Characters of a true church (Christian) :Ephesians (4:1-6)

INTRODUCTION

You will be wondering why I choose the topic the character of a true Christian on a Pastor’s love Sunday like this. But I believe that a true Christian will know all that it takes to love. A true Christian will show unity amongst brethren and this can only come out of love. And you cannot say you want to celebrate pastor’s love Sunday if you do not know what it means to love. You’ll agree with me that “If we sowed unto you spiritual things, is it a great matter if we shall reap your carnal things?” 1Cor 9:11.

I believe you will show your love to the pastor today if you were truly blessed by his stay with us. Someone said to me like a baby that pastors do not need to be paid because they are working for God. Vs 14 of 1Cor 9 says “Even so did the Lord ordain that they that proclaim the gospel should live of the gospel” The same thing is said in Gal 6:6-10; That God is not mocked. You’ll reap what you sow. It is not because the pastors seek or look for your gifts, it is because they want the fruits that increases for your account Philippians 4:17 reminds us of that.

And finally your last reminder is that “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching”1Tim 5:17

NOW I TAKE YOU TO THE CHRACTERS OF A TRUE CHRISTIAN (TRUE CHURCH)

I know a man who was called in a village fund raising ceremony in Yaounde some years ago. He was called “The president of the Youth Association”! The man changed again and pronounced it in French; then asked the people to clap for the president as he was coming. This man adjusted his tie before getting up, searched for some heavy banks notes. He did not prepare to give that much but he had to change his mind just the way he was addressed. Then he moved majestically to the table and deposited his gift. This was announced and heavy claps rendered to him. This man was me!!!

I wanted to walk worthy of the calling with which I was called. The president cannot give chicken change for fund raising! In the same way Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus to walk worthy of the calling with which they were called. The Spirit says the same to us today!

a. We were called to be "fellow citizens with the saints and members

      of the household of God" - Ep 2:19

   b. We were called to be "a holy temple in the Lord", "a habitation of

      God in the Spirit" - Ep 2:21-22

   c. We were called to "make known the manifold wisdom of God" - Ep

      3:10

What then is the character of a true church? I’m not talking of the building here. I am talking about you, about me. You are the holy temple in the Lord, the habitation of God in the Spirit. That is what the Bible says.

Some of us have different characters at home just as in the assembly.

I am asking about your character at work,

Your character in the assembly,

Your character when you are beside the pastor,

Your character when you are far away from the pastor,

Your character when you are at home, That is the church I am asking of. That church where the senior pastor is the man and the woman the administrative secretary!!!! Men, is your walk worthy of your calling? Woman is your walk worthy of your calling?

Let’s look at the characters:

I. THE "ATTITUDES" FOR MAINTAINING UNITY (1-3)

   A. LOWLINESS...

      1. This word means:

         a. To have a humble opinion of one's self

         b. A deep sense of one's (moral) littleness

         c. Modesty, humility, lowliness of mind

      2. This virtue is necessary in order to properly value others around you - cf. Php 2:3-4

      3. Without this virtue, members in the body begin trying to be the "head" of the body, a role reserved only for Christ

The more highly you think of yourself the more quickly you will think you should be served. "Who do they think they are to keep me waiting like this!"

   B. GENTLENESS...

      1. This word can be translated as mildness, meekness

      2. It is not a quality of weakness, but of power under control

         a. Moses was a meek man (Num 12:3), but capable of great strength and boldness

         b. Jesus was "meek and lowly in heart" (Mt 11:29), but we see where He drove the money changers out of the temple

      3. Thus it is being gentle, even when there is the potential for being harsh, but gentleness is more conducive for maintaining unity

   C. LONG-SUFFERING...

      1. The idea here is one of patience, forbearance, longsuffering, slowness in avenging wrongs

      2. When the body consists of members who are not perfect, and often sin against each other, maintaining unity is not possible unless they are willing to endure each other's imperfections. Long-suffering is “staying a little longer in the pain”. That is patience. That is long-suffering.

   D. BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE...

      1. Similar to longsuffering, "bearing" means to sustain, to bear, to endure

      2. What makes such "longsuffering" and "forbearance" possible is another virtue:  "love"

      3. As Paul wrote in his chapter on love:  "love suffers long...is not provoked" - 1Co 13:4-5

      4. Love holds all these virtues together - cf. Col 3:12-14

Perfect people don't need to be endured or forgiven (Colossians 3:13). But we do. So Paul’s counsel here is not how perfect people can live together in unity, but how real, imperfect Mount Zion Baptists can maintain the unity of the Spirit, namely, by enduring each other in love.

I. WITHOUT LOVE ALL I SAY IS INEFFECTIVE
II. WITHOUT LOVE ALL I KNOW IS INCOMPLETE
III. WITHOUT LOVE ALL I BELIEVE IS INSUFFICIENT
IV. WITHOUT LOVE ALL I GIVE IS INSIGNIFICANT
V. WITHOUT LOVE ALL I ACCOMPLISH IS INADEQUATE

   E. Peace maker...

      1. You should be the kind whom people in the quarter call a peacemaker

     2. If around you people call you a trouble maker, then you have missed the walk because Christ is our peace and the one who makes peace Eph 2:14-16

How can you keep on caring about a person who doesn't like you? Or a person who likes music you don't like? Or a person who opposes you and wants to frustrate your dreams? How do you maintain the unity of the Spirit with them instead of becoming hostile and cold? Paul's answer: be lowly in spirit so that you can patiently endure their differences and their sins.

Why should we maintain unity in the body of Christ? Does it matter?

II. THE "BASIS" OF UNITY (4-6)

   A. ONE BODY...

      1. This refers to the body of Christ, the church - Ep 1:22-23

      2. Of course, Paul speaks here of the church in the "universal" sense

         a. The "body" of saved believers throughout the world

         b. Of which Christ is the "head", and "savior of the body" -   Ep 5:23

      3. While there may be many "local" churches (congregations), there is only ONE "universal" church, with ONE "head" - Jesus Christ!

   B. ONE SPIRIT...

      1. This would be the Holy Spirit

      2. Who has already been described in this epistle...

         a. As "the Holy Spirit of promise" - Ep 1:13

         b. As "the guarantee of our inheritance" - Ep 1:14

         c. By Whom both Jew and Gentile have access to the Father -  Ep 2:18

         d. In Whom God habitates those who are being built a "holy temple" - Ep 2:21-22

         e. By Whom the "mystery of Christ" was revealed to the apostles and prophets - Ep 3:5

         f. Through Whom God strengthens with might the inner man -  Ep 3:16

         g. As the One whose "unity" is to be maintained in the bond of  peace - Ep 4:3

   C. ONE HOPE OF YOUR CALLING...

      1. For Paul, this pertains primarily to "the resurrection of the dead" - Ac 23:6; 24:15; Ro 8:23-24; cf. 1Co 15:19-23; Php

         3:10-11,20-21

      2. Which necessarily includes such concepts of "salvation" (1 Th 5:8) and "eternal life" (Tit 1:2; 3:7)

   D. ONE LORD...

      1. This refers to Jesus, of course - 1Co 8:5-6

      2. Whom God has made "both Lord and Christ" - Ac 2:36

   E. ONE FAITH...

      1. This the body of truth, "the faith", which Jude says was "once  for all delivered to the saints" - Jude 3

      2. It is that "pattern of sound words" that Paul taught Timothy  (2Ti 1:13), and which he was to commit to faithful men (2

         Tit 2:2)

      3. We find this "pattern of sound words" in the pages of the New  Testament, which contains that which all Christians must believe

   F. ONE BAPTISM...

      1. This is the baptism...

         a. Commanded by Jesus - Mt 28:18-20; Mk 16:15-16

         b. Preached and commanded by His apostles - Ac 2:38; 10:48

         c. By which those who submit to are added to the Lord's body, the church - Ac 2:42,47

      2. I.e., the baptism in which a penitent believer is immersed in water for the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit  - Ac 2:38; 10:47-48

   G. ONE GOD AND FATHER...

      1. The Father, Who together with the Son and Holy Spirit, makes up  the "Godhead"

      2. Note that Paul emphasizes both:

         a. His personality ("Father of all")

         b. His transcendence and omnipresence ("who is above all, and  through all, and in you all")

[These constitute "the unity of the Spirit" that as Christians we must be so diligent to keep "in the bond of peace".  Not one of these is "non-essential"!  E.g., just as crucial as maintaining who the "One Lord" is, so we must be steadfast in holding to the "One Baptism"!

CONCLUSION

1. As Christians, we are called to unity in the body of Christ…

   a. Displaying all the attitudes we have seen today

   b. Without which we are not walking worthy of the calling

   c. Christians are called to peace and be peace makers. Not the ones who will say “heh! I will tell her that she has touched the tail of a lion”  ...else Christ's work on the cross will be in vain! - cf. Ep 2:16

2. Here on earth we want to be worthy of what people call us to be. What more of God’s calling? If you want to be president as they call you. Do you know how much it is to be called a child of God? "Be worthy of the calling with which you were called" - Ep 4:1

   a. We were called to be "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" - Ep 2:19

   b. We were called to be "a holy temple in the Lord", "a habitation of  God in the Spirit" - Ep 2:21-22

   c. We were called to "make known the manifold wisdom of God" - Ep 3:10

Are you doing all you can as a member of the body of Christ to "walk together in unity", and by so doing walk in manner worthy of our calling? Some people have not yet reached the point where they can be called the children of God. They do not yet have a call and so are worthless. If Christ has not yet done anything in your life by the grace and power of the cross, then you are worthless despite all what men may call here on earth.

But there is goodnews for you today because the same Christ is the Lord who is sited at the right hand of God the father interceding for us. He just want you to take a commitment with Him. He can forgive your sins only if you will repent and accept Him as your Lord. Before we pray, I want you to think of your life at work, with friends, at home, in the market, in the farm. Are you walking worthy of your calling?

Mastering Your Money

Matthew 6:19-24

Many ,Cameroonians are more cynical today than ever before. We don’t trust politicians or the economy and many are suspicious of the church. I realize that our topic this morning may create additional cynicism for some of you. One of the raps that churches have today is that they’re always asking for money.

Since I know what I’m up against when tackling the topic of money in church, I hope to persuade you that it’s important to hear what the Bible has to say. You see, according to Jesus, money is a spiritual issue. And, since it’s a spiritual issue, we need to address it for at least three reasons.

1. The Bible has more to say about money than almost any other subject.

2. Giving will help us get to where we’re going as a church.

3. There are incredible benefits to giving.

The topic of money is both personal and theological.

1. Poverty Theology. This imbalanced view teaches that we should have a disdain for possessions. Some who hold this position would say that it’s wrong to have excess money and things.

2. Prosperity Theology. This teaching wrongly assumes that prosperity is the reward of the righteous. This cause and effect relationship implies that if God is happy with you, He will bless you financially. If He’s not pleased with you, you won’t be blessed with possessions.

[Oh, I’m sorry. I just forgot something. My sister and brother-in-law are here today and we wanted to take them out for lunch. This is really embarrassing. I don’t have any money on me. Could someone give me 1000 Fcfa? Thanks a lot. I appreciate it.]

3. Proper Theology. The proper way to view our possessions is that they are a trust given by God that we are responsible to manage. Everything belongs to Him and we are to serve as stewards whether we are blessed with a lot or with a little. Now, I can tell that many of you are wondering why someone would just pop out of their seats and hand me 1000Fcfa. Do you know why he did it? It’s because it wasn’t his money. It was mine. I gave it to him before the service.He was simply returning it to me.

That’s exactly what we do when we practice the joy of biblical stewardship ­ we give back to God that which is His in the first place. Friends, we’ve never given God one thing. When we make an offering or a tithe, we’re giving what He already owns. We’ve spoken about this last Sunday.

Jesus realizes that most people struggle with managing money -- that’s why He devoted much of His teaching to this critical area of life. He dealt with money matters because money matters.

Sermon on the mount

While Jesus taught on many different topics, his most famous message is called the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7. I’m sure there were some cynics who were listening to Jesus that day. They probably wondered who this new teacher was. They were impressed with His insight and His practical teaching. He covered many of the subjects of life: how to treat others, how to forgive, how to handle lust, how to handle worry, the importance of keeping your word, and the difference between true and false prayer.

Eventually he came to the subject of money. That really shouldn’t surprise us because money is a big part of what life is all about. Many people work for money, many live for money, we think about money, we wish we had more, and worry that we don’t have enough. Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew 6:19-24. In this passage, Jesus challenges us with the question, “Where is your treasure?”He helps us find the answer by giving four tests.

1. The Durability Test. The first test is found in verses 19-20 and asks the question, “How long will it last?” Verse 19 is a negative command: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” Verse 20 is the positive: “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…”

The first word that leaps out at us in these verses is the word “treasures.” Jesus did not say, “money” because while everyone does not have a lot of cash, we all have things that we treasure. Our treasure may be a home, a car, a computer, our clothes, or even a position that we hold or seek after. While Jesus is not saying that it is wrong to have treasures, He is telling us that our focus should be on laying up treasures in heaven, not on earth.

The first life-skill that Jesus wants us to develop is to stop living just for today. This command is in the present tense. It literally means to “stop storing up.” We’re to stop doing something that by nature we’ve been doing for most of our lives.

That doesn’t mean that we can’t have material possessions, or own property, or save for the future. The key lies in the little phrase, “for yourselves.” Jesus is forbidding the selfish, self-centered accumulating of goods as the major end of life.

If you try to store your wealth, the moths will find it, or rust will consume it. If you try to hide it for yourself, thieves can steal it. Jesus is saying that earthly wealth is very insecure. It either decays over time, or it disappears altogether.

Job 27:16, 20 provides a vivid description of this process: “Though he heaps up silver like dust and clothes like piles of clay…he lays down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone.”

Earthly treasures are fleeting and futile but heavenly treasures are secure. 1 Peter 1:4: “And into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade -- kept in heaven for you.” Treasures that we send on ahead are mothproof, rustproof, and burglarproof. Verse 20: “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

The issue is not whether we will store up wealth. That’s a given. The only question is where we will do our banking. Since earthly treasures are unstable and insecure, Jesus challenges us to make long-term investments that are permanent and guaranteed. Deposits made in the First National Bank of Heaven will not decay or disappear. They are protected  and insured by God Himself.

That leads to a question: How do we make deposits on earth that yield dividends in heaven? Let me answer that in just one sentence: You store up treasures in heaven by investing your money in that which lasts for eternity. I know of two things that will last forever:

The Word of God
People

Friends, everything else will decay or disappear. Cars, boats, homes, clothes, jobs, salaries, vacations, books, and buildings will all pass away. They wear out, rust out, blow up, or fall apart. Nothing that is material lasts forever. That’s the way God set it up. 1 John 2:17: “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” I love what Jim Eliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

2. Heart Test. The second test asks the question, “Where are you investing your time and money?” and is found in verse 21: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

To put it plainly, Jesus is saying that your heart follows your money. That’s not the way most of us think. We tend to think our money follows our heart -- if our heart is right, we will spend our money wisely. That’s not the way it works because your heart always follows your treasure.

Whatever you invest your time and money in will become very important to you. Too many of us spend all that we have on the things of this world and then we wonder why we have trouble concentrating on the things of God. Our problem is that we’ve invested everything down here and hardly anything up there! Our money has kept our heart tied to the earth. You’ll never be able to get your heart focused on heaven as long as your attention is on material things.

3. The Mind Test. The third test asks the question, “Where is your focus?” and is found in verses 22-23: “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”

The eye is a symbol for the mind. Jesus is saying that there are only two possible ways to look at things. If our minds focus only on things down here, we’ll be full of darkness. The natural eye focuses on our physical existence but the spiritual eye locks into what really matters. When money becomes our #1 obsession, it can put blinders on our eyes and ruin our spiritual life. If our thoughts are filled with how we can deposit treasures in heaven, our bodies will be full of light.

4. The Master Test. The fourth and final test focuses on our will and asks the question: “Whom do you serve?” Let’s look at verse 24: “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

The word Jesus uses here for money is the word, “Mammon,” which is a proper noun, or a name. Jesus viewed Money as a rival for preeminence. Attachment to money leads to a detachment from God. The Bible is absolutely clear about the venomous nature of money. It fights for supremacy in our lives and it has many of the characteristics of deity. It promises security, freedom and power.

To love God requires service and even sacrifice. This type of allegiance cannot be rendered to two parties. Whatever we devote ourselves to becomes our God. The tension that many of us experience when we try to love both God and money will sooner or later begin to show where our real loyalty lies. Only one master will win out.

Money is not just a neutral medium of exchange, but a “power” with a life of its own which seeks to control, and even consume us. The goal of this Money Master is total domination of your value system, without you even being aware of it.

If you’re serving the Money Master, Jesus says you will be unable to fully serve God.He doesn’t say, “you better not” or “it would be unwise to serve both,” He says, “you cannot serve both God and money.” As such, how we handle our money has a lot to do with how serious we are about obeying God. His words are unsettling. If you love money, you will end up hating God. If you are devoted to the pursuit of possessions and the making of money, you will find yourself despising the things of God.

I suspect that most of you do not want to hate God. In fact, you’re here because you want to learn how you can get to know Him better. Let me put it right on the table. You will never be able to fully love God if you are in love with money and all that money can buy.
We’ve all heard the expression “Money Talks. Or Na money di talk” Have you ever listened to what it says?

“You hold me in your hand and call me yours. Yet may I not as well call you mine? See how easily I rule you? To gain me, you would all but die. I am invaluable as rain, essential as water. Yet I do not hold the power of life -- I am futile without the stamp of your desire. I go nowhere unless you send me. My power is terrific. Handle me carefully and wisely, lest you become my servant, rather than I yours.” As someone has said, “Money is a wonderful servant, but a lousy master.”

4 Tests Illustrated

When Jesus was asked a question about a money matter, He told a story that illustrates how easy it is to fail these four tests. Please turn in your Bibles to Luke 12. Let’s start by looking at verse 15: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”



Jesus then tells a parable to show us what can happen if we take a short-term approach to life: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’”

Did you notice how many times this man uses the words, “me”, “myself” and “I”? I counted them: 12 times in 3 verses! His greed is unchecked. Do you see the deception? He was storing up treasures on earth with no long-terminvestment strategy for the next life. Notice what happens next in verse 20: “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”

Our society values people who make much money on this earth. God, however, has a different view of this man. Because he was laying up treasures for himself on earth, and had made no eternal investments, God calls him a fool. When he dies, all his possessions and his shiny new barns will disappear and be given to someone else. He failed the durability test, the heart test, the mind test, and the master test.

Jesus concludes this parable with an application for eachof us in verse 21: “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Are you storing up things only for yourself? Are you just focused on this world? If so, you’re in trouble. If I’m not rich toward God, God says that I’m a fool.

Friends, let me encourage you to take this four-part test on a regular basis.

1. The Durability Test. How long will my things last? Are they temporary or will they last forever in heaven?

2. The Heart Test. Where am I investing my time and money? What excites me the most, earth or heaven? Which place makes my heart beat faster?

3. The Mind Test. Where do I focus my goals? Am I committed to materialism or spirituality? Do I operate according to God’s priorities, or my own?

4. The Master Test. Is Jesus my master or is something, or someone, else? Will I serve money on earth and allow it to be my god, or will I serve God in heaven with my treasures, which are really His in the first place?

A rich man died and went to heaven. As he went through the Pearly Gates, Peter came to greet him and said, “Welcome to heaven. Let me show you where you’ll be staying.”

That suited the rich man just fine, because as he looked around, he saw mansions stretching out in every direction. They were beautiful! They appeared to be constructed of gold and silver and precious gems.

As Peter and the rich man began to walk along the streets of gold, they came to an ornate home. As they paused to gaze at it, the rich man said, “Who gets to stay here?” Saint Peter replied, “That’s for your janitor. He was a godly man who loved Jesus and served Him all his life. This is his reward.”

They continued to stroll past other mansions, until they stopped in front of an extremely large one that seemed to be made of emeralds and rubies. The rich man asked Peter, “Is this mine?” Peter answered, “No, this one belongs to your maid. On the little bit of money you paid her, she raised six children and gave to her church every week.”

They continued to walk and came to a different section of homes. Only these houses weren’t as nice. As they walked up a small hill, they stopped in front of a shack made of tar paper and used sheet metal. The front door was cut out of an old refrigerator box. It was held together with bailing wire and twine.

After pausing for a moment, the rich man asked, “And whose is that?” Peter responded, “Why, it’s yours!” The rich man couldn’t believe it. There must be some mistake. Peter bowed his head and said, “No, there’s been no mistake -- we did the best with what you sent ahead!”

Giving that reflects God

John 3:16,Malachi 3:6-10

God gives lovingly and sacrificially. Let’s look at  Mark 10: 45. "For even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." God gave to the point that he gave his only son and when you look at life from Jesus' perspective he gives up all the privilege and riches of what it means to be a member of the godhead and becomes a human, not only a human he becomes a servant, not only a servant but a servant who is willing to die and not only one who dies, but one who dies the most humiliating and painful kind of death on the cross. It cost Jesus something to love. It cost him something to give to us. That's a characteristic of God; that God gives sacrificially. And so that means that if we are going to give like God, it means that we are called to giving beyond what's merely convenient and comfortable; whether it be of our time, whether it be of our skills and ways we can help things or whether it be of our money.

The third way of looking at the way God gives. God gives willingly and to reflect on that let's go to Romans  8: 32.   "If God is for us who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also along with him graciously give us all things?" If God is for us, who can be against us? Why is God for us? Is it because of something that we did? Are we forcing this on God in any way whatsoever? No. God is for us because he chooses willingly, freely to be for us and because God has chosen to be for us, he has made a great sacrifice in love on our behalf by giving his own son and if he has given to that extent already, how will he not also with him give us everything else that we could possibly need? God chooses that position with us. He chooses to give. And we too are given a choice. God doesn't force anything like this on us. Jesus gave advice. Jesus taught. Jesus even gave commands. But he never used the power of heaven to force somebody to do something they weren't willing to do.

 Tithing

 Preachers who talk about money are often accused of talking only about money. The fact is that money is mentioned in the Bible, and as a preacher of the Word, we are charged to preach the Word of God.   I think that a preacher should preach on subjects in proportion to what they are covered in the Bible. Doesn’t that sound good? So, money and possessions should be preached on in proportion to prayer in the same amount that both are mentioned in the Bible. There are some 500 references to prayer in the Bible, and there are 2,300 references to money and possessions in the Bible. So, for every sermon preached on the subject of prayer, 4.6 sermons would be preached on the subject of money and possessions. For one Sunday sermon on prayer, there would be a month’s worth of sermons on money and possessions.

I happen to think that prayer is a pretty important subject, and not many people would object to a sermon or even a series of sermons on the subject of prayer. With over four times as many references to money and possessions in the scripture, I think that is a subject that merits our consideration, perhaps even more than actually do. Why are we so afraid to talk about money? Perhaps it’s because there are some TV preachers who have tainted our thinking about money. They beg and plead with people to send in their money, and people who can’t afford it do it. Perhaps it’s because the world sees the church as greedy. They see some churches building huge cathedral type buildings while people live in poverty down the block.
The truth is, however, that what the Bible says about money and possessions is related to who is number one in our life. Is God number one, or is the self number one? Consider that question as we look at our scripture passage today.  

  Malachi 3:6-10.

Robbery is a pretty serious charge. Only murder and rape would be considered worse crimes in our culture. It’s one of the Ten Commandments. There are several types of robbery. There is forceful robbery where someone uses a weapon and threatens the victim. There are also more passive methods. Embezzlement is robbery. Over the last few years the crime of identity theft has cropped up. Robbery can also come in the form of cheating. Robbery is a very serious charge.
I. Robbing GOD.
The first thing that Malachi tackles is the robbing of God. Robbing God is not something to be taken lightly. We rob God, when we deny him what is rightfully his. We deny him what is rightfully his when we withhold our tithe from him. The tithe is defined as 1/10, or 10%, of our income.  We say, “Hey, I worked hard for that money. I have bills to pay.” The truth is that all of it is God’s to begin with. He allows us to have the income, and it is our act of thankfulness that we give back to him a mere 10% of what he gave us.
Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” God owns the entire world to begin with. We are merely tenants on his land. The very least we can do is offer a part of what we gain to God, since he gave it to us to begin with. In verse 8, we find…
A. The CLAIM of God.
God levels a very serious charge in verse 8. He asserts that the Israelites were robbing him by the withholding of tithes and offerings.
Now, to set the stage a little here, let’s get some background information about the times in which Malachi lived. The Jewish people had just returned from captivity in Babylon, which is modern day Iraq. They had been gone for 70 years. The land was in ruins. The Temple was destroyed. The city of Jerusalem lay in ruins. It was a desolate land. Work was scarce. Money was in short supply. Poverty ruled the day. Here was a group of destitute people, who were struggling to provide food, shelter and clothing for their families. They had almost nothing. To top it all off, there was drought in the land, so the crops weren’t growing. It was awful.
Into this type of problems God says, “You are robbing me.” Can’t God see that these people have nothing? They are scrounging for food wherever they can find it. They can’t pay the rent. They can’t buy new sandals for the kids. They can’t buy enough grain to make a decent loaf of bread. God says, “You are robbing me.” The argument comes back, “I can’t afford to give anything.” Have you ever heard that claim? Have you ever made that claim? The truth is that no matter what our level of income or wealth, God expects us to give back to him a portion of what he has given us. They didn’t have much, but they had something. In verse 9, we find…
B. The CRITICISM of God.
Verse 9 is an interesting verse. It says, “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.”
Sometimes that word “curse” troubles us. We associate curses with witches and the like. We think of wizards and magic potion when we think of curses. There is a difference here. Those curses are intended to be harmful. They are malicious in nature.
What we have here is not God saying, “I don’t like those people over there, so I am going put a curse on them.” This is a matter of consequences. The consequence of their actions is what this is talking about. There are consequences when we do things. If I beat my head against the wall, the consequence will be a headache or faint. The consequence of their actions, or inaction, was that they received less and less.
If at your job, you continue to give less and less effort, you will receive less and less in the way of pay. You may even lose your job. I have seen that happen to people. They just quit giving effort on the job. They get bad reviews and no pay raise. They ultimately either quit or get fired. There are consequences to our actions.
The consequence of failing God is that he removes his hand of blessing from our lives. Their poverty deepened because they were unfaithful to God. Partial faithfulness is also being unfaithful. If I am faithful to my wife 364 days per year, I am still unfaithful. Those that were unfaithful were ruining it for the whole nation. The second thing is…
II. Robbing the CHURCH.
The Church is robbed. God is God, and, as the Bible says, he owns the cattle on a thousand hills. God doesn’t need our money to be God, but the Church needs the money to be the Church.
In order to fulfill the mission of the Church, there has to be some financing behind it. The church has to pay for its needs (plot, build, musical instruments etc. We in the first phrase of verse 10…
A. The CALL of God.
The call of God here is quite simple. He says, “Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.” The storehouse is the center of God’s activity. At the time Malachi wrote this, it was the Temple. Now, it is the Church. The storehouse is the Church.
There is some confusion about which storehouse we should give to. I believe you give to the church where you are being fed. You pay for dinner where you are fed. You tithe to the church where you are fed spiritually. God calls us to support his ministry on earth.
Jesus has charged the church to go into all the world and preach the Good News. Part of our duty, in addition to supporting the concerns of the local church, is to provide for missions. In addition to providing spiritual food for the local church, we are charged to provide spiritual food for those who don’t enjoy the privileges that we have. Also in the first part of verse 10, we find…
B. The CHALLENGE of God.
God challenges his people to support the work of the Lord. Remember that these people to whom Malachi was talking were mired in desperate poverty, and yet they are challenged to rise above that and provide for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. God is issuing them a challenge.

In his second letter to the Corinthian church, the apostle Paul wrote, “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have 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 free will.” The churches in the region of Macedonia were poor, but they gave generously. Paul wrote this to a rather wealthy church in the city of Corinth.
I believe that is a challenge for us. We are wealthy. We may not be rolling in money, but compared to the rest of the world, we are wealthy. I believe God is challenging us to step up and step out on faith to support the work of his Kingdom.
In addition to robbing God and the Church, we are also…
III. Robbing OURSELVES.
By withholding our tithe, we not only rob God and the Church, we also rob ourselves. We rob ourselves of the blessings that God pours out on those that are faithful to him.
That doesn’t mean we give for the sole reason of getting. We don’t plop our money into the offering to buy a special favor from God. We can’t buy off God.
God does promise to supply the needs of his people who obey his commands. Tithing is as much a command as anything else, and God expects us to follow through on that command. He expects us to tell the truth. He expects us to be faithful to our spouse. He expects us to be kind and compassionate to others. He expects us to love him above everything else.
We rob ourselves of a vibrant relationship with God when we allow something to get in the way between him and us. If we value our money and possessions more than we value our relationship with God, then our relationship with God will naturally suffer.
We will lose fellowship with God if we don’t make him number one in our lives, even ahead of money. The issue of tithing really isn’t about money; it’s about commitment to God. It’s about our relationship with him. When we fail in that commitment to him, we rob ourselves of a complete relationship with him.
This basically comes down to our attitude of who owns what. If we believe that we own all we have, then we will have a stingy attitude toward God. If we realize that God owns all that I have, then we will gratefully give to him out of a heart of love. The question is, “Who owns your possessions, bank account, and even your very life?” We have no control over our possessions, money or life. Our house might burn down tomorrow. Our life may be taken at any time. The truth is that we don’t own ourselves, much less the stuff we possess. God owns it all. He gave us what we have. It’s all a matter of our attitude toward what we have and who we are.
Conclusion
The great thing about this passage is the last half of verse 10. It says, “And 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 for you a blessing until there is no more.”
  God wants us to put him to the test. How many times do we hear claims from people and we think, “Ya, prove it”? God is saying, “I’ll prove it to you.” God is saying put me to the test. God promises to be faithful to those who are faithful to him.
If you don’t tithe, and you are still a little skeptical, I am going to issue a challenge to you. If you start tithing faithfully, and after three months of faithful tithe, God isn’t blessing you, just stop tithing. How many thought you would ever hear a pastor say that? I believe that if you faithfully and cheerfully tithe, God will supply what you need. I’m not promising that he’ll give you a new car or anything like that, but I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that he will supply what you need. Will you do that?

THE RIGHT TIME FOR GOD’S HARVEST

Hebrews 3:12-15

Men often live as if they’ll live forever (Prov 27:1). But life is short when compared to eternity (Job 7:7, Ps 102:3, 1Pet 1:24). Some of us have forgotten about our grand or great grandparents who died some years ago. We need to use the most of the opportunities we have now without delay because life is like vapor.

   A-     How do I know now is the right time?

We Know not what tomorrow holds, life is like a vapor and passes away (Jam.4:13,14).So James here is not attacking the rich people. But he is attacking the rich who are ignoring their responsibility to serve God. If you understand that the world will soon be gone, you will focus on the things beyond life. What is therefore your life?

Now is the time and day of salvation (2Cor.6:2). Paul is making it clear that the day of salvation is now. That is every day, is a day of salvation to the Christians. Because in one day you can you’re your back on the free gift of God’s grace and lose your soul. The time is acceptable (Isaiah 49:8), and the time which God accepts is the time of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You must therefore partner with others and God to preach the gospel to all the world (Mtt 28:19,20; MK 16:15). This is the right time God wants you to go to work in His vine yard. The harvest is now! And you have to go for the harvest without delay.

Today if you hear God’s voice harden not your hearts (Heb3:15). Let’s read Heb 3:12. The Israelites followed God when He took them out of Egypt but when they needed to trust God while in the desert, their faith wavered. The same thing happened to the Jewish Christians to whom the Hebrew writer was addressing. What is your own desert? When God is providing all your needs, protection and health; yes you follow Him. When the desert of hardship, poverty and family struggles come you lose your faith. Many of us today are like that. In difficult times they forget about God. That is their desert, but God wants you to trust Him in your desert. That is why He allows those bad times to come over His children. Trust in the Lord always! Verse 12 of our text makes us know that rebellion from God is unbelief; “An evil heart of unbelief”.  In unbelief man is departing from the living God. Hence man is going away from truth hence lost.

Verse 13 says Christians have the responsibility toward one another to encourage faithfulness to the Lord. It says TODAY. NOT TOMORROW. Verses 14 and 15 says we are partakers of Christ if we remain faithful to what we have heard and obeyed; that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can read Verses 16 -19 and we’ll get the result of unbelief.

Today is the right time to hear God’s word, to obey and remain continuously faithful. TODAY AND NOW!  Seek the Lord while He may be found (Isa.55:6). Call on God now because He is near. He is present to accept those who truly repent. It is now that you need to repent not that God will leave us, but that we may lose our opportunity to repent. Your opportunity can be stolen by death, or harden by your sin not to feel any regret and need for repentance.

 Hello Brethren! God’s Spirit will not always strive (struggle) with us (Gen.6:3). So there is a deadline that will end God’s struggle with those who corrupt the world or rebel against God. So now is your time to repent.

  B-     Shouldn’t I wait until it feels right?

Some people today say “I want to enjoy my life now and I will repent when I feel it is right”. “I want to work my money now and I will serve God when I become wealthy”. The Bible says in Rom 1:7 that you should walk by faith not by feelings, not by works. If you have faith in God it should be seen in your obedience and obedience is to know Him. “And hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1Jn.2:3). Do you know Christ? If yes, do you keep His commandments? If not then you are a liar and the truth is not in you. Yes Christ is not in those who do not keep His commandments. They are disobedient. It is not about how you feel, it is whether you obey Jesus and love Him.

Obedience shows love for Jesus. “If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments.” (Jn.14:15). When you obey God’s commandments, your peace will be as a river (Isa.48:18) . Why are you troubled? Why are things not working for you? It’s because you think God’s business is about feelings. NO! It is all about obedience to His commands. There is no time to waste. Start now or it maybe too late for you.

  C-     Why is it so important to commit yourself to God?

God’s Spirit will not always strive (struggle) with us (Gen.6:3). So we do not have time to waste.

He that believes and is baptized shall be saved but the unbeliever is cursed (condemned) (Mk.16:16) . You are condemned or cursed if you do not believe in Jesus Christ.

Some people think they can be Christians and still enjoy worldly things. No! Worldliness chokes out the gospel and so you cannot be fruitful (Mat.13:22, parable of the sower). You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the devil’s cup (1Cor.10:21). You cannot serve two masters (Lk.16:13). Our God is a jealous God. Moreover you cannot take your possessions to the dwelling place of God but you can take the results of your giving. Lovers of money, serve money rather than God. It is not sin to be rich. But riches are wrong when they lead one into sin. Eg. When you want it for selfish use.

The urgency is there and we must preach the gospel without delay and obey His word now. Not tomorrow and repent from our sinful life or it may be too late. For God’s Spirit will not always struggle with us. When that deadline is passed, comes judgment. And no one can stand the hand of God. Now is the time to believe in Jesus Christ and to obey His commands.

 You just have to come back to Jesus and you will live (Ez.33:19). Come and you will not be cast out (Jn.6:37). Whoever calls on the name of Jesus will be saved (Rom.10:13).  

The world does not offer any life for you but death. If you want to gain your life, repent and come to Jesus and be baptized. Believe not and be condemned.