Sermon Central
-
A "Trust" Fund - Tithing - Tithe - 10%
Contributed by Jerry Shirley on May 18, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: Tactful yet Truthful presentation on money, stewardship, and trust. Link included to Formatted Text Version, Handout, and ready-made Powerpoint Presentation.
The “Trust” Fund
Mal. 3:7-11
God is interested in your money. Not because He needs your money…for He certainly does not!…but because YOU need it! Since you are imp’t to God, your money is imp’t to God.
God is interested in how you secure it/spend it/save it/share it. Immediately, some people say…don’t talk about money, preacher, talk about something spiritual. That kind of statement shows a lack of Biblical knowledge, and a lack of spiritual insight. For nothing is more spiritual than how you handle your money. It is the supreme test of where our heart is.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Adrian Rogers: “a faith that hasn’t reached your wallet, probably hasn’t reached your heart.”
Money is something we use everyday, it’s our medium of exchange, our very survival depends on it. How can Jesus Christ be Lord, and not be Lord over our money? How can he care about us, and not care about that which is so intrinsically tied to our very survival?
“Don’t talk about money, preacher, talk about something spiritual…wait just a minute! The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil! If all the evil in this world is directly or indirectly traced back to a love of money, then that means there is nothing more spiritual that we can talk about today, than our attitude toward money.
Eccles. 10:19
… money answereth all things.
“But, it’s uncomfortable…I don’t like it when the preacher talks about money.” If that’s true, you would not have liked the preaching of Jesus Christ. When He walked this earth, he gave 36 parables, and 16 of them had to do w/ our attitude toward money! 1 out of every 10 verses in the NT deals w/ our attitude toward money!
Verses about faith…about 500/prayer—500/money—over 2,000
Remember the story Jesus told about the widow’s mites? The Pharisees were giving their large offerings, and the little lady gave her 2 mites. That whole story has to do w/ our attitude toward money. If God’s not interested in money, then why include that story in His Word?
Unjust steward—Lk. 16…at the end of the story Jesus said, if you have not been faithful w/ your money, who do you expect to commit to you the true riches? That whole story has to do w/ our attitude toward money. If God’s not interested in money, then why include that story in His Word?
Rich Young Ruler—came to Jesus and asked what he had to do to be His follower…Jesus said, sell all you have, come and follow me. But he couldn’t do it, he went away sorrowful, because he didn’t own his possessions…they owned him! That whole story has to do w/ our attitude toward money. If God’s not interested in money, then why include that story in His Word?
Clearly, God is interested in your money!
I’ll tell you who else is interested in your money…Satan! It is his desire to keep you under a curse/in bondage. And the best way he can do that is to affect your attitude toward money in a negative way.
Ever use fly paper? As a kid in Jacksonville, I remember mom hanging it in our house…it was somewhat curly, and she would hang it from the ceiling…I thought it was christmas or something! Well, fly paper has on its surface a sweet, honey-like substance, which is also very sticky. It’s a simple principle: the fly approaches saying, I want the honey, want the honey, want the honey! He lands and begins to eat, saying, I got the honey, got the honey, got the honey…and he tries to leave and the paper says, I got the fly, got the fly, got the fly!
Many people today run around saying, I want the money, want the money, want the money…and before they know it, the money has got them!
Oh yes, God is interested in your money/so is Satan…
…and one more person is interested in your money:
You are! Don’t look at me like mother Teresa, because you know it, you are!
Some churches these days hold their people accountable to the tithe, even requiring them to show what they make in salaries, and calling them in if they get behind! While I don’t agree with that method, studies done in such churches have revealed some startling statistics: 3-7% total giving. Folks: that’s not tithing!
Joke-- “home of 5% tithe!” [incomplete obedience]
Honestly, it’s hard for me to imagine that our average here is much below 10%, as good as the offerings have been. But obedience is not about a church average, it’s all about what YOU give.
The word “tithe” literally means tenth…ten percent…it’s God’s perfect plan. The wisdom of God planned for us a method of giving which is completely fair and equal to all who will obey, no matter what you make!
