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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Mark Teh

I Will Surely Give

I also bring you greetings from Amazing Facts.

I'm the director of Plan Giving for Amazing Facts.

Amazing Facts celebrated 50 years this year.

We had a meeting in Lansing, Michigan called Heroes of Faith which is now available and we're looking towards the new year as well.

The ministry is going to do a 7 part series on the Sabbath from North Carolina in Charlotte and we look forward to seeing the Lord bless through that important program that's coming up.

As Dale mentioned, I'm going to be talking about financial concepts today and if you have questions or would like help on some of these things that I will be discussing about, you can feel free to give me a call.

You can reach me at the number that's available on this flyer.

I believe it is available down here and also up above as well as you exit.

And so I encourage you to pick 1 up as well.

Before we begin, why don't we go ahead and start with a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for this season.

It's a reminder of how much you love us and how you are drawing us with your loving kindness.

And it's a reminder of Jesus and his first advent.

And as we reflect on your goodness, on your mercy, on how much you love us, Lord, that may our response be, Lord, what can we do in return?

We ask, Lord, that you would bless us, guide us with your spirit, and guide my words this morning in Jesus' name.

A favorite hymn of mine is Nearer My God to Thee and it's reported that this hymn was being played by the orchestra as the Titanic was sinking.

Many may not realize that this hymn is based on Genesis 28.

Jacob, as you remember, in Genesis 28, he was fleeing from his home.

He had just deceived his father into giving him the birthright, and his brother was furious and was looking to kill him.

And in the second verse of this hymn, it says, though like a wanderer, daylight all gone, darkness be over me, my rest a stone.

He went, I believe it was the second day of his travels, he rested, he didn't have anything to sleep on but a stone, and he prayed.

He prayed for God's protection, He prayed recognizing his great sin and wanting to find God's favor and his forgiveness.

The third verse, it goes on to say, there let the way appear, steps up to heaven, all that thou sendest me in mercy given, angels to beckon me nearer my God to thee.

As he slept, he dreamed and of course that famous ladder, also known as Jacob's Ladder, appeared before him from earth to heaven, and angels were ascending and descending, and the Lord was at the top of that ladder.

And he promised him that he was the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and that where he liest, that God would give him that, to him and his seed, and that his seed would spread abroad to the west, the east, the north, and the south, and that through his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed.

He said, I am with thee, I will keep thee in all places, wherever thou goest, I will bring thee to this land, I will not leave thee until all that I have done and spoken is accomplished.

The fourth verse of that song says, Then with my waking thoughts, bright with thy praise, out of my stony griefs Bethel I raise, so by my woes to be, nearer my God to thee.

When Jacob arose, he vowed a vow, and he accepted and believed the promises that God made, that if God would be with him, that if God would keep him in the way that he goes, that if he provides for him whether it's his bread, his clothing, and that if he will come again to his father's house in peace, that the Lord would be his God.

And he set up a pillar with a stone that he used to sleep, and he raised it up as God's house.

And he promised, He committed to the Lord that of everything that the Lord gives him, he will surely give a tenth.

And Jacob's response was that he would help uplift God's house, that he would return a tithe.

The lessons from Jacob is 1 that shows that in response to the greatness, the goodness, the mercy of God, that he was gonna live a life of service, the uplifting of God's kingdom, his church, and also it had a financial response as well, that he would give of what the Lord had given to him.

In the New Testament, 2 Peter 1, 2-7 is also another ladder.

I believe it's the same ladder, it points us to Christ and it's found in 2nd Peter 1, 2-7.

And before it goes into the ladder it gives us these promises.

It says, Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.

We are told through the spirit of prophecy that as we work the plan of addition, God will add grace to grace.

By faith, if we add grace to grace, God will work the plan of multiplication and multiply grace and peace unto us.

If we follow the principles that God has given us, If we do that plan of addition, God will do the plan of multiplication, just as He did for the feeding of the 5, 000.

In verse 3 it says, According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue." It says that we are given all things that pertain unto life and godliness.

I submit to you this morning that God has given us all things, whether it's physical, spiritual, mental, and that includes how we are to manage our finances.

In verse 4, it says, In verse 4 it says, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these ye may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

He wants to have us be partakers of the divine nature.

And then it goes into the steps of this ladder.

And if you are a note taker, this is the outline I will be following this morning, these 8 steps.

It says, and beside this giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity.

These are 8 steps and this morning I want to go through these 8 steps in the context of how to manage our finances.

What this first step tells me is that As important as money is, it's not all about money.

Oftentimes we need to learn to let go and to let God lead.

When we look at Esau and how he was so willing to give up his birthright.

He sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a pot of lentils, just because he was hungry for his physical needs.

We learned that Esau was really more interested in the financial legacy of the birthright rather than the spiritual legacy.

With the birthright that their father Isaac gave to them, it really was a spiritual legacy that he was wanting to leave them.

But all Esau cared about was the financial part.

We're told in Matthew 6, 33 that, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Jacob actually realized that the spiritual blessing was more important.

Unfortunately, Jacob, instead of trusting God that he would receive the blessing that he was promised at the right time, he chose to use the devil's means in order to acquire that birthright.

And he with his mom, they concocted a plan to deceive the father into thinking that he was Esau and the birthright was given to him through that method.

But we're told in Mark 8, verse 36, what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

God wants to give us a legacy of faith, like Abel, like Noah, like Moses, like the faithful before us, that we might have a spiritual legacy.

In my early years, I grew up in the church.

And through these different spiritual exercises, God was dealing to me a measure of faith.

We're told that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Unfortunately, influences can lead you another way.

And I remember being influenced by television and the media, and of course these things portray kind of a glamorous impression of money and materialism.

And I started, you know, putting academics and career first.

And I stopped doing my devotions, studying the Sabbath school quarterly, stopped going to church eventually after college.

But what was sad is I don't think I recognized that God, just like he promised to Jacob a spiritual blessing and a spiritual legacy, I was looking more at the financial blessing.

And then I was using the devil's methods to accomplish the blessing that God already promised to me.

But God had another plan and he wanted to get me back so that I can have the spiritual legacy he wanted to give.

And after law school, I went to PUC, I got my business major degree there and then I went to law school as well after that in Sacramento.

And after I graduated, I finished taking the bar, I didn't have a job lined up.

And I was renting a room at someone's place And my landlady actually recommended that I go through a Bible study fellowship.

It was a non-denominational Bible study fellowship.

And 1 thing that I realized from that is not only an affirmation of the faith that I grew up in, but I started to see the parallels of how God was so faithful to the children of Israel, how he provided for their needs, the manna, their clothing, their health.

And I started to see that God was faithful to me.

When I needed a job, he was causing it to rain upon the just and the unjust.

I had a job, the schooling, the scholarships that I needed, and I saw that God was definitely treating me better than I deserve.

And I started studying God's Word, and that helped inspire faith.

It helped inspire understanding and believing God's promises.

We're told that without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Hebrews 11 6 and that if we seek him and search him we will find him if we search with him search for him with all our heart Faith is a firm belief in God's Word and a total surrender to the will of God.

You see, in my finances, I was not trusting in God's promises.

He told us, He tells us to bring all the tithes into his storehouse, that there may be meat in his house, and to prove him that the Lord of hosts, if he will not open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing, that there may not be room enough to receive it." Malachi 3.10.

We are also told that if we give, it shall be given unto us.

Good measure pressed down, shaken together, running over.

Men shall give unto your bosom, and with the same measure that we meet it, we shall be measured unto us." Luke 6, 38.

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I Will Surely Give

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