451. You got it? Okay let's just go ahead and get started because I don't know
this one as well. 451. 451 everyone. All right we're in our handles it's song number
451 in times like these song 451. Don't get some bulletins here and pass them out
please and today's July 13th if you don't have a bulletin hey here in the
front seat you don't have a bulletin my son will pass them out right there on the
front. Today's July 13th and right there on the left hand side we have our Sunday
morning services hey over here too. Sunday morning services are 10 30 a.m.
Sunday evening 4 30 p.m. Wednesday service is 5 30 p.m. and our sole winning
times are 2 p.m. on Sunday. The memory chapter I think that we sent out a text
for Psalm 23 5 we'll check that but basically we're at the end of Psalms so
if an adult or a child can quote the verse to someone who's a non-family
member though I mean not the verse the whole chapter so let's back that you
can quote if a child can quote the verse to non-family member by memory and
get it right 100% they'll get a treat and we'll have we have some and we can
also get something else and if we don't have what they need we'll get it but if
they quote the whole chapter whether it's an adult or a child that we get a
special gift so I would encourage you to do that and then year-to-date Solace 1
152 July happenings so we've got Gentry coming up on the 16th and so we follow
Gentry's life since he was a little wee baby and we've got Aubrey and Lucy and
Victor and Kevin all in the same week and we have the anniversaries and then
upcoming events next Saturday we have a soul winning marathon we're just gonna
do one locally so we'll meet here at the church and if you want any more details
on that but basically we'll be going from 9 a.m. to about 4 p.m. with breakfast
and lunch in between and then on July 26 we have a church workday we do have
supplies and if we need to if you guys are thinking of something specific
you're gonna work on let me know we can get those supplies we went to Ace
Hardware to get something else and they actually have a really good mop much
better than the ones that you get like at Kroger and stuff so I was thinking of
renting that it's that it's like a anyways a steam mop and then we have our
events with our church friends with steadfast Baptist Church we have the
men's retreat coming up August 14th through the 16th and I believe I'll be
preaching in one of those days up there and then fire breathing Baptist
fellowship August 27th through 31st I'll be preaching that Sunday morning in
Spanish and then that Sunday evening in English and then we have the Mexico
soul-winning Mexico City soul-winning missionary trip September 8th through the 12th
and we're actually posting a video about it today with a young man by the name of
Diego Orozco he's leading up the charge for steadfast and we're supporting him
on that and then on the back just keep the prayer request a couple of things I
do want to mention on the prayer request and then remind me to but a couple of
things I want to mention on the prayer requests is I've gotten people come up
to me like we forget something or maybe they said it and we missed it if you
guys will respond on those texts that'll be the easiest way or the email that's
the easiest way because then we get it we can just add it when we get to when
we update that sometimes I'll make a note here and then I'll either destroy it
by accident or a kid grabs it and so then we you know I forget who it is but
if you'll let me know who to add or remove we did add for sister Karen
Sheryl Carter and sister Ken she's let me know if I spelled those correctly she
had a stroke I mean sorry Shirley I it is Shirley I just said Cheryl because I
don't know how to read and then Carrie Quarles and she fell and had a brain
bleed so just pray for those I think that's your neighbor right so just pray
for those individuals in addition to everybody else on the prayer list and
also sister Millie Jones I think she's been dealing with severe back pain so
just pray for her as well you know we know that we just need to pray for her
and if she needs anything then we can definitely help her out if nothing else
turn your hymnals over to 189 it is well 189 189 oh you changed the oh
sorry 189 when I see the blood blood before we do that gentry if you'll stand
up we're gonna sing happy birthday to gentry how are you gonna be now gentry
11 man you look like you're 15 but that's a whole other conversation that's
great let's sing happy birthday to gentry on the first sorry I don't know
happy birthday to you song 189 song 189 when I see the blood 126 song 126 and
your wipe song binders if you don't have one in your row if you need an extra one
all these empty rows there should be a song binder there too
Psalm 126 the end of the stanzas on the second page it says then said that means
that you're supposed to go back to the to the chorus that's my bad I probably
should have mentioned that it's all right let's uh turn in our Bibles to
Malachi Malachi chapter number three Malachi chapter number three we'll read
there in the Bible while we pass the offering plate Malachi three where the
Bible reads behold I will send my messenger and he will prepare the way
before me and the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple even
the messenger of the covenant whom you delight in behold he shall come saith the
Lord of hosts but 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
and 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 swears and against those
that oppress the higher link and his wages and widows and 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 you sons of Jacob are not consumed even
from the days of your fathers you are gone away from mine and ordinances have
not kept them return unto me and I will return unto you say the Lord of hosts but
you said wherein shall we return will a man rob God yet he have robbed me but
you say wherein have we robbed thee in tithes and offerings you are cursed with
a curse for you have robbed me even this whole nation bring ye all the tithes
into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house and prove me now here
with 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 now
rebuke the devourer for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruits of your
ground neither shall your vine cast our 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 you say what have we spoken so much against thee yes said it
is vain to serve God 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 feared the Lord spake often the one to another and the
Lord hearkened 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 and that day and when I make up my jewels and I
will spare them as a man spares his own son that served with them then shall
you return and discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that
served with God and him that served with him not. Let's have a quick word of prayer.
Dear father God thank you for this day thank you for everybody here in the
congregation Lord I just pray that you be with those that need prayer right now
Lord and I pray that you be with us help us to receive the the word that
pastor is gonna preach to us Lord and I pray that you fill pastor Enrique with
your spirit helping to preach a bold and accurate sermon in Jesus name I pray
amen. Do you guys hear that little buzzing? Yeah I think that's let me know
if that doesn't get any better I think I might just need to turn off one of the
mics I think I fixed it so nope I think it's we're having experience we'll deal
with that later if you don't mind more remind me it's gonna bother me so I'm
gonna turn I try to turn on the mic I don't really need it but every once in
a while I just turn it on just in case you know it's probably just better but
we're there in Malachi chapter 3 we're there in Malachi chapter 3 and it's
interesting the more I prepared the message or thought about the message the
more I thought about the fact that you know I preach a lot of messages to the
you know I'm preaching to the choir right so you guys for the most part agree
you know if I preach against the queers or you know some of the liberal
movements and stuff like that but this sermon might actually be more offensive
to the church people than anybody else if you're if your heart's not in the
right place we're there in Malachi 3 and the title of the sermon this morning is
robbing God the sin of withholding tithes and I don't normally preach on
this just because number one it has such a bad rap right I mean basically
modern Christianity hates any bit preaching on tithing because they think
that the preacher or the church is trying to take advantage of the people
in the congregation and that they're just asking you for money well number
one let me make that very clear I am NOT asking you for money I don't know who
tithes right I mean I know like I have to go through reports but it's not
something that I even keep top of mind meaning sometimes I forget who's tithing
more who's tithing and if I honestly if I could remove myself from it and I have
started to like I just it'd probably be better for me overall in the in the long
run I honestly it's not that something that's ever been a priority in my
ministry like it's not when I took over the finances meaning pastor Cobb added
me to the bank account and I then started being more on the leadership side
of that really all I look for is that we're just not overspending money and
that we're using it in the right place and that's it whether you know the bank
accounts high or low you know I try to not even get that involved like as far
as like how I do my business just because I don't want to have any of
those fleshly feelings that you know you get when with life right like oh no how
am I gonna pay my mortgage or man I've got these bills coming up I just I do my
best to do that I mean of course I'm human so let me just tell you that you
know in my humanity sometimes I have moments of weakness but when it comes to
the church I really that's one of those things I just it's not an emphasis for
my ministry it's not an emphasis for Spring Crest I mean God's I've been here
12 13 years the Lord's always provided what we needed and it's been around for
61 years so it's not something that obviously pastor Cobb I think at some
point he's preached on it I'm pretty sure I've heard of sermon on tithing but
it's not like an emphasis in our church I think that we were talking to one of
Mary's service friends from the oil I think that there's like or she was
telling me when you were telling me right there like every May was it every
May or or every February like at the church that she grew up when the entire
month was dedicated to just a series on tithing right we're not gonna do that I
told them all that I was tempted to preach for 52 weeks the whole I'm just
kidding no and we're not doing that but the Bible does give us clear indication
that robbing that not the withholding tithes is actually thievery that it's
actually robbing God and this is that famous verse and what's interesting
about tithing though is that it's a very important but when you become a
Christian you realize that it's much deeper than just money right and that's
really one of what I want to focus on today but let's go there Malachi 3 and
then let's go look at there in verse 6 first of all first of all Malachi 3 is
that famous chapter it's towards the end of it's the last book of the Old
Testament and then there's a silence of about 400 and some odd years before we
get the book of Matthew where Jesus comes on the scene that's number one
number two this is a great prophetic chapter because this prophesies of who
John the Baptist but also we see just a lot of things that are consistent with
the New Testament so for example in verse 6 it says for I am the Lord I
change not therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed you know and the Lord's
just saying you know he's the same yesterday today and forever who is the
Lord it's got the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost right and we obviously
believe on Jesus Christ and you know it's one of the interesting things I've
done I think I did it on Micah I think I did a whole it's not online but I did a
whole preaching on Micah before we started just putting everything I think
it was the Wednesday service we stopped doing for a while because I didn't have
that much help and you know if you read through the Old Testament whether it's
the major prophets or the minor prophets they all point to Jesus at some point or
another I mean you just got ton of prophetic scripture but not only that
they knew of a coming Jesus they knew that Jesus was the only way the truth
and the life that no man cometh unto the Father but by him right and then we go
there and these are the verses we obviously going to focus on it says
there in verse 8 it says will a man rob God and what does God say yet you have
robbed me but you say wherein have we robbed thee in tithes and offerings
your curse with the curse for you have robbed me even this whole nation so it's
not just tithes but the offerings right bring you all the tithes into the
storehouse that there may be meat in my house and when I see this meat I'm not
only thinking like meat you know monetarily and physically but also what
is the word meat in the Bible also give us that spiritual what the spiritual
meat the word of God right and prove me now herewith say it 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 now I grew up Seventh-day
Adventist I'm just gonna give you a little bit of my back story as to why I
think tithing is important from a personal standpoint the Lord's never
forsaken me in my personal life he's never forsaken my family I've been
tithing for as long as I can remember even before I got saved I was tithing
now I'm not telling you this is not a prosperity sermon if you tithe you're
gonna get back tenfold I'm not gonna ask you to give me a thousand dollars
we're not gonna do an altar call and I'm gonna be like I feel like there's
somebody out there who's got ten thousand dollars just we're not leaving
here until you know you know who you you know I've seen those I don't know who's
ever seen those videos but literally you get preachers to do that no we're not
doing any of that but personally my mom showed me this verse when I was a
little kid I don't know it just kind of shook me to my core and ever since I can
remember I just take 10% of anything that I get and I just tithe and the
reason I did that is because of two things number one it said that it robbed
me but number two my mom always emphasized and proved me now herewith
she says hey if you if you you know you want to prove that God is real I mean
obviously this is me as a young kid she's like just tithe and he'll he'll
prove himself to you right but I mean this is literally in the Bible like you
you can't hold God accountable because actually who the one he holds
accountable is us right God's he said in verse 6 I am the Lord I change not so
if he says hey prove me and you do what he says you know what he's gonna do
prove you he's gonna call you out he's gonna make sure that you you have
everything that you need but when you read about tithing in the Bible it's not
just monetary God wants the first fruits of everything in your life see the
problem with most churches is they preach tithing because they want your
money I'd actually would prefer that you just show up to church three times a
week and go soul winning and then the Lord would provide the money if it
didn't come from your own pocket to be honest with you what I rank in a church
as far as the members is your commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ God wants you
to be committed to him he doesn't he doesn't care if you're committed to me
he doesn't care if you're committed to spring crest I'm nobody but Jesus Christ he's your leader and
he demands certain things of you and you definitely should take heed of that and do it because the Lord
will judge us righteously right the Bible says there go down in verse 15 it says obviously
Malachi is that like this end of the Old Testament it's kind of a tough four chapters because he's
basically calling him out on certain things I mean it's it follows the pattern of all the prophets
but right here I love that what he says he says and now we call the proud happy look anybody who's
prideful is not happy Donald Trump is not a happy man I'm just gonna I had somebody who I guess came
to this church many many years ago and I post like a comment on a Facebook post and said that they
were sad because I keep bringing up Trump or different things and then if I would just leave
politics out of it I'm not even talking politics I'm not telling you who to vote for I have actually
not voted in an election since like 2012 so I don't even tell you who to vote for I'm just telling
you that I'm also not going to hold back in the leadership of this country if they're on the path
of unrighteousness then they need to be called out for that right and when we're pride when pride
comes into the equation it's not a good thing and right here it says and now we call the proud happy
so the only conclusion I can draw is that pride means that you're unhappy it says they that work
wickedness are set up yay that are that temp god are even delivered you say what does this have to
do with the chapter well it's in the context of what god's calling them out for all these things
right and when you're prideful guess what you also are you're selfish and when you're selfish
you're stingy I mean literally there's entire uh movies and books dedicated to what uh Scrooge
right and mister I think we learned it by in Disney had a character and it was like like the
greedy miser who didn't want to share his money and then when he finally shared his money remember
the Christmas story he was like the happiest guy of all he got over everything he wanted to help
poor little Timmy is it Timmy did I get that right I hope so I don't remember the story perfectly
but I only have five points for you today um and I didn't cover everything there was to cover
what I specifically want to touch on it's just the fact that I've been wanting to just preach
this so that I have it out there and it's over because I really it's not it's not it's not the
most dominant think of our ministry our ministry is the first fruits we do the first works well
that's why we emphasize soul winning that's why we emphasize the gospel that's why we emphasize our
unselfish time to the Lord Jesus Christ right those are the first fruits that we give the
Lord Jesus Christ but there in Leviticus 27 you don't have to turn there actually I don't
know why I have Leviticus 27 it's uh Genesis oh my goodness somebody helped me find um because
I copied and pasted this verse the first where Melchizedek is it Genesis 8 let me find it for
you guys this is I've never done this but I'm gonna do it because I got the wrong thing I just
want to go there to the correct place we just this is the world we live in guys so Genesis 14
turn over to Genesis 14 so I have the right verses I just have the wrong place but I do want you to
turn there this is the first time we see tithes in the Bible and what's interesting is who is the
tithe to it's to Melchizedek the high priest now you can make the argument that Melchizedek is
either Jesus or he's a form of Jesus it doesn't really matter what it matters is that he's someone
that's really important in the scheme of God's hierarchy and we go there to Genesis 14 yeah
Genesis 14 and verse 18 the Bible says in Melchizedek the 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 so the first time we see tithing is literally
to what to God right he's the priest after the most high he's literally in you know I've heard
sermons both ways I'm not here that's not a whole other sermon some people believe this is
literally Jesus I've literally said that then I heard another sermon where some guy made them
really good points actually pastor Anderson made some really good points and then he made me think
maybe it's not Jesus and then I read again and then I'm like maybe it is Jesus so you know I'm
not it's not evidently clear but what it is is that there's it comes from God and it's a clear
hierarchical structure that leads to the Lord Jesus Christ right he's not giving it to the church
he's not giving it some rando he's giving it to God he's giving back what God already gave him
and what do we know about this story is that Abram goes to rescue basically his nephew Lot
and the family he takes 300 men with him he slaughters everybody he gets everything back
he brings back the spoils and the very first thing he does is he gives first fruits to God
right and so we see that but the first point I have for you today is exactly that the tithes
belong to God right as a steward of the Lord's money I have to be very careful and anybody who's
involved in the monetary functions of the church have to be very careful to remind ourselves that
all that money is the Lord's right this church is not my church sometimes you know as the leader
and I spend the most time here I act like stuff's mine or you might think that but in my mind I'm
like none of this you know we bought these these lights they're not mine you know these mics they're
not mine none of this you know whose it is it's the Lord's it's not even the church's technically
it's the Lord's right and he allows us to use it for the edification and for the furtherance
of the ministry go over to Leviticus 27 now I will have you turn to Leviticus 27
and the Bible here is very clear the tithing is not a suggestion right first of all it's already
the Lord's but to withhold it from God is to rob Him it's not just like you're being stingy
or you're worried about money or you're worried about it's greedy it's literally the Bible says
it's you're robbing the Lord you know if you went into a convenience store today and you stole more
than fifty dollars I think it's fifty dollars in Texas that's literally a felony in the state
you'd go to jail right now obviously the Lord's not gonna throw us in jail but He will hold us
accountable for not giving him the first fruits right and what what really tithing is is a is a
heart matter it's not a monetary matter that's what I'm saying the the money is the least of
of those things and I'll actually prove it to you from the Bible but in Leviticus 20 verse 30 the
Bible says and all the tithe of the land whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree
is the Lord's it is wholly unto the Lord and if a man will at all redeem aught of his tithes
he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof meaning hey if somebody is thinking they need
that money and they're holding it back or they redeem it back they ask for it back he says hey
when you bring it back you're not only going to bring back 10 percent a fifth is what 20 percent
he says and concerning the tithe of the herd or of the flock even whatsoever passeth under the rod
the tenth shall be wholly unto the Lord he shall not search whether it be good or bad neither shall
he change it, and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy,
it shall not be redeemed." These, the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children
of Israel in Mount Sinai, and by the way, the commandments that God gave Moses are the same
commandments that he's given us. Hasn't changed. God made it very clear in the New Testament,
he got rid of the ceremonial laws, right? He got rid of the shedding of the goats, the burnt
offerings, but you know what he didn't get rid of was the moral laws. This is a heart matter.
Now people ask me sometimes, you know, how do I tithe? Growing up it was the worst because you
would hear stuff, people would say, well you need to tithe off of your gross income, you need to tithe
off of your net income. You just need to give God 10%. God knows your heart, right? If you want to
play semantics with God, I'm not going to try to give you the answer. I've done it all kinds of
ways. At the end of the day, if I'm not sure about something, you know what I do? I just err on the
side of caution. If I'm not sure how I should tithe, I'm just going to round it up. I'm just
going to give a little bit more. That's a personal thing. So I've stopped worrying about this gross.
Thank God that sometimes the Lord blesses you and you have good business partners. My business
partner and I, we just tithe off the gross. Some people are like, I've literally had accountants
be like, "That's not the way to do it." Well, I'm not asking you how to do it. I'm just going based
on what God's showed us and that's it. Period. So that's something that you need to study out
the scriptures and figure out for yourself. I'm not here to give you some formula. I'm not here
to tell you how much money we need to make based on the average. Nothing like that. Tithing is just
that it belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's one of those things that if you want to be right with
the Lord, then you need to add that to your repertoire of things that you do for the Lord.
And by the way, it's not the only thing. That's the problem is that's why I don't want to focus
on it because there's a lot that you need to add to your life to be able to live righteously for
the Lord. Go over to Genesis 28. Genesis 28, we have this famous part of scripture where Jacob
has a dream and he basically gets a ladder or window to heaven and at the end of it he wakes
up and in Genesis 28 verse 16 the Bible says, "And Jacob awaked out of his sleep and he said,
'Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not.' And he was afraid and said, 'How dreadful
is this place.' Why was he afraid? Because of the Lord, not because of man. This is none other but
the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning and took
the stone that he had put for his pillow and set up a pillar for a pillar and poured oil on top of
it, upon the top of it. And he called the name of the place Bethel, but the name of the city was
called Luz at the at the first. Bethel just means the house of God, right? And Jacob vowed a vow,
saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me in this way, I will go and will give me bread to
eat and ramen 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 for a pillar shall be God's house. And of all that thou
shall give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee." So Jacob wakes up from a dream. He realizes
like this is a very important place. He's got the ladder to heaven. He says, "This is the house of
God." He says, "Look, if the Lord's with me, then I'm going to give him a tenth." And you know what?
What's an interesting statement is obviously what? The Lord is always with you. God literally says,
His promise is that He'll never leave thee nor forsake thee. And you say, "Why does God have us
do these things?" Well, because He's God. Let me just give you the simplest answer. And I think I
have other opinions, but I'm just going to keep this real simple for the sermon today. Even if
you have an opinion on stuff, at the end of the day, why does God do anything? Because He's God.
Period. God said that He wants 10% of all His money back. That's it. I mean, it's all His anyways.
All of it. Period. End of story. Nothing that you have in your bank account, nothing that you have
in your pocket, nothing that you have digitally here or on your Apple, it's not yours. It's the
Lord's. And so if God says, "Hey, I just want 10% back," which is actually a really small amount,
then give it. You're like, "Well, I don't know if I can live off of 90%." Then you need a Lord to
manage your money because 90% is a lot. That's a whole other conversation for another day.
You don't have to turn there. Go to Haggai 1, Haggai 1, that's towards the end of your Bible.
Proverbs 3, I'll give you some time to go there. That's not a very common place to go in
the scripture, but Haggai, I mean Proverbs 3 verse 9, the Bible says honor the Lord with thy
substance. Now notice this isn't necessarily talking about just tithe, just your substance.
And with the first fruits of all thine increase, and the positive thing about this is God saying,
hey, and the first fruits of what? Your increase, not decrease. So shall thy barns be filled with
plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. Look, God's given us all His glory,
all His money, everything. We're going to have plenty in life. You know, we're actually memorizing
Psalm 23, and I love that verse that says, "Thou prepares the table before me,
before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou noisest my head with oil, my cup runneth over."
Hey, I've got more than I need. I know it doesn't always feel that way because the problem,
I think that really the challenge with life and the reason we stress out about money is because
unsubconsciously we're always comparing and we have to turn that off, right? The minute we're at
peace with our money is because we're not comparing, but we worry about, "Well, do I have enough for
this or can I keep this going?" Look, the Lord's going to provide. It's just that He doesn't want
us to focus on that, right? That's why this is not a health and wealth prosperity gospel,
but it is prosperous to trust the Lord with your money and your first fruits because that's the
commandment He gave. Plus, you don't want to be guilty of stealing from the Lord. Pretty simple
because withholding is robbery. You know, Malachi 3.8, which is there, but you're there in Haggai
1, and I'm going to go to verse 3. It says, but in verse 8 again, it says, "Will a man rob God?"
And He says, "Yet ye have robbed me." But you say, "Where have we robbed thee? In tithes and
offerings." In tithes and offerings, we've robbed them. And by the way, this is not for you. This is,
you know, this is a stern sermon, but you go deal with God on your own. Like I'm not, you're never
going to get a call from me, "Hey, you missed a tithe. Hey, I noticed you were sending real well,
and now you're not. What happened?" That's between you and the Lord, right? The Lord says that my
duty is not to lord over you or your household. That's not my place. That'll never be my place.
What you do with your money is your decision. I'm just telling you that your decisions have
consequences, both positive and negative, and so you make that decision how you want it to affect
your life. Haggai 1, right there in verse 3, we see this contrast. We're going to be in Haggai,
and then we're going to be in the book of Acts. And in Haggai, you know, they're basically not
rebuilding the temple. They've gotten off the beaten path. And in verse 3, it says, "Then came
the word of the Lord," by who? By Haggai. The prophets say, you know, "God laid this servant
on my heart. It's not my servant, it's his servant." These are not my opinions, this is his word. As a
matter of fact, I'm going to do my best to give you very little opinion. I might give you some
suggestions on how I do it, but that's about it. But it says, "It is time for you, oh ye, to dwell
in your sealed houses, and in this house lie waste." He says, "Hey, in your luxurious homes,
now therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. You have so much and bring
in little. Ye eat but ye have not enough. Ye drink but ye are not filled with drink. Ye clothe you,
but there is none warm, and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes."
It says, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Go up to the mountain and bring wood
and build the house, and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.
You look for much, and lo, it came to little, and when you brought it home, it did blow upon it."
"Why, saith the Lord, because of mine house that is waste, and you rent every man to his own house."
It says, "Hey, you forsaken the Lord, and then you wonder why things are not going the way they need
to. You stop going to church, and you stop sending the tithes, and you stop praying, and you stop
soul-winning, and you stop doing the things you were supposed to do, but you're working so hard,
and you can't even stretch out that dollar you're making." Sound familiar? How much has inflation
gone up in the last couple years? A ton. What's the state of the church in America? It's horrible.
The people you say, "Well, churches, there's mega churches." Yeah, they have one service a week
for 30 minutes because the pastor doesn't, he's uncomfortable as soon as you get uncomfortable.
You know, the modern-day pastor sees you yawn, and he's like, "Oh, I need to turn the sermon off so
they might leave." Just preach it, right? I mean, I try to keep this timer now, but if I go over,
you know, if the Lord let it, then I just go over. And the reason I'm keeping the timer is so the
times that I do go over, you're going to show me a little bit of grace, right? But we're just
preaching the word of God. Look at Acts 2. Go over to Acts 2. We've been going through the book of
Acts. Look at the contrast when you do things for the Lord. In Acts 2, at the end of Acts,
in verse 38, it says, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are far off, even as many as
the Lord our God shall call. And with many other works did he testify and exhort saying save
yourselves from this untoward generation. He says hey let's get this thing right. Then they that
gladly received his word were baptized and they said the same day they were added unto them about
3 000 souls. This is a famous part of scripture right? One of the most famous parts and right
there at the end it says and they continue steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship.
What they do they immediately plugged into church and breaking in bread and in prayer look they said
hey oh there's a soul winning marathon next week we're gonna be there. Oh there's a church day
we're gonna be there. Oh there's a there's a trip we're gonna be there. Oh there's Sunday morning
church be there. Oh there's Sunday evening church I'm there. Oh there's Wednesday service at 5 30
because you know we've had just a weird time and it's hard for me to get time off I'm there no
matter what right and then you see there and it says and the fear came upon every soul and many
wonders and signs were done by the apostles and all that believed were together and in all things
common and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need and
they continued daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house did eat
their meat with gladness and singleness of heart praising God and having favor with all the people
and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved but they were going daily to
church they're selling their possessions they're like man I have this nice classic vintage 1967
Mustang that I love I use that one because I've always wanted a 1967 Mustang way one of those must
you know those are great right and I'm just hoarding it here I'm just gonna sell this thing
and donate it to the church now I'm not telling you to do that but I'm just saying I'm giving you
more like modern day examples these people are selling their land their real estate they just
want everybody to be blessed so they can go do what the work of the Lord go it's different it's
not so Kenneth Copeland can have a jet right I don't need a jet I drive a 2003 Sequoia with
two hundred and some thousand miles on it and then I drive a 2012 Camry with a hundred and some
thousand miles on it and you know when I'm thinking of changing them out when the Lord tells me that
those cars won't go anymore you know just it is what it is right so don't worry I'm not you know
and if you know and if I buy a new car it'll be out of my pocket as a matter of fact I feel
comfortable preaching the sermon I probably should do it now before I ever take a salad I don't take
a salary from the church now the church helps out on like if I do a mission strip or anything like
that but I don't you know I don't have like a regular pay cycle or anything like that so
actually this is probably the best time for me to preach the sermon go to Acts 4 just a few pages
over verse 31 it says they were continuing in this and in Acts 3 you see the same pattern in
Acts 4 and verse 31 it says and when they had prayed the place was shaken where they were
assembled together and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with
boldness and the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul neither said any
of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own but they all had things in common they
said hey hey none of this belongs to me that's what they're basically saying and with great power
gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all
neither was there any among them that lacked for as many as were the possessors of lands or of houses
sold them and brought the prices of the things that were sold and laid them down at the apostles
feet and the distribution was made unto every man according as he had heat as he had need notice
the apostles get the tithe and what do they do they keep it for themselves no they're like hey
who needs it who's going out soul winning let's get them some money because you know soul winning
is hard let's make sure they have money for for water and maybe for some uh you know uh oh man
what are the you know you put salt and water so that you can get the catalyst manages the enzymes
you know you want to get you want to get that going huh the electrolytes let's make sure they
have gatorade for electrolytes let's make sure that they can buy a lunch at you know wherever
they need to go you know i i try to do that from here from the church and you guys witness it if
you've been with me long enough you know that if we have an opportunity we're out soul winning and
we could just go get a bite to eat who takes care of it the church not because it's like i'm some
benevolent guy who has a ton of money and you should be thank you shouldn't even thank me you
should thank the lord jesus christ thank god that he's given someone like me the spirit to just say
hey i'm not going to mess around with god's money if you want to thank me just say hey you know what
i want to thank you for being diligent with the god's money and i want to remind you to be diligent
with god's money i i would not mind you being a little tough on me about that right i mean
that's just the way it should be point number two i have really short points this was probably the
longest one but is the first thing is all the tithes belong to god and then what do we see we
see a pattern there's curses for stealing from god you don't want to curse your family and remember
this is a spiritual matter but god gives us examples with the monetary but really it's
it's a heart issue right look the bible gives us the example and i could have gone there but
i wanted to focus on this but it just came to me you know we we see the old lady who gives her all
and god says she gave of everything it was her heart the other guy had money and he kind of
flashed it around god was not impressed with that that's what i'm saying i'm not impressed with
you know we don't have like the main tither in the church who calls the shots and tells us how to
preach and everything we're not deacon run like that i've been to churches where literally the
lawyer is the guy who makes the most money in the church he sits on the deacon board and he decides
everything for the church that's not the way the church should be run if you go to malachi three
actually stay there in x stay there in x listen stay there in x because i don't want to lose time
but in malachi three verse nine the bible says you're cursed with a curse for you have robbed me
even this whole nation well you can't expect to steal from god and and then expect the blessing
right and i'm not just talking about your money talking about everything deuteronomy 28 verse 15
this is that famous chapter of blessings and curses in verse 15 when god's making the transition the
first 14 verses are like hey i'm gonna bless you if you do this in verse 15 he says but it shall
come to pass that if thou will not hearken unto the voice of the lord thy god to observe to do all
his commandments and his statutes which i command thee this day that all these curses shall come
upon thee and overtake thee and the bigger part of the chapter is a list of all the curses that
will come upon them proverbs 11 verse 24 the bible says there is that scattereth and yet increases
and there is that withholdeth more than is meat but attendeth to poverty the liberal soul shall
be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered also himself he that withholdeth corn the people
shall curse him but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it hey look if it's
within you to do it just do it you know i love the friendships and the people that surround me in my
life because you ask my parents i grew up i was a selfish child i don't that's just like my nature
which is my fleshly nature my giving nature comes from god so if you think that i'm my wife's like
oh you you've always been really giving i'm like well that is the lord because you asked my mom
she'll tell you quick so i'm telling myself she's like of the three you were the most selfish
you know i just i'm the oldest i wanted everything perfect i would get so mad i remember one time i
did get a gift it was a nine a stingray corvette replica you know with a model pointing at brother
todd because you know he loves the cars you know and i had it in the case and everything somebody
gave it to me and my brothers and sisters got my brother and sister got a hold of it and messed it
up i was so mad like it just made me so angry that they it wasn't even it's just my possession
you know anytime that it came to like borrowing money like you know my parents would give us
allowance my brother was real quick to just you know release that money and i was i had to think
about it you know i was like i was saving up for stuff what changed the lord jesus christ right
like that's what changed so first of all let me just tell you from a from a humanistic viewpoint
that's a difficult thing you do it because you love the lord it only makes sense in the lord's
eyes not in our eyes you're there in acts five but there is the strong contrast right we have the
story of who adonais and sephirah and what did god do he struck them dead for dishonestly giving
right in acts five verse one says but a certain man named ananias with sephirah his wife sold
the possession and kept back part of the price his wife also being privy to it and brought a
certain part and laid it at the apostle's feet but peter said ananias why had satan filled thine heart
then i say it was a heart matter to lie to the holy ghost and to keep back part of the price of the
land while it's remained it was it not thine own hey while it was yours it was yours but now you've
sold it and you said you committed to it then commit then after it was sold was it not in thine
own power why has thou conceived this thing in thy heart that was not lied unto men but unto god
and ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost the great fear came upon all
them that heard these things hey if you're feeling a little uncomfortable with this sermon then it's
a heart matter take it up to the lord i have no power but the but of the lord then you go down
in verse 9 it says then peter said unto her because then the wife came and did the same thing
right how is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the spirit of the lord behold the feet of
them which have buried thy husband are at the door and shall carry them out then she fell straight
away at his feet and yielded up the ghost and the young man came in and found her dead and carrying
her forth buried her by her husband man god doesn't need all the riches in the world elon musk is not
rich god's rich bill gates is not rich god's rich they have no clue what true wealth is because
they'll never witness it i mean it is possible i've never heard them reject christ but the
bible says it's easier you know to you know thread a camel right through the knee of an eye
than for a rich man to go and if i butchered i'm sorry but but for a rich man to get in heaven
you know why because their possessions make them feel safe you know the nice thing about
the lord removing some of that in your life is then you have to actually really trust in the
lord right when you get to the red sea and you're like how am i going to cross this thing i don't
have a boat or a yacht but i have the lord jesus christ we were watching i think was it or was i
reading that maybe i did i was reading it that uh for tita you know for tita he's the billionaire
here in houston i think he he was uh unveiling his two yachts that he spent millions of dollars on
and the main is on his insane he's not at church he's on his yachts there's a difference who gets
the blessing point number three is a really short point like i said they're going to go very quickly
we see that he curses but god also blesses our obedience and giving right the tithe belongs to
god if we steal from him obviously there's cursings but he's also there's blessings
it's not just hey do it and he's not going to take care of us god doesn't work like that
you know in malachi 3 10 go you don't actually don't let me have let me see where i'm going
to have you turn this is because we're going to go through these quick turn over to second
corinthians 9 that's where we're going to end so all this i'm just going to read for you really
quick in malachi 3 10 the bible says bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be
meat in my house and prove me now herewith say 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 you
know the lord's blessed this church and you know we have like more blessings than i could ever
imagine because the blessings are the spiritual stuff the building you know if it ever burned
down or anything we could just replace it but you know the human capital the right people in the
right place at the right time are hard to find luke 6 38 we know these verses but it's it's good
reminder give and it shall be given unto you good measure pressed down and shaken together and
running over shall men give into your bosom for with the same measure that you meet with it it
shall be measured to you again you know lately i i told you in the last couple weeks it's just been
really frustrating you know what i told my wife that's why i love preaching because you know god
convicts you sometimes more than he convicts anybody else and i'm reading about murmuring
and complaining and you memorize scripture and you know like you memorize all these verses about
murmurs and complainers and i told my wife you know what i'm going to focus on i said i don't
know if i catch myself complaining sometimes because you know just i'm spread thin and the
hours are few in a day i'm just like you know what the lord's giving me more than i can handle
the only way i'm going to handle it is just to just praise the lord and it's true like right
here it says with the measure that you meet it shall be measured to you again i mean there's
just more to do than i can handle because i'm always looking for more to do right so stop
complaining about it i mean maybe that resonates with some of you out there that think like i do
some people relate to me some people don't that's just life right second corinthians 9 verse 6 says
but this i say he which soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly and he which soweth bountfully
shall reap also bountfully and by the way none of the things that we do in church
we do it to tell anybody you know if we help we help and that's it i'm not like i don't have a
list i mean i remember stuff but i don't have like a list where i could pull up and be like oh well
you know remember when we did this for you or we just do it right and it shouldn't just be the
church it should be you i mean my wife knows she knows that it's actually a fault now like i've
helped more people than i probably should have i know that there's one specific example i'm thinking
of where i helped this guy out in his business with like 1500 dollars and she like she's like
years later i found out she's like i knew he was never gonna pay you back i was like well it's a
good thing you didn't say anything then because i just thought he was gonna pay me back you know
what i forgot about it the lord's already blessed me more than and what i mean by that i mean i'm
remembering it right now you know what i don't think about it on a daily i'm not bitter about it
i'm like because if he if he took it in the wrong context you know who's gonna get punished he is
not me i don't have to do anything about it in the meantime the lord knows i did it with good
intentions and the lord blessed me and if i didn't do it with good intentions then he'll punish me
for it as well before is that the there's purpose for having meat in god's house what do i mean by
meat because we see that in malachi 3 10 meat is not just the money but it's also the people it's
also the right spirit right we want to have even the right preaching right you don't want to come
to church and just get milk all the time right you want to get some meat you want to steak i was
watching this uh this little i guess they were promoting there's a restaurant in cyprus i guess
it's called wanche's or like it's a german name and they sell this big pork chop that's what they're
known for it's like this i was watching and i was like man i got hungry i was like now i want that
pork chop it's got butter on it and everything right when you come to church you want a pork
chop sometimes the pork chop i mean is it can be tough you know after you eat it who's ever eaten
like a big steak or something you just feel like you're in a coma afterwards right it's kind of
that's how you should feel when you leave church you'd be like oh that was that was a lot more
than i anticipated when i showed up to church this morning malachi 3 verse 10 we're going to
keep going back to these right bring all ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be
meat in mine house approve me 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 in numbers
18 verse 20 the bible says in the lord spake unto Aaron thou shall have no inheritance in their land
neither shall that have any part among them i am thy part in thine inheritance among the children
of israel behold i've given the children of levi all the tenth in israel for an inheritance for
their service which they serve even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation you know i used
to think this verse was just about me because i decided to go into the ministry but the bible
tells us in revelation that we're all priests right we're a royal priesthood all of you need
to have the attitude of the levites which is we have no inheritance here on this earth our
inheritance is a spiritual eternal and actually it is a physical but in an incorruptible flesh in
heaven we need to take the attitude that says you know what i don't care what i have on this earth
because when i die i'm gonna have it all right in my father's house i love that because people will
try to butcher that verse literally it says in my father's house god has a big house because he
says in his house there are many mansions right and he's going to prepare one for us so when we
get there i got a mansion coming to me i might not ever have a mansion here but you know where i'll
have a mansion for sure the bible says in heaven nehemiah 10 we know the the book of nehemiah has
two major themes number one they're rebuilding the wall and they're getting attacked for it
and number two this is maybe a minor thing but it really stands out to me nehemiah gets onto them
for what the sin of usury what's usury charging interest who knows let me ask you a really dumb
question but who knows what paying interest feels like everybody does because we literally live in
like a sinful nation run by a bunch of jews who believe that they need to charge you interest
they're like well because we believe in the old testament except nehemiah got mad at them for what
one percent they were charging one percent interest and he got mad at them right and we're
there in nehemiah and in verse 37 of chapter 10 it says and that we should bring forth the first
fruits of our dough and our offerings and the fruit of all manner of trees of wine and of oil
unto the priests to the chamber of the house of god and the tithes of our ground unto the levites
and that the same levites might have the tithe in all the cities of our tillage and the priest the
son of Aaron shall be with the levites and the levites take tithes and the levites shall bring
up the tithes of the tithes unto the house of our god you know why we have to give as a church
because it says that they shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our god to the
chambers into the treasure house for the children of israel and the children of elai levi shall
bring the offering of the corn and of the new wine and the oil and unto the chambers where are
the vessels of the sanctuary and the priest that minister and the porters and the singers and we
will not forsake the house of our god hey there's a correlation between going to church and giving
it to the lord and honestly this is how you know that the prosperity gospel is wrong because it
says that's why i highlighted it says that they it's the levi's responsibility to bring up the
tithe of the tithes not to keep the money for themselves right and it's important to preach it
from a proper perspective because tithing has such a bad rap in america because most churches
have done such a horrible job being good stewards of the lord's money joe alstein is a devil who's
going to burn in hell not only for stealing god's tides but for not even being a good steward of
god's word you say why you picking on joe alstein because literally the guy is probably the richest
preacher in houston anybody want to argue with me on that you can but the only one that probably
come a close second is ed young am i wrong i mean literally the guy just brings in millions of
dollars and he has the audacity to go in there and say well i don't take a salary from the church
yeah but you sell everything else through your church your book and your minute you know what
is it your conferences and all that we don't sell anything at the church and i wouldn't
want anybody selling anything in the church you know the church is for god you see all those
bibles back there and everything if you need it take it you know i mean yeah on occasion i'm like
hey don't overdo it with the drinks and the water and all that that's just because we have to be
good stewards just like i'm trying to be a good steward but i'm not charging you for all the coffee
that we buy and the the waters and i try to keep like i'm not buying like what is it rc cola i'm
trying to buy coke right the lord's provided for us i'm not trying to make you drink that rc cola
i don't even like rc cola right who remembers that like your parents would try to save some money and
they buy you rc cola you're like yikes if you like coke right i grew up drinking coke but and then
heb came out with their own brand it was okay you know but we try to keep the good stuff here as
long as everybody respects i mean that's what i want you guys to have and and it actually has
nothing to do with me that's why the reason i want you to have is because god want god is not a miser
literally he's building a mansion for us in heaven why would he what would you think that
he wouldn't want you to do that here but he but there's also a balance right let's go ahead and
close out let's go ahead and go close out because i for the sake of time you're there in second
corinthians i'm going to read for you a couple verses but what's the conclusion is that we have
to choose our blessing and our cursing and it's not just about the tithe if you notice the tithe is
everything the land your time your money god wants it all but what he wants most of all is your heart
i was i've been telling this since i was a little kid and the lord's law is true like he never
forsook me but i didn't get saved i was 25 when i and then i realized that's not the most important
thing and i'm gonna prove it to you from the bible in deuteronomy 30 verse 19 says i call heaven and
earth to record this day against you that i have said before you life and death blessing and cursing
therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live look you just do it because you choose
to do good for the cause of christ galatians 6 7 says be not deceived god is not mocked
for whatsoever man soweth that shall he also reap it's your problem if you're not tithing
of anything i'm not just talking about the money it's your problem if you're not reading your bible
it's your problem if you're not memorizing scripture look i've been doing this for six weeks and i know
it's a new thing the memory verses nobody's come up to me and and said that that's your problem
you memorize scripture so that you can be better for it i like memorizing scripture because then
when i'm feeling down i can say hey yay though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death
i will fear no evil because thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me right man i feel
good when i'm feeling down i'm just like i can quote that verse out loud i'm just like i'm good
let's go i love that he says i prepare a table for you before me before the presence of my enemies
and i probably butchered it because i'm getting excited right but i like that because i have some
enemies and the lord says don't worry about it you're going to be such a awesome guy that i'm
going to make make sure you're taken care of and your enemies are going to be like oh i just wish
i had some of that right it says thou anoints my head with oil what does that mean he's filling
you with the holy ghost oil is is uh is symbolic of the holy spirit and he says in my cup runneth
over man the lord just keeps blessing us and blessing us and blessing us and the least we
could do is just 10 that's the least first corinthians 16 verse two says upon the first
day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as god hath prospered him that there be no
gatherings when i come but here's the problem this is why i don't why i hadn't preached it because i
don't want you to just focus on that in matthew 23 verse 23 bible says woe unto you scribes and
Pharisees hypocrites for what for ye pay tithe of mint and annies and coming cumin i'm sorry
and have omitted the weightier matters of the law judgment mercy and faith these ought to ye have
done and not leave the other undone ye blind guides which strain out a gnat and swallow a camel
you got churches like joe olsteen's that are just preaching money money money and they got money
but they just forgot the rest and god's looking down and saying i'm not impressed with that
he says woe unto you scribes and you have omitted the weightier matters of the law see don't tithe
because you think it'll benefit you just tithe because you're obedient to the lord the blessing
will come but don't do it for that now you can it's biblical he says hey tithe and prove me but i
really think the the step up is just just tithe because you love the lord jesus christ and i'm
not just talking about money i'm like hey what's the first thing you do in the morning what's the
last thing you do at night what's the first thing you do how do you teach your children what's the
first thing you're teaching your children because they're the first fruits right of my loin am i
teaching them to love the lord jesus christ or am i teaching them how to be successful in the world
right what are we doing in church are you coming to listen to some watered down sermon because i'm
afraid i might offend you are you listening to some hard preaching let's close with this and that's
it in second corinthians nine verse six the bible says but this i say he which soweth sparely shall
also reap sparely and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully every man according
as he purposed in his heart so let him give not grudgingly or of necessity for god loveth the
cheerful giver and it says what every man according as he purposed in his heart look you've got to
figure this thing out god's not saying it's a blanket across the everybody's in a different
stage in life right there you know my wife always refers to it as you know feast and famine there's
times where you're making good money and then there's times you're just not making a lot of
money you're scraping by so then you purpose in your heart to just make sure you always tithe
according to that amount and if you have extra that you you offer but don't rob god if you
if you have the ability to just help someone out then do it i wasn't going to actually use
this example because but i've been thinking about it but i'm just passing by mentioned to brother
heath that you know i needed to clean my pool i've never cleaned my pool and he offered his
time to clean right he purposed in his heart to clean uh my business partner all his life he's
he's given i mean if there's anybody that would be like the epitome of that is someone like my
business partner i'm not calling him out because i don't want to embarrass him but talk about giving
of his time and his money and his effort like those are the people we want to learn from but
everybody according to he has that ability some other people focus on other things you got to
figure that thing out for yourself the one thing is don't be selfish right let's finish out these
verses right god wants you to be a cheerful giver and says that god is able to make all grace
so when he when you do give and you don't so sparingly says and god is able to make all grace
abound toward you god can do anything god's able to do this for you that you always having all
sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work but here's the thing it's you you do it so
that you're free to be able to have enough to do what every good work as it is written he hath
dispersed abroad he hath given to the poor his righteousness remaineth forever now he that
ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food and multiply your seed sown and
increase the fruits of your righteousness being enriched and everything to all bountifulness
which caused it through us thanksgiving to God for the administration of this service not only
supplyeth the want of the saints but is abundant also by many thanksgiving unto God whilst by the
experiment of this administration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel
of Christ and for your what liberal distribution unto them and unto all men and by their prayer
for you which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you thanks be to God unto God
for this unspeakable gift man God gives a lot right it's the only thing that we would agree
with Democrats but we're Baptist Democrats we're a bunch of liberals right but according to the
Bible you need to be liberal with the things that God's given you because they're not yours
anyways none of it belongs to you right and it's not believe me it's not a monetary thing I know
the Lord's going to provide for wherever this church needs whether you tithe it or not I've
seen it I know it's going to come I know it's taken care of I'm not worried about that so I'm
not going to you know this is not an altar call you don't need to come up here and give me a
thousand dollars so you can get back ten thousand dollars my grandma used to listen to this guy by
the name of Paulino Rubino or Rubio or whatever and I would hear him I remember him he had this
like raspy Hispanic voice like that's how you would talk through the radio and I remember my
my grandma would get excited because he's like look you can start with a ten dollars but if you
only send ten dollars God's only going to bless you with hundreds maybe maybe even thousands but
if you send hundreds of dollars then God's going to bless you with thousands of dollars in the next
two weeks in the next month if you send me a thousand dollars I know someone's listening
through the airwaves this is the guy I'm just translating I'm listening and I know one of you's
listening right now and you're going to send me and my grandma lived on a welfare system
she you know they were poor and I remember her because she was really blind but she didn't have
glasses I remember her taking out her checkbook and writing a check to Paulino Rubio and my
aunts and uncles they all would get mad at her for spending money she didn't have to spend
to a guy that wasn't going to reward her for anything but you know why she wanted because
she thought that's what god wanted because nobody ever taught her the bible you know i don't know
if my grandma was saved i don't i don't know i mean she she revered god but i really don't
know if she was saved she grew up catholic you know there's a lot of things i pray that she was
i can't make that that determination i was too young i didn't know enough to know about that
but man if she's in hell those guys that led her to hell are twice it's worse for them because
that's an eternal damnation because it's of convincing someone that you need to send money
to church what i'm trying to convince you that you need to serve the lord jesus christ first
what i'm trying to get across with this sermon is that tithing is not is stealing from god but
it's not just about the money it's about everything and if you want to get it right and you're like
man i don't know if i can give 10% well then get right and everything else and the lord will just
work that out but you need to show up 90% of winning is showing up you need to show up
you need to do the things that god's asked you to do if you don't know how to do it then just
pick up open the scripture it's easy english i know the kids in this church at least the ones that i
know personally they can read this book i've heard i've had conversations with adults that tell me
well i don't know the king james is just hard to read i'm like my kids read it gentry can read it
like all the other kids boaz can read it like i the kids that i know in here like i would never
think oh you know i i remember when jaden was young and he got in trouble i'm picking on jaden
here jaden's like 13 just i've known jaden since he was a little wee baby remember one time he got
in trouble with his mom she was really mad at him i said jaden you need to stop being mean to your
mom i said here read four chapters of the bible out loud you know what jaden did read four chapters
of the bible out loud it wasn't like he was like well i don't know what this word is or that word
is i mean he just read it just pick up the bible read it and you figure the whole thing out but
the one thing is true don't rob god don't rob them of your time don't rob them of your spirit
don't rob them of your spiritualness your righteousness especially you know don't rob
them of your money and your time and your possessions because none we're taking we came
to this earth with nothing guess what we're going home eternally with nothing because we've got
better things waiting for us in heaven so forget about all the precious things you're holding you
know your collection of rubies or legos or you know whatever it is my son has like a collection
of legos he loves they're all going to burn up anyways so let's go ahead and close in a word
of prayer heavenly father lord thank you so much for today thank you for your blessings lord thank
you for the opportunity to just preach on a sermon that you know for me it's a personal thing for
everybody here but it needs to be preached because my commandment my duty from you is to just preach
the whole word of god and malachi got the word from you and i'm getting the word from you too lord
so i just pray that everybody here would uh settle it in their heart as to what they need to do
to be blessed by you and to serve you better in jesus name we pray amen we do have a closing hymn
we're getting better we're getting better about that and so turn your hymnals over to what 123
323 turn your hymnals over to page 323 323