Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
February 19, 2012 - W1208

The Kingdom of God and The Kingdom of Heaven are the same thing. Many of the Israelites did not want to say the name of God, but they would talk about the Kingdom of Heaven. Today we want to talk about the treasure of the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Bible says, "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes out and sells all he has and buys that field." (Matt. 13:44)It’s like playing in a field that is for sale, and you are just playing around when you unearth a vain of gold. The largest vain that anyone has ever seen. You invite a friend and you both agree that it is gold and you hide it again. You go and sell everything you have to buy the field because you know what is in it. The field is worth a million times more than what you gave for it. The whole lesson is that the Kingdom of God is so incomparable. To give that up for worldly goods is crazy. The Bible even tells us to sell everything so we can get to the Kingdom of God.

Lots of us have learned the value of money from the American Merchandising system. We have not learned our values concerning money from the Bible. American Society teaches us our attitude toward money. That is why it is so important to take time to allow the Bible to instruct us on what is valuable and what is not. We need to learn Biblically about money because …

1. Stewarding money is a BOOTCAMP for life.

God watches how we use earthly money and He teaches us how to learn eternal values. If we steward money wisely, God can release to us true riches. True riches are eternally

significant. Singing talent, leadership or some gift that you can use to advance the Kingdom of Heaven are true riches. In the end it will be about entering the Kingdom of Heaven. That is where the true value is. We need to see that so we are willing to give up everything to be a part of that.

We need to steward well the little things that God gives us before we are ready to steward the big things. That is why the Bible says, "If you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of another's, who will give you that which is your own?" (Luke 16:11-12)

God even had special instructions for the rich: "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed." (1 Tim. 6:17-19).

Relationships that are rich, Marriages that are vibrant, a Soul that is at peace are treasures of the Kingdom. But how will be worthy of that? We as Christians need to learn how to convert worldly currency into Heavenly treasure. But there is a deadline. We have to do the conversions before we die.

When you give tithes on the weekends, people’s souls are converted, people get saved, marriages are healed, churches are planted, young men and women are actually being trained for the ministry. Prisoners are being reached with the gospel. Radio and TV are reaching shut ins. Pastors are being trained by this church because they are watching over the internet in upper Alaska where they can’t get resources. We are touching over fifty one thousand viewers which each TV program. When you give, God converts it into eternal fruit. Tithe means the first tenth. So we give our first tenth to God. In Deuteronomy 14:23 God wants to teach us to always put Him first. He said, “Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always.” The tithe is not the last tenth, but the first tenth. Whatever you want God to bless, always put him first in that. God said, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now this says the LORD of hosts, ‘See if I will not open for you the window of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.’” (Malachi 3: 10).

Another reason for tithing is …

2.  It reestablishes our PURPOSE on this earth.

The greatest reason why people don’t give to the Kingdom is the illusion that this world is our home. It is not - For we have brought nothing into this world, so we cannot take anything out either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, and some longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief’s." (1 Tim. 6:7-10)

If we accumulate worldly wealth and never convert it into Heavenly treasure then we enter the kingdom with nothing. We need to enter the kingdom with the Heavenly treasure in our hearts.

Remember …

* It's not money but the LOVE of money that is the root of all evil.

Why should we tithe?

3. It shows us what true VALUE is.

The way we handle funds shows us what true value is. As the Bible says, "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes out and sells all he has and buys that field." (Matt. 13:44)

The Kingdom of Heaven is such a treasure that the way we use money should reflect how much we treasure God. The way I improve myself must express how much I treasure God and not how I look. The way I treat people must express how much I treasure God and not how much I treasure popularity.

The way we SPEND our money should express how much we treasure God... not how much we treasure money.

The kingdom of God is so precious we must express how much we treasure God. Otherwise we will be fighting for little and giving up a lot. Too often, we have the wrong values. We are fight for the world and give up four hundred million times that.

So don’t forget who we are and that we have a purpose on this earth. When God sees that we are faithful He will give us more and say, “convert this and lets change the world”.

I would like to challenge everyone to be people of the tithe in the year 2012 and challenge God.

Questions to ponder:

1) Are you using your special gifts and converting it into your heart?

2) How much do you treasure God in your life?

3) What is wrong with thinking that earth is our home.

4) What can I do to take the challenge and become a people of the tithe for the year 2012?