Message Notes

YAG RETREAT 2006
Theme: Money Matters
Venue: Changi Village Hotel
Date: 11-13 May 2006         
Session #3

7. Vanity… A grasping of the wind                                    Ecclesiastes 2:4-11

a) Landed property                                                             Ecclesiastes 2:4

b) Vineyards/Gardens/Orchards                                          Ecclesiastes 2:5

c) Herds/flocks                                                                   Ecclesiastes 2:7

d) Silver, gold, treasures                                                     Ecclesiastes 2:8

e) Staff of servants                                                             Ecclesiastes 2:7, 8

f) Cultivated cultural/musical interest                                  Ecclesiastes 2:8

“Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done
And on the labour in which I had toiled;
And indeed all was vanity and grasping  for the wind”        Ecclesiastes 2:11
(Cf. Ecclesiastes)

8. Sense of Frustration

a) Distress

b) Leaving it all behind

c) Uncertain as to how posterity will appreciate their inheritance

“Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressful to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind” Ecclesiastes 2:17

“Then I hated all my labour in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me,
And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labour in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 2:18-19

C. BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES CONCERNING MONETARY MATTERS

1. Acknowledgment of God’s hand of blessing                  Deuteronomy 8, 26

a) Receiving

i) Danger of forgetting God’s hand of blessing          Deuteronomy 8:14

ii) Arrogant claim of personal power                        Deuteronomy 8:17

iii) God’s power to gain wealth acknowledged          Deuteronomy 8:18

“The blessing of the LORD makes one rich,
And He adds no sorrow to it.”                                            Proverbs 10:22

b) Giving                                                                          Proverbs 3:9-10

i) Acknowledgment of God’s hand of blessing          Deuteronomy 26:7-10

ii) Giving of the tithe with joy                                  Deuteronomy 26:11-13

iii) Charity                                                              Deuteronomy 26:13-14

“The generous soul will be made rich,
And he who waters will also be watered himself”                Proverbs 11:25

“There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing;
and one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches”       Proverbs 13:7

c) Significance of acknowledging God’s hand of blessing

i) Rightful

ii) Safe

iii) Wise

iv) Appreciation

v) Worship

2. The Principle of Tithing

a) Training of the Soul

i) Training of the soul to regard God

ii) Training of the heart to obey

iii) Training of the individual to have a sense of community

b) Development of the Mind/heart

i) To plan

ii) To have a greater sense of responsibility concerning material blessings

iii) Utility of funds for ministry purposes

c) Where there is failure to practise tithing               Malachi 3:8-10

i) It is compared to “robbery”

ii) Penalty of a curse placed upon those who “rob God”

d) Promise of blessing where Tithing is faithfully practised

i) Special outpouring of blessing

ii) Immeasurable blessing

e) However tithing should not be practised as “a contractual transaction”