Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Worship in Giving Pt.2

The Lord is good! Let's turn to Proverbs Chapter 3. We're going to continue with our study on the honoring of the Lord with our increase and the worship that's due His name. We've seen that everything we have we've definitely received of the Lord. As the wise man's speaking over in Proverbs Chapter 3, verse 9, "Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase." We know that historically, as God separated the people for Himself, Israel of course, He chose the first born unto Himself. He chose the first fruits of all of the land unto Himself. It's holy unto the Lord, the Scripture says (Leviticus 27:30,32). Now holy means very clearly something that is distinct, it's separate. When we talked about something that is sacred or holy, it means that it's set apart. The tithe--as we talk about the tithe sometime later on in the teaching--the tithe is the Lord's, it's sacred. That's why it doesn't belong to you. It has nothing to do with you, but to honor God with it. Very clearly, anybody who says they are a believer and doesn't honor God in this way is robbing the Lord. We'll look at Malachi a little bit this morning as it pertains to that. The point that I want you to see clearly is that God is involved in our worship of giving. It means to Him more than it means to any of us in that this is the recognition, as we talked about Wednesday, of His worth in our eyes.

Now the Bible speaks very clearly, and we talk about it sometimes laughingly, about if you can touch somebody's wallet, you've touched their heart, and that's the biblical truth. Isn't it? Because where a man's treasure is, there his heart is. We realize that the Scripture says, money answers all matters (Ecclesiastes 10:19). We see one of Jesus' most significant teachings in contentment, as the word came forth this morning about contentment and our sufficiency in the Lord, Jesus made is very clear, He says, "...having food and raiment let us be therewith content" (1 Timothy 6:8). But there's something within man that is fearful about laying up increase to himself and having sufficient. He's fearful of his life, and he's fearful of what he's going to eat, and drink, and what he's going to put on, and all of these things that dominate the hearts of the pagans or of the gentiles. But He says, we're not like that. We're a people whose God is sufficient for the day, praise God! We serve a God who knows we have need of all of these things. He says that we're not to be caught up in the things that the world's system is. Now He's not talking about the fact that we can't have surplus, savings, and we can't strive toward certain accomplishments. The real question we need to ask in this study is: where is our trust, and where is our worship? Those are the things we want to talk about and come to some type of conclusion as we go on in our study.

We talked about in Proverbs 3:9 that it's very easy to fall into the tradition or the social pressure of giving in a community like this. It's expected of us to give unto the Lord. We believe that if you're not a tither, you're a robber. You're a thief and you're stealing from God. It's nothing that you can make up your mind on; whether you "feel" like tithing, "feel" like you can afford it. It's a biblical fact and those that do not, rob from God. So because of that teaching, there's a pressure on us to participate if we're going to be part of the community. But as we were sharing Wednesday, it's not enough just to give because the Lord Himself demands it of us. But the Lord wants us to what? Honor Him. Not just to obey, to honor. To put the proper worth on Him so that when we come into His presence and we worship Him with our giving, we're recognizing Him as the source of all that we possess. To give with anything less than honoring the Lord, the Lord says He's not interested in it. Keep it. Malachi says I will curse your blessings (Malachi 2:2).

It begins to be an issue of the heart, and we can never truly honor God--Listen! We can never truly honor God until we realize that what we're offering Him isn't ours in the first place. That's where we were leaving off on Wednesday. So let's go back to Chronicles for just a moment, and look at that particular passage of Scripture that is so important for us to understand. This is something I especially want the young people to get a hold of, those of you who are young adults. You're just becoming wage earners. Those of you who are young people that will be going out and becoming wage earners sometime here in the near future. When you begin to find the great illumination that if a man doesn't work, he shouldn't eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10). As you go out on your own and you begin to labor and realize then how much effort there is in a gallon of milk; what it takes to earn all of those groceries you're so freely stuffing when you get home from school. The awareness of a man's labor and the fruit of it, and why sometimes Dad seems so frugal, because Dad knows how much sweat it took to put it in the house. That's one of the things that we need to arrive at in the worship of the Lord. If some of us that are young people can grab a hold of this, 1 Chronicles Chapter 29, it will really help us in the worship of the Lord as we continue in our pursuit of godliness.

The man after God's own heart says in verse 12, "Both riches and honour come of thee..." Now, this is very important that we establish this. Do we believe that, or do we think that riches and honor come of us? Do we think that somehow because of our own great ability, our superior intelligence, our discipline, and diligence, and we're a hard worker, bless God, and I'm pretty sharp and I know where to make investments, etc. Do we believe it comes from us, or do we believe that riches and honor come from the Lord? Where do you believe your resources come from? Where do you believe your breath comes from? Where does your good health come from that you might be strong enough to work? Where do these gifts come from that enable you to either be creative or productive in a certain field? When we get into this worship of the Lord in our giving, we're really coming into the understanding that without Him we can do nothing. There's nothing acceptable to Him that doesn't originate in Him as we've shared. So David says, look, "Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all."

Now this is also going to be important as we go along in the study, because one of the things we're going to look at hopefully this morning, if not so, probably tonight, is that God puts a requirement on us for everyone of us to give and to honor Him as we are able, the Scripture says (Exodus 25:2). What that means is that we don't all give equally the same thing, we give as God has blessed us. If you happen to be a millionaire, and you're pulling down a million a year, let's say you have an income of a million dollars a year, your tithe then is $100,000. And here's a man over here that's making $30,000 a year, and his tithe is $3,000. There's no way that God expects an equality in the amount given, but an equality in the worship of the firstfruits and giving in relationship to how God has prospered us. That's why the tithe, the percentage giving, is so ingenious as it comes from God looking at the hearts, because everyone of us then is held accountable to the same discipline. It's very easy then to see whom it is that's robbing from God, trusting in themselves. There's no boasting in whether you give a million or whether you give a hundred million or whatever it is, as the percentage is given. In fact what you're going to see that's important is this. I've had people even come over the years and boast--some of the Daddy Big Bucks guys, and boasting some in what's given. I've shared this with people before; they are trying to impress you with how much they gave. I said, "You know, I'm really not impressed with what you've given. I've got a question for you, how much do you have left?" You see that's how Jesus gauged giving. As we look at the widow's mite, that's one of His greatest revelation on giving. It's not how much we gave, it's what we have left after we give. That's also not just literally in the distribution of the funds, but it has to do with an attitude of the heart.

Let me ask you something, how much are you holding on to? How much do you think is yours in this process of honoring the Lord with our substance? It's easy to give lip service isn't it? "Oh, everything I have the Lord's blessed me with. Everything I have is the Lord's! You know the reason we're building this big house is just for the Lord so we can have everybody over to fellowship." Then it gets built and all of this, and we don't have time to have anybody over because we're building something else for God. So it's very important that we really look into our hearts and ask the question, "Am I giving out of rote performance, am I giving because of legal pressure?" What I mean by "legal" is the law. We hold it out and say, here's the law, here's what God requires of you. Nothing else is acceptable, it's minimum giving, the tithe. Are these the things that are motivating us, or is it thanksgiving? Is it truly an awareness that everything you have, God has given you? He's blessed you. He is the source of riches and honor, all things come from Him, it's His choice to make us great or to make us an uncomely member. Let me ask you something. Do you despise what you have to give to God? Those of us that are making $20,000 a year, are you questioning God, why you? "I'm going to go out here and I'm want to get a better job, and I want to be able to do this, and I'm going to sell myself out so I can have more to give to God." He's the One that's gifted you. He's the One that's ordered your steps, He's the One that's placed you, and He's the One that's satisfied with your giving, how about you? If you really look at your own heart, you're not looking for more to give to God, you're looking for a bigger percentage to keep for yourself, because the fact is, God's the author of all that you have and how He's blessed you. You all got quiet on that one.

Where are we in our worship? Where are we in our thanksgiving for what God has blessed us with? Do we understand that we don't give according to that that we don't have, we give according to that we have, that God's blessed us with? If we can worship Him and honor Him with our giving, then we become candidates for the blessing of the Lord. If He so chooses, we then can receive the blessings and the increase according to the wisdom of God. It's the Lord then that's making rich and that does what? It adds no sorrow with it, but if you're going to go out and try to increase it on your own, you're going to get sorrow. If God is not the source, riches bring sorrow. You need to understand that.

Now, he goes on and he says this, it's really kind of interesting, I'm a little bit off course here and I want to move along. He goes on and he says also very clearly, "Now therefore [verse 13], our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name." Then, I just love this passage that we were referring to, this is what I want you to get a hold of. I want some of you young people especially, to begin to live with this as part of your creed and your understanding. "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort?..." Now you remember what we're talking about here is the giving that's taking place. David had just raised four billion dollars in today's money for the temple in getting it prepared for Solomon to start building. He pretty much raised that out of the general account. He was saying, Okay here's what I want to commit, this is what we're putting in out of the coffers." Then David had a little bit of pocket money. Besides that four billion that he put in, and it says, out of my pocket money, my walking around money, I gave 78 million in gold, and about 12 million in silver. So in David's pocket money he gave about probably, what is that, that's about 90 million dollars in today's money. Then he makes the comment, "...who am I..." Do you all remember who David was, who is this kid? He's some little shepherd that sat out on the hillside and his whole wealth, man, was what he got to eat at night. He was way down in the ladder. He was the youngest son, there was no way the double portion was coming to him, forget it. He may have gotten his little slice down there after Jesse was gone, but there was no way. His job was to be out there and to just faithfully tend to Dad's flock and be part of the community.

Remember in those days the wealth was common, the wealth wasn't something where you had this brother living over here, and this brother living over here, and this brother in California, and this one in Texas. They lived on the same property. You couldn't sell your property. In fact that's something in Leviticus that I think we need to get hold of, the spirit of it anyway. You know we're so quick to talk about it all belongs to the Lord. Did you know that by God's wisdom, His people could not sell their land? It wasn't theirs to sell. God said, I've given you this in perpetuity; it's not yours to do what you want with. I've brought you in to make a people unto Myself. You can read that in Leviticus 25 or somewhere in there. Don't go over there right now. I'll give it to you if you want to know afterwards. But the spirit is this, we talk about everything being the Lord's, He says it's His, and He says you have no right to sell it. Then, of course, all of the exceptions and the different aspects of Jubilee: What percentage you can sell it the year before Jubilee. What if they have to redeem it at times with 30 years left or with 20 years left or whatever. All of the specifics in there, and whether you can sell one that's in the city or whether you can sell one that's in the country. The priests' responsibility. If the Levite owns the house inside the walled city, he can sell it, but the property he owns outside the walled city he's not able to mortgage that, etc., etc. You go on and you read all of the different requirements, but it all boils down to this, it's not yours. It's the Lord's. Oh we say that, do we believe it?

"But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things [get it in your hearts] come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee." Write it down, "Of thy own have we given thee." So we rejoice in that, and we thank God for that spirit of recognizing that God is our source and that He deserves the worship. We saw that David was moved in his giving and his desire to honor the Lord with the firstfruits of his increase. The thing that motivated him was found at the first verse of this 29th chapter; look back there for just a moment. This work that's before us, whatever it is that we're giving in our recognition in honoring God. Whether it's our daily worship in our tithe, whether it's the Joash Chest that we've begun to put forth again--and we'll talk even a little bit about Joash and that aspect as we go on, as we get ready to enhance the sanctuary again and prepare for that expansion. Whether it's the love offerings that are given toward the missions endeavors that we're involved in and by the way, some exciting things that are going on.

As I've shared with you, the church in Kakamega is just doing tremendously. The church in Nairobi, the buildings are being prepared now. The small flock that's gathering even before we've officially started, we're excited there. A brother in the city of Eldoret wanted to join up with us. As I was talking with Ron during this time, this guy kept wanting to come on board. I just basically told Ron to ask the guy, "What have we done to you?" Like Elijah asked Elisha, what have we done to you? (1 Kings 19:20) You're coming here and what is it that you're interested in? He said, "I just recognize that you are a people that do things by the Word of God, and I recognize the anointing of God, and the truth of the Word of God." So I said, "Well just share with him, say look, if that's the case then just follow us around, but we're not going to make any commitment to you, we don't know who you are." So the man followed around and he was in a position of responsibility with what's becoming one of the larger radio stations in the nation. He was up there as one of the managers, and these particular things that he was involved in. He said, "I'm really waiting for you guys to come start a church here in Eldoret!" We told him, "Well, we're not starting one there now, we're going to go to Nairobi." He said, "Aw man, I thought you were going to start a church. We need a church"! So we said, "Why don't you start one?" He's a man that believes the call of God's on his life and he just wanted to participate and assist, and he said, "Bless God, I will." They did, and God's blessing them. He again said, "Can I affiliate with you?" We said, "No, but we'll give you all the counsel you need, and any questions you have, we'll give you the wisdom of the Word of God. We'll give you instruction and help you out, but we want to watch you, we don't know who you are." He said, "Okay." So he's going about his business and started a church there in Eldoret. Happened to call it "Calvary Temple." Keeps communicating with us how the church is growing and as far as he's concerned, he's part of us. We just haven't adopted him yet. He hasn't asked for a dime, and he's able to support himself. He has a business that does very well, two businesses, and he's out about Father's business. He recognizes what he has belongs to God, and he's putting out of his own substance into building a ministry for the glory of God.

The spirit that's working in him, and it's exciting to see that kind of a heart attitude in someone that realizes then verse 1 of Chapter 29 (1 Chronicles), that the endeavor we're involved in is not for man but for the Lord. You see, we're not interested in just putting notches in our belt as to how many churches we have. We're looking to build something that will stand, something that's of quality. We've seen too much in that nation of manipulation and con men and hypocrisy and pharisaical dominion, and we refuse to have anything to do with it. What we're going to do is going to be pure, and it's going to be unto God. We're not going to use man's methods. This is what motivated the heart of David here and he said, I want you to know "...the palace [it's what he was calling the sanctuary] is not for man, but for the LORD God." Then verse 2, and this is the spirit that we give in, and most of you are familiar with this. You are a people that have a mind to work. You're a people that have given diligently over the years and to the point of a testimony to the glory of God, and we rejoice in that. Where is your heart today? I don't mean in the amount you're giving; you might still be giving the same amount. Is it still as exciting to you, are you still giving in faith, are you giving in love, are you honoring the Lord? This isn't man's project, this is God, he says. Then I just really like this passage, "Now I have prepared with [say it with me] all my might for the house of my God...." I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God. That's the spirit of worship and honoring God that we're talking about.

Now, the honoring of the Lord, Malachi speaks to as clearly as any other passages that we can look at. Let's turn over to the book of Malachi for just a second. Some great passages there as it talks about the honoring of the Lord with our increase, with the tithe. We've looked at that spirit that David had. We've looked toward the children of Israel in Exodus as they were preparing to build the tabernacle. We know the story very clearly that as they began to bring of their substance and of their talents, each one coming to build the house of God, the instructions had just been given on Mount Sinai. We know the story how Moses came down, his face was shining as he had the tablets of God, he said, the Lord's given me this instruction and in the midst of this new nation being established, and these laws that would govern us, there was to be a house for God. He would come and visit us there, and His presence would appear in this house. Here's what He's told us to do. Now let's prepare. Listen to the words, let's prepare for the presence of GOD! I want you to get that phrase, because of this, nowhere else in Scripture do we ever see anything recorded, nor I believe in history, like what took place there in those offerings to God as the tabernacle was being built. Moses didn't use that phrase, but that's a summation of what he said. We are now preparing for the presence of GOD. We will prepare a place to meet God. The people's hearts were so excited at the anticipation of encountering God, receiving His instruction, a place to where they could run and be safe, as the Scripture tells us, where they could go and inquire of God for the course of their lives. When they recognized the worth of the visitation of God, they began to give toward this project. We all know the story, don't we?

Go to Exodus real quick since you're not doing anything. As you look at the Exodus passages, it's a phenomenal thing what takes place here. If you don't get the environment, if we don't get the true environment of what's taking place, we lose sight of it. Chapter 35, 36. In Chapter 35 (verse 21) it says, "And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD'S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation..." Then verse 22, look at the phrase again, "And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the LORD." And they "...brought the LORD'S offering," verse 24. "And all the women that were wise hearted [skilled is what it's talking about]...brought that which they had spun,..." The fine linens and all of these things that were brought unto the Lord. Others that were being used to worship in the giving it said in verse 31, were filled by God with His spirit for wisdom and understanding as how to bring about effectual worship. Supernaturally people were being prepared to worship God. They were supernaturally being given skills beyond their natural ability to worship God. He was coming to visit them; the people were excited!

It says then in Chapter 36 down in verse 2, it says, those "...in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it." The Lord put it in their hearts, look what it says, whom the Lord stirred up. Let me just share something with you in the midst of this. When there is a project like this that's going on, a people that are moving in this way, if you're not excited like everybody else, I'd ask why God hasn't stirred you up. Why hasn't God stirred me, am I not hearing what's going on, am I not seeing what's going on? As we begin to look at these things and realize that God's involved, orchestrating this whole thing. So it talks about the Lord putting it in their hearts, the Lord stirring them for this that was about to be done. It says they brought unto Him free offerings every morning. Then the miracle, verse 5, and I told you what I believe was the source of this miracle. I think if you look at people's hearts today, this spirit is really the thing that governs all of it. Whether we're honoring God or not; whether we really believe that God is the source of all that we possess, and that He deserves the worship. These people having been delivered from Egypt, these people having been frightened at Mount Sinai, these people realizing the corruptness of their own flesh at the base of that mountain. As the glory of God appeared, and in the midst of the glory of God, they revel at the base of the mountain in their own lasciviousness. The mandates given to them, "those that are on the Lord's side, you come over here," and God makes a separation. Then Moses visits the people and says, "I have a word from God, and here's what He expects from us." The people with a fresh understanding of having been delivered from Egypt and spared in their own iniquity at the foot of His mountain of glory understood the mercifulness of their God. For the first time they are understanding the mercy of God, and the purpose of God, becoming a people called out that He might call them in. I believe all of that was the motivating factor, and now it's their turn to say thanks. Moses says, tell the people, verse 5, that they are bringing "...much more than enough..." We can't use all of this. So the people then, verse 6, look at the last phrase of verse 6, "So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and [say it with me] too much." Don't see that very much today, do you? It would be interesting to survey all of the churches, fundamentalist churches in America today, and ask which are having this problem. Do you think there's a church in America that can say this?

You say, "Well, of course not. Everybody's got everything leveraged, and got all these plans. There's always something you can spend. Let's go on television. Let's spend a million dollars over there, let's build this edifice." I'm not talking about a lot; I'm talking about as we've shared before how we move according to the will of God and the Spirit of God. I'm not going to go into having to go through all of the things that are not clearly the mandate of God in any given ministry because I don't know that. I don't know what God's speaking to these people. The one thing I do know and believe is this, that if God's called you to do it, He'll provide. You don't have to go out and use all of the methods of men to accomplish the will of God. You sure don't have to use what's so prevalent in many of the different ministries that you and I are familiar with, all of the con games to try to wring money out of people. You don't compromise, as Malachi is going to speak in just a moment, and try to play a percentage game, and say, "If I can get about 50,000 people gathered, then they can all throw crumbs, but we'll still have enough to get the job done. I don't want to put the standard too high because then the people won't come, and if the people don't come, then we can't fulfill my vision." I want to tell you something. Whatever God has given you is sufficient to fulfill His vision, but men's hearts that are in positions of leadership are fearful and covetous and all of these other things, that keep them from bringing about pure biblical standards.

Now why are we going through all of this again? Because we're raising up a godly seed. You see, some of you that have heard this, your children haven't heard this, and they've just come in here in the last two years. What are you teaching them in these areas? I don't mean by instruction. What are we teaching them? You know, years ago we learned about the second tithe and what it was for. Can I ask you something, are you still moving in that wisdom, or have you eaten it, have you leveraged it, is it on a credit card somewhere? What are we teaching, where are we preparing this godly seed to live in the supernatural and to see God as their absolute source in every area? If we don't teach them these fundamentals, when all of the substance we have in abundance right now is no longer available, what are they going to have to stand on? So we are preparing a generation to trust God and to honor God. As we've used the phrase many times, to "dig their own wells," looking to build strength.

So it has to do with the understanding of the presence of God and the magnitude of the mission at hand that generates this kind of a spirit and this kind of giving. This is one extreme. Let's look at the other one over at Malachi. Then let's ask where we are in the midst of all of this. Can you say that Exodus 36 is where you are today? Are you that excited about God today as it relates to your time, your gifts, and your talents? You can't wait to get up here and use your talent to instruct our children, the next generation coming up. You can hardly wait to get up here and clean the facilities and tidy up some areas and touch up areas that have been nicked. You can't wait to come to the house of God and give of your time and your energy and your substance. You can't wait to bring that that you've sewn at home, the tapestry, and bring it to the house of God so that the Lord could be honored. "Well, you know, we're a little tired because you know I was at work." Put in a day in the wilderness. It's time to worship God! So are we in Exodus 36? Some may be, I don't know. I would say the majority are not, and neither are the majority in Malachi 1. But let's look at the contrast and ask ourselves, are we honoring the Lord with our substance.

Malachi Chapter 1 as it says verse 6, "A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour?" "Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase" (Proverbs 3:9). You call Me "Father," where is My honor? Are the offerings being done grudgingly or is it of a willing heart? Is it being done out of rote? Your giving is just in with all of the other bills. Throw it in, never a thought given. Or do we come like Deuteronomy 26 says and stand before the Lord and honor Him with our substance, recognizing that of His own we're giving back to Him? He is so graciously allowing us to keep whatever remains. What's He put upon your heart to give? You're going to see that the tithe is His. There's no question about that, but then we're going to talk about offerings, what we give above the tithe and in worship, and how it's constituted in the Scripture many times that God moves on our hearts to give. God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7) the Scripture says, one that's quick to do what He's put upon our hearts. Do you rejoice in what He's left for you, or do you boast in what you've given God? You may not do it to where we can all hear; it's just in your heart. You're thinking, "Man, I'm really doing something." What have you done, do you really think you've done something when you pay your tithe and throw in an extra 20 bucks, or 100 bucks or 2,000 bucks?

Just the other day, I was out in the parking lot, somebody handed me a brown paper sack. They said, "I've got something for Africa," and they handed me a brown paper sack, and I folded it up and stuck it in my back pocket. Later when I had a chance, I opened it up and looked in the sack and there was a stack of money like that about $6,000. The person said, "Don't worry about anything as far as records or anything else. I don't need it recorded for anybody to see, don't need it recorded for income tax, just want to worship God. Just want to honor the Lord." "...where is mine honor? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts..." Remember, who is this being written to, this first chapter, who is He talking to right here? He's talking to the priests. Basically what He's doing is rebuking the priests for not putting the Word of God clearly to the people and requiring them to do the Word of God. So the rebuke here is not to the people, the rebuke is to the priests. This message is sorely needed throughout our nation, because very frankly most men that are standing in pulpits this morning are not jealous for the glory and the honor of God. Sadly, they are more concerned with their own kingdoms, their own comfort, their own ease, and their own reputations. Tragically in the day to come, they are going to stand before God and blood is going to be upon their hands.

Now watch the rebuke that comes to the priests: "...O priests [verse 6], that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar..." Now what is this polluted bread? Verse 8, "And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person?...[verse 10]...I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts...." Now watch, as long as that environment continues, "...neither will I accept an offering at your hand. For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great..." Now what is all this giving about? God wants His glory in the eyes of the gentiles. It freaks people out, your relatives, the people you work with, and they can't believe that you give 10 percent of your money to the Lord. Your hard earned money to the Lord! "I can't believe it! How can you be conned into doing something like that?! Are you stupid, don't you realize what lusts can be satisfied?" Now they don't say all that probably, plainly, some may. Do you see what our obedience does? It's the glory of God among the gentiles, among the nations. As we are a people that give, and then they [the world/non-believers] can't understand why we give and, in many cases, we have more than they do who try to hold on. The Scripture says very plainly that you scatter to your increase, you horde to your destruction (Proverbs 11:24).

But He says here, it's kind of interesting, He goes on and He says in verse 11, look "...in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure [underline that, get it in your notes, "pure"] offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen..." I want a pure offering. I want an offering out of a pure heart. Not interested in your crumbs. I'm not interested in your crippled and your blind, your diseased; I want your best. Now the tithe we realize is the 10 percent, the firstfruits whatever these different things that are coming through, the tithe you remember the Lord said some of the flock and every tenth one that would pass under the cane. You could see the heart of the covetous ones. They are sitting there and they are watching the flock coming, "Oh no, it's a good one, no, no, back!" The Lord's rebuking them for that, and this old one-eyed, three-legged thing falls, "Oh praise God, this is the Lord's!" Now we aren't like that here. We're not a people like that, but this is the spirit we're dealing with. I want to tell you something, if you don't continue in prayer, if you don't continue in worship, and you don't refresh yourself, that's what you are without the Lord. Amen? We're all the same; it's in our members, that's who we are.

We're talking about worshipping the Lord. He said, look, "But ye have profaned it [My offering, verse 12], in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted..." You've brought that, verse 13, that's sick. Look at verse 13, "...should I accept this of your hand?..." Where is My honor? Should I accept this at your hand? Don't throw Me your crumbs! "But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King..." So the Lord begins to set up our understanding of the worship and the honor that's due Him, and the fact that not every offering is acceptable to Him. You know, it's amazing, some people think they've really done something throwing in a couple of bucks or whatever. God's not impressed with any of that. He's looking at the attitude of our hearts, whether it's done in worship. The amount is irrelevant, it's the worship, it's the honor, and it's the obedience. So listen, priests, if you don't begin to change the standard, "If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name [if you're not jealous for My glory], saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already..." (Malachi 2:2). "Behold [verse 3], I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces..." So we understand the jealousy for God and for His glory.

You see, over the years as we've preached the Word of God and held the standard of God and I've even had people tell me, they said, "Man, you just need to lighten up, you could really build something. Don't be so hard on the goats, just milk them. The Scriptures say milk the goats, just get something from the people." I've had preachers come and tell me that and say, "Don't bring about such standards and discipline. Man, you're driving people out. Just keep the ornery people around and milk them, man." Wouldn't you love to go to that church? It's here in a ten-mile radius. "Get all you can get out of them!" I want to tell you something; I'm not going to be cursed of God for anybody. I'm jealous of God's glory! Give me the blessings of the Lord. I'm going to do it God's way, and it doesn't make any difference to me how many folks want to hang around. Those who choose to do it God's way are going to know the blessings of their God. It's going to be supernaturally supplied, and if God's for us, nobody can be against us. Amen? That's what's exciting, it's exciting to live this way, and there's never then any apologies. You don't have to apologize. As God blesses or whatever and the different things that happen, you don't have to apologize. It's amazing to me, Jimmy Swaggart, I can remember years ago somebody wrote him a letter. This literally happened; some of you may remember this. Somebody wrote in a letter, so Jimmy sold his Mercedes and bought a Volkswagen. Well, what did that do?! If you didn't steal the money for the Mercedes, then you don't have anything to apologize for. It's the glory of God! It's for the glory of God among the gentiles. It's for the glory of God if it's done properly, because He makes rich and adds no sorrow. There are no apologies when you're doing things according to God's methods.

Now look what the Scripture goes on to say, "My covenant was with him of life and peace..." verse 5, "The law of truth [verse 6] was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips...For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his [God's] mouth [and the people at his mouth]: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts." Then you read down, he begins to talk about the godly seed and making sure that worship is pure and that another generation is being brought up. There's not to be the forsaking of the wife of your youth and all of these things that were taking place. Then you roll over into the third Chapter and He says in verse 6, " For I am the LORD, I change not; [I'm merciful and that's why you've not been consumed. You should've been destroyed, but my mercies endure forever.] therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." Repent. "Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? [verse 8] Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings [Not just tithes. In tithes and offerings]. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed..." (Malachi 3:6-12). Here's the promise of God! Now you know we don't bring a message that's the "con man, dollar-in, hundred-out, hundred-fold return, give and God will bless you" type message, but the fact of the matter is God wants to bless us. Amen? We are a people that He wants to prosper, His children. Now it's going to be something that is relative, it's going to be something that is unique, because we are not socialists. God's Word never speaks of socialism or communism except in certain directives as we read in the book of Acts. Truly unique situations. The fact of the matter is, God wants to prosper you, but He's going to prosper us in a way that is distinct, unique, and relative. There's going to be rich among us, and the fact of the matter is, there's going to be poor among us. And God is the author of all of that. So because of that, we can't respect the person of the poor. We're to charge those that are rich among us to be ready to communicate and ready to distribute. There are times that the rich are going to be admonished to share and to communicate to the poor and be a blessing. If God's the source of their riches, they won't even have to be admonished. They are looking for ways to bless if God's the source of their prosperity. Because of that then, there are no needs among us. There's that attitude of honoring God and recognizing that what we do have, we've received of Him.

So in the spirit of Malachi then, we've seen these two different extremes. We've seen the Exodus account; we've seen the Malachi account. We're probably not at either one of these extremes this morning, but from these we see a common denominator don't we? Honoring God with our giving. We see a common denominator that there has to be a willing heart, a readiness before God's going to accept it, an excitement about giving! God loves a cheerful giver! Can you say that's where your heart is this morning as we honor the Lord with our substance and the firstfruits of all of our increase?

Let's finish with this for this morning as we're studying and looking at these particular aspects of God's provision for us and how He desires to be honored in our midst. We'll pick it up tonight; we're out of time.

Father, we thank You for the Word, and we ask You to speak to us, to let Your Word become alive in our hearts. Father, I'm concerned for the generation at hand. I'm concerned that this godly seed being raised in our midst receive this portion of the Word of God. Thankful for their community and their love for one another. Thankful for their desire to share the gospel, but Father I perceive a weakness in our midst in this area of honoring You with our substance. A generation that has so much abundance. Bring them to the awareness of the source and whose it is. Father, I realize that as little children in Children's Church each one has given money as they go their way to honor the Lord. From the very youngest, they don't understand exactly what it is, as they take that little offering up, but the day will come, the habit is being established in their hearts. Some day they'll understand the worth of that that they are dropping in the bucket and the worth of the One that's receiving it. But what are we doing to prepare them for that hour? Help each of us, Father, to move into this instruction and to train up our children in honoring You with substance.

As the curse was to be stayed and David was admonished to go buy the threshing floor, Araunah offered it and said, "No, I'll give it." He said, "I will not offer anything to God that does not cost me." (2 Samuel 24:22-24) Are our children learning to just throw in the few bucks that you've given them, excess, or to give of something that costs? They come to hit you up for the dinner after the ball game and you say, "We've put it in Africa." "Aw man I was wanting to go out with everybody." "Well go, you don't have to eat." What's it cost you? Can I share something with you? If it's not costing you, you're probably not giving enough. If you're just throwing in your crumbs, if you're just throwing in your abundance, then you're missing some of the worship. This is the spirit we're trying to achieve; this is what we're trying to get home in these next couple of sessions. As we talk about giving to Africa and as we talk about the Joash Chest, these are projects that are at hand, and those are things we are going to do as the Lord directs us, but that's not what's behind this teaching. What's behind this teaching is that very spirit that I'm addressing right here. How many of you parents kind of just apologize that you don't give them the 10 bucks to go out? "I'd feel bad, I mean, all the other kids are going out, they're going to eat." Are we teaching fasting? Are we teaching fasting that hamburger, so the little young man in Africa, who is working in one of the churches to teach, who is getting no remuneration, could have a hearing aid? These are just where we are living, some good things to ask ourselves. You see, we fast in accordance with Isaiah 58, "the chosen fast," "the fast of God," is not just to do without, it's to take what we had sacrificed and honor God with it. That's the spirit that we're looking for. That's the spirit I want to see raised to an awareness in our midst so that the spirit, the secret power of lawlessness, of self-indulgence is broken, that spirit of Antichrist. Now I believe that most of our young people would happily forego that hamburger to minister to that need. How's that affecting you, Mom, Dad, is your pride going to get in the way of that? Is your wanting them to have it better than you had it going to get in the way of that? Are we teaching honoring God, or does everything we offer to God not cost us anything? "I will not offer..." Now where did that attitude of David come from? It came because they were being cursed; they were under the judgment of God. There was pestilence in the land, and God said, "Go up there, buy that, set up an altar, offer an offering, repentance, and I will stay the pestilence." The mercy of God, knowing they should be judged and destroyed. The mercy of God as David sought and thought, "God is sparing us again. How can I offer Him anything that hasn't cost me?" That's the spirit that's the willing heart, that's the cheerfulness that brings God into our midst and heaps coals upon the heads of the gentiles, because we love Him more than we love ourselves. Make it real, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let's stand before the Lord this morning. As Gary plays for us, these are exciting principles, these are things that deal with the real spirit of the age where we are right now, and you say, "Praise God, look at this opportunity!" We'll talk about some of the practical things. We all have responsibilities and different things we have to do, but we are a people with such abundance. Even the poorest here among us is rich by the world's standards. Let God speak to your heart. What are some of the practical things you can do? It doesn't have to be anything big; it's just something that begins to move us in that worship! What's that one special thing? You have to have this special yogurt. Well, forego that. Forego the stop at Starbucks. Forego the Haagen Dazs. Don't get six scoops, get two and give the rest to the Lord. Knowingly, consciously saying, "What can I do to honor God?" Look at creative ways to teach our children that they can be instructed and understand. We're not talking about forever. We're talking about as you read the Scriptures. These are seasons we move into when God is speaking, things that the Spirit's emphasizing and saying, "I'm trying to touch your heart in this area." I have a feeling that that young man probably could have gotten his $400 hearing aid a number of times over by the toys that our children received at Christmas that they didn't need, that they already had too many anyway. What a Christmas it would have been to have sat down and told your child, "You know that super killer ultra deluxe power whatever gizmo? Play with the substandard last month's version. We're going to honor God with this." Watch what their flesh does and you'll know where your children are. Now if they are six months old, don't say, "Now we're foregoing this pabulum and we're offering this up to God." Where are your kids, what are we teaching them? To offer God our blind, and our halt, and our maim, or the best? To reach out for souls, to minister to the needy that are in our family, like in Kakamega? Then, also for the house of God, as we're going to study, He said, "I want my house to be magnificent" is one of the terms. That's where the attitude of our hearts is. Let's sing this together and just worship Him. "Change My Heart O God..."

Oh, we delight in You, Lord! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! As God begins to let us look into our hearts, we've got brothers and sisters in Kakamega that are believing God for a couple panels of corrugated metal. And we're bummed out because we don't have the new 8 billion gig something that whistles and tells us when it's lunchtime. We've got to have the 7 billion version. Where are we in our worship? We just want You glorified, Father, in Jesus' name, amen. Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "It's all the Lord's." Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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