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you you Well good morning everyone welcome to Mountain Baptist Church take your songbooks and turn to song 65 Song number 65 in your songbooks. We'll sing just over in the glory land song if you would stand song number 65 I've a home prepared where the Saints up high just over in the glory land And I long to be by my Savior's side just over in the glory land just over in the glory land now join the happy angel band just over in the glory land just over in the glory land there with The mighty host South stand just over in the glory land I am on my way to those mansions fair just over in the glory land There to sing God's praise and his glory Share just over in the glory land just over in the glory land the happy Just over in the glory land just over in the glory land there with The mighty host I'll stand just over in the glory land What a joyful thought that my lord. I'll see just over in the glory Land and with kindred say therefore ever be just over in the glory land just over in the glory Land I'll join the happy angel band just over in the glory land just over in the glory land there with The mighty host I'll stand just over in the glory land With the blood wash throng. I will shout and sing just over in the glory land Glad ozanna's to Christ the Lord and King just over in the glory land just over in the glory land The happy angel band just over in the glory land just over in the glory land there with The mighty host I'll stand just over in the glory land Let's pray heavenly father Lord again We just want to thank you guys for this beautiful day that you've given us to meet in your house and to hear your word Preached I pray Lord that you would just bless and fill our pastor with your spirit. We pray all of us in Jesus name. Amen All right, you may be seated And take your war Mountain Baptist song books and turn to song 67 Song number 67, I'm sorry Psalm 67 And your mountain Baptist song books and we'll sing Psalm 67 God be merciful unto us and bless us and cause us face to shine upon Us that that way may be known upon earth Thy saving health among all nations Let the people praise thee O God Let all the people praise thee. Oh let the nations be glad and seeing for joy For thou shalt judge the people Righteously and The nations upon the earth The nations upon earth seal ah Let the people praise thee O God Let all the people praise thee. Oh, let the nations be glad and seeing for joy Then shall the earth yield her increase And God even our own God shall bless us God shall bless us and all the ends of Herd shall fear him Let the people praise thee O God Let all the people praise thee. Oh, let the nations be glad and seeing for joy I Don't think so That sound good everybody as far as I don't think I didn't hurt anything as far as your stuff goes welcome now back to church on this Sunday morning and Some announcements here just typical church announcements as far as the service times. Everything should be normal today so we'll have our So any time at 1 p.m. And then coming back here for the afternoon service at 4 p.m And then we have our regional so many times on the list here Just be on the whatsapp with a mountain Baptist Church group As far as the time or as far as the places and where everybody's meeting up for that And then upcoming events We have the soul winning marathon in Sutton, West Virginia or the Flatwoods area that will be on the 21st and so brother Nick's gonna be leading that up and so I think there's a scheduled Visit to the Bigfoot Museum. Is that a real thing? They're literally a Bigfoot museum Haven't been to it. I have to get brother Jeff in here Sorry about yeah, they mean to throw you under the bus But so that that's coming up Here soon and then we'll have the men's prayer meeting on the 27th And then we're gonna have the Lord's Supper on that Sunday. So The 29th we're gonna have the Lord's Supper. So that'll be after the afternoon service. So be in your places if you can for that and On the back of your bulletin there we we are still in the chat and chapter 4 of first Thessalonians is our chapter memory And we have the verse of the week is Proverbs 3 9 honor The Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of thine increase and so and I think There's a lot better doing that New Testament reading challenge. So keep it up with that and some are doing the Like a year reading the Bible in a year kind of thing. Keep that up as well. Keep all your reading schedules up but Who oh who all here if you don't mind who all here is trying to do that trying to do the New Testament in January Wow Yeah, okay. Well keep up keep keep it up and We're gonna determine a prize at some point for doing that Of course, the real prize is that the knowledge that you gain from it, right? So but no obviously we will have a physical prize for you if you get that done and so And then birthdays we have We Need to sing to Abby so don't think I thought I'd forget about her but we didn't so but what this thing to her and Mine and wait Wade's isn't yet. So Get that later and then Pregnancy's being prayer for my wife As far as I could be today. We got the bags packed. We're ready to go I don't know what we're gonna do with our kids. But I mean, we're ready to go to the hospital, but No, but just being prayer there that we make it to the hospital that I don't have to deliver another baby But ultimately even if I have to deliver another baby The biggest thing is that the baby is healthy and that Holly is fine through the whole process If I have to deliver the rest of the babies as long as that's the case Won't be preferred, but I'll definitely take that over the contrary there now and then pray for the Lusko family with TR there on the list and Be a prayer for anybody else that we don't know about or maybe maybe some Are trying to have babies and but also just some We may already be pregnant we don't know about it or maybe they do and they just don't want to tell us so which is fine but Just be in prayer for all these I Kind of hear some feedback on mine a little bit Maybe just I got a big mouth. I'm like, I'm just really loud or And that voice it resonates We'll figure it out. Yeah, just bear with obviously we're working on the whole sound stuff, but As far as other stuff, I think that's about it for announcements Offering boxes in the back. They're going to give a tie their offering and then the mother baby room so the mothers and babies only and that's about all I got but they he's gonna come and sing one more song and sing happy birthday to miss Abby and and Brother Anthony you're reading this morning, but the Anthony's gonna be reading Malachi chapter 3 All right, take your song books and turn to song number 63 Song number 63 in your song books will saying what a day that will be But before we do that we need to sing happy birthday to happy Morris you want to stand up We'll wait there you go, okay All right, and when what day was your birthday on date, okay, so it was I'm not gonna try to figure it out. All right, we'll see. Happy birthday to you ready? Here we go. Happy birthday To you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday God bless you Happy birthday to you Well, happy birthday and we'll sing song number 63 There is coming a day, when no heartache shall come, no more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye, all is peace forever more, on that happy golden shore. What a day, glorious day that will be, what a day that will be, when my Jesus shall see, and I look upon his face, the one who saved me by his grace, when he takes me by the hand, and leads me through the promised land. What a day, glorious day that will be, there'll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear, no more sickness, no pain, no more parting over there, and forever I will be with the one who died for me. What a day, glorious day that will be, what a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see, and I look upon his face, the one who saved me by his grace, when he takes me by the hand, and leads me through the promised land. What a day, glorious day that will be. All right, take your Bibles and turn to Malachi chapter number three. Malachi chapter number three, and we'll have brother Anthony read that for us. Malachi chapter three, behold I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts, who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth, for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap, and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years. And I will come near to you to judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. For I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. For ye said, wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even in this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts. If I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground. Neither shall your vine cast their fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed, for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts. Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord, yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the proud happy, yea, they that work wickedness are set up, yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. Then they that fear the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearken, and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that fear the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you for this day that we can gather again and hear your word preached. I pray that you will bless the services, and I pray that you will be with Pastor Robinson as he preaches this morning. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. I've got a really exciting sermon for you this morning. It's on tithes and offerings. So this is a sermon that's maybe not the most exciting sermon, but hopefully it's informative. I've had questions about tithing and legit questions, and I'm just going to preach on my thoughts and what I believe the Bible teaches on this issue. So tithing is probably one of my least favorite type of things to preach on because it's something we need to do, but it's not something that I'm just like, you better do it, and I get excited about it. But it is a principle in the Bible. It's something that I believe is also in the New Testament. And the first thing I want to hit on is the fact that I do believe it is a New Testament doctrine. It is something that we should be doing in the New Testament. But look at Malachi chapter 3. In Malachi chapter 3, the one thing that you should know is that you should be thinking about the fact that you should be taking heed to whether you're tithing or not because of this passage right here. And you can say, well, that's Old Testament. Well, after I get done with some verses and get through some passages here, you can be fully persuaded in your own mind whether you believe it's just Old Testament or not. But in Malachi chapter 3 and verse 6, it says, For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob, are not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers, you are gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee in tithes and offerings? So when it's saying, you've robbed me, meaning that you haven't given me tithes and offerings, right? So this is basically a warning because notice in verse 9, ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. So it is a warning, okay? And I'll show you why I believe in the New Testament this also applies to those in the church and basically to believers as far as tithing goes. But it is a strong warning, right? Because you don't want to be accused of robbing God. You don't want to be guilty of robbing God. And you don't want to have this curse upon you because you're not tithing, okay? Now notice what it says in verse 10, And bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house. So it really gives you the reason and obviously I'm going to go through all the verses as far as tithing goes. But the reasoning for tithing is so that God's house basically will have meat. Now this gets into the idea of people that are serving in the house of God. Obviously the Levites is a big thing in the Old Testament because they didn't have an inheritance. And the tithes basically was their inheritance as far as them being able to eat or where they're going to live and all that stuff. And it gets into those that serve in the church obviously getting paid based on the tithe money. But if you think about it too, when you think about local churches which I'll be getting into is how do you pay the rent? How do you pay the bills? How do you pay for the amenities if there's no tithing? And you say well that doesn't prove that there should be tithing. Well I'm going to show you. But at the same time you've got to think about that type of stuff that we wouldn't have this building right now. We wouldn't have heat right now which you're probably like well I don't really want it. It's too hot in here right now. But we wouldn't have any of this stuff in here because who's paying for it? And so the reason for the tithes is for the house of God to operate. And for those that are working for the house of God to basically be able to have income and be able to provide for themselves and their families. So keep reading there. It says in verse 10, Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, said the Lord of hosts. If I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground. Neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, said the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed, for ye shall be a delightsome land, said the Lord of hosts. So what you have to understand is that at first when you think about giving and what's tithe, it's a tenth right? So you think about 10 percent. And I'll be hitting on eventually once I get through this as far as what are we tithing on right? What specifically are you putting 10 percent of to the Lord? But the Bible here is saying, hey, if you don't do it, you're robbing God and you're cursed with a curse. But if you do it, basically God's like prove me. If I don't basically open the windows of heaven and think about it, in a lot of cases God gives it back more than he even gave. And you say, well, how so? I don't see that money at the end of the year. You may not see it tangibly on your W-2 form, but what you don't see is maybe expenses you didn't have to have. That could be health expenses, that could be expenses maybe on your vehicle, that could be expenses that are unforeseen. I mean, think about like and I'm not saying like you get an accident, you're not right with God and you're not tithing. But let's say, you know, there's times where maybe certain things are you're avoided from those situations. In this case it's saying he's going to rebuke the devourer, meaning this is that when it comes to your fields and everything, he's going to cause it to where it's going to be fruitful and to where you're not going to have this loss in your crop or something like that. So that's just kind of an example of kind of the way that you're being repaid and that you can't really tangibly say and know for sure that the Lord is the one that did it. But I'll say this is that, you know, I've been tithing since I started like, I'll say a real job, but basically after I got out of college. Well, I was working full time, I guess is the way I'd say that. But, you know, the Lord is blessed in all those times, you know, and someone maybe look at that and say, well, that's a lot of money that you could have had over those years if you just would have kept that to yourself. But I believe personally that I have more now because I tithe than if I would have kept it. Whether it's in health, whether it's in wealth, or whether it's in, you know, just things that don't happen that maybe could have happened. So when it comes to this, we really just need to, one, we don't want to rob God, but two, you know, prove him whether he won't open the windows of heaven. And I believe he does, you know, just from, and that, you're like, that's anecdotal evidence, that's just you. I'm sure that others would say the same thing though. Those that have tithed for years and have seen God bless in that obedience, okay. And listen, by the way, you say, well, you know, you've been looking at all the tithes and you're up here just like, you're pointing at me or whatever. Listen, I have no idea who tithes. You know, back when the church started, I knew who some people tithed, but some people were anonymous anyway, right. So I don't know who that is anonymous, the anonymous money came in. But I haven't done the offering in over a year for sure. But I know at least since Brother Dave was put on staff as deacon, I haven't done it. But I think even before that, I probably, basically, my hands are off that. I don't know, I mean, I'll see the bank account and know that we're not in the hole, right. But I have no idea who tithes and who doesn't. Brother Dave does, so he can judge you. No, but all joking aside, like, I don't know. I don't know who tithes and who doesn't. This sermon is just, you know, generally speaking, hey, you should tithe. And go to Hebrews 7, Hebrews 7. And I want to show you why I believe it's a New Testament doctrine. It's something that we should be doing in the New Testament. And this is a story about Melchizedek, but in this story about Melchizedek, tithing is kind of the main subject of what's being brought up here. And really, to be honest with you, I'm not giving you every verse on tithing, but I'm giving you most all the verses. This sermon is going to be kind of hitting on all the verses. You're like, we're going to be here until, like, the cows come home. Now, I still only have four pages, meaning this is that there's not, like, a whole tremendous amount of verses on tithing. But that doesn't mean it's not important. It doesn't mean that it's not something that we should do. I believe it's something that we should be doing, but at the same time, I believe it's not complicated, okay. And that's kind of what I want to get across as far as tithing. It shouldn't be this algorithm that you have to be a mathematician to figure out how to do it, okay. I think it's very easy, and it's not something that's going to be complicated. Now, Hebrews 7, verse 1 here, it says, For this Melchizedek king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Now, go to Genesis, we're going to come back to Hebrews 7, but I want to show you the place in Genesis where this happens. So Genesis 14, go to Genesis 14 and verse 17. So if you know the story in Genesis 14, basically Lot is in Sodom, and basically he gets taken captive, and actually Abraham comes in and saves the day, saves Lot and all of Sodom and all that stuff, and basically the king of Sodom wanted to reward Abraham for what he did. Really, Abraham did it for Lot, not for them, but he also wouldn't accept anything from them, or from the king of Sodom, because he's like, I don't want basically you to say that, hey, you gave me my inheritance, or you gave me anything, right. And in verse 17, Genesis 14, verse 17, it says, And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Kidaliomer, and of the kings that were with him at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God. 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 thy hand, and he gave him tithes of all. Now, in the New Testament, it's very clear that it's Melchizedek that blessed Abraham, and it's Abraham that gave him tithes of all. Now, it's going to clarify that when it says that he gave tithes of all, what he gave tithes of, right. So go back to Hebrew chapter 7, Hebrew chapter 7, look at verse 3, because when you're reading it in Genesis 14, you're like, Who is this Melchizedek? You don't really see him. He's mentioned in Psalms when it's prophesying about Jesus coming, as far as him being the high priest after you are Melchizedek, but you don't really know who this person is. It just kind of tells you he's the priest of the Most High God, and Abraham gave tithes unto him. And then it goes in Hebrew chapter 7, verse 3, I'm a little dyslexic this morning, Hebrew chapter 7, verse 3, it says, Without father, without mother, without the sent, having nigh the beginning of days, nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth the priest continually. So you're not dealing with a typical person here, right. You're dealing with actually Jesus in the Old Testament. And actually, the thing that I want to get across here is that this isn't Old Testament either. This is before the Old Testament. The Old Testament started in Exodus. So we're talking before Moses and the law, when they would give tithes to Levi, and that's what this whole thing is kind of talking about here. So notice here that before Moses and the law, before the Old Testament, Abraham gave tithes unto Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God. And it says in verse 4, Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. So when it's talking about how he gave a tenth part of all, or he tithed, you know, so that shows you the meaning of tithe, right. Tithe is just the tenth part, or ten percent. But he gave tenth of the spoils. So of all the spoils that he got from the war, not from the king of Sodom, he wouldn't take anything from him, but from the war, what they got from spoils, he took a tenth of that and gave it to Melchizedek. Now, keep reading there, it says, 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. So now, in the Old Testament, you know, when you get up to where Moses and the keeping, you know, the Levitical priesthood here, they 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 whose descent is not counted from them receiveth tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises. 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 received tithes, paid tithes in Abraham, for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. They're basically saying, you know, Levi technically gave tithes to Melchizedek because he's in the, you know, Abraham, their father is Abraham. So they're, you know, ultimately their father gave tithes to Melchizedek, so they did too. And what it's stating here is that tithing was pre-Levitical priesthood. So when you see stuff like that, when you see stuff that's in pre-Old Testament, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's in the New Testament, but here's why, here's why this would apply to the New Testament. Because if Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek, why wouldn't we give tithes to Jesus who's after the order of Melchizedek? Right, he's better. Right, it says that the less is blessed of the better. The better is talking about Melchizedek, and obviously Jesus is better than the Levitical priesthood. And so when it comes to tithing, you know, when we give our tithes, we're giving it to the Lord, okay? You're not giving it to me, okay? I actually don't see it. It doesn't go to my bank account. You know, my personal bank account is just like, I'm just rolling in the money, you know? You know, actually I don't see any of that. And, you know, at the moment I'm not on staff, so I don't get a paycheck, I don't get any income. Not that it would be wrong to do. But we do have, you know, our deacon is on staff, and the only way we're paying him, listen, I'm not paying, you know, Brother Dave works for me, but I'm not paying him out of my own income, right, as far as his paycheck is concerned. That comes from the tithes from our church. The bills that are paid at this church come from the tithes from this church, and all the other stuff that we do, and obviously, you know, missions trips, and the stuff we have to go out soul winning, all that stuff comes from the tithes from this church, okay? And so I believe it's very much New Testament. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 9, let me show you another place here. 1 Corinthians chapter 9, look at verse 1 there. So the first thing I want to prove is that I believe it is a New Testament doctrine. And here's the thing, you say, well, how do you know it's New Testament? Well, because you're like, well, you could use the example of circumcision, right? And, you know, circumcision was pre-Old Testament, it was in Genesis 17, it was with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and they were circumcising before you had the Old Testament, okay? And I understand where you're coming from, but here's the thing, the New Testament specifically says that circumcision is done away with, okay? And then when it comes to the Old Testament, when it comes to Old Testament things, there's cardinal ordinances imposed on them until the time of Reformation, all of that. I understand that. But to me, when you see Melchizedek brought up here, and that Abraham tithed to Melchizedek, and that Jesus is after the order of Melchizedek, it'd be hard-pressed for me to say, okay, we don't tithe though, right? And we're talking about Abraham tithing to Melchizedek before the Old Testament, and even the Levites technically tithed to Melchizedek, and then we have a high priest after the order of Melchizedek, Melchizedek, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, flesh and blood for us, that we wouldn't tithe to Him, that doesn't make sense. What makes sense is that actually in the New Testament we give to the Lord Jesus, okay? And we tithe to Him. Now, in 1 Corinthians 9, let me give you an example of what the tithe would go to, or why, okay? And how it compares the temple, or the house of God in the Old Testament, to what we're dealing with now with the church, okay? So, in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 1, it says, Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? 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. Mine answer to them that do examine me is this, 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? Or, I only in Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working? So, I want you to think about this. When he says, have we not power to eat and to drink, he's not saying like, you know, tell me, am I able to eat and drink like physically? That's not what he's saying. He's saying, eat and drink, meaning of the stuff of the church, right? Basically, he's speaking to the church at Corinth. And then, it's very clear, because he's basically, it's a rhetorical question. All these are rhetorical questions. They have power to do this. They have the power, as an apostle, they're first in the church, right? And so, they have power to forbear working, meaning this is forbear, like, you know, secular working. Though, Paul, a lot of times in the Bible, it would say that, you know, I wouldn't take anything of you, though I could, right? And he worked with his own hands, and he's making a point, because he wanted to be an example unto them. But at the same time, they had the power to forbear working, like physically outside of the church, to provide for themselves. They could very well, lawfully and, you know, rightfully so, basically get paid from the church, okay? Notice, keep reading there, it says, Who goeth to warfare any time 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? I mean, think about what terminology is used here, as far as planting a vineyard. How about feeding the flock? Feed the flock of God which is among you. And God hath made you overseers, right? The idea there, as far as pastors, leaders in the church, that if you feed the flock, then you should be able to eat of the milk of the flock, right? And keep reading there, it says, Say I these things as a man, or saith not the law the same also. For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn, that God take care for oxen, or saith he it altogether for our sakes. For our sakes no doubt this is written. So, you know, all the animal lovers out there is like, did he say this for the oxen? You know what the Bible says? Altogether not. Basically, not even a little bit. Not even like, hey, I wanted to be a good principal for how you deal with your oxen, you know? The whole reason. The whole reason that it was written was not for their sake at all, it was for your sake, okay? So, all those animal lovers out there that are just like, oh, you know, God, I want you to take care of your beast. Yeah, because he doesn't want you to be a sadist, but, I mean, at the same time, like, he doesn't, we kill the animals all the time. And it's not, he says, you know, rise, slay and eat. Now, sorry, got off on the side there, you know, this pita, you know, animal loving type of world that we live in, like God just holds the animals above humans or something like that. No, actually it's quite the opposite. Now, it says, or saith he it altogether for our sakes. For our sakes no doubt this is written, that he that ploweth shall plow in hope, and he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your carnal things? 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, notice this, and here's why I believe hiding, because if those that are eating of the, partaking of the altar and the services of the temple, how did they do it? By tithes. And I'm going to prove that to you, but even so hath the Lord ordained, the day which preached the gospel should live of the gospel. And that goes into, I mean you say, well that's just preaching the gospel, but what about being a pastor? Well it said up there earlier that if you feed the flock, you should be able to eat of the milk of the flock. So it's saying it's lawful, and obviously Paul didn't do it, because you know I don't want to be, and a lot of times he's like I don't want to be chargeable unto you, I don't want to hinder the gospel, or maybe I want to be an example, right? Because you can look at it this way, it's obviously lawful for me to get paid as a pastor, according to the Bible. But I could also look at it this way, that hey I'm working an outside job, you don't have any excuse not to be here then. You don't have any excuse to say I can't serve the Lord because of my job. Because guess what, I'm doing it. So, and I'm not doing that spitefully, I'm just saying like, that's why I keep my job. I want to be above. The idea here is that the reason though, is because you want to be an example, right? And it's not something you have to, I don't have to, but at the same time Paul didn't either. But there was reasons why he did it. And sometimes not taking a paycheck, sometimes in his case, made it look like he wasn't like in authority or something like that. He had to put them in their place and be like, I am in authority, right? I am an apostle. Even though I don't take from you like I could, it's like they were looking at it like, well he doesn't take a paycheck, therefore he must not be a really good apostle. He must not have that much authority or something like that. But go to 1 Timothy chapter 3, and just to show you that in the New Testament, the house of God is the church of God, okay? So let me just show you how it equates that. Which it does here in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 as well. You're going to 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 14. So the idea there is that if, if those that partake of the temple and in the Old Testament, they can live of those things in the temple and of the altar, well how did they get it? What was the funding for that? Like how did they get all the things to partake of through tithing, okay? But then even so, those in the church, you think about those that are ordained, you think about pastors, deacons, evangelists, in this case apostles, obviously we know that now there's, you know, that Paul was the last to be called an apostle, right? You know, he was the last one, so obviously we don't have, we still have the apostles because we have the word of God, you know, we have the New Testament. But at the same time, this applies still today. And 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 14, these things write unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly, but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. So the house of God, which in the Old Testament, you look at the house of God as being the temple, where they would do the sacrifices, and you'd come and bring offerings and all that. Well, in the New Testament, the local church is the house of God. It's very difficult to call it that. And when it says bring thy tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, we're talking about the church in the New Testament, okay? There is a difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament, but the idea here is that tithing, I believe, it comes over with it. Nowhere do we see that tithing is just done away with. You don't see in Hebrew chapter 7 and be like, well, now that we have Jesus as the owner of Melchizedek, tithing is done away with. Actually, to me, it just solidifies that how much more should we be tithing to the Lord Jesus, right? You tithe Melchizedek, which Melchizedek was, you know, obviously Jesus in the Old Testament, but it was before he took on flesh and blood, before he became the seed of Abraham, right? Because he didn't have father or mother, right? Not at the beginning of days nor end of life. So physically speaking, he just popped up on the scene. And that's where you see the Lord sometimes will pop up, you know, just be there as a man, right? The three men that met Abraham, one of them was the Lord. And two of them were angels, we'll find out later. But, you know, Jesus would show up as a man in the Old Testament, or before the Old Testament in that case, in Genesis chapter 14. But in the New Testament, you know, now we don't just have God as the high priest, because you kind of, if you think about Melchizedek, Melchizedek was God being the high priest, Jesus, the son of God. Son of God is the high priest, right? But he had not taken on flesh and blood yet. The Levitical priesthood is flesh and blood. What we have now is those together. Because Jesus, who's God manifest in the flesh, is now the high priest. And the son of man is seated at the right hand of God right now, making intercession for us. That he's the son of God, the son of man, all at the same time. And how much more should we be giving our tithes and offerings to him in the New Testament? Now go to Leviticus chapter 27. Leviticus chapter 27, because here's a question, right? Most everybody in our church would say, yeah, tithing is biblical, and you didn't really need that first portion there to really convince you. But at the same time, I think it's good to go through that and understand, okay, here's what the Bible teaches on this. This is why we believe it's New Testament doctrine. But what do we tithe on? Okay, here's a big question. Legitimate questions, right, that you may have. Because, for example, I'd say most people would say you tithe on your income as far as your paycheck. But then, well, do you tithe on gifts? Do you tithe on bonuses? Do you tithe on, let's say you have an asset, you have something that you own and then you sell, do you tithe on that if it increases in value? What do you tithe on, right? Is it just all increase in general? I increased in this one spot over here because this was given to me. What about inheritances? Now, I'm going to give you my thoughts on this, and you may disagree with me on it. But when it comes to tithing and you're like, well, what do I tithe on? I do believe this comes into Roman chapter 14 that I'm going to give you the verses on it. But if you're doubting and you say, well, I see where you're coming from, but I think I need to tithe on this over here. Well, if you believe that you need to, then you better do it. Because he that doubteth is damned if he eat, right? For example, if you think that it's wrong to eat bacon right now, you're like, well, the Old Testament says that I shouldn't eat swine, but I think in the New Testament, it's still upholded as something I shouldn't do. You're wrong, okay? You're wrong because the story with Peter and the common unclean beast that came down, and he says, slay and eat, okay? So in the New Testament, you know, I can eat bacon. But let's say you're not convinced on that, right? And you say, well, I think that I still can't eat bacon. Well, then you shouldn't eat bacon. Because if you're doubting about it and you're not in faith knowing that you can eat it now, then you would be in sin. Because if it's not a faith, then it's in sin. So same thing would apply here with tithing, okay? If you're not convinced of what I show you or you say, well, no, I think in this area, you need to tithe. Or in this area, you need to tithe on that, then you need to tithe on that. Because you're going to, you need to be fully persuaded in your own mind that that's what the Bible teaches, okay? And I'll say this, if you're going to tell me that, hey, no, you're wrong, and you need to tithe on that too, when I'm saying I don't believe you need to, you better have a chapter and verse showing that to me, okay? Now, when it comes to this, I'm not against anybody if someone disagrees with me. But again, I'm going to show you what the verse is saying. And we can't just say, well, I think it implies this or whatever. Because I'll show you that actually we really do have to kind of dig a little bit for it to even apply to most of us in here, okay? Look at Leviticus chapter 27. I say most, it would apply to my brother, it would apply to Matt for sure, and all this brother Matt, and others in this church as well. It would apply to me in some cases too. As far as if you just took exactly what it said here and didn't think about any other forward of that, okay? Notice what it says here in Leviticus chapter 27 verse 30. Leviticus 27 verse 30. And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's. It is holy unto the Lord. And if a man will at all redeem aught of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it. If he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy, it shall not be redeemed. These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in Mount Sinai. I'm going to show you other verses, but it's going to say something very similar to that. It may expound on it a little bit. But who here is, you know, basically has crops or herds that they are attending to? Now some do, okay? Some have chickens, some are working on getting, you know, like cows and different things and stuff like that. But listen, I'm there with you. I'm getting chickens this spring, especially with these egg prices apparently. But I was already planning on doing that. So when it comes to this, what are they tithing on? Basically they're crops and they're herds. And now you may say, well, I guess if I don't have a crop or I don't have a herd, I shouldn't be tithing. Well, let's see what it says, you know, in other places as well. But I want to be very clear on this. Let's look at what it says and what it, but let's not focus on what it doesn't say, okay? And also, I want to point out something in this verse, in verse 31 there. It says, and if a man will at all redeem all of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. Who here has heard that if you, that this is referring to back tithing? Or even know what back tithing is, okay? Back tithing is like, I didn't tithe for this five years and then I started tithing. Now I need to tithe on those five years that I didn't tithe, but I got to add a fifth part to that. That's 20%, right? I need to add 20% to that when I give it. That's not at all what this is saying. You know what this is saying? You have a crop, okay, let's say you grow apples, right? You grow apples and you're like, I want to keep it all. Well, whatever you're tithing on, if you're going to give it, let's say in money, let's say whatever it's worth, then you have to add a fifth part so that you can keep that crop, that portion that you want to keep. Does that make sense? Like basically, it's kind of like, you know, this is all great, I don't want to give this, but I still need to tithe, right? Then you need to add a fifth part of that to, or this could be saying, because it's the first fruits, you're like, I want to keep these first fruits, then when you do tithe and you give 10% of it, then you add to add another, you know, basically fifth part to that 10%, right? So whatever 10% is, let's say $100, right? $100, you know, is the whole amount that you made on apples or something like that. You're not doing well, but basically a tenth of that would be $10, right? So you give $10, but you have to add on a fifth part of that, okay? And so you add on, what is that, what is that, to, anyway, it's like a little over $2 or something like that, right? Yeah, fifth part, no, it would be $2, right? That's right, yeah, 20%, yeah, so it'd be $12. Anyway, I didn't do this, I didn't write it down, okay? Just doing some numbers here. So you'd have to get $12 instead of $10. Does that make sense? It's not this whole idea of like, okay, I haven't tithed for 30 years. Here's all my inheritance so I can pay back the back tithing, right? It doesn't say back tithing. It's basically saying if you want to redeem it, you want to redeem that. Now, when it comes to a herd though, it says, let's say you have a good and a bad and you exchange it, right? Let's say you have this good one and that's the one you're supposed to be giving. But then you exchange it for the bad, you know what it says? You have to give them both now. So there's no redeeming of that, right? You have to give whatever is the first fruit of it and that's the tithe of it. And if you try to switch it, then you got to get both of them, right, the good and the bad. So that's what it's stating there. Now, go to Deuteronomy chapter 14. Now, when it's talking about tithing in Leviticus 27, you're giving a tenth part. It's of that increase, okay? And what I'm going to get to here is that increase that I believe we're going to see here is the increase of the works of our hands, of our labor, okay? So when we're talking about tithing, we're talking about increasing by the works of our hands. That's what I believe the tithe is for. That's how it would apply to all of us, okay, because all of us work, right? Should be. Anyway, at least the men should be working, making money, and that is what we're tithing on, is the works of our hands. Now, notice what it says here in Deuteronomy 14, verse 22. That thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always, and if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it, or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, then shalt thou turn it into money and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose. The reason it keeps saying the place that the Lord thy God will choose is because in Deuteronomy they don't know it's Jerusalem yet, okay? So that's why I keep saying that, but we know now, obviously, it ended up being Jerusalem. So basically, if you live far away from Jerusalem, and you're basically, I don't want to like take my whole, this whole flock with me, right? I don't want to take all this stuff with me, then basically you turn it into money, right? That could be you selling it, that could just be you saying, okay, instead of taking this herd, I got money, and I'm going to use that amount of money that that's worth, and I'm going to take that with me, and then it goes on to say, basically, you're going to buy, notice what it says in verse 26, and thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. Now, this isn't talking about like for you to just use yourself, okay? Because this is supposed to go to the Levites, this is supposed to go to the temple of God. What I believe this is stating, because when we're going to go on here, it has to do with stuff that's being offered, is that let's say you have a flock, let's say of sheep or something like that, and you turn it into money, you go there, you could buy an ox or something like that, right? You don't necessarily have to give what your flock is, you don't have to give, you could give like an oil and wine or whatever, right? As far as that goes, basically, whatever you want to use that money to give to the Lord, as far as tithing goes, then it's whatever you want, okay? Does that make sense? Like, because you're not bound to just give whatever your flock is, or whatever your occupation is, as far as the money is concerned. When you turn it into money, you can go there, and it says you can bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth, or for oxen, or sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desire. And thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt eat in thy household. Now, when it's talking about, you know, strong drink and stuff like that, what you have to understand is that there's a strong wine offering, there's a strong drink offering, okay? So, when it says thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, well it said that before, before you even turned it into money and brought it there, okay? So, it states that, you know, you're going to go to this place with your tithe, and you're going to eat there in that place. That's before you even turn it into money. Then it goes on to say, okay, you're going to turn it into money because you don't want, the journey's just too long to take all these animals with you. You get there, and you basically buy whatever, with that money that's a tithe, you buy whatever you want for that tithe that you're going to be giving to the Lord, okay? So, keep reading there. It says, it says in verse 27, And the Levite that is within thy gates thou shalt not forsake, for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee. At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates. Now, it looks like when they do this, it'd be every three years. But you'd obviously be giving a tithe of whatever you got within those three years, okay? So, that gets to another point when it comes to tithing is that, nowhere in the Bible does it say you have to give your tithe every week, okay? Meaning this is that you can give it once a year if you wanted to. Does that make sense? You could wait three years and give it. But in the end, I think it makes more sense. It's easier to give it every week, in my opinion, because it's a lower amount of money than you're just like adding this up, and then you end up having to spend it somewhere, and then you don't have it later on to give, or something like that. I think it's wiser, it's a lot easier just to give it every week, or maybe every two weeks, whenever you get paid, whatever. But in the end, there's no set time that says you have to bring it every week, or you have to bring it every such and such time, okay? Ultimately, if you waited until the end of your life, and you gave all your tithe, technically you've given your tithe, you know? But I believe it should be a little more frequent than that. You know, as far as if you're going to prove God with your tithe, and your offerings, and that God's going to bless you, I would put a cap on three years, just because that seems long enough, you know, as far as, at least for the Bible here, in the Old Testament. In the Levite, because, in verse 29, In the Levite, because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee, and the stranger, and the father, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat, and be satisfied, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all, notice this, in all the work of thine hand, which thou doest. So here's why I'm equating the fact that when we're talking about tithing, it's not just those that have crops, or those that have a herd, it's the increase of the work of thine hand, okay? I think this really helps, at least it helps me, this is why I believe it has to do with your income, based on what you labor in, or what you're doing as far as work, okay? But, notice that it says, not only the Levite, but the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. So what's the job of the church, but to, one thing, to provide for, one, you think about like the Levite, which would be equated to like the priests, and like the leaders as far as those that teach doctrine, it could be the pastor, it could be the deacon, it could be those that are leaders in the church, but also the widows and the fatherless, we have a whole chapter in 1 Timothy chapter 5, about relieving those that are widows in deed, and that the church will ultimately relieve those widows, and that pure religion is undefiled before God and the father is this, to visit the fathers and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world, that pure religion, I mean, think about what the, you know, the function of like people that are taking care of people in the church, even in Acts chapter 6, what was it? The widows that are mentioned in the daily ministration, okay? So you can see how this crosses over to the New Testament, and the fact that the church, and you know, dealing with how that would play out. Go to 2 Chronicles chapter 31, 2 Chronicles chapter 31. Now for sake of time, I'm not going to every single place in the Old Testament, though there's not that many other places, okay? Like there's Numbers 18, I think talks about it, but it doesn't really give you a lot more information, it's just kind of, you're tithing off all the increase of your field and all that. It's kind of stating the same thing. I'm trying to show you places that maybe say, give you a little more information. But you can look at all the places, and you know, if there's a place that I'm missing that would suggest something else here, let me know. And 2 Chronicles chapter 31 verse 4, it says, Moreover, he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests in the Levites that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord. So obviously it's giving to the priests and the Levites, because that's who's, you know, doesn't have an inheritance, and they get the tithes. Verse 5 there, And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the first fruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field, and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. So, you know, this is during the Old Testament, this is obviously 2 Chronicles, we're now dealing with the fact that it's in Jerusalem, you know, it's, you know, it's basically that we know the place now, okay, and they're doing what they should be doing according to the law, okay. And, but go to Genesis chapter 3. So when it comes to this idea of what do we tithe on, or how does this apply to me personally, because I don't have a field of, you know, I don't have a vineyard, I don't have a corn, or I'm not, I don't have a flock, I don't have a herd. Well, ultimately, men, what is our job? What is our job, what is our role? And notice what it says in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 17. It says, And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake, and sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life, thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field, and the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for out of it wast thou taken, for thus thou art, and unto the dust thou shalt curse, shalt thou return. So what is the job, you know, the role of the man? You know, and it's kind of a curse, right, if you think about it, right? The idea here is that we are to work by the sweat of our face to get food, right, essentially. Now in this case, you know, it wasn't until, you know, after the, basically they were eating, you know, of the herb of the field and all this stuff, and, but at the same time, I'm not saying they didn't kill animals, but after the flood you definitely see where they're eating meat, and you have the flocks that they're eating of and all that stuff. But go to Deuteronomy chapter 16, Deuteronomy chapter 16, and the point I'm trying to make here is that when it says of the fruit of thy field, as men in general, what is our job? To work by the sweat of our face. We're supposed to be working with our hands, okay, meaning this is that, what is the tithe based off of? The increase of the work of our hands, okay? Whether that's in a field, whether that's out in a herd, as a shepherd, or whether that's, you know, working on electrical work, working as a carpenter, working as a plumber, working as an engineer, working as, you know, a doctor, working as whatever, right? Whatever you do, you know, what you're working, the increase in whatever you're increasing needs to be tithed on, okay? And that's where I believe the tithe comes in, okay? Notice what it says in Deuteronomy 16 verse 15. Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord shall choose, because of the Lord thy God. Bless thee, notice this, and I want you to look at how he equates this here. Bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice. So when we're talking about the increase, we're talking about the increase based off the works of our hands, and all the works of our hands, you know, our memory verse, you don't have to turn there, but in Proverbs 3, 9, it says, Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase, so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. And that kind of goes back to Malachi chapter 3, as far as the tithing goes. But when you're dealing with this, think about in the New Testament, or basically it's still Old Testament technically, went before Jesus died on the cross. Go to Luke chapter 11, Luke chapter 11. The Pharisees were very, you know, to the point of making commandments of men, they were going so far with their commandments. But notice what they tithed on, and see if that jives with what the Old Testament says, okay? In Luke 11 verse 42, it says, But one went to you Pharisees, for you tithe mint and root and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God. These ought to you to have done, and not to leave the other undone. So he's not saying that you shouldn't tithe on that, but what did they tithe on? Mint, they're tithing on like basically spices that come from the ground. And that, you can see like in the Bible, in the Old Testament, it was like corn and wine, and you know, like kind of, you know, you think about big crops of things that you're eating, and they were tithing on the little stuff that came out of the ground, you know, like the mint and the anise, and you know, like all that, right? And he's saying, you know, you should do that, but he's basically saying, you're dealing with this minutia of tithing, but you're leaving off love and judgment, you know, like you're leaving off the weightier matters of the law, okay? And he's like, do that, but at the same time, don't leave off the stuff that's more important, okay? And, but when it comes to, even when it comes to the Pharisees, they're tithing on things that come out of the ground that are the fruit of the earth, that are the increase of the work of thine hands, right? And that they're tithing on that. Now, there is, go to Luke chapter 18, Luke chapter 18. Now, you may say, well, what about, you know, our assets or whatever, you know, like things that you have, okay? Now, one thing, the thing that you have, if you're tithing, then the money you paid for with was tithing, okay? So, all the assets that I have is based off, purchased with tithed money, okay? Now, here's an example of someone that says that he gave tithes of all that he possesses, okay? But you know who this person was? Okay, look, Luke 18 and verse 11, this is a person that didn't go home justified, okay? So, if you remember, there's this story of the two men, the publican and the Pharisee, and that's what it says here in verse 11, it says, The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men or are extortioners, unjust, adulterers, and even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And you say, well, see, there it says, give tithes of all that you possess, okay? Well, one, this guy's not exactly a good person to be looking to as far as judgment, but let me ask, as far as like how we should look at this, does it say in the Bible you need to fast twice a week? Isn't that kind of going above and beyond? Now, I'm not saying you can't fast twice a week, but nowhere does it even say that you have to fast once a week, once a month, or once a year. It just says when you fast, this is the way you should do it, okay? So, he's already kind of going above, you know, and kind of going, you know, I don't want to say overboard, but he's kind of going this extreme. So, if you're going to go to this passage, and the reason I bring this up is because I don't want you to be like, well, see, this passage over here says he tithes of all that he possessed, because I'm going to get into some examples here. What about inheritances, you know? What about assets? And let me give you an example, okay? What about you buy a house. You buy a house, let's say you bought it like 10 years ago. And the market today is insane. So, you sell your house, and your house is sold for like way more than what you bought it for. Now, generally speaking, when you buy a house, it does increase in value. Now, cars, that's only a recent thing, where cars have gone up in value. You know, usually they're always depreciating. But, when it comes to, if you sell your house, and you have an increase on your house, do you have to tithe on that? Now, you can disagree if you want, but I don't believe you have to tithe on that. Well, it increased. Well, think about this, if you bought another house, after you sold that house, that house that you bought is now, is probably more expensive by the same metric that you sold your house for. It's a wash in the end. But, in the end, let's say, okay, well I have this car, it depreciates in value, do you get back your money when you sell it? Does it work the other way? And, the point I'm getting across here, is it doesn't say anything about tithing on just things that you have, and then you sell them. It says you're increased by the work of your hands. If I sell my truck, for example, that's not the same. It's not the same as me getting my paycheck for what I work this week, or what I work next week. It's not the increase of the works of my hands when I sell that. Now, if you want to tithe on the increase of whatever amount it increased in value, great. Listen, I'm your pastor, and one day maybe I want to be full time, and maybe I'll change my tune on this, and be like, hey, you know what, tithe in all that you possess. I don't care what it is. You pay that back tithe. I'll change my whole tune on that too. You didn't tithe back 10 years ago, you need 20% added onto that. And, write that check out the cash. No, but all joking aside, I don't see anything in the Bible about, for example, assets. Now, go to Matthew 7, because what about inheritances? Let's say you got an inheritance. Well, I want you to think about this. Let's say, and this kind of goes into, I'm going to link these with gifts. Because, is an inheritance owed to you? Did you earn that inheritance? No, I mean like, if my parents want to give me an inheritance, that's up to them, and that's out of the goodness of their heart. That's a gift, ultimately, okay. You're laying up for your children, that is not something that is owed to them. We're not a bunch of trust fund babies, okay, where we have like, money that's owed to us by our parents. This is not the case. My parents don't owe me anything. If anything, I owe them to honor them, right. And, you know, to love them and honor them, because they brought me into this world. They paid all my bills for, you know, a long time. And so, the idea of that being owed to me, based off the works of my hands, that's what you'd have to say. And the same thing would go with the gift. Now, look what it says, Matthew 7, verse 9. Because I want to first show you that us giving gifts unto people is equated with God giving gifts unto people, okay. So, I want to equate that first, that there's no difference there. Like, if I give a gift to my children and God gives a gift to my children, God's gift's better, one. But it does equate it, as far as like, it's the same principle, okay. Same principle, although, obviously, you know, God is better than us. Verse 9 here, it says, Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, and will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him? Now, I know we were just in James chapter 1, but go to James chapter 1 and verse 17. James chapter 1 and verse 17. And the idea here is that, the reason I want to equate that is because the same principle applies, right. If the principle applies physically, humanly speaking, it applies spiritually. I mean, I think every time I give the gospel, I give a gift, physically giving a gift, and God giving a gift, as far as being equated in logic and understanding what that means, right. And James chapter 1 and verse 17, it says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Now, there's other gifts that God gives us, but let's think about the best gift, right, the gift of God, which is eternal life. Think about that, okay, when I give an example of God giving us a gift of eternal life, I'm stating, you know, okay, is there any strings attached to this? Do you owe me anything for this? A gift, by definition, is not something that you work for. Ephesians 2 8 9 will bolster this thing, and I know you're like, we know that verse. Well, think about it. For by grace are you saved, through faith, in that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. By definition, what are you tithing on? What are we supposed to tithe on? Our increase by the works of our hands. By the works of our hands, okay. Tithing, by definition, is an increase based off things that we do to get that increase, okay. And if it's by the works of our hands, it can't be grace and it can't be a gift. So I don't believe that you need to tithe on a gift or an inheritance. Think about this, though. How do you tithe on Christmas gifts? Okay, birthday gifts. And that doesn't, you say, well, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't, okay. I understand that. But think about it. Let me ask you this. Do you think God wants you to basically have to go find out what someone spent on you when it comes to gifts? What if it's something that you can't look up on Amazon, right? Think about it. They didn't have Amazon back then, by the way. But even today's standards, there's certain things that you have no idea what that value is. How do you tithe on it? Do you ask them? Okay, let's say someone gives you a car. Doesn't happen very often, but let's say someone just gifts you a car or a truck or something like that. Let's say that truck is worth $50,000, okay. Do you have $5,000 just to shell up the tithe? Like, well, when you sell it. Okay, well, you sell it after it has 200,000 miles on it and you sell it for two grand, you can tithe on that. And depending on when you sell it may depend on how much tithe you give of that. But does that match the gift that was given? Or do you still got to pay $5,000 even though you sell it for two and now you got to shell up 3,000 out of that. Does that make sense? It doesn't make sense biblically and it doesn't make sense in the fact that a gift, there's nothing in return. God will not have us pay back 10% of our salvation. But also just any gift in general, right? There's no strings attached. We don't owe that because one, that gift was not something I earned with the works in my hands, okay. It's something that was freely given, it's by grace, you know. And obviously someone just gave me a car, I didn't earn that, right. Now let me say this, bonuses at your work, that's different. I mean they literally show up on your income as your salary or as your pay, right. So bonuses, yes, I tithe on bonuses. I tithe on my, you know, my increase as far as my salary, okay. So I hope that makes sense. Let me think of another one here. In 401Ks, right, IRAs, investments. Here's my stance on this, okay. I do believe we should tithe on that. But here, how do you tithe on it, okay. Now for years, I've been tithing on the money that I put into it, but I need to tithe on it when it comes out. Now here's where you have to make choices here, okay. Are you going to calculate, let's say you work for 35 years and you pull out your 401K, you pull out whatever you did, right. You have to calculate throughout those years how much of that money was tithed on and how much you tithed on after that. Me personally, I'm going to make this a lot simpler on myself. You know, after we kind of talked about this, I was like, you know what, I'm going to make it simpler on myself. I'm just going to tithe on all of it when it comes out. But that means you don't have to tithe on it when it goes in, makes sense. You don't have to double tithe on things. So you can make a choice, do you tithe on your gross income. I'll say that, that's safe for sure, right. You tithe on your gross income. And that's what I did for years, but then I'm thinking about like, well now I'm like double tithing and do I really have to do that. And listen, if you do that, it's great. I'm not saying anything against it. I'm just saying that I'm telling you what the Bible teaches, it's based off your increase, it's based off what you make with the works of your hands. It's not a gift, it's not inheritance. I don't believe it's your assets if they increase in value, that's something that you have to tithe on. If you want to give an offering based off an increase, great. But I don't believe that it's something that is robbing God if you don't do that. And you say, well I think it is. Again, you can believe that, but you're going to have to show me a chapter and verse on that. Everywhere tithing is mentioned, it's talking about your increase based off the works of your hands. You say, well you know, but the house, now I'll say this, let's say your business is flipping houses. Then yes, that's a different story, because that's your product, that's what you're increasing. So in that case, where you're flipping houses and you're making profit and you're making money off doing that, then yes, that's your income. But listen, most people aren't necessarily doing that, and if your assets increase or decrease, I don't believe that's based, that's something you've already purchased with tithed money, it's yours, and whether it increases or not, maybe God will bless you with more money just because you tithe and it increases in value over time. But I'm just basing off what the Bible says on this subject, that's where I stand. I tithe on my income. And I'll tithe on obviously income that's based off of the works of my hands. So like my 401k, I have a 401k which isn't doing great because we're in Biden's America. But you know what, I have one. You don't have to have one, and this isn't a sermon to say you need to have a retirement plan, I'm just giving you an example. I happen to have one, I don't plan on using it, I plan on just using it maybe for my kids or something like that. I don't know, laying up for your children. But when it comes to my 401k, my works of my hands went into that, and that money went into that, and therefore I believe the increase that happens based off of that investment is an increase based on the work of your hands. That's me personally, and you may disagree, you may say well no, I think it's just you tithe on whatever you put into it, and if it increases, then you don't have to tithe on that. And I wouldn't necessarily be against you, but me personally, when it comes to investments, when it comes to things, your money is being worked in with there, and work is being done to create that on your end, and on whoever is dealing with it and all that stuff. And just to be honest, I am someone that's in stocks. So you may come up to me like you don't know what you're talking about when it comes to stocks, maybe I don't. But I'll say this, I'm not sure, I'm not someone that would know enough about that to discount that as being tithed on. I know that my income goes into that, it's also matched by my company, so I'm not tithing on that. So to me, it's like I got to tithe on it, somewhere in there. Whether it's the amount going in or not, but I don't have the money that's matched in it. So here's the thing, when it comes to tithing, keep it simple. My advice, keep it simple. Don't make it so hard on yourself where you have to do these crazy algorithms to figure out what you're tithing on. And I don't believe God, his commandments are not grievous, his commandments are not complicated, it doesn't mean it's easy to do sometimes. But I don't believe it's like this complicated thing where you have to be some mathematician or genius to figure out how to even keep it. So that's why I think a lot of these things just on the face, how would you even do it? How would you even accomplish it? Like a gift or something like that in a lot of cases. Because most of the time when people give you gifts, they're not just handing you a check for $10,000, right? They're handing you a good or something like that, do you just sell it as soon as you get it? You'd be like, alright, I gotta get my tithing money out of this. And then nothing you get, you know. Or you're calculating from like, oh well, I got all these shirts from Walmart, I gotta figure out how much all these cost, and you're like counting up, okay, that's $2 there, that's $1.50 there, and you're like, you gotta be a CPA in order to do your tithing. I think the principle of it doesn't work, but also just, it would be grievous to try to figure that out. So hopefully that makes sense, if you have any questions, you can ask me about it. And if you're saying, I'm not persuaded, I need to tithe on gifts, I need to tithe on inheritance, I need to tithe on everything. I need to tithe on all that I possess. If you believe that, then you do it. Because I don't want you to be doubting in what you do, but you're gonna have to show me scripture to prove it to me. Okay, so yes we need to tithe, but it's tithing on our increase of the works of our hands. That's what we're dealing with. So that's the end of the word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for today, thank you for your word, and thank you for our church, and just thank you for the faithfulness and the obedience that our church does have when it comes to tithing. And Lord, we have more than we need at our church, and just thank you for blessing our church. And I pray that you do bless us as we do give our tithes and as you promised. Lord, you've blessed so many times throughout the years. I just pray that you continue to do it. And Lord, I just pray that you'd help us to be obedient and to love you. Lord, we love you. We pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. But I'd like you to come and sing one more song, and then we'll be dismissed. All right, take your song books and turn to song number 29. Song number 29 in your song books will sing at the cross. And if you would stand, we'll sing song number 29. At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light And the burden of my heart rolled away It was there by faith I received my sight And now I am happy all the day Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree Amazing, petty, grace unknown And love beyond degree At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light And the burden of my heart rolled away It was there by faith I received my sight