Speaker 1: Welcome. Just Handaway Tagalog sermon podcast your daily does I'm
Speaker 1: inspiring from heartfelt tagalog sermons from different characters and speakers
Speaker 1: all over the Philippines. We hope that this podcast finds
Speaker 1: you in good shape. And now here's your message.
Speaker 2: You're listening to a message from Victory. God's character, commandments
Speaker 2: and promised blessings do not change. Discover more about this
Speaker 2: truth in week three of our series.
Speaker 1: Remember this, so let's start off by opening our Bibles
Speaker 1: to Malachai chapter three, verse six. Okay, this is in
Speaker 1: line of what God's message to his people prior to
Speaker 1: the Silent years from the Old and the New. And
Speaker 1: he was telling them, I want you to remember who
Speaker 1: who I am, because I'll be silent for how many years,
Speaker 1: and then I'll come back and bring the rescuer who
Speaker 1: will say the world from our sin. And so in
Speaker 1: Malachi three, verse six, he says, for I the Lord
Speaker 1: do not change. Therefore you, oh children of Jacob, are
Speaker 1: not consumed. The Lord tells us here of his very
Speaker 1: nature that he is a lord who does not change.
Speaker 1: He's a god who's unchangeable. What that means is he
Speaker 1: was saying, if I am a lord who is very emotional.
Speaker 1: You're dead, that's the version in verse six. You'll be consumed.
Speaker 1: You're done. Now you've rebeled against me, you've disobeyed me.
Speaker 1: But because I am a Lord who is gracious, I'm
Speaker 1: a Lord who's forgiving. I'm a Lord who is long suffering.
Speaker 1: I do not change. Even in your rebellion, I will
Speaker 1: choose to love you.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 1: A lot of people think that the God of the
Speaker 1: Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are different.
Speaker 1: The God of the Old is very violent. The God
Speaker 1: of the New Testament is very gracious. It's not true.
Speaker 1: If you look at scripture again. In Malachi, you see
Speaker 1: here that this is a God is very gracious, and
Speaker 1: he said, I am the Lord. I do not change,
Speaker 1: or else you will be consumed. So the Bible talks
Speaker 1: about the very nature and character of God that he
Speaker 1: does not change. And I know Malachi tree is also
Speaker 1: used as a verse to talk about tits and offering,
Speaker 1: and later we'll get into that, But that was not
Speaker 1: the heart of Malachi three. It wasn't really about tights
Speaker 1: and offering. It's about something far deeper than tides and offering.
Speaker 1: It was God saying here I am, I do not change,
Speaker 1: because if Malachai Tree is all about tights and offering,
Speaker 1: when we say God does not change, which is not
Speaker 1: these all right? What he's saying is Hindian because I
Speaker 1: owe okay, I tell you eighties right. I will not change.
Speaker 1: In spite of what you've done, in spite of your rebellion,
Speaker 1: I do not change. In verse seven, he says, from
Speaker 1: the days of your father's you have turned us from
Speaker 1: my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me,
Speaker 1: and I will return to you, says the Lord of Hosts.
Speaker 1: But you say, how shall we return? I hope we
Speaker 1: get the very heart of the text. The Lord was
Speaker 1: saying to them, I want you to return to me.
Speaker 1: If you return to me, I will return to you.
Speaker 1: The Lord did not say, return your tights to me
Speaker 1: and I will return to you, or return ten percent
Speaker 1: of your finances, and I will return to you. What
Speaker 1: he was saying is I want you to return to me.
Speaker 1: I want you. I'm inviting you to return to me.
Speaker 1: This wasn't about money. It was about us. He wants
Speaker 1: all of us. He doesn't just want a certain aspect
Speaker 1: of our life, like our finances or our love life
Speaker 1: or our ambitions and dreams. He wants all of us,
Speaker 1: and so he invites us, and he tells the people
Speaker 1: who are rebelling against him return to me, and I
Speaker 1: will return to you, says the Lord of Hosts. Now,
Speaker 1: the people who are asking, Lord, how have we not?
Speaker 3: Are we not?
Speaker 1: Okay? People tell you, okay, why would you say? Why
Speaker 1: would you invite us to return to you? We feel
Speaker 1: like we've not gone far away? But the Lord is saying,
Speaker 1: you don't see your sin, and that's why I'm inviting
Speaker 1: you back. I want you back into my arms because
Speaker 1: I want you to experience who I am because you've
Speaker 1: gone far away. And they said how how can we
Speaker 1: return to you? And then the Lord says, okay, I'll
Speaker 1: give you an example. How here's one part of your
Speaker 1: life where I feel like you've run away from me.
Speaker 1: He says, will a man rob god? Yet you rob me?
Speaker 1: You're robbing me? But you say, how have we robbed you? Again?
Speaker 1: They were asking the question, Lord, we haven't robbed you.
Speaker 1: We go to church, we help, I give my occasional
Speaker 1: twenty pesos and in a good day my five hundred pesos. Right,
Speaker 1: how have we robbed you? And he says, in your
Speaker 1: tithes and offering, so Tightson offering here was just an
Speaker 1: example of how they've run away from God. It's one
Speaker 1: of the great examples because most of us, how we
Speaker 1: handle our money would reflect our view of who God
Speaker 1: is in our life. And so he was saying, a law, Yo, Munasah,
Speaker 1: and the example I want to give to you in
Speaker 1: your own life is how you handle my money. In fact,
Speaker 1: not just my money, but the tithes and the offering.
Speaker 1: And he says, you're robbing me. You're under a curse.
Speaker 1: You're a curse with a curse for your robbing me
Speaker 1: the whole nation of you. My journey with Tidson offering
Speaker 1: has been very coldorful. Early on in my faith, I
Speaker 1: wouldn't give my tithes in offering. It was anti Chinese, right,
Speaker 1: it was so it was so anti cultural for me
Speaker 1: to give me ties. I couldn't understand. I've been a
Speaker 1: Christian for the longest time, but I would not give
Speaker 1: my tithes. I felt like, God, if you really want
Speaker 1: to bless me, why do I have to give? Because
Speaker 1: if I give, I lose, I don't gain. Doesn't make sense,
Speaker 1: no matter how you calculate things. Loo, get Lord, look
Speaker 1: get right. It was late nineties, in the nineties where
Speaker 1: I think ninety seven ninety eight were totally changed for me.
Speaker 1: And that's why I preached this with such conviction, because
Speaker 1: I wouldn't give my ties. I was starting out in
Speaker 1: our family business. I was earning, but I couldn't give right.
Speaker 1: And then Pastor Giray Mora preached on tithes and offering,
Speaker 1: and he said, it's as simple as this, God in
Speaker 1: his generosity, gave you ten balls to play with, okay,
Speaker 1: and then he tells you can I have one of
Speaker 1: the ball. But then when we struggle with tides, what
Speaker 1: we're really saying is but Lord, it's mine. But the
Speaker 1: Lord is said, no, I give ten to you. I
Speaker 1: just want one. You can play with the nine, but Lord,
Speaker 1: I want ten. Now it made sense, Wow, how selfish
Speaker 1: I am with that object lesson. I wasn't convicted with
Speaker 1: the verse. I was convicted with the object lesson of
Speaker 1: how I could be so.
Speaker 3: Sugapa Okay, how.
Speaker 1: I could be so selfish with the blessings that God
Speaker 1: is giving me when he asked of me, he's only
Speaker 1: ten percent one of the ten balls, and I couldn't
Speaker 1: even give it. It just showed to me my sin.
Speaker 1: And that's why when God says returned to me, and
Speaker 1: I will return to you, he was going to the heart,
Speaker 1: not to the wallet. Because if I couldn't give ten
Speaker 1: percent of my income, how much more my love life,
Speaker 1: my dreams, my vision, my plans. If I'm having a
Speaker 1: hard time with that one ball, for sure, I will
Speaker 1: have other problems with the other things that God has
Speaker 1: given me. And so he invites us to return to me,
Speaker 1: and I will return to you. And an example is
Speaker 1: your finance can't even give. That's why since that time,
Speaker 1: I've never gotten into any debate and I never entertain
Speaker 1: any debate about tides and offering of whether it's from
Speaker 1: the Old or the New Testament. And later I'll explain
Speaker 1: why he says your curse with a curse. I go
Speaker 1: back to my own life. I review, and at the
Speaker 1: time that I was so stingy with God, I was
Speaker 1: living under a curse. I'm not saying everything I do failed,
Speaker 1: but my heaveryday life it was always incomplete. I was
Speaker 1: living under a curse. I remember night I went to
Speaker 1: the room of my parents. We live in Das Marina's
Speaker 1: village Mahati in at Kavite. I knocked on the door,
Speaker 1: I entered in. I looked at my parents. I was
Speaker 1: scratching my head. I said, Papa, Mama, I'm poor. They
Speaker 1: look at me. They scratched their head. What are you saying?
Speaker 1: They came from a very poor background and worked their
Speaker 1: way up. But here was I complaining. Mahati boy is complaining.
Speaker 1: And my mom looked at me and said, do you
Speaker 1: know what you're saying? Do you have a problem tomorrow
Speaker 1: that when you go down there's no food to eat?
Speaker 3: No? No, yeah, Yah will cook it?
Speaker 1: My problem, mahaban And as air conditioned room, totulo a pero,
Speaker 1: I couldn't see it. It was a lesson that I
Speaker 1: learned that no matter how big your income is, if
Speaker 1: your mind is poor and your being is poor, you'll
Speaker 1: always think this way.
Speaker 3: I was living under the curse.
Speaker 1: We grew up that way because my parents were not Christians.
Speaker 1: When we experienced business success, Tomato Taxa Avenue, we would
Speaker 1: eat in a Chinese restaurant, and when we would order
Speaker 1: sob drinks or juice, we were not allowed because it
Speaker 1: was very expensive. But my mom just earned maybe one
Speaker 1: hundred thousand that day. But we couldn't order a sixty
Speaker 1: pace picture of iced tea. You see, it was like, wow,
Speaker 1: means a sabai.
Speaker 3: Were we happy?
Speaker 1: We had birds?
Speaker 3: But were we happy?
Speaker 1: No? Because we need to work. We cannot rest. There
Speaker 1: was no sabbath. Bahmanhawan always on her toes, always on
Speaker 1: her knees, needing to go to work. We couldn't go
Speaker 1: on a family vacation where we're all complete. Somebody needed
Speaker 1: to be in the store. So all our childhood Hong
Speaker 1: Kong or Japan.
Speaker 3: Oh, but well ask you I turn.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yes, there were perks, but the same time, there
Speaker 1: was no fullness of joy in the midst of prosperity.
Speaker 1: It's a cursed life. Imagine if you made ten percent
Speaker 1: an issue before the Lord. I'm just thinking, if he
Speaker 1: goes home or she goes home, if he's making an
Speaker 1: issue out of the ten percent that God wants, how
Speaker 1: much more than ninety percent that his wife would want,
Speaker 1: the kids would want, the business would want. It's a
Speaker 1: cursed life. You don't need the business failure to say
Speaker 1: you're cursed. When money starts to control you, it's a
Speaker 1: cursed life. No need for other punishments. You would see
Speaker 1: how empty life is and there will be no contentment.
Speaker 1: Ah scary to even live that way. And God says,
Speaker 1: you're curse with a curse for you robbing me, the
Speaker 1: whole nation of you six point nine gdb growth. How
Speaker 1: come not a lot of people are experiencing it.
Speaker 3: Maybe because our God is money.
Speaker 1: We don't even give ten percent this issue. You see
Speaker 1: there's a direct connection to who we are and how
Speaker 1: we handle money. You'll see, Oh, that's the God that
Speaker 1: he worships. By your spending, by your saving, by how
Speaker 1: you by your lifestyle. People would see who your God
Speaker 1: is because there's a direct connection to who we are
Speaker 1: and how we handle money, and whose God we worship.
Speaker 1: The Lord says in Malachai, I the Lord do not change.
Speaker 1: This is me. Return to me. I'll return to you.
Speaker 1: I'm the same God who is so gracious. But I
Speaker 1: want you to believe in this. I the Lord do
Speaker 1: not change.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: I want us to fast forward. In the New Testament,
Speaker 1: there were a group of Christians who believe in this truth.
Speaker 1: They believe that God is the owner of everything, that
Speaker 1: the Lord does not change, and the Lord will be faithful,
Speaker 1: that the Lord will bless them, and Paul made an
Speaker 1: example of them in Second Corinthians eight. This was the
Speaker 1: church in Macedonia. I want you to jump there to
Speaker 1: Second Corinthians eight, and we'll see how the early church
Speaker 1: lived out their life in view of the money that
Speaker 1: they have. We want you to know, brothers, about the
Speaker 1: grace of God that has been given among the churches
Speaker 1: of Macedonia. Paul was saying, God is given all of
Speaker 1: us in this room a gift.
Speaker 3: It's called grace.
Speaker 1: And you all know, when you experience the grace of God,
Speaker 1: it changes everything. I know it's a song of victory music,
Speaker 1: but it's true. When I experience the grace of God,
Speaker 1: it changes my view of everything in life, including money.
Speaker 1: Because I understand I now experience the grace of God.
Speaker 1: Now I can say, Jesus here all I need, Jesus
Speaker 1: here my everything. I will have full conviction because I've
Speaker 1: experienced the grace of God. And this is the gift
Speaker 1: that God is given the church in Macedonia. And then
Speaker 1: Paul continued on and says, they've received a gift, and
Speaker 1: it's called grace, for in a severe test of affliction,
Speaker 1: their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have resulted
Speaker 1: into what overflow in the wealth of generosity on their part.
Speaker 1: What was Paul saying. Paul was saying, they've received the
Speaker 1: grace of God and now the church was experiencing a
Speaker 1: severe test of affliction. Paul was using keywords to explain
Speaker 1: how bad it really was. He wasn't saying they were
Speaker 1: having a test of affliction. They Paul said they had
Speaker 1: a severe test of affliction, which in the Greek word
Speaker 1: means tribulation. Tribulation means internal pressure that causes someone to
Speaker 1: feel confined. I can't move comaa, can't because I'm trapped.
Speaker 1: I'm under tribulation, a severe test of affliction. That was
Speaker 1: how the Macedonians were feeling. Maybe they've lost the business.
Speaker 1: The house burned down, the barns, you know, there might
Speaker 1: have been a virus among the cattles, and they lost
Speaker 1: their business. They were in a severe test of affliction.
Speaker 1: There was tribulation, but the Bible says there was also
Speaker 1: an abundance of joy that in the midst of the problem,
Speaker 1: they were joyful. And then it says they were in
Speaker 1: extreme poverty. Mind you, Paul did not say they were
Speaker 1: in poverty. They were in extreme poverty. They were dirt poor.
Speaker 1: I scanned this room and I don't see anybody in
Speaker 1: extreme poverty. If it must have been an extreme poverty.
Speaker 1: You don't know what you're going to eat in the
Speaker 1: in after the service, you don't have any food to eat.
Speaker 1: It was extreme poverty for them. They were having a
Speaker 1: hard time. But then the Bible says that they moved
Speaker 1: in overflowing generosity. Overflowing means all around which indicate its
Speaker 1: abundance or surplus, exceeding beyond what is expected of them.
Speaker 1: There was overflowing, right, it's overflowing, right, twenty kilos lalla
Speaker 1: candyman penalties airport.
Speaker 3: Why it's overflowing?
Speaker 1: They wanted to give in all my hard work I
Speaker 1: want to give. There was overflowing, and then it says
Speaker 1: overflowing generosity. I tell you this changed me the past
Speaker 1: few years.
Speaker 3: This truth changed me. When poses they.
Speaker 1: Were in a severe test of affliction, that they were
Speaker 1: so dirt poor, but they moved in overflowing generosity. My
Speaker 1: mind wrestled with it. How can I give? How were
Speaker 1: the Macedonian churches able to move in generosity in the
Speaker 1: midst of big tribulation and extreme poverty? It doesn't make
Speaker 1: any sense. And then I look up the root word
Speaker 1: that Paul use when he wrote the letter extreme generosity.
Speaker 1: It was the word haplotes in Greek, which means they
Speaker 1: moved in extreme simplicity of life.
Speaker 3: Life was so simple.
Speaker 1: It made them so happy that they were able to
Speaker 1: give even in the midst of trials and extreme poverty,
Speaker 1: simpling bohe and it was overflowing simplicity of life. You
Speaker 1: look at them and you say, how come they're so
Speaker 1: happy because they understood what God said in Malachi, I
Speaker 1: am a Lord who does not change. They've experienced the
Speaker 1: grace of God and now they could happily share whatever.
Speaker 3: Wealth they had. Life is so simple.
Speaker 1: How many of us here life became complicated when you
Speaker 1: started having more. Maybe I've shared this with you before.
Speaker 1: In our early years of marriage, we were campus missionaries.
Speaker 3: We didn't know how much money would come every month.
Speaker 1: We were living by faith technically with regards to our finances.
Speaker 1: But our favorite restaurant was Tramway.
Speaker 3: You know Tramway.
Speaker 1: I think it's two hundred thirty eight now very expensive now.
Speaker 1: Twelve years ago it was one hundred and twenty eight pesos.
Speaker 1: Birthday wedding anniversary. We look at each other tramway coming, tramway.
Speaker 1: All right, we were in tramway.
Speaker 3: We were happy with that.
Speaker 1: Less than it's a two hundred you know, it was
Speaker 1: less than three hundred vessels.
Speaker 3: But we were so happy. Life was so simple.
Speaker 1: We don't need a tramway now for health reasons.
Speaker 3: Because of that. But you were hit by a tram
Speaker 3: right so, but.
Speaker 1: Oh, Gravina and Addin, we didn't need a hotel buffet,
Speaker 1: Saysari was such a treat for us.
Speaker 3: Life is simple.
Speaker 1: We look at our lives today and we say, wow,
Speaker 1: everything we need we have. Imagine if every Christian think
Speaker 1: this way and live this way, life is simple. I
Speaker 1: some pole Illes is a you okay, now again, this
Speaker 1: is not guilt trip. The reality of the world is
Speaker 1: Prosperity is very subjective. Contentment is not. Some of you
Speaker 1: might have three cars and that's a simple life. Some
Speaker 1: of you you're able to afford uber and that's a
Speaker 1: wow life. Some of you ten thousand emarticard more than
Speaker 1: nag Emartica ten thousand, eight eight passes lad. It's very subjective.
Speaker 1: That's why I don't want to go there and say
Speaker 1: this should be the standard of it depends on your culture,
Speaker 1: depends on your background, depends on the world you live in.
Speaker 1: But for the Macedonian Church, the spirit behind their lifestyle
Speaker 1: was life is so simple I could give. Sometimes it's
Speaker 1: us who makes it just complicated.
Speaker 3: That's why we could not give.
Speaker 1: Some much blessed the city, but I don't have money.
Speaker 1: And then later you're drinking an expensive coffee to complete
Speaker 1: your planner. A simple life would say, I don't need
Speaker 1: that planner. I want to give, They'll give it. Now
Speaker 1: you work hard, you want to get two planners? Go again,
Speaker 1: depends on your context. It's living a very simple life.
Speaker 1: How much do you really need? How much should make
Speaker 1: you happy? Is this a never ending vicious cycle?
Speaker 3: That's why you cannot give.
Speaker 1: You want mama, that's not the more your ma man
Speaker 1: audience participation piece. That's the more your mamma right, then
Speaker 1: your problem, that's right, what's the more your mamma? I
Speaker 1: want to be rich? Are you not? We raise our
Speaker 1: hands because we think I still need a certain level.
Speaker 3: For me to be able to raise my hands. And
Speaker 3: that was me before.
Speaker 1: I couldn't give to real life because I need I
Speaker 1: couldn't give to the poor because syndicat But the real
Speaker 1: reason behind it is because I'm also poor like you.
Speaker 1: Because in my mind I was poor. I couldn't move
Speaker 1: in generosity until you understand life is simple, and then
Speaker 1: you say, wow, I am so rich because God is
Speaker 1: provided for all my needs, not my ones my needs,
Speaker 1: I'm so blessed. So the continance in the spirit we
Speaker 1: must have as Christian is if you have three cars,
Speaker 1: be grateful and be happy. If you have one car,
Speaker 1: be grateful.
Speaker 3: And be happy.
Speaker 1: Contentment you have no car, be grateful and be happy.
Speaker 1: Driver Mapara can be called driver. Sometimes it's a matter
Speaker 1: of perspective. The simple life, our actions tell us who
Speaker 1: we are. Can be seen through our actions, our theology,
Speaker 1: our belief is seen by how we handle money.
Speaker 3: Simple life. That's why they were able to give.
Speaker 1: This is a powerful biblical concept. Yeah, Hi, Paul, damning
Speaker 1: topic about contentment. I know what it is to be
Speaker 1: in need. I know what it is to be in plenty.
Speaker 1: I've been content in every way because I can do
Speaker 1: all things to Christ, who gives me strength. He was
Speaker 1: talking about finances, He's talking about contentment. He understood his God,
Speaker 1: he believed Malachai. He was a generous giver. Now we
Speaker 1: go back to the Old Testament. That was an example
Speaker 1: in the New Testament. And then the Lord said to them,
Speaker 1: return to me. I will return to you. How can
Speaker 1: we return to you. You're robbing me through tightson offering.
Speaker 1: So but then the Lord told them this, I will
Speaker 1: give you an offer you cannot refuse. Okay, So my
Speaker 1: godfather fans alamota right, here's an offer that you can't refuse.
Speaker 3: No man in his right mind would refuse this offer.
Speaker 3: Ma Lach nine three, verse ten.
Speaker 1: He says, bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that
Speaker 1: there may be food in my house, is the Lord,
Speaker 1: and thereby put me to tests. If I will not
Speaker 1: open the windows of heaven for you and pour down
Speaker 1: for you a blessing until there is no more what need?
Speaker 1: Give me your tithe, Bring it to the local church,
Speaker 1: into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
Speaker 1: We're going to bless the city through our local church.
Speaker 1: But bring it here. See if I will not open
Speaker 1: the floodgates of heaven pour out so much blessing.
Speaker 3: That there will not be enough room for you.
Speaker 1: It would cover all your needs. I'm blessing you. But
Speaker 1: then he did not end there. He said, if you
Speaker 1: call now, there's more. Verse eleven. He tells us this,
Speaker 1: I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it
Speaker 1: will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your
Speaker 1: vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says
Speaker 1: the Lord of Hosts, the Lord you. When I start
Speaker 1: blessing you, somebody wants to devour the blessing. It's Satan
Speaker 1: and his demons wanting to destroy you and DeVore the blessings.
Speaker 1: John Than the thief came to steal, kill and destroy.
Speaker 1: But Jesus came that you might have life, and life
Speaker 1: to the full. Return to me. I will return to
Speaker 1: you almost the same wordings that were used. God was
Speaker 1: after us, and he says, when the devil wants to
Speaker 1: steal from you, I will rebuke the devourer. Can actually
Speaker 1: pray that over your business, Lord, I'm a giver. I'm
Speaker 1: a generous child of God. Therefore I rebuke the works
Speaker 1: of the enemy over my business. This business is going
Speaker 1: to succeed. This business will have the hand of God
Speaker 1: and the favor of God in it.
Speaker 3: Because I'm a giver and.
Speaker 1: I affirm the covenant that I have with you. There's
Speaker 1: power because of the problem is that God made. I
Speaker 1: will rebuke the devourer. I will make your soil fruitful,
Speaker 1: says the Lord of Foes. Then in verse twelve, he says,
Speaker 1: then all nations will call you blessed, for you will
Speaker 1: be a land of delight, says the Lord of Hosts.
Speaker 3: People outside would look at you and say, grabby is
Speaker 3: so blessed.
Speaker 1: It's now a land of delight, not a land that's
Speaker 1: full of cursed. He's not living a cursed life where
Speaker 1: it's all about him and his pursuit of happiness. He
Speaker 1: looked at him, and he says, wow, look at him
Speaker 1: in the relationships that abound in his life.
Speaker 3: He is a blessed man. She is a blessed daughter
Speaker 3: of God. This is what the Lord says.
Speaker 1: An offer you can't refuse, And what was the requirement?
Speaker 1: Give me one ball that I actually gave you. Change
Speaker 1: your perspective. Now some of you are saying, okay again, yeah, nice, nice, good,
Speaker 1: good good fine good fine, But I still not convince
Speaker 1: because Wikipedia told me that tithing is for the old
Speaker 1: and it's not for the new. We should practice the
Speaker 1: New Testament. Okay, I'll go to the New Testament. Second
Speaker 1: Corinthians nine. And I'm saying this in the spirit that
Speaker 1: I want. God wants your heart, not your money. Look
Speaker 1: at Second Cordentians nine. This is the verse that everybody
Speaker 1: wants to use when they don't want to give their tithe.
Speaker 1: Each one must give as he has decided in his heart,
Speaker 1: not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Speaker 1: A you see, you see what I decide in my heart,
Speaker 1: not the law of the Old Testament. Para contexts that
Speaker 1: Second Corinthians nine. You remember the text that I just
Speaker 1: shared earlier, Second Corinthians eight. Paul just gave an example
Speaker 1: of the Macedonian Church. And if you study verse eight,
Speaker 1: look at what verse eight said. The Macedonians were begging
Speaker 1: earnestly that they may partake of the relief of the saints.
Speaker 1: These were the church who was so poor in tribulation,
Speaker 1: and they were begging. Begger.
Speaker 3: You saw a beggar.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of beggars downstairs. Yoh yo yo, will
Speaker 1: not stop until you open your window and give some
Speaker 1: We'll sing a song. Will put soap on your window
Speaker 1: and start cleaning it. They're begging and pauses they were
Speaker 1: begging earnestly. Kurapaul, you so yes, come in Pizzo, you
Speaker 1: wanna give. No, no, no, no, don't give. I know
Speaker 1: the tribulation you've gone through. I'm begging you earnestly, which
Speaker 1: means there was a struggle. No, don't don't give. We
Speaker 1: should give to you. No, yeah, I really want to
Speaker 1: give for the relief of the saints. You need relieve, No,
Speaker 1: they need relief. Because I live a simple life. I
Speaker 1: have fifteen passions. May give the five to you. That
Speaker 1: was the spirit. Imagine if every Christian would have the
Speaker 1: same spirit begging. Imagine one hundred thousands of victim in
Speaker 1: Metro Manila. All of the Christians are saying, will please
Speaker 1: please Anna.
Speaker 4: Eco Bagna Blue, begging earnestly, may I do something for
Speaker 4: the Kingdom of God.
Speaker 1: Their issue was not ten percent. They might be giving
Speaker 1: fifty sixty percent. So when Paul was saying each one
Speaker 1: must give in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion,
Speaker 1: what he's saying is he wants a cheerful giver like
Speaker 1: the Macedonian churches, who are not even counting. They decided
Speaker 1: at home crush the piggy bag ooh, May fifteen, pestels,
Speaker 1: let's give five, because he and they were begging, please
Speaker 1: let us partake of the relief of the saints. Then
Speaker 1: Paul said this, you want to make an issue.
Speaker 5: About about giving. Okay, I go back to verse six.
Speaker 5: The point is this, here's the point.
Speaker 1: You want to give one percent to the Lord out
Speaker 1: of the one hundred percent.
Speaker 3: He gave you.
Speaker 1: Go, who's stopping you?
Speaker 3: That's my point.
Speaker 1: Paul was saying. You want to debate, you debate on
Speaker 1: your own. Go give three, give five. But the point
Speaker 1: is this, you so sparingly, you reap sparingly. You give
Speaker 1: a little, you sew a little, you give bountifully, you
Speaker 1: reap bountifully.
Speaker 3: That's the point. So don't debate.
Speaker 1: Don't think the church is after your money. No, God
Speaker 1: is after your heart. Paul was saying, that's my point.
Speaker 1: God loves a cheerful giver. You give one percent, you
Speaker 1: read one percent.
Speaker 3: That's the whole point. Look verse seven eight, Chapter eight.
Speaker 3: Verse seven.
Speaker 1: But as you excel in everything, you excel in faith,
Speaker 1: in speech, in knowledge, in earnestness, your love for you,
Speaker 1: see that you also excel in this.
Speaker 3: Act of grace. Also, the grace of giving.
Speaker 1: Excel means surpassing ordinary. Excel means extraordinary, ordinary ten percent, extraordinary,
Speaker 1: exceed overflow. Adjust your lifestyle so you could give more.
Speaker 1: That was what Paul was saying, excel in disgrace of giving.
Speaker 1: But look, and I want you to look at this.
Speaker 1: This is so liberating verse eight, second eight. I say
Speaker 1: this not as a command, Sat galu guystening to us,
Speaker 1: not telling you to go home and calculate ten percent.
Speaker 1: This is not a command, but to prove.
Speaker 3: Far deeper than the command.
Speaker 1: To prove it's an evidence of the earnestness of others
Speaker 1: that your love also to Christ is genuine. What was
Speaker 1: Paul saying, Oh, generosity. By the way, it's not a command.
Speaker 1: It's who you are. I'm not commanding you. That's you.
Speaker 1: Christians are to be the most generous people in the world,
Speaker 1: So don't quote all the new In the New Testament,
Speaker 1: they gave twenty three percent.
Speaker 3: According to church.
Speaker 1: History, because they excel in the grace of giving, nobody
Speaker 1: was in need, basic needs covered. That's the essence of community.
Speaker 1: Paul was saying, I'm not commanding you to give ten
Speaker 1: I'm telling you you're generous people. It's up to you.
Speaker 1: So decide in your own heart what you want to give,
Speaker 1: understanding this is.
Speaker 3: Who you are already. God loves a cheerful giver.
Speaker 1: And then Paul preaches the gospel to them. I'll tell
Speaker 1: you why you can do that, why you can give more,
Speaker 1: Why you can be a simple Christian, simple lifestyle, so
Speaker 1: you can give more.
Speaker 3: I'll tell you why.
Speaker 1: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Speaker 1: the same grace that he's given the church. That though
Speaker 1: he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor,
Speaker 1: so that you, by his poverty, might become rich. If
Speaker 1: you start to weave together, Malachi and Corinthians, return to me,
Speaker 1: and I will return.
Speaker 3: To us as the Lord of host. Look at this.
Speaker 1: Christ came down and his richness became poor like one
Speaker 1: of us, so that you, through his poverty.
Speaker 3: Might become rich. It's an invitation. You return to me.
Speaker 3: I return to you. I want you to experience me.
Speaker 1: Never will you say again I need the latest gadget
Speaker 1: to complete me. Never will you say again I need
Speaker 1: a spouse to complete me. I will complete you. Return
Speaker 1: to me. I will return to you. That's an offering.
Speaker 1: That's only one example. I want you, not your money.
Speaker 3: The Lord does not change.
Speaker 1: This is the same God that talks to us today
Speaker 1: in the midst of abundance in our nation today, in
Speaker 1: the midst of all the marketing telling you you need this,
Speaker 1: you need that. Don't go simple, go all in with
Speaker 1: material things. You have to go back and reassess life
Speaker 1: in my living in simplicity, so that I could be
Speaker 1: more to others and give more to others. As Christ
Speaker 1: really satisfied me.
Speaker 3: Do Christ really complete me?
Speaker 1: Or should I add something else?
Speaker 3: It's our choice.
Speaker 1: But I just want to remind you, as Paul reminded them,
Speaker 1: this is who we are. We're generous people because we've
Speaker 1: experienced the generosity of Christ smother and I had says pray,
Speaker 1: Lord Jesus, we thank you. Thank you for your overflowing
Speaker 1: generosity over our lives. Thank you that you are a
Speaker 1: father who does not change. You're the same yesterday. You're
Speaker 1: the same God of Malachi. You're the same today, You're
Speaker 1: the same forever. You will not change. You're gracious. You're
Speaker 1: inviting telling us return to me. I will return to you.
Speaker 1: I'll give you an offer you cannot refuse. I will
Speaker 1: pour out so much blessing upon you.
Speaker 3: But I want you to return to me.
Speaker 1: Lord today. I know this would be a day of
Speaker 1: returning for some prodigals in the house are returning back
Speaker 1: to you, some of us. Lord. It's exposed through how
Speaker 1: we handle our finances and how stinging we could get
Speaker 1: when it comes to giving. Lord, I don't want to
Speaker 1: live a cursed life where my God is mammon, where
Speaker 1: my God is money. I want you to be my God.
Speaker 1: I want you to take control. I don't want staff
Speaker 1: or things to control me.
Speaker 3: I want you to control me.
Speaker 1: Lord. That nations would look and they would say that
Speaker 1: man and woman is blessed. They live in the land
Speaker 1: of delight. I afraid that would be us. That would
Speaker 1: be our story.
Speaker 2: You just heard a message from Victory. For more messages
Speaker 2: like these, or to access other resources, please visit Victory
Speaker 2: dot org, dot pH or like our page on Facebook.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening. We hope that you enjoyed today's episode.
Speaker 1: Don't forget to share and subscribe to this podcast for more.
Speaker 1: God bless you all.