(upbeat theme music)
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>>Welcome to "Sabbath School,"
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brought to you by It Is Written.
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We're delighted to have
you with us again this week
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as we continue our
journey through the subject
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of "Managing for the
Master Till He Comes."
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We are looking this
week at lesson number two,
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"God's Covenants With Us."
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We're looking at faith.
We're looking at finances.
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We're looking at stewardship,
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and we are grateful
this week once again
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to have the
author of this quarter's
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Sabbath school
lesson with us, Ed Reid.
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He is a licensed attorney,
and he is an ordained minister
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and has been involved with
stewardship for over 30 years.
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Before we delve into this week's
lesson, let's have prayer.
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Father, we thank You for
guiding us along this journey,
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helping us to be able
to see how our management,
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our stewardship of the
funds that You entrust to us
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has an incredible
impact on not just our lives,
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but on the work of spreading
the gospel around the world.
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We ask that You'll bless us
as we study again this week,
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and we thank You,
in Jesus' name, amen.
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Ed, thanks for
joining us again this week.
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>>Well, thank you.
It's a pleasure to be here.
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>>As I mentioned a moment ago,
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we're looking at
"God's Covenants With Us,"
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and I wanna take a
look at the memory text
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for just a moment.
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It's Deuteronomy,
chapter 28, verses 1 and 2.
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Here's what it says:
"Now it shall come to pass,
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"if you diligently obey
the voice of the Lord your God,
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"to observe
carefully all His commandments
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"which I command you today,
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"that the Lord your
God will set you high above
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"all nations of the
earth. And all these blessings
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"shall come upon
you and overtake you
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because you obey the
voice of the Lord your God."
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So this week's study is called
"God's Covenants With Us."
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What do you mean by
"God's covenants with us"?
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>>Well, it's very
interesting because,
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even though God is the
Creator and the Sustainer
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of the whole universe,
everything we know about,
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He gets real personal with
us in making business decisions.
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The interesting thing
to me is that God has made
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contracts with us. Most of
the promises are contracts.
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Contracts are interesting
because our day-to-day life
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actually handles, deals
with contracts all the time.
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For example, if
you wanna buy a car
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that you see alongside the
road that's got a for-sale sign,
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you go to the guy and say,
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"How much do you
want for the car?"
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He'll say, "Well, I want 5,000."
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"Well, I like your car, but
I'm only gonna give you 4,500.
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If you'll take
that, I'll buy it."
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And, "Well, I can't
take that. I'll take 4,750."
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So you'll make a, strike a deal.
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Well, that's a
contract you just decided.
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Another contract is you do
wanna buy gas for your car,
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so you pull into a
station and it says $4 a gallon.
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If you pump the gas,
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you just signed the contract
that you're gonna pay for it.
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So there's contracts
all the time in life,
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but God does that
with us individually.
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And it's interesting
that most of the contracts
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that God makes are bilateral,
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which means that
He has a part to play,
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and we have a
part to play as well.
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For example, He says, "If
you do this, I'll do that,"
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or, "If you'll do
this, I'll do that."
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The interesting
part about it is that
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there are occasionally
unilateral contracts in the
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Bible, and I'll just share
that unilateral contract means
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only one party
makes the difference.
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So I'll give you an idea.
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Unilateral contract says
whether you do anything or not,
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I'm not, I'm gonna do this.
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For example, "He makes
[the] sun to [shine] on the evil
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"and on the good,
and sends [the] rain
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on the just and...the unjust."
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The bottom line is
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whatever we do
doesn't make any difference.
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God's still gonna send
the sunshine and the rain.
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Another
interesting thing is that...
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He promised in
Genesis, the eighth chapter,
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"While the earth
remains, seedtime and harvest,
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"cold and heat,
winter and summer,
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...day and night
shall not cease."
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The season will come and
go regardless of what we do.
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So those are God's promises.
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It's real
interesting that examples
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of God's bilateral
contracts are in the Bible.
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That one, Eric, that you
just read in Deuteronomy 28,
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I like this.
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The way you can see these
contracts is, "If you do this,
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then I'll do that."
That's what He says.
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So, "If you diligently obey,
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"then I'm gonna
send all these blessings
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"that'll come upon you,
and I mentioned earlier,
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that will overtake you."
Wouldn't that be something
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to have God's
blessings overtake you?
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Then, Proverbs,
the third chapter,
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is one of my favorite verses.
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I've told people many
times that there's many verses,
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over 2,000 verses, in the Bible
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that deal with
money and possessions
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and our attitude toward them.
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But the interesting part
is that, for me, at least,
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Proverbs, the third chapter
is probably one of the best.
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And it says if
you'll "honour the Lord
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with [your] substance"--this
is Proverbs 3, verse 9--
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"and with the firstfruits
of all [your] increase,"
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then "[your] barns
[will] be filled with plenty,
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and [your] press [will
over] burst out with new wine."
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Now, you have to understand
from the Bible perspective,
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God dealt with
people who were agrarian
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and people that
were farmers. And so,
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most of us don't have
barns or presses, but God says,
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"I'll work, I'll bless
the work of your hands."
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That's what He's
talking about here.
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The covenants are, "If
you do this, I'll do that."
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So these are God
actually dealing with us
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on a very
practical and simple basis.
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>>You know, in
speaking of these,
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the bilateral contracts, reminds
me of the book of Malachi,
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Malachi, chapter three. Let
me read just a few verses here.
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Starting in verse
number 10, it says,
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"Bring ye all the
tithes into the storehouse,
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"that there may be
meat in mine house,
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"and prove me now herewith,
saith the Lord of hosts,
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"if I will not open
you the windows of heaven,
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"and pour you out a blessing,
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"that there shall not be
room enough to receive it.
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"And I will rebuke the
devourer for your sakes,
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"and he shall not destroy
the fruits of your ground;
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"neither shall your vine
cast her fruit before the time
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in the field,
saith the Lord of hosts."
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There's another, I guess,
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what you'd consider a
bilateral contract there, yes?
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>>Yes, and in addition to that,
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the verse right before it says,
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"If you return to me,
then I'll return to you."
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So there's many
bilateral contracts in that one.
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And finally God says,
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"If you'll return
your tithes and offerings,
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then there'll be
provision in my house."
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And then He
challenges us to prove Him,
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to see if He won't do this,
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"If I will not open for
you the windows of heaven
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and pour out such blessing
there is not room enough
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to receive it."
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I tell people if you
don't have room enough
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to receive it, what do you have?
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You have surplus. You
have more than you need.
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So God's giving you a blessing
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so you can be a
blessing to others.
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We can be answers
to people's prayers,
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and that's a good
thing to me, it seems like.
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"I'll rebuke the
devourer for your sake."
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I love that one. We frequently
don't bring in verse 11,
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but that's part of
the, God's contract with us.
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"If you'll be
faithful, I'll bless you,
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and I'm gonna rebuke
the devourer for your sake."
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So, if you're like me
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and try to keep
your cars a long time--
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I've got a car that's got
almost 300,000 miles on it;
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it's still running fine. So
God's gonna rebuke the devourer.
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A lot of people trade their cars
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when they're, like, 100,000
miles, but this is amazing.
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God's done
something great for me,
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and I can tell
that He's done that.
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So this is kind of
what we're looking at here.
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Matthew 6:33 is
another interesting one.
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To me this is
amazing where it says,
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God says, "I know that you
have need for food and clothing
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and shelter," and, but He said,
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"If you'll seek me first, then
I'll"--then what will He do?
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"All these things
will be added unto you.'"
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So that's a contract there.
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God says if you put Him
first, He'll take care of you.
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>>That's an incredible contract.
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It's a verse that I think
many of us are familiar with,
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we've certainly heard,
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and putting it in its
context where God says,
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"I'll take care of all
the needs that you have,"
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if you put Him
first, is encouraging.
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Now, probably one of the most
important needs that we have
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is referenced here
on Sunday's lesson,
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which is "The
Salvation Covenant."
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What is meant by a
salvation covenant or contract,
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and how does that
fit into this picture?
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>>Well, this is very
interesting because, of course,
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Jesus died for
everybody who's ever lived
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and ever will live, but
not everybody will be saved.
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In fact, the Bible is very clear
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in Matthew, the seventh chapter,
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that the broad way
leads to the destruction.
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Most people go in that way.
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But the interesting part
is, for those who accept,
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He promises to save and
to bring salvation to them.
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Now, some people say,
"Well, no matter what people do,
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God's gonna save everybody."
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That's what we
call universalism,
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and that's certainly not true.
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The Bible is very
clear that Jesus taught
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that He died for all humanity,
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and many people traveled
the wrong way, of course.
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Paul understood
this, that he was,
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when he was about to be
executed, Apostle Paul--
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real interesting
character, in my opinion--
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he was all-in for God
once he was converted,
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and from then on
nothing could deter him.
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He was stoned, he was
shipwrecked, he was beaten,
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he was left for dead, put
in prison, all kind of things.
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But he said, "I'm
pressing on to the mark."
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I've accepted the contract.
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He "fought a good fight"
and "finished the course"
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and so on. So, it's
very clear that salvation
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is always
available to everybody,
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but they have to
believe and accept it,
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and we know the little book
"Steps to Christ," for example,
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has the confession, repentance,
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and change of your life
and obedience to God and so on.
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It's not complex,
but it's pretty simple.
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But it has to be, both
parties have work to do.
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>>So there is choice here.
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There is the opportunity,
the necessity, I guess,
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maybe that's even
even a better word,
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to make a decision
which way we want to go.
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Do we want to fulfill
our end of the contract,
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or do we want to
just abandon that?
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And if we choose to abandon
it, God permits us to do that.
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He's not going to handcuff
us to heaven, as it were,
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but He gives us the opportunity,
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for those who want to be saved,
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to make that
decision and to be saved,
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which kind of leads
us into Monday's lesson.
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Monday's lesson is
about hearkening diligently.
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It's one thing to
listen, or, I guess,
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maybe it's better to
say it's one thing to hear,
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it's another thing to listen,
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and it's a whole
'nother thing to obey.
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What's our responsibility
in our contracts with God?
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What does God expect
of us, for us to uphold
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our end of these contracts?
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>>That's a very
interesting question.
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So I can use it in legal terms
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that would help
you a little bit.
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If we say we're one
of the followers of God,
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but we don't do the
obedience, we have what we call
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"breached the contract." So
it doesn't apply to us anymore.
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You said it. It's our own
choice, and of course it is.
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But the bottom line is
we have the opportunity
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to be faithful
or to be disobedient
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and unfaithful and
breach the contract.
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So He said, "If you love
me, keep my commandments."
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And the commandments
"are not grievous," of course.
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It's not difficult.
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So I think it's important
for us to understand clearly
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that God has
made a way of escape,
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and He's also
given us the help to,
00:10:18.65\00:10:20.32
the power to be
victorious in our lives.
00:10:20.32\00:10:22.92
So, if we use our own choice
and we choose the wrong way,
00:10:22.92\00:10:25.82
that's our own fault, really.
00:10:25.82\00:10:27.96
>>So, are there any
examples that you can think of
00:10:27.96\00:10:29.92
in the Bible
that you might mention
00:10:29.92\00:10:31.76
where people made a decision
to either break a contract
00:10:31.76\00:10:34.83
or to keep a
contract that we can use
00:10:34.83\00:10:38.23
as maybe
guidance in our own lives?
00:10:38.23\00:10:41.47
>>Well, it's kind of interesting
that you asked the question
00:10:41.47\00:10:43.44
because,
throughout the Old Testament,
00:10:43.44\00:10:45.17
the children of
Israel were God's people,
00:10:45.17\00:10:47.04
and He would always tell them,
00:10:47.04\00:10:48.61
in these verses you just read,
about being diligent to obey,
00:10:48.61\00:10:51.01
and He would bless them.
00:10:51.01\00:10:52.58
In spite of all the blessings,
in spite of all the miracles,
00:10:52.58\00:10:54.55
they were frequently distracted
by things around them,
00:10:54.55\00:10:57.39
the things of
the world and so on.
00:10:57.39\00:10:58.92
So, they would
breach the contract,
00:10:58.92\00:11:00.56
and He would always
come back and forgive them
00:11:00.56\00:11:02.32
if they were obedient to do it.
00:11:02.32\00:11:05.63
Frequently, it's
amazing to me that in the Bible,
00:11:05.63\00:11:09.10
when there were
wars or conquests,
00:11:09.10\00:11:10.50
people tried to conquer Israel.
00:11:10.50\00:11:12.57
One time they were facing a
million men, the Bible says,
00:11:12.57\00:11:16.10
and they prayed, and God
delivered them from those
00:11:16.10\00:11:18.17
people. And then, in other
times they were not delivered
00:11:18.17\00:11:21.24
because they had
been disobedient.
00:11:21.24\00:11:22.94
So God's protection that
He's promised in other verses
00:11:22.94\00:11:25.91
depended on their faithfulness.
00:11:25.91\00:11:28.25
>>So, God makes
covenants with us.
00:11:28.25\00:11:30.42
He desires to
make covenants with us,
00:11:30.42\00:11:32.02
and He hopes and expects
that we're going to uphold
00:11:32.02\00:11:35.99
our ends of the covenants.
00:11:35.99\00:11:37.56
But as you
mentioned, that's up to us.
00:11:37.56\00:11:39.96
We have to decide
whether we want to or not.
00:11:39.96\00:11:42.23
And sometimes, somebody might
say, "Well, it's, you know,
00:11:42.23\00:11:44.30
the things that God
requires of us are difficult."
00:11:44.30\00:11:47.30
I suppose that largely depends
00:11:47.30\00:11:49.07
on what your
definition of difficult is.
00:11:49.07\00:11:51.34
You know, if we're trying to
do things under our own power,
00:11:51.34\00:11:53.48
yeah, that's likely
going to be very difficult.
00:11:53.48\00:11:56.18
But if we instead
choose to lean on Christ
00:11:56.18\00:11:59.48
and allow Him to help us
keep our end of the covenants,
00:11:59.48\00:12:03.85
it's probably gonna
go a whole lot better.
00:12:03.85\00:12:05.79
Any thoughts on that, Ed?
00:12:05.79\00:12:07.09
>>Yes, it's interesting
you just read something
00:12:07.09\00:12:08.66
from Malachi, the third chapter,
00:12:08.66\00:12:09.96
and this, to me,
is an amazing one,
00:12:09.96\00:12:11.29
because you say it's difficult.
00:12:11.29\00:12:14.03
It's only difficult
if you don't trust God,
00:12:14.03\00:12:16.40
because if you say
God--if you obey God,
00:12:16.40\00:12:19.40
and He doesn't follow up with
His part, that never happens.
00:12:19.40\00:12:24.47
So, you can just say if there's
a breach in the contract,
00:12:25.77\00:12:27.14
I did it.
00:12:27.14\00:12:28.54
So you understand that
next week we're gonna talk about
00:12:28.54\00:12:31.25
the tithing contract,
and the bottom line is
00:12:31.25\00:12:33.55
tithing is not difficult.
00:12:33.55\00:12:34.65
It's very easy to sit
down and write a check,
00:12:34.65\00:12:36.62
but it's difficult. The
difficult part is believing
00:12:36.62\00:12:39.19
that God will take care of
you if you give this money away.
00:12:39.19\00:12:42.76
>>And that's fascinating,
because some people do consider
00:12:42.76\00:12:45.23
it to be very, very difficult.
00:12:45.23\00:12:46.36
But like everything
else, it's a choice.
00:12:46.36\00:12:48.60
We're gonna come
back and continue looking
00:12:48.60\00:12:50.03
at "God's Covenants With Us."
00:12:50.03\00:12:51.53
But I wanna encourage
you, if you wanna get more
00:12:51.53\00:12:53.40
out of this quarter's
Sabbath school lesson,
00:12:53.40\00:12:55.54
make sure that you pick
up the companion book for it.
00:12:55.54\00:12:58.17
It is authored by Ed
Reid, our guest this week
00:12:58.17\00:13:00.68
and every week here on
the "Sabbath School" program
00:13:00.68\00:13:03.14
here on It Is Written.
00:13:03.14\00:13:04.55
The name of the companion book
is "Managing for the Master."
00:13:04.55\00:13:08.02
You can find this
book at itiswritten.shop.
00:13:08.02\00:13:11.12
Again, that's at
itiswritten.shop.
00:13:11.12\00:13:13.69
Just look for the book "Managing
for the Master" by Ed Reid,
00:13:13.69\00:13:17.33
and you will get a lot
more out of this quarter's
00:13:17.33\00:13:19.39
Sabbath school lesson.
00:13:19.39\00:13:20.73
Additional insights, incredible
stories, you'll be blessed.
00:13:20.73\00:13:23.40
We're gonna come
back in just a moment
00:13:23.40\00:13:24.77
as we continue our study
of "God's Covenants With Us."
00:13:24.77\00:13:28.27
We'll be right back.
00:13:28.27\00:13:29.34
(upbeat theme
music swells and ends)
00:13:29.34\00:13:31.97
>>[John Bradshaw]
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Our number
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00:13:55.70\00:13:59.73
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00:14:34.27\00:14:37.51
>>Welcome back
to "Sabbath School,"
00:14:38.64\00:14:39.81
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:14:39.81\00:14:42.11
We're looking this
week at lesson number two,
00:14:42.11\00:14:43.78
"God's Covenants With
Us," and let's hone in
00:14:43.78\00:14:47.32
on Tuesday's lesson
here for just a moment.
00:14:47.32\00:14:49.55
It's called "Honor the Lord."
00:14:49.55\00:14:51.15
I'm gonna read to you
from Proverbs, chapter three.
00:14:51.15\00:14:55.46
I'll start in verse number five.
00:14:55.46\00:14:56.83
Here it says, "Trust in
the Lord with all thine heart;
00:14:56.83\00:14:59.29
"and lean not unto
thine own understanding.
00:14:59.29\00:15:02.20
"In all thy
ways acknowledge Him,
00:15:02.20\00:15:04.20
"and He shall direct thy paths.
00:15:04.20\00:15:06.74
"Be not wise in thine own eyes:
00:15:06.74\00:15:09.07
fear the Lord,
and depart from evil."
00:15:09.07\00:15:13.14
So here again is
God's direction to us.
00:15:13.14\00:15:15.98
He says, "Fear the Lord"--
00:15:15.98\00:15:17.05
respect the
Lord--"and depart from evil."
00:15:17.05\00:15:20.92
There are some promises here
about what God is going to do
00:15:20.92\00:15:25.79
with what we have,
what He entrusts us.
00:15:25.79\00:15:30.79
He talks a little bit
about the firstfruits.
00:15:30.79\00:15:32.83
Can you talk a little bit
about the firstfruits as well?
00:15:32.83\00:15:34.96
>>Yes.
00:15:34.96\00:15:36.30
It's interesting to me
that Proverbs talks about
00:15:36.30\00:15:38.23
several contractual things here.
00:15:38.23\00:15:40.27
For example, in verse six,
00:15:40.27\00:15:41.84
"In all your
ways acknowledge Him,"
00:15:41.84\00:15:43.44
and what will He do then?
00:15:43.44\00:15:44.91
He'll do something.
00:15:44.91\00:15:46.27
He says, if you do that,
He'll "direct your paths."
00:15:46.27\00:15:49.78
A lot of people have come
to me in the past and said,
00:15:49.78\00:15:51.08
"Well, we have
several options that we can,
00:15:51.08\00:15:53.75
need to think about
here. Which one should we do?"
00:15:53.75\00:15:56.15
Well, God's providential
leading will open the way
00:15:56.15\00:15:57.95
if we pray for it and ask
for His protection and leading.
00:15:57.95\00:16:00.69
It's interesting also
that we understand that
00:16:00.69\00:16:03.83
the book of Proverbs is not
so much about right and wrong
00:16:03.83\00:16:06.29
as it is wisdom and foolishness.
00:16:06.29\00:16:08.26
So, if you've got
smarts, if you're wise,
00:16:08.26\00:16:10.57
"The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom:
00:16:10.57\00:16:11.90
and knowledge...holy
is understanding."
00:16:11.90\00:16:13.23
This is important
that we understand this.
00:16:13.23\00:16:15.27
The Bible is very clear
that God's got the answers,
00:16:15.27\00:16:17.54
and we can get them from Him
00:16:17.54\00:16:18.84
if we're willing to
listen and talk with Him.
00:16:18.84\00:16:20.91
>>So God puts us in
management of, well,
00:16:20.91\00:16:24.41
they're really His possessions.
00:16:24.41\00:16:26.05
>>[Ed] Correct.
00:16:26.05\00:16:27.15
>>And He wants
us to manage those.
00:16:27.15\00:16:28.98
What are some, what's
involved in the management
00:16:28.98\00:16:32.55
of those possessions?
00:16:32.55\00:16:34.72
>>Well, we've kind of touched
on this in some other lessons,
00:16:34.72\00:16:37.26
but I'll just mention the
first thing is to recognize
00:16:37.26\00:16:39.06
that God's the
owner of everything,
00:16:39.06\00:16:40.40
that it's His
stuff we're dealing with.
00:16:40.40\00:16:41.50
So, He's the one
that makes the boundaries.
00:16:41.50\00:16:44.03
I remember going
to a meeting one time
00:16:44.03\00:16:45.70
when there was a person that
was talking about stewardship,
00:16:45.70\00:16:47.94
and he had said that he was
a tither; he was a 3% tither.
00:16:47.94\00:16:51.51
And I said--well,
I thought to myself,
00:16:51.51\00:16:52.97
where did they ever get that?
00:16:52.97\00:16:54.58
Because the
Bible talks about 10%,
00:16:54.58\00:16:56.51
which we'll talk about
when we talk about next lesson,
00:16:56.51\00:16:59.35
I believe, coming up.
00:16:59.35\00:17:00.72
The point that I'm
trying to make is, you,
00:17:00.72\00:17:02.92
to be faithful with
God, we must accept His terms
00:17:02.92\00:17:05.32
and His part of the bargain.
00:17:05.32\00:17:07.29
It's kind of like
credit card companies.
00:17:07.29\00:17:08.79
If you get a
credit card, they get,
00:17:08.79\00:17:11.09
you get a letter from 'em
sometimes, and they'll say,
00:17:11.09\00:17:13.13
"We've changed
the contract terms.
00:17:13.13\00:17:14.96
"Now you're
gonna get this or this,
00:17:14.96\00:17:16.70
and we're gonna
do this and this."
00:17:16.70\00:17:18.60
And you say, "We have, I
thought I had input into it."
00:17:18.60\00:17:20.50
Well, you do. You can
quit the card if you want to.
00:17:20.50\00:17:22.04
But they're just saying,
"We're gonna change the terms."
00:17:22.04\00:17:24.41
There's a lot of things
that you need to think about
00:17:24.41\00:17:26.14
when you're talking to people
about their money management
00:17:26.14\00:17:29.41
and especially when we talk
about God's contracts with us.
00:17:29.41\00:17:32.28
We wanna be faithful to
Him. The big bottom line, Eric,
00:17:32.28\00:17:35.78
and we've talked
about this already,
00:17:35.78\00:17:37.05
is that if you trust God
00:17:37.05\00:17:38.32
and you have a
relationship with God,
00:17:38.32\00:17:39.95
what He says, you'll do, and
you'll be blessed as a result.
00:17:39.95\00:17:42.66
We just have to take
that by faith and see.
00:17:42.66\00:17:45.53
That's one of the
reasons why you have old folks
00:17:45.53\00:17:47.20
like myself that
can talk to people.
00:17:47.20\00:17:49.13
I've trusted God, and
He's taken care of me,
00:17:49.13\00:17:50.93
and I can recommend it to you.
00:17:50.93\00:17:53.34
>>So, you've seen it.
You've experienced it yourself.
00:17:53.34\00:17:55.74
God has promised it in His Word.
00:17:55.74\00:17:58.31
There are a lot of
people who like the Bible,
00:17:58.31\00:18:01.84
who appreciate the Bible,
00:18:01.84\00:18:03.18
who believe, at least,
large chunks of the Bible,
00:18:03.18\00:18:06.21
but when it gets down to, well,
00:18:06.21\00:18:09.52
when it gets down to to
finances, sometimes people,
00:18:09.52\00:18:12.49
they're a little
more hesitant to believe
00:18:12.49\00:18:14.52
some of the
things that God says.
00:18:14.52\00:18:16.12
He says that our barns
will be filled with plenty.
00:18:16.12\00:18:19.59
He tells us that
we're not going to lack.
00:18:19.59\00:18:21.50
He tells us that He's gonna
take care of all of our needs
00:18:21.50\00:18:24.23
and maybe even
some of our wants.
00:18:24.23\00:18:26.30
And you mentioned a
moment ago about the tithe
00:18:26.30\00:18:29.87
and... (laughs)
somebody who tithes 3%,
00:18:29.87\00:18:33.54
which is a bit of a challenge,
00:18:33.54\00:18:35.48
seeing as how the word
"tithe" doesn't mean "three,"
00:18:35.48\00:18:38.91
but Wednesday's
lesson actually talks about
00:18:38.91\00:18:42.32
the tithe contract.
00:18:42.32\00:18:44.42
What's the significance
of that tithe contract?
00:18:44.42\00:18:47.29
What does it entail?
00:18:47.29\00:18:49.06
What does it look like,
and why is it so important
00:18:49.06\00:18:51.59
in our faith walk with God?
00:18:51.59\00:18:54.20
>>Let me just answer
one other thing first, Eric,
00:18:54.20\00:18:56.20
and that is you asked
me about the firstfruits
00:18:56.20\00:18:58.00
from Proverbs and also
"put God first" in Matthew 6:33.
00:18:58.00\00:19:03.07
Why does God ask
us to put Him first?
00:19:04.17\00:19:05.41
It's not because
we--this is legal terms--
00:19:05.41\00:19:07.51
not because He's
arbitrary and capricious
00:19:07.51\00:19:09.54
and just saying,
"Because I said so."
00:19:09.54\00:19:11.91
The reason is God
says, "If you put me first,
00:19:11.91\00:19:13.75
I'll bless the rest."
00:19:13.75\00:19:15.12
Very few accountants
can come up with the fact
00:19:16.32\00:19:18.02
that God can bless
90% as much as 100%,
00:19:18.02\00:19:20.12
but we know from experience,
00:19:20.12\00:19:21.92
those of us who
tithe, that He does that.
00:19:21.92\00:19:24.03
He blesses it
beyond our imaginations,
00:19:24.03\00:19:26.33
including rebuking the devourer
and all of those things.
00:19:26.33\00:19:29.53
So let me tell you
about the tithe contract.
00:19:29.53\00:19:32.53
The average person
doesn't recognize this,
00:19:32.53\00:19:34.20
but the tithe is not a
burden; it's a blessing.
00:19:34.20\00:19:36.67
Think about being in touch,
00:19:36.67\00:19:37.77
in business arrangement
with the Almighty God.
00:19:37.77\00:19:41.48
To me, this is incredible
00:19:41.48\00:19:42.84
to understand that the
Creator of the universe
00:19:42.84\00:19:45.85
is saying to me, "If
you'll be faithful with me,
00:19:45.85\00:19:48.25
I'll take care of you."
00:19:48.25\00:19:49.62
It's kind of like
when Abraham tithed--
00:19:49.62\00:19:51.65
we'll talk about that in
the tithing contract later--
00:19:51.65\00:19:53.62
but when Abraham tithed,
God told him the next day that
00:19:53.62\00:19:57.63
"I'll provide
protection for you,
00:19:57.63\00:20:01.06
"and you don't need to
worry 'cause I'll be your reward
00:20:01.06\00:20:03.03
and your great Guide."
00:20:03.03\00:20:04.30
That's in Genesis, chapter 15,
00:20:04.30\00:20:05.67
right after rescuing Lot
in chapter 14 of Genesis.
00:20:05.67\00:20:09.24
Let's go back to the tithe
contract now, just quickly.
00:20:09.24\00:20:12.27
The tithing legislation,
actually, is given in Leviticus
00:20:12.27\00:20:16.38
27. But this is a time when
they had these cycles, Eric,
00:20:16.38\00:20:20.32
as you well know,
00:20:20.32\00:20:21.68
that there were times in
the Bible when they obeyed God
00:20:21.68\00:20:23.02
and followed Him, and they were
blessed and very prosperous.
00:20:23.02\00:20:24.95
And when they
disobeyed and worshiped idols,
00:20:24.95\00:20:26.92
things happened bad to them.
00:20:26.92\00:20:28.56
This is one of the times
when they were disobeying,
00:20:28.56\00:20:30.49
and God said, "Return to me"--
00:20:30.49\00:20:33.03
this is the third
chapter of Malachi now--
00:20:33.03\00:20:34.63
"Return to me, and
I'll return to you."
00:20:34.63\00:20:36.67
So, He's saying,
"You've gotta do something
00:20:36.67\00:20:38.63
if you want me to bless
you, and that's return to me."
00:20:38.63\00:20:41.34
And then they said,
00:20:41.34\00:20:42.57
"Well, what do you
mean 'return to you'?"
00:20:42.57\00:20:43.81
And He said, "But
you've been robbing me
00:20:43.81\00:20:44.77
in tithes and offerings."
00:20:44.77\00:20:46.34
Now, it's interesting
that if you live next door
00:20:46.34\00:20:47.91
to a Christian person,
00:20:47.91\00:20:49.18
you wouldn't expect
him to break in your house
00:20:49.18\00:20:50.15
and rob from you.
00:20:50.15\00:20:51.45
But the bottom line
is we're robbing from God
00:20:51.45\00:20:53.55
if we take His part.
This is another thing.
00:20:53.55\00:20:55.95
He's got all the
resources in the world,
00:20:55.95\00:20:58.12
and everything's at His command
00:20:58.12\00:20:59.42
and all the
miracles He's able to do.
00:20:59.42\00:21:01.26
And we think
that it's a big deal
00:21:01.26\00:21:02.56
that we have to return a
tenth of our increase to Him.
00:21:02.56\00:21:05.36
The bottom line is God's told
us what to do, and we do it;
00:21:05.36\00:21:08.46
He blesses us, no question.
00:21:08.46\00:21:11.07
>>So if we do what
He's asked, He blesses us.
00:21:11.07\00:21:13.90
And if we choose not to,
if we're robbing from Him,
00:21:13.90\00:21:18.21
breaking a
contract, if you will,
00:21:18.21\00:21:19.57
then we can expect that
we're not going to receive
00:21:19.57\00:21:22.08
the same
blessings that we would have
00:21:22.08\00:21:25.11
if we had upheld
our end of the contract.
00:21:25.11\00:21:27.98
You know, there are many
people that we could rob.
00:21:27.98\00:21:31.69
The world is full of
people that we could rob,
00:21:31.69\00:21:33.99
which we shouldn't.
00:21:33.99\00:21:35.89
But if there's one
person, if I can use that word,
00:21:35.89\00:21:38.33
one person above all
that we shouldn't rob,
00:21:38.33\00:21:40.46
it would be God, right?
00:21:40.46\00:21:41.83
>>That's exactly right.
00:21:41.83\00:21:43.37
And the interesting part
about that, to me, is that
00:21:43.37\00:21:44.90
what you're saying is the
one who's got the resources
00:21:44.90\00:21:48.84
and the one who's got
the ability and the interest
00:21:48.84\00:21:50.71
and to bless us is the one
that we should be holding up
00:21:50.71\00:21:53.34
as a favorite, of course.
00:21:53.34\00:21:54.98
The, what I'll just tell
you is there's another one:
00:21:54.98\00:21:57.98
"You've been
cursed with a curse."
00:21:57.98\00:21:59.68
A lot of people
don't realize this,
00:21:59.68\00:22:01.12
but in Deuteronomy 28,
that we've read several times--
00:22:01.12\00:22:03.85
the first two verses, you know,
00:22:03.85\00:22:04.95
"Diligently obey,
and I'll bless you,
00:22:04.95\00:22:06.32
and these blessings will
overtake you," and so on--
00:22:06.32\00:22:08.99
verses 15-68, I
believe, in that chapter,
00:22:09.99\00:22:14.00
about 53 verses of curses.
00:22:14.00\00:22:16.90
Those, you'd never
wanna encounter any of those.
00:22:16.90\00:22:18.60
God says, "I'm not cursing you,
00:22:18.60\00:22:20.94
"but I'm
withholding my blessing,
00:22:20.94\00:22:22.30
"so the devil's cursing
you with all these things
00:22:22.30\00:22:23.67
"that come upon you.
Your prayers won't be heard;
00:22:23.67\00:22:26.04
your wife won't be faithful
to you; your crops will fail."
00:22:26.04\00:22:28.11
There's all kinds of problems.
00:22:28.11\00:22:29.21
"You'll have to borrow
and not lend to people."
00:22:29.21\00:22:31.01
All these things
are the curses of God.
00:22:31.01\00:22:34.42
So, do you want a
blessing or a curse?
00:22:34.42\00:22:36.65
We mentioned
earlier some of the reasons
00:22:36.65\00:22:38.02
that people get
involved in debt,
00:22:38.02\00:22:39.92
and we'll be talking about
debt in the future as well.
00:22:39.92\00:22:43.09
The interesting part about
that is that God says to us
00:22:43.09\00:22:47.60
that if you are faithful,
00:22:47.60\00:22:49.60
you'll lend to people,
and you won't have to borrow.
00:22:49.60\00:22:51.73
And we wanna be in that position
00:22:51.73\00:22:53.17
and not be...in bondage to debt,
00:22:53.17\00:22:57.91
is what I'm wanting to say.
00:22:57.91\00:23:00.31
>>Now, talking about
tithe here for just a moment,
00:23:00.31\00:23:03.21
I get a lot of
questions about tithe.
00:23:03.21\00:23:04.71
Tithe, of course, means 10%,
00:23:04.71\00:23:06.05
returning 10% of your, as
the Bible says, your increase.
00:23:06.05\00:23:09.72
The question that I get a
lot--and maybe you can shed
00:23:09.72\00:23:11.75
some insight and light
on this--people will ask me,
00:23:11.75\00:23:15.79
"Should I return a tenth
00:23:15.79\00:23:18.99
before I pay my other bills
or after I pay my other bills?"
00:23:18.99\00:23:23.10
That's the first
question. And second question:
00:23:23.10\00:23:25.17
"Should I return a tenth
from the gross or from the net?"
00:23:25.17\00:23:29.90
What kind of wisdom
can you give us on those?
00:23:29.90\00:23:31.77
When do you pay that
tithe? With everything,
00:23:31.77\00:23:34.34
from everything, or
from what you have left,
00:23:34.34\00:23:36.28
and gross or net?
What do you think?
00:23:36.28\00:23:38.08
>>Well, that's a good question.
00:23:38.08\00:23:39.45
We'll actually discuss
that in more detail next week.
00:23:39.45\00:23:40.78
But what, I'll just go
give you a short answer now.
00:23:40.78\00:23:43.92
Many years ago, I was
over in Gainesville, Georgia,
00:23:43.92\00:23:45.89
at the offices of
Christian Financial Concepts,
00:23:45.89\00:23:47.92
where Larry Burkett,
the late Larry Burkett,
00:23:47.92\00:23:49.62
was holding forth, and he was
on the air when I went there,
00:23:49.62\00:23:52.26
and a lady had
called in and said,
00:23:52.26\00:23:53.36
"Should we tithe on
the gross or the net?"
00:23:53.36\00:23:55.36
And Larry's answer was,
00:23:55.36\00:23:56.80
"Do you want a gross
blessing or a net blessing?"
00:23:56.80\00:23:59.43
>>I think that's a great answer.
That's a fantastic answer.
00:23:59.43\00:24:02.17
And if you want more and
deeper insight into that,
00:24:02.17\00:24:04.97
make sure you're here next week
00:24:04.97\00:24:06.14
as we delve more deeply into it.
00:24:06.14\00:24:08.28
Thursday. Thursday's
lesson says, "Seek Ye First."
00:24:08.28\00:24:12.35
Why do we seek God first?
00:24:13.15\00:24:15.78
What does that have
to do with this promise?
00:24:15.78\00:24:19.79
In Mark 12, verse 37,
it was said of Jesus that
00:24:19.79\00:24:22.49
"the common
people heard Him gladly."
00:24:22.49\00:24:25.26
Why did they hear Him gladly?
00:24:25.26\00:24:26.73
Why is it important
for us to seek Him first?
00:24:26.73\00:24:29.60
>>Well, that's a good question.
00:24:29.60\00:24:30.73
I'll tell you one
of the reasons is that
00:24:30.73\00:24:32.63
if you have a $100,000 or
$10, which is easier to tithe?
00:24:32.63\00:24:37.21
>>It's easier to
tithe the larger amount
00:24:38.54\00:24:40.61
'cause you got a lot left.
00:24:40.61\00:24:42.08
>>Well, that's
the problem, though.
00:24:42.08\00:24:44.05
You have to give a lot away
to keep the left, what's left.
00:24:44.05\00:24:46.78
>>Yep.
00:24:46.78\00:24:48.15
>>The common people were
the ones that heard Jesus.
00:24:48.15\00:24:49.52
They're the ones that He
fed, the 5,000 and so on.
00:24:49.52\00:24:53.02
They're the ones that
heard the Sermon on the Mount.
00:24:53.02\00:24:54.36
The other people
were busy making money.
00:24:54.36\00:24:56.32
Like the rich young
ruler, when he came to Jesus,
00:24:56.32\00:24:57.96
he was running, you
know, he was really in a hurry,
00:24:57.96\00:25:00.40
and Jesus, what He told
him to do, he left sorrowful
00:25:00.40\00:25:02.46
'cause "he had
great possessions,"
00:25:02.46\00:25:03.60
so he let the
things take control of him
00:25:03.60\00:25:04.73
rather than him being
in control of himself.
00:25:04.73\00:25:07.27
>>So, seeking Him first
is the most important thing.
00:25:08.67\00:25:11.84
And everything else
kind of follows in its train.
00:25:11.84\00:25:14.74
What are some other
promises that we can receive
00:25:14.74\00:25:17.91
if we seek Him first?
00:25:17.91\00:25:19.71
>>Well, first of
all, we recognize that we,
00:25:19.71\00:25:22.88
in life there's
always a lot of distractions,
00:25:22.88\00:25:24.52
a lot of temptations,
and sometimes we call them
00:25:24.52\00:25:27.29
"chasing the devil's rabbits,"
you know, down bunny trails.
00:25:27.29\00:25:30.03
If we put God first,
He will direct our paths.
00:25:30.03\00:25:32.63
That's one of the things
we've learned from Proverbs 3.
00:25:32.63\00:25:34.83
You don't know what way to
go. Well, seek God's counsel,
00:25:34.83\00:25:37.73
and then you'll
know what way to go.
00:25:37.73\00:25:39.67
There's a interesting reference
to contracts for tithing
00:25:39.67\00:25:43.30
that's from "Counsels
on Stewardship," page 57.
00:25:43.30\00:25:46.44
If you could
read that one for us,
00:25:46.44\00:25:47.91
that would be
wonderful, I think.
00:25:47.91\00:25:50.01
>>Yep, "Counsels on
Stewardship," page number 57.
00:25:50.01\00:25:52.98
>>75--I read that backwards--75.
00:25:52.98\00:25:54.82
>>Okay, "Counsels on
Stewardship," page 75.
00:25:54.82\00:25:57.89
It says, "He who gave His
only-begotten Son to die for
00:25:57.89\00:26:01.19
you, "has made a
covenant with you.
00:26:01.19\00:26:02.86
"He gives you His blessing,
and in return He requires you
00:26:02.86\00:26:05.99
"to bring Him your
tithes and offerings.
00:26:05.99\00:26:08.63
"No one will ever dare
to say that there was no way
00:26:08.63\00:26:11.40
"in which he could understand
in regard to this matter.
00:26:11.40\00:26:14.60
"God's plan
regarding tithes and offerings
00:26:14.60\00:26:17.14
"is definitely stated in
the third chapter of Malachi.
00:26:17.14\00:26:20.38
"God calls upon His
human agents to be true
00:26:20.38\00:26:23.48
to the contract He
has made with them."
00:26:23.48\00:26:26.75
So, here He, God
even calls it a contract.
00:26:26.75\00:26:28.85
>>Yes. Isn't that amazing?
00:26:28.85\00:26:30.22
>>We can expect to see
some blessings from that, yes?
00:26:30.22\00:26:32.19
>>Yes, indeed.
00:26:32.19\00:26:33.56
>>So, this is encouraging.
God makes contracts with us.
00:26:33.56\00:26:37.49
He makes covenants
with us, and He does that
00:26:37.49\00:26:40.70
not for His own
benefit, but for our benefit,
00:26:40.70\00:26:44.93
for the benefit of,
really, honestly, everyone.
00:26:44.93\00:26:47.60
>>He wants us to learn to
trust Him, actually, Eric.
00:26:47.60\00:26:49.74
That's the big deal, because
He doesn't need the money,
00:26:49.74\00:26:51.61
does He?
00:26:51.61\00:26:52.61
>>He doesn't. The Bible says
00:26:52.61\00:26:53.71
He owns "the cattle
on a thousand hills."
00:26:53.71\00:26:55.68
The silver and the gold is His.
00:26:55.68\00:26:57.85
He said, "I wouldn't
tell you if I was poor.
00:26:57.85\00:27:01.85
I've got everything," right?
00:27:01.85\00:27:03.65
He's not in any need,
00:27:03.65\00:27:05.15
but He blesses us
with these things.
00:27:05.15\00:27:07.59
He entrusts us with
these things, and we are,
00:27:07.59\00:27:11.39
we are the
beneficiaries of those blessings
00:27:11.39\00:27:14.60
and those promises and
those covenants that He makes.
00:27:14.60\00:27:17.30
We're going to continue
looking at the many blessings
00:27:17.30\00:27:19.63
that God does indeed give
us, or at least offers to us,
00:27:19.63\00:27:23.30
if we are
interested in receiving them,
00:27:23.30\00:27:25.51
as we continue our study on
this subject of stewardship,
00:27:25.51\00:27:29.98
of faith and
finances, as we are looking at
00:27:29.98\00:27:32.88
"Managing for the
Master Till He Comes."
00:27:32.88\00:27:36.95
I wish you God's richest
blessings in the week ahead,
00:27:36.95\00:27:39.52
and when we come back next week,
00:27:39.52\00:27:40.86
we're going to be
looking at lesson number three
00:27:40.86\00:27:43.66
as we continue on
this journey together.
00:27:43.66\00:27:46.29
God bless you until
then. We'll see you next time.
00:27:46.29\00:27:48.86
(upbeat theme music)
00:27:48.86\00:27:52.50
(music ends)
00:28:26.37\00:28:28.84