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00:34 Good morning.
00:35 We'd like to welcome all of our online members 00:38 and those that are joining us from around the world 00:41 to another Sabbath School Study Hour. 00:44 We'd also like to welcome our visitors 00:46 and our members right here 00:48 at the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church. 00:50 Now this quarter, we have been studying 00:52 the biblical topic of stewardship. 00:54 And today's lesson is lesson number eight 00:57 entitled The Impact of Tithing, 01:00 The Impact of Tithing. 01:02 And with that, we also have our free offer 01:04 that goes right along with this lesson entitled 01:07 Thieves in the Church. 01:09 Now to receive this free offer, all you need to do is 01:12 call our resource line 01:13 at 1866-788-3966, 01:19 ask for offer number 136 entitled 01:22 Thieves in the Church. 01:24 Now for those of you that are outside the United States, 01:28 you can actually go to AmazingFacts.org 01:30 and you can download this free offer 01:33 right at AmazingFacts.org. 01:35 For those of you that don't have the lesson, 01:37 you can also go to AmazingFacts.org 01:39 and download lesson number eight 01:41 and join in our study. 01:52 Sing the wondrous love of Jesus 01:57 Sing His mercy and His grace 02:01 In the mansions bright and blessed 02:06 He'll prepare for us a place 02:10 When we all get to heaven 02:14 What a day of rejoicing that will be 02:19 When we all see Jesus 02:23 We'll sing and shout the victory 02:29 While we walk the pilgrim pathway 02:33 Clouds will overspread the sky 02:37 But when traveling days are over 02:42 Not a shadow, not a sigh 02:46 When we all get to heaven 02:50 What a day of rejoicing that will be 02:55 When we all see Jesus 03:00 We'll sing and shout the victory 03:05 Let us then be true and faithful 03:09 Trusting, serving every day 03:14 Just one glimpse of Him in glory 03:19 Will the toils of life repay 03:22 When we all get to heaven 03:27 What a day of rejoicing that will be 03:32 When we all see Jesus 03:36 We'll sing and shout the victory 03:41 Onward to the prize before us 03:46 Soon His beauty we'll behold 03:50 Soon the pearly gates will open 03:55 We shall tread the streets of gold 03:59 When we all get to heaven 04:04 What a day of rejoicing that will be 04:08 When we all see Jesus 04:13 We'll sing and shout the victory 04:20 Father in heaven, we thank You so much 04:22 that we can sing praises to You 04:25 as it warms our hearts 04:27 as they began to open 04:28 as we prepare them to receive Your Word. 04:32 Bless Pastor Doug in a special way 04:35 as he brings the Word to us as we study, 04:38 truly may You be glorified in all things. 04:40 We thank You and we praise You 04:42 in the precious and holy name of Jesus 04:44 we pray, amen. 04:47 Our lesson today is brought to us by Pastor Doug. 04:50 Today, we are on lesson number eight 04:52 in the study on stewardship. 04:55 And in particular, 04:56 we're talking about The Impact of Tithing. 04:59 Now we started doing something a few weeks ago, 05:01 we're going to continue that tradition. 05:03 And that is that right now at the beginning of the lesson, 05:06 some of you who are watching online, 05:08 if you say, "You know, we got questions 05:09 about that subject," 05:11 and we're going to do our best to answer as many as we can. 05:14 They'll be coming in to the third quarter 05:17 so to speak of the lesson 05:19 is chance for our people in the studio. 05:21 Read your questions online, I'll write them down, 05:24 they'll put them up on the screen for me. 05:26 And so send in your questions about the subject 05:28 of the impact of tithing. 05:30 And this is lesson eight in our quarterly. 05:33 Stewardship's a very important study 05:35 because really in life, 05:38 so much has to do with 05:41 what you do with the time you have 05:43 and what you do with the means you have and the influence. 05:47 And so this is going to be dealing with that subject 05:51 in the very direct way. 05:52 And we have a memory verse. 05:53 Memory verse is from 1 Corinthians 9:13 and 14. 05:57 Two verses there, if you'd say it with me, 05:59 that'd be great. 06:00 1 Corinthians 9:13 and 14, and are you ready? 06:07 "Do you not know that those who minister the holy things 06:12 eat of the things of the temple, 06:14 and those who serve at the altar 06:16 partake of the offerings of the altar? 06:19 Even so the Lord has commanded 06:22 that those who preach the gospel 06:24 should live from the gospel." 06:27 Now it's interesting 06:29 when Pastor Ros and I do 06:31 Bible questions on Sunday night, 06:34 one of the most common questions we get 06:36 is regarding tithing. 06:38 They say, "Is the tithing principle 06:41 or the teachings about tithing, 06:44 do they apply to New Testament Christians?" 06:47 And this is not a question of, you know, 06:49 what the Seventh-day Adventist believe, 06:51 what do other Christians believe, 06:52 other Christians are divided all across the board on this. 06:56 You've probably heard it before 06:58 if you've ever scanned through other religious programming, 07:00 you've probably heard some preachers 07:03 talking about the importance of paying tithe. 07:05 And then you've heard others say, 07:06 "We're not under the law anymore, 07:08 we don't need to do that anymore." 07:10 And I always think 07:11 that's a very interesting discussion. 07:13 But the practicality of it is 07:17 that if you want people to be fully dedicated 07:21 to the work of ministry and to preaching the gospel, 07:25 it is not a part-time job. 07:28 My father used to tease me and he'd say, "Ah, Doug, 07:30 well, you only have to work once a week. 07:32 I got to work six days a week." 07:34 And so you're a pastor, 07:35 you just get up and preach a sermon 07:36 and you get to goof off all week long. 07:39 But if you know and, you know, I got to say there are probably 07:41 some pastors who do that. 07:44 I know one of them, 07:47 but I have met pastors that Friday night or Saturday night, 07:53 they get online and look at sermon central 07:55 and download a sermon, they preach it 07:57 and the rest of the week you can find them, 07:58 they'll be on the golf course 08:00 or they'd be taking care of the kids 08:01 so the wife could work, whatever they're doing. 08:03 But I couldn't do that, 08:07 my conscience would bother me too much 08:09 and there's just so much to do. 08:10 Ministry is a whole lot more than pastoring. 08:13 People need counseling, there's the hospital visits, 08:16 there is time that goes into study 08:18 and sermon preparation. 08:19 All kinds of church functions, it's usually board meetings 08:22 and there's just lots of activity. 08:25 And I remember when, 08:28 you know, I became a lay pastor 08:30 before I was a regular pastor, 08:32 so I was a self-supporting pastor. 08:36 And I remember what it's like to, you know, 08:39 work all week long here 08:41 in a logging company and you're working... 08:43 I was particular in the shop working on the trucks 08:47 or did mechanic work, you're doing carpentry work, 08:50 and then you're trying to also have your prayer meetings 08:53 and get your studies ready for your church 08:55 and sending out the fliers 08:56 and doing the bullet, you know, 08:57 one man pastor kind of does everything, 09:00 and it could be exhausting. 09:02 And I've got friends that were pastors of... 09:05 very hard working pastor of a Baptist church, 09:07 worked as a welder all week long, 09:09 and then during the week, 09:10 as soon as he get home, you know, eats some food, 09:12 then he goes off to prayer meeting, 09:14 he goes off to board meetings, 09:15 and have to study and wake up real early 09:18 so he could not only get ready for work 09:21 but then he'd have to be able to teach, 09:23 study the teachers, Sunday school classes 09:25 and then preach a sermon, 09:26 and just working themselves to death. 09:29 What happens is something starts to suffer. 09:32 A family starts to suffer, 09:35 the job you're trying to maintain 09:37 starts to suffer, 09:38 or your ministry starts to suffer. 09:41 This happened in the days of Israel. 09:43 God designed, remember, I've told you this earlier, 09:46 there is a trick question, how many tribes are there? 09:49 Jacob had 12 sons, 1 daughter, 09:52 but technically there's 13 tribes 09:55 because Jacob told Joseph 09:58 because your brother sold you 10:00 and your young sons were separated from me, 10:01 I'm going to give each of them an inheritance, 10:03 their names were Ephraim and Manasseh 10:05 just as though they were a tribe. 10:08 Well, doesn't that have to 13, yes, 10:10 but it sort of went back to 12 because God said, 10:13 "I will give an inheritance to the 12 tribes," 10:15 but the sons of Levi, 10:17 they don't get any one corner of the land, 10:20 they are going to be dispersed through the land, 10:22 and they are the ministers 10:24 and everybody was to bring tithe into the storehouse 10:27 and it would be distributed to the Levites 10:30 so that they could be the ministers of the people. 10:32 And there's a lot of ministry. 10:34 They're teaching the Word of God 10:35 and they were... 10:37 The Levites were the doctors. 10:39 That's right. 10:42 You know, where the word parson comes from? 10:45 What do you sometimes call a pastor? 10:47 Parson, he's called bishop, he's called pastor. 10:50 But the word parson comes from... 10:52 in the early English days, 10:55 the pastor was the person of the community 10:59 because not only did they look to him 11:01 to help mitigate civil issues, 11:06 they looked to him as the doctor in the community, 11:11 and then they looked to him for as the spiritual leader, 11:13 so they called them the parson. 11:15 He was sort of everything. 11:17 But the Levite was like that. 11:20 Where did they go for judgment? 11:22 They take things to the priests. 11:25 They were sort of the Supreme Court 11:27 and those things were delegated down. 11:29 Remember, during the time of Moses, 11:30 what tribe was he from? 11:32 Levite. And Aaron. 11:35 And so they became... 11:36 and when you had something if you were unclean 11:38 and you needed to be declared cleansed, 11:40 you'd go to the priests, 11:41 the priests were like the medical office. 11:44 And they didn't just declare people clean and unclean, 11:46 they also would help administer medical care. 11:49 And then there was the... 11:51 there were the religious leaders. 11:52 It was a very important position 11:53 and it was meant to be a fulltime position. 11:56 And so they did not get the benefit 11:58 of the inheritance that everybody else got, 12:01 but everybody was to be paying a tithe. 12:03 Now the Levites also paid the tithe 12:06 and their tithe went to the sons of Aaron, 12:09 to the High Priest and thing that comes out 12:11 later in our study today. 12:12 All right, 2 Corinthians 13:5, 12:17 "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. 12:21 Test yourselves. 12:22 Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you 12:25 unless indeed you are disqualified?" 12:27 I think King James is reprobate. 12:29 So it's a good idea sometimes 12:31 to just evaluate, take inventory, 12:33 and say, "Are we being faithful?" 12:36 The idea that God doesn't care anymore 12:39 if we pay a specific tithe, 12:42 my question would be is giving in New Testament times, 12:47 would it be better, more, or less 12:50 than Old Testament times 12:52 if you're going to make a comparison. 12:55 When you read Hebrews, does it say that 12:56 Jesus had an equal sacrifice as Moses or better? 12:59 Is it an equal covenant or a better covenant? 13:03 And so for New Testament Christians, 13:06 should it be the same as tithe or if anything more? 13:09 So for those who are saying, 13:10 "Oh, we don't need to pay tithe 13:11 'cause we're into the New Testament." 13:13 Usually, they don't want to pay 10%. 13:16 But really if you're going to be 13:17 a New Testament Christian, 13:19 you're getting yourself into a bigger problem. 13:22 But the idea that now we're New Testament Christians 13:24 and so we just give from love, we get from the heart. 13:27 And my question would be, okay, well, how much is heart giving? 13:30 Is there a percentage for heart giving 13:31 or is it just whatever you feel? 13:34 That's sort of a cop out. 13:35 When they say, 13:36 "Oh, I just give from my heart." 13:39 When I said, "Do you know what your paycheck is?" 13:40 "I just go with my heart, I don't look at it. 13:44 I don't care, just whatever God gives me is okay." 13:46 No, you do, you know what it is. 13:48 And if there's $10 missing, you know why it's missing. 13:52 And so all of a sudden, we become very spiritual 13:54 when God mentions a percentage 13:56 'cause we don't want to be locked in. 13:59 But if you want to go with a percentage, 14:02 let's look at the New Testament giving. 14:05 Turn with me in your Bibles the Acts 4: 32. 14:10 God pours out the Holy Spirit. 14:12 You're obviously now living in New Testament times, 14:14 New Covenant times. 14:16 Listen to how they gave. 14:18 "Now the multitude of those who believed 14:22 were of one heart and one soul. 14:25 Neither did anyone say 14:27 that any of the things he possessed was his own, 14:30 but they had all things in common." 14:32 Boy, that almost sounds like communism. 14:36 And by the way, do you know one of the first 14:38 socialistic countries was United States. 14:41 The pilgrims tried to have this kind of government 14:44 when they landed 14:46 and they nearly starved to death 14:48 because nobody wants to work in everybody's garden. 14:53 People want to work in their own garden. 14:55 It's true, a lot of them died the first winter. 14:57 And so they didn't do that for very long. 14:59 But when the Holy Spirit was poured out, 15:01 it's basically saying that everybody was freely giving, 15:03 it wasn't required, 15:05 it was offered, that's the difference. 15:06 When the government tells you, "We own everything." 15:08 It's different than when you willingly choose to. 15:12 No man said that all they had was his own 15:14 what they had all things in common, 15:16 "And with great power, 15:18 the apostles gave witness 15:19 to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, 15:21 and great grace was on them all. 15:24 Nor was there any among them who lacked," 15:26 wouldn't that be nice if all the missionaries, 15:29 and all the pastors, and all the evangelists, 15:32 and all the teachers had all they needed 15:34 to do all the ministry? 15:36 Wouldn't that be wonderful? 15:38 But, you know, the fact is today, 15:41 in some countries including North America, 15:44 some schools are closing, 15:47 churches are closing, I see it. 15:51 Just in the conference where I happen to work 15:53 where I've been for nearly 35 years now, 15:57 I know there are pastors that used to have... 16:00 one church used to have around two or three pastors, 16:02 now there's one pastor 16:03 and some churches have their own pastor, 16:05 now they got to share a pastor, 16:07 it's like there's a downsizing that's happening. 16:10 And you wonder is it because people got poorer 16:12 in the last 40 years. 16:15 Some of it is financial, some of it are other issues, 16:18 but that's a concerning trend. 16:22 Listen, it says, 16:23 "Nor was there anyone among them who lacked," 16:25 I'm still in Acts 4, 16:28 "for those who were possessors of houses and lands sold them, 16:32 and they brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, 16:35 and they laid them at the apostles' feet, 16:38 and they distributed to each one as they had need." 16:41 Well, here's a principle. 16:44 They brought it to a common place 16:46 where it was distributed according to the need. 16:49 So we're going to get into a study later 16:51 about what's the storehouse, 16:53 and that's one of the tips right there 16:56 that's going to help us understand that. 16:59 Then it goes on and it says here, 17:00 I'm still in chapter 4 of Acts, verse 35. 17:04 "Laid it at the apostles' feet, 17:06 it was distributed to anyone who had need. 17:08 And Joses, whose name was Barnabas by the apostles 17:11 translated Son of Encouragement, 17:13 a Levite of the country of Cyprus, 17:15 having land, sold it, and brought the money 17:17 and laid it at the apostles' feet." 17:18 So it introduces Barnabas 17:21 in the act of his great benevolence 17:23 that you see here. 17:25 All right, well, we're going to talk now 17:26 in the first section here about the idea of tithe 17:30 is to fund the mission. 17:31 We got a mission. 17:32 We're going say what is that mission. 17:34 Someone's going to read for me in just a moment Acts 1: 8. 17:38 Now if you look at the Great Commission in Matthew, 17:40 most of us know that, Matthew 28:19. 17:45 "Go ye therefore..." 17:46 how many of you have this memorized? 17:49 "Go ye therefore, teach the gospel, 17:50 and to all nations, 17:53 baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, 17:55 and the Holy Spirit. 17:56 Teaching them to observe all things 17:57 that I have commanded you, 17:58 lo, I am with you even to the end of the world." 18:01 So Matthew says, 18:02 "We're supposed to go into all the world." 18:03 We got an international ministry, 18:05 it's got to be funded. 18:07 Now this is a... 18:08 the gospel is a global enterprise 18:10 bigger than Apple. 18:13 Mark 16, here's Mark's Great Commission. 18:16 He said, "Go into all the world 18:18 and preach the gospel to every creature." 18:21 Almost makes it sound like 18:22 he's supposed to be preaching to the dogs, 18:24 and the cats, and the monkeys, preach to every creature. 18:27 But he wants us... 18:28 that was Jesus using that term to basically say, 18:31 "Not just Jews," 18:33 'cause the Jesus used to think 18:35 they were somehow more superior to the gentiles. 18:39 Jesus preached to every creature 18:41 so they would never misunderstand, 18:42 "You mean the gentiles too?" 18:45 Now the gospel you find, you know, 18:47 at the end of Mark and Luke, 18:49 it's easy to find their Great Commission. 18:51 You don't find the Great Commission 18:53 at the end of Luke 18:55 because Luke wrote two books 18:58 that really all go together to someone named Theophilus, 19:01 he wrote his gospel and he wrote Acts. 19:03 You find the Great Commission of Luke, so to speak, 19:06 in the first chapter of Acts. 19:09 So you're going to read that for us. 19:12 "But you shall receive power 19:14 when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. 19:16 And you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, 19:20 and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 19:24 Okay, of course, that was Acts 1: 8, 19:27 and there is your Great Commission. 19:28 Go into... notice the ends of the earth. 19:30 Now do you find the Great Commission 19:31 in the Gospel of John? 19:36 John says, "God so loved the world." 19:38 And so, you know, he tells us John's just so profound, 19:42 I think he ends his gospel by saying, 19:44 "The world itself can't contain all the books 19:47 that are written about Jesus," 19:48 he said, this is just to give you the picture. 19:50 But you see the gospel of John is really... 19:53 the Great Commission is all the way through. 19:55 But in John, He's often talking to the individual. 19:58 He's talking to the woman at the well, 20:00 He's talking to the blind man, He's talking to Nicodemus. 20:04 You'll find that John emphasizes 20:06 the one-on-one ministry of Jesus 20:08 which I thought was very interesting. 20:10 So we have a mission. 20:13 Can everybody quit their job and go out preaching? 20:17 Well, we probably could for about a month. 20:20 But then we probably start running into troubles 20:22 getting the unbelievers to fund us 20:23 because if they believe and they quit their job, 20:26 can you see where you'd run into a problem? 20:28 And are there various gifts? 20:32 Is pastoring sometimes called a gift? 20:36 Yeah. 20:37 By the way, our pastoring and evangelism 20:40 are different gifts. 20:42 Bible mentions pastors and evangelists as distinct. 20:47 You can have pastors that are good evangelists 20:50 and evangelists that are good pastors, 20:52 but they're not always necessarily the same person. 20:55 Evangelists were often more itinerate, 20:58 they would travel around. 20:59 For instance, in the Bible time, 21:01 Paul would appoint elders 21:03 when he would establish churches, 21:04 they would stay there and they often had jobs. 21:07 But they would also pastor the church. 21:10 Some who had the larger churches, 21:12 Paul said that they should be given their worthy due. 21:16 But the apostles and the evangelists 21:18 like Apollos and like Philip, 21:21 they often were going out on forays 21:23 and itinerate and traveling, Jesus was an evangelist. 21:27 He went from city to city, he was of course also a pastor. 21:31 Well, that needs to be subsidized. 21:33 And so what is God's plan to do that? 21:35 Turn with me to Malachi 3. 21:39 Now this is the last book in the Old Testament, 21:41 but you first find tithe 21:44 also in the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis. 21:49 In previous lessons, I don't even know 21:51 if today's lesson gets into it, so let me just repeat 21:53 'cause I know there are first time listeners 21:54 all the time. 21:57 We discovered in a previous study 21:59 that Genesis, it says, 22:00 Abraham brought tithe 22:03 and gave it to the High Priest Melchizedech. 22:07 Jacob when he left home 22:09 and he had that dream of the latter reaching to him 22:11 and he says, "Lord, if you watch over me, 22:13 all that you give me surely I will give a tenth," 22:16 and that's what a tithe, it means tenth, "to thee." 22:19 And so you find the principle of tithe goes all the way back. 22:23 Now some people think that, you know, 22:24 because ceremonial laws 22:25 some things may have been nailed to the cross, 22:28 you don't really see the Passover 22:29 until the Exodus, 22:31 you don't see the feast, 22:32 the annual feast until the Exodus. 22:35 Do you see a difference between 22:37 clean and unclean food before the Exodus? 22:40 Go back to Noah. 22:41 Do you see tithe before the Exodus? 22:46 It goes to Abraham. It's back in Genesis. 22:48 And so these are principles that carry on. 22:51 All right, and so then you go to the last book 22:54 in the Old Testament, Malachi 3, 22:56 and I'm going to start with verse 6. 22:58 People often go to verse 8, 22:59 but I think you need the context. 23:03 "For I am the Lord," 23:04 Malachi 3: 6, "I do not change." 23:07 Well, there is a little tip about tithe. 23:09 People say, "Well, you know, tithe is not specifically 23:11 commanded in the New Testament, so it shouldn't be observed," 23:14 it's not true. 23:15 We learned in Matthew 23:23. 23:17 Tithe is repeated in the New Testament. 23:20 Jesus sort of does it in a roundabout way. 23:22 He says, "You pay tithes of your mint 23:24 and your anise and your cumin, 23:25 and you've neglected 23:27 the weightier matters of the law 23:28 just as mercy and faith. 23:30 These you ought to have done and not leave the other, 23:33 the pain of tithe undone." 23:35 That's pretty clear. 23:36 He says, "Don't forget to pay your tithe." 23:39 Two men went to the temple to pray. 23:41 One republican and the other a Pharisee, 23:44 and the Pharisee stood 23:45 and he prayed thus with himself, 23:47 "Lord, I think be that I am not like other men. 23:49 I pay tithe of all that I have and I fast." 23:53 There is anything wrong with fasting? 23:55 Anything wrong with going to church? 23:57 Is there anything wrong with tithing? 23:59 The Lord was condemning him because of his hypocrisy 24:01 not because of what he did, 24:02 there is nothing wrong with tithing, 24:04 the things he did were good, right? 24:06 And so there's nothing in the Bible that says 24:09 there's something wrong with tithing. 24:11 And whenever you're in doubt, do the safe thing. 24:17 Is anyone going to be in trouble 24:18 in the Judgment Day, and God's going to say, 24:20 "Can't let you in?" "Why not, Lord?" 24:23 Because you gave 10% 24:24 and you weren't supposed to give that much 24:26 once the New Testament began, you're supposed to get less. 24:31 So what would be wrong with it? 24:33 So if you're in doubt about what's the best system, 24:36 I don't see a second system mentioned. 24:39 Tithe is certainly a very equitable system. 24:42 I think it was Dr. Ben Carson 24:45 when he was running for president, 24:46 they were talking about "What would your tax plan be?" 24:49 He talked about something based on the Bible. 24:51 He said, "It would be a flat tax 24:53 just like the Bible 24:54 where everybody doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, 24:56 you pay the same percentage." 24:58 Any of you remember that? 24:59 I like that idea. So that's fair for everybody. 25:02 Instead of say, "Well, you're rich, 25:03 you got to pay a bigger percentage. 25:04 And if you're poor, 25:05 you don't have to pay anything." 25:07 I think everybody's got skin in the game, it's just fair. 25:10 Anyway, but oh, well, that's a long way 25:11 before that's going to happen. 25:14 Okay. 25:16 So back to Malachi. 25:18 "I am the Lord, I do not change." 25:19 Notice He introduces it with that. 25:22 "Therefore, you're not consumed, 25:23 O sons of Jacob." 25:24 I don't want to change the morsel, 25:25 well, that's why you're still alive. 25:27 "Yet from the days of your fathers, 25:28 you have gone away from My ordinances. 25:30 And you've not kept them. 25:32 Return to Me, and I will return to you..." 25:34 Well he's saying, "Look, you drifted from 25:36 what I've commanded you and I want you to return." 25:39 And they're saying, 25:41 "Well, how do we return and what way do we return?" 25:44 Then He gets real specific. 25:46 "Will a man rob God? 25:47 Yet you have robbed Me! 25:49 But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' 25:52 In tithes and offerings. 25:54 You are cursed with a curse, you have robbed Me, 25:57 even this whole nation." 25:59 Now that'd be pretty serious. 26:01 I mean no one would want to be cursed, 26:03 and no one would want to be found guilty of robbing God. 26:07 And can you imagine, 26:09 you wake up and you're surrounded by police 26:11 and they get flashlights in your face and say, 26:14 "What's the problem?" 26:16 He says, "Robbery." 26:17 "Who did I rob?" "God." 26:18 And they're hauling you off to jail. 26:19 "Boy, I'm really in trouble. 26:22 I've robbed God." 26:24 And so, you know, this is the language 26:27 the Lord uses to get their attention. 26:29 And He says, "In tithes and offerings, 26:33 you've robbed me, even the whole nation." 26:35 Here's a solution then, He wants to bless them. 26:38 He says stop doing it, stop robbing me. 26:41 "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, 26:44 that there may be food in My house," 26:46 is this food for God to eat? 26:49 Or does it mean that there is resources 26:51 to feed the ministry 26:54 so that the spiritual means of the nation 26:56 are not neglected? 26:58 "That there may be food in My house 27:00 and try Me now in this, 27:01 He says, 'Test me' says the Lord. 27:03 If I will not open for you the windows of heaven 27:06 and pour out of blessing 27:09 that you will not have a room enough to receive it." 27:11 He wants to bless us. 27:13 And He says, "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sake. 27:16 So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, 27:19 nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit 27:21 for you in the field, says the Lord of hosts. 27:23 And all nations will call you blessed 27:25 for you will be a delightful land, 27:28 says the Lord." 27:29 And so that is a wonderful promise. 27:31 It's one of the most powerful and clear promises 27:34 that's given in the Bible. 27:36 So let's talk for a moment. 27:38 You want to talk about blessings? 27:39 That's always fun. 27:41 All right, so couple of things He mentions here. 27:45 He says, "Try me now in this, says the Lord." 27:49 You know, when I was looking at 27:51 some of the questions that were on Facebook last night 27:54 related to the study, it's always heartbreaking. 27:57 People say, "I am on a fixed income. 28:00 And at the end of the month, 28:03 I don't have enough for the basics. 28:06 How can I give 10%? 28:07 I won't be able to pay the bill." 28:09 And then they'll, you know, "I get kicked out of my house, 28:11 so they'll repossess my car and what..." 28:14 And, you know, my heart goes like 28:15 'cause I know there are some people 28:17 that they just really are struggling. 28:19 But I can't explain it 28:22 but God somehow works miracles. 28:25 And they said, "But I've got fixed income, 28:26 where is the miracle going to come from?" 28:29 I don't know about you, have you had 28:31 unexpected windfall 28:32 because you've been faithful in your tithe?" 28:34 Amen. 28:38 I remember one time 28:40 when I first started testing the Lord 28:42 on paying tithe. 28:44 I was selling firewood 28:47 and back then, you know, 28:51 $65 a cord is very hard to cut a cord of firewood 28:54 and then you deliver it, and you'd... 28:57 a cord is 128 square feet of wood. 29:00 And, you know, 29:02 by the time you buy your gas for your truck 29:04 and the gas and the oil things for the saw and then groceries, 29:08 it's just like nothing left. 29:11 And at that point, I had a family with three kids. 29:15 And I thought well $6.50 is a lot out of $65 29:20 but I'm just going to pay tithe. 29:23 And I remember 29:25 I was cutting wood with a friend Dave Boatwright. 29:30 And all of a sudden I got this unexpected... 29:33 in the general delivery, 29:35 they did not deliver up in the hills back then. 29:37 General delivery got like, you know, $1,500. 29:41 I said, "Praise the Lord," I said, 29:43 "Where in the world did this come from?" 29:45 Turned out, my father, when I was younger, 29:47 thought I was going to kill myself 29:48 he took out a life insurance policy, 29:51 made himself the beneficiary. 29:54 "I was living so crazy, 29:55 I won't get a life insurance policy 29:57 and, Doug, maybe I'll make some money." 29:58 He was always trying to make money. 30:01 And finally when I realized I settled down a little bit, 30:03 he cashed it and sent me the money. 30:07 I didn't expect that, praise the Lord. 30:10 And so I mean, I didn't even know 30:12 what was out there. 30:13 And so I've had so many strange things happen. 30:17 Karen did a search online, 30:18 someone called Karen up one time, 30:19 she says, "They got website you go to 30:22 where there's money that is in your name 30:24 that is waiting to be collected." 30:25 I thought, "Oh, that can't be real." 30:28 And she said looked at me and says, 30:29 "Well, they said they found money 30:31 and it's in your name," and we looked up, 30:32 sure enough there was money in our name at LA. 30:35 We just contacted them and they sent it to us. 30:38 And so I don't know 30:40 how God is going to supply you a miracle, 30:43 sometimes it's not always money. 30:45 You might say, "Oh, you know, if I pay my tithe, 30:48 I won't have enough for groceries." 30:51 I've got a friend that... 30:54 There's a great building boomed around the pipeline in Alaska. 30:58 And they went up there and they were doing very well 30:59 and all of a sudden, it's stopped 31:01 and the work stopped, 31:03 there was a great economic burst 31:04 and eventually they got so destitute, 31:06 they had three kids, they had no food for the kids 31:09 and they decided to pay their tithe, 31:11 be faithful with their tithe. 31:12 And some people would say, "You're crazy," 31:14 and say God will feed us, we're going to trust Him. 31:16 He said He would open the windows of heaven, 31:17 we're going to trust Him. 31:19 And that evening, before dinner 31:21 and they did have, I mean, they just had, 31:22 you know, ketchup and rice, they ain't have much. 31:25 Someone knocked on the door. 31:27 And it was a neighbor that was a flight attendant. 31:30 And she had her arm full of airline meals 31:33 and she said the plane was canceled 31:35 due to the weather 31:36 because so here in Alaska, nothing else to do 31:39 and they said these meals 31:40 went over the due period for freshness 31:42 and they said there is nothing really wrong with them, 31:44 "So do you guys want some meals?" 31:46 And the kids kind of believe in 31:47 because they know they had just prayed for food. 31:49 Now you wouldn't expect the airline to do it. 31:52 But I mean, God has ways that we don't know about. 31:54 And so I just trust Him and see if he doesn't surprise you. 32:00 We're going to take couple of questions 32:01 that are coming in 32:03 and I'm still going to get further in the lesson. 32:05 "Please explain first fruits and should we do that now?" 32:10 Well, you'll find first fruits 32:12 mentioned in Leviticus 23, the idea 32:14 and this was one of the feasts that was connected 32:16 with the package of Passover fees 32:18 that to dedicate, 32:20 to demonstrate they believe 32:22 that all of the produce of the land belong to God. 32:26 They would offer the first and the best to God. 32:30 And so they had a special service 32:31 where they would take some of the first of the grain 32:33 and the first of the oil 32:35 and they would bring into the Lord as an offering 32:37 to show that we believe in all belongs to Him 32:40 and they take it off the top. 32:41 Also, do you know even the first born children 32:44 technically were consecrated to the Lord. 32:46 You weren't supposed to sacrifice them, 32:48 but matter of fact, for your first born, 32:52 you would make an offering as a substitute, 32:56 but that was saying that the first born 32:57 were in a special way consecrated to the Lord. 33:00 So whether it was of the field or of your flocks 33:03 or even your own children, 33:05 we were supposed to give everything of the first to God 33:08 showing we recognize it comes from Him. 33:11 So when it comes to tithe, after you pay all your bills 33:13 and if you see there is anything left, 33:15 then you pay your tithe. 33:17 Do you want God to bless the remainder of what you have, 33:23 then pay tithe first 33:25 and you'll see how He blesses the remainder. 33:28 If you wait until there is a reminder, 33:30 before you pay your tithe you may find 33:32 that you really get tested there on the tail end. 33:35 Matter of fact I got a quote, 33:36 I told you some churches do and some don't practice tithe. 33:40 Billy Graham said, 33:42 "We have found in our own home as have thousands of others 33:45 that God's blessing upon the nine-tenths, 33:48 when we tithe, 33:49 helps it to go farther than ten-tenths 33:52 without His blessing." 33:54 What did God do for the children of Israel 33:57 when they were going through the wilderness? 34:00 Did He make their sandals and everything last longer? 34:05 He says your clothes have lasted on your back, 34:08 your shoes have not worn-out. 34:09 He said, "I've blessed you." 34:12 And, you know, Karen and I have just discovered 34:15 that He made things that we have had whether it's, 34:19 you know, air-conditioner or refrigerator 34:24 and we had stuff that just lasted 34:25 for years and years. 34:27 And I think God just was blessing it. 34:32 All right, another question came in. 34:34 "Does the Bible teach the giving of a second tithe?" 34:38 Yeah, there was a second tithe 34:39 that was often reserved for the times of feasts. 34:42 And there's some interesting quotes 34:43 here in Deuteronomy 14:22 34:45 talks about the tithe and the land, 34:47 and talks about that it could be given to the poor, 34:49 it says it could be used for strong drink 34:51 and the word strong drink that means concentrated drink. 34:55 That means that they would 34:57 condense the grape juice that reconstitute 35:00 and so use the word strong drink there. 35:02 And He said they could turn that into money 35:05 as they went up to the feast, 35:06 they could also gift some to the poor, 35:08 that was in the original tithe that went to the Levites. 35:10 So it was a second tithe for the feast. 35:12 I want to get back into the lesson, 35:14 I will take more questions here, 35:16 but I want to keep going. 35:17 Talking more about the blessings of God, 35:19 1 Peter 3:8 and 9, 35:22 "Finally, all of you be of one mind, 35:25 having compassion for one another, 35:27 love as brothers, be tenderhearted, courteous. 35:30 Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, 35:33 but on the contrary, blessing," 35:36 we had to bless others, 35:37 "knowing that you were called to this 35:39 that you may inherit a blessing." 35:42 It is more blessed to give than received 35:44 because when you do bless others, 35:47 you will be blessed. 35:49 Amen. 35:50 So we've been called through inherit a blessing, 35:51 eternal life is blessing. 35:54 Someone's going to read for me in a moment 2 Corinthians 8, 9 35:59 and I'm going to read 1 Timothy 6:18-19. 36:03 "Let them do good 36:04 that they be rich in good works, 36:06 ready to give, willing to share, 36:08 storing up for themselves a good foundation 36:11 for the time to come 36:13 that they may lay hold on eternal life." 36:16 So Paul was saying that believers 36:17 ought to be willing to give and to share. 36:19 And then he said but you've got a promise of eternal life. 36:24 Good. Read for us please 2 Corinthians 8. 36:27 "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 36:32 that though He was rich, 36:33 yet for your sakes He became poor, 36:36 that you through His poverty might become rich." 36:41 So have we been blessed by the Lord? 36:44 I mean, He said blessed are the poor in spirit 36:47 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven 36:48 when we acknowledge our spiritual poverty, 36:50 God blesses us with great riches. 36:53 And you read in Mark 10:21. 36:56 This rich young ruler comes to Jesus. 36:57 Everyone remembers the rich young ruler 36:59 because Christ said, 37:00 "Take what you have, sell it, give it to the poor," 37:03 and they forget the other part. 37:05 It said, "One thing you lack," this is Mark 10:21, 37:09 "Go your way, sell what you have, 37:11 give to the poor, 37:12 you will have treasure in heaven." 37:13 Now this wasn't talking about time, was it? 37:15 He was talking about liquidating, 37:16 giving to the poor. 37:18 It says you'll have treasure in heaven. 37:22 You will have treasure in heaven. 37:24 Then the Lord says, 37:25 "Do not leave for yourself treasure on earth," 37:28 'cause the treasure on earth doesn't last, 37:29 you'll have a treasure in the heavens that lasts. 37:34 And again, Luke 6:38, 37:36 "Give and it will be given to you, 37:38 good measure, pressed down, shaken together, 37:41 running over will be put into your bosom. 37:44 For with the same measure that you use, 37:46 it will be measured back to you." 37:48 So God says, 37:49 "Trust Me, prove Me, be faithful in your tithe." 37:52 And see if God takes care of you. 37:55 All right, another question, 37:57 "Should we pay tithe to our conference 37:59 even if pastors are being downsized 38:01 and those remaining have three or four churches?" 38:05 Well, not paying it to the conference 38:07 is going to make it even harder 38:09 and it would seem like 38:10 that if you want to see better distribution, 38:14 then you want to continue 38:15 to support the work of the church. 38:18 And, you know, I should say something here, 38:20 some people say, we get letters, 38:21 and you probably heard it before. 38:23 Well, if you only knew 38:24 that there is this person in our conference 38:26 or if you only knew some of the ways 38:27 that they're spending the money 38:28 or some of the things we're doing and... 38:32 If there is a bad person or if there is someone 38:35 that is unconverted in the leadership, 38:37 do you stop paying your tithe? 38:41 Did Jesus have a Judas in His group? 38:46 Would you have still supported Christ? 38:48 Yeah, but you would have given it 38:49 to Thomas not Judas, right? 38:54 So, you know, in the days of Christ, 38:59 when that widow gave her two cents, 39:02 her two mites to the temple, 39:05 what was going on in the temple? 39:06 Were all the priests converted? 39:09 And Jesus, when she was about to drop her money in, 39:11 He didn't say, "Don't do that. 39:14 Give it to Judas." 39:15 He didn't say that. 39:17 He commanded her 39:18 'cause she was going to get her blessing 39:20 even if there may have been 39:21 some mismanagement in leadership, right? 39:24 And so yeah, 39:27 you want to be able to continue supporting the work, 39:29 don't always judge individuals for that. 39:32 All right, back to the lesson here. 39:35 Deuteronomy 28, talking about blessings again. 39:39 "Now it will come to pass that 39:41 if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, 39:44 and observe carefully all His commandments 39:47 that I command you today, 39:48 that the Lord your God 39:49 will set you above all nations of the earth. 39:53 And all these blessings 39:54 will come upon you and overtake you 39:55 because you obey the voice of the Lord your God. 39:58 Blessed shall you be in the city, 39:59 and blessed shall you be in the country. 40:01 Blessed will be the fruit of your body, 40:03 the produce of your ground, and the increase of your herds, 40:06 and the increase of your cattle, 40:07 and the offspring of your flocks. 40:10 Blessed you will be and your basket 40:11 and your kneading bowl. 40:12 Blessed shall you be when you come in, 40:14 and blessed will you be when you go out." 40:17 Wouldn't you all like to have that problem? 40:19 It is blessed in every way by the Lord. 40:23 Did God want to bless them or did He want to curse them? 40:28 Do you want to... 40:29 How many of you spoil your kids 40:32 'cause you like to see them happy? 40:35 Well, you don't do it deliberately 40:36 but I know sometimes it's hard to say no 40:39 'cause you want to make them happy, 40:41 you want to surprise them, you want to have them have joy. 40:44 God loves you, He wants to bless you, 40:46 but He says if you're going to be blessed, 40:48 you need to do certain things. 40:50 You need to trust Him and you need to be faithful. 40:52 All right, now someone is going to read for me 40:56 in a moment Acts 20:35. 41:00 And I'm going to read Jeremiah 17:7, it says, 41:04 "Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord 41:07 and whose hope is the Lord." 41:11 In the book Testimonies, volume 3, page 404, 41:15 there you read, 41:16 "The special system of tithing was founded upon a principle 41:20 which is as enduring as the law of God. 41:23 This system of tithing was a blessing to the Jews, 41:26 else God would not have given it to them. 41:29 So also will it be a blessing 41:31 to those who carry it out to the end of time. 41:34 Our Heavenly Father did not originate 41:36 the plan of systematic benevolence to enrich Himself, 41:39 but to be a blessing to man. 41:42 He saw that this system of beneficence 41:45 was just what man needed." 41:47 We sometimes need a system, we need a structure, 41:49 we need a way to say, "Am I giving faithfully?" 41:53 You know, we've discovered at Amazing Facts, 41:56 we live on entirely on donations, 41:58 and I'm not doing... 41:59 I'm not trying to create confusion 42:01 by even mentioning that with this. 42:03 But the reason I say it 42:04 is because we have people on the mailing list 42:08 and we'll send them a note, 42:09 we'll say we thank you for your gift last year. 42:12 And they will write us back and say, 42:14 "I thought I was giving every month." 42:16 I will say, "No, we haven't had anything in a year." 42:18 And they say, "Really? I had no idea." 42:21 They said, "I thought, we were doing it every month." 42:26 And you'd be surprised 42:27 how often people write us back and say, "We had no idea." 42:31 You know, if it wasn't for a system, 42:32 people lose track. 42:35 We have a tendency to oil squeaky wheels, 42:39 and if the wheels aren't squeaking, 42:41 no oil is applied. 42:44 And so unless you've got discipline, 42:46 you say, "Oh, yeah, I pay tithe." 42:48 "Yeah? When was the last time you paid tithe?" 42:49 "Well, let me get my check register out." 42:51 "Ooh. Oh." 42:53 Some of you don't realize till the end of the year. 42:56 And so that's why you want to, 42:58 you know, wait till the end of the year, 43:00 the needs of God's work are ongoing, 43:02 you know, at least month later, 43:03 when you get your check 43:04 it should be right there off the top. 43:06 Amen. 43:07 All right, we have a verse you're going to read. 43:11 "I have showed you all things, 43:13 how that so laboring you ought to support the weak 43:17 and to remember the words of our Lord Jesus, 43:21 how He said, 43:22 It is more blessed to give than to receive." 43:26 Thank you very much. 43:27 Acts 20, I got a little quiz for you, 43:30 a little trick question. 43:31 Acts 20:35, Paul is speaking in Acts 20:35. 43:35 "Paul said you remember the words of Jesus, 43:36 'It's more blessed to give than receive.'" 43:39 Where is that verse where Jesus said 43:40 it's more blessed to give than receive? 43:45 It's not in the Bible. 43:47 It is in the Bible where Paul quotes Jesus, 43:50 but that goes to show 43:51 and you'll even see it's in red letter, 43:53 but that will go to show you 43:55 that not everything Jesus said was written down 43:59 by the four gospels that Christ taught for years. 44:02 So Paul, remember, 44:04 you know, that the disciples saw that Jesus often said, 44:06 it's more blessed to give than receive. 44:07 Now you read the beatitudes and, 44:09 "He said blessed are the poor in spirit," 44:10 there's lots of blessings that Jesus pronounced, 44:13 but that exact phrase actually 44:15 we get it about Christ from Paul. 44:19 Okay, the purpose of tithe, 44:22 let's talk about that for a moment, 44:23 then I see some more questions that are on the screen. 44:27 1 Timothy 5:18, For the Scripture says, 44:30 "You shall not muzzle an ox 44:32 while it is treading out the grain 44:34 and the laborer is worthy of his wages." 44:36 So the purpose of tithe was to disperse 44:42 the resources of people for the ministry. 44:45 When God's people fail to pay tithe, 44:48 the Levites wouldn't have 44:49 having to go work in the fields, 44:50 the teaching of the young people, 44:52 and the teaching of the Word of God, 44:54 and the judgment, and the medical things, 44:56 and everything that was needed 44:57 by the Levites and the priests was neglected. 45:01 And have you also noted how many times in the Bible 45:05 it says the house of God fell into disrepair? 45:08 Wasn't just the people, 45:11 but the actual place of worship and other nations 45:13 that would come and visit say, 45:14 "Oh, that's what they think of their God." 45:16 Look at that, it's just is... 45:19 Stones are all crumbling 45:20 and weeds are growing out of the cracks, 45:21 they don't care for the house of God, 45:24 it was really a bad reflection 45:25 on what they thought about their God. 45:28 Deuteronomy 25:4, 45:31 "You shall not muzzle an ox 45:33 while it is treading out the grain." 45:35 Who knows what that means? 45:39 You remember 45:42 when Samson was captured by the Philistines, 45:45 they plucked out his eyes, 45:46 they put him in the grinding house. 45:49 And what happened is... 45:51 They would have a long stick that went through a wheel, 45:53 the wheel rolled on top of a grain 45:58 that was on a pedestal. 46:01 And as they went around it was very grueling, 46:04 you'd push this wheel, 46:06 let's just pretend this is the grinding stones you're... 46:08 You push this stick around and you're turning a wheel 46:10 that's hooked on a central axis. 46:12 And that wheel, big stone wheel is grinding out grain 46:16 and they would shovel the grain in it. 46:18 What would it do is it grinds the flour. 46:21 They'd shovel it out. 46:22 And you kept... 46:23 If you had an oxen that was grinding the grain, 46:26 that was a long stick 46:27 'cause you don't want the oxen too close to the food. 46:30 Do I need to go to the detail? 46:32 And so they had that like that, 46:34 but inevitably as they were shoveling the grain in 46:37 and shoveling the grain out, 46:38 some of it would fall on the oxen's the path. 46:41 And the oxen, he'd nibble 46:42 it as he walked by eating the grain. 46:45 And oxen like grain even more than grass. 46:47 And if you have horses, 46:48 they love it when you give them a bucket of oats. 46:50 And so he's saying, look, 46:55 if a pastor is spending all his time 46:57 ministering to people, 46:59 don't muzzle him if God is blessing you, 47:01 share the things that God has blessed you with. 47:06 And so that was one of the principles, 47:07 the purpose of the tithe 47:08 was to keep the people in ministry 47:11 whether they're evangelists, 47:12 they could be Christian teachers or pastors. 47:15 Who else was funded by tithe? 47:19 Was it just pastors? 47:22 People in the temple, 47:24 did they have security in the temple? 47:27 If I have time, I'll get to that verse, 47:28 it shows even the... 47:29 To your music ministers, 47:32 the sons of Asaph were paid of the tithe 47:35 'cause music was part of the worship. 47:38 All right, carrying on here. 47:45 Told you I get confused when I turn it upside down. 47:49 Luke 7:10, I'm sorry, Luke 10:7. 47:53 And Jesus said when you go out preaching 47:55 and go from town to town, but when you get to town, 47:57 "Remain in the same house, 47:59 eating and drinking the things that they give you, 48:01 for the labor is worthy of his wages." 48:05 Now here's from Christ, He's saying, you know, 48:07 if you're staying with a family 48:08 and they're offering to host you 48:10 while you preach in that town, 48:12 accept it and be thankful for 48:15 because you're working for the Lord, 48:17 you're worthy of that. 48:18 This is your work. 48:19 And then one more, 1 Corinthians 9:14, 48:22 "Even so..." 48:23 And this is about as plain as it could be, 48:26 "Even so the Lord has commanded 48:28 that those who preach the gospel 48:30 should live from the gospel." 48:32 You know, when I got my first 48:33 official fulltime ministry call, 48:35 I was so excited 48:36 because I was a self-supporting minister. 48:38 When I'm teaching our AFCOE class, 48:39 I love to tell them. 48:40 I said, "I started out as a lay evangelist, 48:42 they hired me, and I was so excited I thought, 48:44 'You mean they're going to pay me 48:46 to do what I was doing for free? 48:50 This is the greatest job in the world.'" 48:53 I think it was Will Rogers who said figure out 48:55 what you like to do 48:56 and they get someone to pay you to do it. 48:58 Said, "This is great! I'm getting paid to preach." 49:02 It's not all great, I mean, I preach in part but... 49:05 some of the stuff. 49:07 I'm a pastor. 49:09 I was telling someone just yesterday, 49:11 I said, you know, 49:12 "I wouldn't mind pastoring if it wasn't for people." 49:16 I don't mind the preaching part. 49:17 That's great. 49:18 And some of it, you know, leading people to Christ, 49:20 that's wonderful. 49:22 Don't like marriage counseling. 49:27 I'm not great at hospital visits, 49:29 you know, every job's got its stuff 49:32 you've got to deal with, right? 49:34 All right, again, another question, 49:37 "When we make a sale 49:39 and package the item to be shipped off 49:41 and we ship it, 49:42 we don't take out the business costs 49:45 and then do we tithe on what the profit is 49:47 or tithe on the whole amount?" 49:49 In other words, if you're in business 49:50 and you're doing things and you're selling, 49:52 will you tithe on the increase? 49:54 I think I used an illustration. 49:56 Let's just suppose hypothetically, 49:59 I'm going to use the T-shirt illustration again, 50:02 you're in a business and you sell T-shirts 50:06 and you print them 50:07 and you put Christian slogans on them and you sell T-shirts. 50:10 And you buy the T-shirts and the T-shirts cost $5, 50:14 and then you print them in that cost, $2. 50:18 And, you know, 50:21 you've got shipping and everything 50:22 and so you end up selling these T-shirts 50:24 and it costs you $9 dollars, but you only get $1 profit. 50:30 All right, T-shirt started out... 50:32 You sell it for $10, 50:34 it costs you $9 to sell that, you get $1 profit. 50:37 Now if you pay tithe, how much on $10 dollars, 50:39 what do you have left? 50:41 Nothing. 50:42 So you're paying tithe on what the profit was 50:44 after the basic business expenses. 50:49 Now it's different if you're in farming 50:51 or something like that 50:53 or if you're working and you get a paycheck, 50:55 you pay on the gross, that's your increase. 50:59 The expenses for the business are from the employer 51:01 that's paying you, 51:02 but you're being paid on your increase. 51:05 And so doing that as a business 51:06 is maybe a little different science 51:08 than the average person who works and gets a paycheck. 51:12 And then someone says, 51:13 "Should we pay tithe on a gift?" 51:17 Well, if it's a gift of money, sure. 51:20 What do you do if someone gives you a piano? 51:24 Do you did take 10% of the keys and give it to the pastor? 51:30 No, you know, you might give a thank you gift and figure out. 51:33 Yeah, just, you know, 51:34 I want to say thank you to the Lord 51:36 and so you just calculate it in your mind 51:38 into a thank offering in that respect. 51:40 But yeah, God will be gracious to you. 51:43 Whenever you're in doubt, just go a little too far, 51:45 and you know what you'll discover, 51:46 you cannot out give God. 51:48 Can anyone here tell me that, you know, "I out gave God"? 51:51 I gave so much that I had nothing left. 51:54 He always blesses, doesn't He? 51:58 All right, again another question. 52:02 "What if you make a promise like Ananias and Sapphira 52:05 and you broke it," 52:07 evidently you're still alive, so it wasn't exactly like them, 52:11 "And there's no way you can pay it back?" 52:15 Well, there are cases, you know, 52:17 I've talked to people and come to the Lord 52:18 and they said, you know, 52:19 I was thrown in jail for extortion, 52:22 I've talked to people, they said, 52:23 I embezzled $50 million, and it's all gone, 52:27 and I'm never going to be able to pay it back. 52:29 I wasn't a Christian and now, you know, making up the number. 52:32 But now I'm never going to pay it back. 52:35 And I just say, well, 52:37 you be a little more than faithful 52:39 with your tithe and show the Lord 52:41 that you're trying to go the second mile, 52:44 you may never do that 52:45 'cause you're not trying to earn your salvation 52:46 by paying it back, 52:47 your salvation is based on a gift of grace to you, 52:51 but then if you love the Lord 52:52 and if you realize that you took advantage of others, 52:54 you do what you can to pay that back 52:57 even if it's a little by little 52:58 'cause at least you're showing your intentions. 53:02 Who knows what God might do for you? 53:06 Let me see, I want to get to... 53:09 Tithe in the storehouse. 53:13 How am I going to cover that in 30 seconds? 53:16 Nehemiah 10:39, 53:19 "For the children of Israel and the children of Levi 53:22 shall bring the offering of the grain 53:24 and the new wine and the oil to the storerooms 53:27 where the articles of the sanctuary are, 53:29 where the priests who minister and the gatekeepers 53:31 and the singers are," see, 53:32 it was for the gatekeepers, security, 53:34 singer, music ministers, 53:36 "and we will not neglect the house of our God." 53:39 Meaning the work of God's house 53:41 and the people that were employed for that work. 53:43 So it was sent to a common spot 53:45 and it was then distributed from there. 53:47 I want to close with this quote. 53:51 Tithe and salvation by faith. 53:54 And this is from Testimonies Volume 6, page 386. 53:59 "So it is with God's claims upon us, 54:01 He places His treasures in the hands of men, 54:04 but He requires that one-tenth 54:06 shall be faithfully laid aside for His work. 54:08 He requires this portion to be placed in His treasury. 54:11 It is to be rendered to Him as His own. 54:14 It is sacred and is to be used for a sacred purpose 54:17 and for the purpose of those 54:18 who carry the message of salvation 54:20 to all parts of the world. 54:22 He reserves this portion 54:24 and that means may ever be flowing 54:27 into His treasure house 54:29 that the light of truth might be carried to those 54:30 who are near and far off 54:32 by faithfully obeying this requirement 54:34 we acknowledge that 54:36 all that we have belongs to God." 54:38 All right, friends, I want to remind you just in closing, 54:40 we do have a special offer. 54:42 It's kind of a scary title, but it's a good book called, 54:44 "Thieves in the Church." 54:46 You'll really enjoy it. 54:47 Ask for offer 136 when you call, 54:50 and the number is 866-7888-3966, 54:54 that's 866-7888-3966, and we'll send it to you. 54:59 I think you can even read it for free at AmazingFacts.org. 55:03 God bless until we study His Word together again. 55:17 Friends if you're scared of snakes, 55:19 this may not be for you. 55:21 I'm here at a reptile park 55:23 outside of Durban, South Africa, 55:25 and I'm holding my friend here who is a red tail boa. 55:28 Snakes are found all over the world, 55:31 and they come in all sizes. 55:32 Snakes can be found through the trees, 55:34 they crawl on the ground, they live under the ground, 55:36 and they swim in the water, very interesting creatures. 55:41 Some snakes are venomous, not my friend here, 55:43 but the black mamba, very poisonous. 55:47 Matter of fact, their bite is 55:48 often referred to as the kiss of death. 55:50 They can grow 15 feet long 55:52 and can travel up to 7 miles an hour, 55:54 they don't call them black mamba 55:55 is because of the color of their skin 55:57 but the interior of their mouth is black. 56:00 Snakes also come in all sizes like this boa or python, 56:03 they can grow to great sizes. 56:05 Matter of fact, in South America, 56:07 they found some fossils of a snake 56:09 that they call Titanoboa. 56:11 They believe it was as big as 50 feet long 56:14 and weighed as much as a car. 56:16 Say cheese! 56:18 A lot of people are scared of snakes, 56:20 I used to live in a mountain in a cave 56:21 and I ran into snakes frequently. 56:23 They never bothered me unless I was bothering them. 56:26 Within the Bible the snake is often a symbol of the devil. 56:29 In reality, it's just a symbol, 56:31 they're animals like other animals, 56:33 but it says they were cursed to go upon their belly 56:35 because they were the first medium 56:36 that the devil used to tempt Adam and Eve. 56:39 In the Book of Numbers 21, 56:41 it tells a story of how when the children of Israel 56:43 were going through the wilderness 56:45 they began to complain about God's manner 56:47 and it says the Lord allowed these fiery serpents 56:50 to go among the people and many were bitten 56:52 and the venom was deadly. 56:54 I should probably mention at this point 56:56 that bread they were complaining about 56:57 is a symbol for the Word of God. 56:59 As many of the people were dying 57:01 from this plague of serpents, 57:03 they went unto Moses and they said, 57:04 "What shall we do?" 57:05 God told Moses to make a bronze serpent 57:08 and put it on a pole and lift it up 57:10 that whoever looked upon the serpent, 57:12 they would be healed of their venom. 57:14 This is why it's so important 57:16 because Jesus says in the Gospel of John 3:14 and 15, 57:21 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 57:24 even so the Son of Man must be lifted up 57:27 that whoever believes in Him might not perish 57:29 but have everlasting life." 57:31 They needed to look in to live, 57:34 you see those ancient shepherds 57:35 when they would kill a venomous snake, 57:37 they would carry it off on their staff and bury it. 57:40 So a serpent on a pole represented a defeated snake, 57:44 that's talking about defeating the devil, friend. 57:46 Have you been bitten by the serpent? 57:48 We all have. 57:49 The only cure for the venom of Satan 57:52 is to look in faith at Jesus, 57:54 He then defeated the devil, 57:55 He took the venom of sin in His body 57:58 to provide the antidote in His blood. 58:01 So, friends, I encourage you to look today and live. |
Revised 2018-02-19