Let us stand for our BIBLE DECLARATION and

follow after me with all our heart and say:

This is my BIBLE. I am what it says I am. I have

what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do.
Today, I will be taught the Word of God. I boldly
confess my mind is alert, my heart is receptive. I
will never, never, never be the same again, in Jesus
name.

Please remain standing as we open our BIBLES to

MARK 10:17-23. If you found the verses please say
AMEN. If you’re already there, let us read the verses
alternately, with me starting on verse !7…

17
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran
up to Him and fell on his knees before him.
“Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do
to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call
me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is
good – except God alone. 19 You know the
commandments: Do not murder, do not
commit adultery, do not steal, do not give
false testimony, do not defraud, honor
your father and mother.” 20 “Teacher,” he
declared, “all these I have kept since I was
a boy.” 21Jesus looked at him and loved
him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go,
sell everything you have and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s
face fell. He went away sad, because he
had great wealth. LET US READ THE LAST
VERSE TOGETHER:
 23
Jesus looked around and said to his
disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to
enter the kingdom of God!”

Let us pray. Lord, as we come before You on this

very moment, touch our ears that we may truly be able to
listen to the Words that You want to tell us. Let us see
that the true exhorter is You and not the person we see
before us, that after listening, our hearts will be convicted
to the truth – that You are such a wonderful God and that
there is no one above You in our lives! There is no other
God but You alone and that we will be able to do all things
–even the most difficult things- through Christ who gives
us strength. And that all these can be done because we
love You so much! In Jesus name, we pray, AMEN!

You may now all take your seats.

The man in the verses we have just read is a rich

young ruler (RYR) and he is saying here that he had kept
all the commandments from his youth. However, this was
not the truth as Romans 3:23 tells us “FOR ALL HAVE
SINNED AND HAVE FALLEN SHORT OF THE GLORY OF
GOD”. Why then did Jesus tell him to sell all that he had
and follow Him? Jesus was telling the RYR that he had
broken the very first commandment, “THOU SHALL HAVE
NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME (Exo. 20:3) and also the
tenth commandment “THOU SHALL NOT COVET.”
(Exo.20:17). This man’s money had become his god, as
can be seen by the fact that he chose his possessions
rather than follow Jesus.

But does Jesus really demand that we sell our

possessions before we can be His disciples? Certainly not.
Jesus did not ask Zaccheus or any other rich people in the
Bible to sell their possessions because we know that one
of the Lord’s blessings that He gave to godly people such
as ABRAHAM, JOSEPH, ISAIAH, DAVID, JACOB AND
SOLOMON- was riches! Jesus told this man to sell all his
goods and give to the poor because Jesus knew the RYR
trusted his riches more than the Lord. Jesus’ tough
answer of “SELL EVERYTHING AND GIVE TO THE POOR”
was not intended to hurt the RYR, just as what I am
saying right now is not intended to hurt us. What Jesus
said was said from a heart of love and intended for the
good of the RYR. This man’s money had become his god
and it had to be dethroned before Jesus could become his
Lord.

How then can we tell God that He is the Lord of our

lives? Just like how Jesus loved the RYR in the scriptures
we have just read, we can be obedient and return back to
Him just a small portion of the riches He has entrusted us
with through our tithes and offerings.

We then ask ourselves, what are we going to get if

we tithe? Some would say we would get more than what
we give. In fact, if you give 10%, the Lord will repay you
more than 10%. We all know the principle of sowing and
reaping - If you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly, and if
you sow generously, you will reap generously. So it says
in 2nd Corinthians 9:6. And it’s even better in the book of
Malachi. There the Bible says in Chapter 3:10

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse,

that there may be food in my house. Test me in
this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will
not throw open the floodgates of heaven and
pour out so much blessing that you will not have
room enough for it.”

How can we argue with that?

 And so our entire thoughts for tithing has always
been that God will give back more than what we give to
Him. In this sort of environment, GIVING becomes a
means to an end, and our motives become centered on
ourselves instead of the Lord. Why do we give? Because
the Lord promises to bless us as we have read in Malachi
3:10? Although this is also true –that God will truly bless
us - more and more this thinking has resulted in us
Christians looking for what God can offer us in terms of
money, material possessions, personal happiness,
advancement, and recognition.

However, the BIBLE is also very clear about the idea

of giving to the Lord. It’s comes from a heart that
worships God, not a heart that’s looking for something in
return. Why? BECAUSE GIVING IS AN ACT OF
WORSHIP AND THANKSGIVING, NOT JUST A
BUSINESS PROPOSITION.

WE can give because God has blessed us, giving out

of thanks, recognizing that it came from the Lord in the
first place…. NOT asking or requiring a return. When we
give as a way of telling God thank you, recognizing how
He has blessed us, then it’s worship.

Furthermore, giving not only worships God, but it

trusts God as well… not only to take care of the future but
in looking forward to an eternal reward that is not
temporary, or subject to taxes, or of being taken or
robbed from us. The Bible says in I Timothy 6:17-19:

Command those who are rich in this present

world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in
wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their
 hope in God, who richly provides us with
everything for our enjoyment.

Command them to do good, to be rich in

good deeds, and to be generous and willing to
share. In this way they will lay up treasure for
themselves as a firm foundation for the coming
age, so that they may take hold of the life that is
truly life.

What’s the Bible saying here? It’s encouraging us to

start investing in our eternal future, not just our earthly
retirement. This is really more than just giving, this is
about you and God, right now.

Consider what Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church on

giving:

“This service that you perform is not only

supplying the needs of God’s people but is also
overflowing in many expressions of thanks to
God. Because of the service by which you have
proved yourselves, men will praise God for the
obedience that accompanies your confession of
the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in
sharing with them and with everyone else.”
-II Corinthians 9:12-13

It doesn’t do the body of Christ any good when

Christians give money for the loudly stated purpose of
seeing even more in return. Even if God kept what we
gave to Him, and gave us nothing in return, don’t we
already owe Him our very lives?

However, when people see real generosity that

doesn’t expect to be repaid, when they see giving that
recognizes God, then the world sees not only our
confession of the gospel, but our obedience to God first.

So when it comes to our finances, and our giving, this

is where our real priorities and real faithfulness comes to
light as we bring our finances under obedience to God.
That’s the bottom line… Will you trust our God with it?

Lastly, as we come to the Lord today and tell Him

once again that we love Him, that we want to follow Him
– As we worship and lift our voices in praise and identify
ourselves publicly as believers in Christ, we who have
been baptized and made the commitment to live for
Christ - Are we really trusting God with our finances and
seeking His guidance and instructions? Or are we
managing our own accounts?

If someone wanted to investigate whether or not we

are truly followers of Jesus, and they had no other
evidence but our financial records, would they conclude
that we live for Christ, or live for ourselves?

But no matter what our financial records in the past

tell God on our tithing, the Bible is very clear. We have
already been set free of our past by Jesus’ death on the
cross and that our past will never define us and our
future! Thus, no matter what mistakes in GIVING that we
have done in the past, today as we come to God on this
first Sunday of the year, we can begin to start the year
with a fresh start when it comes to our giving to God.

Let us now be ready with how we trust God in our

finances and get ready to give. Let us stand and pray.