• Wrapped up our 3 week series on generosity entitled, “Genome.” What a thrill to see literally hundreds take the challenge issued by God in Malachi 3. I’m even more pumped realizing how this thing will end for all of them—God is always faithful!
• How bizarre it is that so many “Christians” ignore a valid challenge from the Lord and take one He never offered instead? The one He offered is found in Malachi 3:10, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” But the one literally millions of American evangelicals take is found in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” No challenge here—just the simple facts. Jesus is actually warning us in this text. But what do a lot of us end up doing? Spending our lives trying to prove Him wrong! We try to remodel the throne of our hearts to accommodate two instead of one. We invite Jesus into our heart to be our Savior but inform Him by our lifestyle that He’ll never be Lord and King. We tell Him in no uncertain terms by the choices we make that He’ll have to room and board with money on that throne originally built for one. Jesus says it’s impossible but millions spend their lives desperately trying to see if they can make it work—two gods. I wonder how many realize near the end of their days that they spent their entire lives serving one after all?—the wrong one.
• Really excited about the next two weeks—we return to teaching through a book of the Bible—one I have been stunned to see so many preachers avoid like the plague. It’s a short little deal—so that can’t be the reason. It’s in the New Testament—usually the first choice of 99 out of 100 preachers, so that ain’t it either. But for some reason, there’s next to nothing out there on the book of Jude. I find that especially bizarre in light of the fact that Jude was Jesus’ half brother—we should be clambering to read what the half brother of Jesus had to say! But NOPE—no clambering—just an eerie silence. And guess what? I think I know why. So join us over the next 2 weeks as we begin the mini-series through the one chapter book of Jude entitled, “Hey, Jude.”
• Hey Southbrook? Have I told you lately that I love you? I do! I really do! Have a great one!

Matthew 6:19, says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither mom nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

It is profoundly important and fascinating to me that Jesus didn’t say this the other way around. In other words, “where your heart is, there your treasure will be.” Instead, he said, “put your treasure in heaven, and your heart will inevitably and allow.”

I’ve talked to scores of people who tell me they wish they could have the heart spiritual greats have for the Lord. Some even seem fearful that they just don’t have enough love in their heart to begin with—that they weren’t wired that way, “why don’t I love Jesus like I’m supposed to do?” They say. It could be (doesn’t have to be but could be)—that they do not know anything about the practice of,  “heart manipulation.” Now I’m not a big fan of manipulation in general, usually it’s wrong—but our heart is a stubborn thing—therefore if we can redirect it toward the right things, I’m all for it.

Typically, that is not the direction of most people’s hearts. Look at what God said about the condition of the human heart in Jeremiah 17:9,

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”

Sounds kinda hopeless, doesn’t it?

With man it is—but nothing is impossible with God. He says our hearts can be redirected toward good and godly pursuits. We just need to do a little heart manipulation—and the kind He describes is as effective as defibrillation for some people. It’s shocking at first, but eventually, your heart starts beating in a new rhythm for the things of Christ rather than the things of this world.

Why not give it a try?

If your dissatisfied, disillusioned and discouraged with the dead end roads our culture takes us down toward happiness, then redirect. Turn your heart in a new direction by laying up treasures in an entirely different place—heaven.

I know of no other way to save a dying heart.

This is a marathon series, not a sprint. For parts 1 and 2 click the following links (Part 1 … Part 2)

And now, the most common reason people raise the topic of being “under grace and not law…”

To get out of tithing.

Friends, I promise you there are a gazillion great reasons for living under grace rather than bondage to the Law, but the above is not one of them.

Once again, let’s take a look at Matthew 5:17-18,

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

Since we know now that Jesus did not ever claim to be abolishing the law (quite the opposite in fact) we now need to ask what He meant by, “fulfilling the law.” How was the law not fulfilled before Christ?

Or, to put it another way, How was it not ‘accomplished?’ How was it not ‘complete?’ How was it not ‘established?’

It was none of these things because it was entirely temporal in nature. That’s right, the law was never meant to be the end all, beat all, show-stopper of Christianity. It couldn’t be. Why? Because every sacrifice offered for sin before Christ (no matter how close to perfect it seemed) was imperfect because of the Fall—because of the sin disease. So these temporary, imperfect sacrifices could do no more than point the way to the perfect lamb who would one day come, live a completely sinless life, and pay the sin price once for all with His shed blood on the cross. This is why we no longer need to offer sacrifices to God of lambs and goats and rams or anything else for that matter. It’s done, over, accomplished. Didn’t Jesus say this on the cross?

“IT IS FINISHED!”

But what about the law? Does this mean that it should be abolished as well?

No. Jesus already said it would not be—it would be fulfilled, but not abolished. The purpose of the sacrificial system was completely fulfilled on the cross at Calvary, but the purpose of the law (to point people to Christ) will not be completely fulfilled until everyone who the Holy Spirit points to Jesus is saved and we see Jesus face to face.

Now listen very carefully at this point because here is where I may lose some of you. You can’t be saved through the law (you never could) but the law still points out the fact that we are sinners in need of a savior. It’s just that we do not respond to the conviction of the law by going out and purchasing a nice, plump little lamb and burning it on a make shift altar in our garage. No, we respond to the conviction the law brings by accepting the once for all sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. People in the Old Testament were saved by faith in God for what He would one day do. People in Jesus’ day were saved by faith in the present Lord and what He was doing. Today we are saved by faith in the finished work of Christ. No matter what point in history you lived there is still (as Luke said in Acts 4:12) only salvation through Christ—“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Ok, pastor Rob, I get that, but what about those pesky “seemingly contradictory” passages you alluded to earlier? Passages like Ephesians 2:15-18, where it seems like Paul is saying the opposite of what Jesus is saying? Or Hebrews 7:18-19? Quickly, I’ll address each of these…

First, the passage in Ephesians. Here it is,

“¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵ by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶ and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷ And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”

 The scope of Jesus’ work as our “peace” is detailed here.

First is the work of union which is bringing together both Jews and Gentiles–that is, “believing” Jews and Gentiles. They are no longer Jews or Gentiles, but Christians. Strictly speaking, it is not accurate even to speak of them as Jewish Christians or Gentile Christians. All fleshly distinctions, such as nationality, were nailed to the cross.

The second phase of Christ’s work for our peace might be called, “demolition:”

“He has broken down the dividing (middle) wall of separation…”

This speaks not of a literal wall, but of an invisible barrier set up by the Mosaic Law of the commandments contained in the ordinances which separated the people of Israel from the nations around them. This is talked about in the Believer’s Commentary as follows,

“The non-literal wall that spiritually separated the Jews from the pagan nations around them if often illustrated the literal wall which restricted non-Jews to the Court of the Gentiles in the Temple area. On the wall were no Trespassing signs which read: “Let no one of any other nation come within the fence and barrier around the Holy place. Whoever is caught doing so will himself be responsible for the fact that his death will ensue.”

Umm, ouch.

Pretty strict, eh?

The third aspect of Christ’s work was the abolition of the enmity that smoldered between Jew and Gentile and also between man and God. That is what’s being abolished–not the law. Paul identifies the law as the “innocent cause of the enmity, that is, the law of the commandments contained in the ordinances. The law of Moses was a single legislative code; yet it was made up of separate, formal commandments; these in turn consisted of dogmas or decrees covering many, if not most, areas of life. The law itself was just, holy, and good (Romans 7:12), but man’s sinful nature used the law as an occasion for hatred. Because the law actually did set up Israel as God’s chosen earthy people, many Jews became arrogant and treated Gentiles with contempt. In return, as one can imagine, the Gentiles weren’t the Jews biggest fans either.

Jesus died to pay the penalty for all law that has been broken by anyone at any time. Thus, He completely satisfied the righteous claims of the Father. Now approaching God via a strict adherence to the rule book (the Law) would be foolish (and useless). The law was a GPS instrument meant to point the way to Jesus. It was a runner in a relay meant to hand it off to the final runner–Jesus–who took the baton and ran the final lap. In this sense, it is correct to say that believers are no longer under the law but under grace.. However, this does not mean that they can live as they please; it means they are now enlawed to Christ, and should live as He pleases.

And Hebrews 7:18-19?

“¹⁸ For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness ¹⁹ (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.”

This one’s easier. Simple really. Again, this passage isn’t talking about “abolishing” the law in the sense that we are trashing the 10 commandments or something. It’s talking about the ultimate upgrade–from “something” that merely pointed out the problem of sin to “someone” who provided the solution! In coming to fulfill the law, Jesus would no longer point out our flaws and ask us to clean up our act–He would now “take all our flaws (sin)” upon Himself and deal with them once for all time.

The law couldn’t do this–it was inadequate. Jesus can and did–He’s more than adequate! But listen, again, that doesn’t mean the law was evil and needed to be abolished. It did it’s job.

Think of it like using a “Pointer Dog” on a  hunt. These dogs will literally ‘strike a pose’ (Not like Madonna–but you get the point) that resembles pointing. Follow the direction they seem to be pointing and you (the hunter) will locate your prey and can shoot it (sorry PETA readers). The dog was therefore, ‘useful’ in pointing you in the right direction, but your furry little companion is not going to kill the pheasant for you. So, since he can’t ‘complete the job’ does this make your little four legged friend bad? Should you ‘abolish’ him?

Of course not.

Listen, I know it’s not the perfect illustration, but hopefully your beginning to see where all this is headed. Living under Grace raises the bar, it doesn’t lower it. And it certainly doesn’t abolish it altogether.

Now, back to the tithe…

Look at Luke 11:42-43,

“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens,^[a] but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.”

Jesus here, indicted the Pharisees for the very thing they were so good at: majoring on the minors, concentrating on external details while ignoring that which was essential and eternal. It was not their tithing that was wrong, but their failure to love. In fact, if it were the tithing Jesus was getting at, then He would never have added, “…You should tithe, yes,…” Again, if tithing were wrong Jesus would not have said the opposite! Again, tithing was not even the issue here—it was, once again, a “matter of the heart.”

Listen, “If one truly loves. Tithing will follow, for while it is possible to give without loving, it is not possible to love without giving!”

To wrap up, here is what is meant by “fulfilling the law.” In fulfilling the law Jesus is saying that mere ‘shadow things’ are now revealed in all their fullness by the ‘shadow castor’ God (Jesus). Now both sin and good works move from the written tablet to being written upon our hearts. Here are some examples…

Examples of  both Sin and doing good—Old Testament (Law)

1. You shall not commit adultery.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself
3. Do not kill (commit murder)

Same Examples—New Testament (Grace)

1. To even look at a women lustfully is to commit adultery already in your heart (Matthew 5:28)
2. It’s not enough to love your neighbor. You should also love your enemies! (Matthew 5:43-44)
3. To even hate your brother is as bad as murder (1 John 3:15)

Question? What’s tougher, the law or grace?

Seems like grace after reading the above! But, if that’s all we glean from this then we’ve missed the point. Jesus certainly wasn’t trying to set up even higher hurdles to jump in the New Testament then we see in the Old Testament. No, what He was doing was clearly establishing the truth that we are all sinners whether we do bad things, think bad things, dream bad things or even try our hardest to do good things. That’s because we are born sinners! All of us. Every single one.

With one exception.

Jesus Christ.

But this still leaves unanswered the mystery of what Jesus meant by fulfilling the law.

He meant no more shadows, no more alluding, no more pointing, no more temporary fixes and no more outward conformity. He’s after the heart. The apostle Paul named the law a “school master that pointed out our sin and drove us to Jesus.” It is Christ alone who can transform us into sons and daughters who do good out of love for Him rather than by following a rule book. This is why Jesus said that the most important, most pivotal commandment of them all was the commandment to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul!” Why is it the most important? Because it’s a “matter of the heart.” And out of love in our hearts for Christ (from His Holy Spirit living inside us) comes the power to live righteously before Him–a power no rule book is capable of giving.

To those, therefore, who protest that the concept of tithing being prescribed in the law is no longer relevant to those who live under grace, I point out the following: Tithing is seen prior to the law when Abraham tithes to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:20). Tithing was commended by Jesus when He told the Pharisees that, although they should remember justice and mercy, they should not cease to tithe (Luke 11:42). Tithing was taught by the apostle Paul when he told the Corinthians to give according to how, God had prospered them (1 Corinthians 16:2)—which the early church took to mean tithing, as is seen in the writings of Jerome and Chrysostom. Tithing precedes the law, is spoken of by the Lord, and is seen in the Epistles. Therefore, to say tithing is not applicable in this day and age, I believe, a failure to understand the full council of scripture and church history. And what is the result of this failure?

Malachi 3:9 says, “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.”

Whoa Pastor Rob! Now hold on a minute. A curse? What curse?

Haggai 1:9 says, “You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses.”

We bring home our paychecks. Where does it go? The Lord says, “I blew it all away! It’s cursed because you’ve robbed Me. What could have been, what I shaped you for, created you for, longed to see in you can’t be blessed because the blessing has been removed.”

Back to Malachi 3 (verse 10)

“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”

This is the only place in all of scripture where God says, “Prove Me!” And if we do, according to Jon Courson (one of the best theologians ever and one of my favorites—if you haven’t guessed by now) we’ll see at least 3 things happen…

1. Reward – The Lord will open the windows of heaven and bless us in ways we can’t possibly imagine (BTW, you might miss His blessing if all you’re looking for [and all you are willing to accept] is financial blessings).
2. Rebuke – Satan is a destroyer, a murderer, a deceiver, a liar. If you can recall times when you have robbed God and things started happening—refrigerators burned out, cars broke down, friends betrayed you—and you wondered what was going on, it could be that you removed yourself from the promise of covering; that you made yourself vulnerable to the devouring of the enemy.
3. Revival – When we tithe, fruitfulness will reign in our lives once again to such a degree that even those around us will notice it.

• So excited to see so many people “getting it” when it comes to being more generous! People are sending in their stories over and over again—finding out that God is faithful!
• So proud of the staff team we have @Southbrook Church! They are among the most sacrificial givers in the entire church!
• “Money will buy a bed but not sleep, books but not brains, food but not appetite, finery but not beauty, medicine but not health, luxury but not culture, amusement but not happiness, a crucifix but not a Savior, a temple of religion but not heaven.” –Anonymous   Don’t know who said this (obviously) but it’s powerful, huh?
• I’m praying for my Southbrook church family! Whenever a church teaches a series on giving and biblical stewardship—it can stir up a whole host of feelings—but I want so much for everyone to experience the goodness of God! He wants to bestow blessings on His children but we’ve got to trust Him.
• Tuesday night is the first meeting for the 2012 Mighty Men! Pray for the 29 men who are desiring to take their Christian walk to the next level! I have a feeling God is going to do great things through this group!
• My little girl will be 13 years old tomorrow. A house full of teenagers! One word….AAAaaaaauuuuggghhhh!!!
• On a serious note…My little girl is growing up. It’s a happy/sad experience. She’s my little princess and each year brings her closer to the possibility of leaving home to start a family of her own. Michelle and I are praying now that she will find a godly man who loves the Lord even more than she does—and even more than he loves her. If that sounds odd, think of the alternative—a man who loves himself more than her! Ugh! Makes me want to clean my shotgun every time a boy comes anywhere near her!
• Here it is, Superbowl Sunday—but God is doing so many awesome things in our family and the larger Southbrook family that football seems pretty small in the scheme of things. Think I’ll go spend some time with my soon 12 year old girl before she turns 13.

Just joining this discussion? Then click here to catch up.

With me now? Good. Then you know that we left off yesterday’s discussion with the cryptic (to some) statement about the law that Jesus made in Matthew 5:17-18 when He said,

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” This is one of the most misquoted scriptures in all the Bible, but even when people do get it right, they often don’t understand it correctly”

Friends? It is absolutely vital that we understand not only exactly what Jesus was saying here, but also exactly what He was not saying.

What’s another way of putting this?

Commentator Jon Courson says the following,

“When it comes to Jesus’ statement, “I have not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it, what He’s saying is, “I am not seeking to weaken it, but to establish it.”

The age old barrier to mankind being reconciled with God is not our only sin—another one is our inability to think of ourselves as ‘sinners.’ People think, “Well, I’m a pretty good person.” But the law says, “Oh really? Well here’s your standard.” And suddenly, as they read through the law, they realize they’re sinners in need of a savior. At least we hope they realize this. Some read through the law and are only inspired to try harder to be good—an exercise in futility if ever there was one. Many of those at Southbrook Church have heard me say this before, but it’s worth saying again.

“God’s not after our behavior, He’s after our heart!”

That’s right, it’s always been a “matter of the heart.” From Old Testament times to New Testament times to modern times—and it’s still a matter of the heart for God.

So, it’s not that the law is abolished and we can all cast off restraint and do anything and everything we want—nor is it the opposite, that by fulfilling the law Jesus meant to just add more laws. It’s neither. It’s about our motivation for doing good things and not doing bad things.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter where we live, where we go to school, what job we have, who our family is—anywhere we are and everything we do can either be “as unto the Lord,” or it can be, “as unto ourselves.”

For example, I can workout at the YMCA (and do – Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed!) and it can be an act of worship if I say, “Lord, I thank You for the fact that I can exercise. Help me to somehow reflect you even as I go through my routine workout. May this be a time where I actually encourage others around me and really be thankful to you form the heart!”

You are in the Holy of Holies at that time, even though there isn’t a worship team or pew or pulpit in sight (unless I’m doing preacher curls – sorry, that was weak). Does this mean you should never read your Bible, or pray, or tithe, or go to church? Of course not. It means, however, that our motivation for doing these things changes. Instead of feeling responsible to demonstrate your level of spirituality, you realize the work has already been done, the price paid, the victory won—and study of the Word, prayer, tithing, fasting, serving one another, and any number of other spiritual disciplines changes from one of responsibility to one of response.

I love the example theologian and pastor Jon Courson shared on this,

“When my wife gives me a Valentine, I don’t say, “I better read this. In fact, I’ll have to discipline [myself to set aside some time each day] to do it. I’ll begin carving out time tomorrow. Hope I can stay awake. Hope she’s impressed that I read it.” That’s crazy! And yet we take the Valentine of God’s Word—His love letter to us—and say, “Well I better discipline myself. Hope I can stay awake. Where should I start?” When you’re in love with someone, you want to know what she’s saying, what he’s thinking, what they’re feeling. You want to know her mind; you want to hear his heart”

Why do I study the Bible? Because I am so impressed with the Father that I want to know more about Him!

Tomorrow I will wrap this up with the main reason I started this blog series in the first place—for those who mistakenly believe that tithing is somehow ‘wrong’ because we are “not under the law, but under grace…’

You won’t want to miss it!