WEBVTT 00:00.160 --> 00:05.700 So we're finally to the series that we want to... we've been headed for, for a while, 00:05.700 --> 00:13.560 which is Tithing and Financial Giving. We started with prosperity. We did a series 00:13.560 --> 00:20.540 on prosperity. I am absolutely pro-prosperity, and anybody who is against 00:20.540 --> 00:26.100 prosperity in my understanding, you just don't understand prosperity. You don't 00:26.100 --> 00:31.080 understand scriptural prosperity. You've heard enough to be dangerous, you've had a 00:31.080 --> 00:37.460 friend tell you that these people are nuts, all that kind of stuff. But if you're 00:37.460 --> 00:42.540 against prosperity, you've never studied it in the Word. I mean, that's all you're 00:42.540 --> 00:50.000 telling me is you're ignorant. Because the Scripture flat-out lays it out that 00:50.000 --> 00:59.340 God wants us, prosperous, not... don't go to money. To prosper is to be successful in 00:59.340 --> 01:06.260 life, all areas of life. That's the scriptural, in a nutshell, definition of 01:06.260 --> 01:13.340 prosperity. God wants us successful in all areas of life. We started with 01:13.340 --> 01:18.140 prosperity. We laid that out. Then Mary did the Spirit of Increase. A couple of 01:18.140 --> 01:22.720 messages on that. And then I talked just... again, it could be a big series, but I 01:22.720 --> 01:28.640 talked just a few messages on Seed, Time and Harvest and how that works in. And 01:28.640 --> 01:33.680 all three of the first part of this four-part series, all three of the 01:33.680 --> 01:40.960 first ones, really have more to do with other areas than they do money. Seed, 01:41.100 --> 01:46.200 Time and Harvest, really money is a small part of that. Everything we do, 01:46.200 --> 01:51.960 we're planting seed. Every word we say, every action we take, every decision we 01:51.960 --> 01:57.820 make, it's all seed going in the ground that later will produce a harvest. So 01:57.820 --> 02:02.340 money is actually a minimal part of the concept of Seed, Time and Harvest. 02:02.820 --> 02:06.220 Even though if you listen to TV Evangelist, you would think it's all 02:06.220 --> 02:10.900 of it. Because Seed, Time and Harvest, when they talk about it, they're 02:10.900 --> 02:14.480 talking about the small sliver of it, the money part, because they're 02:14.480 --> 02:19.320 trying to keep their program on the air. It's actually a misrepresentation. 02:20.100 --> 02:24.640 Seed, Time and Harvest is way, way bigger. You come home and say some bad 02:24.640 --> 02:29.800 things to your wife or to your husband, you just planted seed. It's 02:29.800 --> 02:34.760 everything, everything in our life, everything we do is a Seed, Time and 02:34.760 --> 02:39.820 Harvest issue. So we talked about that. So now we're actually to the one 02:40.340 --> 02:46.260 that dwells the most on money. And it's the tithing and financial 02:46.260 --> 02:51.080 giving. And we want to talk about that some. So here's what we're going to 02:51.080 --> 02:55.320 be talking about, tithing and financial giving. And this is going to be 02:55.320 --> 03:02.320 largely a teaching series. There might be some prayer lines to get curses 03:02.320 --> 03:07.420 and demonic strongholds off of people. Because it can set in concerning 03:07.420 --> 03:13.020 this realm and it does set in on people. But largely if you will know the 03:13.020 --> 03:17.700 truth and embrace it, the truth will set you free. So this is going to be 03:17.700 --> 03:22.160 largely a teaching series. There's the four points that I talked about that 03:22.160 --> 03:27.360 we've covered to this point. And if you haven't heard any of those first 03:27.360 --> 03:32.280 three, it might do you well just to go back online. There's the titles 03:32.280 --> 03:36.580 to the series and especially the prosperity one and get up to date 03:36.580 --> 03:41.120 where we're going. And deal with that. If you're new to Word of Life or 03:41.120 --> 03:46.420 you're visiting this morning, this is a highly unusual series. We're doing 03:46.420 --> 03:52.160 this because I felt God told me to do this. We don't talk. We don't do 03:52.160 --> 03:56.460 messages on money very often. In fact, this is the first series on 03:56.460 --> 04:01.840 tithing we've ever done here. And we're here 21 years now. This is 04:01.840 --> 04:07.740 the first message on prosperity we've ever done here. First series we 04:07.740 --> 04:11.200 ever did here. So it's a little bit unusual, but I believe God wants it 04:11.200 --> 04:15.300 done. And we'll see that as the series progresses. It's interesting. 04:15.880 --> 04:20.360 Talking about money seems to bother a lot of people when you do it in 04:20.360 --> 04:23.940 church. You know, if you do it in the business world, it's great. But 04:23.940 --> 04:26.460 when you talk about money in church, it seems to bother a lot of 04:26.460 --> 04:29.200 people. And the first thing that comes up is, ah, the church just 04:29.200 --> 04:33.120 wants my money. That's why they're talking about church just wants 04:33.120 --> 04:39.880 my money. And it's like, well, it's too bad that that thinking is 04:39.880 --> 04:42.560 there. But you know, I hear it a lot. I hear it from people a 04:42.560 --> 04:47.640 lot. And it's like we get so focused on the money part that 04:47.640 --> 04:51.360 we forget what God actually has to say about the whole concept. 04:52.200 --> 04:54.240 So we're going to take some time. We're going to look at what 04:54.240 --> 04:57.140 the Bible says. And I'm going to show you a lot of things 04:57.140 --> 05:02.260 from Scripture. I don't want this to be a super long series. But 05:02.260 --> 05:08.920 it's a it's a it's a misunderstood enough subject that we've 05:08.920 --> 05:11.320 got to spend some time on it because there's a lot of people 05:11.320 --> 05:14.720 that don't get it. And I want to make sure we have something 05:14.720 --> 05:18.360 on record that as people get saved and as the younger 05:18.360 --> 05:22.000 generation is growing up and stepping into life, it's 05:22.000 --> 05:25.140 available to them. And it explains it enough because a 05:25.140 --> 05:27.800 lot of the old timers here, we all know about tithing. We all 05:27.800 --> 05:31.280 do tithing. We all testimonies about tithing. So this is a 05:31.280 --> 05:35.540 message looking forward or a series looking forward. And I'm 05:35.540 --> 05:37.960 going to give Scripture for all these things and show them to 05:37.960 --> 05:40.320 you. But for instance, just to lay some groundwork, what is 05:40.320 --> 05:43.980 a tithe? It's 10% of the increase or produce of our 05:43.980 --> 05:47.340 income. We'll talk about the details of that. But that's 05:47.340 --> 05:51.700 what the word tithe means. It means 10% when you look 05:51.700 --> 05:57.380 at the definition of it. To tithe is to take or to give a 05:57.380 --> 06:04.600 tenth. Take or give a tenth. If you make $100 a week, the 06:04.600 --> 06:10.500 tithe is $10. If you give $3, you weren't tithing. If you 06:10.500 --> 06:17.400 gave $15, you weren't tithing. A tithe is 10%. That's 06:17.400 --> 06:23.220 what the word means. So what is the purpose for this? Why should 06:23.220 --> 06:25.980 people tithe or give financially? I'm going to give you four 06:25.980 --> 06:29.600 reasons. And most everything else I think fits in underneath 06:29.600 --> 06:32.000 these four. There's other reasons, but I think they can 06:32.000 --> 06:35.440 come under these four headings. Number one, to return to 06:35.440 --> 06:43.780 God, what is actually his? The tithe actually doesn't 06:43.780 --> 06:50.360 belong to the human being from God's perspective. Every 06:50.360 --> 06:56.720 dollar, 10 cents of that dollar, God considers his. Every 06:56.720 --> 07:02.520 $10, $1, he considers his. So the whole concept, and again, 07:02.660 --> 07:04.380 I'll show you scripture on all this. We're just trying to 07:04.380 --> 07:07.000 lay a foundation here this morning. The whole concept of 07:07.000 --> 07:11.380 God just wants my money. Well, that's a good Old Testament 07:11.380 --> 07:14.760 term, because in the New Testament, that one doesn't even 07:14.760 --> 07:19.040 apply. In the Old Testament, he said nine cents out of 10 07:19.040 --> 07:22.940 is yours. One cent out of 10 is mine. That's the 07:22.940 --> 07:27.940 principle. That's the tithe. In the New Testament, 10 out 07:27.940 --> 07:32.120 of 10 belongs to him. We're stewards. We're not 07:32.120 --> 07:37.060 owners. In the New Testament, we've been given 07:37.060 --> 07:42.100 stewardship, not ownership. But if we're talking the 07:42.100 --> 07:47.360 tithe, well, 10% actually does not belong to us. It 07:47.360 --> 07:51.460 belongs to God. Number two reason why God wants us to 07:51.460 --> 07:56.660 do it is supply for his work on this earth. We're 07:56.660 --> 08:01.720 living in a physical world. He wants the supply for his 08:01.720 --> 08:05.000 kingdom to move forward. And he chooses to get it that 08:05.000 --> 08:10.180 way. And number three, to test our hearts. Tithe in our 08:10.180 --> 08:15.600 time is not a law issue. It says nothing to do with, well, 08:15.660 --> 08:21.880 we're not under law, pastor. Oh, really? You know, that's 08:21.880 --> 08:25.240 what I like to say to him. Pastor, this whole tithing 08:25.240 --> 08:29.140 thing, we're not under law. No. It's like it's supposed 08:29.140 --> 08:32.720 to be a revelation to me. We're not under law. I 08:32.720 --> 08:36.280 studied this all my life. Yeah, I know we're not under 08:36.280 --> 08:40.340 law. Do you know what tithing is in the New Testament? It's a 08:40.340 --> 08:43.740 test of our love. In fact, if we get to that point, I'll 08:43.740 --> 08:46.080 show you scripture this morning. Paul flat out says 08:46.080 --> 08:53.240 it. It's a test of our hearts. Do we love him? And 08:53.240 --> 08:57.380 then number four, to provide a way that opens an avenue 08:57.380 --> 09:01.260 of blessing and prosperity in every way, including 09:01.260 --> 09:04.820 financial. But in the Old Testament, it was seed for 09:04.820 --> 09:09.500 seed. You gave financially, you'd receive financially. That 09:09.500 --> 09:12.700 was what it was limited to. In the New Testament, you 09:12.700 --> 09:16.140 give financially and it opens up to every blessing 09:16.140 --> 09:20.680 possible that God has for you can come back because of 09:20.680 --> 09:24.420 the physical giving. So it's a way, including 09:24.420 --> 09:27.560 financial, but actually in that aspect financial is 09:27.560 --> 09:33.760 the least for believers. I know of people who were 09:33.760 --> 09:36.520 dying of a disease and God asked them to give a 09:36.520 --> 09:41.500 thousand dollars to X, Y, Z. And they gave it and the 09:41.500 --> 09:45.480 disease went away. You say, is that scriptural? Absolutely. 09:45.880 --> 09:49.620 Read 1 Corinthians 9. Believe it. It's the 1st 09:49.620 --> 09:51.080 Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians 9. We'll get to it. 09:52.100 --> 09:56.020 Absolutely. Every realm of what God has promised to 09:56.020 --> 10:03.220 us, we can open that to us by giving financially. And by 10:03.220 --> 10:05.020 believers, we're not talking just about Christians. 10:07.580 --> 10:11.040 There's people who are unbelievers who have 10:11.040 --> 10:14.260 testimonies of they were not serving God. They grew 10:14.260 --> 10:16.820 up in a Christian home, understood the concept of 10:16.820 --> 10:19.780 tithing, went into business world, didn't want to 10:19.780 --> 10:23.000 serve God, but started tithing because they knew 10:23.000 --> 10:27.360 it would propel them forward. Anytime you use God's 10:27.360 --> 10:30.140 principles, they work. Whether you're saved or 10:30.140 --> 10:33.380 unsaved. Gravity works whether you're saved or 10:33.380 --> 10:40.120 unsaved. Not jumping off a roof when you're over 10:41.120 --> 10:45.140 15, 18 is good whether you're saved or 10:45.140 --> 10:46.380 unsaved. It's just a good principle. 10:49.020 --> 10:51.180 The older you get, you just don't bounce like you 10:51.180 --> 10:57.860 used to. I was talking to somebody the other 10:57.860 --> 11:01.400 day and he had to get in the back of his 11:01.400 --> 11:05.000 pickup and he was about my age. And he says, don't 11:05.000 --> 11:07.160 mind me, puts the end gate down and reaches in, gets a 11:07.160 --> 11:10.960 step ladder, brings it out. He says, I never used to 11:10.960 --> 11:13.240 need this, but boy, it's just a whole lot easier now. 11:15.120 --> 11:17.380 I said, yeah, we used to jump up and down like it 11:17.380 --> 11:19.520 was nothing. Now, when you jump down, it's like, 11:19.660 --> 11:23.760 ooh! Yeah, maybe I should not do that. 11:25.640 --> 11:29.180 But believing in God's principles and abiding by 11:29.180 --> 11:31.380 him, seed time and harvest, that works whether you're 11:31.380 --> 11:34.420 saved or unsaved. I mean, it's just the way it works. 11:35.200 --> 11:38.100 You want a bad harvest from your boss, just go chew 11:38.100 --> 11:42.680 them out, plant that seed. You know, it'll work for you. 11:43.780 --> 11:46.640 Just some morning when you're cantankerous, just walk in your boss's 11:46.640 --> 11:48.140 office and tell him what you really think. 11:49.680 --> 11:52.480 And just go ahead and plant that seed, see what kind of harvest you get off of 11:52.480 --> 11:55.600 that. It works. You don't have to be saved. 11:56.760 --> 12:02.880 What you sow, you reap, God said. But I want you to notice something here 12:02.880 --> 12:08.420 in this definition. It's a tithe to take or to give a tenth, 12:08.660 --> 12:11.340 okay? Back up to the top line. It's a primitive 12:11.900 --> 12:17.540 word. IDNT period means identical. If you look it up in Strong's, it means 12:17.540 --> 12:29.860 identical with 6238. That's, this is 6237. That's the word tithe, 12:31.380 --> 12:35.000 Hebrew word, that's why the H is in front of it, 6237. 12:35.620 --> 12:41.260 That's the word tithe. In the Hebrew, it's identical with the next word, which 12:41.260 --> 12:45.780 is 6238. So I want you to see this. The tithe 12:45.780 --> 12:51.580 is to take or give a tenth, okay? That's that word. 12:52.420 --> 12:57.840 The next word, which they consider identical to each other, which I don't 12:57.840 --> 13:04.360 know what that means, but is a primitive root word, which means 13:04.360 --> 13:10.620 it's where everything starts growing from. It means to accumulate, to make rich, 13:11.360 --> 13:23.500 to become make wax rich. So right from the beginning, the first word says give a 13:23.500 --> 13:26.840 tenth. Somebody's got to take it if you're giving it, so it's to give or take a tenth. 13:29.220 --> 13:35.340 And the next word says, why do we do this? To accumulate chiefly specifically to grow, 13:35.540 --> 13:40.980 to cause you to be made rich. Now, we gave the definition for rich in the 13:40.980 --> 13:47.860 prosperity series. So don't let your religious filter, filter that now. 13:48.340 --> 13:53.000 We're not all supposed to be millionaires, Pastor Burnt. That's not what rich means. 13:55.240 --> 13:59.760 Not what it means. Well, what does it mean? Maybe I should have you listen to the series. 14:01.140 --> 14:08.720 Hey, I want to hear some good. The word rich, according to Corinthians, means to have enough 14:09.370 --> 14:15.080 that when an occasion comes up where money needs to be given into, you can generously give into it. 14:16.960 --> 14:21.000 You have enough leftover that you can generously give. 14:22.500 --> 14:28.360 That's the word rich. Has nothing to do with an amount or how many houses you own, 14:28.620 --> 14:36.020 or anything like that. Which interesting part is what we're talking about this morning, 14:36.020 --> 14:42.020 I just said it to you. The word rich means to be able to be able to give into something, 14:42.360 --> 14:48.560 to be able to contribute to something you've got enough you can give into it. 14:50.000 --> 14:54.980 Keep that in mind because we're going to go to it here just in a few minutes. 14:55.880 --> 14:59.460 But the definition of the two words, the word that's 15:00.300 --> 15:06.220 used for tie, they're a tenth. And the other word which is tied to it, according to Strong's, 15:06.260 --> 15:13.040 which is that one, those two words by definition means if you give a tenth, 15:13.460 --> 15:19.600 it makes a way that God can increase you and give it back to you. And above. 15:21.200 --> 15:24.160 It's seed time and harvest. It's like if you plant one seed of corn 15:24.160 --> 15:34.920 in the fall, you expect one seed back, right? Seven years, you said? Okay. 15:36.860 --> 15:43.700 I didn't understand it. Yeah, you definitely want a corn stock there with hundreds of seeds 15:44.480 --> 15:55.980 from the one you put in. Same thing. When you tie, he wants to multiply that back to us. 15:56.380 --> 16:00.800 That's what it's all about. That's point number four. It's an avenue who's given to us 16:00.800 --> 16:04.900 to help us become what he wants us to be, wants us to be prosperous. Well, in the 16:04.900 --> 16:10.560 financial realm, tithing is a way to make that happen. You say, well, that doesn't make any 16:10.560 --> 16:16.180 sense. You give away money so that you can have more. Yeah, because you have to die to live. 16:18.040 --> 16:19.540 That don't make sense either, does it? 16:21.040 --> 16:25.500 You know, according to the word, we have to die to live. If we don't die, we don't live. 16:26.220 --> 16:32.100 You don't give, you don't get. It's just scriptural principles. It's how God does things. 16:32.860 --> 16:37.240 And the sooner we figure that out and go with it, you know, it's good. And I know people say, 16:37.280 --> 16:40.720 why can't afford to tie it, pastor? I mean, we don't have enough. We're barely getting by now. 16:41.420 --> 16:47.900 We're struggling with this and that and the other. In reality, that pushback of I can't 16:47.900 --> 16:57.260 afford to is from the physical standpoint is probably very legitimate. From the scriptural 16:57.260 --> 17:05.960 standpoint, you're missing your way out of that situation. And you don't have to start with 17:05.960 --> 17:12.560 the 10%. You can build up to it, you know, go according to your faith. But if you're struggling 17:12.560 --> 17:19.540 financially, you're the one who needs to tithe. The people who aren't struggling, 17:20.240 --> 17:26.460 yeah, they'll gain benefit by it, but it actually was made more for the poor person than the rich. 17:29.320 --> 17:33.880 Now, yeah, we want, God wants, Scripture wants, we want everybody, because the word says so, 17:33.980 --> 17:39.200 everybody to tithe. But the ones who need to follow the principle the most are the ones 17:39.200 --> 17:48.940 who can't afford to do it because it is what will set you free. So we're planning to show that over 17:48.940 --> 17:53.700 the next number of weeks and as we're talking about this. And during the series, I want to do 17:53.700 --> 18:02.980 something that I want it to hit home, especially point number four. It's a way God uses to 18:02.980 --> 18:11.020 increase us. So I said way back, I said, when we get to the tithing series, any of you who have 18:11.020 --> 18:16.560 a testimony about tithing come talk to me. And I had half dozen at that point. And you can come 18:16.560 --> 18:20.360 remind me again, because I said, I want you to briefly share your testimony, what tithing did 18:20.360 --> 18:25.520 in your life. So every, I don't know if it'll be every message, but sprinkled throughout the 18:25.520 --> 18:31.700 series, we're going to have different people share. This is why I tithe. This isn't just 18:31.700 --> 18:38.900 pastor talking. This is why I tithe. And this morning I asked Ron and Roseanne to be our first ones 18:38.900 --> 18:43.700 out of the gates who are going to share. He's got a tremendous testimony in this. So if the two 18:43.700 --> 18:53.440 of you would come or one of you, however, I know you wanted to back you up, but 18:55.080 --> 18:57.480 yep, I want you to share, tell the people 18:59.360 --> 19:04.180 what was your story? Why did you start tithing? And what happened in your life? 19:05.680 --> 19:17.300 I want to say it quick. You asked me to share this. And I agreed. And we, as a couple of 19:17.300 --> 19:25.660 had one pretrocious week, just like the wheels fell off of our wagon. And long about Friday, 19:25.660 --> 19:35.280 I nearly called you and backed out. But I got to say, I felt like it must be something I'm supposed 19:35.280 --> 19:44.560 to share. That's why the devil. So anyway, I wanted my wife to confirm this aspect of the story. 19:46.060 --> 19:53.920 Roseanne and I have really been in some trouble. Now, we served the Lord as a young couple. 19:54.540 --> 19:57.920 We got married pretty young. We've been married 42 years. 20:02.930 --> 20:15.390 My wife said it only feels like three years underwater. But I'm a chronic alcoholic. And we lived many 20:15.390 --> 20:23.450 years of our marriage as a practicing alcohol couple. And the devil took us into some real 20:23.450 --> 20:28.890 tough realms. And we actually lived in South Dakota for a few years and then came back. 20:29.630 --> 20:34.450 Broke as a joke. Okay? We were so broke we couldn't pay attention. 20:36.870 --> 20:45.490 And, but somehow I ventured into a serious message that was all about God's promises. 20:46.530 --> 20:53.130 And I was still a practicing alcoholic. But I put together a paragraph all about 20:53.130 --> 21:00.070 God's promises. And I started to read that every single morning. And one day while we were in 21:00.070 --> 21:09.230 absolute financial ruins, I said to my wife, and I'm not kidding you, we were in tough shape. 21:09.370 --> 21:14.810 We were so far in debt we couldn't see our way out. And I said to my wife, 21:16.490 --> 21:23.550 honey, I think we're supposed to start tithing again. And I'm going to ask Rosanne for her 21:23.550 --> 21:31.710 response to that suggestion, because it's kind of cute. Well, I just asked him, I said so. In 21:31.710 --> 21:39.510 other words, when the offering plate comes by, we're supposed to take some out. Well, we 21:39.510 --> 21:51.370 were in the negative, right? So no. We were financially and spiritually ruined. We were 21:52.330 --> 21:59.150 not productive members of society, but we'd come into a new commitment. And that was 21:59.870 --> 22:06.850 to ask God to help us. And I felt, so anyway, I'm going to really make this story short. And 22:06.850 --> 22:18.610 I'm going to say, at some point, it was future down the road, quite a ways. I asked my dear wife, 22:19.690 --> 22:30.150 could you look back and tell me when we wrote the first tithe check? I'm going to just say this, 22:30.150 --> 22:38.110 we were in so much trouble, we didn't even know when it got better. And I'm going to say anybody 22:38.990 --> 22:43.750 that's struggling, Bern already said it this morning, this is probably a call for the people 22:43.750 --> 22:55.570 that are in the worst financial shape, okay? I... Anyway, I thank God. You know, I think 22:55.570 --> 23:03.330 sometimes when you're asked to tithe, and God's kind of asking you in a sense, 23:04.710 --> 23:12.990 what is there in your life that you can give up to cover this tithe? And a lot of that is you have 23:12.990 --> 23:18.730 to give something up in your life, something that you're holding on to in order to be able to 23:18.730 --> 23:27.910 tithe. Now, I'm going to suggest the tithe isn't for God, he doesn't need our money. He says, 23:28.110 --> 23:32.610 if you don't want to praise me, I can cause the rocks to cry out to me. So he doesn't need 23:32.610 --> 23:40.910 our praise either. This was for Ron and Roseanne. And I thank God that we made that commitment. 23:41.550 --> 23:50.050 And I'm just going to tell you this, we know what the first amount was. It was very minimal. 23:51.370 --> 23:58.930 And it's an extreme difference today. That glory goes to God. But it's for us. 24:01.810 --> 24:06.730 So I'm going to ask you a question. From the time you wrote that first check, and maybe 24:06.730 --> 24:11.970 Roseanne's got a better track on this from the time, when did, because I know you told me there 24:11.970 --> 24:17.590 was a point in time you look back and said, when did we start and what's happened? Could you share 24:17.590 --> 24:28.960 that a little bit? Yeah, because it's not even so much that our finances changed. You know what 24:28.960 --> 24:37.720 happened, folks? It was our whole flippin' life that changed. You can't be a good alcoholic 24:37.720 --> 24:47.760 family and live in harmony. You raise... It is crazy. It's like having the devil in the boat. 24:50.360 --> 24:55.020 It's like trying to fish without bait on your hook, or no hook on your line. 24:57.820 --> 25:05.900 And everybody around us, I'm sure, said, look at them morons. They're doing the same thing. 25:07.740 --> 25:16.860 But can I tell you, God, we're still on... We're in a process, okay? This ain't like 25:17.840 --> 25:25.190 Shazam, and we went on to another 40 years of honeymoon. No, we're in a learning... 25:26.920 --> 25:36.200 So what got different? Everything. Everything. We're watching miracles work out in our 25:36.200 --> 25:41.600 children. We still have one kid that's really struggling, but I can tell you we deserved to have 25:41.600 --> 25:48.600 five absolutely dysfunctional, screwed up kids with screwed up grandkids, and we watched God do 25:48.600 --> 25:56.200 healing through us, by way of us. Where did it start? Well, I can tell you a long time before I 25:56.200 --> 26:13.670 noticed it started. Awesome. Thank you. So right from the beginning, 26:13.670 --> 26:23.170 I want to say that money is not the goal. If we're chasing money, we're chasing the wrong thing. 26:23.850 --> 26:31.970 Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, or the right way of doing it 26:31.970 --> 26:37.050 according to him. And then all the other things you need will be added to you. 26:38.090 --> 26:41.610 You don't chase money. Well, I'm going to start tithing so I can get money. 26:41.610 --> 26:52.270 It probably won't work for you. Your motive's wrong. It's not a goal. Money is not the goal. 26:53.170 --> 26:59.770 Money is not the goal. And our whole society is on its head on that one. 27:00.490 --> 27:07.370 Why do you go to college? So I can make a big paycheck. Money is not the goal. It's a tool. 27:08.590 --> 27:20.240 It's just money. And you know a lot of times people who are struggling look at those who 27:20.240 --> 27:25.200 aren't, who have a lot of money, and say, ah, they're the ones worshiping money, 27:25.360 --> 27:35.720 and they're the ones serving money, and blah, blah, blah, blah. Yet when I ask any kind 27:35.720 --> 27:47.060 of question like, that has to do with money, it's typically the people who have a lot who will say, 27:48.260 --> 27:54.960 ah, it's just money. Whatever, what do you need? It's the people who are struggling or are very 27:54.960 --> 28:03.760 poor who hang on to it like it's life and death. Because in their mind it is. If I give 28:03.760 --> 28:07.820 this five bucks away, how in the world am I going to put enough gas in my car to get to work this week? 28:12.090 --> 28:16.650 Do you know the ones who are actually serving it? The poor people. 28:18.910 --> 28:26.150 The rich people tend not to serve it. They use it as a tool. The poor people make it the goal 28:26.150 --> 28:33.910 to actually get some and start making all their decisions around money. Money is not 28:33.910 --> 28:39.130 the goal. It shouldn't be the goal for any high schooler going into life. It shouldn't be the goal 28:39.130 --> 28:46.250 for any family. The goal is, God, what do you want of me? I will seek your kingdom first, 28:46.250 --> 28:50.350 and what you want me to do, and all that other stuff is going to get added to me. 28:51.690 --> 28:54.330 That's the goal. Money is just a tool. 28:56.830 --> 29:01.350 There's typically a lot of questions around this topic though, and I'm going to try to 29:01.350 --> 29:06.130 address all of them if I can. I have some written down. I'll go over them with you this morning. 29:06.590 --> 29:11.830 If others come to your mind either this morning or as we go through the series, text them to me. 29:12.530 --> 29:14.610 I'll try to answer as many as I can. 29:16.830 --> 29:22.650 God wants us to have money and financial resources. Has He provided ways for us to get it? 29:22.910 --> 29:28.030 Well, absolutely. Is tithing one of these ways? Well, yeah, absolutely. I'm going to 29:28.030 --> 29:33.650 answer that. I'll show you from Scripture. What is tithing? What are offerings? What are alms? 29:35.130 --> 29:42.230 Do you realize that in the Old Testament, you know, we look at it and they say, 29:42.310 --> 29:47.510 oh, they had a tithe that was according to the law. Do you realize that they gave away 29:47.510 --> 29:53.470 almost 50% of their income or depending upon how you figure it more? That's what God required 29:53.470 --> 29:58.570 of them? Because you have a first, a second, and a third tithe in the Old Testament. The first 29:58.570 --> 30:04.790 tithe is 10% of your produce or your increase. Second tithe comes out, and the third tithe, 30:04.850 --> 30:08.570 I'll explain it as we go there just so we understand, third tithe comes out 30:09.370 --> 30:17.710 besides that for different reasons. Then you had offerings. They were required by the law 30:17.710 --> 30:25.030 to give offerings above their tithe. Then you had the animals they had to bring in to sacrifice 30:25.030 --> 30:32.090 for their sins. Or for anything that they were wanting from God, they had to bring a sacrifice, 30:32.290 --> 30:40.710 an animal, physical sacrifice. And then every seven years, they couldn't farm their land at all. 30:41.510 --> 30:48.070 One year, it had a lay there doing nothing. That was the law. I mean, if you add all this up, 30:48.150 --> 30:52.710 it was 50% depending upon how you look at it more than that that God demanded back from them. 30:55.030 --> 31:05.110 And what are Jews known for? Being rich. Isn't that odd? They gave half of it back 31:05.110 --> 31:12.070 to God, and yet they're the ones who got the most. I heard one man say it this way. Do we actually think 31:12.070 --> 31:22.140 we can do better with 100% of our money than God can do with 90% of our money? If we'll just give 31:22.140 --> 31:26.480 him his tenth and leave the 90 left over, he'll manage it in such a way we'll come out a whole 31:26.480 --> 31:32.120 lot better than if we keep the whole ten, the whole hundred percent, and try to figure it 31:32.120 --> 31:35.200 out ourselves. But we're going to talk about some of these questions. Do we give because 31:35.200 --> 31:40.720 of the Old Testament law? Is tithing in the New Testament? Yeah, we'll talk about that. 31:41.000 --> 31:46.820 Are we under a curse if we don't tithe? How do we get enough money so I can afford to do this? 31:48.360 --> 31:52.000 Why should we give? Well, I gave you four general reasons, but we'll give you more. 31:52.740 --> 31:56.480 Why does God want us to tithe? Well, I gave you some reasons for that also. It's in that 31:56.480 --> 32:02.660 four general. Should we expect to receive from our giving? Giving is part of being a disciple. 32:03.540 --> 32:08.280 That's more of a statement than a question. Do I give on my gross or net income? 32:09.280 --> 32:12.940 That's always a big one. Do I tithe on my benefits at work? 32:15.060 --> 32:20.440 What do we need to watch out for in this whole money scheme thing that God's got going on? 32:23.120 --> 32:27.600 That was a joke. Trying to loosen you up a little bit. 32:29.140 --> 32:35.180 And like Ron said, does God actually need my money? No, God doesn't need our money. 32:35.840 --> 32:46.900 In fact, it's not our money. The earth is the Lord's and the fulness of it. 32:47.540 --> 32:54.560 There's nothing on this planet he doesn't own, including this podium. He owns it all. 32:55.340 --> 32:58.680 Does he need our money? No, it's more for us than him. 32:59.260 --> 33:03.960 But anyway, we'll talk about some of that stuff. The word money is believed to be 33:03.960 --> 33:08.920 mentioned approximately 140 times in the Bible. However, in the Bible, 33:09.100 --> 33:12.160 words such as gold, riches, silver, and wealth were used to refer to money. 33:12.720 --> 33:16.200 Therefore, keeping that in mind, the number of times money or anything similar to it 33:16.200 --> 33:22.720 was mentioned is over 2,300 times. That's a lot. 33:24.560 --> 33:28.580 Below is an approximate list of the number of times love appears 33:28.580 --> 33:32.080 in different popular translations in the Bible. Now remember, 33:32.620 --> 33:37.600 anything that has to do with money, gold, silver, whatever, 2,350 times, 33:38.260 --> 33:42.360 love is mentioned at the most, depending upon what translation you're reading, 33:43.460 --> 33:45.680 759 times, the new living translation. 33:46.920 --> 33:52.680 So God talks anywhere from three to five times more about money in the Bible than he does about love. 33:54.860 --> 33:57.040 We can either say men are ouch right there. 34:00.420 --> 34:04.680 So let's begin with the core issue here concerning giving from God's perspective. 34:05.580 --> 34:11.800 This might be... this is the foundation stone. All realms of giving are really a love issue 34:14.060 --> 34:19.780 from God's perspective. Now Satan will take that and twist that. He'll manipulate that. 34:20.160 --> 34:24.100 He'll give people false reasons, false motives to give. But from God's perspective, 34:24.560 --> 34:34.060 it's all a love issue. Love is what he looks for and what he lives by as the core reason for all giving. 34:36.000 --> 34:43.500 Correct giving from God's perspective is all tied back into love for himself and for everybody else. 34:44.140 --> 34:47.440 So let me give you some connect... some scriptures here that connect love and giving. 34:48.160 --> 34:53.540 And I got to go stand back up here because I'm holding this mic. So here's an easy one. 34:58.840 --> 35:04.380 There it is. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, whoever believes in 35:04.380 --> 35:11.000 him should not perish but have everlasting life. Why did he give his Son? Because he loved us that 35:11.000 --> 35:21.800 much. Anytime you find love, you will find giving. There is Scripture chief on that. 35:22.760 --> 35:32.380 We can give out of love, but then there's a love that gives more because of the greater amount of 35:32.380 --> 35:41.760 love. And I'll give you some more scriptures for that next. God so loved that word so when 35:41.760 --> 35:49.520 there's an on purpose. He loved with such great intensity and amount that he was willing to give 35:50.080 --> 36:02.920 the most precious thing to him. See, there is a spectrum or a range of love. You know, we can love. 36:03.820 --> 36:08.020 Let's all love each other as brothers and sisters in the Lord. That's good. 36:11.870 --> 36:16.470 You willing to give me 50 grand because you love me? If you have it in your bank. 36:18.030 --> 36:21.630 Let's say you got it in your bank and I say, hey, love your brother. Yeah, I love you too, 36:21.630 --> 36:30.970 pastor. Good. Show me. Give me 50 grand. I don't love you that much. Well, there you go. That's real 36:30.970 --> 36:39.930 life right there. If we have the means to give, how much we give is determined by how much love 36:40.570 --> 36:46.930 we have in that situation. I'll show you that here in a bit. John 15, my commandment, 36:46.930 --> 36:51.850 that you love one another as I've loved you. So the way he gave for us, we are to give to each 36:51.850 --> 36:57.370 other. Greater love has no one than this. Well, what is the greatest love? Lay down your life for 36:57.370 --> 37:05.430 somebody. There is the greatest love. So if somebody comes through that door with a gun, 37:06.010 --> 37:11.570 all upset with me, aiming at me, if you love me, you're all going to line up in front of me 37:11.570 --> 37:20.150 and say, shoot me first. Pastor, I don't love you that much. Well, that's my point. 37:22.670 --> 37:30.250 There are degrees or a range of how much we love. According to Jesus, the greatest love 37:30.250 --> 37:35.650 is to lay down our life for another. Okay, so I just gave you a real big example. 37:35.650 --> 37:42.050 Let's tool it back into everyday life. You have to choose guys between buying something for yourself 37:42.050 --> 37:46.230 or buying something your wife wants. You don't have enough money for both. 37:48.290 --> 37:54.970 How much you love her will tell me who gets what they want. If you love yourself more than her, 37:55.030 --> 38:00.190 you're going to buy what you want first. If you're willing to lay your life down for her, 38:00.190 --> 38:05.350 you'll buy what she wants first. That's good preaching. 38:09.250 --> 38:11.870 You still sleep in the same bed? Oh, yeah. 38:14.250 --> 38:16.510 He said, if you want to sleep in the same bed. 38:18.930 --> 38:24.810 Well, there is truth to that because marriages where they aren't very loving or giving toward 38:24.810 --> 38:30.950 each other, they do usually end up in the end and separate bedrooms. Just saying the way it is. 38:36.100 --> 38:45.540 Just saying. The greatest love is when you're willing to forego yourself for someone else. 38:46.600 --> 38:50.180 And the more you have to forego yourself for someone else 38:51.320 --> 38:54.780 is an indication of how much you actually love them. 38:58.760 --> 39:04.600 I'm going to just give you a simple example that was really hard on me at the time. 39:05.420 --> 39:09.320 Now I look back and it's like, whatever. But at the time, it was a big deal. 39:10.240 --> 39:15.340 We lived in Colorado for almost 20 years. Some of the best El Conte in the world 39:16.140 --> 39:21.300 is in Colorado. There in British Columbia, they go there too. But I mean, 39:21.860 --> 39:25.460 Colorado has awesome El Conte. I never El Conte'd once in Colorado. 39:26.700 --> 39:29.760 Not once. Do you know why? 39:32.100 --> 39:39.280 Because Mary felt bad because she wanted to go hunting too. And with our lifestyle at that point, 39:39.860 --> 39:43.800 there was no way we could take enough time off for both of us to be able to do it. 39:47.260 --> 39:59.250 So I said, if you can't go, I won't go. That really sucked. Back then. 39:59.910 --> 40:03.490 Now it's like, whatever. It's not that big a deal. 40:04.130 --> 40:07.470 You know, as you age, some things aren't as important as you thought they were when 40:08.310 --> 40:15.350 you were younger. Laying down your life for someone you love, 40:18.070 --> 40:26.190 it's the greatest love. Next verse, 1 John 3. By this, we know love. So what is love? 40:26.750 --> 40:31.790 Laying down your life because he laid down his life for us. That's what love is. 40:32.350 --> 40:43.330 So we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. So I will give you what I want because I love 40:43.330 --> 40:50.270 you. That can be something as major as my physical life. Police officers give that to us, 40:50.290 --> 40:53.510 hopefully not for the huge money they're making because they're not making much. 40:54.070 --> 40:57.030 For the danger they're in on a daily basis, they don't make much. 40:58.130 --> 41:05.370 There is a call, I think. There's a personal something inside of them that says, I have to do 41:05.370 --> 41:13.490 this for society, for people around me. It is a form of love where they are laying down there. 41:13.610 --> 41:21.610 They could take any day of the week. They could not go home. They are giving their life. 41:23.150 --> 41:30.090 Every realm of giving from God's perspective ties back into love. It has to be the motivation 41:30.710 --> 41:37.410 to have any value to God at all. Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children. Walk in love. 41:38.210 --> 41:44.310 As Christ has also loved and given himself. See, there you go again. Love and giving are tied 41:44.310 --> 41:54.110 together. Imitate that. Give yourself. Walk in love. 1 Corinthians 13. Though I bestow all my 41:54.110 --> 42:00.330 goods to feed the poor, though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits 42:00.330 --> 42:05.850 me nothing. So from God's perspective, true giving must be motivated by love or he doesn't value 42:05.850 --> 42:14.620 it at all. So again, giving and love are tied together. Now, we can give our body to be 42:14.620 --> 42:20.900 burned, it says in 1 Corinthians 13, it means nothing. But then again, we can give our body to 42:20.900 --> 42:26.060 be burned and it is a huge thing in God's eyes. It depends upon the intent or the motive of the 42:26.060 --> 42:35.160 heart. Why did we do it? What was the purpose? It's in 2 Corinthians. Here's the one I was 42:35.160 --> 42:39.580 looking for. I'm not going to go into the depth of it, but here's if you want to look for 42:39.580 --> 42:44.640 everything God has available to us becomes available through financial giving. Here it is, 42:44.740 --> 42:50.660 right here at 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. But as you abound in everything, so everything, 42:50.880 --> 42:56.360 you got to go back to verses 1 through 6. He's talking about financial giving and taking care 42:56.360 --> 43:01.660 of the needs of the poor and so forth. As you abound in everything, he's talking about giving 43:01.660 --> 43:09.720 in faith and speech and knowledge and diligence and your love for us. See that you abound in this 43:09.720 --> 43:16.440 grace also. This grace is verse 1 through 6. Giving include giving in with everything you're 43:16.440 --> 43:22.020 abounding in. Oh, man, pastor, we're just seeing so many visions and we have such revelation 43:22.020 --> 43:28.520 knowledge and those things are all awesome. But don't forget financial giving. You got to 43:28.520 --> 43:34.660 abound in that too. That's what Paul was saying. I speak not by commandment. This isn't the law. 43:35.420 --> 43:41.920 We're not under the law anymore. This isn't the law. Here's what I'm looking for. Oh, 43:41.960 --> 43:47.020 this one, this one is right. Right there is the reason for financial giving and tithing in 43:47.020 --> 43:55.760 the New Testament. I want to see how much you love. I want to see the sincerity of your love. 43:57.380 --> 44:02.220 Hmm. In fact, he doesn't just want to see it. He's testing it. 44:04.880 --> 44:07.400 You know the old saying, put your money where your mouth is. 44:09.240 --> 44:13.480 Oh, pastor, I love you so much. How much are you giving to the building fund? 44:15.300 --> 44:21.480 Put your money where your mouth is. That's what Paul is saying. I am testing you 44:23.380 --> 44:28.460 because all giving is motivated by love. I'm testing your love by looking at your giving. 44:29.720 --> 44:33.740 Verse 24, therefore, show them. This is still in the chapter, still in the thought. 44:34.060 --> 44:40.160 He's talking about other churches. Show them, and before the churches, the proof of your love, 44:41.500 --> 44:44.940 which in context, read it through, was their giving. 44:45.760 --> 44:50.320 Why love God with all my heart? How much financially do you, do you even give 44:50.320 --> 44:57.900 them the tenth? Well, I don't believe we have to in the New Testament. Don't avoid the question. 44:59.700 --> 45:02.300 Oh, we're not under law, pastor. Quit avoiding the question. 45:04.860 --> 45:11.460 Do you even tithe? Well, no, we don't. And you love them with all your heart? Now, 45:11.480 --> 45:14.880 it's possible you don't know the principles, and that's the perspective we're coming from. 45:15.380 --> 45:18.500 We're not trying to beat anybody up. We're trying to say, here's what the word says, 45:18.500 --> 45:21.940 here are the principles, here's how it lays out. And it's possible you don't know the principles. 45:22.720 --> 45:26.500 Do you give anything financially? Well, maybe you don't know the principles to that either. 45:27.720 --> 45:31.680 But even if you say, yeah, I'm not wanting to learn this because I want to keep what I got 45:31.680 --> 45:37.200 in my pocket, in my pocket, it's too late. You heard it now. You were here this morning. 45:40.980 --> 45:48.560 Now you know. This is how it works. We can't say we love God with all our heart, 45:48.560 --> 45:52.860 soul, mind, and strength, and not give financially to what his kingdom needs to take place. 45:57.360 --> 46:01.840 The two go together. Feel how tight it's getting in here? Isn't that great? 46:05.670 --> 46:16.090 The word of God, the sword of the Spirit cuts right through. Mary said, I'm praying for you 46:16.090 --> 46:34.150 today. Could somebody get her some water? Help her out. So, all I'm saying is what Scripture says. 46:34.310 --> 46:41.770 So don't get angry with the messenger. And I don't want your money. Pastor, you must just 46:41.770 --> 46:48.430 want our money. I don't want your money. God wants the money. And it's not even theirs. 46:48.430 --> 46:54.390 That's correct. God wants the money. And you know what? He doesn't even want all of it. 46:57.030 --> 47:02.530 Now he owns all of it, but he doesn't even want you to give all of it. 47:04.550 --> 47:13.710 But he does require us to give to love. That's in every aspect of life. It is a foundation 47:13.710 --> 47:22.690 of loving. If you are going to love your children, you are going to give away the things. 47:22.930 --> 47:26.410 Unless you've got a really good job. Now there are some who make a lot of money. 47:26.750 --> 47:34.450 But if you're the average Joe, you're going to forgo a lot of things that you could spend 47:34.450 --> 47:40.210 the money on for yourself because you love them and you want to help them. 47:43.590 --> 47:44.690 Kids are expensive. 47:47.370 --> 47:52.610 They cost a lot of money. Just feeding them and dressing them in junior high. 47:54.430 --> 48:02.110 Without the rest, just keeping that pit full of food. It's like it goes in one end and just 48:03.430 --> 48:13.350 evaporates. They cost a lot of money. That's why we have so many deadbeat dads. 48:15.370 --> 48:19.650 Well, I never signed up for that. You sure did. You sure did. 48:21.290 --> 48:24.870 You didn't know you were signing up when you were in the backseat of that car, 48:24.910 --> 48:32.710 but you were signing up. And if you're going to be a man of honor and integrity, 48:33.930 --> 48:37.670 you're going to walk out what you signed up for. Children cost a lot of money. 48:38.190 --> 48:42.330 They take away a lot of things in life that we would have liked to do. 48:42.330 --> 48:49.810 But we can't because we love them. And out of that love, we're going to invest into them. 48:52.010 --> 48:56.790 Proof of love is giving. I mean, in every area of life, proof of love is giving. 48:57.870 --> 49:02.230 So, let each one of you give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or a necessity, 49:02.470 --> 49:07.370 for God loves a cheerful giver. So, notice, God doesn't only just love giving. He loves 49:07.370 --> 49:13.790 a certain kind of attitude that goes with it. But love and giving tied together again. 49:14.670 --> 49:19.450 Luke chapter 7, Therefore I say to you, Her sins which are many are forgiven, for she loved much. 49:20.890 --> 49:25.650 But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. Now, isn't that interesting? 49:25.830 --> 49:31.410 So, there is a range of love. And notice the word given in the word forgiven. 49:34.130 --> 49:43.230 Our love for God is proportional to what we feel we have been given by God or forgiven. 49:46.440 --> 49:53.520 Isn't that it? That's not my thoughts. That's Jesus' thoughts. If we feel like God has given 49:53.520 --> 50:01.720 us a lot, we will love deeply. If it's one of those things where, well, God doesn't 50:01.720 --> 50:07.980 done much for us, we don't love Him very much. They just go together. They're proportional. 50:10.120 --> 50:16.280 And the more we have been given in forgiveness, the more we will love. And that was his point 50:16.280 --> 50:24.060 with the lady. So, whether we're a giver or not, in all areas of life, I'm not talking just 50:24.060 --> 50:28.840 financially to what God is asking. Let's just back up and apply this to every area of life. 50:30.160 --> 50:40.240 It's tied to how deeply we love. They go together. You can't love without giving. If you love your car, 50:40.680 --> 50:48.860 and some people do, or if you love sports, you love your house, I mean, whatever, whatever we love, 50:49.140 --> 50:55.540 we give to it. If you love your car, you're going to give time to it. You're going to 50:55.540 --> 51:01.840 clean it, you're going to polish it, you're going to give money to it, put chrome on it, it didn't have, 51:02.480 --> 51:09.920 put nice wheels on it, it didn't have. There is a lot of giving that goes into your car, 51:10.020 --> 51:19.940 because I just love that car. It doesn't make any difference what it is. It can be, I mean, 51:19.980 --> 51:26.280 if you're a football fanatic, you got to go to these games. Have you ever added up how 51:26.280 --> 51:35.540 much you're giving? Because of the love for football? Man, we're talking big bucks. I just love 51:35.540 --> 51:40.280 football. Well, that's okay. And the proof of it is, you're willing to give all this money away 51:40.280 --> 51:47.100 to be part of it. Love and giving are always tied together. If you love what God's doing, 51:47.280 --> 51:52.760 you're going to give to it. If you're not giving to it, you don't love it very much. 51:53.640 --> 52:01.400 Because what we love, we give to. We invest in. It's just the way it works. It's how it plays out. 52:03.560 --> 52:10.420 And in God's perspective, he looks at us just like Paul in the New Testament, 52:10.540 --> 52:16.900 and the Old Testament was law. And in reality, he did these people a huge favor by demanding it, 52:17.820 --> 52:28.120 because that is what set him up for prosperity. In the New Testament, it's not law. He says, 52:28.280 --> 52:35.100 but it will show up according to how much you love. If we love him, we'll give him what he wants. 52:36.720 --> 52:45.840 So he's still asking for something, but it's not demanded. It's just like, well, I want to 52:45.840 --> 52:51.500 mine in strength. That means whatever I need of you, whatever I ask of you, it's we'll give it. 52:53.760 --> 53:01.740 And that's why the love of money is the root of all evil. Evil is disobeying God. 53:02.620 --> 53:06.060 Evil is rebelling on God. Evil is watering away from God. 53:07.560 --> 53:14.620 If you love money, it's going to be the root of all it says, not just a little evil, 53:14.620 --> 53:20.040 all evil comes out of you love money. If you love God, 53:22.620 --> 53:29.280 then money is a tool. It's not the goal. It's just a tool. And money, use it for whatever. 53:29.860 --> 53:32.780 And that's why God warns. He says, the love of money is the root of all evil, 53:32.840 --> 53:36.260 because the love of money will turn us away from our loving him with all our hearts 53:36.260 --> 53:42.080 all minus strength. We just won't because our love, our affection is elsewhere. 53:44.060 --> 53:47.800 So the thing I want you to remember from this morning is not my joke previous. 53:51.600 --> 53:58.600 The thing I want you to remember is love is the foundation for all giving, 53:59.540 --> 54:06.800 including financial giving to his kingdom. It's the foundation. And we can come up 54:06.800 --> 54:12.760 with all the arguments we want. But I gave you half dozen maybe more scriptures there that ties 54:12.760 --> 54:17.960 love to giving. And you know, well, I don't believe this and I don't believe that. And pastors 54:17.960 --> 54:28.630 are just trying to get rich and blah, blah, blah, blah. If you've ever gone to borrow money, 54:30.570 --> 54:33.210 first time I went to borrow money for a house. 54:35.050 --> 54:40.050 The guy looked at my application and he said, oh man, the three P's. 54:42.290 --> 54:49.750 Three P's. I'm a peltz, that's only one P. What do you mean the three P's? So I asked him, 54:49.810 --> 55:03.190 so what do you mean the three P's? He said, well, you fall into the three P's. He said, 55:03.190 --> 55:11.890 policemen, they're all poor. That's what he said to me. He said, you're a high risk loan, 55:13.130 --> 55:20.350 along with professors and police officers. You don't make much money. It's like, 55:21.230 --> 55:24.070 well, yeah, that's why they call it a non-profit organization. 55:28.900 --> 55:32.760 We don't do this for profit. We do it for the kingdom. 55:34.440 --> 55:38.340 And when a whole lot of profit comes in, it usually gets invested back into the kingdom. 55:39.060 --> 55:47.360 It's the way it works. But no matter what excuse we come up with in our mind, 55:47.420 --> 55:52.780 or our grandma told us when we were little or whatever, don't ever go to church. They just 55:52.780 --> 56:01.920 want your money. And if you look at the people who say that, you could give me all you 56:01.920 --> 56:06.400 got, and it still wouldn't be much. Because usually the people who say that are poor. 56:08.260 --> 56:15.700 Just don't think about it. Usually, not 100% of time. Usually the people who say, 56:16.440 --> 56:20.060 all the church wants is your money, you're looking at a poor person. 56:21.400 --> 56:23.420 Why? Well, they're violating God's principles. 56:25.400 --> 56:28.220 They're violating God's principles. I mean, you can't, 56:28.220 --> 56:33.080 you can't violate and badmouth God's principles to that degree and live in them. 56:34.740 --> 56:35.940 It just won't work for you. 56:37.760 --> 56:45.380 So no matter what excuse we come up with, remember, the reason we give is because we love. 56:45.740 --> 56:49.040 Whether it's to our spouse, whether it's to our family, whether it's putting new 56:49.040 --> 56:52.280 curtains in the house, I just love my house. We're going to re-carpet it. 56:52.360 --> 56:55.920 We're going to put new curtains in. We're going to repaint it. I just love my house. 56:56.120 --> 56:58.480 Yeah, and you're going to just give into it. Why? Because you love. 56:58.480 --> 57:05.560 Nothing wrong with that. All I'm saying is love and giving are tied together foundationally. 57:06.680 --> 57:12.120 So as we go through this series and we talk about financial giving and so forth, 57:12.760 --> 57:16.920 not just tiding, but offerings and alms, as we talk about these things, 57:17.600 --> 57:23.120 remember from God's perspective, it's all about how much we love. 57:24.780 --> 57:30.440 That's what he's looking for. So Lord, help us to not shut down, 57:31.260 --> 57:39.140 not throw up the walls and block it out. Help us to be teachable according to what your word says. 57:40.220 --> 57:44.840 Give me the wisdom to put all the scriptures out there in such a way. It's simple. It's 57:44.840 --> 57:51.320 clear. It's understandable. Help us to grow in this. 57:54.240 --> 58:00.440 Not because you need it. Because we need it. Our children are going to need it. 58:01.020 --> 58:07.040 Our grandchildren are going to need it. This principle will not go away as the world gets worse. 58:07.960 --> 58:13.460 Right now, it's great. But as things get worse, this principle will not go away. And this 58:13.460 --> 58:21.740 principle will save, literally save lives. So help us to learn the truths connected 58:21.740 --> 58:27.740 to this principle of giving in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.