An Objective Measure Of Holiness? - [Malachi 3:7-12]

Father, thank You for all Your benefits. And everything that we do, we know is a response energized by Your Spirit to those very benefits.

To be pardoned, cleansed, justified, reconciled, forgiven, empowered, gifted.

Father, they're all good gifts from Your hand. Why? Because You're pleased through Christ Jesus to grant them by grace, grace alone.

And so in light of that, Father, would You help us to be attentive today? We want to learn about You and Your Word, what

Your Son has done, what You've called Israel to do and to be. And then in light of that for us as well, the church.

So we need Your help today, and we need Your assistance through Your Spirit. We need conviction.

We need comfort and encouragement. And Father, to think that Your Word is so wonderful for those needing conviction, the same sermon convicts.

And for those needing comfort, that same sermon comforts. So Father, may Your name be praised today.

May Your Son be exalted as we study the proclaimed Word in Jesus' name. Amen. I have a question for you this morning.

Are you a spiritual person? Are you spiritual? I could ask it this way.

Are you holy? Are you a holy person? Are you a maturing person?

Is your walk with Christ Jesus progressing? I guess I could ask you the question this way.

If it is progressing, how do you know it's progressing? Is there something quantifiable, measurable, empirically driven so that you could say, yes, matter of fact,

I am progressing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. How do you measure spirituality?

Can it be measured? Luther's first thesis of his 95

Theses, nailed to the Wittenberg door 499 years ago, was when our

Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, repent, He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.

How repentant is your repentance? Can you know? Well, let's turn our

Bibles today to Malachi, the book of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament. If you can find

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, just back up and you'll find Malachi. And we're going to see a tangible way to measure your holiness, an objective way to see if you're maturing and progressing in Christ Jesus.

First in the life of an Israelite, because that's the context of Malachi, and then by implication in your life.

The book of Malachi, it's a book filled with straight talk. I like that. Just tell me the truth.

And boy, doesn't Malachi do that? I mean, it's like when you go, I went to the dentist this week and I was not afraid of dentist when

I was younger. But there's something called the root canal in my past that has now made me deathly ill of, deathly afraid of dentist.

And I feel like I'm sitting in the fetal position when I'm on that chair that lays down.

And I just think, and you know, when they say something like, it's just going to be a little bee sting today, I'm ready to duck.

Or when they give you the proverbial, you'll only feel a little pressure. And here in the middle of Israelite's apathy and spiritual declension,

Malachi writes him a letter that is full of straight talk. And it's going to be a little more than a little bee sting, but it's good because sometimes you need a hammer to chip away those calloused hearts.

And God's word does that for both them and for us. Now Malachi, we have not been in this book since,

I want to say June. So we're going to have a little review of Malachi today and then we're going to land in chapter 3 verses 7 through 12.

Tangible ways to measure your spirituality. But I think for review, I think the best thing to do, because it's not going to take long and you'll hear the tenor of Malachi, if I just read this wake up call kind of letter.

So I'm going to read chapters 1, 2, and then through 3 where we pick up our passage today in verses 7 through 12.

Now before I read it, remember, this is a kind of a Q &A almost set up with Malachi.

God asks the questions and he expects some answers and what you'll sadly see is a lot of sassing back to God.

What you'll see is a lot of talking back to God. I mean, I'm a parent, I have four children and it's one thing to give your child an exhortation and for them to just say, yes daddy,

I know daddy, I'll try to do better daddy. It's another thing to get the sass and you'll feel that here.

You'll sense it, you'll hear it in the sassy attitude of Israel. Chapter 1 verse 1, these wake up calls for Israel.

First it reads in verse 1, the oracle are the burden of the word of Yahweh to Israel by Malachi.

We come to the first section, do you really love us God? How can you really love us? Verses 2 through 5,

I have loved you, says Yahweh, but you say, how have you loved us?

Is not Esau Jacob's brother, declares Yahweh the Lord? Yet I have loved

Jacob, but Esau I have hated. I've laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.

If Edom says we are shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins, the Lord of hosts says, they may build, but I will tear down and they will be called the wicked country and the people with whom the

Lord is angry forever. Your own eyes shall see this and you shall say, great is the

Lord beyond the border of Israel. Do you really love us? Of course, I have a covenant love for you.

The second, what we call disputation is found in verses 6 through chapter 2 verse 9.

Israel was offering to God, but he was, God was receiving their worst, not their best, not anything that would be a sacrifice.

Malachi chapter 1 verse 6. Look at how the Lord argues his case. A son honors his father and a servant his master.

If then I am a father, where's my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear?

Says the Lord of hosts to you, oh, priests who despise my name. But you say, how have we despised your name?

Answer verse 7, by offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, how have we polluted you?

By saying that the Lord's table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil?

And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor.

Will he accept you or show you favor, says the Lord of hosts? Implied answer, of course, no.

And now entreat the favor of God that he may be gracious to you. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you, says the

Lord of hosts? Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain.

I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. Verse 11, for from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations.

And in every place, incense will be offered to my name and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the

Lord of hosts. But you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised.

But you say, what a weariness this is, and you snort at it, says the

Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering.

Shall I accept that from your hand, says the Lord? Cursed be the cheat who has mail in his flock and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the

Lord what is blemished. For I'm a great king, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.

And now, O priest, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the

Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them because you did not lay it to heart.

Chapter two, verse three, behold, I will rebuke your offering and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.

So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the

Lord of hosts. My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him.

It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips.

He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is a messenger of the

Lord of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction.

You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, and so I make you despised and abased before all the people in as much as you do not keep my ways, but show partiality in your instruction.

Do you love us? Number one. Number two, you give these bad offerings.

God chases them for that. And now number three, chapter two, verses 10 through 16. Marrying idolaters, those out of the covenant.

Have we not all, one father, chapter two, verse 10, has not one God created us?

Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? Judah has been faithless, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem.

For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign

God. May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the

Lord of hosts. And this second thing you do, you cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning, because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand.

But you say, why does he not? Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

Did he not make them one with a portion of the spirit in their union? And that was, excuse me, and what was the one

God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.

For the man who does not love his wife, but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the

Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless.

And then finally to catch up, the fourth disputation found in verses 17 of chapter two, ending in chapter three, verse five.

Where's the God of justice while the Messiah is going to come back? Verse 17, you have wearied the

Lord with your words, but you say, how have we wearied Him? By saying, everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the

Lord and He delights in them. Or by asking, where's the God of justice?

Behold, I send my messenger and He will prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come into His temple and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold,

He is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when

He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver.

And they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the

Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. Then I will draw near to you for judgment.

I will be a swift witness against you sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and against those who thrust aside the sojourner and do not fear

Me, says the Lord of hosts. And there's only one reason these people won't be destroyed.

It's because God is faithful to His promises. Verse six, For I, the Lord, do not change.

Therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

You may change, but I'm not going to change. I'm faithful, you're faithless.

What I promised back in the Abrahamic covenant, I will complete.

So now we come to our passage today, chapter three, verses seven through 12.

The fifth disputation. I'm going to call this bad repentance. Bad repentance.

Now here's the interesting thing. I find it interesting. We come to the most misused

Bible verse in maybe all the Bible. This is the proverbial 45 pistol that pastors and leaders and elders and deacons wrongly hold to the head of people to get money from them, to coerce them, to feel bad and to get them to give money, maybe to their local church or maybe for airplanes and maybe for everything in between.

But here's what I love about Bible teaching. If you teach your children at the dinner table, chapter by chapter by chapter, you get the context.

And when you see the context here, you'll quickly realize that the verse that's so taken out of context and uses a gun to try to rob people of money, you see the context, it's simple.

You'll be able to catch it right away. So we move to the general call to repentance and the specific sin found in Malachi chapter three, verses seven through 12.

Verse seven, bad repentance. What's it look like?

What's the solution? From the days of your fathers, this is an ongoing problem, a long -term problem.

You have turned aside my statutes and have not kept them.

Return to me and I will return to you, says the

Lord of hosts. But you say, how shall we return? All right, there's all kinds of sins that God is dealing with through Malachi that Israel is engaged in.

And now God, by His goodness and by His mercy, He says, return. What's another word for return?

Repent. You're walking this way. To this day, I remember in our kitchen, I would try to teach our children certain

Bible concepts. And when we got to Lot's wife turning into salt,

I would have the kids put out their hands and we would put a bunch of salt in their hands and they would have to lick the salt out of their hands so they would memorize, remember

Lot's wife. That was a fun one. When you had to march around Jericho's wall seven times, you can imagine what we did.

Ah, it was snowy out. So we just marched around the kitchen table. And with the children to teach them repentance,

I would have them walk. And then once they were about ready to hit the wall, I would say, repent.

And they had to turn kind of military style and go the other way. And then I would say it again. And you're going this way and you need to turn and go back the other way.

And so much so here in Malachi chapter three, he doesn't even say repent. He says, return. You were close to the

Lord. You were with the Lord. And then you wandered away and now return back to God.

How many times do you see the word turned in your ESV? Return, return.

How shall we return? That's the key here. Return to me,

God says, and I will return to you. He said it hundreds of years earlier in Hosea.

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall. And isn't there even mercy in repentance?

Isn't there compassion in calling people to return? There could be sin and immediate discipline from God.

Except God, the great parent of his people who keeps his promises, he says, return, come back.

And so you say to a child, all right, when you get to that wall or about to the wall, I want you to turn when

I say repent. And so the kid says to you, well, why am I supposed to return?

Why am I supposed to repent? Why am I supposed to do that? Interestingly with Israel, if they think they're super tight with the

Lord, if they think there's great communion with the Lord, if they think they're close to the Lord, there's no reason to repent.

These people are fooling themselves. We think we're so tight, there's no need for repentance. We don't have to return.

And God says, you're far away. You've moved far away. I haven't moved. He just said in chapter three, verse six,

I'm faithful, I'm consistent. I keep my promises. They're the ones that have moved and their sassy attitude is how are we supposed to return?

We didn't move. I'm so close to you, God, I don't have to repent. How cynical.

Zechariah chapter one, same language. Lord was angry with your fathers.

Therefore, he says, return to me, declares the Lord. Over and over, you'd have

Israel turn from God and God in mercy and in love would call them to repentance, return.

Come, let us return to the Lord, Hosea six. For he has torn us and he will heal us.

He has wounded us and he will bandage us. And look who's talking. Do you notice in chapter three, verse seven, says the

Lord of hosts. When I read chapters one, two and part of three out loud, did you hear that refrain over and over?

The Lord of hosts, the Lord of armies, the one who's in command. This is not just pop culture saying something or your boss at work.

This is God saying it to Israel. Turn back. You were loyal and now you've committed spiritual adultery and it's time to repent.

And by the way, my arms are wide open because I love repentant sinners, whether they're Israelites or anyone else.

Come back with your whole heart. Now, how do I measure that?

If I've been far away with the Lord and I want to get close to the Lord, I know I've drifted and I've known

I'm just kind of floated downstream. How do I get close? How would Israel get close?

Now we could say, offer better offerings. He could say, recall the love of God I have for you in the covenant

I made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But he doesn't do that. What does he do? What's a tangible way to measure someone's spirituality?

How do you know if you're progressing in your walk of maturing in Christ Jesus, sanctification and holiness?

How do you measure it? Can it be measured? And the answer is found in verses eight and following.

There's a provable way to measure spirituality. Not the only way to measure it, but a provable way, an objective, provable way.

Are you ready? You sure? Will man rob

God? Verse eight, but you are robbing me. But you say, how have we robbed you?

Answer, in your tithes and contributions. Now, I'm gonna repent in front of everybody.

Are you ready? I hate talking about money. That is you giving money.

I just hate to talk about it. Because I think if you're a maturing Christian, you should just be a sacrificial giver.

But my repentance is, since Jesus talked about money a lot, and since money is discussed in chapters of the

Bible, like this one for Israel, and we'll see some implications for us, then why would I be ashamed of talking about money if it's in the

Bible? Because I'm uncomfortable. Yes, I don't like to talk about it. But there's a lot of stuff

I might not like, but I'm called to preach on, so I'm just gonna preach this in context, and we're gonna move forward.

All right, sounds like a deal? All right. The most misused Bible verse, how do people use this?

Will man rob God? Are you robbing me? You don't give your tithes and offerings. Hey, if you don't give 10 % to the church off your net,

I mean, gross, you're robbing God. Who's heard that used in that way?

Well, some of you grew up in this church, so you don't know the difference. Does this have anything to do with the

New Testament church? What's New Testament giving? The first thing you should be thinking about is, wait a second, these people, these

Israelites were under the law of Moses, and there were all kinds of tithes.

A tithe means a 10th part. Originally given to Melchizedek, Abraham gave a 10th, but that was just kind of the initial thing.

And then God wanted to govern the theocracy of Israel, and so he gave them all kinds of tithes, many different tithes.

And we'll look at maybe some of those in a little bit, maybe this week or next week. And if you added them up, they probably go from between 20 and 27%.

And the tithe was more not an offering, free will offering that is, here's just a gift to the

Lord. It was like a tax. If you really wanna use this verse in its best context, then we should probably preach this sermon if I wanted to manipulate you on April 15th or thereabouts.

Paying taxes to the Lord. God says to them, the

Israelites, who were under the Mosaic law and all the different tithing laws, you are stealing from me because you're keeping back from me something to yourself, something that belongs to someone else you're keeping.

That's why he uses the word robbery here. It's only used one other place in the Bible. Do not rob the poor,

Proverbs 22. You're supposed to give what

Mosaic law said. Isn't that, by the way, what's wrong with these Israelites anyway? The Mosaic law governed giving the right kind of offering, one that's blameless and whole, and they just wanted to cut corners.

And now they're cutting corners with the money as well. And the problem is, the

Levites and the orphans and the widows had no way to make money. And so what you would do, you would give an offering to God, except God doesn't need anything.

He owns everything, and He has no hands actually to put the offering into. So you gave the offering to God, but you really then ended up giving it to the

Levites and the orphans and the widows because they needed the money. And so what most likely is happening here, these people give fake offerings to God with blemishes, and then they withhold their

Levitical offerings. And so now the priest, what do they do for money? What do the orphans do with the money?

And God says, I want to correct that. Deuteronomy 12, be careful not to neglect the

Levites as long as you live in your land. How are the Levites going to live if you don't give them the offering?

And that's what's going on here. And He says tithes, do you notice the other word? And offerings, or ESV says contributions.

That basically means you've got something and you're giving it to God. It's even got an idea of you're lifting up something to God.

Here's what we offer up to you, God, an offering. We offer it up to you, tithes and offerings.

Now remember, in Israel, we've got Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26. There's a special Mosaic covenant that says this, if you honor me,

I'll bless you. And if you don't honor me, I'll curse you. And so what do you think is happening?

They're dishonoring God and they're getting curses. Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 16,

Leviticus 26 rather, it says, if you walk in my statutes, then I will give you rains in their season.

The land shall yield its increase. The fields shall yield their fruit. But if you will not listen to me, and if you spurn my statutes, then

I will do this for you. I will visit you with panic and a wasting disease and fever that will consume the eyes and make the head ache.

And you shall sow your seed in vain and your enemies shall eat it. If you're experiencing this discipline, shouldn't that make you wake up?

Verse nine, you are cursed with a curse. Hey, you're getting cursed from God, you don't even know it, why?

For you're robbing me, the whole nation of you. Now it's no longer just priests of the earlier chapters.

The whole nation is doing this. How self -destructive. And now we see the promise.

That's also in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 16. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse.

Give everything that you're supposed to to the priest and they have in the storehouse for them, for the widows, the orphans, that there may be food in my house.

Thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts. If I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down a blessing for you until there's no more need,

I will keep my covenant, chapter three, verse six. I don't change. And if you disobey, you'll get the curses.

And if you obey, you'll get the blessings. Try me, try me.

I'll prove it. It's never too late to repent. Verse 11,

I will rebuke the devourer for you so that it will not be, excuse me, 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.

I'll stop the locusts. I'll stop the mites. Then look at it. It's a bigger picture than just you,

Israel. You're my nation, my evangelistic nation. Then all the nations will call you blessed for you will be a land of delight, says the

Lord of hosts. Repentance brings blessing.

So let's stop here just for a second. I know what you're probably saying. I'm not an Israelite and neither are you, so what do we do here?

Let's just talk about this financial issue for a minute. And in light of how do you measure spirituality and maturity, the economic angle, as some have called it.

Let's turn our Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter eight. I have been determined, especially the last 10 years, to be a

Christ -centered preacher, to honor authorial intent, to not pull

Jesus out of verses that he doesn't exist in, but to show you homiletically in the sermon who

Jesus is and how everything in your life, Christian, relates to the gospel. I've been determined to do that by the grace of God.

And when it comes to giving, it should be the exact same thing. If you understand the word grace, you will understand everything you need to know about giving.

If you understand the word grace, the gospel of grace, you'll get it all. And so let's just go to 2

Corinthians chapter eight and nine to discuss this topic because, as one man said, there's three kinds of giving found in the world.

Grudge giving, duty giving, and thanksgiving. Grudge giving says,

I have to. Duty giving says, I ought to. And thanksgiving says,

I want to. You guys are sharp. So remember, we're moving from Israel that had all these different tithes and laws mosaic in a theocracy that equaled basically a tax to what about us today?

We're not living 2 ,500 years ago. So what does the Bible say about giving today? If tithing we're not under as law, what are we under?

And so here's what I love in 2 Corinthians chapter eight. Paul ties giving to the gospel.

He ties collection to the gospel. And I will say from the very get -go, if you give money here because you feel forced to give, that you feel under compulsion because of leadership, that you feel obligated because what will the elders say, then you need to stop giving.

There's only one reason to give and it's found in the word grace. You ready?

One word, it's found in the word grace. 2 Corinthians chapter eight, verse one.

In context and contrast to the law of Moses, to Mosaic law, we now come to chapter eight, verse one.

We want you to know brothers about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.

He calls the offering grace. Do you get that? He's not talking about sovereign grace.

He's not talking about a covenant of redemption. The Father, Son, and the Spirit agreeing to rescue the bride of Christ before time began.

He's talking about a gift. Verse two, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty has overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

For they gave according to their means, as I can testify and beyond their means of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.

And this not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

Now, typically, what do you have? You got the pastor that says, you give money. You know, give the church money.

Here's my address. These people were begging to give.

Why? Because they thought of it all as grace. What's a good definition of grace? Well, there are many. Here's one, unmerited favor.

The people down in Jerusalem are hurting. We're poor, but we want to help them. And you can even start seeing some

Jew -Gentile non -differences because of the gospel. But we want to grace them. We want to give them.

They don't owe it, but we want to just grace them. Verse six, accordingly, we urged

Titus that as he had started, so should complete among you this act of what? What's the collection called?

You give some money to another local church of some people who are hurting. What's it called? Act of grace.

So much different than Mosaic law. But as you excel in everything, in faith and speech and knowledge and all earnestness and in our love for you, see that you excel in this act of what?

Grace also. It's just this overflowing. We don't have much, but we want to give.

And it's not law. Verse eight, anybody that uses the Bible verse to try to get you to give money to them needs to be rebuked.

I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love is genuine.

It's voluntary. It's not by compulsion. That doesn't sound like the

Old Testament to me. And here's the tie -in. If you understand grace, how many people here love the five solas of the

Reformation? I'll raise my hand for you. You ought to like them. God's scriptures, alone.

Christ saves, alone. Through faith, a non -meritorious instrument of salvation, alone.

God gets all the praise, alone. But this particular sola, sola gratia, grace alone, is the motivation for all giving.

Verse nine, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, by the way, this has nothing to do with the

Cadillacs that Jesus had in his barns. Foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, and the

Son of Man has what? Nowhere to lay his head. Jesus wasn't rich on earth. But was he rich, the second person of the

Trinity, before the incarnation? Of course he was rich, spiritually, before God, as God, face -to -face with God.

That though he was rich, we're talking about pre -incarnation. By the way, just to stop for just a quick second, there's nobody else we talk about like this before they were born.

Because we didn't start until we were born. But for Jesus, he's the pre -existent, eternal

Son of God that's always existed and always will. And in eternity past, he was rich.

And what does the text say? Yet for your sake, I think that's grace right there.

He became poor. This is talking about not money, but incarnation.

So that you, by his poverty, that is becoming cloaked with human flesh, adding human nature to be our substitute and representative.

We might become rich, not with money, but spiritually rich with all the blessings.

Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself, becoming a servant, taking the form of a servant, becoming born in the likeness of men.

This is why, when you think, okay, how do I give? What's the amount I should give?

What's the percentage I give? Friends, it's all wrong unless you say like everything else. I should think about my marriage in light of the

Gospel. I should think about an evangelism in light of the Gospel. I should think about contentment in light of the

Gospel. I should think about joy in light of the triune God and His redemption called the Gospel.

Don't we live Gospel -centered lives? I know it's the popular thing to talk about, but it's true.

How do I give money to the local church, to God?

It's all through the Gospel. Now, let me go backwards in 2 Corinthians and pick out a few words, and you're just going to see these words and you're going to be reminded that's how

Jesus did it when it comes to not giving money, but the incarnation.

Chapter 8, verse 3. How did these givers give?

Paul commends them because they gave of their own accord, no gun to their head.

And here Jesus, the Father sent Him, and He gladly went in the greatest commission ever, that is the

Father sending the Son. How about verse 4? Begging us with much entreaty for the favor of participation in the support of the saints.

It wasn't just voluntarily that Jesus gave Himself, and so should we, but enthusiastically.

He's not the one that said, well, I'm not sure, and was a little tepid about it. They were begging with much entreating.

They were enthusiastic. I have a question for you.

What's the New Testament percentage for giving to God through a local church? I want you to know

I'm going to probably have to shock you a little bit so you get this down. Hang in there with me. If you don't like the answer,

I'll explain myself. But if a new Christian came to you and said, well, I'd like to give to the local church. I've always been just tight with money and never give.

And I see other people give. There's the offering plate. And how much should I give? What's the percentage? I mean, we want to know numbers, don't we?

I just need a number so I don't have to think much about it. Just give me the number. See, the people who laugh, they are that.

We are that. I am you. You are me. We are the world. That's how you change the world.

Just get a bunch of pop singers together and sing about love, farm aid and stuff.

All right, back on track. What would you tell another Christian? Here's the number for giving.

The answer should be, are you fail New Testament theology? The answer for giving for every

Christian is, I'll tell you next week, let's pray. Just kidding. One hundred percent.

That's the number. One hundred percent. Now, what must

I be talking about? Look down in verse five of chapter eight of 2

Corinthians. The good news about a hundred percent, it's a round number.

The good news, it's easy to remember. But I'm sure you want proof. And in verse five, it says, they gave themselves first to the

Lord and then by the will of God to us. Notice the number. They gave themselves to the

Lord. It is wholehearted dedication to the Lord. You forget your money.

It's you. That's what we're after. One hundred percent of you. The crux of the matter was they one hundred percent gave themselves first to the

Lord. Now, I could put it this way if I wanted to really shock you.

Thinking of Jesus, he didn't tithe on the cross. I don't mean money.

He didn't say, I'll just give 10 percent of who I am. He gives his whole life as an offering.

And I love Leviticus because you'll read about soothing offerings, aroma, a savory aroma offering.

Really, in the Hebrew, that's an offering of Noah because Noah means rest.

It's an offering of rest. God was angry because of sin. The sacrifice has been given in place of the sinner.

And now God is assuaged. His wrath is assuaged because the sinner has a substitute, which was an animal.

And now, instead of turmoil between man and God, instead of strife, instead of enmity, it is what?

Rest. There's rest between God and man because of the sacrifice. Now, when you give the sacrifice, many sacrifices,

Leviticus, were burnt offerings. It's the whole thing. And Jesus on the cross did not just give 20 percent of who he was and hold back some.

Not 50 percent, not 90 percent. You see this whole sacrifice of Jesus as representative and substitute.

And so I think if you understand grace, you know how to give. Let me ask you this way. How does

God display his love for us? Answer, by giving. For God so loved the world, what did he do?

He gave his only begotten son. God shows his love for us that while we are still sinners, Christ died for us.

The greatest demonstration of God's love was that on our behalf, he gives his sinless son to die in our place.

He didn't have to give. It was such a great gift that God punctuated the atoning works of Christ by raising him from the dead.

Now, when you realize how much grace you've been given, is your response with service and with money parsimoniously given just little bits, little drabs, little drops, stingy.

What's another synonym for stingy? Chintzy. Do we say that word around here? That was a big word in Nebraska.

Chintzy. Jesus buys us.

1 Corinthians 6. He redeems us out of the slave pit. The price for that redemption out of slavery was his own life.

He owns us now wholly. You're either a slave to sin or you're a slave to Christ.

And if he owns you and you say, I've been graced. Paul's point in 2

Corinthians 8, as he commends the Macedonian churches, you've been graced by Jesus. You have an example of Jesus who gives himself.

That's exactly what you did. And he commends them. The number for giving a

New Testament thinking should be 100%. How about Romans 12, 1?

I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual form of worship.

And it's almost too easy for me to go. I just need a number. Just tell me the number. No, the number should be.

I should sit down and think, what's the grace of God in my life? How sacrificial was Jesus? And in light of that,

I will give through the local church to God. There's no number.

Paul in Philippians 4 says you don't give to the pastor. You don't give to the building. I know churches when they get mad at their pastor, they don't give.

I don't know if there's any rationale to that, but you're giving to the Lord Jesus.

That's what Paul said in Philippians chapter 4. I have received full payment and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

That's not to Paul, it's to God. He owns it all anyway. Look down in chapter 9, if you would, 2

Corinthians chapter 9. You'll see in light of this grace of Jesus, this act of grace in chapter 9, chapter 8, how do we give?

There's no law, unless it's the law of grace, if I could use that language. Chapter 9, verse 6 and 7.

Whoever sows sparingly, he's talking about collections and giving, will also reap sparingly.

Whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly, not underneath the gun of Malachi chapter 3 or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

I mean, when you get saved, you're changed. And everything about you is changed.

And for the first time in your life, you think, I know what grace is. And I have experienced grace.

I both intellectually know and I experientially know what grace is. And then this grace principle, sola gratia, should govern everything else.

How do I treat my husband? Well, if he doesn't earn my love, I won't reciprocate. How do

I treat my wife? Well, if she doesn't do such and such, then I won't reciprocate. How do I talk to my children?

If they don't stay in line, I won't reciprocate. And then grace comes along and intercepts every one of those and says, wrong thinking, wrong thinking, wrong thinking.

How have you been affected? Is that the way God treated you? No, in spite of you,

God gave and He gave His best. He gave His Son. I think, okay, what about the way

I treat people like in a fellowship? They don't do this and I don't like it. And they don't do this and I don't like it.

Well, then what we need to go back to is sola gratia. What does grace do? What does the

Lord Jesus do? He was rich pre -incarnation and became poor for our sakes.

And so it's giving. It's for the other. It's grace -based parenting. It's grace -based marriages.

It's grace -based friendships. I've told you this many times. I got to wrap up. My grandparents,

I loved. Henry and Erna Abendron. They were kind to me and they were nice to me.

But I think they were only kind and nice to me because they didn't have any other friends to be kind or nice to. Because as they got older and more people offended them, the more they could just write them out of their phone book and say, you know what, you did something wrong to me.

And so we're done. We're so done. It's over. And of course, they didn't know who the

Lord Jesus was. But I think, how does grace change someone?

How does grace intercept someone? And see, in our lives as well, we say, well,

I want to be a better dad and I want to be a better father and I want to be grace -based. I mean, I want merit from them so I can pay them back in kind.

But I've got to grace them. It's all about grace. Wouldn't you like to be graced?

You have been in Christ Jesus. So we grace other people. And then when people upset us and then we give them grace, then we start looking like New Testament churches.

Now, it's hard to know. Is my contentment increasing? Is my satisfaction in Christ increasing?

Is my delight in the triune God increasing? Those are hard to measure, but I will tell you this.

Your checkbook is measurable. And if you're not a sacrificial giver, you don't understand grace.

Martin Luther said there are three conversions, the conversion of the heart, the conversion of the mind, and the conversion of the purse.

The gospel and sola gratia is the paradigm that influences, as a catalyst, everything you give.

And why do you think we had an offering before the service? What pastors are supposed to do is, when they preach on giving, they have an offering after the sermon.

Why do they do that? For the same reasons they use Malachi chapter three as a gun to the head of people to get money from them.

That is not what we want. But what I do want is, in light of the grace of Christ, for you to give to the

Lord Jesus Christ, not because of law, but because of grace.

Let's pray. I thank you, Father, for what you've done. Grace upon grace.

We realize that we can't love you and money at the same time.

And Father, I too, when I think about money and I think about not wanting to talk about the congregation that you've entrusted to me,

I repent and ask for your forgiveness for not even wanting to do when I am a herald and a steward and I want to be faithful.

And so, Father, I pray that you would help us as church members. If we're convicted because we don't give out of grace, then,

Father, I think that's a good conviction. But may the giving be done in no other way except from cheerful hearts here at Bethlehem Bible Church as we give to you.

Thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. Even when we're not giving generously and sacrificially, we're covered from those sins because Jesus, while not with money per se, he has clothed us with his righteousness because he who was rich became poor for our sake.