June 23, 2013 Sermon #599 It’s Your Choice Introduction: President Ronald Reagan told that when he was a boy he was carried to a shoe cobbler. “Do you want round or square toes?” the cobbler asked. Reagan could not make up his mind and told the cobbler he would come back with the answer. Several days later the cobbler saw him on the street. “Have you decided what kind of toe you want?” “No!” Reagan replied. The next week the cobbler told him to come and get his shoes. One had a round toe the other a square. Reagan said the shoes taught him a great lesson. If you do not make a choice, someone will make it for you. Joshua 24:14-15(NKJV) – 14”Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! 15And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” God Calls us to Make a Choice - To Choose Him! ILL: If you do not choose God, the choice will be made for you. Someone or something will take God’s place and He will be shoved aside. You made a choice this morning: You chose to get out of bed. You chose to get dressed and drive to church. You chose to worship Him - you wanted to please Him! Most of you chose salvation: Matthew 10:27-33(NKJV) – 27”Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32”Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Romans 10:7-13(NKJV) – 7…or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The most important decision you will ever make. Matthew 22:37-40(NKJV) – 37Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Where is Your Treasure? ILL: Sharan E. Rosenthal left the union she was working for and took $3,000 with her. She was found guilty and stood to be sentenced. The judge told her she could give her three-game, four seats tickets, to the “make a wish” foundation or jail time. She looked the judge in the face and said, “I’ll have to think about that!” Freedom or tickets - where was her treasure? I can tell where your treasure is by looking at you finances. (start with your billfold and checking account) Malachi 1:6-8(NKJV) – 6“A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts To you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’ 7“You offer defiled food on My altar, But say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’ By saying, ‘The table of the Lord is contemptible.’ 8And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?” Says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 1:12-14(NKJV) – 12“But you profane it, In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled; And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’ 13You also say, ‘Oh, what a weariness!’ And you sneer at it,” Says the Lord of hosts. “And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; Thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?” Says the Lord. 14“But cursed be the deceiver Who has in his flock a male, And takes a vow, But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished— For I am a great King,” Says the Lord of hosts, “And My name is to be feared among the nations. ILL: After the message last week a young man came to me, “You put debt first on the budget, should it not be the tithe.” Well I was not preaching about tithe but today I’m going to answer the question. If you do not pay what you owe, you are a thief - God does not bless stolen money (Mal 1:3)! I had a woman give a big check to the church - it bounced. “Well,” she said, “I thought God would make it good.” “Whose money is in the bank?” I asked, “Did you think God was going to steal it?” ILL: J.C. Penny worked for a grocery store. He told his father that his boss was clever. “He takes low priced coffee and mixes it in with high priced coffee then charges the same high price.” “Get your wages and quit that man today. God will not bless that” His father told him. Penny said that if his father had not told him that he would have spent his life in a grocery store instead of building a multimillion dollar retail business. ILL: Today is Father’s Day. Would I be honored if my children or grandchildren gave me a great gift that they got illegally? “Here Dad, we got you a new car - it’s a high profile sports car - we stole it of course so be careful!” SURE! What about first fruits? Exodus 22:29-30(NKJV) – 29”You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe produce and your juices. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me. 30Likewise you shall do with your oxen and your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me. Exodus 23:18-19(NKJV) – 18”You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until morning. 19The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. NT. giving Matthew 5:23-25(NKJV) – 23Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Mark 7:8-13(KJV) – 8For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 10For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: 11But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. 12And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; 13Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. ILL: Since I am giving this gift (Corban) to God I do not have to meet the obligations to my family? OT. Family Malachi 2:13-17(NKJV) – 13And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. 14Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. 15But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. 16“For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.” 17You have wearied the Lord with your words; Yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil Is good in the sight of the Lord, And He delights in them,” Or, “Where is the God of justice?” ILL: All a man had to do to get rid of a wife is to say publicly, “I divorce you” three times. Maybe his soup was not hot or his drink warm. 1 Timothy 5:7-8(NKJV) – 7And these things command, that they may be blameless. 8But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. III. Why God Wants Our Tithe To discover whether you trust Him...or trust your bankbook Malachi 3:10(NKJV) – 10Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. ILL: Honor God with your tithe and see if He does not honor your sacrifice! Tithing reveals your heart ILL: (Washington Times) Those who support their church give more to secular causes. 87.7% of all charitable contributions come from church supporters. Tithing changes us - God does not ask us to renounce our possessions, He asks us to renounce our spirit of possessiveness. Tithing was before the law Genesis 14:18-20(NKJV) – 18Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all. Psalm 110:1-4(NKJV) – 1The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” 2The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! 3Your people shall be volunteers In the day of Your power; In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth. 4The Lord has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” ILL: The tithe, therefore, is giving to Jesus! Tithing in the New Testament is An Act of Choice Not Law 2 Corinthians 9:6-11(NKJV) – 6But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 9As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.” 10Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, 11while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. ILL: A mother heard her son counting the ten one dollar bills given by grandfather. “One for God, one for Jesus.” “Son you have it wrong. God gets one and you keep nine!” “No,” the boy said, “God gets one because it’s a tithe I give the other because I want to!” ILL: Have you noticed that there is no charge for church in the US. In Denmark one has to pay to join a church other than the state approved Lutheran Church. Conclusion: I have received monies for the church from bootleggers, winnings from gambling, etc…. the devil had it long enough! The only thing God promises to bless, however, is that which is given by “clean hands” and in love - (the person’s free choice) and bless it He Will!
Posted on: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 20:22:58 +0000
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