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SPEAKER_01: So, gentlemen, uh, all the dads, all the men in the room.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm preaching to you today.
SPEAKER_01: I'm preaching to all of us, but especially kind of a focal point on the guys today in the room.
SPEAKER_01: And what a pleasure to be preaching on greed on Father's Day.
SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about that a minute, you know, and I'm serious.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just kind of speak to the men in the room, dads, granddads.
SPEAKER_01: You know, um, there's nothing wrong in life with wanting to do well in life.
SPEAKER_01: To have a good job, to make a good living.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing wrong with that.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing wrong with wanting to have a nice house or a nicer house.
SPEAKER_01: Or to one day save your money and have a nicer car, right?
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe if your job's not doing what it you want it to do, to change jobs, to have a higher level of income, to take your family on a vacation at some point, or to give your kids a nice Christmas.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing wrong with any of that.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, I would even say that there's everything right with that.
SPEAKER_01: That like you should want to do well for yourself and your family.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible talks about work, it talks about how the worker is worthy of his wages, talks about all of that.
SPEAKER_01: But then there's this thing called greed, which we're going to talk about today.
SPEAKER_01: We're talking about the battles of spiritual warfare and these things that creep into our lives.
SPEAKER_01: So you got this thing called greed.
SPEAKER_01: Uh so where's the line?
SPEAKER_01: That's that's that's what we're talking about.
SPEAKER_01: Like, where's that line between crossing over from wanting to do well and wanting more in the right way, and then there's greed?
SPEAKER_01: Like, what's that line?
SPEAKER_01: And I think, as I was thinking through and preparing for this, I think I would say it this way.
SPEAKER_01: I think I would say it this way.
SPEAKER_01: When if you get to the point, when you get to the point where you're working harder for gold than you are for God, then you've crossed the line, and that's greed.
SPEAKER_01: When you're spending more time and energy striving for more gold than you are time and energy striving for more God, somewhere there you've crossed that line and you've got this thing called greed.
SPEAKER_01: Can we all agree on that?
SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, men in the room, you know, we we understand that we've got this responsibility, really, like to the next generation, right?
SPEAKER_01: We want our kids to not be be children who are greedy, which I think we kind of inherently come out of the womb that way.
SPEAKER_01: We want our kids to fight that, and we want them to be generous.
SPEAKER_01: So, where are they gonna learn that, man?
SPEAKER_01: They learn it from us, and we learn it from the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: So I've I've got a story I want to share with you today out of Acts chapter five.
SPEAKER_01: So if you got your Bible, you got a way to access God's word on a phone or a tablet, turn or scroll to Acts chapter five, and we'll put all of this on the screen like we always do.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna share with you a story today of greed, and it's a bad story.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's a tragic story in the life of the early church.
SPEAKER_01: So, so when you're talking about Acts chapter five, you're talking about really the beginnings of this thing we call the church.
SPEAKER_01: Like, like, you know, uh around around our little corner of Arkansas, uh, when you talk about cross church on any given Sunday, um, with our four campuses, we're gonna have between 10,000 and 12,000 people.
SPEAKER_01: That's a lot, that's a big church right here in Arkansas.
SPEAKER_01: But let me just say, this didn't just happen.
SPEAKER_01: All of this started somewhere.
SPEAKER_01: It has its origins somewhere and in some time, some when.
SPEAKER_01: And and the starting point of all this, well, it is the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_01: The book of Acts is the story of how the church started and exploded.
SPEAKER_01: And what's really cool when you when you talk about Acts chapter 5, we're still at the beginning of that early church story.
SPEAKER_01: And a lot has happened.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I mean, we're gonna be in Acts 5 today, but if you walk back just two chapters to Acts chapter 3, okay, Acts chapter 3.
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you what you've got in Acts chapter 3.
SPEAKER_01: You've got the population, the global population of the church in Acts chapter 3 is maybe 120 people.
SPEAKER_01: All right, let that sink in.
SPEAKER_01: When you get to uh Acts chapter 5, which is where we are today, the church has exploded, and you've got over 3,000 people all of a sudden in two chapters that are now part of this thing called the church.
SPEAKER_01: So let me tell you what you got on your hands.
SPEAKER_01: You've got a mega church on your hands.
SPEAKER_01: And when you've got a mega church on your hands, let me tell you what else you get.
SPEAKER_01: You just get this stuff called mega problems.
SPEAKER_01: All right?
SPEAKER_01: And you're gonna get what's called a mega attack, right?
SPEAKER_01: And that's what we're talking about today.
SPEAKER_01: Now, today, and it on, you know, when it comes to the church, you know, we're we're used to getting arrows shot at us from the outside.
SPEAKER_01: But today we're gonna look at an attack on the church from within.
SPEAKER_01: This is new.
SPEAKER_01: We have not seen this yet in the story of the church.
SPEAKER_01: So, with that said, I'm gonna ask you to bow your heads with me.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray one more time, if you would, about what God wants to do with us this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Father, we come before you today, and on this Father's Day, we are so grateful for you as our heavenly father.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you that we can call you Father, and we are your children.
SPEAKER_01: And I do pray, God, today for all the men in the room who are dads and granddads who will be one day.
SPEAKER_01: God, would you steer us in a special way, our minds, hearts, and our actions.
SPEAKER_01: God, would you open ears to hear today?
SPEAKER_01: So we can understand and hear clearly.
SPEAKER_01: Open our eyes to see, open our hearts to receive.
SPEAKER_01: I pray for myself, the preacher, God, that you would guide me to say all that you'll want me to say.
SPEAKER_01: And if there's anything I don't need to be saying, just stop me, cut me off.
SPEAKER_01: I submit myself to you.
SPEAKER_01: I pray, God, that you would bless this message in the name of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And everyone said, Amen and amen.
SPEAKER_01: All right, let's let's get to this story, this tragic story in the very early life of the church as it's growing.
SPEAKER_01: It's in Acts chapter 5.
SPEAKER_01: Let me read verses 1 through 11.
SPEAKER_01: We're told that there was a man named Ananias.
SPEAKER_01: His wife's name was Sapphira.
SPEAKER_01: He sold a piece of property with his wife's knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds, and he brought only a part of it, and he laid it at the apostles' feet.
SPEAKER_01: Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?
SPEAKER_01: While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own?
SPEAKER_01: And after it was sold, was it not in your disposal?
SPEAKER_01: Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart?
SPEAKER_01: You have not lied to man but to God.
SPEAKER_01: When Ananias heard these words, check this out, he fell down and he breathed his last.
SPEAKER_01: A great fear came upon all who heard of it.
SPEAKER_01: The young men rose and they wrapped him up, they carried him out, they buried him.
SPEAKER_01: After an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
SPEAKER_01: Peter said to her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.
SPEAKER_01: And she said, Yes, it was for so much.
SPEAKER_01: Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?
SPEAKER_01: Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.
SPEAKER_01: And immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last.
SPEAKER_01: When the young men came in, they found her dead.
SPEAKER_01: They carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
SPEAKER_01: And then a great fear came upon the whole church and all of uh and upon all those who heard these things.
SPEAKER_01: That that would be a great understatement.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, people are coming to church and dying.
SPEAKER_01: Whoa, what's going on?
SPEAKER_01: We've not seen anything like this.
SPEAKER_01: Is a tragedy.
SPEAKER_01: We've not seen anything like this in the life of the church.
SPEAKER_01: And so it we, you know, once again, we don't want to read too fast.
SPEAKER_01: We need to look at this.
SPEAKER_01: This is a tough one.
SPEAKER_01: Like this is a real tough one.
SPEAKER_01: And what we see presented to us, I think, just to kind of cut through it, what we see here are two main problems presented to us in this story.
SPEAKER_01: The two main problems are lying and stealing.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody got that?
SPEAKER_01: Lying and stealing.
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, those in my experience, those two tend to go together.
SPEAKER_01: They tend to be the same, uh, two sides of the same coin.
SPEAKER_01: So uh let's just uh break this down.
SPEAKER_01: You might say, okay, Jeff, where's where's the lie?
SPEAKER_01: What's going on?
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean when you say there's a lie?
SPEAKER_01: Where's the lie?
SPEAKER_01: Well, the lie is in verses 3 and it's in verses 8.
SPEAKER_01: It's actually pretty simple.
SPEAKER_01: Ananias and Sapphira, they they had some land and they sold it.
SPEAKER_01: And then they brought part of the sale of that land and gave it to the church.
SPEAKER_01: And they kept part of it for themselves.
SPEAKER_01: Uh but they lied and said that what they brought to the church was the total amount.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody got that?
SPEAKER_01: That's a lie.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I don't know what what the let me just make it simple.
SPEAKER_01: Let's say they sold the land for$1,000.
SPEAKER_01: And they they said to themselves, hey, you know what?
SPEAKER_01: We don't need to give a thousand dollars to the church.
SPEAKER_01: Let's just give$700.
SPEAKER_01: That's a lot.
SPEAKER_01: It's more than they had before.
SPEAKER_01: And we'll keep$300 back, right?
SPEAKER_01: Because I mean, it was our land, and we had we executed the sale, and and um, and and then when they ask us how much, this is the lie, when they ask us how much did you sell the land for, we'll just tell them$700.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody will know about the 300 that we're keeping back.
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's a lie.
SPEAKER_01: And as I said, it's very, very simple.
SPEAKER_01: You know, why would they lie like this?
SPEAKER_01: It's gotta be that that word that we've mentioned at the very beginning.
SPEAKER_01: It's gotta be greed.
SPEAKER_01: It's gotta be this thing called greed.
SPEAKER_01: Now, now, let me put some context to all of this.
SPEAKER_01: You know, like well, because because on the surface, you might be struggling, like, I mean, they sold their land.
SPEAKER_01: And they actually gave to the church.
SPEAKER_01: Like, like, like, uh, let me give you a little bit of context.
SPEAKER_01: To get the full context, we would need to back up into chapter four.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to show you two verses right at the end of chapter four of kind of what was going on in the church.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 36 on the screen, if you would.
SPEAKER_01: Uh before we get to the story I just shared, here's what we see also happening in the church.
SPEAKER_01: We're told a story about another guy's name is Joseph.
SPEAKER_01: He was uh also called by the apostles Barnabas.
SPEAKER_01: If you've been around church, you've heard of this guy, Barnabas.
SPEAKER_01: His name means son of encouragement.
SPEAKER_01: He was a Levite, he was a native of Cyprus.
SPEAKER_01: Look what Barnabas did.
SPEAKER_01: He sold a field that belonged to him, and he brought the money, all of the money, and he laid it at the apostles' feet.
SPEAKER_01: So what's going on here?
SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna like surmise what's going on here.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, the church has exploded.
SPEAKER_01: It's gone from a hundred people to three thousand.
SPEAKER_01: And they're there, the church has like got opportunities and didn't have before, and it's got needs it didn't have before, and they're trying to make sure that widows are taken care of and orphans are taken care of.
SPEAKER_01: And so what's happening in the midst of all of this is God is beginning to move in the hearts of people to be generous.
SPEAKER_01: And they're like, hey, there is a way to meet all these needs, and and it's the Spirit of God that begins to move in the hearts of people like Joseph and say, Hey, Joseph, you have some extra land.
SPEAKER_01: You don't need it.
SPEAKER_01: It's a it's it's overflow.
SPEAKER_01: Why don't you sell it?
SPEAKER_01: This is God's idea and give the money to the church.
SPEAKER_01: And so Joseph's like, that's a great idea.
SPEAKER_01: He does it, and you could almost surmise that others are doing the same kind of thing.
SPEAKER_01: Then you come to Ananias and Sapphira, and they decide to get stingy on God, but lie about it also.
SPEAKER_01: That's the lie.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, what about stealing?
SPEAKER_01: Where's the stealing?
SPEAKER_01: Because once again, I mean, it's kind of like, I mean, come on.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was their land, and they did give part of it to the church, and now they're being punished.
SPEAKER_01: Uh the here let me show, let me show you where the stealing is.
SPEAKER_01: And it's in the little phrase, it's in the little phrase in verse 2, kept back.
SPEAKER_01: That's the English phrase that we read today.
SPEAKER_01: Kept back.
SPEAKER_01: Now, that's the English phrase, but the Greek word, the Greek word for that little phrase kept back, tells us more.
SPEAKER_01: That Greek word is the Greek word nosphizo.
SPEAKER_01: It's a nasty sounding word, right?
SPEAKER_01: Nosphizo.
SPEAKER_01: And it's a nasty meaning.
SPEAKER_01: It means to literally to embezzle, to steal.
SPEAKER_01: So, so what the text just said to us is that Ananias and Sapphira embezzled from God.
SPEAKER_01: That's a big deal.
SPEAKER_01: That's the way it was viewed.
SPEAKER_01: That's the way God viewed it.
SPEAKER_01: This is the, by the way, this is the same kind of language that we see way back in the Old Testament in Joshua chapter 7, when God's people had conquered a neighboring group, and God said, Listen, when you do that, you need to take all of the spoils of war and bring it to me.
SPEAKER_01: And this guy named Achan, Achan, uh, we refer to this story as the sin of Achan.
SPEAKER_01: Achan decided to keep a little bit for himself, like a cloak and a bar of gold, some coins, silver.
SPEAKER_01: He buried it in his tent.
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't a lot.
SPEAKER_01: Nosphizo.
SPEAKER_01: Stealing from God.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the thing.
SPEAKER_01: To God, the amount is irrelevant.
SPEAKER_01: Stealing is stealing.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go back to Acts.
SPEAKER_01: I want to just kind of dig on this a little bit more.
SPEAKER_01: Let me put this, let me put this uh this question on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: By the way, can I just say once again that it's a pleasure to be preaching on money on Father's Day?
SPEAKER_01: Really enjoy doing that.
SPEAKER_01: But listen, hey, listen to me, men.
SPEAKER_01: We gotta get this right, don't we?
SPEAKER_01: Like for our kids' sake, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like, because we we we our job is to pass the torch, right?
SPEAKER_01: We gotta pass the torch to that next generation.
SPEAKER_01: So these are important things.
unknown: Right?
SPEAKER_01: We don't we don't want to be lying and stealing from God.
SPEAKER_01: We've got to get this right.
SPEAKER_01: Look at the question.
SPEAKER_01: Why why is it stealing not to give all the money from a land sale to God?
SPEAKER_01: And my simple answer is just this, because God told him to do that.
SPEAKER_01: God said, sell the land and give me all the money.
SPEAKER_01: Sell the land and give me all the money.
SPEAKER_01: It was God's idea.
SPEAKER_01: And to not do not do that, what you had was you you see the the inward, the inward rising of satanic greed led to the outward expression of lying and stealing.
SPEAKER_01: That's what greed does.
SPEAKER_01: Greed's only the beginning, it takes you somewhere you don't want to go.
SPEAKER_01: And to really understand the answer to this question that I pose, I have to revisit today what I call the stewardship principle.
SPEAKER_01: Because this is so important.
SPEAKER_01: And you've got to get your mind around this as Christians.
SPEAKER_01: This is what we believe.
SPEAKER_01: Look at this, the stewardship principle.
SPEAKER_01: Everything you have belongs to God.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to me, men.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to me, dads.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to me, grandfathers, listen to me.
SPEAKER_01: Everything you have, everything I have, everything we have, everything belongs to God.
SPEAKER_01: That's the starting point.
SPEAKER_01: What that means is your house is not your house.
SPEAKER_01: It's God's house.
SPEAKER_01: And your car belongs to God.
SPEAKER_01: Your truck, it's God's truck.
SPEAKER_01: You walk into your closet and all those clothes hang in there, those clothes are God's clothes.
SPEAKER_01: Your bank account, it's God, all of it belongs to God.
SPEAKER_01: And I know as men, you know, the kickback is, but golly, man, I've worked hard for that.
SPEAKER_01: I've worked, I've I've I went to school and I studied, or I went to a trade and I worked and I mastered it, and and and I've spent my life building, and and and yeah, I get that, but here's what we we learned today.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to me.
SPEAKER_01: Your job belongs to God.
SPEAKER_01: He has enabled you to be in the right place at the right time.
SPEAKER_01: He has given you the constitution of health so that you can work.
SPEAKER_01: Because what we learn in the text today is listen to me, literally, every breath you take belongs to God.
SPEAKER_01: It all belongs to God, and he can take it away just like that.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to me, the stewardship prince, the starting point.
SPEAKER_01: This and this is what we have to pass on to the next generation, right?
SPEAKER_01: Everything belongs to God.
SPEAKER_01: He asks, God asks for you to give a portion back to him, and when you fail to give it, it is stealing, and it is serious.
SPEAKER_01: And Acts chapter 5 shows us exactly how serious this is.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, are you are you saying, Jeff?
SPEAKER_01: I know you're thinking it.
SPEAKER_01: Are you saying that like if I hold back on God financially, that he's gonna kill me?
SPEAKER_01: You were thinking it, weren't you?
SPEAKER_01: Listen, no.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying that.
SPEAKER_01: So breathe easy.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not I'm not saying that if you hold back on God financially, he's going to kill you.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying that.
SPEAKER_01: However, I think what I am saying is that God killed Ananias and Sapphira.
SPEAKER_01: So you gotta just take all that, right?
SPEAKER_01: This is this is serious.
SPEAKER_01: It's a serious thing we're talking about.
SPEAKER_01: So if the if the stewardship principle is that it all belongs to God and that God wants part of it back, next great question is what exactly does God want, Jeff?
SPEAKER_01: Like I I gotta get this right.
SPEAKER_01: What is it that God wants from me?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: So there's two things I would say God wants from you.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna move through this pretty quick.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, y'all ready?
SPEAKER_01: God wants the tithe.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's impossible to talk about any of this without declaring the truth that God wants the tithe.
SPEAKER_01: So the the word tithe means tenth, okay?
SPEAKER_01: So God wants a tenth of all you have.
SPEAKER_01: So here's here's how this plays out.
SPEAKER_01: Um and I and I get it.
SPEAKER_01: When you're young and you don't have a lot of money, let's say you got a$10 bill and God wants$1, that's no big deal, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like that, easy, easy, right?
SPEAKER_01: But then uh, oh hold on.
SPEAKER_01: What what happens when we're talking about a hundred dollars?
SPEAKER_01: And then you okay, God wants ten?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, oh what happens when when when you got a thousand dollars?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, now God wants a hundred.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, think that's different.
SPEAKER_01: No, it's not different, it's actually exactly the same.
SPEAKER_01: All right, you got ten thousand dollars and God wants swallows a thousand?
SPEAKER_01: It's exactly the same.
SPEAKER_01: It's a tenth.
SPEAKER_01: And so, but I I get it.
SPEAKER_01: Something rises up, and and listen, folks, listen, y'all.
SPEAKER_01: I have been doing this now for 34 years.
SPEAKER_01: Full time ministry.
SPEAKER_01: Uh this summer, this summer marks the 40th anniversary of my first sermon ever.
SPEAKER_01: I've been preaching God's word for 40 years this summer, all right?
SPEAKER_01: So listen, all right, to God be the glory, but listen.
SPEAKER_01: I've been around a lot now.
SPEAKER_01: And I've heard a lot.
SPEAKER_01: And I and people bring a lot to you in this thing that we do called pastoring.
SPEAKER_01: And and I hear, you know, excuses.
SPEAKER_01: And really, I don't know that it's even ill-willed.
SPEAKER_01: It's just trying to figure it out, right?
SPEAKER_01: Because you want to get it right, because it's serious.
SPEAKER_01: So people will say something to me along the lines of this Jeff, isn't this thing about the tithe, isn't that an Old Testament law?
SPEAKER_01: Like an Old Testament law.
SPEAKER_01: And we're not under the law anymore, right?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, that it is true that there is a thing called the Old Testament law, and it is true that we're not under the law anymore.
SPEAKER_01: That thing is true.
SPEAKER_01: What is not true is that the tithe is part of the law.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, the law shows up in the Bible in Exodus chapter 20.
SPEAKER_01: You can look at this on your own.
SPEAKER_01: Tithing shows up in the Bible in Genesis chapter 4.
SPEAKER_01: Over a thousand years before the law, you have this, not law, but it's kind of like a creative life principle that this is how the world works, how God wants the world to work.
SPEAKER_01: Everything belongs to God, and he wants part of it back.
SPEAKER_01: And you see Abel, Cain and Abel, you see Abel giving his first fruits, giving a tithe to God.
SPEAKER_01: You jump ahead to Genesis 14.
SPEAKER_01: Once again, over 400 years before the law, in Genesis 14, this guy named Abraham, he gives a tithe to this mysterious priest from God called Melchizedek.
SPEAKER_01: That's all in the Old Testament, but it's not the law.
SPEAKER_01: It's before the law.
SPEAKER_01: The second thing I would say is this the New Testament affirms tithing.
SPEAKER_01: In the book of Hebrews, the New Testament book of Hebrews, apparently people in the New Testament were trying to sort this out too.
SPEAKER_01: So the writer of Hebrews writes about this to help us.
SPEAKER_01: And it just so happens that the writer of Hebrews does what I just did.
SPEAKER_01: He refers back to Genesis 14 and this guy named Melchizedek.
SPEAKER_01: Look at this on the screen, Hebrews 7.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Melchizedek was not a descendant of Levi, that's the priestly tribe, but he collected a tenth, a tenth, a tithe, from Abraham.
SPEAKER_01: And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God.
SPEAKER_01: Scholars have wondered like, who is this God?
SPEAKER_01: Who is this mysterious Melchizedek?
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 3 on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: Going fast because there's so much we could do here, but this is what time will allow.
SPEAKER_01: We're told in verse 3 there is no record of Melchizedek of his father or mother or any of his ancestors.
SPEAKER_01: There's no beginning or end to his life.
SPEAKER_01: Look at this.
SPEAKER_01: Melchazedec remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.
SPEAKER_01: That's a big connection between Old Testament and New Testament, right there.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Third thing I would say is this Jesus affirms tithing.
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_01: Let's look to our Lord and Savior, Jesus, in the Gospels.
SPEAKER_01: What I'm about to read to you is from the book of Matthew, but I want to say this as a precursor.
SPEAKER_01: Be careful when you appeal to like the we're not under the law thing.
SPEAKER_01: Once again, I've said I think I've sufficiently separated that from tithing.
SPEAKER_01: But what you will notice about Jesus is that when it does come to the law, every time he talks about the law, he tends to actually take things further than the written law.
SPEAKER_01: For example, Jesus might say something like this You have heard it said, Thou shalt not kill.
SPEAKER_01: That's the Ten Commandments.
SPEAKER_01: But I say to you that if you look at your brother with hatred in your heart, you have murdered them in your heart.
SPEAKER_01: He just took it further.
SPEAKER_01: You have heard it said, Thou shalt not commit adultery.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: That's the law.
SPEAKER_01: But I say to you, if you look upon a woman with lust in your heart, you have committed adultery in your heart.
SPEAKER_01: So so once again, Jesus tends to take these things further.
SPEAKER_01: But so with that said, look in Matthew 23, verse 23 on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: These are the red words.
SPEAKER_01: This is Jesus talking.
SPEAKER_01: He says, He's talking to these Pharisees.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you guys are hypocrites.
SPEAKER_01: For you tithe, you're tithing mint and dill and cumin, but you have neglected the weightier matters of the law, like justice, mercy, and faithfulness.
SPEAKER_01: Look at what Jesus says.
SPEAKER_01: These, meaning the tithe, you ought to have done.
SPEAKER_01: You ought to be tithing, but without neglecting these other greater things, right?
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus affirms the tithe.
SPEAKER_01: Fourth, I would say this that money is the one area where God says, you can test me.
SPEAKER_01: You gotta be careful when it comes to God.
SPEAKER_01: You know, um, you don't want to be testing God.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, God, if this, then I'll do that.
SPEAKER_01: You don't you want to be really careful about doing that with God.
SPEAKER_01: We want to be playing with God.
SPEAKER_01: He's God.
SPEAKER_01: He's our Father.
SPEAKER_01: But he's God.
SPEAKER_01: But there is one area where God says, you know what?
SPEAKER_01: The exception to the rule.
SPEAKER_01: You can test me on this if you need to.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I think, I think, I think the reason God gave us this exception is because he's trying to help us.
SPEAKER_01: Because he knows how hard this is.
SPEAKER_01: He does.
SPEAKER_01: He knows he knows that when it comes to your wallet, it's hard.
SPEAKER_01: So he's trying to help us cross over.
SPEAKER_01: From greed to blessing.
SPEAKER_01: So he says, just test me.
SPEAKER_01: Test me and just see what happens.
SPEAKER_01: Malachi, the great chapter in Malachi chapter 3, God says, bring the full tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house.
SPEAKER_01: And put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts.
SPEAKER_01: See if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
SPEAKER_01: See, there it's a test.
SPEAKER_01: Uh listen, and let me just let me just point out, let me tell you what what this verse is not saying.
SPEAKER_01: It's not saying that if you tithe, you're gonna get rich.
SPEAKER_01: It is not saying that.
SPEAKER_01: What it is saying is that if you tithe, if you give God back what He's asking you to give back, He will bless you and He will bless your need, not your greed, right?
SPEAKER_01: You will not be for want.
SPEAKER_01: You will have all that you need in this life.
SPEAKER_01: That's the first excuse I hear.
SPEAKER_01: It's an Old Testament deal.
SPEAKER_01: I hear another excuse, though.
SPEAKER_01: And the other excuse is this I can't afford to tithe.
SPEAKER_01: I can't afford to tithe.
SPEAKER_01: I want to be um I want to be sensitive here, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Uh, because I get it.
SPEAKER_01: There are some of you in the room, some of you listen online, and it is very hard for you financially.
SPEAKER_01: You're at a season of life, and the numbers are difficult.
SPEAKER_01: And you and you're sitting here going, uh, and I'm supposed to give 10%.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if that I can I I let me tell you, I understand.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say that when I when I say that I understand, I really do mean I understand.
SPEAKER_01: Been there done that.
SPEAKER_01: You you see me today, you walk back in time with me when Julie and I are first married, there was a whole season of years early in our marriage.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just telling you, on paper, the income did not match the outflow for several years.
SPEAKER_01: I was in seminary, at one point working three jobs, Julie's working one, and it just isn't working, it'sn't matching.
SPEAKER_01: Going to school full-time.
SPEAKER_01: We're living on the seminary, in the seminary trailer park, and it's exactly what I it sounds like.
SPEAKER_01: It was a trailer park.
SPEAKER_01: We were living in a 1972 champion trailer, uh, and this is 1994, so just do the math.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Those tanks tend to start leaking after about a decade, by the way.
SPEAKER_01: All of our cars were beater cars, didn't have air conditioning.
SPEAKER_01: I I crawled up under there every 5,000 miles, and I pulled the filter, I loosened the lug, I drained the pan, I hauled the oil off the auto zone to dump it because I'm a good American.
SPEAKER_01: And um, and that was the cheapest way to change and keep my cars running.
SPEAKER_01: I I pulled brake pads, I changed water pumps, all of that.
SPEAKER_01: Julie and I would sit around and we would be making those decisions of, you know, like food.
SPEAKER_01: We had a baby at one point, you know, early, and like, how do we make all this work?
SPEAKER_01: So I understand.
SPEAKER_01: I want to put two phrases on the screen, and these represent my pastoral experience for over three decades.
SPEAKER_01: The two phrases are this tithers without exception, without exception, testify to blessing.
SPEAKER_01: And non-tithers without exception say they cannot afford it.
SPEAKER_01: That is my experience pastorally.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want you to look at those two those two uh those two phrases.
SPEAKER_01: Tithers without exception testify to blessing.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I have never I've never met a church member who tithed who said to me, Man, Jeff, wish I hadn't done that.
SPEAKER_01: Never met that person.
SPEAKER_01: Not once! And let me just say this with all grace and sympathy and understanding, maybe there is a reason you're in such bad shape that you can't afford to tithe.
SPEAKER_01: Try tithing.
SPEAKER_01: Test God.
SPEAKER_01: See what happens.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the tithe is holy.
SPEAKER_01: The tithe is holy.
SPEAKER_01: It's God's.
SPEAKER_01: And when you realize that it's holy, you want to get it out of your house and out of your bank account as quickly as you can.
SPEAKER_01: Check this out in the book of Deuteronomy.
SPEAKER_01: You shall say before the Lord your God, I have removed the holy tithe from my house.
SPEAKER_01: I've also given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, the little, according to all your commandments which you have commanded.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, when you realize it's holy, you want to get it out quickly.
SPEAKER_01: You want to bring that first 10% to God.
SPEAKER_01: Uh I'll sum all this up with the question on the screen that kind of just says it all.
SPEAKER_01: I think.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to me, my friends.
SPEAKER_01: Do you want to try to live off of 100% of your money that is cursed or 90% that is blessed?
SPEAKER_01: You pick.
SPEAKER_01: And I promise you, I promise you from ex listen, from experience.
SPEAKER_01: I can't explain it mathematically.
SPEAKER_01: Makes no sense.
SPEAKER_01: But 90% goes further than 100%.
SPEAKER_01: That's all I'm gonna say.
SPEAKER_01: Number two, there's one more thing also that God wants from you related to all this.
SPEAKER_01: He wants the tithe.
SPEAKER_01: He also wants offerings.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna do this real quick.
SPEAKER_01: So you might be sitting back and going, whoa, he wants more?
SPEAKER_01: So 10% and he wants more.
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you how this deal works.
SPEAKER_01: When you're tithing and you're living and God's blessing you, let me tell you how this works.
SPEAKER_01: At some point along the way in your spiritual walk, the Holy Spirit's gonna speak to you.
SPEAKER_01: And he's gonna say, Hey, listen, I need you to do this and give this.
SPEAKER_01: I can't put dollar figures on it.
SPEAKER_01: It's totally up to God.
SPEAKER_01: But you will know it when you hear it and see it.
SPEAKER_01: God might ask you to sell a piece of land and bring all of it to the church.
SPEAKER_01: He might ask you to write a check for$100 and bring it to the church or give it to someone or bless this person or this organization.
SPEAKER_01: You will know it when he speaks, and that is above the tithe, it's called an offering.
SPEAKER_01: And that is what Ananias and Sapphira failed to do.
SPEAKER_01: And I would close out by saying one more thing today.
SPEAKER_01: Because there really is one more thing that God wants from you.
SPEAKER_01: Men, men in the room, listen to me.
SPEAKER_01: There's one more thing God wants from you.
SPEAKER_01: One more thing to pass on to that next generation.
SPEAKER_01: And really, what I'm about to say is that I think the most important thing I'm about to say the whole morning.
SPEAKER_01: The tithe is important, but what I'm about to say is more important than the tithe.
SPEAKER_01: Offerings are important, but what I'm about to say is more important than offerings.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, God wants the tithe.
SPEAKER_01: Men, he wants you.
SPEAKER_01: He wants you.
SPEAKER_01: I would even say it this way.
SPEAKER_01: God's really not interested in your 10% if he doesn't have your 100%.
SPEAKER_01: He wants all of you.
SPEAKER_01: And remember, listen to me, dads.
SPEAKER_01: These are things that we're passing on.
SPEAKER_01: We gotta pass this on.
SPEAKER_01: We can't pass on what we don't have.
SPEAKER_01: My dad turns 90 years old in about three weeks.
SPEAKER_01: My dad called him this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Tell him I love him.
SPEAKER_01: Happy Father's Day, Dad.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how many more times I can do that.
SPEAKER_01: He's pretty old.
SPEAKER_01: When I was a kid, every Sunday morning, I would walk past our den from the kitchen.
SPEAKER_01: You could see from the kitchen into the den.
SPEAKER_01: And my dad would be in his lazy boy recliner.
SPEAKER_01: And he would have his Bible open just before church.
SPEAKER_01: He'd have his Bible open.
SPEAKER_01: He'd have his quarterly.
SPEAKER_01: He'd have his shirt and tie on because back then we went to church and shirt and tie.
SPEAKER_01: And he'd be getting ready for church.
SPEAKER_01: And every Sunday morning, he'd also have an envelope.
SPEAKER_01: And I would watch him fill that out and put a check in it.
SPEAKER_01: I had no idea what was going on with the check in terms of how much.
SPEAKER_01: And my dad never really talked about it.
SPEAKER_01: Like I said, my dad just, he's of a generation, not a lot of words, but I but I but I watched my dad.
SPEAKER_01: And then my dad would give me an envelope every Sunday morning.
SPEAKER_01: And he would give me a quarter.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember looking at that quarter thinking, man, I know a gumball machine that could use this quarter.
SPEAKER_01: But I also knew that it wasn't my quarter, it was God's quarter.
SPEAKER_01: So I put it in that envelope and I brought it to church.
SPEAKER_01: Not really understanding it all.
SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01: You don't understand at all when you're a kid.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm so grateful my dad gave himself, all of himself, to the Lord because I was watching.
SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01: Dads, talking to dads right now.
SPEAKER_01: Granddad, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01: This really isn't about the money stuff anymore.
SPEAKER_01: It's about God wanting you.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not really about you anymore either.
SPEAKER_01: It's about your son and your daughter.
SPEAKER_01: And your grandson and your granddaughter.
SPEAKER_01: It's about passing it on.
SPEAKER_01: So I would like to ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes.
SPEAKER_01: And I think, I think I want to end it this way.
SPEAKER_01: No one looking around and speaking to everyone in the room and online, everyone now.
SPEAKER_01: Are you holding back on God?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's money, maybe it's not.
SPEAKER_01: I'm talking about are you holding back on God?
SPEAKER_01: Is there a part of you that you're holding on to?
SPEAKER_01: He does not have 100% of you.
SPEAKER_01: If you've never given your life to Jesus, if you've never said yes to Jesus, listen to me.
SPEAKER_01: We serve a God that gave his all to us.
SPEAKER_01: He gave his first Jesus and He gave His all Jesus for us.
SPEAKER_01: So that you can have your sins forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: What there could not be a better day for a dad to get saved than on Father's Day.
SPEAKER_01: Come.
SPEAKER_01: Our staff are here.
SPEAKER_01: You just come to the front and grab their hand and say, I'm ready.
SPEAKER_01: I'm ready to give my life to Jesus, and we'll pray with you.
SPEAKER_01: And today, your sins can be forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: Today can be your day of salvation.
SPEAKER_01: But I also speak to those of you who've been following Jesus for a long time.
SPEAKER_01: But you have been holding back on Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: There's a part of your life that you have just like cornered off.
SPEAKER_01: He does not have your all.
SPEAKER_01: And today is a day of surrender.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's doing business financially, it might be doing business with some other part of your heart, but today is a day of surrender.
SPEAKER_01: So today, as you're sitting there, no one looking around, if you're holding, if you've just been holding back on God, I'm going to pray for us in a moment.
SPEAKER_01: I'll pray for you.
SPEAKER_01: And then we're going to stand and we're going to sing, and the altar will be opened for whatever business you need to do with God.
SPEAKER_01: You have family that are lost, bring them to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You've got something you've been holding back, bring it and lay it before the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You've got sickness or disease in your life, come and bring it to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Bring it all to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Father God in heaven, would you move in this room?
SPEAKER_01: Would you save lost people?
SPEAKER_01: Would you heal hurting people?
SPEAKER_01: May we surrender to you now in Jesus' name.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: If you have questions about what you have heard or would like more information about your relationship with Jesus, please email us at info at crosschurch.com or visit our website at crosschurch.com.
SPEAKER_00: At Crosschurch, our mission is to reach Northwest Arkansas, America, and the world for Jesus Christ.