Financial Deception

Once when preaching from this text, Martin Luther said, “I do not like to interpret such passages, for they seem to commend us (the us are pastors), as in fact they do. In addition, it gives the appearance of greed if one emphasizes these things diligently to one’s hearers.”

If I faithfully preach it, and then give good application, then you are going to give, and that benefits me.

This could make me seem greedy.

This definitely can seem like I’m using the position of preacher, purely for my own benefit.

I am uncomfortable with a passage like this because I’ve seen how pastors, or men fancy suits on TV, have used it to pad their wallets, or buy new jets.

I may be uncomfortable with this passage, but I shouldn’t be.

Buy a new jet

False teachers

Remember these things as we move forward

There are a few reasons why we should embrace it, and boldly have it preached to us, and believed.

First, these aren’t my thoughts.

These come from the Bible

First, these are Paul’s Words to the Galatians.

And when Paul was writing this, he wasn’t asking for money.

This wasn’t a letter requesting them to support him in anyway.

Paul was establishing a point.

Paul was telling the Galatian church to support their pastor.

At some point, the Galatian church would receive this letter, be told to support their pastor and have the same conversation we have had.

And we will talk more about this in a couple minutes.

This was Paul telling a church to support their pastor.

That should make this less awkward.

And if these are Paul’s words, then I’d like you to know what they aren’t my words.

I am not making this up.

The test of every sermon, of every truth, should be is it found in the Bible.

And hopefully you will see that this morning.

I may not be comfortable with the topic, but this is God’s Word, and therefore it must be preached.

In fact, I need to correct myself.

I would rather preach something else, but I am not dictated by my desires when it comes to preaching.

I am bound to God’s Word.

Therefore, I must preach God’s Word.

Therefore I must get comfortable with this passage, just as you need to get comfortable with it.

I remember when I was a kid, and my mom would make something for dinner that I didn’t like.

I would sit down at the table, see what was on the table, and kind of groan.

My mom would say, “You will eat. And you will like it.”

This is God’s Word.

You will eat.

And you will like it.

There are a few doctrines that I have initially encountered, and I wasn’t a fan of them.

But then I remembered, it is God’s Word, and I grew to like it.

I embraced.

I loved it.

So we will talk about money, and yes it’s a personal matter.

But it’s His Word, that mean’s it is good.

It’s meant to be preached.

It’s meant to be heard.

It’s meant to be applied.

And we need to grow to like it.

This is true for anything in Scripture, if you find something in Scripture, that you don’t like, then you need to bend your will to God’s will.

You don’t get to say, “I don’t like that.”.

You don’t get to avoid it.

Because as long as you avoid a text, or flat out refuse a text, you are going against God.

That is rebellion.

Instead, the areas that you struggle with are the areas where you need to surrender to God in.

And in preaching through a text like this, we also see the benefits of expository preaching.

That’s what we do here, expository preaching.

It’s the text that drives the preaching.

It’s where the text is examined, and the meaning and application come from the text.

The text is God breathed.

This means it is God who directs our preaching.

That is the strength of the sermon, it’s God’s Word.

If I were to come up here and just talk.

And talk about whatever came to my mind … there would be no authority there.

No truth there.

If I came up and said, “Pay your pastor” but didn’t have any text to support it, then I would be guilty of greed.

I think it is neat that we are preaching on this today.

In a man centered world, we would preach this sermon:

At the end of the year, to balance the budget.

Or at the start of the year, when we have a new budget.

Or in March and April when you receive your tax returns.

But we are bound to God’s Word, and instead, we preach on it in September.

This isn’t at the start of a new year, or at Thanksgiving

Or after you received your tax returns

And one more reason to preach this text, is to explain why Southwest Christian Church has a paid preacher on staff.

Think of this sermon, think of this text as biblical defense or explanation for having a paid teaching pastor.

Paul begins by talking about burden of providing for a pastor, or The Pastoral Financial Burden.

I said Pastoral Financial Burden.

A PR person might say I chose the wrong word there.

Burdens are negative.

They aren’t something you want.

You see this in verse 6, “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.”

Paul spends the beginning of the chapter talking about how we bear one another’s burdens.

He has said that we support one another.

That we carry one another.

Now Paul gives us an example of a person to carry.

He says that the one who is taught ...

That’s catechemenos.

It means to be taught.

Sounds like the word catechism.

Some churches have a class or a book called a catechism.

Maybe you’ve been a part of a church that had a catechism, and it brings up scary memories.

Don’t let the word scare you.

It just means a teaching.

Our family discipleship book, it’s a catechism, a teaching.

Some catechism are bad though, just like some teachings are bad.

But the word itself is not bad.

Paul tells the church that if you are catechized, if you are taught, that you are to share with the one who catechizes you, or teaches you.

Even from Paul’s day, even from the early church, there were men, who were responsible for teaching the body, and these men were to be provided for, shared with, financially sustained by the congregation.

The pastor who teaches the congregation is not a new addition to the church, but even something that is encouraged to be in a church.

Don’t think that the senior pastor or teaching pastor is a new addition to the church.

It’s not something that was invented later on in church history.

Galatians was one of Paul’s earlier letters, and by then you had men who taught the Word.

There is a plurality of elders within the church.

That means there should be multiple elders.

A church should not be governed or ran by a single pastor.

But there is a single pastor, who’s primary job or role within the church is to teach.

He is to spend his time in God’s Word.

Studying.

Learning.

We each have a job, and the pastor’s job is a time consuming job in God’s Word, so that he can teach the congregation.

It’s difficult to have a full time job, and preach, at least preach well.

In Paul says, “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”

Double honor is to be paid.

It’s not just the honor of the position.

It’s not that your name is on a placard somewhere.

It’s the honor of financial reimbursement.

Paul quotes Luke’s Gospel and says, “The laborer deserves his wages.”

Preaching is my job.

It’s my labor.

Therefore, the preacher is to receive his wage, he is to be paid.

The congregation gives of their precious resources to provide for their pastor.

And in most churches a preaching pastor, is a burden upon a church.

I see that here.

Aside from our building, I am our biggest cost.

I am a burden upon this church.

By supporting me, you are showing obedience to God’s Word, and you are making an investment in your own spiritual condition.

Just told to bear one another’s burdens

Pastor’s are a burden

We give.

And paying for a pastor is a financial burden upon the church.

I am a burden

Paul uses this to describe how we carry one another.

Often times we think of pastors carrying those in the church.

Even pastors have to be carried.

Share with those who teach

In this text there are only 2 actual commands.

There is the one we see in verse 6, “Let the one who is taught the word share all good with the one who teaches.”

Make a practice of this

Sharing is the command.

That’s giving.

And specifically to give those who teach.

In verse 7, there is another command, and it has to do with sharing with those who preach, Paul says, “Do not be deceived.”

It’s strange how anytime there is a command, our sinful self wants to contradict what God’s Word says.

Paul says share with the one who teaches, pay for your pastor.

And immediately, we think “Well, I don’t know.”

And we come up with excuses why we don’t need to give, or why a pastor doesn’t need to be paid.

To mock God means to have an air of superiority, and to lift your nose to Him in arrogance.

Who is God to tell me what to do?

God has no right to tell me how to live.

Here we are talking about money.

God says, share what you have with those who teach, and there are some who say, “Oh this is my money. You can’t tell me how to spend it.”

And yet, we are talking about God.

In , God says He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

Yet, we boldly say, those are my cattle.

You say, “Luke, I don’t own cattle.”

Ok, God owns the money in your bank account.

He’s the one who gave it to you.

Will you share it?

Will you regularly commit to give, sharing with those who teach you?

Suddenly, our fingers get tighter around our money.

You say, “That’s mine.”

No wonder Jesus said, it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

Because we love our money.

Paul says, “God is not mocked.”

We say we believe in God.

We say He is Lord.

But when it comes to who we give … we don’t give that way.

We are easily deceived.

In verses 7-10, there are 4 Lies that we are deceived by.

They Mock God

These are 4 mocking and deceitful lies about giving that tell a lot about what you believe about God.

The first lie, is God doesn’t care how you spend your money.

I got news for you, God does care.

God says, “Share with those who teach” and if you don’t share, you aren’t just leaving those who teach in a bind, but you are disobeying God.

You are hearing His command, and doing otherwise.

Sometimes people say, “Well I give, I just don’t want to give to a church. I want to choose who I give to.”

There are plenty of reasons why people don’t give.

What does Paul say to those who come up with excuses? Paul says, “God is not mocked.”

This kind of direct disobedience is rebellion.

That kind of behavior is mocking God.

The word for mock means to lift your nose in the air.

It’s to have an air of superiority and arrogance.

God says:

Bear one another.

Carry one another.

Financially share with those who teach.

And what do we do?

Stick our nose in the air and say:

“Who is God to tell me what to do?”

“God has no right to tell me how to live.”

For some reason, we are fine talking saying God can talk to us about morality, but when it comes to money … that’s a different story.

God is not mocked.

Have you forgotten, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, .

Whatever you have, is because He is the one who gave it to you.

To have a tight grip on your finances is to forget the one who gave it to you in the first.

What you have came from Him.

And now He is telling you how to use that money - share with those who teach.

And if the thought of being told to give, and to share offends you, you are mocking God.

All you are doing is proving that it is harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God ().

Because you are putting your possessions in front of God.

How you view money and how you spend your money says something about God.

Everything is theological.

You may not think you are a theologian, but everyone is a theologian.

Even atheists are theologians.

Their theology is there is no God.

But that’s still a theology.

They can’t run God.

And how you spend your money is theological.

Have you ever asked yourself what do your purchases say about God?

If you spend your money supporting the Mormon church what does that say?

Well it means you support the Mormon church, that you are opposed to the true Gospel.

If you spend your money supporting Planned Parenthood what does that say?

It says you think very little about the life of the unborn.

That you value sexual licentiousness more than monogamy.

That you don’t think people are created in the image of God, and worth protecting.

If you take your pay check, and on Friday nights go down to Pechanga and throw it away at a slot machine, what does that say about God.

It says, you don’t think a whole lot about His providence, because you’re willing to blindly pull that lever and watch what He has given you disappear.

Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” ().

How you spend your money matters.

How you spend your money says something about where your heart is.

Look at where your money goes.

Break it down by category.

That will show you your priorities.

How you give says something about God.

Go through the Old Testament sometime, read Leviticus, and you’ll see God’s expectations for sacrifices.

He demanded the best.

He didn’t want what was left over.

He didn’t want what you didn’t want anyway.

He demanded the best.

In , God rebukes Israel for their sacrifices.

He questions whether or not Israel even honored God because of their sacrifices.

He questions whether or not Israel feared God because of their sacrifices.

He flat out says that they despised His name because of how they gave to Him, because of what they gave to Him.

Israel blasphemed God by their gifts, because they were giving the worst.

They were giving dirty food, blind sheep, rejected animals.

God says that they profaned His name by how they give.

God cares how you give.

Some people think that God should be happy that they gave anything.

Read Malachi.

You’ll find, that He’s not happy with people just giving anything.

He cares how you give.

So the question is what does your giving say about God.

Maybe I assume too much.

The first question is do you give, and if so what do you give?

It’s not about the amount.

Luke tells of a widow who only gave 2 coins.

It’s all she had.

It’s not about a tithe either.

Maybe you’ve heard that word tithe.

Tithe literally means a tenth or 10%.

There is no tithe in the New Testament.

The tithe, 10% was an Old Covenant mark

And that was actually the minimum.

Tithing was never the benchmark.

God never said, “Only give me 10%.”

You will never hear me say, you must tithe.

Because that was a law for Israel.

You will hear me say, God cares how you give.

The Macedonian Christians were commended for the amount of joy they had in giving (II Corinthians 8).

In , Paul says that God loves a cheerful giver.

The first lie is that God doesn’t care how you spend your money, and He cares.

2. The second lie is Money doesn’t reflect your spiritual condition.

I’m not talking about the quantity of money.

If you have only a little money, that doesn’t mean you are spiritually poor.

You can’t say, “That person is rich, so God must really love him.”

Because there are plenty of rich people, who are pretty far from the love of God.

And you can’t say, “That person is really poor, so God must really hate him.”

The prosperity gospel sells this lie, and they will suffer for it.

But what I do mean is that how you handle your money will reveal your spiritual condition.

Going on in verse 7 and into 8, Paul says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

What you sow, you will reap.

This is in the context of supporting and bearing one another.

He has just said to support those who teach.

What you invest in, is what you receive.

So, if you sow in the flesh, then you will receive what the flesh produces, corruption.

Not only does God care about how you spend your money, but if you are investing in the flesh then you will receive those results.

If you plant corn, you will grow corn.

If you plant tomatoes, you will grow tomatoes.

And if you invest in sin, then you will produce sin.

If you invest only in your temporal happiness, then you will probably be temporarily happy.

I’ve often found it strangely ironic when a person comes to me and says they feel disconnected from God.

I ask a few probing questions:

Are you in God’s Word?

Are you in regular fellowship with Christians?

Do you spend time in prayer?

And when the answer is no, then it’s clear why they are in sin and feeling disconnected.

Because they are sowing to the flesh.

If you are spending what you have on your immediate, fleshly happiness, then you are investing in only temporary things that will eventually face eternal corruption..

None of this will last.

The middle of verse 8, “but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

But if you invest in the Spirit, then you will receive spiritual blessings.

Remember the context of this section of Scripture.

Paul is talking about carrying one another, bearing one another’s burdens.

Here he is saying to give to those who teach.

When you support those who teach, you are sowing in the Spirit.

And Paul says you will reap eternal life.

You are investing in certain spiritual rewards.

You share with those who teach.

And those who teach are sharing eternal truths with you.

And assuming he is teaching from the Word of God, you will be blessed by it, because you are being fed the Word of God..

You will be blessed because you hear God’s Word, learn about God and how to apply God’s Word to your life.

But blessed like you will learn about God and how to apply His truths to your life.

Blessed like, what we saw at the end of the last chapter.

When God’s Word is taught and faithfully applied you will live by the Spirit, walk by the Spirit, bear the fruit of the Spirit.

Here in the middle of verse 8 Paul tells us that if you sow by the Spirit you will reap eternal life.

There are eternal consequences to how you spend your money.

Think about your money, and the eternal implications of it.

Think about the eternal investments of your money.

Think about the money that you accumulate on earth.

Church can I challenge you to rethink it how you save your money?

Let’s consider investing in spiritual things.

Let’s consider investing in the kingdom of God.

Giving to the local church is one way.

I’ve been praying about the church in the Czech Republic.

I’d love to send a team there next year.

It costs about $18000 for a team of 10 to go there.

Consider investing in that.

If you sow by the Spirit, there are eternal consequences.

The third lie is 3. I’m burnt out from giving.

Maybe you’ve been a faithful giver for a long time.

We are a small church, and in our bulletin we post the weekly average of giving, and you start doing the math, and you realize that your giving is a significant amount of that weekly giving.

You can look at the bulletin, and you think of how you gave last week, and you think, “Oh that’s my offering check.”

And you grow tired of giving.

Maybe even burnt out.

You want some other people to start bearing the burden.

You don’t like knowing that your giving makes a huge impact on this church.

Sometimes I really don’t like that the financial numbers are in the bulletin.

They’re there for transparency, so you can get an idea of the financial health of the church.

I don’t like them because they begin to look more like a scoreboard.

And you can open it up and see if you should give this week.

Maybe you see that the past 4 weeks were under budget, and so like the sports fan who keeps rooting for a losing team, you wonder if you should keep going.

Verse 9, Paul says, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

Don’t grow weary of doing good.

Don’t give up giving.

Where you see don’t grow weary, that word is used to describe the persistent widow who repeatedly went to the judge for justice.

Don’t ever forget who you give to.

Don’t be weary, but be steadfast.

Remember the context is supporting those who teach.

So in other words, this is not a one time gift.

They’re there for transparency, so you can get an idea of the financial health of the church.

This is not a I’ll give once, and then he’s on his own.

Ultimately, we are giving to the Lord.

This is a persistent, steadfast, enduring commitment to support those who teach.

But sometimes I think they look more like a scoreboard.

And you can open it up and see if you should give this week.

Don’t grow weary.

Maybe you see that the past 4 weeks were under budget, and so like the sports fan who keeps rooting for a losing team, you wonder if you should keep going.

Number 4, the last lie of money that we see in our text is 4. I need some me time.

Have you ever gone on vacation, had a really good vacation.

Get home and sit on the couch and just feel exhausted.

You were hoping that this vacation would give you rest, and instead, it left you tired.

So you said, “I need a vacation from my vacation.”

The lie is that you have been generous for a long time.

You’ve always thought of others.

You’ve given for many years.

Now you need a vacation from others.

But now you need to treat yourself.

You need to invest in you.

Paul’s final charge here is as long as you have the opportunity, do good to everyone, and especially the household of faith, the church.

Take every opportunity that you have to serve.

Have you ever heard someone leave a church, and they said, “I didn’t get anything from it.”

They talk as if church exists for them.

My job is to equip you.

But who serves.

You do.

For the Christian to say, “I didn’t get anything from church” is the wrong answer.

The right answer is, “I took every opportunity to serve.”

“I gave of myself.”

Paul started this passage as a charge to pay your pastor, now turns into sharing with the church.

An attitude of generosity.

Sharing with one another.

Being involved with one another.

Have you ever heard someone leave a church, and they said, “I didn’t get anything from it.”

They talk as if church exists for them.

My job is to equip you.

But who serves?

You do.

For the Christian to say, “I didn’t get anything from church” is the wrong answer.

The right answer is, “I took every opportunity to serve others.”

“I gave of myself.”

As long as you have today, serve and serve hard.

Along these same lines is the lie that you are better off by yourself.

That the rest of us just slow you down.

In the context of giving, you could do more good if you opened your own non-profit.

You can do more good if you never commit to a church.

Don’t be like one of my spiritual heroes, AW Pink.

They talk as if church exists for them.

He was an author, who died in 1952.

My job is to equip you.

Some of his books were some of the most influential books of my life.

But who serves.

The Sovereignty of God.

You do.

For the Christian to say, “I didn’t get anything from church” is the wrong answer.

The Attributes of God are a couple that I love.

I loved the man.

The right answer is, “I took every opportunity to serve.”

But sadly, he ended up as a lonely recluse.

“I gave of myself.”

Separated and isolated from the rest of the body.

Thinking he was better off by himself.

You don’t need me time, you need body time.

God hasn’t placed you on this earth to be alone.

He has placed you within a community of people that He has pulled out of the world for you to be with.

God has provided for all that we need in life.

And maybe the idea of preaching on supporting pastors is awkward for a pastor to preach on.

But it reminds me of the beauty of God’s Word.

You need teachers and elders to equip you.

You need them to share God’s Word with you.

They shepherd you.

You are their burden.

And at the same time I need you to share.

I am your burden.

Resist any lie that says that says this isn’t a big deal, or that says it’s a personal choice.

This is part of the process of following Christ.

He is Lord.

He has purchased us.

And that gets worked out very practically in our lives.

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