Episode Transcript
So glad you've joined us for Countdown Back to the Future. We're looking at an amazing presentation this time. Global Economic Meltdown and the keys to Financial Security. We've noticed these three beasts. The dragon, which represents Satan, of course, the sea beast and the land beast. These three beasts seek to use economics to enforce global worship. Notice what the Bible says in Revelation chapter 13. No one may buy or sell except one who has the mark of the beast. Clearly economics. And what's the outcome of this? Enforcing people to take the. To worship the dragon. What's the outcome? Well, this prostitute sitting on a scarlet colored beast called Babylon the Great. She causes a great economic meltdown. That's really the outcome of it all. We'll talk about this prostitute sitting on a scarlet colored beast when we talk about night cry demonic dimensions. But notice the final outcome. The Bible says, alas, alas that great city, Babylon, that mighty city. For in one hour your judgment has come and the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her. Why? For no one buys their merchandise anymore. For in one hour such great riches come to nothing. Do you see? Using economics to force global worship ends in a global economic crash. A meltdown. The question we need to think about now is then how can we survive what is coming economically on the planet? One of the most amazing things about this book is it's so practical. It's not just about prophecies and information. God gives us this book to help us get through life and get through it with abundance to have life at its very best. So God gives us the keys to financial security in his book. These actually are God's secrets for providing for his children. As we'll see, things which are going to help you and I in the coming crisis, the the economic showdown. Let's notice the first of the secrets for financial security. Number one, trust God rest in his care. It was Jesus who said these amazing words, words which help us to just, you know, don't be so anxious about things. Notice his words. He said to his disciples, therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. Consider the ravens, that is the birds, they neither sow nor do they reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn, yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? If then God so clothes the grass which today is in the field and tomorrow it's thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you? Oh ye of little faith. Your father knows that you need these things. Good words, aren't they? Don't worry. Why do we not need to worry? Because God provides for our needs. But you know, we worry, don't we? We worry about many things. And yet, you know, worry is blind. It doesn't change anything. It doesn't help with what's coming. It just causes us to get all stressed up and anxious. We don't need to do that. I like the way Peter put it. He said, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. You know, God really cares for you. How do we know? Well, he paid an enormous price for us. And he's promised, I will be with you. I'll look after you. So throw all your care upon him. That's the first secret. Don't worry. Put your life in God's hands. Number two key to financial security is this. Make God your first priority in life. Jesus went on to say these words, but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things, these necessary things, your food, your clothes and so on, all these things shall be added to you. You know, it's so easy in life to get so busy that we don't have time for God. The very thing that would actually help us to get through life, we sort of push to the side because we think we don't have time. If we don't have time for God, we need to think again because he's the one that will give us guidance and direction so that he can get us through the difficult moments and of life. Number three secret to financial security is this one. Remember that God owns everything. I love the way the Bible puts it in the Psalms. The Bible says the earth is the Lord's and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell in it. And then in the Psalms again, notice what God says about his ownership of everything. For every beast of the forest is mine. And the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field, they are mine. Did you see it? God owns everything. You know, some of the people, these mighty billionaires, they have a lot of money, but actually they don't own anything. Because God says, no, I own everything in this world. He owns it actually, twice. First of all, he's the Creator of everything. And then when this world went astray, he purchased it at the death of his only begotten son. He owns everything twice. What a God. He loves us so much that when we lost it, he wants us to have it. So he purchases it, takes it through the death of Jesus so that we can have these wonderful things that he's provides for us. Number four. Remember, we are God's managers. If God owns everything, then at best all we can be is just managers or stewards. And that's the way the Bible puts it. Peter is talking to his friends, writing to his friends, as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Did you notice? Peter says we are to be stewards of the gifts that God puts in our hands. Now, a steward in actual fact, according to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, let's notice it. A person who's entrusted with the management of another's property. God owns everything. So we are to manage what he puts into our hands. And we are to manage many things that God puts into our hands. For example, we are stewards or managers of God's gift of life. That's why we talked in a previous presentation about the importance of looking after the body as the temple of God. It's his body, remember? And now he wants us to look after it so we can be used to help people, to help God's cause, to be a blessing to human beings on the planet. Wherever we live, God gives us the gift of life. We need to look after life that he's given to us. Number two, God gives us the gift of time. Time is precious. With time, we can do many things to help others, many things to advance the great goodness of God among people. Time is a precious gift. That's why God gives us the Sabbath. Remember a gift in time, so that we might understand. Wow. One of the most important things in life is to connect with God. He says, take a whole day off to be with me. But that way we'll be able to look after the rest of time in an appropriate way. We're gifted with time. Number three, we are gifted with talents and abilities. Now, there are many abilities that people have. I don't know how people can do it, but some people have the gift of making money. Almost everything they touch. Well, we're not to use it for ourself. We're to use it to bless other people. People have the gift of art, gift of using modern technology. Man, if I could sit behind some of these things, everything would blow up. I have no idea how that stuff works. But some people, they are gifted in that space. People have the gifts of music, many different abilities. We all have gifts. They're to be used to help other people and the cause of God. God gives us money and we're to use money in a way that helps others. Now, you may say I don't have much money, let me tell you. You and I are wealthy, most of us, compared to some places that I've been. I remember we were living in Fiji. We were visiting a family who was very poor, taking them rice and so on. They lived in sort of like a concrete bunker almost. It was. Was. And I thought, wow, this is poor. This is poverty. These poor people. That's why we were helping them. But then when I went to some other countries around the world where people were living on train stations, that's their bedroom, that's their kitchen. I thought w were rich. Money is sort of relative, isn't it? But whatever we have put in our hands, God wants us to use it to help others, to help our families, of course, to advance his cause. I like the way the Bible speaks into this space. Notice what it says in the writings of Moses. You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth. God gives us even the opportunities, the abilities to get money so we can buy things that we need and to help other people. So how do we remember that God gives us the power to give wealth, that God looks after us? There's a great thing in the Bible that we encounter how we remember those things that God gives us the power. I want to bring you to a place called Mari, A couple of great cities in the area of southern Mesopotamia and. And northern Syria. Here were cities like Nusi and Mari. They discovered that many of the customs of the Old Testament, we call them the patriarchs, people like Noah and Abraham and Jacob and Isaac, these, we call them the patriarchs. They discovered that many of the customs that you find in the Bible actually were customs in the cultures of those days. And one of the customs that they had in ancient times, in what we call the patriarchal period, they discovered here in these places like Maori and Nusi, it was the birthright. Now, what's the birthright? Well, the birthright in ancient times simply meant that the father of the clan, the head of the clan, when he was about to die, he would pass the blessing onto his eldest son, who then would become the clan leader. When he died with that blessing, there was two things. The financial, material things, and he became also the spiritual leader of the clan. Now, it wasn't just money for him. The idea with all the. All the goods, all the property and so on was so that he could help the rest of the clan so they could survive. So they could have life at its best. And so the two things went with it. The spiritual aspects and the physical things. Now, Abraham had two grandsons, Isaac and Jacob. These were the sons of his son, Isaac. Sorry, Jacob and Esau. I should say these were twin brothers. One was slightly older than the other came out. First, his name was Esau. Now, the father, Isaac, he favored the older one. He was sort of like a he guy, you know, hunter and so on. Bushy type of a fellow. The younger one, Jacob, he was more domestic, you know, looking after the things around the home. And his mother favoured him. His mother's name was Rebecca. One favorite son and another. The husband had another son. Favorite. Not a good thing in homes, is it? So these boys grew up under that sort of a situation. When it came time for the father, Isaac, to die, he's getting very old. He was also blind. He calls his oldest son Esau and says, boy, I'm about to die. I want you to go out into the bush, get a deer and cook up my favorite meal. Come into the tent and I will bless you after we've had the meal and pass the birthright blessing onto you. Well, Mum overheard the father say this to the boy. So Rebekah says to her favorite son, Jacob, she says, now, listen, Jacob, Dad's about to give the Birthright blessing to your older brother. And you and I know that you ought to have the birthright blessing, especially the spiritual bit. Cause that's what you want. She says, you go and get a goat out of the paddock there and bring it to me, and I'll cook up your dad a favorite meal. And you can go in with the meal and get the blessing. And. And Jacob undoubtedly says, hey, whoa, hang on a bit here, Mom. I don't sound like Esau, my older brother. And certainly when dad hears me talking, he'll think, hey, this is not. This is not the oldest son. Come over here, boy. And he'll feel me. And you know, Mom, Esau has plenty of hair on his body, but I don't. He'll feel me and he'll curse me rather than bless me. Well, Mum says, just leave things to me. I'll sort it out. So he goes and gets the goat, kills it, brings it to his mum. She makes up a nice stew for his dad. And then he goes into the tent to his old father, who's blind, and he says, here I am, dad. Here's the birthright meal. He says, what? That was pretty quick. He says, yeah, God sent the animal to me. See, now, Jacob Brings God into this thing. He says, well, boy, you don't really sound like Esau. Come closer. Well, Mum unfortunately puts the skins of the animal around his neck and shoulders so that he would feel hairy. So he goes over to dad and he feels him. He says, well, the voice sounds like that of Jacob, but you feel like Esau, so it must be Esau. So then he gives the blessing. And so Jacob now has the birthright blessing. He walks out of the tent. He's hardly gone when who shows up? The older brother comes with his meal and comes into the tent and says, dad, here I am with the birthright meal. So what do you mean? We've already had it. And then suddenly it hit the dad and the older brother. Wow, we've been cheated here. Your younger brother has stolen your birthright. Well, Esau says, dad, well, just give me a blessing, can you? No. No. Well, I can give you a blessing, but it won't be the birthright blessing, son. Cause once you've promised it to someone, you can't take it back. Well, the older brother comes out of the tent, and he's heard to say, when dad dies, I'm going to kill my younger brother for stealing the birthright from me. Well, mom hears about it, and she says to her husband, she says, isaac, she says, we need to send the younger boy away to get a wife. Good idea, eh? Yeah. Okay. And so Jacob has to flee from home. He doesn't see his mother again, and he flees as a fugitive up towards Syria. Now, I want you to put yourself in the position of Jacob, how that must have felt as he's traveling on his way, a fugitive, because he doesn't know when his brother might show up to kill him. He lays down that night, he must have been discouraged because, number one, he'd sinned against God. He lied about God. God brought the animal. Remember, he'd stolen from his brother and lied to his father. He must have felt terrible. And when he lay down to sleep that night, something amazing happened. As Jacob lay down on a pillar of stone, he had a vision, a dream that God actually gave him. He saw a ladder, a staircase that went clear from earth to heaven. And angels were going up and down the ladder. Now, this is not a ladder like we prop against the wall. Undoubtedly it was referring to these types of cigarettes that they had in the Mesopotamian region, which likewise stairways to the. To the gods for the ancient pagans. Well, this was a stairway to the God of heaven. And so angels of God going up and down. But I Want you to notice what God said to this thief, this crook, you know, Amazing how gracious God is. Notice what God said in this dream to him. And behold, the Lord stood above it, above the staircase and said, I am with you and I will keep you wherever you go. And I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you. Could you believe it? Talk about grace. If it had been me, I probably, you know, he deserved a bullet to the head, right? Stealing from his dad and his brother and lying and bringing God into it. But God shows up with grace. You know, the Bible says, where sin abounds, God's grace much more abounds. And if ever you think you've run too far from God and you've gone too far, never forget the story of Jacob, the graciousness of our God, who loves us so much. Well, when Jacob woke up, he was absolutely blown away and he made a promise. But before we get to the promise, I want you to notice Jesus actually referred to this very story when he was here, he was talking to one of his followers called Nathanael. And notice what he said. Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. In other words, he was saying to Nathanael, that staircase, that stairway to God in Jacob's dream, that's me. That's why he said these words a little later on. I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. You see, Jesus is the way to God. He's the bridge from where we are to the heart of God to heaven itself. Christ is the bridge. He laid down his life for us so that we could have access, so that we could be reconciled to the Father. And what he was saying to Jacob, really that night was this. By this ladder which represents Jesus, God will care for all your needs. And that's true, my friend. When you have Christ, God has promised to care for all your needs, not all your wants, not all the things that maybe you think you need, but what is essential to you. God will be with you. He's promised. In fact, he said, I'm with you always. I'll never leave you or forsake you. Notice the response of Jacob when he woke up. He said, now listen, if God is going to be with me and keep me and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, then the Lord shall be my God. And of all that you give me I will surely give a tenth to you. Notice the response to grace. God's going to do all this, Then he's going to be my God and I'll give a tenth. What's this tenth business? Well, the tenth in the Bible is called a tithe. This wasn't the first man to return to God the tithe. His grandfather Abraham had already paved the way on one occasion. Abraham went to rescue his nephew Lot and the king of Sodom and all the people who lived in that wicked city. Abraham rescued them with 300 men against thousands. He defeated the enemy. And when he got all the loot from this battle against the enemy, what did he do with it? He brought a tenth of it to God. Notice what the Bible says. And he. That's Abraham. He gave him a tithe of all in response to the grace and the goodness of God in delivering all the people from Sodom, including his nephew Lot, delivering it to him. Amazing. An amazing grace. You know, you often read about Sodom and Gomorrah, how wicked those cities were. But God loved those people. He even used Abraham to rescue them before that tragic event. Sadly, they didn't listen to God's grace. But God was certainly pouring grace upon them. Well, when Abraham saw what God had done, this is the way he responded. And that's how Jacob responded when he saw that staircase, that God would look after him. Now, what's this tithe or this tenth? Well, the tithe in the Bible is said specifically to belong to God. It's his. Notice how the Bible puts this. We go to the book of Leviticus. All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, it is the Lord's. It is holy to the Lord. It's set apart to God, in other words. Now, what's the purpose of the tithe? Well, the purpose of the tithe in the Bible is to support gospel workers. That is, gospel workers in the Old Testament times, Gospel workers in the New Testament times. How do we know? Well, you remember in Israel, there were 12 tribes. Jacob, whose name was Israel, had 12 sons, and the nation had these 12 tribes that came out of those sons. Now, one of the tribes didn't have all the land and all the goods that the other 11 tribes had. This was the tribe of Levi because their job was to look after the temple, the sanctuary, as it was called. They were to look after that for the rest of the nation. This was the spiritual center for the Israelites. Notice how the Bible puts it. The Bible says Behold, I have given the children of Levi, that's the tribe of Levi, the ones who look after the temple. I've given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance. What for? In return for the work which they perform. The work of the tabernacle or the sanctuary or the temple of the meeting. So how would they, you know, have money enough for their children and their wives and so on? Well, this is how it was as they looked after the temple. Israel was to bring the tithe to the temple. And this is how to support the Levites. But what's interesting, this principle the New Testament says carries over into New Testament times. It was Paul that pointed this out. Notice what he says to his friends in Corinth. Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple? He's talking about the Levites, the priests and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar. Even so, he says. Even so, the Lord has suggested. Is that what that last word says in yellow? No, not suggested. The Lord has commanded. This is coming from God. Paul's saying. Even so, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. How else are those who share the gospel going to look after their families if they're full time sharing the gospel? Well, this is how, through the tithe. But what I love about God's system here of tithing is that the gospel workers, they also return a tithe. They return a tenth as well. Notice what the Bible says. And the priest, the descendant of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithe, the 10th from Israel, that is. And the Levites shall bring up a tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to the rooms of the storehouse. So it was equal for everybody. Those who received the tithe for the support of their families, they too returned a tenth, just like everybody else. God is so good. You know, it's a tragic that this principle is not followed by the Christian church in the world today. But we have things like bingo for Jesus, raffles and fates and all sorts of ways to try to raise money to support those who are to preach the good news of Jesus and his great love for people. God has a better plan right here in his book. And when we're involved in it, we become part of enjoying and getting behind God's great, of saving humanity. Now, Jesus too believed in this principle of the tithing. I want you to notice, one day he was chastising the Jewish leaders because they were particular in some areas, but not in others. But notice what he said. The Bible says in Matthew 23, for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin. Let's just stop there for a moment. So if you gave these Pharisees 10 seeds, they take one out and say that's the 10th for God. They were very particular about all these things. Notice what Jesus went on to say. You pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law. What's that? Justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone. In other words, Jesus principle was, do both return God the tithe? Of course. That's what he asks, what he commands. But make sure at the heart of it all is mercy and justice to other people. Now, there are tremendous blessings in this tithing thing that God talks about here. The first blessing is this financial security. Would you believe it? God Himself says so. I want you to notice what he says in Malachi. You see, sadly, the Israelites not only turned away from the commandments of God, including the Sabbath. They not only turned away from what to eat. Remember, we saw God had given them instructions, but they disobeyed. They also turned away from this tithe thing. And so God is calling them back to his great principles here, because that's going to help them. And Malachi is calling them back for God. The Bible says, bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. That means the temple of God. And try me now, test me now, says God in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open to you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. You see what God is saying? Listen, just do what I say. You may think you can't afford it, but just do what I say. And you watch what I will do. I will open the windows of heaven, pour out blessing. Does this really work or is this just nice words from God? No, let me tell you, this principle really works. It's certainly the first key to financial security. How about these? I'm sure you've met these products before. You probably cleaned your teeth with Mr. Colgate's teeth paste this morning. This man who started that company returned God his tithe. This man who began Heinz, what is it? 50 varieties, whatever it is of food that we have, tinned foods. The man who started that company was a man who returned God his Tithe. And then, of course, maybe you had some Kraft cheddar cheese this morning. I don't know what it was you had for breakfast, but no doubt at some point you probably had some of his cheese, Mr. Kraft's cheese. The man who started that company, he also returned the tithe. There's no question, when we follow what God says, he does look after us. It doesn't mean we'll be millionaires, but it does mean he'll provide for us. My wife and I, we love reading together. And we were reading an article about a solo mother. One day she. She had some children, but she had no husband and she had to look after these kids. So she came to the minister, her minister one day, and she said, pastor, she said, I cannot afford to give go. I want you to give me a special dispensation on that one. And she had it nicely listed out. This is the school fees. This is the food bill. This is the electricity. This is the rent. And when she added up, she see, Pastor, she said, there's none left to give God his tents. So can you give me a special out on this one? Well, the minister no doubt thought it would be wonderful. But he said to the lady, look, how can I tell you not to do something that God tells you to do? That's. I couldn't do that. She got mad. She stamped her foot. Well, bust him then. I'll give him two tithes. She said, God doesn't ask us to give two tenths. But that's what she did. She was a woman of her word. She came back a few months later to her pastor, and she said, pastor, do you remember the day I stormed out of your office mad as a meat axe because you talked about you wouldn't give me a special dispensation on the tithe thing? Well, she said, you know what? I went away and I decided I better follow through with what I said, I'll give two tenths. Do you know, Pastor, I'm better off today on 810 than I was on 10 10. And she explained how she'd got another job and this and that had happened. And she said, pastor, I'm better off since I've been giving to God. My wife and I looked at each other and we thought, well, we return the tithe. Why don't we give more offerings than we've been giving? So we decided to increase. Do you know, within a very short time, we received two checks in the mail that we didn't ever expected. Let me explain. Their check came in the Mail for a scholarship for me. I was studying at the time. I didn't even know the scholarship existed. I certainly didn't apply for it yet. I was given it then my wife, she was carrying our first child at the time, and she said one day, she said, sweetheart, she said, I'm tired. You know, this baby's coming sooner. I'm tired. She said, do you reckon I could quit? Because she was working to put food on the table while I was studying? I said, sure, sweetheart. But she said, before you say yes, before we make that decision, she said, you need to know we're going to lose $1,000 if I quit. Well, what do you mean? Well, she said, if I work for 10 years and I've just worked for just about nine and a half, if I work for 10, we get a thousand dollar bonus. I said, don't worry about it. We can survive without the bonus. So what happens? A check comes in the mail. The company decided to give the thousand dollars to her anyway, even though she hadn't worked the full 10 years. We saw big time, and we've seen ever since that God is true to his word. When he says, bring the tithe into the storehouse, he means what he says. And he says, I will open you the windows of heaven. As I said, doesn't mean we're going to be a billionaire, but it does mean God will provide for our needs and he will help us. There's a second blessing in the tithe, and that is it increases our faith. You see, when you have to go out on a limb, you have to go somewhere where you don't think you could manage, but you're just going to follow through and do what God says. Your faith soars when you see how God comes through. Paul wrote these words, we live by faith and not by sight. We live by faith. There are many things that you and I probably sometimes find in this book we don't really want to do. But God says, and if we launch out and do what he says, we see God comes through and it builds up our faith. That's one of the beautiful things about following what God says. Our faith increases. I like the way the Bible puts it on this one about the tithe. Bring all the tithes and test me. Now, by doing this, God lays out a challenge. You just do it and see what I'll do. And our faith will soar, says the Lord of Hosts, and see if I will not open to you the windows. In other words, God is saying, listen, you hear my word. God's Word and you act on it. In other words, you put your trust in me. You do that and you will see, I will come through for you and your faith will grow. And it's true. I thank God so much for this tremendous blessing in returning his tithe. But there's a third reason for this or purpose for this. And that is it promotes generosity. It starves our selfishness. You see, by nature, you and I, most of us, I should say, are selfish at heart. But the Bible says when we return to God's tithe and give offerings, it actually starts to starve our selfishness. Notice what the Bible says in the Book of Acts. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus. This is Paul talking, that he, Jesus said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And isn't that the truth? It is more blessed to give than to receive because we like to give when we do. Maybe at first we don't think we can afford, but when we launch out, we get a blessing in it and it starves our selfish hearts. There was a rich young ruler on one occasion who came to Jesus and he said, jesus, what do I have to do to inherit eternal life? How do I get eternal life? Jesus said, keep the Commandments. He said, well, I already keep them all, but what do I lack? He could sense that even though he thought he was obedient to God, something was missing in his life. Notice what Jesus said, because he put his finger on the problem that this young fellow had. Then Jesus said to looking at him, he loved him. I like that Jesus loved this young man, this rich young fellow. Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, one thing you lack, there is something you lack. Go your way, sell whatever you have and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come, take up the cross and follow me. But he was sad at this word and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Did you see what what was happening here? This man could have been one of the apostles. For Jesus, Jesus gave him an opportunity. Jesus actually could see that he wasn't keeping the commandments. He was breaking the first Commandment which says, you shall have no other gods before me. His money was his God, and Jesus knew that. So he wanted to help this young fellow. Now Jesus is not asking all of us to sell everything we have and give it to them, the poor. This young fellow he was talking to who had this problem, he was actually breaking the commandments, thinking he was keeping them. But his God was his money. If he'd only followed Jesus he would have had that generous spirit. Because that's what this giving does. It starves our selfishness and promotes a generous spirit. Finally, when we return God his tithes and offerings, we actually partner with God in saving people for eternity. What could be better than that? What an amazing thing to be involved in saving people for eternity. I like the way the Bible says, talking of Jesus, Paul wrote these words, you know, the grace that means the sheer kindness, the unmerited favor of God. He says, you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, the. Let me tell you, my friend, Jesus was rich. He owns those. What is it, 1 trillion galaxies out there with 200 billion stars in each. He's very rich. But what happened? Though he was rich, yet for your sakes, for your sake and mine, he became poor. He borrowed a boat. He was born in someone else's barn. He borrowed a donkey. He slept in the fields. Though he was rich, he became poor for us. Why? So that you, through his poverty, you and me, we might become rich. Rich in the things of eternity. Wow. You see what happens when we join God in this business, in returning tithes and offerings, we become partners in the greatest work on the planet, rescuing people for eternity. Wow. Partnering with God, investing in souls. That's what this is about as well. Well, finally, returning God's tithe is a moral issue. It really is. Notice what God said to the Israelites who were not returning the tithe back there in the Old Testament. Will a man rob God yet you have robbed me. But you say, in what way have we robbed you? In other words, the people were saying, we haven't robbed you, God. Yes, God said you had in tithes and offerings. You've been withholding tithes and offerings from me. God saying, you are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. You know, it's one thing to rob a human being. It's quite another thing to rob God. That's a serious matter. And that's what the Israelites were doing. So God is calling him. Come on. Come and do what's right. And listen, when you do what's right, you will see. I will look after you. I will bless you. You know, sometimes it's hard because we all love our money and we love our possessions, don't we? But Jesus told a very important story on one occasion about a farmer who was very, very wealthy. He owned so much, he decided to, you know, enlarge what he had. Notice how Jesus spoke of this man. I want you to notice the words, I will do this. This is the rich farmer guy. I will pull down my barns and I'll build greater ones. And there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, fool. Wow, that's strong language from God, you fool. Why this night your soul will be required of you. Tonight you're going to die. Then whose will these things be which you have provided? So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God? These are good words for all of us, myself included, aren't they? Are we rich toward God? Do we return to him what is his own? Do we seek to help others by giving God his tenth and his offerings? Very important. Jesus said these words, for what profit is it to a man or a woman if he gains the whole world? He may own billions of dollars worth of property, but what's the point? He loses his own soul. Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? In other words, Jesus saying, why would you want to be rich for 50 or 60 years when you could have eternity and be one of my children in my eternal kingdom? That's foolish. Jesus is saying what it is. If a man gains the whole world, but he loses his soul. Jesus said these words, where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. We need to bank our treasures in heaven. By returning to God his tithe and his offering, we are actually putting our treasure in heaven. We're putting our treasure where our heart should be, in God's eternal kingdom. Now, how do we calculate the tithe? Well, it's pretty easy when you think of it, isn't it? If I get a $500 a week, I'm going to return God 10%. 50. That's the tithe that goes to God. What about offerings? How much is that? Well, the tiThe is the 10th, but offerings is up to us. God doesn't stipulate a percentage. He just said, you give as you are able and give as you've been given. So it will vary from person to person. But we need to be generous with God because he's sure generous with us. We'll never out give God, that's for sure. So here are the keys to financial security. And they are the most important keys that you could ever have. Number one, we need to trust God. We need to rest in his care. Don't worry. Worry is blind. It cannot discern the future. So just trust God cast all our care upon him. Number two, we need to make God our first priority in life. Don't put him last when we get time, because you'll never get time. You have to make time. Put him first. God says first in our life. Number three, remember, we own nothing. God owns everything. So at best, you and I are just managers. We need to be good stewards of what God puts in our hands, of all different sorts of things, including, of course, money. And finally, we need to return God's tithes and offerings, because this is one of the greatest principles for financial security. God will look after us. I love the way Dottie Rambeau put it in her song, the things that we love and hold dear to our hearts are just borrowed. They're not ours at all. Jesus only lets us use them to brighten our lives. So remind us, remind us, dear Lord. Good words. We need to be reminded of this by God all the time. And tithing and returning offerings is one way that we remember we're just stewards. We're not managers. And so John says in the Revelation, economics will be used to enforce global worship. Let's notice it again. The Bible says, he talking of the land beast. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or in their forehead. And that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. Now, sadly, my friends, for most people, money will be more important than God, because the Bible says all the world marveled and followed the beast. That's a tragedy. It needn't be. And in what we've talked about today, this is one way that God is using to help you and I have absolute trust in him, you see, because when the crunch comes and whether we buy or sell, we want to make sure we keep our job or keep our money or we want to have that secure. So we dispense with what God says. We take the beast mark in order to buy and sell. Where will we lose eternity? But God is saying, if we learn to trust him now in these things, when the big crunch comes, we will trust him. Then we will just keep following Him. God gives us these opportunities today to learn how to trust. And those who have absolute trust in God, they've learned it now, they will be able to trust him in that big time. That's surely coming from the prophecies that are found in Revelation. The family was awakened in the middle of the night by a fire that was Starting to rage through their house, they had to run for their life. The mom and dad counted all the kids when they arrived out in the front yard there, and they discovered one was missing. To their horror, as they looked up there at one of the windows of the house was one of the youngest children. The fire was coming closer to her in her room and she was standing at the window, lots of smoke. And daddy cried out to her. She opened the window and he cried out, susan, jump. She said, I can't see you, Daddy. I can't see you. There's too much smoke. It doesn't matter. I can see you, Susan. You just jump. Well, little Susan, she just stood out there on the top of the window frame and she just jumped out, couldn't see anything. And her dad caught her and she was saved. It's sometimes like that in life, isn't it? God asks us to do things that we can't possibly see, how we could survive if we do what he asks us to do. In this area of returning the tithe, I can't afford it. Listen, my friend, you just jump, meaning do what God says. He will look after you. It's his promise. His promise that you follow what I say and I will care for what you do. What? Care for your life. What a God we have. Let's trust him in the little things in life so that when those big issues come in our world, we will just keep trusting our great God. Let's bow together in prayer, shall we? Oh, Father, this may be something new for some of us here. Lord, we wonder, how could we survive if we follow through on what you're saying on returning your tithe and giving back to you offerings. But Lord, we cannot afford not to follow what you say. You have promised whatever I ask you to do, I'm going to look after you. I like the way the Virgin Mary said, whatever he says to you, do it. And we'll always prosper. We'll always be better off. We may not own a whole lot of stuff in this world, but you will, will provide for us. You will care for us. Lord, help those who are watching right now, who are hearing what we're talking about here from your word. May you give them the courage to follow through with what God says, Lord. May they put their trust in you and just say, lord, here is my life. I'll follow whatever it is you're asking me to do here. Thank you, God, that you promised to be with us. Thank you for loving us and giving this great principle to us like you did. To us. That young man, Jacob, back there so long ago, his life upside down. But then God's grace touched his heart. Lord, speak to us now in Jesus wonderful name. Amen. Well, we're so glad that you were able to be with us in this countdown Back to the Future presentation. Whatever you do, don't miss our next presentation that's coming. Globalism. We're going to be talking about the great Roman comeback in our next presentation. Send a link to one of your friends. Invite them to watch these presentations because they will be helped to face what's coming in the near future. May God bless you. We look forward to seeing you in our next countdown Back to the Future program.
