Speaker 1: Father, we thank you that you're here right now, and
Speaker 1: that you've drawn us to yourself. And it's for freedom
Speaker 1: that you've set us free. It's for freedom that you've
Speaker 1: set us free. We thank you that you are present
Speaker 1: in our midst with the testimony of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Speaker 1: Ignite our hearts this morning with partnerships with you like
Speaker 1: we've never tasted of. We thank you for it in
Speaker 1: Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen, I want to start
Speaker 1: out of one of our favorites. If you're a preacher,
Speaker 1: any preachers in the building, I want to start with
Speaker 1: one of our favorites. Malachi chapter three seven through twelve.
Speaker 1: This is where we wax eloquent and mutual, older pieces
Speaker 1: with scriptures on tithes and offerings. Everybody, everybody's still happy.
Speaker 1: Turn to me and I will return to you, says
Speaker 1: the Lord of Hosts. But you say, how shall we return?
Speaker 1: And he says, in tithes and offerings. Everybody say, tithes
Speaker 1: and offerings. You are cursed with the curse, for you
Speaker 1: are robbing me, and theoy say, robbing the whole nation
Speaker 1: of you. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. I
Speaker 1: like that I don't know why he said that, but
Speaker 1: that's good. Bring the whole tithe, not the partial tithe.
Speaker 1: I mean the tithe means ten percent, right, don't bring
Speaker 1: nine percent of the ten. Please please have alread eight
Speaker 1: percent of the ten. Let's go ahead and bring the
Speaker 1: whole tithe in, right. I like that. That's just good.
Speaker 1: He's just he's so good. Bring the whole tithe into
Speaker 1: the storehouse so that there may be food in my house.
Speaker 1: And test me, everybody, say, test me, test me in this.
Speaker 1: Put me to the test. He's saying, put me to
Speaker 1: the test. If I will not open for you the
Speaker 1: windows of Heaven, let's say, open the windows of Evan
Speaker 1: and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. No,
Speaker 1: I don't know. This is like the New American. We've
Speaker 1: got the NIV up in the Daily Whopper, and the
Speaker 1: NIV says, open the windows of even and pour out
Speaker 1: for you a blessing until it overflows. Oh you changed it?
Speaker 1: Oh okay. So the NIV says, until there's more than
Speaker 1: enough something like then then I will rebuke everybody, say
Speaker 1: I okay. So then he says he will rebuke the
Speaker 1: DeVore for you. And sometimes I think that means he's
Speaker 1: also present in your rebuke. If you would like him
Speaker 1: to be absent in your rebuke, don't tie it. Then
Speaker 1: it's easy solve that. But if you want him present
Speaker 1: in your rebuke, go ahead and tie them. It's a
Speaker 1: good thing. I can tell you're excited already. Then I
Speaker 1: will rebuke the devour for you, so that it will
Speaker 1: not destroy the fruits of the ground, nor your vine
Speaker 1: in the field cast its grape, says the Lord of Hosts.
Speaker 1: All the nations will call you blessed. By the way,
Speaker 1: aren't we a new nation? Yes, you're not sure we
Speaker 1: are a new nation. Okay, we're a nation. By the way,
Speaker 1: we're a nation of nations. All the nations will call
Speaker 1: you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land, says
Speaker 1: the Lord of Hosts. Okay, so the biblical tithe, the
Speaker 1: biblical tithe is ten percent, right, so ten percent? The
Speaker 1: word tithe means ten percent. Yeah, so it means a tenth.
Speaker 1: So a biblical tithe is ten percent, and it's ten
Speaker 1: percent of your increase. How do you spell encrees? Why
Speaker 1: are we need help here? Already? We're just barely starting.
Speaker 1: So it's ten percent of your increase. That's a biblical tide. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And what's going on here? And I can read you
Speaker 1: a little verse previous to we'll just read a little
Speaker 1: verse previous. But Malachi is the last prophetic book before
Speaker 1: we have a break and then comes Jesus, right, then
Speaker 1: comes the New Testament books. So Malachi is the last
Speaker 1: of the Old Testament books. He's the last prophetic voice,
Speaker 1: and he's coming with a rebuke. And Israel has fallen away.
Speaker 1: There's been a falling away, right, the Jewish people have
Speaker 1: fallen away, and so he's coming with a rebuke. And
Speaker 1: it's really the heart of God saying I also don't
Speaker 1: want to I don't want to pour out wrath upon you.
Speaker 1: I want you to draw near. So there's actually kind
Speaker 1: of a there's covenant lawsuit language in the Book of Malachi,
Speaker 1: and it's almost like the preceding or the beginnings of
Speaker 1: divorce terminology. So this is what we're hearing a little
Speaker 1: bit in Malachi is the proceedings of a divorce. And
Speaker 1: fact is in the n I V. Which is more
Speaker 1: simple vernacular, it actually says in verse what versus this
Speaker 1: verse this is? This is chapter three and verse four
Speaker 1: because of it, they get lost, pray for the pastor
Speaker 1: it suddenly flipped the chapter three. These are electronic devices.
Speaker 1: Bless them, Bless the Lord. Uh the verse three of
Speaker 1: chapter three, So I will come and put you on trial.
Speaker 1: So I will come and put you on trial. I
Speaker 1: will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulters, perjurers, against
Speaker 1: those who defraud the labors of their wages, who oppress
Speaker 1: the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among
Speaker 1: you of justice. This is interesting. So this is some
Speaker 1: of the terminology of chapter three. This would actually be
Speaker 1: the terminology of Covenant Lawsuit number one. Covenant Lawsuit number
Speaker 1: one is the way you're dealing with one another. Covenant
Speaker 1: Lawsuit number two in this passage is going to be
Speaker 1: this thing about returning to me and returning with tithes
Speaker 1: and offerings. Return to me, and I will return to you.
Speaker 1: Ever since, he says in the verse proceedings of verse six,
Speaker 1: verse seven, ever since the time of your ancestors, you've
Speaker 1: turned away from my decrees and up them. Return to me,
Speaker 1: and I will return to you, says the Lord. But
Speaker 1: you ask how do we return? And he doesn't say
Speaker 1: something we would think he might say. He says, return
Speaker 1: with your money. He says, we return. You're robbing me,
Speaker 1: return with your money? How are we robbing you in
Speaker 1: tithes and offerings? So this is interesting. Now. The reason
Speaker 1: that he considers this a robbery is because the tithe
Speaker 1: belongs to him. Everybody say, the tithe belongs to him. Oh,
Speaker 1: I just made you something. I made you say something
Speaker 1: you didn't want to say. But isn't that tricky? How
Speaker 1: the pastor does this stuff? Levitic is twenty seven point
Speaker 1: thirty a tithe of everything from the land, whether grain
Speaker 1: or from the soil, or fruit from the trees. It
Speaker 1: belongs to the lord. It is the lord. So this
Speaker 1: is kind of an interesting thing. He says, return to me,
Speaker 1: and he says, you know, don't rob me, and bring it.
Speaker 1: And he's naming the tithe and the offering. And we
Speaker 1: know that the tithe belongs to him. It doesn't belong
Speaker 1: to us. It's not mine. That means I can't determine
Speaker 1: where it goes even and it shouldn't render me a
Speaker 1: benefit when I give it away, And it isn't something
Speaker 1: when I release it. It actually is connected to services
Speaker 1: rendered right, Well, I got counseling this week at the church.
Speaker 1: I guess you should give a little bit. You know,
Speaker 1: it's not for goods and service, it's not. It's actually
Speaker 1: what Frank was talking about. It's actually because you're under
Speaker 1: recovering and you've been brought into this covering in God.
Speaker 1: So therefore you're partnering with him and you recognize that
Speaker 1: he's brought you into salvation and all that you have
Speaker 1: is because of him, and so you render unto him
Speaker 1: this tenth part, which he says is his. That's a tithe.
Speaker 1: Right now, some people say, you know, we're not under
Speaker 1: the tithe anymore, we're under grace. You know, the tie
Speaker 1: that's of the law, that's legalistic, But it started before
Speaker 1: four hundred and thirty years before the law was given,
Speaker 1: Abraham was tithing. And then before that, we look even
Speaker 1: further before that and we see that Cain and Abel
Speaker 1: actually their thing was all about a tie. It was
Speaker 1: all about a tithe. And then if we look further
Speaker 1: into that, I actually think that the tithe started in
Speaker 1: the garden because God said, of the tree, this is mine.
Speaker 1: Don't eat of this one because this one is mine.
Speaker 1: So there's this whole thing always with increase, with produce,
Speaker 1: with blessing that when we're gods, we recognize that ten
Speaker 1: percent belongs to God. So and then further in scripture,
Speaker 1: it's kind of crazy, he says, you know, somewhat to
Speaker 1: prove that it's his, he says that if you want
Speaker 1: to hang on to it, you owe twenty percent interest
Speaker 1: on it. So so actually, I'm going, if we're really
Speaker 1: biblically and looking at the Bible, if you hang on
Speaker 1: to your tithe for a month because you need it
Speaker 1: for a little bit of investment, you can hang on
Speaker 1: to one thousand dollars for a month. But just remember
Speaker 1: he would like twenty percent interest on what you don't
Speaker 1: give him when it first comes in, because he calls
Speaker 1: it a first fruit first for me, as you're actually
Speaker 1: supposed to give him that ten percent first, not second. Okay,
Speaker 1: And we just have to recognize that this is the
Speaker 1: key to partnering with God economically, but even more, even
Speaker 1: more than partnering with God economically. But this is a
Speaker 1: major key. Now he brings up two things, and he
Speaker 1: goes on in this covenant lawsuit in chapter three, he
Speaker 1: says there's another issue too. He says that your words
Speaker 1: are also a problem. And I'm looking at my time
Speaker 1: and I'm already out of time. But he says, your
Speaker 1: words are a problem as well. He says, oh, by
Speaker 1: the way, you've also spoken arrogantly against me. This is
Speaker 1: verse thirteen, says the Lord. And you say, what in
Speaker 1: the world have we said? And he says this, you
Speaker 1: have said that it's feudal to serve God, or it
Speaker 1: is in vain that we serve God, or what gain
Speaker 1: do we receive by carrying out his requirements. So actually
Speaker 1: there's a whole portion of the body of Christ today
Speaker 1: kind of this anti prosperity portion who will tell you
Speaker 1: that it's improper for you to believe that serving God
Speaker 1: will render blessing. But actually Hebrews eleven says that it's
Speaker 1: the second key to actually having a right walk with
Speaker 1: God is first you believe that he is and then
Speaker 1: you believe that He is the rewarder of those who
Speaker 1: diligently seek him. So you can serve a God that's
Speaker 1: not a rewarder if you'd like to. But actually he
Speaker 1: doesn't even want you to serve a God that's not
Speaker 1: a rewarder. And if you serve a God that's not
Speaker 1: a rewarder. Then you're going to be constantly tempted to
Speaker 1: lean into the arm of your flesh, and you're going
Speaker 1: to be giving all of your glory to yourself. Hello, somebody,
Speaker 1: So this we're having fun. Let's get delivered as we go.
Speaker 1: So he says there's two robberies going on. The second
Speaker 1: robbery that he talks about is the robbery of the offering.
Speaker 1: And we rarely talk about offerings here that we take
Speaker 1: them all the time. We're professional offering takers, but we're
Speaker 1: terrible offering talkers. And so today I thought it'd be
Speaker 1: good to talk about the offering a little bit because
Speaker 1: this is the second robbery that he mentions here. But
Speaker 1: it's the second thing more important than a robbery is
Speaker 1: it's the second key to opening the windows of heaven
Speaker 1: over your life. And I think some of us don't
Speaker 1: have the windows of heaven over our lives because we
Speaker 1: don't understand what an offering is. And one thing we
Speaker 1: have to understand an offering is an offering is giving
Speaker 1: under God something beyond your tithe So the windows of
Speaker 1: heaven are open, and what's poured out through the windows
Speaker 1: of heaven is not determined by your tithe, because your
Speaker 1: tithe belongs to him. You're just returning what belongs to him.
Speaker 1: It's determined by your offering. And so what happens is
Speaker 1: many times in America and in Western church, western culture,
Speaker 1: most of us barely tithed. Most Christians barely tithed. So
Speaker 1: I think the number, don't quote me. Barnic could tell you.
Speaker 1: You could look it up on Barna Research Group would
Speaker 1: probably tell you that, you know, maybe three or ten
Speaker 1: percent of Christians across this nation actually tithed. Now, the
Speaker 1: other thing you have to remember is that the tithe
Speaker 1: is for the levites, meaning the tithe is meant for
Speaker 1: those who care for the house. It isn't meant to
Speaker 1: pay for the house. It's meant for those who care
Speaker 1: for the house. God has another method to pay for
Speaker 1: the house, and it's not through the tithe. If we
Speaker 1: paid for the house with the money that's supposed to
Speaker 1: go to those who care for the house, then those
Speaker 1: who are supposed to care for the house don't. They
Speaker 1: can't support their families well enough, and we don't have
Speaker 1: enough of them to care for the house well or
Speaker 1: to care for the ministry of the house. Because we're
Speaker 1: taking what belongs to the Levites or in this case,
Speaker 1: the Melkezedic priesthood, which the Melkezdic priesthood is the fulfillment
Speaker 1: of what Levite looked like. And so we start with
Speaker 1: the Melkesidic priesthood, and Genesis fourteen we move into the
Speaker 1: levitical under Aaron, and then we come back into the
Speaker 1: Melkezedic priesthood. But there's still sons and daughters of ministry
Speaker 1: under the Melkezdic priesthood who serve in the type of
Speaker 1: Levite over the house. Are you following me? Oh boy?
Speaker 1: This is this too deep? All right? So Genesis fourteen,
Speaker 1: we've got Genesis fourteen, we start with the melkes priesthood.
Speaker 1: Then we go into the Levitical priesthood, right, and that's
Speaker 1: through I don't want to get into that, and it's
Speaker 1: way too long. And then and then through Christ, the
Speaker 1: Melchzidic priesthood is restored. And I'll just put up here
Speaker 1: Hebrews seven. Okay, we'll just leave that there, all right.
Speaker 1: So I'm getting way too deep, But so you with
Speaker 1: me so far. The reason I say this is because
Speaker 1: what happens is we're expecting the windows of heaven to
Speaker 1: be opened to our life. And by the way, the
Speaker 1: windows of heaven is not the winds of money. It's
Speaker 1: the windows of favor, the windows of promise, the windows
Speaker 1: of breakthrough, the windows of wisdom, the windows of opportunity.
Speaker 1: It's not the windows of money. He's not opening windows
Speaker 1: of money and shoving money down on you. He's shoveling
Speaker 1: down on you opportunity. Deuteronomy at eighteen. Remember the Lord
Speaker 1: your God. He gives you the power to create wealth.
Speaker 1: He makes you a creative being and a wealth creator.
Speaker 1: But then offerings fit into this as well. And offerings
Speaker 1: are important. And it's because the tithe is for the leavite.
Speaker 1: So when you tie Angela can eat, Frank can eat,
Speaker 1: Dwen can eat, Juel can eat, We can pay our bills.
Speaker 1: Did you know that seventy five percent of churches in
Speaker 1: America the pastors are by vocational. The churches are bi
Speaker 1: vocational because they have to be. The pastors have a calling,
Speaker 1: But the people won't tithe. And by the time they
Speaker 1: take the money out for the buildings and the heat
Speaker 1: build You know, our irrigation bill during the summer is
Speaker 1: one thousand dollars a month I'm not teaching or preaching
Speaker 1: on this because we're running out of money, by the way,
Speaker 1: so I'm just trying to get more blessing to you
Speaker 1: and more understanding. And if you don't have understanding and blessing,
Speaker 1: then my people perish or they fall short of the
Speaker 1: goodness of God because of a lack of knowledge. Wassea
Speaker 1: four to six, right. So there's reasons for offerings, and
Speaker 1: let's just touch on those a little bit. And there
Speaker 1: are different kinds of offerings. One of them is to
Speaker 1: build the house. So one of the reasons is to
Speaker 1: build the house of God. Exodus chapter twenty five one
Speaker 1: through two. Now, what happened coming into Exodus chapter twenty
Speaker 1: five one through two. What happened is the children of
Speaker 1: Israel are coming out of Egypt, and God says to them,
Speaker 1: let's do a Jehovah sneaky thing. Let's plunder all of
Speaker 1: the Egyptians. So they go to their neighbors and they
Speaker 1: ask for all their gold, silver, bronze, jewelry coins, what
Speaker 1: have you, right, And so they plunder them as they
Speaker 1: come out, and as they come out, then they're wealthy.
Speaker 1: And then God says not to tieth on that. But
Speaker 1: God says, I want you to bring an offering out
Speaker 1: of that. So this is the first instance of this
Speaker 1: kind of an offering, and it's to build the Tabernacle.
Speaker 1: And so this becomes a precedent through scripture, is that
Speaker 1: God's not going to take money from the Levite or
Speaker 1: the leadership or those who care for the flock to
Speaker 1: build the building. He's going to ask the people to
Speaker 1: give above the tithe and then he's going to promise
Speaker 1: them tremendous blessings if they partner with Him to the
Speaker 1: degree that they desire to in their own heart. So
Speaker 1: then it becomes a free will offering. King James, those
Speaker 1: kinds of words. We'll read that Exodus twenty five one
Speaker 1: or two. Then the Lord's spoke to Moses saying, tell
Speaker 1: the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for me
Speaker 1: from every man whose heart moves him, raise my contribution.
Speaker 1: This is Exodus twenty five, and this is all to
Speaker 1: build the Tabernacle. So God saying, this is great. You've
Speaker 1: got all this gold, silver, bronze, copper, precious stones, jewels, jewelry.
Speaker 1: I wonder if you could share some with me. Let's
Speaker 1: not do it, because you have to let's do it
Speaker 1: because you want to. Let's build a tabernacle for my name.
Speaker 1: And so this is how the arc of the Covenant
Speaker 1: got covered with gold. Is they got the gold from
Speaker 1: the enemy, and then they donated the gold of free
Speaker 1: will in a free will offering, saying, let's see, God,
Speaker 1: you're the one that gave us the wisdom, insight, ability, grace, power,
Speaker 1: the Jehoah a sneaky trickery. You gave us everything to
Speaker 1: transfer all that wealth from the wicked into the righteous.
Speaker 1: Why don't we just bring some of that and build
Speaker 1: a house for your name. And so they build the
Speaker 1: tabernacle right, and it says they brought it, and they
Speaker 1: heaped it up until it was in heaps in such
Speaker 1: a way that Moses had to say, quit bringing stuff.
Speaker 1: We have enough. The King James reads it this way,
Speaker 1: and the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, speak to the
Speaker 1: children of Israel, that they bring me an offering of
Speaker 1: every man, and they give it willingly. So this is
Speaker 1: where free will offering comes from. They give it willingly
Speaker 1: with their heart. They bring an offering, so they shall
Speaker 1: take my offering. And so this is God working. And
Speaker 1: it didn't take away from the Levites. It didn't take
Speaker 1: away from any ministry. This is kind of you know,
Speaker 1: it's this reoccurring theme Ezra chapter two. They did it again.
Speaker 1: So first of all, they build the tabernacle. So and
Speaker 1: this is I'm just going to put up here a
Speaker 1: number one. It's for the House of God. These are offerings,
Speaker 1: and even us as we start building, and it's going
Speaker 1: to happen soon, even as us as we start building,
Speaker 1: I don't want to take the tide and give tithe
Speaker 1: away to the building. I want us to give freely
Speaker 1: and to give willingly. And by the way, I think
Speaker 1: we're going to build with cash, meaning I don't think
Speaker 1: we're gonna need a loan. And by the way, we've
Speaker 1: been saving money for a while, and the money we've
Speaker 1: been saving has been offerings, not tithing. So but this
Speaker 1: is number one. This is number one. It's in a
Speaker 1: scripture that we don't take money from those who serve
Speaker 1: in the ministry of the House and make them eat
Speaker 1: beans and corn or corn meal or rice crispies and
Speaker 1: peanut butter or something. But we bless them with a
Speaker 1: little beefsteak and let them drive cars that actually work.
Speaker 1: This happened again when they were rebuilding. This happened again
Speaker 1: when they were rebuilding. Everybody say rebuilding. So it happened
Speaker 1: again with Ezra and Nehemiah as they were rebuilding after
Speaker 1: they were carted off the Babylon because they were disobedient.
Speaker 1: They were carted off the Babylon. They were there seventy
Speaker 1: years in captivity. They come back and we read about
Speaker 1: this with me and Mayah. We read about it with Ezra.
Speaker 1: We read about you know, rububles there. All these guys
Speaker 1: are there, and this is what Ezra says, some of
Speaker 1: the heads of the Father's household Ezra, chapter two, verse
Speaker 1: sixty eight. I think we haven't. When they arrived at
Speaker 1: the House of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem, offered willingly,
Speaker 1: noticed the same language offered willingly. They didn't. By the way,
Speaker 1: nobody's going to twist your arm when we have an
Speaker 1: offering here. Now, we're going to build your faith. We're
Speaker 1: going to encourage you because seed son, and that's what
Speaker 1: an offering is considered biblically. Seed sown will be a
Speaker 1: breakthrough of harvest for you. The seed that you sow
Speaker 1: will determine what flows through and open heaven over you.
Speaker 1: So they offered willingly for the House of God to
Speaker 1: restore it on his foundation, according to their ability. They
Speaker 1: gave to the treasury of the work of the Lord,
Speaker 1: according to their ability. In other words, with an offering,
Speaker 1: it's never equal gifts, it's equal sacrifice. God's not looking
Speaker 1: for equal gifts. He's not looking at you know, this
Speaker 1: person over here and another person, and oh you didn't
Speaker 1: give the same amount. It's not equal gifts. It's equal
Speaker 1: sacrifice that God takes note of. And so according to
Speaker 1: their ability, they gave to the treasury of the Word
Speaker 1: sixty one thousand gold and et cetera, et cetera. And
Speaker 1: then this happened again. When David was preparing for the
Speaker 1: house for Solomon. Everybody say Solomon, so we get the
Speaker 1: house for Solomon. And as David's preparing for the house
Speaker 1: for Solomon, this happened again. And instead of David saying, Okay,
Speaker 1: we're gonna take all the money that's been coming under
Speaker 1: the coffers for the Levites and we're gonna build the
Speaker 1: House of Solomon with that, no, David says. First Chronicles,
Speaker 1: chapter twenty nine one through six, David says about his
Speaker 1: son Solomon, He's the one that's chosen. But he says,
Speaker 1: with my resources I've provided, So he names all this
Speaker 1: stuff that he's provided with his resources, gold, silver, bronze.
Speaker 1: But then at the end of it, he says, now,
Speaker 1: who else is willing to consecrate themselves for the work
Speaker 1: of the Lord? He's asking, is there anybody else who
Speaker 1: will concentrate themselves for the work of the Lord. And
Speaker 1: then the leaders of families, officers of the tribes, commanders
Speaker 1: of thousands and hundreds, officials in charge of the work
Speaker 1: gave willingly notice the same language. It says over and
Speaker 1: over again every time it comes to building a house,
Speaker 1: every time it comes to establishing the physical structure, We're
Speaker 1: not going to take from the levites, We're not going
Speaker 1: to take from the tithe We're going to take special
Speaker 1: contribution offerings. And there's going to be a blessing on that.
Speaker 1: There's going to be increase that comes because of that,
Speaker 1: and we're going to see God move. So that's number one.
Speaker 1: Number one is the building of the house. Now, another
Speaker 1: interesting category, and we practice this here all the time,
Speaker 1: and I don't know if you've ever asked about it,
Speaker 1: but there is auxiliary ministry like prophetic ministry right auxiliary ministry.
Speaker 1: And it seems biblically speaking that these auxiliary ministries existed
Speaker 1: outside of the priesthood, the vitical or ironic priesthood. These
Speaker 1: auxiliary ministries existed, and they exist on the basis of offerings,
Speaker 1: not on the basis of tithe. So that's why we
Speaker 1: do that here. If we have who's the pastortion passion
Speaker 1: translation guy, Brian Simmons, If we have Brian Simmons come,
Speaker 1: or Jeremy Nelson come, or you know, we have some
Speaker 1: some minister come who is not a part of our
Speaker 1: levitical team or our Melkezidic team. And if we have
Speaker 1: somebody come like that, then here we are taking an
Speaker 1: offering and compelling you to give. Well, why would we
Speaker 1: do that, We already tithed. Why don't we just take
Speaker 1: some of the tithe? And can't we just pay our
Speaker 1: bills out of the tithe that we already received. Well,
Speaker 1: it's not the biblical way. The Biblical way is that
Speaker 1: we don't take from the laborers of the house to
Speaker 1: cover the expenses of other laborers coming in. And God
Speaker 1: is more than enough to cause you to abound, So
Speaker 1: that grace will be yours as you give to the
Speaker 1: need of these who come to encourage the body. And
Speaker 1: so there's a biblical precedent for that in First King's
Speaker 1: Chapter seventeen with Elijah and the Second King's chapter four
Speaker 1: with Eli Shah. So how many do you think that's okay?
Speaker 1: Could that be okay? Elijah is sent? Now, it's interesting
Speaker 1: that Elijah is sent. Are you okay? Are you sure
Speaker 1: all right? I don't want to bore you silly? If
Speaker 1: you're yawning, just stretch or something, you know, I won't
Speaker 1: be long, you know. And he listens a good old joke,
Speaker 1: you know, but I won't say it. I'll avoid it.
Speaker 1: The annoying thing of silly was on me in first service,
Speaker 1: and we just had so much fun. But First King seventeen,
Speaker 1: this is Elijah. It's interesting that God doesn't send one
Speaker 1: of the Levites to confront a haven Jezebel, that he
Speaker 1: has raised up this one called Elijah, that he sustains
Speaker 1: Elijah and the company of prophets, we can assume they
Speaker 1: were sustained through offerings. They weren't sustained through the tie
Speaker 1: that went to the Levites. And even in this case,
Speaker 1: after he comes and makes his proclamation with regard to Jezebel.
Speaker 1: Then God says, I've appointed a widow to sustain you.
Speaker 1: And this is after the stream drives up and the
Speaker 1: raven is no longer bringing him meat, and so God
Speaker 1: directs him through a widow, and this widow cares for him,
Speaker 1: and there's offerings made. We see the same thing happen
Speaker 1: with Elisha in tewod King's chapter eight, and Elisha is
Speaker 1: directed to this little lady in shoot them. And so
Speaker 1: we're going to jump on from there and we're going
Speaker 1: to talk about category number three. Were you okay with that?
Speaker 1: By the way, you know what what happened with those
Speaker 1: who cared for somebody that wasn't a part of the
Speaker 1: vitical priesthood. What happened is they were cared for. Their
Speaker 1: meal didn't dry up, their oil didn't dry up. The
Speaker 1: care of God over them continued, right. So, and number
Speaker 1: three is we care for the poor. Offerings are elicited
Speaker 1: and spoken of. You know, this is a very I
Speaker 1: thought this is a better marker, but it's kind of
Speaker 1: gotten a little bit dry. Can you see it? The poor?
Speaker 1: So this is category number three and there's a tremendous
Speaker 1: blessing on fact is our major text. The major text
Speaker 1: on giving offerings, not giving time. But the major text
Speaker 1: on giving offerings in scripture is Tewod Corinthians, chapter eight
Speaker 1: and chapter nine. And when Paul is writing about all
Speaker 1: that stuff, it's all about the care of the Christians
Speaker 1: that are remaining in Jerusalem, because Jerusalem has come under
Speaker 1: tremendous trial. So you've got this, this fell it? Right?
Speaker 1: Did I forget the U? What pray for me? Prian
Speaker 1: for myself? Right? Now? There we go? Is that right? Oh? Good?
Speaker 1: Is it better? Jerus? Is that close? Some of you
Speaker 1: don't know. You're just as confused as I am. Okay,
Speaker 1: So what happens is And I don't think I ever
Speaker 1: finished the story of Malchai three did I? How many
Speaker 1: of you were listening? Were you paying attention that whole
Speaker 1: covenant lawsuit thing? Do you remember? Because God was trying
Speaker 1: to get their attention through Malachi, and it says so
Speaker 1: that he could restore the people, He was trying to
Speaker 1: get their attention through Melicai. He didn't want this divorce
Speaker 1: proceeding to continue, and he wanted to gather the people
Speaker 1: like a hen gathers her chicks. So when we get
Speaker 1: over here this first instance of an offering, First Content,
Speaker 1: chapter eight, it's because back in Jurism, those people were
Speaker 1: under tremendous persecution. The Christians were, and they were suffering.
Speaker 1: And so as Paul was going out, he's sharing with
Speaker 1: the believers. Let's take offerings for the Christians back in Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: He wasn't collecting their tithe. The tithe was something separate.
Speaker 1: That's why in First Corinthians eight and nine he talks
Speaker 1: about first they gave themselves to the Lord, and then
Speaker 1: they gave to you. So there was still a tithe
Speaker 1: coming in to the Apostolic leadership. We understand that, and
Speaker 1: we can see that in scripture. But they were also
Speaker 1: giving offerings to the poor and the suffering back in Jerusalem,
Speaker 1: and it's in that text that he talks about the
Speaker 1: power of an offering. Second Corinthians, chapter nine is where
Speaker 1: he talks about the power of an offering, and especially
Speaker 1: this context of caring for the poor. Some of you know,
Speaker 1: God loves it when you care for the poor. Chapter nine,
Speaker 1: verse one. Okay, there's no need for me to write
Speaker 1: to you about this service to the Lord's people. Now,
Speaker 1: why would there be no need Because he's talked to
Speaker 1: the Corinthian Church about it time and time again, even
Speaker 1: a year ago. They had a big pow wow about it,
Speaker 1: and he says, what I want you to give is
Speaker 1: what you promised you would give a year ago, but
Speaker 1: not under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver. For
Speaker 1: I know the eagerness, your eagerness to help, and I've
Speaker 1: been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that
Speaker 1: ever since last year, you in Akaia were ready to give,
Speaker 1: and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action.
Speaker 1: So Paul's running around bragging about the Corinthian Church and
Speaker 1: bragging about how they made these faith promises to give
Speaker 1: these offerings, and he's coming a year later to collect
Speaker 1: these offerings that will now benefit those suffering in Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: I'm sending my brothers in order that are boasting about
Speaker 1: you in this matter will not prove hollow. But since
Speaker 1: you will be ready as you said you would be,
Speaker 1: For if any Macedonians come with me and find you
Speaker 1: unprepared not to say anything about you would be ashamed
Speaker 1: of having been so confident. So I thought it necessary
Speaker 1: to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and
Speaker 1: to finish the arrangements for the generous gift you promised.
Speaker 1: Then it will be ready as a generous gift and
Speaker 1: not as one grudgingly given. Listen to how much care
Speaker 1: he took over this offering. First he talks to him
Speaker 1: about a year out. Then he starts preparing them, and
Speaker 1: then he's going to send delegates to remind them of
Speaker 1: what they promised to give above their tithe to care
Speaker 1: for the poor and the suffering in Jerusalem. And then
Speaker 1: he's bragging to the Macedonians. But some Macedonians are going
Speaker 1: to come with them that are going to receive the offering,
Speaker 1: and he doesn't want him to be embarrassed over the
Speaker 1: word of his bragging to the Macedonians. So he's like, guys,
Speaker 1: so get ready and then remember this. And this is
Speaker 1: where he calls an offering seed. Everybody says seed. So
Speaker 1: this is what this means. That he's telling you that
Speaker 1: your offering will actually move God. It'll move God in
Speaker 1: the realm of reciprocity. Anybody got a garden, any farmers
Speaker 1: in the room. Your offering is seed. It's it activates
Speaker 1: the law of recipe, so that if you sow a little,
Speaker 1: you'll reap a little. If you so much, you'll reap much.
Speaker 1: You remember, this is all about an offering. You haven't
Speaker 1: given an offering if you haven't tithed. If you tithe
Speaker 1: and you give more, then that's called an offering. But
Speaker 1: if you haven't yet tithed, then whatever you give is
Speaker 1: not an offering because you haven't even repaid God what
Speaker 1: is his? Yet you have to repay God what is his?
Speaker 1: Then whatever you give above that, you're giving it of
Speaker 1: what's yours. He leaves you with ninety percent. And that's
Speaker 1: why when you give out of that ninety percent that
Speaker 1: he leaves you with is called a free will offering
Speaker 1: because you don't have to give it. He's not making
Speaker 1: you give it. He's asking you to activate your faith
Speaker 1: and to give it toward these things that he considers
Speaker 1: noble causes that he needs done in the earth, and
Speaker 1: he doesn't want to take it away from the Levites
Speaker 1: to get it done. So he says, I need it
Speaker 1: done so badly. I'm going to promise to activate a
Speaker 1: harvest over your life so incredible that if you'll give
Speaker 1: some of this seed graciously, then I'll reward you with
Speaker 1: a crazy gracious harvest. So then if you sew sparingly,
Speaker 1: you'll get a harvest. It'll be a little bit of
Speaker 1: a sparing harvest. But I'm still going to pour out
Speaker 1: a harvest on you. If you'll sew moderately, you'll still
Speaker 1: get a harvest. And I'm going to pour out a
Speaker 1: moderate harvest on you. If you'll so extravagantly, then you're
Speaker 1: going to get a harvest. And I'm going to pour
Speaker 1: out an extravagant harvest on you. And this is the
Speaker 1: promise of the offering. Each of you should give what
Speaker 1: you decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly, not
Speaker 1: under compulsion, And that everyd's not because you have to.
Speaker 1: For God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able
Speaker 1: to bless you abundantly, so that in all things, at
Speaker 1: all times, having all that you need, you will abound
Speaker 1: in every good work. For it is written, or as
Speaker 1: it's written, they have freely scattered their gifts to the poor.
Speaker 1: Their righteousness endurers forever. What when you distribute gifts to
Speaker 1: the poor, that's not your tithe, that's an offering. It
Speaker 1: establishes something about your righteousness that makes you shine. And
Speaker 1: you will shine throughout eternity because you cared for the poor. Now,
Speaker 1: who supplies seed to the sewer and bread for food
Speaker 1: will supply and increase your store of seed and will
Speaker 1: enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched
Speaker 1: in every way so that you can be generous on
Speaker 1: every occasion, and through us, your generosity will result in
Speaker 1: thanksgiving to God. First closing, let's stand. I think God's
Speaker 1: trying to get more blessings into our lives, and we
Speaker 1: have to trust him with our money. We have to
Speaker 1: trust him fully. We have to trust that he's the
Speaker 1: best CFO in the world, chief financial officer. Give you
Speaker 1: an example, just a crazy example. Do you think Cornelius's
Speaker 1: life was changed? Who's Cornelius? Acts Chapter ten. Cornelius is
Speaker 1: the first gentile to receive the gospel, the Gospel of
Speaker 1: Isaiah sixty one, the gospel of breakthrough, freedom, deliverance, jubilee.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think Cornelius's life was changed. He's the
Speaker 1: first gentile to receive the gospel message. Right, Why did
Speaker 1: he receive it? Acts Chapter ten says because he remembered
Speaker 1: the poor he was offering memorials unto the Lord by
Speaker 1: giving to the poor. It says that he was one
Speaker 1: who was devout, and he was one who gave alms
Speaker 1: to the poor. So God's looking to release something really
Speaker 1: crazy in the earth. What is it? It's the Gospel
Speaker 1: message And it says that his gifts to the poor,
Speaker 1: we're actually sending up a sweet aroma to God. And
Speaker 1: so God was attracted to Cornelius like cologne on my wife, irresistible.
Speaker 1: All at once, where will I send the gospel? Where
Speaker 1: will I release Isaiah sixty one among the gentiles, tractor
Speaker 1: being memorial offering Cornelius. Peter's praying, Oh God, I love you.
Speaker 1: He's having a great time. All at once, he has
Speaker 1: a vision. A sheet is let down before him. In
Speaker 1: the vision, he sees all these crazy animals that would
Speaker 1: be unclean. He says, oh, man, that's unclean. The Lord says, no,
Speaker 1: I'm making it clean. Now rise up and get the
Speaker 1: Carnelius's house and invite this gentile to come into the gospel.
Speaker 1: What caused What caused that rama and that breakthrough? Somebody
Speaker 1: remembering the poor the offerings to the poor caused God
Speaker 1: to be drawn to him and a revelation word come
Speaker 1: and a breakthrough in his life that him and his family,
Speaker 1: his household, his servants all came into the Gospel and
Speaker 1: the infilling of the spirit. Do you think that might
Speaker 1: be good? What would God do with us? You just
Speaker 1: got to know your offerings. Your offerings are crazy powerful.
Speaker 1: Your offerings attract the presence of God. Your offerings attract
Speaker 1: his attention, and your offerings elicit prophetic words over your
Speaker 1: life like nothing else that will bring you the breakthroughs
Speaker 1: into stuff that you never even imagined. What happened his bow'side,
Speaker 1: schools all across the auditorium, Father, we just agree today
Speaker 1: that the fear of lack and shortage, the fear of poverty,
Speaker 1: the fear of not getting by, the fear of not
Speaker 1: having enough, all those fears, we say, they're put under
Speaker 1: our feet today in Yeshibah. They're put under our feet today.
Speaker 1: They are conquered, they are overthrown, they are overcome. We're
Speaker 1: not listening to them. We are the set apart, we
Speaker 1: are the blood bought, we are the redeemed, we are
Speaker 1: the heaven partakers. We are the more than enough sons
Speaker 1: and daughters of God. And we believe that you not
Speaker 1: only grace us and empower us, the partner with you
Speaker 1: in the tide, restoring to you, giving back to you
Speaker 1: that which belongs to you, because of the way you've
Speaker 1: called us and called us out of darkness and brought
Speaker 1: us into the light. But we also believe today that
Speaker 1: we have a growing abundance. We have a growing abundance,
Speaker 1: and that you grace us to give offerings and they
Speaker 1: become like seeds before you and memorials that capture your attention,
Speaker 1: and those offerings release a harvest over our lives. We
Speaker 1: thank you for today. We agree for it today in
Speaker 1: Jesus' name. And everybody said, give him a thank offering
Speaker 1: this morning, Church, give him a thank offering. He's so
Speaker 1: good to us. He's so good to us. He's so
Speaker 1: good to us. And this is why you can't outgive God.
Speaker 1: This is why you can't outgive God, because He is
Speaker 1: the rewarder of those that come to him. Diligently seek him,
Speaker 1: serve him, and run after him. God, bless your church.
Speaker 1: We love you.