A (20:28)

We all chase things like success, true love, or the perfect life. Good things that can easily become ultimate things when we put our faith in them. Deep down we know they can't satisfy our deepest longings. The truth is that we've made lesser gods of good things, things that can't give us what we really need. In his book Counterfeit the Empty Promises of Money, Sex and Power and the Only Hope that Matters, Tim Keller shows us how a proper understanding of the Bible reveals the truth about societal ideals and our own hearts and shows us that there is only one God who can wholly satisfy our desires. This month we'll send you counterfeit gods as our thank you for your gift to help gospel and life share the love of Christ with people all over the world. You can request your copy@gospelandlife.com give. That's gospelandlife.com give. Now here's Dr. Keller with the rest of today's teaching.

B (21:23)

Now put all that in light of everything that means that you're trustees and you live in a land of trustees, in a world of trustees. And what is stealing? What does it mean to steal? How can you steal? And the Bible tells us therefore there's two different things, two different kinds of thievery. Now listen to this. The first kind of thievery is when we refuse to honor the caretaker rights of other human beings. I hope you see now that what somebody owns, that what somebody has to take care of is fundamental to that person's dignity. And to infringe on their rights. Things that God has given them is to assault their dignity and assault their very humanity. And that's the reason why stealing is in the Ten Commandments is so serious. Now we, we know the obvious forms. There's blue collar forms like pickpocketing and robbery, and there's white collar forms like money laundering, embezzling and insider trading. Those are obvious though. They're wrong. But there's a lot less obvious ones. If you do not do your best work, you're robbing your employer. If you slough on your time, you're robbing your employer. Hey, have you heard the story about the 32 year old lawyer that went to heaven? He died one day, went to heaven. And he gets to the gate and he says, you didn't expect this, did you? He says, what am I doing here? I'm a Young man, I shouldn't be. Shouldn't be here yet. And you know, the angel at the gate says, well, it says right here, you're 96 years old. It's your time. And the man says, wait a. You don't understand. I'm 32 years old. There must be some mistake. And he said, oh, I see we added up your time sheets, But it's not. Listen, if you're a lawyer, I'm sorry, but what about mechanics? What about accountants? If you do not do your best work, you're stealing the car that you sold, that you know that if he knew everything you know about the car, you'd never get what you asked for, but you did. If you make a bad product, a product that unravels, if you make a product that doesn't really satisfy, even though people will buy it because they're too foolish yet to see that you're giving them amusements that don't amuse, an education that doesn't educate. If you just do shoddy work, you're stealing from the people. If you don't pay your employees enough, if you cheat on your income taxes, if you pad your expense account, oh, my. You have got to honor the caretaker rights of others. But that's the first kind of stealing. The second kind of stealing is you've got to honor the owner's rights over your own wealth or your stealing. In Malachi, chapter three, God says, will you rob me? How can you rob God? You rob me in tithes and offerings. Now, what this means is simply this. If everything you own is. Is. Is God's. And he says in his word, I want a significant amount of my money to go to three causes. Do you know what they are? The Bible commands that you be generous toward three causes. Generous. Number one, God's work, the kingdom, number two, the poor. And number three, God's people with needs. God's work in the kingdom, the poor, and God's people with their needs. There's a place In Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 28, where it says, let the thief no longer steal, but let him give and be generous. Did you hear that? You either are a thief or you're generous. If you're not generous, you're a thief. Why? Remember this? It's because if you. If you own the money, really own the money that you have, and someone asked you to please give to God's work, please give to the poor, please give to these needy Christians over here, and you said no, then you'd be stingy. But if you're a trustee and you say no, then you are a robber. That's why God can actually say in Ephesians 4:28, if you're not generous, you're a thief. Why, he can say in Malachi 3, if you're not generous, you're a robber. Why, he can say constantly in the Bible, do justice to the poor. What do you mean, justice? You see, there's plenty of people, I guess, who are poor because they've been dishonest. But there's plenty of people who are poor poor. Most people who are poor not because they're dishonest. And most of the people, I believe, who are better off are not. Are not better off because they're dishonest. So how can God say, you must do justice to the poor? What's. What's unjust about holding on to what I earned? And the answer is, God says, that's my money up there. The reason you've got it is I've given you more. I gave you more talent. I gave you more help. I gave you more providential care. I gave you. I gave it to you. I want you to be generous with it. If not, you're being unjust. I've earmarked big parts of what you own, which is really what I own for other people. And unless you let go of it, it will destroy you. If you make your money and your standard of living your definition, it will no longer be your dignity, it'll be your shame, and it'll strangle you. And all that power that you're sitting on will not be released out into the world. That's the second kind of stealing, a lack of generosity. There's two kinds of stealing. Now, the question that comes up almost immediately is, okay, now you've made me feel pretty guilty, but I'm not sure I feel liberated yet. I feel terrible, but I don't feel liberated. And what do you mean, a portion? How much I need to know this? I have no idea if I'm being generous or not. And the answer is, it's not quite what you want. You see, the second principle, the first principle that you need to screw into your heart was what? God owns everything, and you're only a trustee. The second principle of financial liberation is brought right out here in verse 8. This is the heart of it all. Paul says, I am not commanding you. Did you hear that? Nobody. Even Paul the Apostle. Now, surely Paul the Apostle could do it. But he said it wasn't even his place to come to you, to any individual, and say, here's how much you have to give. Even Paul couldn't do that. And instead he says, I can't command you, but I want to test whether or not you remember and you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor so that you, through his poverty, might become rich. You will never be financially liberated unless you look at the grace of Christ because the grace of Christ will liberate you in two ways. The experience of the grace of Christ changes your heart, and the model of the grace of Christ gives you a rule of thumb. The experience changes your heart, and the model gives you a rule of thumb. The experience. The experience means, do you know? Was there ever a time in your life where you came and you saw that no matter what's in your bank account, you are a sinner, that you're spiritually poor? Has that ever happened to you? Jesus Christ comes to us and says, listen, no matter what's in your bank account, your love, your integrity, your honesty, your, your, your morality, you are not living the way you should. You are not. You are not good. And therefore I have got to die for you and I've got to pay your penalty. And now that I paid your penalty, if you receive me as your savior, you have got real riches. The riches of adoption, I'll bring you into my family. The riches of acceptance, I'll give you my righteousness. The riches of power, I will put my life in you. Those are the real riches. And when you know the real riches, you know what happens. You begin to look at your physical riches in a different way. If you know the grace of Christ, it changes the way in which you look at your physical riches. Let me, let me give you two examples to show how psychologically a Christian is transformed in your attitude. If, if you were dying and you were, you knew you were dying. And I came to you and I said, guess what? I'm a doctor. And the Food and Drug Administration has finally just let out this, this particular kind of medicine and it will definitely cure you. And only this medicine will cure you. And it's a hundred percent sure to cure you. However, you may not want to pay for it because it's extremely expensive. You may have to, you know, sell your home and move and live into, you know, a little. You might live, live with. You might have to get rid of your compact disc player. You might have to sell your stock. You might have to impoverish yourself. So you probably don't want this medicine. And you would look at Me. And you would say, are you kidding? What good is my compact disc player if I don't have that medicine? What good's my home if I don't have this medicine? All these things that used to be so important to me, they used to give me so much meaning. These things suddenly are pale. It's almost like when that medicine comes, it's like the sun has come out so I can't see the stars. All these other things that used to be important to me are now. Are now expendable. This is so precious to me that all these other things are little. If I don't have that. To you who believe in Jesus Christ, he is precious. And everything else in your life that used to define you has now become eternally and utterly expendable. It changes the way you look at it. And that's why Paul can say, do you know the grace of Jesus Christ? Do you know that you're spiritually poor, no matter whatever was in your bank account? And do you know that you've got real riches? And if you've got the real riches that Jesus can give you, do you realize that changes your total, your attitude toward everything else? Do you know that? To the extent that you know that there's that liberation, the experience of grace gives us a change in our personality. But the model of Christ's grace gives us the rule of thumb. You see, Jesus Christ gave everything. And people are constantly saying to me, how much should I be giving to God's work and to the poor and to needy Christians? How much? Don't forget that. I can't. I can't tell you. Paul couldn't tell you, for goodness sakes. But I'll tell you this. Don't press me. I mean, Paul wouldn't do it. And after all, he had more authority than I do. But there's three guidelines, and here's what they are. Number one, the tithe. You know, the Old Testament required all believers to give a tenth of their income each year. A tenth. And the New Testament doesn't say much about the tenth, doesn't say very much about the tithe, except very indirectly. So what are we to conclude? I'll tell you what we can conclude. We can conclude this. Are we more blessed or less blessed than Old Testament believers? You tell me. Are we more indebted or less indebted than Old Testament believers? Are we more responsible or less responsible than Old Testament believers?

A (32:16)

More.

B (32:16)

All the way down the line. So the real question is, is it possible that the New Testament says, well, the Old Testament Believers are required to give a tenth of their income. But for you, the reason the New Testament doesn't bring up the tithe is because Jesus did not tithe his life or we'd all be lost. The point is, the New Testament, I believe, assumes the Old Testament. The only possible explanation is the Old Testament. The Old Testament standard is a rock bottom minimum. I mean, it was just a given. It was a. It was a rule of thumb. It says that's where you start. Number two, the tithe is one guideline. Number two, the second line, the second guideline is your lifestyle. We're told here in verse 3 that the Macedonians gave what not in according to their means. They gave as much as they were able and beyond their ability. What does beyond their ability mean? I'll tell you what beyond their ability means. Ordinarily, the limitations on your giving are your own needs and then a prudent salting away of money for future needs and emergencies, right? And then beyond that, you give. What these Macedonian Christians did was they cut into their lifestyle. They said, we're going to give to the place where it actually changes how we live. It changes the level of our necessities. I would have to say that the giving that we're Talking about in 2nd Corinthians 8 means it's radical enough so it changes how you live. If it doesn't, you're only giving God the leftovers. Haven't you heard about this true story about the farmer who said, unbelievable, I thought my cow was going to have one calf and she had two calves. When they grow up, I'm going to sell one of them and give all the proceeds to the Lord. And the wife said, that's fantastic. Well, it was just a couple months later where the guy came on in and said, what a horrible day. You know what happened today? It was so sad. The Lord's calf died. And the wife says, I don't remember that. We decided which one was which. Oh yes, he says, I remember. I said the first day, that's the Lord's calf. And what a shame. The Lord's calf died. And it always is the Lord's calf that died in our life. Jonathan Edwards some years ago wrote a tract on giving. And in the tract he said, the Gospel obliges us to give when we are in distress to those in greater distress than us. How else will we bear one another's burdens? Now listen to this. If we never relieve others burdens, but when we can do it without being burdened ourselves, how then do we Bear our neighbor's burden when we bear no burden at all. I know that's hard to understand because it's logical and we're modern people. Let me explain that to you. He says, it says, bear one another's burdens. When we say, I can't afford to give, what we mean is, I can't afford to give without it actually burdening me. If I give, then some of the burden of this need will shift over into me. I won't be able to do something that I want to do. And Edward says, if you never give unless it doesn't burden you, you're not bearing anybody's burdens. You haven't gone out there and give. You're not giving in a way that bears others burdens until you feel the burdens themselves come onto you. Because the extent of your giving, the tithe, is a guideline. Cutting into your lifestyle is a guideline. And the last guideline is, you need to be excited. And this might sound silly. You shouldn't just give because, oh my gosh, I'm guilty. You should get close enough to needs and people and causes that you say, I can be part of this. I can be involved in this. I want to give into this. And then you'll feel the liberation happen. Jesus Christ's model is the rule of thumb. It's radical generosity. And if you know the grace of God, you'll be liberated. Well, I got to conclude. Remember what the third principle was. I'll give it to you in a sentence. You can take it with you. Paul said, right now, if you give, you're in plenty and they're in one. But someday you might find that they might be in plenty and you might be in one. He's saying, take the long view. But let's take the real long view. The Bible says, put your money into things that last. If you had a teenage daughter who got an inheritance from somebody of $20,000 and she went out and bought Donny and Marie Osborne records, you would say, what a stupid thing to do. Why didn't you invest it in something that would bear dividends? What an awful way to use your money. Listen, friends, only one billionth of your entire existence is going to be spent here on earth. You understand that when the sun is so old that it dies, we're all going to be around to see that. And the real question is, are you putting the power of your money into things that will outlast the sun? Most of the things we put our money into are going to burn up with it. But people who don't die, and the work of the Lord and the word of God, which doesn't pass away. These are things that if you put your money into people, you put your money into the work of the kingdom, into the things that your owner says you should put your money into. If you get rid of your thievery by your stinginess, you will find you're putting your money into things that last. If you know the grace of Christ, you know, some of you One of the weird things about New York One of the weird things about New York is that almost every other place, generally people flock together in a congregation of rather similar kinds of income levels. Not here, as you know. Some of you are scared because you're really not sure where your next bite's going to come from. Matthew 6 says, don't be afraid. Consider the fact that Jesus Christ takes that God takes care of the birds of the air and the grass of the field, and you're much more important than the birds of the air. Reason with yourself. Don't envy and hate yourself because you don't have any money, because you haven't had the career you want. Don't go along with the way most people go who take money as their definition. Look at Matthew 6. Realize he's going to care for you and let the money you've got become your dignity. And those of you who've got the money, you're sitting on a powder keg. Don't drift along with the way in which your wealth will probably take you, which is this. The more money you have, the more you feel this deep need for security, the bigger you feel the cushion's got to be. You're sitting on a powder keg, and the money could be just so powerfully released into the world. So powerfully released. Robert Murray McShane was a Scottish minister, and I'll close with this quote. A Scottish minister who preached in Scotland over 150 years ago, and he preached a sermon on giving. And this sermon is just so powerful because he takes exactly what Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 8 and says, do you know the grace of Christ? And if you do feel the logic, oh, my dear friends, if you would be like Christ, and you pray that you will be, become like him in giving. Though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor. Objection. Someone says, my money is my own. Answer. Well, Christ might have said, my blood is my own, my life is my own. And then where would you be? Objection. But many people in need are undeserving Christ might have looked at you and said, look at these wicked rebels. Should I lay down my life for these? No. I will give to the good angels, the deserving poor. But no. He left the 99 sheep and came after the lost. He gave his blood to the undeserving objection. But people who I give my money to might abuse it, answered Christ might have said the same thing with far greater truth. Christ knew that thousands would trample his blood under their feet, that most would despise it, that many would make his blood an excuse for sinning more. And yet he gave his own blood. My dear Christians, if you want to be like Christ, give much, give off, and give freely, even to the vile, even to the undeserving. Christ is glorious and happy, and so shall you be. It's not your money I want, it's your happiness. Remember his own Word. It's more blessed. It's more happy to give than to receive. Let's pray.

A (40:16)

Thanks for joining us here on the Gospel and Life podcast. We hope that today's teaching encouraged you to go deeper into God's Word. You can help others discover this podcast by rating and reviewing it. And to find more gospel centered content by Tim Keller, visit gospelandlife.com Today's sermon was recorded in 1990. The sermons and talks you hear on the Gospel and Life podcast were recorded between 1989 and 2017 while Dr. Keller was senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church.