verse nine, up on the screen says, honor the Lord with your wealth with the first fruits of all of your crops. With the what? First fruits, the biblical principle is to honor God with the first and the best. God doesn't want to be the last item on our financial checklist. He should be and expects to be first. Oh, but God understands, no, no, no. God understands that we are often out of order. Now, here's the argument that people that get upset at pastors like me who preach this and

preach about the tithe, here's the main argument. Main argument, well, many say Christians, many say, tithing is the Old Testament. So it doesn't apply to us today. And I will be here and I will raise my hand and say, I don't believe that's true. They say, and there could be some of you here today. It's okay. I still love you. You can still love me. We're okay. But they say the tithe was under the covenant of the law, but we're now under the covenant of grace. So Malachi does not apply to us now. And I would say that's partial truth. How many of you know that Satan uses partial truths to work against us sometimes? Yes, Malachi is in the Old Testament, but the mistake is assuming that everything in the Old Testament is irrelevant to believers today. And that just is not true. The better question is, how do Christians today relate to the Old Testament? Because by the way, in the New Testament, there's a book called Second Timothy 3 or 16 that actually says all scripture is God breathed and inspired by the Holy Spirit. All scripture from Genesis to Revelation for teaching, for instructing, for correcting. That's in the New Testament. So the question is not does this apply at all? The question is, how does this apply now through Christ? In the Old Testament, a little bit of teaching here, a little bit of teaching. In the Old Testament, there are three categories of law. There is moral law, there is ceremonial law, and there is civil or national law. Moral law is still binding today. These are universal principles. The character of God doesn't change. He says that at the beginning of Malachi, I am the Lord and I don't change. God is the same. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. How we honor God, how we trust God, how we put him first, that doesn't change. By the way, the Old Testament says in the commandments, it says, "Thou shalt not murder." So does it mean now that we don't go by that because that's in the Old Testament? The New Testament doesn't need to bring it up because it's already established as part of God's character, how we live, no matter what covenant, we're in, what dispensation we're in, or whether we're pre-cross or post-cross. Then there's ceremonial law. Ceremonial law, these are fulfilled in Christ. These are the sacrifices and the temple rituals. It's the reason why before coming in today, we didn't have to kill any animals outside and bring their blood into atone for our sins because Jesus was the last lamb of God that needed to be sacrificed and his blood shed was enough to forgive and atone for all of our sins, all of humanity, forever. Those laws are done away with because Jesus Christ fulfilled them, ceremonial law. Then there's the civil and national law. These are meant for the nation of Israel, government, structure and law. So where does tithing fit? Tithing, the principle, not the

law, the principle of tithing, is tied to worship. It's tied to honor and it's tied to building his house. Those principles have not changed, which means that it reflects a moral eternal principle, not a temporary ritual law. By the way, by the way, for those who argue, "Oh, the tithe is from the law." I'm here to argue the tithe was before the law because we see in Genesis 14 Abraham tived before 100 years before the law was even put into place. So for anybody who argues about the law, tithing predates the law. When Abraham tived to Melchizedek, who's an Old Testament shadow of Christ, that's a whole other teaching. Abraham was sending a message to all of us that when we are in battle, when we gain, when we increase, we honor God and we return to him, his portion. And when you do that, that unlocks and unleashes open windows blessings in your life. My greatest reason as a New Testament believer to tithe is what Jesus says in Matthew 23 23 to kind of put a, I guess, put a little cherry on top. In Matthew 23 23, Jesus says, "What sorrows awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law, justice, mercy, and faith." Jesus says, "You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things." So the only time that Jesus talks about the tithe, what did he say? Yeah, you should tithe. Don't neglect all the other things and the important thing, but you should tithe. Jesus actually affirms the tithe because it's a principle that's in God's word. By the way, when you study Jesus, he was a master pivator. In the New Testament, you always, but I come and say this, right? You have heard it this, but let me flip it over to this side of the pancake, right? This would have been a great opportunity for him to say, you guys have heard you should tithe. Well, let me tell you, bye bye tithe, he didn't do that. He didn't do that. He actually said, no, yeah, you should tithe. There's not one verse in the New Testament that tells us to stop tithing. Why?

Because it's a universal principle where we give God, check it out, the first and the best, and we do it as a form of honor and worship, not as a tax that's being imposed on us. The New Testament standard of giving goes further than the Old Testament. In other words, if you really want to be a whole, like, oh, Old Testament, New Testament, actually, actually goes further. In the New Testament, there's no command to stop tithing, but there's a clear command to radical generosity and sacrificial giving, and whole life surrender. The fact too says that the people were selling all their possessions and giving it to the church. Like, that's what, if you want to go to New Testament. So the shift from Old Testament to New Testament is not, as some Christians believe, oh, from returning to God 10% to zero percent because now we don't have to. I would say, no, the shift is actually from 10%, probably closer to 100% of giving our lives as a sacrifice to the Lord. Why? Ask me why, ask me why. Because the New Testament and grace always raises the bar. Check it out, check it out. In the Old Testament, the law, what did it say? Thou shalt not commit adultery. New Testament, Jesus raises the bar.

He says, if you look at a woman with lust in your heart, you have committed adultery with her in your heart. Question, is that lowering the bar or raising the bar? That's raising the bar. Your clothes are still on in your committing adultery. Are you following me? So the New Testament and grace doesn't lower the bar. It actually raises the bar. Grace doesn't weaken us to give lust, grace strengthens us to give more. So if you're the kind of person who's trying to go to the Bible to find doctrinal reasons not to give, let me just tell you, you're going the wrong direction. 'Cause in the New Testament, the direction is always up, not down. We should be trying to figure out, how do we do more? Jesus gave his blood and life on the cross for us. I mean, just listen to this debate. And if you're on that side, just listen to this debate. Jesus, I fought hard against those people who really wanted to give you the first and the best. Jesus, I fought hard against those people who wanted to keep on giving 10% or more. I wanted to convince them. They don't got to give you anything, Jesus. 'Cause we're in the grace. Which by the way, when people don't feel a conviction on giving a specific amount, the average Christian gives less than 1%. If they even give, I got your back Lord,

I got your back, I'm convincing people, they don't got to give to you. If that's the position, I don't know where it is. All right, truth number four, truth number four. Here it is, here it is. You are a steward, not the owner. You are a steward, not the owner. The key to you truly giving God the first and the best, the tithe, is to understand and realize, I am a steward, I'm not the owner. Psalm 24 verse one says, the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all its people belong to him. I don't own anything, anything that's in my possession or is something that I am a steward of. Why? Because it all belongs to God. Can I tell you the same thing for you and for me? Your income, your abilities, your opportunities, your possessions, it's all his. It's all his. We work hard to earn money and we should be responsible with it, yes. But ultimately, God is the source of everything we have. We are not owners who occasionally give God something. We are stewards who manage what already belongs to him. That changes the question. So now the question isn't, well, God, how much of my money are you wanting me to give you? No, no, no, it's God.

What are you asking of me with what's yours? How can I steward it? Is anybody following me? There's a shortage of amen today, but that's okay. That's all right. I understand. Instead of treating giving as a loss, we recognize that giving to God is an opportunity of worship. Here's a good point. To settle the ownership question, you can begin to settle the stewardship question. Now, I've got to confess to you guys. Sometimes I get a little nervous, like a day like today, because I have to take my family out to lunch and I forgot my wallet. Because-- thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Luis. Thank you, Luis. That's a friend right there. [APPLAUSE] Everybody needs a Luis in their life. This is enough. This is enough for me to take my family to lunch and my mother-in-law. Now, let's talk about this for a moment. When I said, I needed some money right now, why did Luis get up and give me this? It's not just because he's an amazing friend. It's because right before the service,

I went to him and I gave him my $100. And I said, Luis, when I say this, I want you to come up and return to me my $100. Are you following me? Does anybody think that right now Luis is hurting because he had to return to me what was already mine? No, because he understands that this wasn't his. He was stewarding it for a few minutes. But when he had to give it back to me, there was no pain, there was no distress. He is not right now thinking, I can't believe I had to give him that, because he understands that he was a steward. I'm the owner. All right, let me give you another illustration. Let's just say similar to some of the situations. Let's just say that Luis needed to borrow my car. And something happened in his car. I'm able to let him use my car. I said, Luis, here's my car. He could use it for a week. A week later, a week later, Luis and Marcella come back to me. And they come, they put some nice romantic music. And they say, pastor, we feel on our hearts something that God put on our hearts. And we just have to do it. And I'm like, OK, what is it? And then they hand me back my keys. And they say, we're giving you this car. [LAUGHTER] What would we all say?

You're crazy, Luis and Marcella. You're not giving me anything. You're returning to me what's already mine. And somehow, if and when we give to God, we have this approach as if we're giving him something that belongs to us. ,so when I understand that I am a steward and not an owner, it doesn't hurt me to return what's already is. But the crazy thing is he says, here's 100%. Keep 90. Honor me with the first 10. That's it. And somehow, we have the inability to do that. A, because our lives are out of order, and we're living above our actual budget. And other things are first, not Jesus. Or B, because our hearts are unwilling to give. I don't want anything from you. I want everything for you. This changed my life. Somehow, the reason we grieve over our money that we give is because we think it was ours. I want you to understand something church. The reason I teach this and I preach this is because I live it and because it changed my life. You know, just Lane and I, we were already tithing as singles in our teenagers. I learned in my teenager from as a kid, hey, a birthday party. Oh, I got $120 for my birthday. $12, go to the Lord.

That's just the time, that's just-- Thankfully, when it becomes a natural discipline in your life, it never hurts, because it's now a natural discipline. But my wife and I learned something in our first couple years of marriage. I think it was in our early years of marriage, where we always gave 10%, however we realized that the blessing and the promises on the first 10%, because in those first years, we always gave 10%, but sometimes we would give it at the end of the month, if you know what I'm saying. And we began to understand the first fruits principle, which is I don't give the last, because if I give the last, there's nothing left to bless. But when I give the first, he can bless the rest. So if I have a business, and let's say I got paid, and somebody paid me for my services, $1,000, and they hand me 10 $100 bills, my question is which one is the tithe? The first one that leaves my hand. That's the principle. It's not, well, let me pay my mortgage first. Let me pay this and that. And then if there's enough, because that's the approach. So when it becomes a discipline of a disciple, a rhythm, and so that changed our life as a couple, because we realized, wow, it's first. He is first. Truth number five, truth number five,

and I'll leave you with this. The tithe is a test. Have you guys ever seen that show "Undercover Boss"? Where the boss is kind of incognito and dressed up and then what's the whole point? The whole point is, it's a little bit of a test for the other people, like the other staff, people that don't know that it's the boss and they're training them, right? And it's kind of a test of how are you gonna treat them and how are you doing your job, right? Just like many unsuspecting people on "Undercover Boss", I think many believers don't know that there's a test in the Bible and God gives you a test every couple of weeks. Every time you get paid. Quick survey, quick survey. How many of you get paid once a week? Once a week, once a week. Okay, how many of you get paid once every two weeks or twice a month? Okay, how many get paid monthly, once a month? A couple, okay, how many get never get paid? Nobody ever pays you? Lord, I pray for them. Unless they're students, that's okay, Lord. Now, check it out. Every time we get paid, we take a test and here's the test. The test is, who are you going to thank for your income?

And you take that test by what you do with the first 10% of your income. Who are you going to honor and worship for your income? Many people thank and honor Visa and MasterCard. 'Cause that's the first thing that's paid. But the problem is that Visa and MasterCard cannot bless or open the windows of blessing over your life. Many thank their mortgage company. The problem is your mortgage company does not have the power to bless the rest of your finances or to open the windows of blessing in your life. Every paycheck is actually a heart check. Every check is a check. The tithe is a test. God is testing our hearts. So when a person argues about, when a Christian, not a person, 'cause I understand a person who doesn't know Jesus, but when a Christian argues about tithing, I think to myself, what is the spirit behind this fight? Why would this person argue when God gave his first for us? His best for us? And you won't even return back a portion? By the way, it's all his. Why would I argue about this? You wanna know why there's argue? You wanna know why there's tension? You wanna know the way. You wanna know why there's people right now who are frustrated and controlling themselves not to leave?

It's 'cause it's a test. It's 'cause it's a test. It's a spiritual test. The word tithe literally means a 10th, 10%. Why did God choose 10%? Because it's a proportionate percentage. It's not unequal, it's not unfair. If you make a hundred, it's 10. If you make a thousand, it's a hundred. If you make 10,000, it's a thousand, it's proportionate. It's 10%. By the way, 10 is a number that represents testing throughout all the Bible. Remember the plagues in Egypt to set the people free? How many plagues, 10, 10 tests? Anybody remember how many commandments? 10. How many times did God test Israel in the wilderness? 10. How many days was Daniel tested? 10. How many virgins were tested in Matthew 25? Anybody remember? 10. How many disciples? 12. (audience laughing) Just testing you, I was testing you. So God develops tithing to test us. For some reason, when it comes to our finances,

it's a bigger test than anything else he could have developed. Because it's a hard issue. But he knew what he was doing. And every few weeks, or whenever you get paid, it's a test. It's interesting because it's the one place of the Bible where he says, "Test me, test me, test me in this. Try me." And so you and I have to come to the conclusion. Here's basically the conclusion that we should come to as children of God is my perspective. Here it is, here it is. We have to choose to believe that 90% with God's supernatural blessing will go farther than 100% without it. (gentle piano music) And the incredible thing is that God says in Al-Qaeda, "Try me." He says, "Test me." Tithing is the one area in the Bible that God gives us the opportunity to test him to see if his word works or not. Test me. We don't give to get, we get to give. By the way, it is not abnormal when a person starts to obey God in tithing. Not abnormal, when a person literally starts, that there is some kind of attack of the enemy or some kind of distraction or issue to try to distract them and steal the seed

and try to say, "Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. And so I'm just saying it as the word of encouragement as you begin to do it to test. God doesn't test to see whether he's gonna make us rich. You know, it's a test to see if we trust him. We honor him with our resources. We leave the outcome in his hands. So as I wanna make a call to action, can we just agree on something? You're all big boys and girls here. So you can go home and do whatever you want and not do whatever you want. You gotta live to the level of your faith. You have to live at the level of your revelation of God's word. I don't want you giving because you think there's condemnation or because you feel it's an obligation. I don't want you giving because giving and being mad at God or being mad at the pastor of the church. If that's the case, just keep it, boo boo, don't worry. We don't need it. I don't need it. God doesn't need anything from any of us. But I'm here to help build your faith and point you to Jesus because I would love to see in your life open floodgates blessing. But I know a lot of Christians who don't experience open floodgates blessing because they're not using the key. Vertical church, what would happen if we became a church where every person understood that God is the owner

and we are the stewards and that every opportunity where we have increase in income is an opportunity to honor him with what's his. What would happen if we became more intentional about giving more consistent in our generosity and more passionate about investing in eternity? What would happen if we truly took God's word and tried him and tested him? Speaking of that, I'm gonna do that right now. I'm gonna test you. This is called the 310 tithe challenge. It's in a lot of the seat back pockets. Some of you have never seen it because some of you are allergic to envelopes or tithes and things like that. But you won't get sick, you won't get sick. The 310 tithe challenge is exactly a test. And let me tell you, if you've never looked at it, you can read all that right there. And it basically says, hey, it's a test. And we're telling you, we're asking you to test God for 90 days, that's three months, 90 days, commit to actually giving God the first 10%, actually tithing. And somebody who wants to take the 310 tithe challenge, you gotta fill it out and fill it out with the date and the name. And here's what the 310 tithe challenge is. If you do that for 90 days, after those 90 days, you have 30 days. And if you say, you know what?

I have not seen or felt God do anything in my life. This is just the pastor and the church trying to trick me out of my money. You can request your money back from what you gave in that period. I dare you. Test them, I dare you. Or are you chicken? Yeah. Listen, if God says, test me? I'm not gonna test him in anything. Oh, he hasn't said test me in. But in this, and so the 310 tithe challenge is out there. You can fill it out. You can fill it in any of the tithe or giving boxes or give it to a leader if you want. But it's there. Don't say that God didn't give you the opportunity. So here's the reality. If you are here and you've never tithed before, this could be your opportunity to begin taking steps. And I wanna go back one step. Some of you can't give, literally, because your finances are so out of order, because you're living outside of your means, because your expenses are more than your income. And because God's not first, tithe's not happening. And so sometimes I've seen people who have had to downsize in their expenses.

I'm talking about downsize to honor the Lord. And then in the future, I've seen them upgrade again. I'm just saying it out. I'm not saying it because anybody, maybe it's you. I don't know. Maybe you used to tithe or used to give, but somewhere along the journey you stopped, this is your opportunity to realize and say, God, I'm gonna test you. Your word says, test me. I'm gonna test you. Maybe you've been a faithful titer. And maybe the voice of the Holy Spirit saying, hey, I'm challenging you to up it a percentage or two. The Lord's done that with us in what we call legacy giving, giving beyond our tithe in legacy donations and giving. Which, by the way, that's when generosity actually begins, because returning the tithe is already his, generosity is where I'm getting beyond what he's asking me to return, tithe, offerings. Wherever you are, I want to invite you to take your next faithful step. Encourage. this has nothing to do with your salvation. You can be saved and broke. You can be saved and you'll go to heaven. But not have a window, open windows blessing, flood gates blessing in your life. I want that for you. I want that for your family.

I want that for our church. What could the Lord do? What could the Lord do? The average person Christian who even gives, because there's a good percentage of Christians who never give. Like imagine if you went to a restaurant and never paid, like you can't, you pay for the food. There are people who come and get fed. Week in, week out for years and never always give a bill. That's tricky, but, but. God loves us no matter what. So here's my challenges. What is God? What might be God calling you to? In honoring him with the first and the best. Is he worthy of it? Let's pray, let's pray. Thank you Lord for your word that teaches us and guides us. Thank you because you care about every area of our lives. Thank you that we don't have to hide or fake it. We can be honest and sincere with you. We do believe that you are gyro provider and Lord we want your help in understanding that you are the owner and we are the stewards. Give us wisdom to manage what you've entrusted to us. Give us discipline to make wise decisions. Give us courage to take the right next steps and give us, give us faith to trust you in every step of every season.

Lord for those who are struggling financially, I pray that you would give them encouragement and help and wise counsel so that they could start taking steps in the direction of honoring you and putting you first. I pray for those who have plenty that they would continue to cultivate that generosity and humility as you continue to bless in so many ways. For every family, bring wisdom, bring peace and bring guidance and help us be a church that continues to honor you since we are a church who actually tithes. We give you all the glory and all the honor. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.