WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:04.480 We're talking about something that in the 21 years we've been up here, we've never done 00:04.480 --> 00:12.960 a series on this. I believe I did a partial message on it in 2008. We've never done a series 00:12.960 --> 00:17.520 on it because I've never felt the Lord was leading me to do a series on tithing or giving. 00:19.040 --> 00:25.720 And knowing how people up here think, I grew up in North Dakota, so I know how the old 00:25.720 --> 00:36.570 European mindset is. People are really touchy when you talk about money. And I thought, well, 00:36.630 --> 00:41.410 if he ain't going to tell me to do it, I'm not going to get into that. That's not going to 00:41.410 --> 00:49.250 produce anything good. But it's time. We need to at least have it on record if not for ourselves 00:49.750 --> 00:55.590 for the future generation. So we're into a series on financial giving. Specifically, we're 00:55.590 --> 01:04.210 looking deeper at tithing. Now my goal is to make tithing, or to help you view tithing 01:04.210 --> 01:15.770 and giving financially, as more of a blessing and a promise than a headache, than a law, 01:15.770 --> 01:26.030 than an obligation. Then, oh man, I'm forced to do this and a command. No, that's not how 01:26.030 --> 01:31.830 God intends this. Humans turned it into that, but that's not how God intends it for us. 01:32.850 --> 01:41.580 It's actually a promise and a blessing to be a giver. And hopefully by the time we're 01:41.580 --> 01:45.680 out the series, you'll see that real clear. So I want to review a bit from last Sunday. 01:47.120 --> 01:51.060 In the New Testament, love and giving are tied together. Wherever you find love, you're 01:51.060 --> 01:55.900 going to find there's somebody giving. Because true godly love is I want the best for you. 01:55.940 --> 01:59.660 To want the best for you, I'm going to give into your life somehow to help you 01:59.660 --> 02:06.780 get there. Giving is an expression of love. Giving does not start with a command 02:07.420 --> 02:13.840 if it's mature giving. I remember the first time I tied, I think I was seven or eight 02:13.840 --> 02:20.360 years old. And some of you have heard the story. When we started, as we were growing 02:20.360 --> 02:25.180 up, we were farmers, and dad was raising pigs and he wanted to teach us some financial 02:25.180 --> 02:35.800 sense. So he bore all the expense. He gave us a little one. He fed it all summer 02:35.800 --> 02:40.320 until in the fall. And then he said, whatever money comes out of that is yours. 02:40.760 --> 02:47.960 I'll never forget this. $22.50. And as an eight-year-old back then, that's 02:47.960 --> 02:58.080 like, man, I struck it rich. So he handed me the $22.50. And then he said, 02:58.800 --> 03:04.340 now not all of that belongs to you. And I'm going, what do you mean? You said, 03:04.340 --> 03:10.120 I could get whatever comes out of the pig. Well, you did. But 10% of that doesn't 03:10.120 --> 03:19.640 belong to you. It belongs to God. What? Yeah, 10% belongs to God. You have to 03:19.640 --> 03:29.860 give $2.25 to God. I said, where's God? How do I get it into his hand? He said, 03:29.920 --> 03:32.840 well, he established that so it goes to the church because that's what he's 03:32.840 --> 03:35.880 wanting to accomplish. So you're helping him accomplish what he's doing. That's how 03:35.880 --> 03:45.200 he decided to fund what he's doing on earth. That $2.25 was like ripping off my 03:45.200 --> 03:59.980 arm. It's like serious that much. And then he made the next announcement. And 03:59.980 --> 04:07.500 that's where it starts every year. So it started as a command, but that's where it 04:07.500 --> 04:11.040 starts when you're mature, when you don't understand it yet. But as you're 04:11.040 --> 04:17.220 stretched and you grow, you find out that giving actually comes out of love. 04:17.560 --> 04:26.180 You want to. It's a difference between a husband feeling like he's 04:26.180 --> 04:33.960 commanded, he has to buy something for his wife on their anniversary, or he wants to. 04:38.850 --> 04:42.070 And I know none of you guys would have this problem, but believe it or not, 04:42.110 --> 04:44.490 there are some guys who do not want to give their wives anything. 04:46.770 --> 04:50.810 She should get a job in her own way. And I'm not giving her anything for her 04:50.810 --> 04:57.210 birthday or for our anniversary or whatever. All that showing is how selfish you are 04:57.210 --> 05:01.370 and how little you love her. God needs to stretch you. 05:04.450 --> 05:10.190 So I can freely... I hope my mic don't start that again. I can freely talk about that 05:10.650 --> 05:16.130 because none of you are that way. That was the place you should have said amen. 05:18.890 --> 05:25.150 Unless you're lying and it was good, you're quiet. God tests our love for him by looking 05:25.150 --> 05:32.410 at our giving. Folks, everything we love in life, we give into, whether it's a car, 05:32.750 --> 05:36.550 whether it's a pet, you know the thousands of dollars people spend on their pet. 05:37.950 --> 05:43.890 Oh, I just love that pet. Had a neighbor, Colorado, when we were living there, 05:44.510 --> 05:49.770 he had a golden retriever, beautiful dog. Must have thought a rock was a ball 05:49.770 --> 05:52.770 and he picked it up in his mouth and down the hatchet went. 05:53.670 --> 06:05.070 Swallowed a rock, about that big. Took him to the vet. They x-rayed him. Oh, he's got a rock in his 06:05.070 --> 06:08.890 stomach. That's what the problem is. They didn't know what the problem was then. They figured it out. 06:10.370 --> 06:14.390 I can't remember what he said. It was like 1500 bucks or something like that back then 06:14.390 --> 06:17.330 that he spent for surgery, get the rock out of the stomach. 06:19.190 --> 06:23.010 Why would you do that? Oh, we love that dog. Yeah, so you're going to give to it, 06:23.010 --> 06:29.230 aren't you? Two days later, same thing, swallowed another rock. 06:32.050 --> 06:34.430 Back to the vet we go, we spend it all over again. 06:36.210 --> 06:40.950 I said, how are you going to fix this? We are going to clear all the rocks out of the pen. 06:41.710 --> 06:45.110 It's not going to be a rock in that pen. Because, see, they don't make any difference 06:45.110 --> 06:49.210 if it's a dog, if it's a car, if it's a house. It makes no difference what it is. 06:49.210 --> 06:53.730 If we love it, we give in to it. We give our time, we give our energy, 06:54.070 --> 07:01.010 we give our thinking, our emotions, we give our finances. What we love, we give to. 07:01.190 --> 07:07.130 That's just how it works. I wanted to touch this thought yet. 07:07.270 --> 07:10.270 And however far we get this morning, we'll just stop there and finish next Sunday 07:10.270 --> 07:14.150 because it's a series. We can do that. Is all giving based on love? 07:21.340 --> 07:24.000 Think about that. Is all giving based on love? 07:26.440 --> 07:33.060 No. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 13 where Paul spoke about love with what the Holy Spirit gave him, 07:35.640 --> 07:39.680 I think I got it here. Yep, though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, 07:40.020 --> 07:46.380 and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. 07:49.900 --> 07:54.500 So we can give and it's not motivated by love. 07:56.420 --> 08:00.900 That's interesting. Do you know the business system of this world 08:01.740 --> 08:04.060 is based on that principle in many ways? 08:06.300 --> 08:13.500 When you cut a deal with someone else as a businessman, that's okay. You got a contract, 08:13.500 --> 08:16.360 you got a deal, you're buying their product and et cetera. 08:17.800 --> 08:20.780 If you want to have a good relationship with them, 08:22.880 --> 08:28.900 I knew one guy who was a businessman, again back in Colorado, he did very well for himself. 08:29.580 --> 08:31.720 And his wife said to me one year, she said, 08:32.460 --> 08:36.740 do you know that he spends more on his customers at Christmas time each one? 08:37.000 --> 08:44.480 He spends more on each one than he does on me. Do you know why he does that? 08:47.320 --> 08:51.160 To keep the customer, not because he loves them. 08:56.120 --> 08:58.480 It's the old, you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. 08:59.520 --> 09:02.460 Concept? It's big in Congress, by the way. 09:03.600 --> 09:08.080 If you haven't figured that one out yet, it's big in our government. 09:09.560 --> 09:13.420 You know when we took that and we drug it into the church, 09:14.380 --> 09:17.620 because the church loves to adopt worldly culture, 09:18.240 --> 09:21.420 we drug it into the church and we've made a saying around it. 09:22.520 --> 09:25.840 You be about God's business and he'll be about yours. 09:27.680 --> 09:30.000 Stop and think about that. Is that a scriptural saying? 09:32.660 --> 09:40.400 Can you sway God into doing what you want him to do by doing something for him? 09:41.200 --> 09:44.300 Or earning it then? That don't work. 09:47.100 --> 09:52.600 I'll give you a hint. God is about our business all the time. 09:54.040 --> 09:58.480 He just approaches it differently depending upon where we are in our attitude. 10:01.200 --> 10:06.440 John 16, he either convinces us of sin, righteousness, or the devil is judged. 10:06.960 --> 10:10.960 Depending upon where we're at, we can be doing nothing for God. 10:11.300 --> 10:13.520 God doesn't look at us and go, ah, they're doing nothing for me. 10:13.520 --> 10:16.980 Just forget about them. Let's go on to somebody else who's working with me. 10:17.580 --> 10:22.140 No, he keeps working on them. He's about their business. 10:22.880 --> 10:25.040 Just not the way they want them to be about it. 10:26.360 --> 10:28.500 But he's going to be on them. He's going to be with them. 10:29.360 --> 10:33.800 See, the whole concept of, well, you know, you should do something nice for them 10:33.800 --> 10:36.400 because someday you might need something nice from them. 10:37.280 --> 10:40.600 That's not godly love. That's a business technique. 10:41.900 --> 10:45.540 And most businesses, that's how they operate. 10:46.820 --> 10:49.660 They buy gifts for each other. They buy gifts for each other. 10:50.040 --> 10:52.300 I want to stay with this mic because I like to use my hands. 10:53.360 --> 10:57.220 They buy gifts for each other. They do all kinds of things for each other. 10:58.480 --> 11:04.240 If you're in Congress, you get all kinds of big kickbacks, which of course nobody knows about. 11:05.800 --> 11:11.460 If you will vote my direction, there will be a reward. 11:12.960 --> 11:17.940 And it becomes this business transaction. That's not love. 11:19.140 --> 11:22.140 If anyone gives a cup of cold water, any one of these little ones, 11:22.260 --> 11:24.920 I tell you the truth, he will not lose his reward. 11:26.160 --> 11:29.020 Suppose a brother or sister without clothes or daily bread, 11:29.120 --> 11:32.140 and you say, oh, we'll pray for you. Keep warm, be fed. 11:32.140 --> 11:35.620 But does nothing about his physical needs? He said, what good is that? 11:35.740 --> 11:37.460 That's faith without works. It's dead. 11:37.680 --> 11:41.440 Of course, everything that God gives to us is wrapped up in two principles. 11:42.260 --> 11:45.020 Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Love your neighbors yourself. 11:45.720 --> 11:49.940 When we give a cup of cold water to somebody, we are loving them. 11:51.560 --> 11:56.420 When we help them buy food and clothes because they're in a desperate situation, 11:57.020 --> 11:59.960 it should be coming out of we're loving them. 11:59.960 --> 12:03.040 We want the best for them, so we're trying to help them. 12:06.420 --> 12:08.920 But there is a love of the world we want to stay out of. 12:10.420 --> 12:14.200 It's a selfish love. John talked about it in 1st John 2. 12:14.940 --> 12:17.400 It's a love system that we aren't supposed to be part of. 12:17.540 --> 12:19.040 Love not the world, things in the world, 12:19.180 --> 12:22.920 because it goes to lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. 12:25.980 --> 12:27.760 And I don't want to take the time to go there, 12:27.760 --> 12:33.520 but it is the world system of love, and you just don't want to go there. 12:34.880 --> 12:37.320 So I just wanted to cap that off. 12:37.540 --> 12:42.440 There is just because you're giving doesn't mean you love them. 12:44.620 --> 12:50.040 The best example of that, if you have ever raised children, 12:51.500 --> 12:54.060 honey, he had it first. Give it back. 12:56.620 --> 13:00.420 Eventually, they're going to give it, not because they love them. 13:02.140 --> 13:04.860 I'm going to have to lose this mic, hand me that one if you would. 13:07.220 --> 13:09.860 We thought we had the problem, but apparently not. 13:10.980 --> 13:11.940 So we'll keep digging. 13:14.500 --> 13:19.300 They're giving the toy back under command, under duress, 13:20.180 --> 13:21.580 but not because they love. 13:21.580 --> 13:25.580 So we can give because that's an obligation we're demanded to. 13:26.340 --> 13:29.920 That's why I don't want to go to church, because you go to church and now you've got to tithe. 13:31.060 --> 13:33.500 If I stay away from church, then I don't have to tithe. 13:35.540 --> 13:38.600 Well, it's not yours either way, whether you come or stay away. 13:40.220 --> 13:41.700 The tenth still doesn't belong to us. 13:42.580 --> 13:46.160 So I want to hopefully shift our mind into, wait a second, 13:46.280 --> 13:48.680 there's blessings and promises tied to this. 13:49.480 --> 13:51.820 That's the reason God wants it to happen. 13:52.900 --> 14:02.000 Rather than, I suppose, had one guy say to me, 14:02.140 --> 14:04.620 you know how much money I've given to the church over my lifetime? 14:05.980 --> 14:07.680 I could have traveled the world. 14:11.370 --> 14:12.490 Cheerful giver, are we? 14:14.510 --> 14:17.270 See, all he was telling me is he didn't have a clue what it was about. 14:17.590 --> 14:21.410 He was doing it under duress because he felt like if he didn't, 14:21.410 --> 14:23.010 he's going to get in trouble with God. 14:24.270 --> 14:25.190 Oh, wait a second. 14:25.450 --> 14:30.510 You need to shift that mindset into what the New Testament talks about giving. 14:31.370 --> 14:34.230 So every week I want to be able to have, or close to every week, 14:34.370 --> 14:38.690 have someone share their experience on tithing and what they've done with it 14:38.690 --> 14:40.970 and why they feel it's a good thing. 14:41.610 --> 14:43.750 And this morning, Sandy's going to come and share. 14:43.930 --> 14:48.190 So if you would do that, and we've got enough people volunteered, 14:48.390 --> 14:50.030 we have a mix between men and women. 14:50.030 --> 14:50.930 So this is awesome. 14:52.070 --> 14:54.130 So tell us, give us your story. 14:56.470 --> 15:02.510 Well, my family, when I was very young, deemed me the most likely to not succeed. 15:03.850 --> 15:05.170 To not succeed. 15:05.450 --> 15:08.350 And then they proceeded to treat me that way. 15:08.910 --> 15:12.370 And so then my rebellion and my stubbornness came out 15:12.370 --> 15:14.450 and proceeded to prove them right. 15:15.790 --> 15:19.690 And I left two days after graduation. 15:20.030 --> 15:23.850 And ended up in California where my friend that I went to live with, 15:23.930 --> 15:25.470 she knew the Lord. 15:25.950 --> 15:28.690 So I started going to church and learned about tithing. 15:29.290 --> 15:32.790 And I had no problem with it. 15:32.970 --> 15:33.890 I've always been a giver. 15:34.310 --> 15:37.550 And I watched God move through my life. 15:37.630 --> 15:38.230 It was amazing. 15:42.530 --> 15:46.310 I started a business out there and ran that for 10 years. 15:46.310 --> 15:48.250 And there were seasons where I said, 15:50.150 --> 15:52.250 God, can you trust me with more? 15:53.270 --> 15:53.990 And he did. 15:54.730 --> 15:59.390 And there were seasons when I tithed according to what I needed to make, 15:59.610 --> 16:00.990 not according to what I made. 16:01.590 --> 16:03.170 And he blessed it. 16:03.630 --> 16:04.430 And he blessed it. 16:05.690 --> 16:07.330 I've had opportunities to, 16:09.430 --> 16:13.430 I support some missionaries in Africa that go to Africa. 16:13.870 --> 16:15.570 And one of the pastors over there 16:15.570 --> 16:17.250 and his family had no home. 16:17.890 --> 16:20.350 And I had the opportunity to buy them a home. 16:21.010 --> 16:22.810 It wasn't that exciting. 16:22.990 --> 16:26.250 It was only 5,000, but changed their lives. 16:27.370 --> 16:33.710 And God has blessed me with a house with nine bedrooms and seven baths. 16:34.150 --> 16:40.190 And he has filled it with people that need it and want it and appreciate it. 16:40.270 --> 16:42.730 And that blesses my heart to no end. 16:42.730 --> 16:46.770 If I had a house with a hundred rooms, I would fill it, you know. 16:48.170 --> 16:50.610 And I've been able to help some young men 16:51.170 --> 16:54.050 that were homeless and they would come and stay 16:54.050 --> 16:56.610 and I would help them out to get back on their feet. 16:59.730 --> 17:01.250 And I have my horses. 17:01.790 --> 17:02.390 I have chickens. 17:03.130 --> 17:04.310 I have a dog named Gertie. 17:04.530 --> 17:06.590 And that fills my heart to no end. 17:09.610 --> 17:14.250 And the thing I've learned about tithing is that it's always been a joy. 17:15.290 --> 17:18.110 I mean, I giggle when I put money in that thing. 17:19.090 --> 17:20.650 And also the adventure. 17:21.810 --> 17:23.370 What are you going to do with it now, God? 17:24.310 --> 17:25.790 You know, when I'd ask him for more, 17:26.250 --> 17:28.710 he would give it to me and then give me something to do with it. 17:29.210 --> 17:30.410 And it was always fun. 17:30.810 --> 17:33.630 I always look for adventures and he brings them. 17:33.770 --> 17:35.730 And it's just joy. 17:35.730 --> 17:37.450 Absolute joy to do. 17:43.800 --> 17:49.440 So you contribute your success to the giving and the tithing. 17:49.600 --> 17:50.560 Yes, yes. 17:51.040 --> 17:53.720 There was a time when I stood in front of my drawing board 17:53.720 --> 17:56.080 and he said, you have carte blanche, Sandy. 17:56.660 --> 17:59.820 You can get as big as you want now because I was giving. 18:00.620 --> 18:01.540 He could trust you. 18:01.880 --> 18:02.140 Yeah. 18:02.460 --> 18:02.660 Yeah. 18:03.760 --> 18:04.700 That is awesome. 18:04.800 --> 18:05.540 And I could trust you. 18:05.540 --> 18:10.760 So you never felt like your giving was robbing from you. 18:11.420 --> 18:13.200 No, it was feeding me. 18:14.960 --> 18:17.560 That's unusual because most of us go through a time 18:17.560 --> 18:20.020 where it's like, ah, this is hard to give this. 18:20.580 --> 18:22.160 But you're a giver at Nature. 18:22.420 --> 18:23.020 Yes, I am. 18:23.160 --> 18:24.340 I am. And a houser. 18:24.440 --> 18:25.900 I love housing people and feeding them. 18:26.320 --> 18:28.320 Yep. Thank you. 18:28.480 --> 18:28.840 Thank you. 18:34.010 --> 18:36.030 So let's go this direction. 18:36.230 --> 18:37.010 Spend a few minutes here. 18:37.110 --> 18:38.570 Break this down and see how far we get. 18:39.250 --> 18:42.790 The three main ways of financial giving in Scripture. 18:44.110 --> 18:45.930 And it kind of holds true in society too. 18:47.230 --> 18:49.730 Tithes, offerings, and alms. 18:50.310 --> 18:50.910 Those are the three. 18:52.430 --> 18:55.690 Tithes is giving a tenth of our increase or our profit. 18:56.050 --> 18:57.250 That's what Scripture calls it. 18:58.510 --> 19:00.290 Jesus referred to it this way. 19:00.670 --> 19:02.430 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, 19:02.530 --> 19:03.310 for you pay tithe. 19:03.510 --> 19:05.850 Jesus talked about tithing of mint and anise and common 19:05.850 --> 19:08.050 and have neglected the way to your matters of the law. 19:08.610 --> 19:11.030 So there are some way to your matters than tithing. 19:11.390 --> 19:12.890 Justice, mercy, and faith. 19:14.110 --> 19:16.030 There are bigger things than tithing. 19:16.850 --> 19:23.490 But you ought to have done those without leaving the other, 19:23.690 --> 19:25.250 the others undone. 19:25.490 --> 19:26.990 Part of the others is tithing. 19:27.810 --> 19:29.490 So Jesus was foretithing. 19:29.570 --> 19:33.350 That word tithe there means the tithe, 19:33.790 --> 19:36.830 either the person giving it or the person receiving it. 19:37.670 --> 19:41.530 It comes from a root word number 1183. 19:42.610 --> 19:47.010 So that root word means to give or take a tenth. 19:47.550 --> 19:49.130 That's so when you read tithe in the Bible, 19:49.390 --> 19:53.710 when what Jesus just said means a tenth to pay or receive tithes. 19:54.150 --> 19:58.310 Which came from another word, which is the feminine. 19:58.510 --> 20:00.370 They've got masculine feminine words in the Greek. 20:00.630 --> 20:04.890 Also means a tenth or a percentage or technically a tithe or a tenth. 20:05.390 --> 20:11.790 So when you say we're tithing, we're talking about one tenth of the profit or increase. 20:12.830 --> 20:18.850 Remember that, because once we get going on what do we tithe on, gross or net, 20:19.810 --> 20:23.650 well, that principle is going to enter back in. 20:24.510 --> 20:24.990 Offerings. 20:27.150 --> 20:32.810 Offerings, he looked up and he saw the rich putting their gifts in the treasury, 20:32.810 --> 20:35.290 and he also saw poor widow putting in two mites. 20:35.670 --> 20:39.410 So he said, truly, I say to you this poor widow has put in more than all. 20:39.950 --> 20:44.090 For all these out of the abundance have put in offerings for God, 20:44.570 --> 20:49.310 but she out of her poverty put in her livelihood that she had. 20:49.570 --> 20:52.370 Sacrificial giving, she sacrificed to give that. 20:54.230 --> 20:55.150 Acts 24. 20:55.630 --> 20:58.170 After many years, I came to bring alms. 20:58.370 --> 20:59.710 Okay, that's coming next. 21:00.430 --> 21:04.710 Paul took alms and offerings back to Jerusalem for his nation. 21:05.110 --> 21:08.290 After many years, I came bringing my alms and offerings. 21:08.530 --> 21:09.170 So what are offerings? 21:10.610 --> 21:14.070 Offerings are, there's the definition for it in the Greek, a present, 21:15.090 --> 21:19.210 especially a sacrifice like the lady who gave the two mites. 21:19.490 --> 21:21.110 It's a gift, it's an offering. 21:22.570 --> 21:28.450 It's a presentation, a sacrifice to offer something up or offering something up. 21:28.450 --> 21:31.230 So you're giving something, you're offering at free will. 21:31.810 --> 21:36.230 This is something that is mine and I'm going to offer it and I'm going to give it. 21:37.410 --> 21:37.930 Alms. 21:40.010 --> 21:46.430 Now after many years, I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation. 21:46.730 --> 21:47.770 I'll just use the same verse. 21:49.250 --> 21:50.670 Jesus talked about it. 21:51.230 --> 21:53.090 Take heed that you don't do your alms. 21:53.250 --> 21:55.530 Now the new King James calls it charitable deeds. 21:55.990 --> 21:57.110 King James calls it alms. 21:58.450 --> 22:01.670 Watch that you don't do your alms before men to be seen of them. 22:02.410 --> 22:04.230 Otherwise you're not going to have a reward. 22:04.750 --> 22:07.670 Therefore when you give alms, do not sound the trumpet and say, 22:07.770 --> 22:08.950 hey, look what I gave. 22:09.150 --> 22:09.650 Da da da da. 22:09.810 --> 22:10.830 They already have the reward. 22:11.130 --> 22:11.490 Verse three. 22:11.850 --> 22:14.390 But when you do us alms or you do that giving, 22:15.170 --> 22:19.110 keep it so secret that your left hand and your right hand don't even know what's going on. 22:20.210 --> 22:24.910 That thy alms may be in secret so that the Father can reward you openly. 22:25.790 --> 22:26.990 So what are alms? 22:26.990 --> 22:32.650 Alms are compassionateness towards others, specifically the poor, 22:33.710 --> 22:37.690 people who need help, people who are struggling, 22:37.950 --> 22:40.970 people who are hit a bad stretch in life. 22:42.170 --> 22:47.030 You help them, but you don't help them so you can brag about it. 22:48.170 --> 22:50.070 Well, I gave them a thousand dollars. 22:50.170 --> 22:51.210 That should pay their gas. 22:52.590 --> 22:53.970 Why did you say that? 22:54.290 --> 22:55.570 Because you want credit. 22:57.310 --> 23:01.170 See, alms is something that you do in secret. 23:01.350 --> 23:02.870 Nobody knows what you did. 23:03.630 --> 23:06.230 Sometimes it's done through the church, sometimes it's not. 23:06.770 --> 23:08.790 But it's giving to someone who's in need, 23:09.030 --> 23:14.470 someone who needs help, someone who's struggling financially with food or whatever. 23:16.050 --> 23:17.770 So you've got tithes. 23:19.990 --> 23:21.810 Oh, there's, I never switched it to that. 23:22.370 --> 23:25.530 Alms, compassionateness, exercise towards the poor, 23:26.330 --> 23:27.250 people who need help. 23:27.890 --> 23:29.230 So you've got tithes. 23:29.850 --> 23:30.750 That's the 10%. 23:31.370 --> 23:32.570 You've got offerings. 23:33.010 --> 23:38.330 That's any amount that we give to God's work, not necessarily a tithe. 23:39.350 --> 23:41.390 It can be special speakers. 23:41.690 --> 23:42.690 It can be projects. 23:44.190 --> 23:45.310 It's offerings. 23:45.510 --> 23:47.090 We decide to give more than our tithe. 23:47.790 --> 23:49.170 And then you've got alms. 23:49.330 --> 23:51.250 Any amount given, typically to help someone, 23:51.430 --> 23:53.010 often given directly to the person. 23:53.270 --> 23:55.130 It's not the tithe, it's alms. 23:55.530 --> 23:57.590 Typically given to help someone in need. 23:58.630 --> 24:02.270 So we're not going to spend a lot of time on offerings and alms. 24:02.610 --> 24:04.730 But I wanted you to understand they're in Scripture 24:04.730 --> 24:07.330 and that's what they look like and that's what they are. 24:07.950 --> 24:10.490 In case God ever taps you on the shoulder and says, 24:10.930 --> 24:12.170 Hey, give them 20 bucks. 24:12.290 --> 24:13.110 Give them 50 bucks. 24:13.210 --> 24:13.830 They need some help. 24:14.030 --> 24:14.830 That's alms. 24:14.950 --> 24:15.550 That's scriptural. 24:15.890 --> 24:16.490 Do that. 24:17.110 --> 24:20.230 In fact, let's bring it into present day. 24:21.130 --> 24:22.110 Go fund me. 24:22.110 --> 24:28.870 And most of these crowd giving platforms are alms. 24:30.010 --> 24:32.630 They're not tithes because once we get to the definition 24:32.630 --> 24:35.150 of tithe, they're not tithes. 24:35.510 --> 24:36.830 And they're not offerings. 24:38.770 --> 24:39.810 They're alms. 24:39.930 --> 24:42.270 You're helping someone who hit a rough patch. 24:43.150 --> 24:46.410 And there's nothing wrong with go fund me or any of that stuff. 24:46.690 --> 24:49.570 But technically it fits in under alms. 24:50.570 --> 24:52.890 Offerings is where you can get extravagant giving, 24:53.030 --> 24:54.690 like Mary was talking about this morning. 24:55.230 --> 24:59.390 10% is 10% whether you, no matter how you cut it, 24:59.570 --> 25:01.350 it's not extravagant giving. 25:02.150 --> 25:03.110 It's 10%. 25:03.110 --> 25:03.770 That's a tithe. 25:05.370 --> 25:07.030 Extravagant giving goes into offerings. 25:09.370 --> 25:11.370 You can get extravagant with alms. 25:13.070 --> 25:15.150 Sometimes you hear of a movie star or something 25:15.150 --> 25:17.510 tipping a waitress $5,000? 25:19.970 --> 25:22.710 Because they felt that the person could use it? 25:23.050 --> 25:23.550 That's alms. 25:24.970 --> 25:28.210 They're helping someone that they felt needed help. 25:29.290 --> 25:32.690 And $5,000 on a $25 meal, 25:32.830 --> 25:34.670 I'd say that's an extravagant tip. 25:36.990 --> 25:38.970 And that is scriptural to give extravagantly 25:40.390 --> 25:41.770 and ex-sacrificially. 25:42.110 --> 25:43.630 But we're not going to take too much time 25:43.630 --> 25:45.290 on the offerings in the alms. 25:45.470 --> 25:47.150 I want to spend more time on the tithe. 25:47.150 --> 25:48.310 So let's get started here. 25:49.270 --> 25:50.330 When did tithing start? 25:51.390 --> 25:53.490 Most people say, well, I'm not under the law, 25:53.530 --> 25:55.110 especially New Testament, our age. 25:55.350 --> 25:56.290 We're not under the law. 25:56.390 --> 25:57.290 We don't have to tithe. 25:58.110 --> 25:59.830 Tithing didn't start under the law. 26:02.450 --> 26:03.830 Tithing started with Abraham. 26:04.570 --> 26:06.470 And this is key as we develop this, 26:06.570 --> 26:08.210 and hopefully I get through it all of it this morning, 26:08.610 --> 26:09.450 the developing part. 26:10.830 --> 26:13.830 Abraham was on his way back from rescuing Lot. 26:15.890 --> 26:20.710 He had just had a battle with people who took Lot, 26:20.910 --> 26:22.570 and a lot of other people too, 26:22.590 --> 26:24.830 but he was going there to get Lot, his nephew back. 26:26.050 --> 26:27.930 And on his way back, Melchizedek, 26:28.030 --> 26:29.870 the king of Salem, who was a priest of God, 26:30.050 --> 26:31.150 brought bread and wine. 26:32.050 --> 26:33.470 What did bread and wine use for? 26:35.290 --> 26:35.730 Communion. 26:37.030 --> 26:38.550 So the king of Salem, 26:38.790 --> 26:40.890 which later was renamed Jerusalem, 26:41.330 --> 26:42.410 wasn't called Salem anymore, 26:42.410 --> 26:44.090 it was renamed Jerusalem, 26:44.390 --> 26:45.990 but what does the name Salem mean? 26:46.830 --> 26:47.050 Peace. 26:48.110 --> 26:49.370 So the king of peace... 26:50.350 --> 26:51.530 I'm just pointing this out, 26:51.610 --> 26:53.550 because once next week when we go to Hebrews 7, 26:53.870 --> 26:54.810 it'll make perfect sense, 26:54.870 --> 26:56.770 because Melchizedek was a type of Jesus. 26:58.210 --> 26:59.910 Jesus is the prince of peace. 27:00.750 --> 27:02.690 So the king of Salem or the king of peace, 27:03.010 --> 27:04.950 king of Jerusalem, later it was renamed. 27:05.230 --> 27:06.430 So he was the king of a city, 27:06.650 --> 27:10.210 and he was the priest of God, 27:11.230 --> 27:14.270 brought communion out to Abraham. 27:16.270 --> 27:18.750 And Melchizedek blessed him and said, 27:18.950 --> 27:23.370 bless me, Abram, the God of God most high, 27:24.730 --> 27:26.290 possessor of heaven and earth. 27:27.650 --> 27:30.310 So Melchizedek blesses Abraham, 27:31.930 --> 27:33.430 and verse 20, 27:33.610 --> 27:36.070 and bless be God most high, 27:36.350 --> 27:39.130 who has delivered your enemies into your hand. 27:40.870 --> 27:45.010 So he pronounces a blessing over Abraham 27:46.890 --> 27:51.030 that came from the possessor of heaven and earth to Abraham. 27:51.890 --> 27:56.510 And then he pronounces a blessing to God, 27:58.130 --> 27:59.850 and everything that God did, 28:01.370 --> 28:06.910 and he, Abraham, gave him a tenth or a tithe of all. 28:07.890 --> 28:10.010 That's the first place it's mentioned in Scripture. 28:11.210 --> 28:13.240 Now, I'm not... 28:15.010 --> 28:19.030 I'm highly doubtful Abraham came up with that idea. 28:20.550 --> 28:24.670 There were a lot of things that God taught Adam and Eve 28:26.370 --> 28:29.470 that never made it into the Bible. 28:31.010 --> 28:32.550 Like for instance, Cain and Abel. 28:33.490 --> 28:35.570 Why was Cain's sacrifice rejected 28:35.570 --> 28:37.010 and Abel's was accepted? 28:38.290 --> 28:40.430 And God didn't cut Cain any slack. 28:41.090 --> 28:43.270 It's like, hey, you knew what I wanted. 28:44.050 --> 28:46.810 Well, the Bible doesn't tell us that story, 28:46.990 --> 28:48.370 but that story took place. 28:48.690 --> 28:51.790 And at some point, Adam and Eve taught their boys, 28:52.650 --> 28:54.150 if you're going to make a sacrifice to God, 28:54.210 --> 28:55.370 it has to be a blood sacrifice. 28:56.830 --> 28:59.650 Well, Cain already had feelings with Abel because, 29:00.150 --> 29:03.390 I mean, the whole idea of I'm going to kill you with a rock 29:03.390 --> 29:05.710 didn't start just one day. 29:07.070 --> 29:09.630 They're already struggling with each other relationship-wise. 29:09.910 --> 29:13.270 And more than likely, Cain did not want to buy something 29:13.270 --> 29:16.490 from Abel that had blood in it because Cain was a gardener 29:16.490 --> 29:18.090 and Abel was the one who raised animals. 29:18.690 --> 29:19.890 I ain't giving him that money. 29:19.950 --> 29:20.990 I'll just bring what I got. 29:21.130 --> 29:22.290 It's going to be good enough for God. 29:22.390 --> 29:23.990 And God said, no, it's not going to be. 29:25.010 --> 29:26.510 You know what you're supposed to be doing. 29:27.130 --> 29:29.410 So there was a lot of information that was given 29:29.410 --> 29:30.610 that we have no record of. 29:30.610 --> 29:34.490 I believe Abraham already knew about tithing and what it was about. 29:36.130 --> 29:38.610 I don't think he conceived that right here. 29:38.850 --> 29:41.190 But it's the first place it's mentioned in Scripture 29:41.810 --> 29:43.330 is right there in Genesis 14. 29:44.810 --> 29:47.890 And we're going to go a lot deeper into that Scripture next Sunday. 29:48.190 --> 29:52.070 I just want you to see that it started with Abraham. 29:52.830 --> 29:54.990 So here's the beginning of tithing. 29:55.950 --> 29:57.050 Who was Melchizedek? 29:57.170 --> 29:59.130 He was the priest of God Most High. 30:00.870 --> 30:05.010 What was Melchizedek celebrating with Abraham? 30:05.470 --> 30:08.070 The defeat of the enemies, the rescuing of Lot. 30:09.330 --> 30:11.490 How were they celebrating that victory? 30:13.190 --> 30:13.750 Communion. 30:14.470 --> 30:15.990 Well, now we're into covenant. 30:17.690 --> 30:20.510 We're celebrating the fact that the God Most High 30:20.510 --> 30:21.750 took care of this whole thing. 30:21.830 --> 30:23.190 He is possessor of heaven and earth. 30:23.390 --> 30:25.110 He defeated your enemies for you. 30:25.110 --> 30:29.530 You ended up blessed because of covenant. 30:31.030 --> 30:33.170 So we're going to take communion 30:33.170 --> 30:38.510 and celebrate this covenant we have with this God. 30:39.650 --> 30:43.390 And during that celebration or taking that communion, 30:43.730 --> 30:47.370 that whole setting, blessings were spoken by the priest 30:47.370 --> 30:49.590 or the official representative of God. 30:49.730 --> 30:50.550 That's what the priest was. 30:51.330 --> 30:55.870 And the reciprocation on receiving the blessing 30:55.870 --> 30:58.970 was Abraham giving the tithe. 31:00.730 --> 31:07.850 That is a principle that goes throughout. 31:08.610 --> 31:10.090 It never quits. 31:11.410 --> 31:13.770 That principle still holds true today. 31:14.430 --> 31:16.030 And I'll show you that next week. 31:16.090 --> 31:17.010 We won't get to it this week. 31:17.370 --> 31:18.610 I'll show it to you next week. 31:20.550 --> 31:23.690 The picture is we are in covenant with God. 31:24.610 --> 31:32.030 That covenant is God giving us innumerable, unmeasurable. 31:32.170 --> 31:33.450 They're as big as they need to be 31:33.450 --> 31:36.050 for whatever the situation is, blessings. 31:38.710 --> 31:41.450 In covenant, the exchange on that, 31:42.830 --> 31:45.210 the financial exchange is the tithe. 31:45.590 --> 31:46.230 It's a 10%. 31:47.350 --> 31:49.470 That's explained real deeply in the law, 31:49.470 --> 31:51.210 which we're not going to spend much time there either, 31:51.330 --> 31:53.230 just enough to see how they explain things, 31:53.310 --> 31:54.490 but it doesn't apply to us. 31:55.210 --> 31:58.430 But this is the beginning with Abraham of tithing. 31:59.550 --> 32:01.870 And by the way, it hasn't changed since Abraham. 32:04.110 --> 32:06.390 It came right through the cross unchanged, 32:07.150 --> 32:09.450 lands of smack dab in the New Testament. 32:09.730 --> 32:10.650 I'll show that to you. 32:11.790 --> 32:13.410 You say, why would it? 32:16.270 --> 32:17.550 Theological question for you. 32:18.850 --> 32:19.870 I'll make it easy. 32:21.190 --> 32:24.570 Are we under Abraham's covenant today or not? 32:29.600 --> 32:32.720 Are we under Noah's covenant today or not? 32:34.680 --> 32:36.100 Not yet Noah's covenant. 32:36.680 --> 32:37.240 That's a yes. 32:37.520 --> 32:37.760 You're right. 32:38.560 --> 32:41.040 Are we under Moses' covenant today or not? 32:42.240 --> 32:42.580 No. 32:43.880 --> 32:44.680 The law? 32:44.900 --> 32:45.580 We're under the law? 32:46.580 --> 32:46.880 No. 32:47.360 --> 32:49.640 Moses' covenant is usually referred to as the law. 32:50.780 --> 32:53.340 So you've got Abraham's covenant is still in effect. 32:53.860 --> 32:55.120 A lot of people don't know that. 32:55.800 --> 32:58.820 Do you know a reason you've got the baptism in the Holy Spirit? 32:59.720 --> 33:01.140 Because of Abraham's covenant. 33:02.640 --> 33:04.000 That's what it says in Galatians. 33:06.240 --> 33:08.740 Part of the blessing that was given to Abraham 33:08.740 --> 33:11.820 shows up in our life as a personal individual 33:12.680 --> 33:14.940 receiving of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 33:16.440 --> 33:17.980 So we're still under that covenant. 33:20.880 --> 33:22.420 It didn't stop at the cross. 33:22.700 --> 33:23.540 Tithing hasn't changed. 33:25.200 --> 33:26.640 We're still under that covenant. 33:27.260 --> 33:28.860 It didn't change at the cross. 33:29.900 --> 33:31.200 It came through the cross unchanged. 33:31.480 --> 33:32.180 Remember that principle? 33:32.400 --> 33:33.880 We're not going to develop on it here. 33:34.020 --> 33:35.140 But remember the principle? 33:35.620 --> 33:38.120 The things in the Old Testament either stopped at the cross, 33:38.440 --> 33:40.840 came through the cross changed, 33:42.520 --> 33:45.180 or they came through the cross unchanged. 33:46.400 --> 33:46.740 Examples. 33:46.740 --> 33:49.340 God's love for the human race in the Old Testament 33:49.340 --> 33:50.700 came through the cross unchanged. 33:50.920 --> 33:53.300 It's the same today as it was back there. 33:53.840 --> 33:56.020 The working of the Spirit and how He operates 33:56.020 --> 33:58.920 came through the cross, but totally changed. 34:01.060 --> 34:03.760 The Old Testament law stopped at the cross. 34:04.220 --> 34:05.300 Did not come through. 34:05.380 --> 34:06.960 It was replaced with Jesus' covenant. 34:08.240 --> 34:09.740 Got to keep some of these things in mind. 34:09.780 --> 34:12.180 I'm kind of just building a foundation to where we're going. 34:13.620 --> 34:17.060 What has changed when it concerned tithing 34:18.060 --> 34:20.560 and the Old Testament to the New Testament? 34:21.420 --> 34:23.720 It's what motivates us to do it. 34:24.360 --> 34:27.880 Back then and under the law they were forced to do it. 34:28.900 --> 34:30.980 It was part of the law. 34:32.920 --> 34:34.620 Today we're not forced to tithe. 34:36.140 --> 34:37.340 Do you know what it is? 34:38.840 --> 34:40.480 It's an expression of our love. 34:42.920 --> 34:43.960 That's exactly what... 34:44.840 --> 34:46.680 All giving flows out of love. 34:47.580 --> 34:48.480 Tithing is the same. 34:50.180 --> 34:53.460 You take all the 600 and some separate commands 34:53.460 --> 34:55.400 of the Old Testament and wrap them up in two. 34:56.760 --> 34:58.500 One of the commands was tithing. 34:59.300 --> 35:01.480 Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. 35:01.640 --> 35:02.680 If you do that you'll tithe. 35:04.480 --> 35:06.420 What you love you give to. 35:10.890 --> 35:12.550 See it's starting to come together now. 35:13.410 --> 35:16.090 Yeah, but isn't tithing part of the Old Testament law? 35:16.590 --> 35:17.670 Yeah, it is. 35:18.490 --> 35:20.550 But it was first introduced by Abraham. 35:21.710 --> 35:23.830 It actually is under his covenant. 35:24.250 --> 35:27.090 And then the law was added to fix some things. 35:27.310 --> 35:28.910 We'll talk about that next Sunday a little bit. 35:30.850 --> 35:34.750 Let's talk about the covenant and how tithing fits into it. 35:34.870 --> 35:36.950 Just real, real briefly here. 35:37.970 --> 35:41.590 The concept of an individual being able to participate 35:41.590 --> 35:45.510 in a covenant with God came through Abraham. 35:49.840 --> 35:52.860 Noah's covenant was a general overall. 35:53.220 --> 35:54.960 This is what's going to happen in the earth. 35:55.400 --> 35:57.960 And if people do this, that happens. 35:58.080 --> 35:59.860 And if people do that, that happens. 36:00.180 --> 36:02.880 It was like a governmental covenant. 36:04.740 --> 36:10.980 Abraham's covenant was the one that made it personal to the person. 36:12.260 --> 36:15.640 And even the way God announced it in the Old Testament, 36:16.260 --> 36:19.140 he was the God of the Israelites. 36:20.180 --> 36:23.980 He was, but is that usually how he announced things? 36:24.500 --> 36:28.700 He said, I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac. 36:31.300 --> 36:34.940 Individual relationship and working with God 36:34.940 --> 36:37.100 that started with Abraham's covenant. 36:38.120 --> 36:39.800 And it continues today. 36:41.640 --> 36:46.140 God works in our life individually because of Abraham's covenant. 36:47.920 --> 36:50.900 Tithing is directly tied to Abraham's covenant. 36:54.410 --> 36:56.290 Abraham's covenant is what brought life. 36:57.690 --> 36:59.070 The law didn't give life. 36:59.170 --> 37:01.130 It just pointed out our sin and that we were sinners 37:01.130 --> 37:03.310 and that we needed a savior. 37:04.790 --> 37:06.130 Here's a scripture on it. 37:08.270 --> 37:10.750 Whatever the law says, it says to those under the law 37:10.750 --> 37:13.110 that everybody is silenced. 37:13.210 --> 37:14.330 The whole world held accountable. 37:14.570 --> 37:16.930 There will no one be declared righteous in his sight 37:16.930 --> 37:17.970 by observing the law. 37:18.710 --> 37:21.350 Rather, through the law, we become conscious we're sinners. 37:22.370 --> 37:24.590 We can't keep the law. 37:25.650 --> 37:29.290 It's impossible for a human being to keep every point of the law. 37:30.630 --> 37:32.010 That's why it can't save us. 37:33.230 --> 37:35.330 Well, if we can't keep it, what did he give it for? 37:35.410 --> 37:36.750 To show you you can't keep it. 37:38.350 --> 37:39.470 You need a savior. 37:40.750 --> 37:42.890 Well, I don't lie. I deserve to go to heaven. 37:43.710 --> 37:44.750 You deserve nothing. 37:46.010 --> 37:48.830 Salvation is a gift given by faith. 37:49.050 --> 37:50.610 You can't earn it by not lying. 37:52.050 --> 37:53.810 Well, I went to church every day of my life. 37:53.910 --> 37:54.670 Well, good for you. 37:55.090 --> 37:55.970 Hope it helped you. 37:56.510 --> 37:57.990 But it doesn't guarantee you heaven. 38:01.440 --> 38:04.480 The law just points out you're not good enough. 38:05.320 --> 38:06.460 There's no life in it. 38:06.600 --> 38:07.920 There's no promise in it. 38:08.260 --> 38:10.300 It's just here's where you're failing. 38:10.560 --> 38:11.620 Here's where you're failing. 38:11.620 --> 38:13.020 Here's where you're failing. 38:13.240 --> 38:14.300 Here's where you're failing. 38:14.460 --> 38:16.220 That was the purpose of the law 38:16.220 --> 38:18.340 so that everybody would come to the point 38:18.340 --> 38:20.120 they're silent and quit saying, 38:20.500 --> 38:21.920 yeah, but I'm good enough. 38:22.140 --> 38:22.660 No, you're not. 38:22.820 --> 38:23.260 You're failing. 38:23.600 --> 38:24.560 You're all failing. 38:25.920 --> 38:29.180 Did you know that that whole concept of the law, 38:29.400 --> 38:32.560 from what I understand, the way I'm seeing it, 38:33.060 --> 38:35.300 God never wanted that to take place. 38:37.780 --> 38:40.940 He never wanted the law and that whole thing to take place. 38:41.620 --> 38:42.580 Look at the Scripture. 38:47.190 --> 38:49.530 Let me take an example from everyday life. 38:49.630 --> 38:52.330 Just as no one can set aside and add a human covenant 38:52.330 --> 38:55.290 that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 38:55.950 --> 38:59.370 The promises that were spoken to Abraham and to his seed, 38:59.670 --> 39:02.190 that was Jesus, not us, Jesus. 39:03.210 --> 39:05.110 The Scripture does not say, 39:05.570 --> 39:08.670 and to seeds, meaning many people, 39:09.430 --> 39:13.550 but it says to seed, meaning one person who is Christ. 39:14.450 --> 39:18.010 The promises were spoken to Abraham and Jesus, 39:19.310 --> 39:22.210 and we get in on it through Jesus, 39:22.430 --> 39:24.510 but Abraham's covenant is the core of that. 39:24.770 --> 39:25.150 Read on. 39:27.510 --> 39:28.710 What I mean is this. 39:29.070 --> 39:31.270 The law introduced 430 years later, 39:31.330 --> 39:34.010 does not set aside the covenant he had with Abraham. 39:34.850 --> 39:37.450 For if the inheritance depends on the law, 39:37.870 --> 39:39.550 then it no longer depends on a promise. 39:39.750 --> 39:41.130 God made a promise to Abraham. 39:41.850 --> 39:43.490 Well, if we can earn it by the law, 39:43.570 --> 39:44.670 well, it's no longer a promise. 39:45.150 --> 39:49.710 But God, in his grace, gave it to Abraham through the promises. 39:50.530 --> 39:52.510 What then was the purpose of the law? 39:53.530 --> 39:54.270 It was added. 39:55.030 --> 39:56.310 It was added. 39:57.530 --> 39:59.050 It was added. 40:01.150 --> 40:01.670 Why? 40:02.470 --> 40:04.070 Because sin got so bad. 40:04.690 --> 40:08.930 Because of transgression, until the seed, Jesus, 40:09.670 --> 40:12.030 to whom the promise referred, had come. 40:13.430 --> 40:17.670 Had the world not gotten so deep into sin, specifically Israel, 40:19.290 --> 40:21.370 I don't think he'd ever added the law. 40:23.210 --> 40:25.690 But they were going to lose the whole thing 40:25.690 --> 40:27.750 by the time Jesus was supposed to be born 40:27.750 --> 40:31.150 because of the depravity they got into. 40:31.810 --> 40:33.330 You got Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. 40:34.130 --> 40:37.350 Have you ever studied Jacob's 12 sons, their lives? 40:39.670 --> 40:42.430 These people hit the ditch really hard 40:43.490 --> 40:47.770 when it comes to righteousness and doing what God wanted them to do. 40:52.480 --> 40:55.720 I think God looked in on that and said the direction this is going, 40:56.540 --> 40:57.720 this isn't going to work. 40:59.660 --> 41:03.080 So we're going to add another covenant until Jesus shows up. 41:03.360 --> 41:04.400 We're going to add the law. 41:05.500 --> 41:07.180 We're going to try to hold this thing together 41:08.900 --> 41:10.400 and show them how wrong they are. 41:12.440 --> 41:16.200 You can't sleep with your son's wife and get away with it. 41:18.180 --> 41:19.420 Remember one of them did that. 41:20.440 --> 41:21.720 And then he denied it. 41:22.580 --> 41:23.960 But she was a sharp woman. 41:26.060 --> 41:27.280 She took his staff. 41:29.360 --> 41:31.000 And then she got pregnant by him. 41:32.440 --> 41:34.720 And then she came out of the woodwork and said, 41:34.780 --> 41:35.900 hey, by the way, I've got your baby. 41:36.180 --> 41:38.540 I do not do anything like that. 41:39.620 --> 41:41.960 Well, whoever owns this staff apparently did. 41:43.480 --> 41:44.680 Pulled out his staff. 41:47.120 --> 41:51.380 See, this thing was going south so fast, so bad, 41:51.980 --> 41:54.820 that we had to spend a few hundred years here yet, 41:55.100 --> 41:57.500 like 1500 from Moses to Jesus. 41:57.900 --> 41:58.980 We're never going to make it. 41:59.880 --> 42:02.260 This thing's going to collapse in on itself in sin. 42:02.840 --> 42:07.840 So God added the law to fill that gap. 42:09.840 --> 42:11.440 It was added because of sin. 42:13.860 --> 42:15.560 What then was the purpose of the law? 42:15.860 --> 42:18.500 It was added because of transgression 42:21.220 --> 42:23.920 to make men more conscious of what they're doing. 42:24.340 --> 42:30.560 It was intended to be in effect until the seed, Jesus. 42:31.180 --> 42:33.400 The law was in effect until Jesus. 42:34.520 --> 42:36.860 Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? 42:36.980 --> 42:37.620 Absolutely not. 42:37.760 --> 42:41.020 For if the law had been against God, I mean, that wouldn't work. 42:41.020 --> 42:44.060 The Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, 42:44.140 --> 42:48.760 so that what was promised might be given as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ. 42:48.940 --> 42:51.360 To the whole world might be given to those who believe. 42:51.740 --> 42:55.660 The law made of sinners who was a promise made to Abraham and Jesus. 42:56.800 --> 43:01.760 It was added to make sure that promise that was given to Abraham, 43:01.860 --> 43:06.000 which would be his seeds, Jesus would become his promise. 43:08.540 --> 43:10.880 The law was added to hold everything together. 43:11.020 --> 43:12.060 That's my understanding. 43:12.500 --> 43:16.200 So I repeat, the covenant that brings life and blessing is Abraham's covenant. 43:16.380 --> 43:17.360 It's not the law. 43:19.680 --> 43:23.780 On that day, the Lord God made a covenant with Abraham. 43:24.920 --> 43:25.200 Okay? 43:25.680 --> 43:27.680 So now let's go back and make application here. 43:28.360 --> 43:30.360 By faith, we're brought into Abraham's covenant 43:30.360 --> 43:33.340 and have become Abraham's spiritual children. 43:38.880 --> 43:43.460 So our inheritance comes from Abraham. 43:44.460 --> 43:48.100 Were his kids, huh? 43:51.150 --> 43:52.210 You say, that can't be right. 43:52.370 --> 43:52.870 It is right. 43:54.170 --> 43:55.090 Notice this. 43:56.650 --> 43:58.670 And he received a sign of circumcision, 43:58.770 --> 44:00.850 a seal of righteousness that he had by faith 44:00.850 --> 44:02.230 while they were still in circumcised. 44:02.430 --> 44:05.910 So then he is the father of all who believe 44:05.910 --> 44:07.910 whether you're a Jew and believe in circumcision 44:07.910 --> 44:10.050 or whether you're a Gentile and you don't believe in circumcision. 44:10.290 --> 44:13.430 By faith, you become a child of Abraham. 44:19.880 --> 44:20.720 There's that scripture. 44:23.880 --> 44:25.800 Verse 13, I think it's right there. 44:26.660 --> 44:28.200 It was not through the law that Abraham 44:28.200 --> 44:30.240 and his offering received the promise 44:30.240 --> 44:31.420 that he would be heir of the world, 44:31.540 --> 44:34.080 but through righteousness that comes from faith. 44:36.380 --> 44:37.260 Oh, offspring. 44:39.200 --> 44:42.120 Receive the promise that he would be heir of the world. 44:42.480 --> 44:43.760 Well, his offspring was Jesus. 44:44.860 --> 44:46.920 And then what did Jesus say to us? 44:48.960 --> 44:57.200 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 44:58.700 --> 45:00.860 See, it was given to Jesus. 45:01.160 --> 45:02.600 And then through his covenant, 45:02.800 --> 45:04.880 he turned around and gave it to all of us. 45:05.980 --> 45:07.600 And we receive the promise. 45:09.300 --> 45:11.600 That righteousness doesn't come by the law, 45:11.680 --> 45:13.040 doesn't come by being born a Jew. 45:13.200 --> 45:17.620 It comes by faith because you become an heir of Abraham, 45:17.920 --> 45:21.220 who the promise was first mentioned to. 45:25.250 --> 45:26.830 The law brings wrath. 45:29.210 --> 45:30.350 Yeah, you're wrong. 45:31.330 --> 45:33.310 But where there's no law, there's no transgression. 45:33.470 --> 45:35.450 Therefore, the promise comes by faith. 45:36.950 --> 45:38.390 You say, well, where there's no law, 45:38.470 --> 45:39.230 there's no transgression. 45:39.350 --> 45:39.850 What does that mean? 45:40.350 --> 45:42.770 That means if you don't know you're breaking the law, 45:43.570 --> 45:46.490 you don't, in your mind, you're not breaking the law. 45:47.830 --> 45:49.490 Now, you're still breaking the law. 45:49.830 --> 45:51.170 Just you don't know it. 45:53.110 --> 45:53.870 I don't know. 45:53.990 --> 45:55.470 I didn't know I was supposed to do that. 45:55.610 --> 45:56.970 Well, yeah, you were supposed to do that. 45:59.590 --> 46:01.930 Oh, so it's the law still stands. 46:02.610 --> 46:04.130 You just didn't realize it. 46:04.170 --> 46:05.430 So you weren't transgressing. 46:06.190 --> 46:07.970 But the law just pointed that out to you. 46:08.130 --> 46:08.270 Yep. 46:08.810 --> 46:09.590 You don't measure up. 46:10.210 --> 46:10.730 Verse 16. 46:11.450 --> 46:13.690 Therefore, the promise comes by faith 46:13.690 --> 46:15.550 so that it may be by grace 46:15.550 --> 46:18.070 and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring. 46:19.290 --> 46:22.610 Remember, it's not the physical born of Israel 46:22.610 --> 46:24.710 that God considers Abraham's offspring. 46:25.050 --> 46:26.570 It's those born of faith. 46:27.610 --> 46:30.530 Remember the two sons, Isaac, Ishmael? 46:30.870 --> 46:33.470 It's not the one of the flesh who gets the promise. 46:33.470 --> 46:35.910 It's Isaac, the son of the promise 46:37.230 --> 46:38.890 that Abraham got by faith. 46:39.110 --> 46:40.710 That's how it's passed on to us. 46:41.470 --> 46:45.710 By faith, we become Abraham's offspring 46:46.270 --> 46:50.250 and we can inherit what was promised to Abraham 46:50.250 --> 46:51.870 because he is... 46:51.870 --> 46:53.770 Remember the song when you, if you grew up in church, 46:53.950 --> 46:54.790 remember the song years ago, 46:54.890 --> 46:56.050 it irritated me to no end. 46:57.230 --> 47:00.090 Father Abraham had many sons. 47:00.870 --> 47:02.210 And we had to sing that. 47:02.970 --> 47:04.910 In front of, I mean your little kids, 47:05.010 --> 47:06.090 you got to get up in front of the people. 47:06.530 --> 47:09.830 Mother Abraham, it was embarrassing to me. 47:11.910 --> 47:13.570 It was built on Scripture. 47:13.930 --> 47:14.670 It was built on truth. 47:15.410 --> 47:17.330 He is our spiritual father. 47:17.690 --> 47:19.610 We do inherit from him. 47:21.690 --> 47:25.310 Verse 16 there, he is the father of us all. 47:27.190 --> 47:29.250 Verse 17, as it is written, 47:29.350 --> 47:31.190 I have made you the father of many nations. 47:31.190 --> 47:33.970 He is our father in the sight of God, 47:34.110 --> 47:35.030 in whom you believed, 47:35.470 --> 47:36.890 the God who gives life to the dead 47:36.890 --> 47:38.930 and calls those things that are not as though they were. 47:39.390 --> 47:42.330 Being fully persuaded that God had the power 47:42.330 --> 47:44.890 to do what he was promised, talking about Abraham. 47:46.530 --> 47:47.270 Back up. 47:48.310 --> 47:50.970 In other words, it is not the natural children 47:50.970 --> 47:53.170 who are God's children, 47:53.250 --> 47:55.570 but it is the children of the promise 47:55.570 --> 47:58.050 who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. 47:58.690 --> 48:00.590 If you've put your faith in Christ, 48:00.590 --> 48:02.390 if you are born again, 48:02.710 --> 48:06.250 you are considered to be offspring of Abraham. 48:08.030 --> 48:11.530 And the promises that God gave to Abraham, 48:11.790 --> 48:12.550 we inherit. 48:15.350 --> 48:17.590 It's not the physical line 48:17.590 --> 48:20.570 of the Israelite or Jewish people. 48:20.990 --> 48:24.210 And that was the camel they couldn't handle 48:24.890 --> 48:26.830 because they were the chosen people 48:26.830 --> 48:27.790 and nobody else counted. 48:27.790 --> 48:30.270 Well, God opened it up to the world 48:31.050 --> 48:32.570 when he instituted faith. 48:34.070 --> 48:36.670 And everybody now could get in on 48:37.270 --> 48:39.410 the covenant God made with Abraham 48:41.510 --> 48:43.130 and receive, be in error. 48:43.710 --> 48:46.470 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham 48:46.470 --> 48:48.730 might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, 48:48.730 --> 48:50.350 so that by faith, 48:50.410 --> 48:52.390 we might receive the promise of the Spirit. 48:52.390 --> 48:57.030 Did you know, without being an heir 48:57.030 --> 48:58.550 to the covenant of Abraham, 48:59.130 --> 49:01.270 you can't receive the promise of the Spirit? 49:01.370 --> 49:03.250 What did Jesus say the promise of the Spirit was? 49:03.330 --> 49:04.290 He said, wait in Jerusalem 49:04.290 --> 49:07.090 until the promise which was given by my Father 49:07.090 --> 49:08.970 till the Holy Spirit comes. 49:09.370 --> 49:10.750 It's the baptism in the Holy Spirit. 49:12.110 --> 49:14.130 The baptism in the Holy Spirit, 49:14.210 --> 49:15.770 for us as individuals, 49:16.310 --> 49:18.850 goes back to Abraham 49:19.570 --> 49:20.910 and that covenant. 49:28.080 --> 49:29.380 So, I'll end with this. 49:29.900 --> 49:31.260 We'll just pick it up there next Sunday. 49:32.700 --> 49:35.780 We like to get excited about, 49:36.880 --> 49:39.080 for instance, we were talking about David. 49:41.140 --> 49:43.400 You come to me with your spear and your sword. 49:44.160 --> 49:46.460 I come to you in the name of Jehovah's of both. 49:47.400 --> 49:50.300 What gave David the right to make that claim? 49:54.540 --> 49:56.320 What we're talking, covenant, what covenant? 49:57.420 --> 49:58.180 Abraham's covenant. 49:59.140 --> 50:01.760 Who is this uncircumcised Philistine? 50:02.080 --> 50:04.780 This clown is not in Abraham's covenant. 50:06.660 --> 50:09.120 Why are you even listening to him? 50:12.000 --> 50:16.620 And David encouraged himself in Jehovah Elohim. 50:16.880 --> 50:20.120 What gave him access to Jehovah Elohim in the first place? 50:21.220 --> 50:25.480 The covenant that Abraham set up with God. 50:27.940 --> 50:32.980 What God did through Abraham and the exchange of sons. 50:33.620 --> 50:35.240 Abraham was willing to give Isaac. 50:35.620 --> 50:37.840 God said, that's all I need, you don't have to give him to me. 50:38.120 --> 50:39.120 I will give you mine. 50:40.580 --> 50:43.960 That exchange made everything God is, 50:44.200 --> 50:47.100 a personal God to each one of us. 50:49.080 --> 50:49.820 Abraham's covenant. 50:52.520 --> 50:55.460 Well, there's a lot of things that tie into Abraham's covenant. 50:55.460 --> 50:58.620 That's why God gave the law, because they weren't getting it. 51:00.640 --> 51:02.820 One of the things he said to Abraham, 51:03.920 --> 51:05.980 when he called him out of the Ur and Keldes, 51:06.300 --> 51:08.780 he said, walk before me. 51:09.460 --> 51:10.900 I'm quoting King James now. 51:11.180 --> 51:16.200 Anybody can finish that? Walk before me and be blameless. 51:16.920 --> 51:17.460 There you go. 51:17.580 --> 51:19.380 We got some people who've read their Bible before. 51:20.480 --> 51:21.620 Good memories too. 51:22.320 --> 51:23.980 Walk before me and be blameless. 51:25.140 --> 51:28.300 We walk not by sight, 51:29.540 --> 51:32.180 but by, as what Paul said. 51:33.260 --> 51:35.880 So when God told Abraham, walk before me, 51:36.180 --> 51:37.860 he says, you got to walk this out by faith. 51:38.440 --> 51:40.420 Which Abraham believed God 51:40.420 --> 51:42.080 and that was credited to him for righteousness. 51:42.560 --> 51:44.360 That's where the whole thing of faith started, 51:44.420 --> 51:45.140 was with Abraham. 51:47.360 --> 51:50.340 Walk before me, be a man of faith, Abraham, 51:50.900 --> 51:52.800 and be blameless. 51:54.560 --> 51:56.360 Deal with the sin in your life. 51:59.340 --> 52:00.260 Nothing's changed. 52:02.640 --> 52:03.560 Even today, 52:04.560 --> 52:05.960 4,000 years later, 52:06.560 --> 52:07.600 nothing has changed. 52:07.740 --> 52:08.500 Those two things 52:09.220 --> 52:11.820 is what everybody was supposed to live by 52:11.820 --> 52:12.660 all the way through. 52:14.060 --> 52:16.380 Well, they hung on to the 52:16.380 --> 52:18.860 oh, we believe we're sons of God, 52:19.020 --> 52:20.000 we're the children of God, 52:20.160 --> 52:21.060 we're the heirs of God, 52:21.060 --> 52:23.000 the walk before me, blameless, 52:23.100 --> 52:23.980 kind of hit the ditch. 52:25.540 --> 52:28.060 And what is the law deal with mostly? 52:29.900 --> 52:30.220 Sin. 52:31.020 --> 52:32.360 I mean, we read the scriptures this morning, 52:32.460 --> 52:34.420 the law was given to show you how wrong you are. 52:35.280 --> 52:35.800 Why? 52:36.180 --> 52:38.040 Because they didn't see it 52:38.920 --> 52:41.120 before God just hanging in front of them. 52:41.800 --> 52:43.420 Thou shalt not lie. 52:44.040 --> 52:44.520 Yoo hoo! 52:47.920 --> 52:49.640 Thou shalt not covet 52:49.640 --> 52:50.900 thy neighbor's property 52:50.900 --> 52:51.740 or his wife. 52:53.700 --> 52:53.940 Hello? 52:55.780 --> 52:57.260 That's what it means to be 52:57.260 --> 52:57.920 blameless. 52:59.820 --> 53:02.140 So he just spelled it out for them. 53:02.520 --> 53:04.140 Because they weren't getting it. 53:04.260 --> 53:05.020 It was nothing new, 53:05.140 --> 53:06.220 they just weren't getting it. 53:08.240 --> 53:09.880 So he just added on 53:09.880 --> 53:11.820 a whole section of 53:11.820 --> 53:13.800 stuff on top of Abraham's covenant 53:13.800 --> 53:15.960 to get us to the seed. 53:17.240 --> 53:18.800 Because we read it this morning. 53:19.180 --> 53:20.400 The law was given 53:20.400 --> 53:23.180 until the seed. 53:23.760 --> 53:24.160 Jesus. 53:25.060 --> 53:26.780 It was plugged right in there. 53:26.920 --> 53:27.740 He added it. 53:27.960 --> 53:29.800 Because we were messing things up. 53:31.480 --> 53:32.820 Well, do you know one of the 53:32.820 --> 53:34.960 awesome things about covenant 53:34.960 --> 53:36.340 is that exchange with God? 53:37.940 --> 53:38.680 And when God 53:38.680 --> 53:39.780 blesses us, 53:40.580 --> 53:42.340 he wants to see if we love 53:42.340 --> 53:43.220 him any enough 53:44.440 --> 53:45.560 to reciprocate. 53:47.560 --> 53:48.680 Because see the love 53:48.680 --> 53:50.220 of money is the root of all evil. 53:51.340 --> 53:53.120 It is the best test 53:53.120 --> 53:53.680 there is. 53:54.700 --> 53:56.620 It's not the root of evil. 53:57.000 --> 53:58.640 The love of money is the root of 53:59.500 --> 54:00.340 all evil. 54:02.180 --> 54:03.340 The best test 54:03.340 --> 54:04.880 he can put to us is 54:04.880 --> 54:07.380 okay, I'm blessing your socks off. 54:07.860 --> 54:09.040 Do you love me enough 54:09.880 --> 54:10.840 to reciprocate? 54:12.480 --> 54:13.700 Am I number one? 54:13.920 --> 54:14.940 Love God with all your hearts 54:14.940 --> 54:15.680 all minus strength? 54:16.280 --> 54:18.220 Or do you love your money more than me? 54:26.020 --> 54:27.740 That's the test of tithing 54:27.740 --> 54:28.700 in the New Testament. 54:29.120 --> 54:30.580 He's not going to command you to do it. 54:37.390 --> 54:38.770 He's testing our love for him. 54:40.230 --> 54:41.730 I'm going to show that to you again 54:41.730 --> 54:42.910 really clearly next Sunday. 54:49.410 --> 54:50.850 We like it when God 54:50.850 --> 54:51.830 blesses us. 54:54.610 --> 54:56.430 But that old human nature 54:56.430 --> 54:57.990 that fallen nature 54:59.310 --> 55:00.310 just swallows 55:00.310 --> 55:01.230 really hard 55:02.330 --> 55:04.410 when we're supposed to reciprocate 55:04.410 --> 55:05.590 and get on board 55:05.590 --> 55:06.890 with what he wants done. 55:07.730 --> 55:09.170 Oh, we want him on board 55:09.170 --> 55:10.150 with what we want done. 55:11.330 --> 55:12.790 Oh, God help us 55:12.790 --> 55:13.870 if you could just come through 55:13.870 --> 55:15.350 and this it would be so awesome. 55:15.630 --> 55:16.530 Blah, blah, blah, blah. 55:17.850 --> 55:19.090 And then God says, 55:19.090 --> 55:20.950 you know what? Do you love me? 55:21.010 --> 55:22.030 Oh, I love you, God. 55:22.870 --> 55:24.830 Love you with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. 55:25.870 --> 55:27.070 Well, then why aren't you tithing? 55:29.150 --> 55:31.410 Well, not under law. It's not about law. 55:31.970 --> 55:33.270 It's about an exchange 55:33.270 --> 55:34.710 of the covenant. 55:36.970 --> 55:37.930 And I get it. 55:39.150 --> 55:40.450 I can't afford to tithe. 55:41.010 --> 55:42.230 Well, we're going to talk about that. 55:45.750 --> 55:47.970 You know that God would never require you 55:47.970 --> 55:49.790 to do something you can't do. 55:51.850 --> 55:52.910 That's a setup for failure. 55:57.020 --> 55:58.380 So, see, those are some of the questions 55:58.380 --> 55:59.860 we have to answer. Well, I can't afford it. 55:59.920 --> 56:02.180 How can I do? I mean, why would God even expect that of me? 56:02.220 --> 56:03.780 I mean, it's like, I love him, but I mean, 56:03.820 --> 56:05.900 now he wants 10% of my money. 56:06.780 --> 56:07.960 Well, we never got that far, 56:08.020 --> 56:09.340 but I hate to break it to you. 56:10.680 --> 56:11.620 It's not your money. 56:13.340 --> 56:13.660 Whoops. 56:15.400 --> 56:16.380 Never was our money. 56:17.840 --> 56:18.900 He let us use it 56:18.900 --> 56:19.940 as stewards and servants. 56:21.460 --> 56:22.300 We oversee it. 56:22.300 --> 56:24.160 We watch it. We take care of it. 56:24.240 --> 56:26.980 We distribute it. Work with it as he guides and directs us. 56:27.560 --> 56:28.140 He just said, 56:28.240 --> 56:29.900 you know that dollar bill, I just want one dime. 56:30.800 --> 56:31.640 Just one dime. 56:31.780 --> 56:33.420 Because I got things I wanted to do on earth, too. 56:34.000 --> 56:35.360 And I need that dime to fund it. 56:37.180 --> 56:38.680 You love me enough to give it to me? 56:41.500 --> 56:42.840 Don't tell me what to do. 56:44.180 --> 56:44.700 I'm not. 56:45.080 --> 56:45.620 I'm asking. 56:47.120 --> 56:48.660 All giving is rooted in love. 56:49.380 --> 56:50.700 For God's so loved, 56:50.700 --> 56:52.560 loved us 56:54.080 --> 56:55.860 that he gave Jesus. 56:57.320 --> 57:00.220 All giving, from God's perspective, needs to be rooted in love. 57:00.540 --> 57:02.060 Otherwise it turns selfish. 57:02.260 --> 57:03.400 It turns like, what can I, you know, 57:03.460 --> 57:06.320 if I make a treat this guy 57:07.420 --> 57:08.840 who's part of my business 57:08.840 --> 57:10.300 and he's one of my suppliers, 57:10.440 --> 57:11.640 if I treat him really good 57:11.640 --> 57:12.860 and I get in with him, 57:13.600 --> 57:15.540 you know, I think I'm going to buy him 57:15.540 --> 57:16.500 something for Christmas, 57:16.800 --> 57:17.620 something really nice. 57:19.100 --> 57:20.180 You know that actually 57:20.180 --> 57:21.200 is a selfish gift. 57:22.880 --> 57:24.180 Because you're giving it to him 57:24.180 --> 57:26.140 for what it can earn for you back. 57:28.060 --> 57:29.820 That's the world's twist on love. 57:31.100 --> 57:31.840 God says, 57:32.120 --> 57:33.520 you give it to him because 57:33.520 --> 57:34.840 you want the best for him. 57:35.840 --> 57:37.380 You just want to see him succeed 57:37.380 --> 57:38.780 and prosper and 57:39.720 --> 57:41.900 you just give it to him, no strings attached. 57:42.100 --> 57:43.440 If I ever get anything back, fine. 57:43.560 --> 57:44.540 If I don't, fine, too. 57:45.460 --> 57:46.280 That's God's love. 57:48.600 --> 57:51.020 That's tough, isn't it? 57:52.080 --> 57:53.180 But I will commend you. 57:55.460 --> 57:57.600 The room didn't go tight once this morning. 57:59.040 --> 58:00.580 And we've talked about money. 58:01.800 --> 58:03.560 And it never got tight in here. 58:03.880 --> 58:04.800 Usually it's like, 58:05.760 --> 58:08.180 the room just goes, 58:08.920 --> 58:10.780 I wish he'd quit talking about this. 58:11.020 --> 58:11.820 I don't like it. 58:12.220 --> 58:14.320 So I commend you. You're listening. You're thinking. 58:14.920 --> 58:17.140 Now, view it as a promise and a blessing. 58:17.300 --> 58:18.140 Keep that in mind. 58:18.260 --> 58:19.640 And as we open it up, 58:19.800 --> 58:21.620 we already saw the blessing of Abraham 58:21.620 --> 58:22.880 becomes available to us. 58:23.160 --> 58:25.660 There's promises attached to this 58:27.100 --> 58:28.860 that money can't buy. 58:30.540 --> 58:32.480 View it not as a thing 58:32.480 --> 58:34.040 I'm demanded to do. 58:34.600 --> 58:36.120 View it as a, here's a blessing 58:36.120 --> 58:38.340 for you and a promise. You want in on it or not? 58:39.560 --> 58:40.740 View it that way. 58:41.720 --> 58:43.200 And it makes it, 58:43.280 --> 58:45.360 it'll throw a whole new light on it 58:45.360 --> 58:46.580 because we're not under the law. 58:46.640 --> 58:47.900 We're not commanded to do this. 58:48.320 --> 58:49.680 You know, I was raised believing 58:49.680 --> 58:51.000 if you don't tithe, you go to hell. 58:53.900 --> 58:55.060 That's actually law. 58:56.300 --> 58:57.380 That's not New Testament. 58:58.000 --> 58:58.880 That's actually law. 59:02.180 --> 59:03.300 You don't have to tithe. 59:04.580 --> 59:06.340 But oh, you're missing out. 59:08.220 --> 59:09.560 Oh, you're missing out. 59:10.940 --> 59:13.400 I don't understand why my life goes so bad. 59:13.560 --> 59:14.180 Are you a tither? 59:15.060 --> 59:17.080 Can't afford to. Well, there's why your life 59:17.080 --> 59:17.640 goes so bad. 59:19.600 --> 59:20.160 Literally, 59:20.740 --> 59:22.420 everything we need in life 59:22.420 --> 59:23.680 is tied to our giving, 59:24.100 --> 59:25.060 money giving. 59:26.920 --> 59:28.420 And we have the right 59:28.420 --> 59:30.180 to stand before God 59:30.180 --> 59:31.760 in covenant and say, 59:32.240 --> 59:33.100 you said, 59:34.460 --> 59:35.700 Mary brought that up this morning, 59:36.180 --> 59:37.080 you said, 59:37.080 --> 59:38.460 you said, if I 59:38.460 --> 59:39.780 will be faithful 59:39.780 --> 59:41.520 and give you what's yours, 59:43.760 --> 59:45.000 that everything I need 59:45.000 --> 59:46.680 in life, I'm not talking 59:46.680 --> 59:48.420 Malachi now, I'm talking Corinthians, 59:49.200 --> 59:50.600 everything I need in life 59:50.600 --> 59:52.120 will be given to me. 59:53.180 --> 59:54.520 I have been faithful 59:55.080 --> 59:56.860 so I am expecting 59:56.860 --> 59:59.080 your word to take place 59:59.080 --> 59:59.960 in my life. 01:00:02.860 --> 01:00:04.480 That's the power it holds. 01:00:07.200 --> 01:00:08.660 It's amazing. So Lord, 01:00:08.800 --> 01:00:09.600 in the name of Jesus, 01:00:10.720 --> 01:00:12.280 open our hearts and our minds 01:00:12.280 --> 01:00:13.300 to a new thing here. 01:00:16.780 --> 01:00:18.940 Help us realize and understand 01:00:18.940 --> 01:00:20.340 the whole thing of the tithe 01:00:20.340 --> 01:00:22.400 was given to bless us, 01:00:22.540 --> 01:00:24.140 not take from us, 01:00:24.860 --> 01:00:26.520 but open an avenue 01:00:26.520 --> 01:00:27.920 where it could be 01:00:27.920 --> 01:00:30.440 multiplied to us, just like Sandy said 01:00:30.440 --> 01:00:30.880 this morning. 01:00:32.640 --> 01:00:34.380 Lord, if you can trust me with more, 01:00:34.880 --> 01:00:35.800 let's do more. 01:00:36.700 --> 01:00:38.100 And he gave her more. 01:00:38.420 --> 01:00:40.180 And once he could trust her 01:00:40.180 --> 01:00:42.140 he said, whatever you want, 01:00:42.300 --> 01:00:43.480 whatever future you want, 01:00:43.620 --> 01:00:44.420 you can write it. 01:00:46.260 --> 01:00:47.720 There is walking 01:00:47.720 --> 01:00:48.880 in the blessing 01:00:49.560 --> 01:00:50.840 because she tithed. 01:00:52.340 --> 01:00:53.940 Thank you for your word. 01:00:54.240 --> 01:00:55.160 Thank you for the promises. 01:00:55.800 --> 01:00:57.300 Thank you for open hearts 01:00:57.300 --> 01:00:58.980 in people here, online. 01:00:59.660 --> 01:01:01.260 Open hearts that we actually 01:01:01.740 --> 01:01:03.460 back up and reconsider this 01:01:03.460 --> 01:01:05.160 and see some new revelation 01:01:05.160 --> 01:01:07.000 about the tithe and about 01:01:07.000 --> 01:01:09.140 financial giving that we've never seen before 01:01:09.140 --> 01:01:10.940 because with that revelation 01:01:11.200 --> 01:01:13.160 comes more. We thank you 01:01:13.160 --> 01:01:15.020 for it in Jesus' name. Amen.