(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

All right, we're here in Genesis chapter 14, and the name of the sermon is tithing throughout all time periods, tithing throughout all time periods. As I mentioned in the announcements, anyone who's been at our church for a while knows I don't preach a lot about money, at least in terms of giving money. If I ever preach about money, it's like, you know, hey, prepare yourself financially for your life and things like that, but I don't preach and beg for money and stuff like that. But we don't want to avoid any topics in the Bible, so I'm going to start just once a year around this time period, maybe a few months before or a few months after, just preaching one sermon each year on tithing because I don't want to avoid anything in the Bible. And I would say this, that since there are a lot of Baptist churches here that are obsessed with money, some people can have this reaction and go to the opposite extreme way too far, okay? Obviously what they're preaching is ridiculous, you know, firstfruits offering and all this weird stuff that's not biblical, but you don't want to just go so extreme to the other side and just say, well, I'm never giving a single peso to church or whatever. I'm never donating any money. That's too far to the other extreme, okay? We need to get a balanced approach on what does the Bible say. Now there are some people that say tithing does not apply anymore. They say tithing was tied to the Mosaic law and after Moses or after Jesus rose again that was done away, but actually we're going to find tithing is throughout all time periods. It's actually before the Mosaic law. That's what it says in Genesis 14. So we're going to look at four time periods pre-Mosaic law, during Mosaic law, during the transitional time period when Jesus was here and post resurrection to show you tithing has always existed, okay? Genesis 14 verse 16, and he brought back all the goods and also brought again his brother Lot and his goods and the women also and the people. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaammer and of the kings that are with him at the valley of Sheba, which is the kings dale. Now the king of Sodom is kind of one of the good guys in the story. He's on the side of Abraham, but you can still see he's a bad guy, okay? And I would say that the king of Sodom, what he represents in this story is the devil. I'm not saying it is the devil. I'm not saying he's possessed by the devil, but there's a comparison between the king of Sodom and then Melchizedek in verse 18, king of Salem brought forth bread and wine and he was the priest of the most high God. Now when you see the king of Salem, think about those five letters, S-A-L-E-M. Think of the word Jerusalem. This is basically saying he's the king of Jerusalem, okay? The last five letters of Jerusalem are S-A-L-E-M. It's like a shortened form to say that, okay? Now notice what it says in verse 19, and he blessed him and said, blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand, and he gave him tithes of all, okay? So here it says that Abraham gave tithes to this person, Melchizedek. Now, who is Melchizedek? Well, go to Hebrews chapter 7, Hebrew 7 in your Bible. Hebrews chapter 7, Hebrew 7. And what we're going to see is that Melchizedek is basically, or he is, an Old Testament appearance of the Son of God, an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ, okay? We're going to see that here in Hebrew 7, verse 1. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, or king of Jerusalem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him. So this is the priest of the most high God, hand picked by God, the priest of the most high God, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all. Now, if you remember, what we saw in Genesis 14 is it says he gave tithes. Well, what does it say in Hebrew 7, verse 2? He gave a tenth part of all. What is the tithe? It means a tenth. Not 11%, not 12%, not 13, it means 10%, one tenth, okay? That's throughout the Bible, it mentions that. But he gave a tenth part of all. But notice this about this Melchizedek, the first being by interpretation, king of righteousness. Now, who on this planet could you say is the king of righteousness? Because doesn't the Bible say there is none righteous, no, not one? Aren't we all sinners? So who is this king of righteousness? It is actually the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. It is the son of God in the Old Testament. Okay, you say, well, I'm not convinced. Well, notice this. And after that, also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Notice this in verse 3. Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto thee, son of God, abideth a priest continually. It says without father, without mother. You say, but I thought Mary was the mother of Jesus Christ. This is before the birth of Jesus Christ. This is an Old Testament appearance of the Lord. It's what's known as a Christophany when you go to Bible college or seminary or whatever. Christophany is an Old Testament appearance or a Christophany of the son of God, okay? And look, before he was born of the Virgin Mary, he didn't have a mother, okay? He didn't have a bloodline that was being passed down. He was, why? Because he's the alpha and omega. He's the beginning and the end. He has no descent. He has no father. And when it's saying he has no father, it's from an earthly standpoint, okay? It's not saying he's not the son of God because the same verse says he's the son of God. Obviously, yes, his heavenly father is God the father, but he has no earthly father. Basically, it was the son of God that came down here on earth. There are many times in the Bible where the son of God actually appears in the Old Testament, okay? Now, it's different than post the virgin birth for the simple fact that there is no bloodline. So he has literally no blood, which is a whole nother sermon we'll talk about sometime. But this is an Old Testament appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, okay? Now, notice what it says in verse three, having neither beginning of days. The Bible says in the beginning was the word. Jesus was here at the beginning, nor end of life, but made like unto the son of God. This is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Old Testament appearance of the son of God. There's no question, okay? Now, consider how great this man was unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the 10th of the spoils. So basically, Abraham is directly giving 10% of his money to God, right? He's directly giving 10% of his money to God. Now, go back to Genesis 14. Genesis 14, Genesis 14. What you always find in the Bible is that when the Lord Jesus Christ appears in the Old Testament, when the son of God appears in the Old Testament, he always appears as a man, okay? He always appears in human form, okay? That's what you're gonna find about Jesus Christ. Now, when he was born of the Virgin Mary, he has a physical earthly mom, but who is his father? Not Joseph, right? He's the son of God, he's got a heavenly father, but he does not have a sin nature that's being passed down because that gets passed down by the man according to the Bible. So that is why he's sinless because he has no sin nature being passed down upon him. But in the Old Testament, he doesn't have a mother either because he has not been born of the Virgin Mary, okay? Genesis 14, verse 21. Genesis 14, verse 21. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, give me the persons and take the goods to thyself. Now, keep in mind, Abraham has just given 10% of his money. And then all of a sudden, this king of Sodom comes in and says, hey, just give me the people and you know what, I'll give you all the goods. I'll give you all the stuff that has financial value. And you know what, the devil is trying the same attack in today's world. He says, you know what, I'll give you the money as long as you just destroy your children's lives and don't care about them, right? He's like, just give me the persons and I'll give you all the money you want. I'll give you everything you want. But Abraham was a man who had integrity with finances. Verse 22. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I lift up mine hand onto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou should say I have made Abram rich. And so Abraham says, you know what, I don't wanna become rich by some wicked person. So the king of Sodom is sort of a good guy in this story when you read the whole thing. He's on the right side of the battle, but he's still a bad person. I mean, it's the same thing with political leaders here today. They might be on the right side of an argument, but they're still not exactly the godliest people, right? And so this king of Sodom is a bad person and Abraham says, you know what, I'm not gonna take anything from you. I don't want my money from you. An example and an application would be getting your money by dishonest gain in today's world. You say, brother Stuckey, I got rich through gambling, right? You know, I just bet on boxing matches. I'm really good at predicting who's gonna win. That's dishonest gain, right? Or I got my money off of being part of like, you know, I don't know, whatever. People make money off pornography and prostitution. People make a lot of money off those industries, right? It's wrong to make your money by a dishonest means, okay? Now turn in your Bible to Genesis 28. Genesis 28, Genesis 28. So before Moses comes on the scene, you see Abraham giving tithes directly to God, okay? Now it is more systemized here in our modern day with the local church, but they were still giving their money to God, you see in the Old Testament before Moses, okay? Genesis 28, notice this in verse 17. Genesis 28, verse 17. And let me say this as I'm preaching this sermon here today, because there are actually churches that will track your exact finances and they make sure you give your 10% or you get kicked out of the church, whatever. We're not gonna track your finances. I have far more important things to do with my time. And look, you're welcome to come to our church without giving a single peso. I'll never say, well, you're not welcome here unless you start giving money. I mean, you don't have to give any money, okay? But I'm just, when I preach sermons, it's up to you how you apply it. If I preach against drinking alcohol like I will next week, I'll preach a whole sermon on that, but you still say I'm gonna drink from time to time, well, that's up to you, okay? I'm not gonna make all of your decisions for you, okay? But I'm just showing you what the Bible says here today on this topic of tithing. Genesis 28, verse 17. And he was afraid and said, How dreadful is this place? This is none other but the house of God. And this is the gate of heaven. Keep that in mind. Jacob says, this is the house of God, okay? Verse 18, and Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillows and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. And Jacob vowed about saying, if God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God. And this stone which I have set up for a pillar shall be God's house, God's house. And of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the 10th onto thee. So what do you see? You see that in the Old Testament, Jacob is giving 10% of his money to God's house. Now in our modern day, what is God's house? It's the local church, right? So we're seeing that before Moses came on the scene, they're giving 10% directly to God, Melchizedek, right? In Old Testament appearance of the son of God. And they're giving 10% to God's house. So look, this is before the Mosaic law, is it not? 10% to God's house, okay? Now go to Leviticus 27. Let's look at what it says during the Mosaic law. And look, as a church, we're doing fine financially. I'm not, I know recently there was a church that had this big offering thing of millions of pesos that we're trying to get on this day and everything. And I guess they raised the money. It's like you gilded people into giving you money and everything. We're not making some drive. We must get a million pesos by the end of the service. I literally know of an IFB church in the US where they literally were trying to get money. And whenever they need a lot of money, because they have all these programs that are not biblical, these parachurch ministries, like we're running a school or daycare and all these things, and they got to have a lot of money. So they get people at the church to basically work full-time for 200 pesos a day or something, a really small salary, which is unfair and not livable and everything. And then they get all these donations from their members. They guilt them into it. And they make you think being spiritual means giving all your money to church, okay? It's not what the Bible teaches, okay? And they raise all this money. But I know of a church in the US where they literally locked the doors, and they said, we must raise this amount of money. And of course, they have the first stanza of, I don't know, is you're all on the altar, right? Or something like that. And then all of a sudden it came down and all of a sudden they counted it up. It's like, all right, this is how much we have the money. Let's have another stanza. And they kept doing it until they got the money. I mean, it's bizarre. And usually Baptist churches aren't as bad in the US as here, but that church, obviously. It's pretty bad. And I actually think the pastor of that church might be saved. I'm not really sure, but that's pretty wicked, okay? So before the Mosaic law, though, we do see 10% given to God directly or God's house, okay? Notice what it says in Leviticus chapter 27, Leviticus 27. This is during the Mosaic law, okay? And you need to realize, you know, many things were commandments before the Mosaic law. Everyone tries to attach it onto the very beginning, like Genesis 1, verse one, Moses is alive, okay? He's not around yet. In fact, a lot of human history has gone by before the book of Exodus. You've got the flood. You've got all this time period. I don't have it added up, but literally half of human history is done before Moses comes on the scene, right? For example, people say, well, the death penalty shouldn't apply because an eye for an eye is the Mosaic law, and that was done away. Christ didn't stone the woman caught in adultery. And yet Genesis 9, verse six says, who so shedeth blood by man's blood, who so shedeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed. You're seeing the death penalty before, right after the ark, before Moses. There are many things that were before the Mosaic law, okay? And when you're looking at the moral law, all the things that are part of the moral law existed before the time of Moses. If they're wrong 6,000 years ago, they're wrong today. They're wrong during the day of Moses. It hasn't changed, okay? Leviticus 27, verse 30. So let's see during the Mosaic law. Leviticus chapter 27, verse 30. And in Leviticus 27, verse 30, the Bible reads, and all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, it is the Lord's, it is holy onto the Lord. The Bible says that the tithe belongs to the Lord, okay? When you get a certain amount of money in your paycheck, 10% belongs to the Lord, okay? It's his, it belongs to him. And if you don't give 10%, then you're basically, we'll see later on, you're actually robbing from God, the Bible says, okay? Because 10% actually belongs to God, okay? Now verse 31, and if a man will at all redeem out of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. Now I don't have time to preach on Leviticus 27, but throughout this chapter, it talks about redeeming your tithe, and it will give special situations where you don't give your 10% and you kind of hold off for a little while. And then God says, there's ways that you can do that, but then you've got to add afterwards even more money. So for example, you say, I'm not gonna tithe during this time period, and you wait, in three months, I'll start tithing. Well, it's gonna be more than 10% at that point. He says here, you're gonna add the fifth part thereof. You say, what does that mean? It does not mean 10% plus 20%. What it means is 10% times 1.2, an increase of 20%. So 12% is what he's referring to in this situation. But there's many situations where he talks about redeeming your tithe. I would say this gets pretty complicated. It's easier just giving your 10% to God, okay? I don't wanna be like trying to figure it out. I've got some Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, like how much do I owe? What percentage and everything? Look, it's gonna get pretty complicated, okay? Verse 32, and concerning the tithe of the herd or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the 10th shall be holy unto the Lord. Obviously back then, many people, when they got money, it wasn't money that you hold in your hand. It was animals. It was things of intrinsic value, not just paper that has no real value, except the government tells you it has value, things that actually had value, okay? And so it's saying whatever comes of your herd or of your flock, basically whatever animals, one out of 10 belongs to God. Verse 33, he shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it. And if he changed it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy, it shall not be redeemed. You say, what is that saying in verse 33? Well, here's the thing. If you're giving one 10th of your animals, let's say you have 10 cows, okay? And you give one out of 10 to God, well, some of those cows are gonna be more valuable than others. Some are gonna be bigger. They're gonna have more meat. They're gonna be in better health, okay? When he's saying you don't search whether it's good or bad, he's saying if you got 10 cows, you don't say, well, which is the worst one? I'll give that to God. And see, that's what it talks about in the book of Malachi. He said, you gave me an offering. Should I accept this of your hand, saith the Lord? Because they were giving literally God the absolute worst. Like basically, okay, this cow is old, no longer produces any milk. We'll just give this to God then, right? We're giving our 10%. He's saying, no, you don't search whether it's bad, but you also don't search whether it's good. He's saying, you don't have to give me your best cow. What he's saying is this, whatever passes under the rod. So basically there'd be a system where this is the line and the cows cross and whatever the 10th cow is, that's the one that belongs to the Lord. So it might be a good cow. You're like, please don't let it be a good cow. Please, please let it be the worst cow I have. Might be a bad cow. And God's saying, you don't have to feel guilty about it. You don't have to change it for a better cow, okay? But what it's saying is this, if you do decide to change it, if he change it at all, if you are gonna change it, make sure you change it for a better cow though, right? If you decide, I wanna give something that's even more valuable because you have to realize that the tithe was given for the work of the Lord. And we're gonna see this in the Bible. And if you say, I wanna give a better cow to God so it can be used for the work of the Lord, you're allowed to give a better one if you want. You don't have to though, but don't give a worse one, right? Don't intentionally say, no, no, I don't wanna give that cow. I'm gonna just pick out the bad one. That would be wrong, okay? Verse 34, these are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in Mount Sinai. These are the commandments, the Bible says. Go to Numbers 18, Numbers 18, Numbers 18. Now let me give you some practical ideas because when it comes to the topic of tithing, there are a lot of gray area situations that it gets a little bit complicated. This is especially true if you're a business owner, okay? Or if you buy things and sell things. For example, if you buy this for 200 pesos and then you sell it for 500 pesos, you don't give 10% off 500 pesos because you're giving off the increase. You give 10% off 300, 500 minus 200, okay? I mean, if you're operating a business, there's no way you could even function if you're giving 10% off what you're, you give 10% off the profit, okay? So it's actually of your increase. But I'll give you an example of this. In the US, when you get your paycheck from the government, it sounds like a lot of money until they start taking money out, okay? And you get your paycheck, which maybe is 50,000 pesos in a week. Well, it sounds like a lot of money and it is, but here's the thing. The first 15,000 goes to the government. They take 15,000, okay? So here's the thing. If you're giving God the first 10%, you give 10% off the 50,000, not off 35,000. Just because the government's stealing money from you, it doesn't mean that you can steal money from God to pay it back. You give 10% off of the increase, okay? And just because the government's ripping you off, that doesn't mean that you're gonna change that amount, okay? So there are a lot of gray area situations and you're welcome to ask me, you know, how this works and everything, like in your given situation. But the general rule is 10% off of your increase, okay? That's what the Bible teaches. Numbers 18, verse 23. "'But the Levites shall do the service "'of the tabernacle of the congregation, "'and they shall bear their iniquity. "'It shall be a statute forever "'throughout your generations, "'that among the children of Israel "'they have no inheritance.' "'But the tithes of the children of Israel, "'which they offer as an heave offering "'onto the Lord, I have given to the Levites to inherit. "'Therefore I have said unto them, "'among the children of Israel, "'they shall have no inheritance.'" So the Bible taught that the Levites, they were not given their plot of land as in other areas, okay? Like they had the 12 tribes that were given each of their area. The Levites did the service of the work of the Lord, and they literally lived off of the tithe, okay? That is how they functioned. If nobody gave any money, then they would be on the streets begging, right? To do the work of the Lord, they actually needed money. And the reality is this, that it does take money to operate a church. I mean, honestly, commercial real estate is shockingly high in Metro Manila. I mean, it's literally the same price as in the US. I mean, it's shocking to me. I know some church buildings, and they pay far less per square meter than we do. And this is actually a really good deal for us. I mean, God has blessed us with this place. I'm not complaining. I'm happy with what we got. I understand it's tough. There's no parking and things like that. But you know, God has blessed us. I like this area. We should be thankful for what God has given us. But the reality is, commercial real estate is so much more expensive than in other areas. It makes things difficult. And it takes money to operate things, right? There's expenses for utilities. You know, the air conditioning units, that stuff costs money, right? And so the way that you do the work of the Lord is actually through tithes, okay? Now, we are blessed to have an online ministry where some people donate to us, and we can use those offerings to do nice things that maybe we wouldn't be able to otherwise. But the reality is, if no money ever came in, then we wouldn't be able to have a church building. Now, the church won't close. I mean, I'll invite you to hear me screaming on the street before they kick us out, but it's gonna be tough, right? So Numbers 18, verse number 25. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, thus speak unto the Levites and say unto them, when ye take of the children of Israel, the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up and heave offering of it for the Lord, even a 10th part of the tithe. Verse 27, and this your heave offering shall be reckoned on you, as though it were the corner of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. Thus ye also shall offer and heave offering unto the Lord of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel, and ye shall give thereof the Lord's heave offering to Aaron the priest. And so the Bible's telling you about just that the 10%, it's belonging given to the Levites for the work of the Lord. We're gonna see it in another place, it's given for other work that is necessary, but it's for the purpose of the work of the Lord. So here's what my point is I'm trying to make. There were certain things that when Jesus rose again, we don't do anymore. Do we sacrifice animals? No, why don't we sacrifice animals anymore? Because Jesus was the lamb slain and he already rose again. We don't do a yearly sacrifice of animals. That was fulfilled on the cross, okay? How was the tithe fulfilled on the cross? Because aren't we still doing the work of the Lord today? The purpose of the money was for the purpose of the work of the Lord. Guess what? We're still doing the work of the Lord today. So that's not something that was fulfilled when Jesus rose again, okay? Now go in your Bible to Deuteronomy 14, Deuteronomy 14, Deuteronomy 14. Deuteronomy chapter 14. And I'll try to be as quick as possible with his sermon here this morning. You know, my sermons were a little bit long yesterday I noticed as I preached these in Pampanga, but I just wanna show you what the Bible says about this topic. And I wanted to show you that the tithe is throughout all time periods, okay? We saw before the Mosaic law, during the Mosaic law. And it says in Deuteronomy 14 verse 22, thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose to place his name there. Now I want you to notice in verse 23, you're giving your tithe to the place which he shall choose to place his name there, okay? Other places talk about bringing your tithe to the house of God, you bring your tithe. And so you're actually going to the place where his name is placed and giving your 10%, okay? Now here's the thing. There are a lot of areas where there is no good church and God's name is not in that church. His blessing is not upon that church, okay? Now, if you're part of a church that's a good church, you ought to give your 10% to the church that you're actually at, okay? When I lived in West Virginia, I didn't send in my 10% to Verity Baptist Church or some other church, even though they're great churches. You say, why? I gave to the local church I was a part of. There's a lot of great churches that are out there, but the Bible says give your 10% to the church that you're actually a part of, okay? Because it's the church that's going to have the events that you're doing, the fellowship, that's paying the money for the soul winning invitations and whatever you have, okay? So you give your 10% to what you're a part of, okay? Now, if it's a bad church and they don't have the right gospel, Brother Stuckey, should I give my money to this church? Well, I mean, you shouldn't be at that church. There are people that send us an offering online because they don't believe they have a church that's preaching the right gospel. And if I was in that situation, I would do the same thing because I'm not going to give my money to a false gospel, okay? But if you're part of a church, even if it's not perfect, if it is the right gospel, just give your 10% to the church that you're actually a part of, okay? If you're not a part of a church, we'll get a part of a church. If you don't have a church in your area at all, you just listen to the online ministry, well, I mean, give to the online ministry that you consider most valuable to you. There are people that are overseas Filipino workers and they're thankful to have a church like ours in the Philippines and they donate to our ministry because they kind of consider us their church. And we greatly appreciate that and I look forward to meeting some of these people, some of them I've never met. Obviously, you know, Brother June was just with us here a few days ago and things like that, but there are various overseas workers and they do send us their donation because they don't necessarily have a great church or whatever. We appreciate that, okay? But if you do have a church, go bring it to the one where you say God's name is in this place. This church is a good church, okay? Now go to Deuteronomy 26, Deuteronomy 26. I'll skip some stuff for sake of time. Deuteronomy 26. I don't have time to go to every situation here. There's a lot of stuff I was gonna look at because the Bible speaks about how you would turn your animals into money because it would be easier to give your offering, okay? And so that was there in Deuteronomy 14. We're not gonna cover that, but just the general rule is you give 10% to God is what the Bible says, okay? You give 10. So this is how it applies. You don't just not give 10% to some other church. You also don't give 10% to a charity and consider that tithing, right? You say, well, there's this charity and this organization. They might be doing a good thing. That's not your tithe though, okay? When I worked in Cumberland, Maryland, our office, they did a lot of community work. They did a lot of volunteering stuff and they did some good stuff, but pretty much every single week, they'd come around asking for money. And here's the thing. I was like, man, in my head, I'm thinking, I already give 10% to my church, right? I'm already giving 15% to the government. It's like, I'm already giving a lot of money, right? And I feel like, you know, I trust in giving my money to my local church and I trust them to use the finances however they would see fit and everything. But it made me look bad because everybody's always giving money and everything like that. And I'm just thinking in my head, you probably give 0% to your church that you're a part of. I give 10%, I look like a bad guy or whatever, right? It's not wrong to give to a charity, but it's also not your tithe. So if you give 10%, but you also choose to donate to some ministry or organization, hey, that's great and God might bless you depending on what you're donating to. It might be a very good thing, but that isn't actually your tithe because your 10% is going to the house of God where God places his name. I will say you gotta be very careful with organizations you donate to though. Oftentimes they seem like they're doing a good thing. And then all of a sudden you find out they're helping donate to abortion things and all kinds of wicked things. So be very careful if you're gonna donate 10% Sometimes they might be good. More often than not though, the organizations aren't as good as they seem on paper. Deuteronomy 26 verse 12. When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates and be filled. So notice it talks about this tithe and it says being given unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Why? That they may eat within thy gates and be filled. And so the Bible's saying primarily the 10% is given to the work of the Lord itself and to the Levite, but there might also be other things to give that money to. The fatherless, the stranger, people that maybe are really struggling financially or whatever at a local church. And so the Bible's saying the 10% is actually given for that purpose. That they have the ability to eat it says. Malachi chapter three, go to Malachi three. The dreaded tithing passage, Malachi chapter three, okay? Malachi chapter three. Malachi chapter three. And when we get to this end of this sermon, I'm just gonna kind of go over just kind of how we operate as a church because I think probably most people aren't really fully aware how we operate financially and how we work. And I'm just gonna kind of briefly go over that to give you an understanding. And also the vision of our church five years down the road, 10 years down the road, what are we actually trying to do, okay? Malachi chapter three verse eight. Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But you say, where in have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. He's saying, you have robbed me. You say, how is it robbing? Because 10% belongs to God. And so look, if you make a thousand pesos, like that's your salary for whatever time, whether it's a day or a week or whatever, you get a thousand pesos on your increase and you don't give any money to God, you're robbing from God because the first 10% belongs to God. Now here's the way the tithe works. If you say, brother, I can't afford to tithe. Well, the good thing about tithing is the lower money you make, the less the tithe is, right? I mean, if you make 20 pesos, it's two pesos. If you make 2000 pesos, it's 200 pesos, right? It's a percentage that is given, okay? So the less you make, then the less you would be actually giving to God, okay? Cause it's 10%, okay? Verse nine, ye are cursed with a curse for ye have robbed me even this whole nation, right? This is the end of the Old Testament. And basically God's saying the work of the Lord can't be done. And one reason why, not only are they really sinful, but the money's not being provided for actually the work and service of God. Verse 10, bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be need in mine house. So notice in verse 10, they're bringing their tithe into the house of God for the work of the Lord, for the work of the service of God. And prove me now herewith, sayeth the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there should not be room enough to receive it. And see, the Bible actually says there is a promise associated with tithing in the Bible. Now look, we are not Pentecostals. We're not gonna go overboard and say, hey, you donate 1000 pesos, be prepared for your brand new car next week, right? I'm not gonna say that, okay? But I don't think that we should go to the other extreme and feel like, hey, if we provide to God and give our 10%, God's gonna be like, I mean, God's actually saying He's gonna provide for you if you give your 10%. Now you might not know where that money's gonna come from, but there's many different ways, whether it's a job increase or unexpected gift somebody gives you. But you know what? People that actually give their 10% to God, God does provide for them. Now here's the thing, it doesn't necessarily mean He provides this great vacation where you get to go to the most expensive place and stay at a 30,000 peso a night hotel or whatever. Hey, He doesn't say that. That's Pentecostal or Bible Baptist sort of preaching. Well, we don't say that here, but He does say He'll provide your needs, okay? And I believe that, but I want you to realize we honestly can live off of less than we feel like we need. God will give you what you need. What He promises is food and raiment, okay? In the Bible, He doesn't even promise a place to stay and yet I would say everybody here probably has a place to stay. It might not be what you want. Maybe you say, I wish I had more, other people have this, but you know, God is still providing your needs even if it's not exactly what you want, okay? Turn in your Bible to Matthew chapter five, Matthew five. Matthew chapter five. Matthew chapter five. And so we saw it before the Mosaic law. We see the concept of tithing and we see it going to the house of God or directly to God. We see during the Mosaic law, it's going for the work of the Lord to the house of God. It's going for the institution that God has created, okay? Well, let's see during the transitional phase because before Jesus rose again, you're really kind of in the Old Testament, but it's a transitional phase where He's preparing you. For example, they took the Passover for the, you know, when Jesus was 30 and 31 and everything, but then there's a transition right before He dies where it goes over to the Lord's supper where the transition is being understood, well, we're no longer gonna have a lamb because He's gonna be the lamb and things like that. So it's a transitional phase for those, let's say 33 years, given that's generally accurate, 33 years. Well, what do we see during this time period? Because people say the tithe is just with the Mosaic law. Well, did Jesus do away with the tithe? Matthew five verse 17. Think not that I have come to destroy the law of the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. And Jesus says, nothing's gonna pass from the law until everything's fulfilled. Well, when do heaven and earth pass? Revelation 21, right? I mean, it said right at the end of the Bible, the right near the very end, Revelation 21. So basically until that time period, nothing's gonna be done away unless it's fulfilled. Well, here's the thing. Certain things Jesus did fulfill when He rose again. There were certain things that were kind of cleanliness laws and cardinal ordinances that picture Jesus Christ. We don't sacrifice animals. We don't follow the Sabbath day in today's world because when you get saved, you enter into that rest. That's the one of the 10 commandments we don't follow anymore. But did you know it's still wrong to murder someone? Thou shalt not kill, still applies, right? I mean, when it comes to the moral law, those things still apply. Jesus doesn't have to restate these things to make them valid. Because there's a lot of things Jesus doesn't restate. He doesn't tell you you can't marry your sister in the New Testament, but doesn't that still apply? Right? I mean, there's a lot of laws that He said of things that don't marry your father's wife and things like that. He doesn't have to restate every single law because it is still valid unless there's a reason to say it's done away with, okay? Now, there were certain things that when Jesus rose again, they were fulfilled. The Sabbath day, not sacrificing animals. There was just the unclean foods. Hey, look, I'm not a huge fan of shrimp. Some of you are aware of that, but hey, you're welcome to eat it if you want, okay? And so, look, in terms of certain foods that are unclean, you can't eat, well, Jesus fulfilled that when He rose again because it was a picture of Jesus. We saw that in the book of Acts with Peter. You know, the Bible talks about that. But here He says, I didn't come to destroy the law. Jesus didn't come and say, everything before me is just done away. Just what I say goes, because isn't that what cult leaders do? It's like, we make all the rules. Everything before, I'll interpret for you. Here are the new rules. That's not what Jesus did. Jesus said, I came to fulfill. And there were certain things that were fulfilled when He rose again, but most stuff still applies, okay? Go to Matthew 23, Matthew 23, Matthew 23. You say, what are you saying, Brother Stuckey? What I'm saying is, if you're gonna say tithing doesn't apply, the burden of proof is on you to show me why it does not apply anymore. Because by default, things apply unless you have a good reason to say it no longer applies, okay? I can give you reasons why we don't follow the Sabbath day. I can give you reasons why we're allowed to eat unclean animals, right? You're allowed to eat pig or whatever unclean animals. I can give you reasons why we don't sacrifice a lamb on Easter like some bizarre dispensational Baptist churches do in some parts of the world, right? I know of a church in the US and they sacrifice an animal, sacrifice a lamb every Easter. It's like, okay? But I can give you reasons why we don't do that. The burden of proof would be on you to say, well, it no longer applies because thus saith the Lord. Here's what the Bible says. Matthew 23, verse 23. You say, but Jesus doesn't mention the tithe. Well, actually, in Matthew 23, He does directly mention the tithe. Woe unto you scribes, verse 23. Matthew 23, verse 23. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tithe of mint and anise in common and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. People say, well, see, there you go. It's all about the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. It's not about keeping these rules. It's all about just the love of God. Well, let's finish the verse. These ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone. Does Jesus say they were wrong to give the tithe? No, He says He ought to have done this. He says this was a good thing to do. It says they're tithing off mint and anise in common. The way I interpret that is basically any sort of gift that they were given, they gave their 10%. That's something my wife and I follow. Whatever gift we give, get from somebody, if somebody gives us a gift, we tithe off that. You tithe off your increase that you get. I believe that's a biblical thing. And what they're doing is a good thing. These ought ye to have done. The problem was they were hypocrites. They were doing the things on the outside to be seen of man, but they were wicked people on the inside. But it wasn't wrong that they were tithing. He says these ought ye to have done. He says you should give 10% because it's not done away. Okay, go to Hebrew seven, Hebrew seven, Hebrew seven. So we saw before the Mosaic law, we saw tithing to the house of God, tithing for the work of the Lord. We saw during the Mosaic law, we saw during the transitional phase when Jesus walked this earth. So now we're down to post-resurrection. So if it does not apply, somebody has to show me why it no longer applies. And I've never seen that before. I've listened to sermons on the topic for why it doesn't apply, and they try to take things out of context. But if you don't believe in tithing, and look, it's up to you to believe what you want, you have to have a verse for why it doesn't apply anymore. Now, you have to ask yourself this question. If it does not apply, what book would probably tell us it doesn't apply anymore? Book of Hebrews, why? Because that was really the book written to people that were saved people, but had Jewish descent. And look, they were confused on which things apply, right? So if there's a book that would do away with tithing, the book of Hebrews would be the book, wouldn't it? That's the book where really there's all the laws and the customs that the Jews were doing. What applies, what should we do, what shouldn't we do? If it's mentioned, it should be mentioned in the book of Hebrews, right? Now, remember Hebrews 7 is sort of at the start of the sermon, right? Where it talks about Melchizedek. We already looked at that. Where he doesn't negate tithing in Hebrews 7 yet, right? Well, let's go to verse 5. Let's see if they ever negate tithing, okay? Hebrews 7, verse 5. And verily, they that are of the sons of Levi, who received the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law that is of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham. But he who's to sin is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham and blessed him that had the promises. So in verses 5 and 6, it references before the Mosaic law and during the Mosaic law that tithing was valid. And without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better. And here men that die receive tithes, but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. And as I may so say, Levi also who receiveth tithes paid tithes in Abraham. Look, I'm not going to read the entire chapter. But here's the thing. If you say, I don't believe in tithing, I'm helping you out. Read the book of Hebrews then. Find why it doesn't apply, because that will be the book that's going to tell you. What I'm showing you is tithing is referenced in Hebrew 7 as a good thing. But you say, but Brother Stuckey, it was given to the Levites. So why would it be around today? What was given for the purpose of the work of the Lord? Are we doing the work of the Lord today? Yes. Why would it be gone then? It doesn't make any sense, right? It would still be valid today because we're still doing the work of the Lord. We're still doing the service of God. Stuff is still cost money. It's not just free. So look, tithing is still valid, okay? Now go in your Bible to 1 Corinthians 9. 1 Corinthians 9, we'll close up in 1 Corinthians 9. 1 Corinthians 9. Now look, as I said, I've never even preached a fooling sermon on tithing, right? And I didn't want the focus of our ministry and I don't want it to be on money. So it's not something I talk about a lot, but I don't want to avoid anything. Look, I get it that other Baptist churches have maybe even ripped you off in the past, but I want you to understand something, okay? Think about if other Baptist churches ripped you off and they stole like 25% of your money. And then you have kind of a bitter attitude. I'm so mad what they did. I'm just not going to give to God anymore. It's like you gave 25% to a false prophet and now you don't even give any money to like a good church. It's like, I feel ripped off. It's like, you know what? It's like, I didn't rip you off. It's like, I shine the light on others ripping you off. And it's just like, just because other Baptist churches have lied and ripped you off and taken advantage of you being zealous and you love God, you want to do what's right. I literally have people that message me sometimes, not a part of our church, but outside of our church. And they say they feel guilty for not giving the first fruits offering. And they ask, you know, is this biblical? And these are people that love God and they listen to sermons, but they've been brainwashed by false prophets. But what you don't want to do is get so mad at what happened there that you go to another unbiblical extreme. Because look, tithing has always been around. Now, yeah, they're wrong for saying it's 20%, 25 or whatever they try to say, but it doesn't change the fact that 10% is what's taught in the Bible. Not 11, not nine, 10%, right? That is what God's standard is. As I said, there are a lot of gray area situations. And you're welcome to ask me if you have a particular situation. And I'm not saying I have all the answers because especially for business owners, it gets complicated because you buy certain things for certain work you're doing and that might be reduced off your increase. I get that it gets confusing, okay? But the general rule is you give 10% off your increase. That's what the Bible teaches, okay? Now, I showed you that tithing is biblical throughout all ages. I think it's pretty clear, but I wanna just kind of give you the financial direction of our church and let you explain how we operate as a church. Because here's the thing, the tithing is given for the work of the Lord. And specifically, it was also given for the Levites to be able to eat, okay? What does the Bible say in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 1? Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord or not ye my work in the Lord? Now, throughout the Bible, what you see is people would always question the apostleship of Paul because he was kind of late to the party, right? He was the bad guy before. He was persecuting Christians. And they said, well, we don't believe you're a real apostle. So he's always defending himself saying, hey, I'm an apostle. I've seen the Lord Jesus Christ because that was part of the requirement to be an apostle. And people didn't think Paul was the real deal. And he's kind of defending himself. He's like, I'm an apostle. I've seen the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says this, are not ye my work in the Lord? Now, what's he saying there? What he's saying there is I got many of you saved and brought you to church and I preached sermons and taught you the word of God. Right, it's like literally, it's like you're looking out on the church and look, this is not really something I could say about this church because I can't look out here and say, hey, you know what? I've gotten 20 of you saved and brought you to church. I mean, obviously I preached the sermons, but Paul the apostle literally was getting people to church and then preaching the sermons. Literally, that was his work in the Lord, okay? Are not ye my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you. For the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord. He's saying, I don't need letters of commendation from any man because here's my proof on the real deal. Look at all these people I got saved, okay? Look at the people I've taught the word of God that have grown. And look, you know what? As a person who's a leader, you don't wanna just lift yourself up, but sometimes you gotta defend yourself like Paul is doing. And there's nothing wrong with a pastor defending themselves if they need to, or an evangelist or whatever, a church leader, right? Yeah, there's been times where Pastor Jimenez had to defend himself because someone tried to lie about him or attack him. Look, if I have to get up here, I'm not doing that in the sermon, but if I have to one day just get up and preach a sermon and defend myself, there's nothing wrong with it, okay? Because of the fact people will lie about you as a leader and say false things. And if you have to defend yourself, there's nothing wrong with that, okay? Verse three, mine answer to them that do examine me is this. So people are examining him. They're looking for a fault in Paul the Apostle. Have we not power to eat and to drink? Have we not power to lead about a sister or wife as well as other apostles and as the brethren of the Lord in Cephas? In verse five, he's saying we have the power to get married like Peter did, like Cephas did. We have the ability to get married. There's nothing wrong about that. Or I only in Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working? Him, he's saying that me and Barnabas, we could stop working if we wanted to and live off of the tithes and the offerings because we brought you to church, we taught you the word of God, there would be nothing wrong with it. And look, there's nothing wrong with somebody getting paid to doing the work of the Lord, right? In the Bible, the Levites, they got paid doing the work of the Lord, okay? There's nothing wrong with a pastor being full-time. Our pastor in Sacramento, Pastor Roger Jimenez, he's full-time in the ministry, okay? Nothing wrong with that. I think it's a good thing. I'm happy for any pastors or like-minded people that are able to be full-time, it's great. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever, okay? Verse seven, who go at the warfare anytime at his own charges? Who planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof? Or who feedeth a flock and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Say I these things as a man, or sayeth not the law the same also? He's saying the law taught this, okay? Why? Because of the fact he's a worker of the Lord, he's a minister of God and being paid, it's part of the law, there's nothing wrong with that. He's saying, still applies. Verse nine, for it is written in the law of Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn, doth God take care for oxen? Or sayeth it altogether for our sakes, for our sakes no doubt, this is written, that he that ploweth should plow in hope, and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. And he's saying, you know what? If the ox is providing and producing the food, there's nothing wrong with the ox getting to eat some food, right? And he's saying, does God care about an animal? Does he care about a big, dumb animal? He's saying, but he's using it as an example for people, if somebody's doing the work of the Lord, there's nothing wrong with them getting paid, okay? Verse 11, if we have shown unto you spiritual things, it is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? He's saying, we've taught you the word of God, we brought you to church, is it a big thing if you actually pay for us financially? Verse 12, if others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless, we have not used this power, but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar. Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. Verse 14, saying it's a good thing if you can live of the gospel, you're doing the work of the Lord, it's a good thing if you're getting paid to do the work of the Lord, okay? There's nothing wrong with that. Verse 15, but I have used none of these things, neither have I written these things that it should be so done unto me, for better for me to die than that any man should make my glorying void. And Paul says, you know what? So many people have criticized me, questioning my apostleship and everything like that, and he's saying, how in the world could you question me because I actually worked a job and made my own money and I didn't take from the church? He's like, I worked and provided my own means, so how in the world could anyone question Paul the apostle? I mean, if he's literally working his own job and he's defending the fact, nothing wrong with getting paid. He would have been happy if somebody got paid. So how are you possibly gonna criticize him when he chose not to get paid and he worked his own way and he was just basically volunteering full time basically? How could you possibly criticize him? Now, you know what's funny about this because here's the thing, you might not realize this, I do work a job apart from this church and I don't take a salary from this church. And yet this is the topic I've been most criticized on of how I preach. And you know what, it's kind of annoying because it's not from our church, okay? I'm just letting you know how we operate. But people, it's just because what I preach, I have never preached it's wrong to work full time in the ministry. I think that's great. What I preach is it's not wrong to work a job and still be in the ministry. And I don't see how anyone could argue that because that's what Paul the Apostle did. You say, Brother Stuckey, what job do you work? I mean, where do you get paid? I get paid by Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento. You say, Brother Stuckey, will you get paid because you're going soul-winning and running the churches? No, no, no, no, no. I get paid because I do the soul-winning maps in Sacramento. I get paid because I do the accounting. I get paid because I transcribe the sermons. I get paid because tomorrow morning, guess what? I wake up and I do my work remotely online. I do. And look, this is not something I talk about a lot because I'm not lifting myself up. I'm not trying to. Because there's many men in this room that are devoting their time to God while working jobs. It's the same thing, right? But I'm just letting you know, I don't take a paycheck from this church or in Pampanga. Now, when we first started this church, I want you to understand because I don't want anything to be taken out of context or forget anything. Pastor Menes is very generous. Verity Baptist Church is very generous. Pastor Menes was willing to support me and give me a set salary every month. And whatever our church needed, they would provide immediately, okay? But here's the thing. If we can pay for the building ourselves, we're not gonna leech off of Verity Baptist Church. Now, I'm sure that we could get a nicer building and a bigger building. But you know what? I would rather pay for what we have, which God is providing for us. And this building's fine. I would rather pay for what we have and not leech off of Verity Baptist Church. You say, why? Because of the fact that you want, they need that money to do things as well. You ought to have this attitude of paying for our own way and I think that's a good thing. When we started, there are many responsibilities Pastor Menes had me doing online. And I do a lot more things now because I asked him for more things to do because I felt like I need to work more to get the amount I'm getting paid, okay? And I do a lot more assignments now, right? And I'm not trying to list everything because there's a lot of things I do that I'm not gonna mention here in a sermon. But for example, transcribing the sermons for the prison ministry, that's something that basically, if you send that out to be transcribed on a professional site, it's like $1.50 or $1.25 per minute. And I told Pastor Menes, let me try to do this myself so I can save the church money. And I transcribe every single week. And it's a ministry they do and it saves them money, right? Why? Because I wanna be paid what I deserve. I don't wanna be paid more than I deserve. But I'll tell you what, I personally, and this could change in the future, because here's the thing, I am preaching that it is not wrong to be full-time. I'm not against anybody who's full-time. One day, I might change my mind. Maybe, you know, our churches are doing well, we're big churches, lots of donations. Hey, in four years, I might start being paid full-time. I don't plan to. I don't plan to stop working. But there'd be nothing wrong if I did get paid by the church. There'd be nothing wrong with that at all. Maybe if I'm 40 years old and we have four kids, it might be like, man, I don't have the energy that I used to have, right? That's very possible. But right now, I plan to work. And you say, well, why Brother Stuckey? Why do you plan to work? Here's some of the reasons. One, because stuff costs money. And I'll tell you what, if I worked, and if I just took a paycheck from our churches, you know what, a lot of the stuff we have, we wouldn't be able to have. It would be a big burden. And here's the other thing. The big thing is this. My number one priority is not this church. It's not the church in Pampanga. It's called the first church you ever pastor is your home. And you know what? I have a job in uncertain times that is secure. And you know what? It keeps me busy. It keeps me exhausted. But it pays my bills. And you know what? Honestly, you know what? And look, there's nothing, and look, the Baptist churches here say it's a sin to work a job and work. Then why is it that I preach better sermons than you and go so any more than you? It's like, you want to criticize me. And look, I don't say that often, but look, I've listened to plenty of the sermons online. They're lame. Not only full of heresy, they're a joke. It's just like, you know, you want to criticize me for working a job It's just like, you know what? I put in time for this church. I'm devoted to this church. But my number one priority is my family. And I plan to, after I'm ordained as a pastor, still work for Verity Baptist Church, something I've talked to Pastor Mendez about. And I've made myself a valuable employee to my company. Why? Because my family is important to me. So what you have to understand is this. You know, if my wife and I, we go on vacation for a couple days, it's because I worked for that and I paid for that. Don't feel like, oh, Brother Stuckey, I went on vacation a couple days before the pom pong game. Yeah, I mean, I paid for that. And I worked for the money I made. Do I not have a right to use my money for what I want to do? Right? I mean, here's the truth. Literally, and this won't happen, but if both of our churches close tomorrow, which is not going to happen, it doesn't affect my salary one peso. See, spending time on these churches, it makes me more busy, more tired, and I'm not complaining, right? This is what I have a desire to do, right? I do a big work here in the Philippines. I'm just trying to let you know, because this is not something I talk about much and probably a lot of you thought I just work and get paid for by this church or get, no. I get paid because I do, and yeah, I get it. I work for a church, but making a soul-winning map is not really that much different than what somebody might do on a secular job, making a map, organizing it, or transcribing a sermon. Yeah, it's a sermon, but you know, people get paid for transcribing, you know, my mom used to work as a transcriptionist for doctors and things like that. So look, I just want you to understand, and the reason why I have to do this is because of the fact, most of the pastors you respect in the US, you might think they're full-time, they're not. There's only a few of them, if I remember correctly, three. You're like, the one's on the list, and you say, why wouldn't they be full-time? Well, I mean, if you're a new church, the church is probably not gonna be able to afford to support you financially. And look, it would be a big burden on our church, okay? And so I want you to realize that, you know, me working, it does help our church financially. I still give 10% of the money that I get paid for my secular job, just like you do. I'm not, when we do the Bible memorization, memorizing the book of Rome, it's not like I'm sitting around with chips on my chest watching YouTube videos all day, and I got all the time in the world. Now, I mean, on Tuesday, when we do our soul-winning marathon, that means I'm gonna be tired next week because I've got, you know, it's not a vacation day in America. I still have the same work I gotta do every week, which I'm fine with. We're gonna go soul-winning, we're gonna have a great time and everything. I don't, for the life of me, understand how I've been criticized about this, but people criticize me because, you know, I've never preached this wrong to be full-time. I would say this, though, because there are a lot of young people that are very zealous, especially from the US, and that wanna be missionaries here and wanna be full-time, and sometimes they'll see online, they'll write this question, and I never respond because I try not to get in online battles, but I feel like responding in the flesh, where it's like, what can I do to be a full-time missionary? That is a bad question because I never prepared to be a full-time missionary. I planned to be a pastor here and work a job. That was always my plan because that's all the pastors I knew, they started like that until the church grew. So it's always a strange thing to me. I mean, I would say this, that if you move to the Philippines without a major plan, you might move back six months from now when you can't pay your bills. I would say you need to prepare for yourself financially. And if people think that's a rude thing to say, then whatever, but you know what? You can't just bring $20 in your wallet and just trust that everything's gonna work out. I hope it works for you. I do, okay? I hope there's plenty of it. And look, if other people came here and they were able to be full-time or whatever, and just, hey, there's nothing wrong with that. That's just not the choice I'm making. And you're not, and I want you to realize this for you for your secular job. I want you to realize the work you do, your boss is still the Lord, whether you're working for a church or whether you're working for whatever. That's what the Bible says. Your boss is the Lord. So look, you don't have to feel like, oh, I'm less spiritual because I'm not in the ministry. There's nothing wrong with working a secular job because look, especially as a guy, the Bible says provide for your family. So it is a spiritual thing if you're, and you say, man, I'm tired. I wake up tired. I go to bed tired. God did not intend life to be easy. It's not easy for me. I'm busy. I'm tired. And look, I'm not saying this to lift myself up because there are many people in this room. You're doing the exact same thing as me. You say, brother, all my free time is devoted to church. It's like, yeah, me too. And you know what? I do believe God's gonna bless you for that. You're working very hard to provide your needs and you're still coming to church and supporting church with your time, with your effort, with your energy. I believe God's gonna bless you for that. Okay? And you know what? I could change in the future. So don't say, brother suck, he's a hypocrite. You know, in five years from now, if I'm getting a side or whatever, I'm just saying, you know, right now, I, and I'll tell you what, I know a pastor in the US who's like-minded and he said the same thing. He didn't plan to be full-time. And then years later, God kind of just worked it out where he just became full-time and it was just really obvious. That could happen. I'm not saying it's wrong to be full-time. In fact, we just read an entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 9 about that, but there's also nothing wrong with just working a secular job and just working as hard as you can and then just giving your time and your energy and giving your 10% like God says to God. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see what the Bible says about this topic of tithing and how it has always existed. It is still applicable today, God. And I ask you to help bless all of our church members here, God. Bless them with their jobs to be able to provide for their families. Help them get raises and bonuses and maybe better jobs if they're looking for something. And help them provide their needs, God. And I ask you to continue to bless our church from a financial standpoint, God, because one day we would love to be able to save up money and be able to have our own building and our own property, but obviously stuff like this, it takes money, it takes time, it takes effort. But you have provided for us. We're very thankful for the building we have and just all the souls who have been able to get saved due to the blessings you've given us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.