The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 5: Our God is ONE: First Fruits

Episode Date: October 25, 2020

God is first. God loves first. God went first. WE bring our first and best because He first loved us by giving us His best in Jesus Christ.

So good. So good. Amen. Are you nervous? You look nervous. He'll get over it. Hey, if you got your Bible, go to Malachi chapter two, the end of Malachi chapter two. That's where we're going to be. We're going to talk about money. That's a lot of fun. I'm so glad that that video was about Dennis and Beth. I meant to call them this week. They usually come on Sunday mornings. I really felt like I owe them an apology. I really did. I felt like a nudge of the spirit to call them this week.

not about this, I didn't know they were going to be in that video, but the reason is because last week when we taught on marriage, I'm sitting over there at the end of maybe 1122 or whatever, so I can kind of see a cross here. And you remember I asked husbands, pray for your wife, and I saw Mr. Demin and Ms. Beth walk down, and they're not newlywed. Do you understand? And I was, the thought I had is, that's what I want to be like. Oh, you're right there. That's what I want to be like when I grow up. So this, I'm sorry I didn't call you, but way to go, man, way to go. And I'll tell you what, I don't think it's an accident that God goes right from marriage to money because I'm serious. There is a one-to-one relationship in the faithfulness of those things.

And so thank you so much for your faithfulness and for inspiring me last week and then again this week. So now I don't have to call you. There you go. Amen. All right. So if you remember in Malachi, what's happening in Malachi is that God is speaking through the prophet Malachi. And like a good dad, he's going after the hearts of his kids. kids. And he's going to go love before law. He's going to go relationship before rules. He's going to

connect before he corrects. And he's got six disputes, but some of the things that we've talked about that God wants to talk about with his kids. And again, remember, this is the last word that God is going to speak to his children for like 400 years until Jesus shows up in the New Testament. So thinking about it, like when you drop your kid off to a thing, and it might be a few days, before you see him again, you remember the things you tell them. Whatever it is, it's what you think is most important for them to remember until you picked them up later. This is what God's doing. And so he talked about his love for his children. That was week one. He talked about worship. He thinks that's important. He talked about how his people were wandering away from a relationship

with him. He talked about their marriages. That was last week. And this week he's going to talk about money. Now, it made his top five list to talk about money. Now, don't miss this. As we're going to dive in in chapter 2, verse 17, he doesn't start with money. He's going to start with relationship. He's going to start with good news because money isn't the problem. Money is just revealing that there is a problem. Chapter 2, verse 17, this is we're picking up from last week. He says, you have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, how have we wearied him? Now again, God is a good dad talking to his kids and Israel is like a brady teenager that just won't quit talking back. Now there's a difference between being tired of and tired from. Because in other places in the scripture, we find out that

God doesn't get tired. So what does it mean when he says you have wearied the Lord? I think he's just tired of the constant talk back. You ever get parents? You're welcome. All right. You know what I'm talking about. And see, God gets over it when we constantly negotiate for our own idolatry and self-justification. He's over it. And whenever we negotiate with ourselves, we have a tendency to always win. And let me promise you what's going to happen right now. If money has a grip on you, then you're going to preach your own imaginary sermon to yourself throughout this entire message to justify why you think more is mine. And God is saying it's wearisome.

And they're like, how? How have we made you tired? He says, by saying everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he delights in them. In other words, God says, I can tell your trust is not in me because you're comparing yourself to everybody else. And essentially what you're doing is saying, God, you owe me and you gave her. what you were supposed to give me. So it's evidence that you don't trust me. Or by asking, where's the God of justice?

And God essentially is saying, you don't want justice. You want blessing without the blesser. That's what you want. And now, this blew me away this week, okay? Blew me away. I don't know why it continuously blows me away because Jesus promised that he would give us the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit would teach us His Word.

And yet, I've been doing this for a minute. For 28 years, I have been a full-time professional Christian. I get paid to read and study this book. I have degrees in Hebrew and Greek, all the things, okay? And I have read Malachi a bunch. And I know where he's going by the time we get to chapter 3, verse 6. But somehow, for the very first time did I see, before he ever gets to talking about finances, he's going to talk about faith in the good news.

Because again, money's not the problem. Money just reveals that there is a problem. And the reason I want to point this out is because God is going to start with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of you may be Bible scholars. He may be like, well, ho, ho, pastor, aren't we in the Old Testament?

The gospel has not come yet. But everything in the whole book points to one thing and his name is Jesus. And he's about to lay out the coming of the gospel. And the reason I want to go over it is because generosity is a gospel issue. And what I don't want, maybe you hear this sometimes, I don't want anything from you. I genuinely want freedom for you. And what I don't want is I don't want you to respond to a sermon in generosity.

I want you to live a life of generosity in response to the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And those two things are not the same. And so he says, look at this, chapter 3, verse 1, look at this. Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before who? Y'all can't read two letters. Sorry, maybe you're watching the debate on your phone or something. Let's try that again. Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before.

This is God talking saying, I'm coming. and I'm going to send a messenger. This is John the Baptist. We'll get there next week when we're going to talk about the prophecy in chapter 4 that points to John the Baptist preparing the way. But this is what he's saying. I'm going to send a messenger. He's going to prepare the way before God is speaking. So he's talking about himself.

That the last words of the Old Testament are pointing to the coming of the New Testament, the coming of Jesus. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple. So the Lord is coming to his temple. So just by the way, just historically speaking, the Lord must show up before 70 AD. Because in 70 AD the temple is destroyed. So this coming Messiah is on a time clock here. He must be here by 70 AD because that's when the temple is destroyed. And the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

that Jesus is bringing a new covenant and you don't delight in the covenant you delight in him who brings the new covenant. This is a really big deal because nowhere in the old covenant did you delight in the bringer of the covenant. You didn't delight in Moses. You didn't have a relationship with Moses

that you related to God through the law. But now he says, I am sending one and you are going to delight in him because the old covenant will be surpassed because the new covenant is here, and this is a covenant that you will delight him because you behold, he is coming. Maybe this is why the angels declare to the shepherds, behold. Just like he says, behold, I bring you good news of great joy.

Those are delight words, because unto us is born this day in the city of David, a savior for all the people. This is what he's talking about here in Malachi, the gospel. but who can endure the day of his coming and who can stand when he appears. So this is not just a teacher. You get this? This is a judge. For he is like a refiner's fire and a fuller's soap.

That means there's judgment and cleansing. And he will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver. And he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. In other words, there will be a burning away of all. the things that are unpure. And they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. Do you remember a few weeks ago the kind of offerings

they were bringing in like three-legged goats and one-odd lambs and that kind of stuff, gimpy offerings? But somehow they are now going to bring offerings that are righteous to the Lord. And then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem, that's all of God's people,

will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of O'O. and as in former days. Basically what he is saying is because Jesus himself will be the perfect offering. The once and for all sacrificial lamb, perfect spotless lamb, and God will make Him who is without sin to be sin for us

that we will be made the righteousness of God. Do you know why God accepts our pitiful offering as a righteous offering? Like when you sang, do you think God was like, holy and righteous? Does anybody think that other than the people that we pay to do it? And yet, God receives your halfway singing, even if you're into it.

You ever get into it and Michael goes too high and then you just stop for a minute? Me too. Okay. Somebody asked me one time, how come you make every song sound like a country song? That's what they said. I said, you're welcome, all right? But God even receives that as righteous, not because our offering is righteous, but because Christ is and he is the once and forever righteous offering on our behalf.

That's what he's talking about. He's laying out the gospel. then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerer, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner

and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. In other words, when I come, talking about Jesus, there will be judgment. Sin will be atoned for. And you've got one or two options. You can atone for it. Atonement in the Bible just means to pay for it. you can pay for your own sin with an everlasting separation from the Almighty God,

or you could take the substitutionary atonement, which is the righteous sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. So God, in the Old Testament, through Malachi, lays out the gospel by which we can draw near to God. That's what he does. Verse 6. For I the Lord do not change. This is good news, isn't it? if you're saved, this is really good news. This means that if God has placed his love on you,

at no point will he ever change and take it back. That God loves you not because you are lovable, but because God is love. That God has never been surprised. God does not look at you at saturated and you surrender your life to Christ. He is like, oh, that's sweet. And then he saw you last weekend and was like, no, no, no, give that back.

Okay, that's not how God works, that God never changes. Therefore, you, old children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers, you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. This is God's version of, you are just like your ancestors prone to wander. Lord, I feel it. And then here's this invitation. He says, return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. What an invitation.

By the way, have they done anything to earn God's invitation where he says, return to me? No way. But God relentlessly pursues his rebellious children. Like the dad in Luke 15, the story of the prodigal. Remember the dad? He's got one rebellious kid and he's got one religious kid. And they're both rejecting him. And to the rebellious kid, he chases his son down at the edge of the driveway, throws his arms around him,

him, kisses him, puts his robe around him, gives him a ring and some shoes and throws a party for it. And then to his religious son, who was also rejecting the father, who thought he had earned the favor of the father, he goes out to his religious kid, and he entreats him, he begs him, and pleads him to come into the party. This is what God is doing to the nation of Israel, and they have done nothing to deserve this. But it is just the father heart of God. He relentlessly pursues his rebellious kids. And now something's happening in the heart of Israel. They hear the invitation of God return to me. Come on, won't you come home? And so they say, okay, all right, we hear you. But how? God, how shall we return?

Now, if I didn't already give it away and tell you what we were talking about, what would you think God would say? Well, we've got to go to church. Or pray. anymore. Quit sending so much. Stop twittering, whatever it is. And here's what he says. When they say, how shall we return? He says, will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me, but you say, how have we robbed you in your ties and contributions? To which church people and Israel both go, now hold on a second. Why we got to talk about money? I mean, that's all y'all ever want to talk about. about is money. God, why would you bring up money? I thought we were going to talk about spiritual stuff, like prayer and fasting and meditating on your word, and all you ever do want to do is talk about money.

And I have never robbed God. One time we used to have these giving kiosk things before we had an app and you could give on the app, we used to have these giving kiosk. And one time a guy came up to me and said, I think God robbed me. I was like, what are you talking about? He's like, I thought it was an ATM. So I swiped it and I put in my number and I gave the whole thing I was trying to take out to give 10% of. I'm like, well, you can take it up for the Lord one day. I don't know how to give you back to you. Okay. Have you ever robbed God?

I mean, seriously. Ever tried to, like, make change in the offering plate? Oh, that's crazy. All right. So, now, I'm sure they're like, why do you want to talk about money? And again, I hear this all the time. And I always hear it through people. Nobody ever has the guts to talk straight up to me.

That's fine. People are like, I don't like hers because all they want to talk about is money. Well, a couple things. Last week we talked about marriage. The week before that, we talked about worship. The week before that, we talked about God's. sovereignty and election. So if all you ever hear is sermon's on money, you're not coming that much. You only come in every once in a while. And if you don't like to hear about money, you would have

hated the teaching ministry of Jesus. 30% of everything he talked about was money. He talked about money more than everything else. He talked about money more than heaven, hell, and faith. And those are kind of a big deal. And the reason I think Jesus talks about it so much is because Jesus says that money reveals our heart. In Matthew chapter 6, he's going to say that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And Jesus doesn't need your money. He doesn't. We're going to give Jesus $20?

But he wants your heart and he understands that nothing competes for the human heart like money and stuff. See, ultimately he wants us to trust him and not trust money. stuff. In the sermon on the Mount, Matthew 619 and following Jesus says these words, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Remember, God tells Israel, return to me. And they say, how and he says start with your treasure and your heart will trail right behind it i know this to be true

wherever you invest your treasure you are investing your life and all your time effort and tension goes towards that thing like i said last week if you would hand me your bank card and i were to hold on to it you would pay more attention to this sermon than any sermon that you've heard in a long time as long as i had your treasure in my hand this is how it works my favorite illustration of this is when I used to work at Beach United Methodist Church, my pastor, Pastor Jerry Sweat, was a Florida gator fan when I moved here. No, he's perfect, okay? All of his kids at one point, two of his kids for a long time,

went to Florida State. Guess what began to happen over time? He's writing checks to the Seminoles. Writing checks to the Seminoles, writing checks to the Seminoles. After a little while, the Treasure went that way. His treasure didn't go south. The treasure went west. Treasure went west.

Treasure went west. And this thing right here, you know, when you don't know how to clap because your elbows won't bend. All of a sudden, this one started getting a bend in it, and then it turned into that. Why? Because where your treasure is there, your heart will be also.

Then he goes on to say, verse 22, this is Jesus speaking, the eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is the darkness? No one can serve two masters.

Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. And what God is saying in Malachi 3, and what Jesus is saying in the sermon on the Mount is this. I mean, think about this. Of all the things Jesus could have said, compete for the human heart. He says, no one can serve both God and he could have said the devil. But he says, no one can serve the eternal, almighty, everlasting God, and the stuff of this earth. Because your heart will just be devoted to the one and you will turn your back on the other.

And God wants your heart. Earlier in the sermon on the Mount, what Jesus is saying is that when you trust money, what you're doing is you were looking for money to do for you what it cannot do. do. And some of us, some of us are spenders. Any spenders in the house? Raise your hand if you're a spender. All right. Hey man, no shame. It's all right. Spender. Me too. I got it. I decided this year I am not buying any more camo. I have all the camo. No more camo. Then my neighbors, friends, tempters gave me a gift card for my birthday to this like super high-end cool camo called Cuyu. All right, it's awesome. I'm not sponsored by them or anything, but if you're watching, okay.

They send me a gift card for $100, okay? So I get on there for $100. Costs me $500. That's what happened. By the time I used my gift card, I'm in the whole $500, all right? Don't even worry about it. Got me some pants, and I thought, what am I going to do? Hunt with no shirt on?

I got to get a shirt. Then what if it gets cold? And what if it gets real cold? What if it gets super cold? And that's what I got. And then I was all settled. And then the next day, the social dilemma people, algorithmized me, and they said, I see you're not finished, you've got to have a hat and gloves. Of course I do.

Click, click, 500. Boom. I'm out. Okay. So I'm with you. So what Jesus says to people like us is he's like, hey, okay, so if you're a spender, look at the flowers. Look at the flowers. You know how much they spend on their wardrobe?

Nata. and God clothes them, clothes them. And so what Jesus is saying is when we look to money for satisfaction, it'll always let you down. Because it's just stuff, man. It's just stuff. And then some of us are savers. If you're a savor, raise your hand, okay?

All right? You're so proud of that. Now somehow in the sovereignty of God, he almost always has a spender and a saver fall in love so you can fight about it for the rest of your life, okay? And if you're a saver, the problem here is, who's the problem? There is a problem with that. It's you're looking at money for your security.

And you log on to your bank account, or probably if you're a saver, you've got a bunch of them. And you're looking for a number on a computer screen to give you a sense of security. And it can. It can. One phone call from the doctor and all the security is gone. And so Jesus says, hey man, look at the birds.

They don't have a savings account. I'm pro-savings account. There are other places in the Bible that say you should conduct yourself in such a way, be such a good steward that you can bless your grandchildren's children with the resources God gives you. So there is a place for saving, but not if your savings is your security. Only Christ can be your security. So this is why he's talking about money so much.

Verse 9, Malachi 3, he says, you are cursed. with a curse, for you are robbing me the whole nation of you. Like, what does it mean to rob? It means that you have something that belongs to somebody else. Are you robbing God? Do you have something that belongs to God? And he says that you will be cursed. Let me just tell you what the curse is.

Is that money is your God? That money is your God. And you will be cursed forever. because whoever loves money never has enough. You will always feel insecure and you will always be dissatisfied, and that is a cursed way to live. You are not free when you pursue those things. Verse 10, he says, bring the full tide into the storehouse

that there may be food in my house. There's a lot here. Number one, he says bring, not give. Do you know here we don't take up an offering? Because the Bible doesn't say take. it says bring and so and also give works better like in the english language it's it's kind of hard to always use the word bring you know but think about it you don't give god anything what can you give god you just bring him your first and best and it all belongs to him if i were to let you borrow my

truck which i'm not going to so don't even think about if i were to let you borrow my truck and then a week later you came back to me and you're like do i have a gift for you and you gave me my truck back i would hit you in the head with a tack hammer and say there's something wrong with you you didn't give me anything you just you literally brought back to me what was already mine so we we bring to god a portion of what he has given us he says bring the full tithe That word tithing the Old Testament means 10% into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. All right, what's the deal with God and money and tithing and all that? Let's just go through it.

Number one, here's what you have to understand. The reason that we bring to God is not just obedience. It's not. And the reason that we bring to God is not just an act of spiritual maturity. And the reason that we bring to God is not because there's all this need in the world. that we bring to God as a response of the character and nature of God. First and foremost, to get your head around what it means to bring your first and breast, to bring your first fruits is this.

Number one, God is first. For two years we've been swimming around in this. That the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And that doesn't just mean like number one on a list of priorities in your life. That means like God is the paper on which you would write your list of priorities. In the beginning, God. that God is first. He doesn't do leftovers, he doesn't do seconds.

He is preeminent, before all things. He is first. Secondly, God loves first. For God so loved the world, including you, that he did not wait on you to love him and then he loved you back, but this is love, not that we love God, but he loved us and sent his son

as a perpetuation for our sin. And the reason that God loves first is because he is first. God is first, God loves first, and God went first. Romans 5-8, that God demonstrates his love for us and this, that while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us. That's just who he is. And then Jesus establishes that money reveals what's first in our life

and that our heart follows our treasure. And ultimately, it's all his. It's all his. And that we are stewards. and stewardship and generosity are like two sides of the same coin. They have a lot to do with one another, but they're not the same thing. We are both called to be generous and stewards. And if you're all generous without stewardship, then you can only be generous once.

But you could be a great steward of all that God has given you and think it's all for you and be a really greedy person, but I don't know the person that thinks they're greedy. And God has called us to steward it all so that we can be generous. So God is first, God loves first, God went first, money reveals what's first in our life. It's all his. And then the tithe in the Old Testament, it was 10%. It was the law.

And actually, they had to tithe about four different times. It actually comes out to about 25%. And they didn't just tithe on like their paycheck. They tied on like goats milk and paprika and everything they had, all right? But it was probably about 25%. But ultimately, it was first fruit giving. and the reason that God said, bring to me your first, like, don't wait until all the crops are in and then give me the leftovers, because leftover giving is not giving by faith. You can have a really good budget and a really sharp pencil and never bring to God first and best.

But to give by faith is to say, on the first harvest, I bring the first and best to you because you are first and best. And then the question is, is the tithe required in the New Testament? Well, every person that has ever asked me that, if you're being honest, I know this is church, this is no place for honesty, but if you're being honest, people that want to go down this road, I have never had them say, I want to give so much more. But do, I mean, am I limited to only 10%? Because I thank God, Jesus didn't tithe his blood, so I don't want to just tithe what he's giving me. I want to give it all, but I feel limited by the law.

I've yet to have that conversation. If you would like to have that conversation, I'd be happy to have that conversation with you. The conversation when people say, hold on now, that's Old Testament law in the New Testament, is the Christian required to tithe? if you think that obedience to the law will gain you right standing before God, the answer is absolutely not. Absolutely not. God's not going to love you more if you give 10% or don't give 10%. That's not how this thing works.

God has already established and demonstrated his love for you at the cross of Jesus Christ, ultimately. What you're really getting to, if you're honest, is this, can I keep some more from me? And so you should just be honest about that and just say, pastor, here's what you're what I want to do. I know I hear you talking about the tithe, but I don't want to do that because I want some more stuff. It's crazy. It's crazy what happens when you verbalize that inner dialogue that you have going on, and you realize, uh-oh, this is what I'm actually doing. And think about what Jesus did with all the law. Remember the sermon on the Mount? Did Jesus take the law of the old covenant and decrease it or elevate it? I'll give you some examples. You have heard this. You have heard

it has said that you shall not murder, okay? It's not the highest bar on the planet, is it? But I say to you, if you're angry with your brother, uh-oh, he elevated it. Still not convinced? You have heard that it said, thou shalt not commit adultery. Like, okay. But I say to you, even if you lust after a woman in your heart, he raised the bar. So what do you think he would do with the Old Testament law of tithing?

It's not like you can just check off the God tax and then, you and God are okay, that's not how it works. But the theme from the very beginning to the very end of the Bible is that God is first and God loved first and God went first. What we do with our money reveals what's first in our heart. And so we are to bring our first and best. And our first and best, it's not a gift to God, it belongs to God. And here's the reality. I think in the new covenant, tie doesn't just mean a percentage.

It actually means priority. that we bring to him our first and our best. And the reality is this, we all tithe to something. We all give something our first and our best. And the thing that we get, financially, the thing that we give our first and best to is the thing that we believe ultimately brings our satisfaction and our security.

And for a lot of people, you decide what kind of house you live in. It gets first and best. And then everything else, everything else gets left over. God doesn't do leftovers. Or your education gets first and best and everything else gets leftovers.

And so ultimately, what it means to be generous to the Lord is to just bring him your first and your best. Because here's the thing. When we tie to the temporary things of this world, what we're trying to do is we're hoping they will do something for us and they don't have the ability to. I'd cry to.

The only one that can satisfy you, and bring you eternal security is the one that created you and died on a cross for you. And no thing of this world will ever be able to do those things for you. So just be honest. Do you think more is mine? I mean, do you think, like if you get tax return or a big windfall of money or whatever it is, do you first think of what I get out of this, or does your first and best go in response to God? Do you have such an overflow of gratitude towards what God has done to you that you want to live a generous life?

In other words, is he the one thing that drives everything? Is he the one thing that drives everything? For the one initiative, Gretchen and I made a commitment, Biggs commitment we've ever made, and we give on the first day of the week, which is Sunday. So we want to bring it on the first day of the week, and we bring our first day. and our best. And we, it took us a minute to get here, but we wanted to bring more to God and what he's doing than any other thing that we bring money to. Like, we wanted to bring more to God than we bring to J-EA and more to God than we bring to X-Finity and more to God than we bring to our

mortgage company so that he is reflected in our bank account that he is first and best. And so we bring our first and best here to the church of 1122. He says bring the full tithe into the storehouse. But he also talks about contributions. Some translations call that offerings. And so then in addition to our full tide that we bring here, in addition to that, we support missionaries and we sponsor, I think we have seven or eight compassion kids right now, and we do that sort of thing. But that is not in place of us bringing our tide that is in addition to. And so let me tell you. So let me talk to our online audience right now. I know we've got folks watching from all over the world, really. And so if you're watching 1122 online and it is a supplement to your local church,

you should bring your tithe to your local church. You should. And then some of you, though, you're looking at this and you're like, I think 1122 is my church because this is where I am being fed. This is where the food is being doled out for me. Then you should bring your first and best to your local church if that is us. and then any other ministries are over and above that. Now listen, if you're going to preach Malachi chapter 3 and you say, bring the full tie to the storehouse, you better run a tight storehouse. And so the church of 1122, we have an outside third party do an audit on us every single year,

and we have been like gold standard every single year. We also are what's called ECFA accredited. If you go on our app to the give button, then there is a spot there where you can click the ECFA accreditation and you can see all of the standards that we meet. And in fact, our original CFO is on staff with ECFA right now. So it is very, very, very important to us that we honor God with every penny that you bring to him. And in fact, if you want to hear a whole lot more about it, like really getting to the guts of it, tomorrow night, right here, or you can watch online, we're having a thing called the Deepen encounter.

Shane's will be here. Shane and Shane will be here, which will be awesome. And then I'm going to give you a one update. And let me tell you what's great about where we are as a church when we hit this passage. You're crushing it. I mean, really, the generosity of this church is overwhelming. me. The number one goal of the one initiative is that everyone that considers 1122 to be their church would participate in generosity. And pre-COVID, we'd have, you know, about 12,000 people on a weekend.

And we have about 11,500 people participating in the one initiative. That's really close. Amen? That's incredible. So, and it's going really, really good. I mean, really, really. We'll give you all the details tomorrow. and because of your incredible generosity, there's a whole bunch of stuff about to happen here. We're about to open our new San Pablo expansion on December 3rd and 6th. Praise God, it's going to be cool in there. We're going to open our North Jacks campus next fall.

Praise God. We just bought 55 acres in St. John's County. All right? All you proud of your dirt people. I know. See, normally y'all would cheer, but I'm talking about money, so you're still a little bit tight, okay?

Just relax. We're not taking an offer, we don't take up the offering. I already told you that, okay? You could do what you always do. And we can't wait until the building is built down in St. John, so we're going to launch a mobile campus next year, praise God. And maybe you've heard or read about, we had the opportunity, because of your incredible generosity,

to invest in a retreat center for our church so that people can go and discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And I'm letting the cat out of the bag just a little bit. Next year we're going to be focused on relationships. Pretend like you didn't hear that until the beginning of January. And we are going to be able to take 2,500 11-20 tours out into a very quiet place so you can turn down the noise of your life so that you can turn up your ear towards God. So that you can turn down, because this is what happens to me.

When you turn down the hurry, God turns up the gratitude. And we're going to be, we're able to do all of those things because of your generosity. So I'm not preaching the sermon because the church is in trouble and we've got to cowboy up. It's not going that way at all. In fact, we hardly ever talk about what we're giving to. We spend all of our time talking about a response to who we're giving to. You see, we don't give because of all the needs in the world. We are bringing to God our first and best. And then to that, here's what God says. This is a rare thing that God says in the scriptures. And thereby put me to the test. How often does he say that? Not very. He says, you don't believe me? You holding on to that stuff

like this right now? Try me out. I mean, come on, try me out. Put me to the test, says the Lord of host, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. Not more camo. You got enough camo. Need, that's what he says. It's a unique offer from God. He says test me. Now, there is a false doctrine taught all over the country, and it's a great way to get a lot of people to come to your church. And it says this, if you give God a little bit, then God owes you a lot. Now it's called the prosperity gospel, and it's a lie from the pit of hell. And if you ever hear a person on a stage at a church or a building say those kind of things, turn it off, click it off, get your things, leave, don't ever go back there. Because ultimately, the heresy is not that God wants to bless you.

God does want to bless you. Oftentimes stuff is not a blessing. The heresy is that in that equation, you are preeminent. That if I go, then you owe me. That you're not giving out a response, but you think God is like a blackjack dealer and you've got a fixed hand and you think you can work this thing out for your benefit.

That's not the blessing that God's talking about. Let me tell you a couple things that he means here when he says, put me to the test, and there will be a blessing. First and foremost, this is a blessing. No miracles required. If you tithe, if you learn to live on less than you make, you'll always have enough.

You see, every person lives on a percentage of their income. Did you realize this? Now, if you don't know what you had is, you're already in trouble. The American dream is that you live on about 108% of your income. Then you do that for a little while and you've got all kind of stuff, but you're up to your eyeballs in debt and it's over, man. It's over. Is there freedom there? No way. No way. That you are shackled to that debt. So you should figure out what percentage you are currently living on and then bring to God first and best. And if you learn to live on less than you make, you will always have enough. But it's more than just

a good calculator and a sharp pencil. It really is. There is also this blessing that is just supernatural. And as you open your hands in generosity, you have postured yourself to receive more. But the key is, God talks about this in Second Timothy all throughout the scripture, that the reason that God would give us more is not so that we could get more. If we are giving to get, then God will not be a means to our own end. But the reason that God would give us more is so that we could give more. If God says, test me in this.

Here's the way I love to say it all the time. Think about it this way. If you were God, would you give you more money? Not based on what you want. If you would just do a very simple elementary reading of the Bible and you figured out from the scriptures the things that were important to the Lord based on his priorities with money,

if you were him, would you give you more money? And if your answer is, well, of course I would, because I would spend it on me, then that's the wrong answer. And then Jesus says it is more blessed to give than to receive. That the blessing is in the blessing. The blessing is in the releasing. Because when we release the resources God has given us, I'm telling you, it releases the grip those things have on us.

And so when Paul talks about it in the book of Corinthians, he says that when you bring to God, you should decide in your heart, that you should give cheerfully, that you should not give under compulsion. How many have noticed that, no, we didn't pass the plate? We didn't, we don't do that here. And the only reason is because I don't want you to feel guilted into giving.

In fact, you know what's crazy now? About 80% of our giving is on the moment. line and I've some of you'd feel guilty the plate would come by and you wouldn't put anything in it and you'd be like I give online you know there are churches that print I give online slips so that you can put something in the thing I'm not being critical I'm just saying that's dumb okay so that when the new testament teaches on bringing to God we'd make it a priority we pick a percentage and we should give progressively now there are four kind of categories of giving two are bad two are good one's the best first is some people don't at all and you think more in his mind and you're

just greedy god gave you everything you have and you think it's for you and all about you secondly you give to get this is bad god is not like some genie in a bottle and if you can make the right wish or he is not a slot machine that if you invest then he owes you ultimately when people do that, they are trying to treat God as a means to an end, and God will not participate in your idolatry. Now, we're crossing over from bad to good, but we're still not at the best. The third maybe step here is that some people give to, and what you're thinking of is ROI, return on investment. You see a need, and it's a great need, and you give because of what can happen. That's okay. like we give to plant churches and we give to support orphans and we give because of those needs.

It is a good thing and it is a God honoring thing. But the number one top of the pyramid is this, is that we give as a response to who God is. That we're not giving to, we're giving from a place of gratitude that I want to bring my first and best because he first loved us by giving us his best in Jesus Christ. And then God concludes this way. He says, I will rebut the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

In other words, God says you can trust me, I will take care of you, and here's a big one, and people will notice. You live a life of generosity, not just at the church, but you live a life. of open-handed generosity and nations, your friends, your roommates, people will take notice. This is what he's saying. Verse 13. Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. But you say, how have we spoken against you? You would think at this point they would be convinced.

The people are not convinced. They say this. They say two very mean things. You have said it is vain to serve God. What is the prophet of our keeping his charge? or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of Host. And now we call the arrogant blessed evil doers not only prosper, but they put God to the test and they escape.

In other words, after they hear the heart of God for his kids, their answer is this. Well, what's in it for me? What's in it for me? Like I see people that don't even know you and you're blessing them with financial resources. What's in it for me? And basically God is saying, listen, I don't want anything

from you. God is never in need. Church of 1122, I want you to be free. I want you to be so free in Christ that the billions of dollars that this world spends to try to get us to buy stuff that we don't need to impress people that we don't know, that those things would just fade away because the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ would be so overwhelming in us that we would just be a conduit of the blessing of God and not a cul-de-sac of his blessing. You see, here's the point. God is first, God loves first, God went first. And so we bring our first and best because he first loved us by giving us his best in Christ Jesus. One of the things that you will see all throughout the scriptures from the very beginning, in the beginning, God, to the very last word, amen, of the Bible,

is the preeminence of Christ, the preeminence of God, that he is first. And I think in Bible verses, it's just, you know, part of the vocation, I think. And years ago, years ago, like I said before, we used to have these giving kiosks. Before we had an app, before you could give on the app, we had these giving kiosks, this little like iPad and a station. And so what we decided in my family is on the first day of the week, we would bring our first and best and swiped the little card and you'd punch in the little number, your name would come up, and then you would put an amount there.

We would bring to God our first and best. And this was probably, this was during the Before All Things initiative. And my kids, you know, Gretchen sings here a lot, and, you know, I tend to be here a lot. And so my poor kids kind of live at church then. And so they would be here all the time. And so one day after our last service, I get finished, J.P. is in my office. I think he was probably, I could probably do the math, but I'm not good at that. So it's probably like, he's probably eight years old, something like that.

He's about this tall. And so in what is now the kid's space, praise God, because of your generosity, used to just be a big hallway. And there was a little giving kiosk out there. And so I was about to leave, and I thought, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, I didn't bring my first and best. I don't want to forget. And so I don't want to be cursed. So like, come on, let's go. And so JP and I go to the thing, and he normally doesn't pay attention to anything.

Okay, some things never change, but he's just there. And so I put her phone number in, names comes up, and then I swipe my card, and then I type in what we gave weekly, what we brought weekly. Now, if you saw that number, some of you would be like, oh, poor pastor, we should take a love offering because he ain't got no money. Okay, God bless your ministry. And then some of you would think, sorry, I didn't mean to look at all of the 18 and 25-year-olds, but some of you would think, whoa, okay, whatever.

J.P. looks at the number, and he's got nothing, and he looks at the number and looks at me and looks at the number and goes, Dad, why do we give so much money to the church? And I said, first of all, buddy, we don't give anything. This is me and your mama's money. You give Jack, okay? In fact, you cost us a ton, all right? We are losing. We are way in the red on you. So you live at our house for free. You understand. You eat my food, live in my house. house, that ain't even your room. That's my room, and you get to sneak it up for now. Okay, that's the covenant we have, all right? And when he asked that question, my mind, again, I'm sorry, I think in Bible verses, but my mind went to Exodus chapter 13. One more time in the Bible, God is laying out for the nation of Israel, this idea of the preeminence of God. And I wish I had time to go through

it all, but this is what he says. This is Exodus 13, 11. When the Lord is the law, Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, that's the promised land, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the Lord all the first that opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord. Okay? This is an agrarian society of the first fruits, the first born you bring to God. You don't wait and see how big the litter is, and then if you got enough.

you bring one at the end. God doesn't do leftovers. He is first. He loved first. He went first. So you bring first. And then verse 14, he says this. And when in time to come, your son asked you, what does this mean? You want to see how applicable the word of God is to our lives? A few thousand years later, the time had come. And my son essentially says, Father, What does this mean? You see, because what the son of the rancher was doing here is he's working the books, he's like, Dad, help me understand something. We can do financially, we could do so much better, but you keep giving the best and the first to God, and you burn it up in the temple. What are you doing?

Why don't we wait and see how the year goes, and then, you know? And so God says through Moses to the people, so when your son says this, what does this mean? you shall say to him, by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt from the house of slavery. He said, you tell them your story. And your story is Israel. You used to be a slave under Pharaoh. You used to be oppressed and in shackles under Pharaoh. But by a strong hand of the mighty God, he came and did for you what you could never do for yourself.

And he rescued you and he redeemed you and he saved you. and you cross over the Red Sea on dry land, and now you have walked into the promised land. You tell him that. And because of that, you gladly bring your first. So a few years ago, J.P. says, Dad, what are we doing? Why do we give so much money to the church? And I put my backpack down there used to be a pew.

If you're new to church, that's like a big church bench. It means stinks where I'm from. I don't know why we call it that. But anyway, so I set the thing down, and I sat down on this bench, and I got eyeball. to eyeball with him now. I said, he's like right there. But then, you know, he's right here, and I just got eyeball to eyeball with him. And I said, hey, buddy, um, your dad wasn't always the man that you know. And I said, I'm perfect now, but buddy, it was really bad. Okay.

I mean, I didn't know Jesus. And I treated people wrong. And I lied. And I did everything for me. And I did it in my way. And I was a slave to. my sin. But by the mighty right hand of his son, Jesus Christ, he came and lived the perfect life that I couldn't live. He died a sinner's death on a cross that I deserved. He pushed up on his nail-pierced feet. He says, it is finished. That counted for me. And he took me out of slavery. And now he calls me a son and has brought me to a promised land. And because he did that, because he is first and he loved first and he went first. Then we and our family, we gladly bring our first and our best to him

because he first loved us and he gave us his son, Jesus. And my little boy said, I'm glad you're my dad. That's how we respond. If you know him, if he know him. Listen, if you don't know him, all I want you to do is give your life to Jesus. That's all I want you to do is give your life to Jesus. But if you're knowing, if you call him Father, then on a weekly basis, we bring our first and our best.

And ultimately, what we're saying is, I'm glad you're my dad. Now, there's no special offering. We're not passing anything because we don't want anything from you. What I want for you is to know that kind of freedom that comes through the gospel. We just stand. Let me pray for you. Our good and gracious heavenly, Father, God, I think.

thank you and I praise you for your overwhelming generosity at the cross because you, though you were rich, stepped off of the throne of the king of kings, stepped out of glory, and you humbled yourself as a man. You became a servant and you were obedient even unto death on a cross. And God, because of your great generosity towards us, may we reflect that generosity back towards you. God, for those that look to money for their security, would you just remind us that you have not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-control? And God, for those of us that are tempted by the shiny things of this world to look for our satisfaction in these temporary

things, God, I pray that you would remind us that you were the only one that ultimately satisfies. And God, may we not just have a generous week. That's not even what that means, but God, the way we display lives of generosity, had a response to the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. God, I thank you for this church. I thank you for the generosity of this church. And I thank you because of that. You have done so many things through your people here.

Planted churches all over the world, brought so many people to you. God, may we never lose sight of that. May we always bring you first and best because you are first. You're before all things. the one thing that drives everything. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. Church, we respond. We sing, we bring, we pray. Let's respond.