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*Melchizedek Who *

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Genesis 14:18-14:23 (NIV, NIRV, TNIV, KJV)

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We don’t know a whole lot about him, and what we do know is buried in mystery.

We know that he was the King of Salem, we know that he was a priest of the Most High God, we know that he had a funny name and we know that Abraham thought enough of him that he made an offering of ten percent of everything he owned to him.

\\ \\ He is fairly obscure.

He’s first mentioned in Genesis 14 where he is given a total of three verses.

He’s not mentioned again until Psalm 110:4 where David makes reference to the coming Messiah and writes “You are a priest forever in the line of Melchizedek.”

\\ \\ And then nothing, not in Proverbs, or Ecclesiastes, none of the prophets mention him.

Melchizedek’s name doesn’t come up in any of the gospels or the book of Acts.

Paul doesn’t mention him in the Pauline Epistles or the Pastoral Epistles.

Epistles are not the wives of the apostles; it’s simply a fancy name for letters.

And then all of a sudden the Author of the book of Hebrews writes 14 verses about this mystery king, drawing some interesting comparisons between Melchizedek and Jesus.

\\ \\ But what we are interested in this morning is the fact that the story of Melchizedek and Abraham in Genesis is the first recorded instance of someone financially providing for God’s work.

Individual’s offerings had been given before but this is the first time that a representative of God is given a set portion of someone’s income.

\\ \\ One of the top three reasons given in an extensive survey of non believers as to why they didn’t attend church was "because they are always asking for money."

I don’t blame people, I guess probably churches are constantly asking for finances but I wonder why that is.

And besides people don’t stop attending the Lions Club or the rotary or the Kinsman and they are always asking for money.

At least we don’t levy fines during our meetings.

Every year we have door knock appeals from the Red Cross, and the Cancer Fund, and the Kidney Foundation and a dozen other worthy causes and yet people don’t say; “Hey they only interested in money.”

\\ \\ Maybe the reason the world feels negative about the church and finances is that they don’t feel like they are getting anything in return or that the church doesn’t contribute anything to the community.

But then again the bible doesn’t tell us that we are a service organization, and the only thing that the scripture requires us to put back into society is better people and I guess when everything is said and done that’s a pretty important contribution.

But God never expected the world to support the church.

From its very beginnings the church carried its own load.

You can hunt through the New Testament and you won’t find any reference to the early church having a bagel drive to raise funds or having a Saturday catacomb sale or a chariot wash.

But you will find instances like Acts 2:44-45 And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had.

45 They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need.

And Acts 4:32 All the believers were of one heart and mind, and they felt that what they owned was not their own; they shared everything they had.

Now that is a fairly radical concept of giving and a pretty radical concept of living.

And nobody can really say whether or not that communal concept extended beyond the first generation of believers in Jerusalem.

\\ \\ But we know that the churches that sprung out of the initial movement continued to be generous.

Even the Corinthian church which was criticized for sexual immorality and theological error was commended for their generosity in giving to the work of the kingdom.

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians he urged them to give, we can find that in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 Now about the money being collected for the Christians in Jerusalem: You should follow the same procedures I gave to the churches in Galatia. 2 On every Lord’s Day, each of you should put aside some amount of money in relation to what you have earned and save it for this offering.

Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once. the result of that admonition is found in 2 cor 8:10 where Paul commended the Corinthians by saying: last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.

Wow, not only were they the first to give but they desired to give.

Would kind of remind you of what Paul said about the Macedonian churches, listen to this, 2 Corinthians 8:2-4 Though they have been going through much trouble and hard times, their wonderful joy and deep poverty have overflowed in rich generosity.

For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford but far more.

And they did it of their own free will.

They begged us again and again for the gracious privilege of sharing in the gift for the Christians in Jerusalem.

\\ Can’t you just hear them "please Paul, we want to give more, we know we’ve already given a lot but please let us help more."

Ok.

In Philippians 4:16 Paul writes Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once.

\\ \\ So let it be said that the biblical precedent is that 1) God’s people provide for God’s work.

We don’t expect the world to do it, we don’t expect the government to do, it is to be done through the giving of the people of God.

\\ \\ But how much?

What are the people of God supposed to give?

It is inevitable that when we talk about the tithe or a tenth of our income people always say "but that is an Old Testament concept".

And it’s true that it is an Old Testament concept, in fact it is first laid down in Leviticus 27:30 “A tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy.

But then again "thou shalt not kill" is an Old Testament concept as well but we don’t write that off, do we?

\\ \\ And even though the tithe wasn’t commanded until Leviticus we actually have two instances where people gave ten percent of what they had to God before the law was laid down.

The first instance was in Genesis chapter 14 where Abraham gave a tenth of all he had to God.

I wonder why he decided to give a tenth?

It wasn’t written down anywhere, there weren’t any meddling preachers then so why ten percent.

Then Jacob decides to make an offering to the lord and we read in Genesis 28:22 This memorial pillar will become a place for worshiping God, and I will give God a tenth of everything he gives me.” \\ \\ Now isn’t that strange, of all the choices that Jacob could make he decides on the very same amount that Abraham did.

No written instructions.

No law.

This was before the bible said "a tithe belongs to the lord” matter of fact it was before the bible.

He could have made a hundred choice, 1%, 2%, and 3%, all the way up to 100%.

Could it be that God told them?

\\ \\ So the tithe is mentioned in the law and it’s mentioned before the law.

But what about in the New Testament?

Take the case of the Pharisees, Jesus did not like these guys every time you see them together in the scriptures they are fighting; they mix like oil and water.

And Jesus condemned the Pharisees for a lot of things but there was one thing that he commended them for and that is found in Matthew 23:23 “How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees.

Hypocrites!

For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you ignore the important things of the law—justice, mercy, and faith.

You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things.

Jesus didn’t tell them to practice justice, mercy and faith instead of tithing; he told them to practice justice mercy and faithfulness while tithing.

He condemned them for hypocrisy, he condemned them for neglecting important things, he called them tombs full of dead men’s bones, he called them snakes, but he commended them for their tithing.

\\ \\ Remember back in 1 Corinthians 16:2 On every Lord’s Day, each of you should put aside some amount of money in relation to what you have earned and save it for this offering.

Acts 18 tells us that the Corinthian church was started by converted Jews, now remember that the law was pretty explicit about the tithe, if you were to tell a Jew that they should set aside a sum of money for God’s work in keeping with their income I wonder what amount would come to mind?

Throughout the gospels Jesus commended people for giving ten percent or more but he never commended anyone for giving less then ten percent.

On two occasions he even told people to give everything they had, and when he praised the widow in the temple it was because she had given everything that she had.

\\ \\ Where are we at?

Could Christ commend us for our giving?

We have many people in the church that tithe and some people who more then tithe and a good number of people who it would appear would rather die then tithe.

One more then one occasion Jesus used a persons handling of money as an indication of their spirituality.

The rich young ruler felt that he had done everything he needed to do to find favour in God’s eyes, and Jesus said "there’s one more thing that you have to do, you have to let go of the purse strings."

why because God’s blessing upon our lives will cost us everything that we value in life more then Jesus.

If there is anything in your life that you value more then Jesus Christ then you are not a disciple.

As long as you have something in your life that is more important then God you are worshipping at the feet of a golden calf.

The bible tells us that the rich young ruler went away sorrowful.

Why?

Because he had discovered what he owned and what owned him.

\\ \\ James Moffat made this statement, "a man’s treatment of money is the most decisive test of his character, how he made it and how he spends it."

Jesus said something very similar in Luke 16:11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?

If you haven’t given God his due, does that make you untrustworthy with worldly wealth?

I don’t know, maybe J. Oswald smith was right when he said, "I have learned that money is not the measure of a man, but it is often the means of finding out how small he is."

You know I am convinced that some people will never be trusted with a pile because they weren’t true to God with the little bit that they did have.

Other’s I am convinced profited because they rendered unto God that which was God’s.

\\ \\ In saying that let’s say this, 2. God expects us to be faithful with what he’s given us.

One wit wrote these words, “it’s not what you’d do with a million, if riches should e’r be your lot, but what you are doing at present with the buck and a quarter you got."

There are those who consistently tell you what they’ll do for God, when their ship comes in.

If they’re anything like me they’ll probably be at the airport when their ship comes in.

God isn’t interested in what you’d do if you had so and so’s money.

He’s a lot more interested in what you’re doing with what he gave you.

\\ \\ When God used Moses he used a simple staff, what would have happened if Moses had of said, "Hold it, let’s wait until I have a fancy rod, I could do a much better job with a prettier rod."

No, he used what God had given him.