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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 The truth about money part 2. Here's the title, When God is First, It's Never Cursed. They talk about the tithe, and I know you're excited about that. Amen?0:12 And if you are not in house, we're gonna go to waterschurch dot guide. It looks like that. And you click on today's message, and the notes are digitally available to you right there. The truth about0:23 money Part 2. When God is Oh, can I get more than 2 people to say it? When God is Word. It's never Word. Do it again. And when God0:35 is Word. It's never Word. Now start swaying. When God is All right, good, I'm getting you laughing. That's good because we're talk about how we're gonna get your money. Amen, okay. No, I'm0:47 playing, I'm playing, I'm playing, all right. Why do I Stupid, stupid, stupid. Okay, Anyway, this is November thirteenth and 2 days ago we had a very special day in0:59 America. November eleventh is Veterans Day. Unfortunately, our country celebrates what they shouldn't and kinda forgets and ignores what they should celebrate.1:12 So I want us to celebrate our veterans today. And the reason why is because we're gonna learn that Abram, the father of our faith, was a veteran, was a military veteran. So here's what I wanna do at all locations, okay?1:23 And what you have to know about our Apollo Beach location is that it's almost all veterans. So we wanna honor them too especially. If you are a veteran we want you to stay standing and everybody, stay sitting, stay1:35 sitting. And everybody else stand up and let's give them some honor. Can we give some honor to our veterans? Thank God for your service. Thank God for your sacrifice.1:47 We are here because of you. We thank you. We love you. We support you. We pray for you. We value you. Amen. Amen. Amen.1:58 Yeah. Yes. Thank God. Stay standing. I'd ask the veterans now at all locations to join us in standing as we read God's word.2:10 Genesis chapter 14, a very interesting passage of scripture. It's about a war. It's about a battle. Abram's dwelling in the land of the promise and his2:22 nephew Lot gets stolen in the middle of a war. And Abram has to spring into action, go into the battle, and rescue his nephew Lot. And it's2:34 verse 13 where we're picking up the story, or actually verse 14 we're picking up the story. It says, when Abram heard that his kinsmen had been taken captive he led forth his trained men born in his house, 318 of them,2:46 and went and pursued as far as Dan. And he divided the forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hoban north of Damascus. Then he brought back all the possessions and also2:57 brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions and the women and the people. After his return from the war, it says this, the king of Sodom3:09 the king of Sodom the king of Sodom went out to meet him, this is Abram, at the Valley of Shavah, that is the king's valley, and Melchizedek king of3:20 Salem, king of Salem, so king of Sodom and the king of Salem, Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed him and said, blessed be3:32 Abram by God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.3:56 Strap or anything that is yours, lest you, king of Sodom, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich. This is God's word. Let's pray together and dig into it. Heavenly4:07 Father, I ask that you're speaking through me today. I ask God that my words are what you want them to be, that our ears are open, that our hearts are receptive, that our eyes are lifted up, the current cultural4:19 conditions of our world, and we stare into heaven and we see you, God Most High. And help us, Lord, to know that you are our provider and you are our protector and4:31 you are our sure and certain reward. We ask that we might see Jesus. In his name we pray, and everybody said, Amen. Amen. God bless you. Have a seat. Good news, Waters Church. We had a wonderful, wonderful opening at our4:43 south coast location. We also started a message series on the truth about money. So South Coast is our sixth location. It opened last Sunday, grand opening last Sunday. They've been doing practice services before then.4:55 So now they finally got it right. We had a full service. And and so I was there in person. I was here on video and everywhere else on video. We had 180 people show up to the grand opening of our South Coast5:06 location. What I think the highest grand opening number we've ever had in any of our locations. But the best part was we had 12 people get saved at our South Coast locations last weekend.5:18 And locations wide, church wide, on a weekend where I started talking about money, we had 44 people say yes to Jesus at all locations of Waters5:30 Church. For some reason a lot of people get saved when I talk about money. And when I talk about money people don't get offended and I don't know why because I offend everybody with everything else.5:42 But this subject I don't know. So we're gonna talk about something that I have practiced my whole life. It's called the tithe. That's why the title of the message is When God is First, It's Never Cursed. It is something5:51 that I watched my parents practice. My parents were not ministers. They were not, or at least hired by the church. My father was a truck driver. He would get up at 4 a. And he would come home at6:03 8 p. M. Every night. He worked hard. My mother was a social worker. She was a high school math teacher and then she had kids and it kind of rearranged her life and she became a social worker. And so that's their story.6:15 And what they always did though was they put God first. Here's how you raise great kids, bring them to church.6:26 You're there already, you should be clapping for yourself, for heaven's sakes. My parents never took me to baseball over Sunday service. Never took me out of soccer over Sunday6:38 service. God's house came first. I'm the result of that. And I remember my father coming home late at night, he would have a cold dinner plate reheated in the microwave6:50 and sit down at the dinner table and then he would do the checks, pay the bills, he would open up. How many remember those 3 check binders? Remember the 3 check binders? And then the little memo thing on the left that7:00 you would tear it away, the tab so that you could remember. This was before the days of these devices. You know what I'm saying? We used to have something called paper. How many remember that? And so anyway, he would7:09 write the checks out. And I remember him writing out the check to the church, 1 of the largest checks every month. And there he would put it next to it in a little tab, tithe. Would watch, a 10 year old kid, I'd watch7:21 this happen. And there was no question in my mind, my father and my mother said God's house comes first. They retired at the age of 62. He was a truck driver, didn't make a lot of money. My mother7:33 didn't make a lot of money, social worker. But they managed to put God first, budget their finances, make sure that they didn't overextend themselves in excessive living. And they retired at the age of 627:45 to the great free state of Florida. I couldn't help myself. I couldn't help myself. And they've been living there ever since. And they have been7:55 enjoying the last 20 plus years in retirement because God blesses those who put him first. I washed it, I picked up on it, I'd do it.8:07 I'm not gonna ask you to do anything that I don't do. And I'm gonna ask you by the end of this message that you try it. And I'm gonna make an offer. Try it for 3 months. If it doesn't work, we'll give you your8:19 money back. And I mean that. I've done this before. I am so confident that God is good. He's gonna prove himself faithful. He's gonna bless your socks off, and you're gonna see that there's8:30 no possible way you can ever out give our generous God. So let's get to the text. Let's talk about this. In Genesis chapter 14, war breaks out. Why does war break out? It it8:42 says that the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions and went their way. Look what it says in verse 12. They also took who? Lot. What a weird name by the way.8:54 Lot was Abram's what? Nephew, the son of his brother. And he was dwelling in Sodom. And his possessions and all his stuff were taken in9:06 this war that broke out against the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. How did Lot, Abram's nephew, end up in Sodom? Well, the scripture says all you gotta do is back up 1 chapter to Genesis chapter9:18 15 and you will see that what happened 13, sorry. And you will see that what happened was there was a fight between Abram and Lot's herdsmen, their shepherds if you will. And Abram takes the high road and9:30 he says listen Lot, this shouldn't continue, we shouldn't fight like this, we're family. So you pick the plane that you want, I'll pick the plane that you don't choose. I will take whatever's left over. Abram takes the9:42 high road and the bible says in Genesis 13 that Abram looked at the valley of Jordan and he saw that it was well watered and it looked like Edom, Eden and it looked like Egypt and it looked prosperous and successful and9:53 it looked like a place where he could get ahead. And so he chose for himself the plain of the Jordan and then it says further that he settled on the far side of the plain toward the city of10:05 Sodom. What what Lot wanted was the good life. What what Lot wanted was the high end neighborhood, the blessings that this world could give him. And so he decides to settle10:17 near Sodom. He should be in the promised land. He should be close to his uncle Abram. He should be where God's blessing is, but he's got a wandering eye and he wants to be where the good life is.10:31 And wouldn't you know war breaks out and he's caught up in the middle of it and he's taken captive. And all of his stuff is taken captive. It's a symbol, it's a story, it's a picture for you and for me that if we choose10:42 to follow the mantras and the messagings of this world, we will fall for a lie and before we know it, we're caught up in the conflict of this age. And what we are seeing in our country10:54 right now, what we're seeing in our world right now is we're seeing conflict over money, conflict over who's got what, and the rich are blamed by the poor, and men are blamed by women, and11:06 old people are blamed by young people because everybody's gotta beef with someone else for why they don't got the good life that they deserve. And this past Tuesday we went to the polls and we voted and now all the news11:18 is coming out that there was 1 major issue that young women voted on and the issue was the the issue of abortion. Because abortion has been turned into a political issue. I don't understand11:29 how but it's been turned into a political issue and a false promise that if you have the ability to put to death your unwanted pregnancy, then you will prosper. And that is where we are as a country. And this is where I11:41 see a lot of Christians getting caught up and a lot of Christians are like Lot. And they're getting up in that camp thinking, yes, I think I should have autonomy over my life so that I can chase and pursue the good life.11:51 But we are not, if you're a Christian, of this world. We do not belong to America. We belong to heaven and our citizenship is with Jesus and we know that he's coming back and he's gonna set things12:03 right. And so we don't put our trust in politicians or in democrats or republicans. We put our trust in him. But a lot is a picture for us of how easy it is to get caught up in chasing the good life. And then before you12:14 know it, you've lost your life. And so Abram springs into action. He goes into the battle. He fights. Did you see that he's got 3 18 men in his house? 3 18 men in his house. Do you know what that makes Abram?12:29 Rich. He's very rich. I don't got 3 18 men in my house. Anybody got 3 18 men? This guy's phenomenally rich. Riches are not12:41 evil. Rich people are not automatically evil. Neither are poor people automatically virtuous.12:53 Am I preaching to anybody this morning? Scripture says in Leviticus, do not bend justice for the rich or the poor. And so Abram springs into action, he's got 313:05 18 men, and he springs into action and he fights the battle and he wins and he brings back all the possessions. He brings back all of Lot's possessions. Moreover, he brings back all of Sodom's13:16 possessions. And Sodom at this point was a wicked city. It says it in Genesis 13. A wicked, rebellious city toward God. But Abram has a heart for his crazy nephew, he goes and he saves and13:28 brings him back. He's won a battle, and he's got the blessing. But here's the deal about it. After the battle physically comes the battle spiritually.13:40 And I don't know if you saw what I saw, but it was meant by 2 kings. 2 kings come and see Abram on the heels of his great blessing. Look with me at verse 19. It says this in En Melchizedek. That's the first 1. He blessed13:52 him. He blessed him and said blessed be Abram by God most high possessor of heaven and earth and blessed be God most high. Look at that next line. Who has what? Who has delivered your14:03 enemies into your hand. And what's but what Melchizedek is telling Abram is, listen Abram, you won but God did it. Blessed be God and blessed be Abram14:15 because God has given Abram's enemies into Abram's hand. And Abram responds by giving him the tithe. The tithe starts with Abram. People say the tithe is the law.14:26 No. The tithe starts 500 years before the law with a guy named Abram. Abram commenced the tithe. His grandson Jacob, 2 generations later continued the tithe. Said, if you're gonna bless me, gonna give you a14:38 tenth of everything. That's in Genesis 28. Moses shows up 500 years later and then he commands the tithe in the law. And then Jesus shows up hundreds of years later, 2000 years later almost, and he commends the14:50 tithe in Matthew 23 23 saying to the Pharisees, you've got a problem because you tithe, but you don't care about people. He says, I want you to care about people and tithe. That's Matthew 23 23. So Abram commenced15:02 the tithe. Jacob continued the tithe. Moses commanded the tithe. Jesus commended the tithe. Who am I to cancel the tithe? And so Abram gives him a tithe because he is15:14 acknowledging. This is what he's doing. He's acknowledging, you're right, Melchizedek. I got this blessing, but I got it because God gave it to me. And then15:26 shortly after Melchizedek arrives, another king arrives, the king of Sodom, verse 21. And the king of Sodom comes to Abram with a deal. He says, you just give me the persons. I just look at what Sodom wants. He wants15:38 the what? The people. What did we talk about last week? That the enemy wants you. The government wants you. The government wants to control you. The government wants to own you.15:49 The government wants you dependent because a good dependent population is a controllable population. And you've got to remind yourself of this continually lest you fall into the lies of the enemy. Give me the persons but16:01 take the I'll pay you for the people. That's the enemy's strategy since the Garden of Eden. I'll give you what you want as long as I can have you. This is the spiritual battle for finances in our lives. And16:13 we've gotta break free from it. We've got to break free from it because they always lie and they always deceive. Our president promised our poor, highly indebted young people who've got student loans16:25 through up the mountaintops today that if you vote for them, you're going to get through student loan forgiveness. And then 2 days after the election, hello, lawsuit was16:37 brought. This judge stopped the whole program. Millennials and Gen Z, welcome to American democracy. They promise what they never provide. And I hope you're listening and16:49 learning. Learn quick because it's going to happen to you over and over and over again. But you've got to put your trust not in the government and not in the people and not in the kings of this age. You've got to put16:58 your trust in the God who made you and can bless you. Here's what Abram though is gonna experience, and here's what he experienced, here's what we're all gonna experience. He comes out of the battle, he's got the17:10 blessing, and 2 kings meet him. The king of Salem, the king of peace. Salem means peace. Ancient city of Salem might have been Jerusalem. Melchizedek means king of righteousness.17:21 Melchizedek is a pitcher. It's a pitcher of Christ. Christ is the king of peace. Christ is the king of righteousness. And he comes and he offers bread and wine and he blesses Abram. And then Sodom, the king of Sodom. So17:31 2 kings meet the guy on the heels of the blessing. Here's where I'm getting. I want you to write this down. The question in every blessing is this, who has made me rich?17:42 Every time you get a blessing you've got to answer this question. Where did this come from? You say well I'm not rich. Yes you are. If you are in17:53 America you are rich. The people in Guatemala watching us right now you should see how they live compared to us. You should see how Peru lives compared to us.18:05 Dirt floors, sleeping on a cot with maybe 1 sheet. And they are happy about it. My wife and I were in Soweto, South Africa where18:17 apartheid literally started to break. We were in the middle of that neighborhood filled with children who have hardly anything. And they come running out to the to the people as they come into the city smiles on their18:28 faces. They don't got they don't got Xbox. They don't got PlayStation. They just got smiles. Remember that when you enter into the Christmas shopping season parents. And what you have to understand is18:40 that you are rich if you're an American. If you are an American you're in a top 8 percent of the richest people in the world just by being an American. So America, gotta Who has made you rich? She18:52 said, well I really worked hard pastor. I went to school, I put myself through school, I worked extra hours, I did. Yes, but somebody gave you that opportunity. Back up the truck. Well, yes, they helped me out. And,19:03 yeah, I got the opportunity. Yes, I applied and they accepted me. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. But back up the truck even further. Somebody fed you when you were a baby. Somebody produced your goods so that you could survive long19:14 enough to get to that education, to get to that opportunity. Oh, and by the way, somebody's providing you with oxygen right now. There's no such thing as a self made person. No such thing.19:25 You are not the result of your efforts. In many cases, you're the result of a bunch of blessings. Some luck, some happenstance, some happy accidents, and19:37 a bunch of your talent or a bunch of your ability as well. That was put in you by others who came before you. And if you back all the way up to the beginning, it all comes from God. And when God was telling the people of19:49 Israel to enter into Israel into the promised land, he told them in Genesis in Deuteronomy chapter 18, he said, you shall remember that it's the Lord your God who gives you the ability to claim to accrue to accrue20:00 wealth. It's not your own doing. Is not your own hand. God is the 1 who makes me who I am. And don't ever forget it or you'll fall into the straps of this age and fall into the lies of this enemy.20:12 This is what you've got to remember. This is what you're going to be asked. Every time you get paid, you get blessed. Every time you get a paycheck, you take a test. And the test is20:24 the first question on the test is, where did this come from? And the answer's got to be gone. If you want to have your heart right about money, the truth, it all comes from him.20:36 And I love when Abram is presented with this moment between the king of Salem and the king of Sodom that he speaks to the king of Sodom on his offer. Did you hear what he said when the king of Sodom said, just give me20:47 the people. I just want here here's the stuff. Here. I'll bless you some more, Abram. I'll give you more stuff. Just give me the people. I love what Abram says in verse 22. But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I've20:57 lifted my hand. Oh, I love that. I've lifted my hand to the Lord, the God Most High. Look at what he just says there, possessor of I know21:09 who owns everything. And I lifted my hand to him in a vow and I said I will never ever profit profit and prosper on the heels of this age21:21 because I know in who I believe and I know he holds me in his hand. I know he's got all the things in his hand and he's my source, not you. Some you gotta tell that to yourself right now. Some of21:33 you gotta tell that to your spouse right now. Some of you gotta tell that to your mom or daddy or your child right now. You're say, God is our source, not this world. God is in charge, not my customers. God is21:45 in charge, not my competition and not my government. God holds the world in the palm of his hand, and he's got me there too. That's what I gotta do. I gotta settle this in my heart. So I wanna talk to you about21:57 passing the testing of blessing. Number 1, 3 points, we're done. But then 0.2 has 3 points under that. So what's that? 6 points? Good. Alright, there we go. I must decide first that God is first.22:10 I must And the 2 firsts are on purpose. Okay? I must decide first that God is first. In other words, you have to pre decide this before the blessing22:22 comes. That's what Abram does, doesn't he? He says, I've lifted my hand. Here's the opportunity to get rich on Sodom, Abram, just like your nephew Lot did. Nope. Stop. Already made a decision about that.22:35 I already made a decision before you came with the offer that you're not my source, and I'm not gonna let you do this. Are you telling me, Pastor, that I should reject getting paid? No, no,22:47 no, no. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is you gotta make a decision that ultimately the Lord is the 1 who provides. He might use the paycheck to do it, but that's just22:59 a means to his ultimate ends. And every time we get paid and blessed, we gotta tell him, God, I know this comes from you. I've lifted my hand to the Lord. I've made23:11 a decision before. I'm not gonna let this world shape me by promising me the good life. I'm not gonna let my progeny, the people that came23:22 before me or after me, shape how I handle what God gives me. I love this. And then when Melchizedek comes and says, blessed be God Abram, and blessed blessed be you Abram, and blessed be23:34 the God who did this for you, the immediate response of Abram is what? Verse 20, and Abram gave him a tenth of everything. That's the tithe. He said, okay, this is to you, God. I'm recognizing that this and that's how23:46 we tell our hearts that it comes from God. This is yours, Lord. This is not from the world, this is yours. Now Melchizedek is a picture,23:58 and Hebrews chapter 7 talks about this. He's a picture of Christ. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 2 says, He, Melchizedek, is first by translation of his name, king of righteousness, that's what Melchizedek means, king of Salem,24:08 that means king of peace. And then verse 3 says he is without father or mother or genealogy. He has neither beginning of days nor end of life but resembling the son of God. What does a what does Hebrews24:20 say? He says listen, this is what Melchizedek is. He's a picture of Christ. Christ showed up in front of Abram, and Christ got Abram's tenth, and Christ blessed Abram. And Abram acknowledged that only24:32 because of the blessing of Christ could he have what he had. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 7 says this, it's in dis it's without dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. Here's what we do when we tithe. We24:44 tell God, you are the superior 1 in my life. You are more important than my paycheck. You are more important than24:55 the stock market. You are more important than bitcoin. You are more important than what I think is gonna no. God, you are superior25:07 in my life. What are you telling with your finances is superior? Now I've met 2 kinds of people concerning the tithe, 2. In every mode of25:19 my life, there's only been 2 people I've met, the people who can tithe and the people who don't think they can tithe. And it's always the people who can tithe who realize that it is far easier than they originally25:29 anticipated to tithe. Because here's what they know about the tithe, it's in the scriptures. Are you ready for it? Write this down. The tithe is a test. You're like, I hate tests.25:41 It's not a test for you. It's a test for God. It's a test for God. And actually, God tells us to test him in it. Look what it says in Malachi chapter 3.25:53 And I know some of you love this verse. Bring the full tithe. Tithe means tenth. That's what the Hebrew means. Hebrew means. It meant tenth. Into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. And thereby26:05 God says, put me what? Test. Just circle test there. God's like, I challenge you to challenge me. You're like, doesn't Jesus26:17 say that we should not put the Lord our God to the test? Yes, except for when he tells us to do it. If he tells you to do it, you got an exception to26:29 the rule. Test me and see if I will not, look at this, throw open the windows of heaven and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. This is the best thing about God. He can open26:40 doors in heaven when doors on earth are closed. Oh, that was a good preacher right there, pastor. Amen. He can open doors you can't open. He can open26:52 windows you don't know that exist. He can open financial windfalls that are waiting for you to put him first. And here's the next verse, and I love the next27:04 verse. And I will rebuke the devourer for you. Inflation is a devourer. I was amused this week when the news came out that27:16 inflation was only 7.7 percent. And everybody's like, great news, winning. Yes, that just means prices are still going way up, they're just not27:27 going as high up as they were last month. So yeah, I guess if you want to call that winning, it's a devourer and is teaching our society27:40 to stress about money because they think money is their source. And God says, here's what you do. You put me first, and you teach your heart that I'm first.27:53 And I will make sure that that inflation number doesn't affect you. I'll rebuke it for you. I don't know about you, but I want God's rebuke over my enemies. I don't know about you, but I want that. I'll rebuke the28:03 devourers that it won't destroy your soil, it won't destroy your field, it won't destroy your vine. I'll do that, you put me first. Test me in this. Proverbs three:nine. And I love the fact that people say, well, that's28:14 Old Testament, that's Malachi. Okay, let's go to Proverbs 3. You know Proverbs three:five and 6? Everybody loves Proverbs three:five and 6. Love it. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own sinning.28:22 In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. Oh, I love that promise. That's on my coffee cup. Hallelujah. 4 verses later, here's where the rubber hits the road with trust in the Lord with all your28:34 heart. Honor the Lord with your wealth. Oh, don't know about that 1 on my coffee cup. With the first fruits, first fruits of your produce, then all your vines28:45 vats will be filled with wine. Okay. So here's what you do. You do the tithe first. When I get paid, the very first thing out of my paycheck is the tithe, 10 percent.28:57 10 percent, right back to this church. I'm not asking you to do anything I don't do. And I've seen God bless me more than I deserve as a result. I've just done it. It's like automatic too. I've put it in my29:10 online banking so it just happens. Because I know that if I have to make that decision every week I'll have to wrestle in my heart, and if I have a low week financially I'll have to do a little argument with head. Like,29:20 I don't know if I can trust God this week because I'm on Hosanna. I got lot of things coming up. No, no, no. It's already done. It's done. It's happening. It's set. It's not forgotten because it's a lot. But it's set.29:31 And it goes first. And then and we're going to get to this next week I save next. And I save 10 percent. We save, our family saves 10 percent. So here's how we do it. Give,29:43 save, live. And we'll talk about that next week. But anyway, 10 percent first to God. It just happens. And some of you don't do it first, and that's why you don't think you can do it because here's what you do. First you29:53 say, Well, Lord, I will tithe after all my bills are paid. I gonna pay my mortgage bill and my electric bill and my phone bill, and I gotta buy my kid the Xbox game. Gotta do all that kind of blah, blah, blah. Let30:05 me just tell you something. Your mortgage company can't bless you. Why do you put it first? Your electric company cannot bless you. Why do you put them first? Your kids30:17 cannot bless you, at least for the first 45 years of their life. I don't know if maybe some of you have a testimony you could come up and tell us that this actually turns around in your favor. But anyway,30:31 it's amazing how we put the things that stress us before the thing that blesses us. Oh, that was good preaching right there. It's amazing how we put the things that stress us30:43 before the person who can bless us. That's how I should have said it. Don't put your stresses before your blesser. And you gotta learn how to do this. He's gotta come first. Otherwise, the Proverb would say, honor the30:54 Lord with your wealth when you get around to it. It doesn't say that. With the first fruits. In the Old Testament law, first born flock comes to me. The Bible says that God looked on Adam, I'm sorry, Abel31:06 with favor on his offering and did not regard Cain's offering. And I'm always amazed at people who get baffled by that. Why did God look a favor on Abel's offering but not Cain's offering? Well, it's in the text.31:18 It's right. It says that Abel brought the firstborn of his flocks to God. And then it goes on and it says, and in the course of time, Cain brought some of the produce of his field. In31:30 in in the course of time, what could be translated, when Cain got around to it, he gave God some leftovers. How do you how do you give the 1 who gave you everything the leftovers of your life? And listen31:42 to me very carefully, it's not like God needs it. You gotta get that through your head too. And Waters Church doesn't need it. You need to do it. Waters Church is well provided for, we are good. Could be a little bit31:53 better but we're good. We just thought as a church we're broke right now, that's how it works. We stretch ourselves out financially, God blesses that church and and then it comes back. But what I'm trying to tell you is32:04 that this is not about raising money for the church, this is about a issue of your heart to put God first financially because here's what I want you to write down. When we honor God financially, we tell ourselves and32:14 this world God is superior. You are my blesser. You come before my stressors. Point number 2, I must determine that life with God32:26 is better than more. Life with God is better than more. This world teaches you constantly, you gotta get more, you gotta get more, you gotta get more.32:38 And you gotta have more because if you have more you'll have more life. That's not true. Like I told you about the kids in Soweto, South Africa. They don't They don't worry and stress. They have smiles32:50 here to here. You go down to Guatemala. Go on 1 of our missions trips and meet those kids. And you give them a candy, it's like they just won the lottery. And here's what history teaches Americans better than33:02 any other country. Getting more oftentimes makes people more miserable. Not all the time, but many times. And I believe you can only handle more when you trust33:14 that God is the 1 that's the source of it all. I do. So 3 differences between Sodom and Melchizedek. The king of Sodom and Melchizedek is a picture of what the devil offers, what the world offers, what God offers. Letter33:25 a. God brings simplicity. The world offers complicated luxury. How many of you know this from experience that when you get more, life gets more complicated? I always get a kick out of people who say, well, when I win a33:37 lottery, pastor, the first thing I'm gonna do is give the church 10 percent. No. You won't. Mm-mm. No, you won't. Stop saying that. Stop lying. Because you will do with more what you're currently doing with less. Money33:49 does not change you. It just it just amplifies who you already are. That's all it does. A couple about a decade ago, this this area, Florida34:01 pay this area of Massachusetts, right where we are down the street, this area was shocked and horrified because a New England Patriots player shot someone to death.34:25 How on earth can somebody with such a great life do that kind of thing? It's not the money. It's who you are with little is who you are with a lot. So get34:37 this right in your heart now So that when God blesses you with a lot, you're not changed, you're just generous and blessed and exalting the name of Jesus through your life.34:49 That's what you gotta do. And when you think about, I win when I win the lottery, when you win the lottery, your second cousin twice removed is gonna call you up and ask you for money. And then another one's gonna come35:01 tomorrow. And then another one's gonna come tomorrow. Before you know it, you're swallowed up and all of this complication that wasn't there before you got the money. So put God first now to tell him you're first35:12 God. You are my source before anything else. What does Melchizedek bring? He brings out bread and wine, simplicity. Bread and wine is a pitcher of something we should all know. What is that? The pitcher35:24 of communion. The pitcher the Lord's We'll get to that in just a moment. The king of Sodom offers up this beautiful picture of the good life, but it ends up in captivity. That's what Lot saw. Genesis chapter35:36 13 verse 10. He lifted up his eyes. He saw the Jordan Valley. Well watered. It looked like the good life, and he chased it, and he got caught in it, and he got enslaved by it. And Abraham had to come and save him. Letter35:48 b, God brings intimacy. The world offers isolation through increase. 1 of the things they don't tell you is that the more you make, the more lonely you feel. The higher you climb, the more isolated you are. It's very35:59 lonely at the top. We all hear those stories. We all hear those lines, but they're true. The enemy loves to isolate. That's actually his main game. And if he can isolate you through increase, he'll do it. So that36:11 you're all alone, you're fighting your own battles, and you're fighting your own demons, and you have nobody to talk to or nobody to relate to because you all you have to now you have to now filter every relationship in36:19 your life through the lens of, do these people only love me because of my money, or do they really care about me? It's very isolating. You've gotta put God first because he brings36:31 intimacy. That's what God wants with you. And that's why the scripture says that he brought out bread and wine. Verse 18 again. He brought out bread and wine. The king of Sodom said, take the goods. But God's king brings36:41 bread and wine. Simplicity and intimacy. And the bread and wine is a picture of communion. When Jesus shows up at the last supper with the disciples, what does he say in Luke chapter 22 verse 15? He says, I've eagerly36:52 desired to eat this Passover with you before I start. I wanna be with you. Jesus is on the on the heels, on the on the on the threshold of the cross and suffering and being whipped and being his having his beard pulled37:03 out and a crown of thorns shoved in his skull. And he's on the threshold of all that, and he tells his disciples, I wanna be with you. This is how I live. This is what really matters to me. I wanna do life with you guys.37:16 Ladies and gentlemen, that's what God wants for every single 1 of you. He wants to do life with you. Some of you are on the threshold of suffering yourself. You gotta put God first so that he's there when you go through37:26 it. You gotta put God first so that in your mind you set him up. He is Lord. He is source. He is provider. Not these things of the world. Letter c, God brings eternity. The world offers what's temporary.37:38 Where did Lot go? He went to Sodom in Genesis chapter 14. By the way, you want to hear the real kicker? This is astounding to me.37:51 Abram goes into Sodom. He fights the battle. He defeats the enemy of Sodom. He rescues Lot from Sodom. And afterwards,38:03 Lot goes back to Sodom. Because you just got to fast forward back into Genesis chapter 18, and there he is again. And he's at the gates of Sodom when the38:15 angels come to destroy the city. Went right back to it. Man, the pull of the world is strong. Even when we get saved and pulled out of it, we just kind of wander right back into it, don't we?38:26 This is the stronghold that we're dealing with in our American age right now, in our age of promise and prosperity. This is the stronghold. And it's all, listen to me very carefully, temporary.38:38 There's another place in the Bible where it talks about Melchizedek in Psalm 100 ten:four. And it's a royal psalm. It means that this psalm is talking about Jesus. And the way that this psalm decides to tell us about38:48 Jesus is by referencing Melchizedek. And it says this in verse 4, you the Lord has sworn forever. You are a priest forever after the order of who? Melchizedek, the Lord is at your39:00 right hand. Now this is talking about Jesus. The Lord is at your right hand. He will shatter kings on the day of his he will shatter who? He will shatter who? Kings. He'llShow more
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Guest Message - Pastor Geyser Pastor Tim Hatch
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