Dr Greg Bahnsen - A Godly Attitude: A Godly Attitude Toward Money (Tithe) (Part 3)

Our scripture reading this morning will be found in Matthew the sixth chapter, and I'd like to read the entire context of the text cited in your bulletin. So we'll be reading verses 19 through 34, Matthew 6, 1934. This morning we take as our subject for consideration a godly attitude toward money. We learn a great deal about that from this blessed passage of God's Word from the Sermon on the Mount. Follow along with me then at Matthew 6, beginning at the 19th verse, Hear this for what it is, God's own holy word. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single, thine whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness. No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, do not be anxious for your life what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body what you shall put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body more than raiment? Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. And are not you of much more value than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add one cubit unto the measure of his life? And why are you anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin. Yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you? O you of little faith. Therefore do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things did the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things, so seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore anxious for tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. And thus far, the reading of God's word. The last few weeks we've been considering practical matters having to do with our life as God's people and congregation. What we, as God's people are supposed to be doing in the world that makes a difference, what sets us apart from the rest of mankind. And we look first of all at worship. How for us, all of life is worship. And we typify that by the fact that there's a special time of ordained worship where we come together, we enter in fully and freely and cheerfully to the praising of God's name and the reception of His Word. And so there's this general requirement of worship and a particular We've also seen this with respect to our use of time. We believe that all of our time is in God's hands. He owns everything, and every moment of our lives should be lived for him. And yet there is a special time for God as well, called the Sabbath. And we are set apart from the world by that that marks us out, that this day we give to the Lord. We don't say, well, we've put in our time and now the rest of it's for us. We say, God shows us how to use this day, and we are Sabbath keepers. And today we come to the question of money, a godly attitude toward money. And we're going to see the same general pattern. We're going to be saying, all, all of our money belongs to God, and yet a special portion of our money belongs to God in a way different than that. We call that the tithe, one of the best known verses of the Bible, although it's commonly misquoted. One of the best known verses of the Bible is the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. What kind of misquotations do you hear? Well, you'll be told money is the root of all evil. Well, it's not money that's the problem. It's the love of money that's the problem. Secondly, it's not the single root of all these things. It's one root. There are many other ways to get into trouble, morally speaking. And it's not the root of all evil, meaning every single sin comes down to a money sin. It's all kinds of evil. And so let's make sure we have quoted it correctly. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. That's found in 1 Timothy 6, 10. And if you keep your finger in Matthew 6 and turn over to 1 Timothy for a few moments. I want to consider that leading into our consideration of the sermon on the mount. First Timothy 6, 10. Actually I want to read verse 9 and 10 to begin with. This morning Paul says to Timothy, but they that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drownment and destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. The observation made by Paul is one that's not difficult to make. I think all of us can readily see that to be true, can confess it to be true. We understand that the consuming desire to be rich and the love of money produce for a person hurtful desires and snares many sorrows, often the denial of the faith and finally eternal destruction. This is serious business, friends. Paul says if you don't have a moderate attitude toward money, if you don't have the proper approach to money, you're on the road to hell. And I don't know how much plainer it can be put if that doesn't wake you up and make you say, well maybe I'd better stop and look at my attitude toward money and see if it's a godly one. I'm not sure what else I can say to you. You see, we see this tendency all around us and I think we feel it within ourselves as well. It's not hard to give it agreement. The whole the love of money leads to all kinds of problems. And they that think to be rich, that is to say those who have as their consuming desire as their number one priority. Those who are so sold over to the idea of making a lot of money are going to people who fall into a lot of sinful snares and traps. And so what should we do about it? What should we do about this love of money and this desire to be rich? The socialists have the wrong answer. Socialists would eventually want to do away with all money and all riches, thereby eliminating the very possibility of inordinate lust for them. Well, there's a couple of real, I think shallow minded mistakes found in that. And I don't hesitate to accuse socialism of being shallow minded. I think it's not only ungodly, I think it's a stupid system of thought. And the stupidity of socialism is seen first of all, even if you did away with all money, people would just start lusting after the things money bought because you'd go to a bartering type of economy and then people would start lusting after those things that you barter. That's not going to take away the avarice in the heart of man to remove money. Money is just the most convenient way to express our avarice and to make easy transactions commercially between one another. So that's not going to help. And besides that, it seems to me the socialist answer to the love of money is kind of like dealing with the problem of adultery by outlawing marriage. If there can't be any marriage, then you can go to bed with anybody you want. I mean, adultery is impossible if there's no concept of boundaries in terms of bedroom behavior. So we just do away with all marriage and therefore all bedroom boundaries. Then there won't be any more adultery by definition. See the difficulty? You take away money and you think you've dealt with the heart of man. You take away the concept of marriage and think you've dealt with the heart of man, but you haven't. The biblical response to the love of money, to the destructive love of money, is of a very different kind altogether. God's word would have us put money in its purpose, proper place. Don't eliminate money, put it in its place, its proper place. And this will involve recognizing and obeying a general requirement concerning money as well as a special requirement concerning money. As I've already said, parallel to the case of worship, all of life is worship. But then we are called to worship God on this particular day as his congregation. And it's parallel to our use of time. All of our time is to be used for God. And yet there's a particular time, the Sabbath, that is set apart and consecrated to his use in particular. And so let's look at the general requirement and then the special requirement concerning money. The general requirement. Well, there's a lot of ways of putting it, but this morning I've chosen to summarize it by saying that God calls on us to be content and to make a godly use of our money. That's simple enough to remember. It may not be very simple to obey, but I think you can remember it. God says, be content and use your money in a godly way. Let's go back to 1 Timothy 6 and read the entire context. And I think you'll see that this is exactly what Paul is trying to teach. First Timothy 6, beginning at verse 6. Now, so we put those well known verses in a broader context. Paul says, but godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world. For neither can we carry anything out, but having food and covering, we shall be therewith content. But they that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and snare, and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, which some, reaching after, have been led astray from the faith and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. And then skip down a paragraph, taking this theme up again at verse 17. Charge them that are rich in this present world that they be not high minded, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good and they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on the life which is life indeed. See, our biggest problem with money is a lack of contentment. That's where our problem with money comes in. We are not a contented people. And when we are not content, what that points to is a self orientation in our lives, an orientation toward ourselves, our own desires, our own, well, it may be luxuries, in some cases, our own comforts. A self orientation that does not trust God for all things. And so Paul says, remember your beginning. How much money did you have when you were born? Now, some of you may be in a position to say, well, my parents had plenty laid away for me. Even the day I was born, I was wealthy. Yeah, but you have to remember you didn't bring that into this world. You found it here when you got here. And Paul says, how much money you're going to have when you leave this world? Exactly the same amount. And so all accounts are going to balance out. You came in with nothing, you're going to leave with nothing. Perfect balance. It's only in between you see that you have any in the first place. So Paul says, remember that. And if you have food and clothing in this time in between the zero balance, if you have food and clothing, he says, be satisfied. Don't be consumed with a lust for riches. Be satisfied that you eat and that you have clothes to wear. You see what I say? It's so easy to remember. But who of us acts like that? I don't. And to be very honest with you, this is not intended as some kind of a searing indictment. I'm not sure that I know anybody not in this congregation. And I'd have to look real hard throughout my whole life, I know anybody who could seriously be said to be content in that way. Someone who does not have, I mean, we have clothes to wear but we want nicer ones or we want more of them to wear or you know, we have homes, but we want nicer homes. We want to eat better food. We want to eat more food. I mean, all of us have this, you know, take, take, take attitude. Paul says don't do that. Remember that money is nothing. If God takes care of you by giving you food and clothing, be content. And you can't miss the contrast when you get to verse 9. Because then Paul says, but they that are minded to be rich. On the one hand you have those who are content that God is taking care of their physical needs. But then there are those who desire to be rich. When I first read that, I would almost bet, if I were a betting man, I would almost bet that you read that as pertaining to somebody who wanted the dynasty lifestyle. They that be minded to be rich. That's not us, you know, with our little lust and our little coveting and our little desires to just really have a little bit better Ford or Chevrolet to drive. We're not looking for a Rolls Royce. We just want, you know, a little bit nicer clothes. We don't have to have furs and jewels. They that are minded to be rich, you read as those people who are middle class but really lusting after being upper class type people, economically speaking. That is not what Paul is saying. I think you can see it in context. He says, be content. You have food, you have clothing. Be satisfied. But on the other hand, there's those who desire to be rich. There's those who are not content with food and clothing. We've got to have more, more, more. So don't be consumed with the lust for riches. However, that doesn't mean divesting ourselves of our riches either. Because when you come to verse 17, you see very clearly what Paul says. He says, charge them that are rich in this present world. Does he say charge them to go out and get rid of all that ugly, dirty, filthy money? No, he doesn't. That's the attitude of many in the Christian church today. I'm afraid Paul's attitude is not that we should divest ourselves of our riches, but rather he says charge them that are rich. You have to notice in this present world what a devastating qualification. Paul doesn't want you to miss that. Those who are rich in this world, and boy, that's a put down, he means, yeah, they're Rich, and a lot of people make a lot of that. But he knows it's only for this world. Charge them that are rich in this present world that they ought to remember, one, God is the source of all riches. He says that right here, the God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, everything comes from God. All of your money is his, and you should praise him for it. If you've been able to make a lot of money, if you have a nice home, a nice car, whatever it is, acknowledge that that comes from God. And see if God gave it, then it's a blessing. He's going to take care of us. It's not something we have to get rid of because it has this taboo about it that if we keep money in our house, then we're going to be wicked people. That that is. In Paul's approach, he says, charge them that are rich in this world to one, see that God's the source of their riches, and two, that God alone should be what they set their hope upon. Charge them not to set their hope upon their wealth. That's a very difficult thing. We've preached through the book of Proverbs to a large extent already in this congregation. You've seen how often Proverbs says the same thing. You know, rich people who trust their wealth have a very illusory security because that really won't take care of the most important things in life or the life to come. So Paul says, charge them not to make their wealth their strength. That's a hard thing. And I say that to you who are rich because you have much more than clothing and food, don't you? I realize you may not have the dynasty lifestyle, but you have a lot. And I'm not going to try to lay a guilt trip on you. But those who would lay a guilt trip on you could remind you. And it's true. Comparatively, those of us in America are just astoundingly wealthy. In comparison to the mean income and the style of living. The vast majority of the rest of the world and those of us who are in Southern California have the highest overall of those in America. And in Orange County, I mean, we have a lot to thank God for. Don't set your hope on it, though. Don't trust in that. Trust in the Lord. And thirdly, Paul says, charge them that their riches should be used to do good, readily distributing to godly purposes. And so, as he puts it, charge them to become rich in good works. Charge them to lay up their treasure in heaven. Make sure that their wealth is a wealth of moral goodness. So the point is, thank God for what you have and make sure you use everything you have in a godly way. And if you're going to use it in a godly way, you're not going to be stingy. You're going to be willing to use this not only so that when you buy food or entertainment or clothes, you buy in a godly fashion, these items, but you're going to be able to use your money to help those who are in need. You're going to use your money to advance godly purposes in this world. Now, the ability and the willingness to see all of your money in this light, to be content with what you have and use whatever riches come to you in a godly fashion. The ability and the willingness to do that turns out to be a test of religious worship. I wonder if you saw that when we read through the Sermon on the Mount just a few moments ago. Turn back now to Matthew Chapter six is we're going to see that the same obligation of contentment and godly use of money is taught here by Jesus in Matthew 6. In the first place, Jesus says, lay up treasures in heaven, not on earth. Verses 19 to 21 lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. That last axiom is so true. You look at the way someone uses money and you'll find out where their heart is. You'll find out what they really care about. You'll see what the center of their life is, the way you use your money. And so Jesus says, make sure you use your money in a godly way. Make sure that you're not working for riches in this present life, but rather riches in the life to come. And then secondly, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, don't be anxious about the provisions of this life, which he acknowledges ultimately come from God anyway. He says, rather, seek first God's kingdom and righteousness. Notice how often in verses 25, 31, 33, and and 34, Jesus says, Don't be anxious, don't be anxious. Don't be anxious. Don't be anxious. I mean, when you say it over and over again, it makes an impression. I think about how much marriage counseling I do could be relieved if people would believe that don't be anxious because it's not the only source of marital distress. I wouldn't pretend that. But boy, a large number of marital Problems stem from money, usually a lack of it, sometimes it's the other way, but usually not knowing where the money's going to come from, how it's supposed to be spent, and so forth. Jesus says, don't be anxious about that. And our idiom, don't sweat it. Take it easy here. Don't worry about money. And I hear myself saying that in the late 20th century in America, and I can hardly believe, don't worry about money. That's one of the conditions of life, isn't it? Worry about money. Jesus says, no, not for a Christian. You don't worry about money. Not here. Why not? Well, because we can look at the birds and we can look at the grass of the field. Have you ever done what Jesus says? That's a command, by the way. He says, consider the lilies someday just go out and look at the natural world. Look at the way the birds take care of their needs, look at the way the grass grows, and just say, the God who made all of this and runs this system so perfectly is the God who made me and loves me. What am I anxious about? If God can take care of these things, he can certainly take care of me. And if you don't draw that conclusion, if you think that's just some kind of sweet sentimentality and religiosity, Jesus says, you're of little faith. He says, oh, you of little faith. Don't you understand this? Don't you know how to reason? You're much more valuable to God than the grass of the field and the birds of the air. And so if he takes care of them, then a fortiori he'll take care of you because you're more valuable than them. And so what should you worry about? Jesus says, don't make your number one priority money and clothing yourself and eating. Make your number one priority God's kingdom. So that in everything you do, no matter what decision you make, to the very point of what kind of clothes you put on during the day, what kind of job you take, how you drive your car, what entertainment you have. Whatever decision you make, seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness. And if you do that, all these other things will be added to you. So don't be anxious about the provisions of this life. They ultimately come from God. And if they ultimately come from God, seek first God's kingdom and righteousness. And I think these exhortations parallel very nicely those found in first Timothy. Be content. In fact, Jesus goes a step further. He says, don't even be anxious about it not only should you be content in food and clothing, Jesus says, don't even worry about it. God will take care of it. Be content. Don't be anxious. On the other hand, seek heavenly wealth. Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven. Teach those who are rich in this world, Paul says, to be rich in good works, so they have true wealth. Now it's in the midst of these exhortations in Matthew 6 that Jesus lays down a very serious principle. In verse 24, he says, you cannot serve God in mammon. When Jesus says, be content. Use your money in a godly way. Lay up for yourself treasure in heaven. It's in the midst of that kind of discussion that he lays it down. You cannot serve God and mammon. You are not truly serving God unless you put your money in its proper place, which is evident. If you put your money in its proper place is evident from your contentment and your godly use of whatever riches you possess. Do you really worship God? How do you use your money? There are other tests we could bring out. Do you love your brother as yourself? That's another test the Bible gives. And we could actually. I think it'd be interesting to have a sermon series on the test of godliness that are laid down, the kind of objective way to check whether you truly have a heart that's committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. But this is one of them. You can't serve God and money. And if you're not content and if you're not using money in a godly way, you're serving money. You're not serving the Lord God. You haven't put his kingdom first. You don't trust him for his provision that basically says you have a secular outlook. You're not really much different from the world. Oh, yeah, you profess something, you say something with your mouth. But people in the world who don't say those things live the same way as you do when it comes to their attitude toward money. You can't serve God and mammon. To talk about money is to talk about where people really live, where they most obviously practice their true commitments. Isn't that right? I got to thinking about how Alex Keaton would respond to knowing that we're going to talk about money at church. You know, he'd be very interested in going to church. They're going to talk about money. Then, of course, he'd be very disappointed in the way we're talking about money. You see, we know. And of course, it's a caricature on that TV program. Although maybe in Life. There are people like that. But that desire to have money and to get ahead and so forth is a sign that you don't really worship the Lord God Almighty. Jesus said so. That's not my idea. That's not some kind of guilt trip I'm laying on you. Jesus says, you can't serve God in money. If you serve God, you don't worry about money. You don't worry about whether you have a dynasty lifestyle again. You're content with food and clothing and you lay up treasure for yourself in heaven. Talk's easy. The use of the pocketbook is tough. And the use of the pocketbook is the genuine test of where we stand and what kind of people we are. Like if you had somebody who said, I really believe in this cause, let's say it's saving the whales. I say that because I know you people don't like those kind of illustrations. Let's say someone tells you, though, I am really committed to saving the whales. And then you say, well, this saving the whales project has the need for money to go out and do this, that or the other. Can you give something to us for that? And the person says, I really believe in this, but no money. Thanks. I really believe in saving the whales, but don't expect me to give my life to that. I'm not going to give up any of my money for that. I mean, we would all readily see the hypocrisy. Well, it's true. On a much grander scale, though, when we talk about religion, you say that you worship God and him alone. How do you use your money? That's the test. Brings us then, to the special requirement with respect to money, the requirement of tithing. We've seen that all of our money belongs to God. All of it comes from God. All of it is to be used in a godly way. We're to be content with what we have and lay up treasure in heaven for ourselves. Use our riches to show that we are rich in good works. So that's the general requirement with money. But you see, there's a special requirement. In a sense. What I've said is your faith in God is tested by your use of money in general. And your use of money in general is going to be tested more pointedly by whether you tithe or not. You see, the exhortation to use our money in a godly way does not mean you should give all your money to the church. I want to make that very clear. The godly use of money is not to be equated with the church's use of your money. And I think far too many preachers have tried to enrich themselves by just that fallacious thinking that says, if you're going to use your money in a godly way, give it to me. And they've created, I think, a very bad reputation for the Church of Jesus Christ. They are always talking about money so that they themselves can get more of it. And this last week's news has given us just a very ugly illustration of that. We have Oral Roberts in Oklahoma, who goes on national TV and tells people that God is going to call him home. He's going to die if he doesn't raise the certain amount of money that Oral Roberts thinks he needs to raise. And it's about time someone had the stamina to stand up and condemn that from the pulpit. That is a blasphemous use of God's name. The Bible does not teach that use of money. And from that standpoint, perhaps Oral Roberts ought to be called home. This is not the church's understanding. If we are founded on the Bible, this sermon is not intended to tell you, give all your money to the church. That isn't what a godly use of money is. God only asks for 10% of your money. You say, oh, good, we're not going to be put under this guilt trip of an Oral Roberts type church where we have to give so much money to the church. Only 10%. Only 10%. That 10%, of course, is but a token, isn't it? It's a way of saying, God, I know you own it all, so let me give 10% back as a way of declaring my faith in you? Declare, say it's all yours. Do you believe, Seriously, do you believe that if you can't give 10% of your earnings to the work of the ministry, that God takes you very serious when you say, but all my money is used for you, Lord, how can the other 90% be used for God when you won't even give the slight 10% token that he asked for? And I emphasize it's a token 10%. Godly use of your money pertains to the general way that you spend money, not just to the way you contribute to the church, but the way you contribute to the church will show whether you do have that godly attitude or not. Tithing is not just an Old Testament requirement, it's a New Testament requirement. In Matthew 23:23, Jesus indicts the Pharisees. And what he says is, you've overlooked the weightier matters of the law. You've overlooked justice and love and fidelity. But on the other hand, you're very meticulous about tithing your garden vegetables. Now, we would expect Jesus to say, forget all that legalistic, picayune stuff like tithing and get onto the really important things about justice and love. But he doesn't. He says, but this you ought to have done and not to have left the other undone. Yes, you should be tithing your garden vegetables, but not in such a way as to forget justice and love and fidelity. You see the point? It's both and not either or. So Jesus our Lord says, you should be tithing. Now you want to know what to think of yourself if you don't tithe. I'm sorry to get pushy here, but if Oral Roberts is going to take it from the pulpit, so are you. You're not even as good as the Pharisees if you don't tithe. They did that much, and Jesus said it wasn't enough. They should have tithed and been concerned with the weightier matters of the law. But you see, you don't even get into the ballpark. You don't even begin to compete with the Pharisees if you don't tithe. Tithing is not simply something pastors preach on because the congregational meeting has come and the budget needs to be met. I once heard a pastor say, in all seriousness, all candor, he said to a group of fellow pastors that he didn't need to worry about the awkwardness of preaching on tithing, for his congregation was readily meeting its budget already. But don't you see? Tithing is not first and foremost a device for financing the church. That does work out that way. But that's not why we tithe, so we can meet the budget. I hope you understand that that is crucial. Tithing is first and foremost a moral obligation and an act of worship to God. We tithe to God through the agency of the church, to be sure. But it's before God that we pay our tithes. And when the tithe is not paid, Malachi declares, and unmistakable terms, we are robbing God. He doesn't say, you're robbing the priest. By the way, the tithe went to the priest to be handled. But he doesn't say, you're robbing the priest. You're not going to meet your budget. They aren't going to eat. Which all would have been true. But what Malachi says, you are robbing from God himself. Would you ever dare to do that? Look at Malachi 3, 8, 10. Will a man rob God yet? Ye rob me, but you say, wherein have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you rob me, even this whole nation. Bring in the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. And prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I will not open to you the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive. To withhold your tithe is a sacrilegious offense against the God who made you and protects you and redeems you. The God who says, I'll take care of you better than the lilies of the field. You're robbing from him. And that should make you feel pretty low, pretty bad indeed. The Bible says that you're under the curse of God if you. If you rob from him. I mean, we would feel real bad about someone in our congregation. We found out they snuck next door to their neighbor's house and stole something from them. We'd look really down upon that. And yet we, week by week come into God's house and steal from him. If we don't pay our tithes, that's what the Bible says. There's absolutely no excuse for God's people not to pay their tithes and not to pay them promptly and regularly. Would you dare rob God? It's just that simple. I'm not going to reason with you beyond that. Friends. If you don't pay your tithes, you don't trust God. Your worship is hypocritical. If you don't tithe, you are robbing God and you're under his curse. If you are robbing God, do you really think you're worshipping him and serving him? If you would rob God, who are you serving, God or Mammon? Isn't your religion vain if you cannot faithfully return a tenth, a token of your earnings to show that they all belong to God? Let me give you some details about tithing, because in the past you have thanked me for trying to get beyond just the general principles. Let's get down to the nitty gritty where the rubber hits the road, as we say. How should you tithe? Well, first, the Bible says you should tithe regularly. First Corinthians 16:2 tells us that this is something that every man should lay aside regularly. Tithing is not to be done during Thanksgiving season and maybe a couple other times during the year. You ought to tithe regularly. Now, we're not all paid in the same pattern, I realize that some of us receive money from investments at one or two times a year. Some of us receive a paycheck every week. Some receive a paycheck once a month or twice a month. I mean, it differs. And so there's no one way to make your contribution, but it should be done regularly. Secondly, you should tithe on your actual increase. Proverbs 3, 9. You may recall last year I preached on this. The Bible says we are to bring the first fruits of our increase to the Lord. God doesn't expect us to tithe on money that we never see. And so that's why, though some people think I'm compromising, I really believe it's true that if the government takes taxes out of your income before you even get to use it, and then willingly turn it back over to the government, that never was your money in the first place. You should tithe after your withholding tax. Now, if taxes are not withheld, in my case they aren't. We tithe on everything then. But if you have withholding and it's something that never becomes an increase to you, I don't believe you're morally obliged to tithe on it. Now, if you don't agree with that, good. And tithe on everything. You know, I know people who say, pastor, I disagree with you. We tithe on our gross income, not on the net. I say, that's great, God bless you for it. But make sure you tithe at least on the increase. Pay it first of all, right off the top. I want to suggest you do that. If you get a Friday paycheck, I suggest that it would be a very holy and religious thing for you to go home and immediately, maybe even before you deposit it in the bank, write a check for 10% of that as a contribution. Don't even consider it yours. Pay it right off the top. And if you get in the habit of doing that, then you won't be tempted by Satan to start looking at the bills and the budget and this amount of money and say, I don't know if we can squeeze God in this month. No, you come home and you say, God, of course, you gave me this money. Here's 10% back. Now help me meet the rest. That's faith. The other attitude is selfish and faithless. Thirdly, you should contribute your tithes to your local session for distribution Acts. The fifth chapter teaches you that the offerings are brought and laid at the feet of the apostles. They are the ones who determine the use of that money for godly Purposes. Of course, there are such things as congregational meetings where you can communicate to your session ideas for the use of that money and encourage them in one direction or another. But in the end, if we are Presbyterians, we believe the elders make those kind of decisions ultimately. Now, what about money over and above your tithes? I think it would be wonderful if we had some free will offerings from time to time too, where people contributed not because it was their 10% token, but because they just want to share their goodness to help others and maybe advance the ministry beyond what they would only with their tithes. Well, your offerings over and above the tithe, I believe, are discretionary. If you have an orphanage or a Christian publishing house or an anti abortion movement or something like that that you want to give your money to, that's fine. And it's not wrong for the church to support them either. But remember this principle. The first 10% goes to the local church and any offerings beyond that either to the church or other causes that you believe are good ones. Fourthly, and very importantly, contribute your tithe as an act of worship. It would be easier for you to see that if we passed an offering plate. That's the traditional thing in the Christian church. And I don't want to say that other churches who do things that way are wrong by any means. It's, you know, it's a matter of choice. But I really do like the idea of having an offering box myself. God's people always did it that way, you know, and that's because it called upon them to get up and go over and say, God, I am consciously and willfully doing this. Not just now the plate's thrust in front of me and here I'll do it. I don't like to see the church of Jesus Christ. I don't like to see the bride of Christ begging. And so we don't pass a plate. And when visitors come to our church, they don't have to ever worry about being embarrassed that we ask them for money. No, our ministry will be run because the people of this church believe in it. And if you believe in it, then you'll go do it. Now you go to the blue offering box. You have to remember that is just like singing a hymn. It's an act of worship. Now it's not that you do it that others would see you. Maybe we ought to put up a little curtain so no one can see when we go to the offering box, right? It's not for the sake of men, it's for the sake of God. And you need to know you're standing in the presence of God and say, God, I do trust you. Here's 10% of what you gave me. Please bless it. And fourthly, make your contribution with a purposely cheerful attitude. Second Corinthians 9, 7 says, God loves a cheerful giver. Don't go over there and just kind of in a real grumpy, frumpy way, drop your offering there. Go over there and be happy that you can give to the ministry. Be happy that you can show God that you trust him for everything. To be a Christian in the most simple terms is to put your trust in the Lord. And that's an easy thing to say, but do we practically show that we trust the Lord? Are we really dependent upon his sovereign provision? When you read Jesus say, God takes care of the birds, God takes care of the grass, he'll take care of you. Do you believe that? Do you? What would you say if someone said, I really want to take care of the whales, but would never give any money to the project? If you say you believe that God sovereignly provides, if you believe he'll take care of your needs, then do you seek first his kingdom and expect all the other things to be taken care of to be added to you? Do you believe what Malachi 310 says, bring in the whole tithe and I'll open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing there will not be room enough to receive. Do you believe the word of God and put your money where your mouth is. Let's pray. God, we ask you to change our lives because we recognize we all need to be transformed. We need to stop living unto ourselves and trusting in our own wisdom and our own abilities and our own provisions, and to cast ourselves entirely upon you and say, yes, God, you are sovereign, you are providential, you do govern every event, and you care for your people. And if you can take care of the birds and the flowers of the field, we believe from our hearts that you can take care of us. And so we're going to use our money even as we use our time and all of our lives in a godly way to worship you. And most particularly and pointedly, we wish to cheerfully show you that faith as it is practically worked out in the bringing to you a tithe. Do forgive us, all of us, Father, because we've robbed you in many ways. And if it were not for the fact that all of our sins have been laid upon the Savior, Jesus Christ, your curse would yet be upon us. For that fact. We do ask you to forgive us and by your spirit to change us, to change our ways and to change our attitudes. God protect us so that we don't look upon the requirement of tithing as just some kind of legalistic duty. Help us to see it for what it really is. An act of worship. An act whereby we throw ourselves on your bounty and provision and give us cheerful hearts as we do it. For we pray in Jesus name, amen.