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

The title of the sermon this morning is, Thou Shall Tithe. This isn't something that we preach often about around here. It's a sermon obviously about money if we're going to be talking about tithing. In fact, it's something I've never even preached about. It's not something that's brought up a lot. But it is something that's in the Bible. In fact, that title, we'll turn to a passage later where that's actually a commandment that's in the Bible that says, Thou Shall Truly Tithe, over there in Deuteronomy. Because it is in the Bible, it's something we should preach about from time to time. It's something that needs to be preached. We see here in Hebrews 7, the reason we turn there, because this is an interesting passage in the fact that this is the last mention of tithing in the Bible, and it's referring back to the first mention of tithing. So it's an interesting passage. Pick it up there in verse 4, it says, Now consider how great this man was unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils, and verily they that are the sons of Levi, who received the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take the 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 received 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, and whom it is witnessed that he liveth. And as I may so say, Levi also who receiveth tithes paid tithes in Abraham, for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. Now of course that's referring back to Genesis chapter 14. Go ahead and turn there if you would please, Genesis chapter 14. So we'll see this morning that tithing is something that is practiced both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. And again this is referring back to that first instance where we see tithing specifically brought up. And it says in Genesis chapter 14 verse 18, the Bible says in verse 18, and Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine, and as he was the priest of the most, as he was the priest of the Most High God, and he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abraham the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed the Most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand, and he gave him tithes of all. So we see here, again, Abraham is meeting Melchizedek after the slaughter of the kings where he rescues Lot. Melchizedek, who is Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, we believe this is an Old Testament appearing of Christ, he's the king of peace, he's without father, without mother, without descent having neither father nor mother. So Abraham here is paying tithes to him. So we see that tithing is something that is practiced in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Now, people who don't tithe, they'll attack and say, well, tithing is something that only pertains to the law, the Levitical law. Tithing is only brought up in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, it's only for that time period. We no longer practice that. That was the only time that tithing was supposed to have taken place. But here you see in the New Testament, in Hebrews, he's referring back to a time before the law that predates the law. We know that this priest, Melchizedek, he predates the Levitical priesthood. And tithing is something that predates the Levitical priesthood, it predates the law. So go back there to Genesis chapter 28, you should be pretty close, Genesis chapter 28. So even, you know, after a short time after Abraham, of course, we have Jacob. And Jacob in his journeys, you know, he comes to a place and he rests and he sees Jacob's ladder, you know, he sees the angels ascending and descending in and out of heaven. And he rakes in the morning and he anoints this pillar in verse 22, and he says, and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the 10th unto thee. So again, here's another example of somebody tithing before the Levitical priesthood even came into existence. So and let me just kind of, because whenever you bring up money in church, whenever you start preaching about the subject, you know, and I don't know that it's anybody in this room, but it can happen. People just kind of get an attitude of like, oh, all the preacher wants is your money. Every church, all they want is your money. You know, they just come. I've heard guys say that I don't go to church and have some guy get up and beg for my money. You know, like, I'll say it again, I've never even preached on this subject. I've never brought it up. I don't think it's in the in the year that this church has been here. It's even been preached on. I don't know. I know there were some other guys preaching previously, but I didn't notice any sermons on tithing that came up. Because quite frankly, it's not the most exciting of sermons, but it is a topic that's in the Bible that needs to be brought up. So preaching, you know, what I'm doing tonight, I'm not getting up to beg for your money. I'm not getting up to, you know, try to, you know, twist your arm and make you tithe. If you tithe or don't tithe, that's on you. That's up to you. You know, we don't, I don't keep track. We don't keep track of the church or who's tithing, who isn't tithing. You know, there's cash coming in. You have no idea who that's coming from, you know, so that it's not, it's not a thing you have to do. Your tithe isn't membership dues here at Faithful Word. It's not like if you quit tithing, all of a sudden we're going to have to, you know, just bar you at the door and say, have you paid your dues? You know, we've reviewed the books, we've gone through the records, and it appears that you're behind several months, you know, and we'd love to have you back, but, you know, you got to start tithing, right? Because, you know, we're going to see here in a minute that, you know, tithing is something that God commanded. You know, the church doesn't have to get up and, and, you know, try to, you know, twist your arm and make you tithe because it's something that's between you and God. The church is just where you do that. The church is just the means by which you give back unto God that which is already his and for his use. So we're not begging for money because, quite frankly, we don't need it, to be perfectly honest. The church doesn't need the money. In fact, one of the reasons I chose this time to preach the subject was something I knew I was going to have to preach one day is probably because we've had the best month we've probably ever had financially in this church right here. I'm talking about Tucson. There's been more offerings that have come in this month, probably, you know, maybe with the exception of one that we've ever had. You know, the month isn't over yet. You know, we can plastiplate again if you'd like to make sure of that. No, I'm just kidding. But, you know, but that's kind of a good time to bring it up when you're not having money problems. You know, that's, so those people know you're not twisting your arm and, you know, some, but here's the thing. Is there a reason why people kind of have that attitude of like, all the churches want your money? Because you know what? Some churches, that is all they want. They, all they want is your money. They just want, you know, every other sermon is about money. And for various reasons, sometimes churches, and we'll talk about a little bit, they get themselves into a corner financially and now they have to, you know, every other month bring up money and preach about money. You know, we'll probably preach about tithing today and it might be several years before we bring it up again because there's just no need for it. You know, and that's a blessing, you know, that people already understand this and already know it and it's not something we have to necessarily keep bringing up. But people attack the church via the topic of tithing. It's an avenue of attack and really that's kind of the reason you want to bring it up as kind of a maintenance sermon. To make sure that people don't get roped into this idea that, you know, they shouldn't go to church because churches preach tithing. And you'll find this among the house church movement, people who want to sit out of church, who want to just go, you know, be in their living room with a few people and call that church when it's nothing but, it's anything but church. And they'll excuse themselves from church by saying, hey, well your church tithes and I, you know, tithing is an unbiblical practice in the New Testament. Well, you know, if you're going to make that a deal breaker for church, if you're going to say, I'm not going to go to any church that practices tithing, you know, you've probably just ostracized yourself from like 99% of churches. You know, that's a great excuse for you to just sit out of church now. Well, I don't practice tithing. You know, I'm more spiritual than that. And that's the avenue that attack and that's often what you see go hand in hand is the house church movement and the anti-tithe type of people. And they attack the churches over that. Now here's the thing that let me just come out and say the tithe is not the churches. You know, the tithe is given under the church, but it belongs to the Lord. The Bible makes that very clear that the tithe belongs unto the Lord. Now, of course, the Lord is the church is the Lord's and this is where he is ordained the tithe to be given and to be made use of, but it's not like the church can just lay claim and say, well, this is our money now and we can do whatever we want. It has to be used in God's service. We can't just spend that money however we want. It has to be used to, you know, continue the ministry because believe it or not, you know, the ministry has actual fiscal needs. You know, this building, you know, is, you know, $1,564 and change every month that we have to pay, which, and we pay it no problem. Praise God. You know, I have wages and people will attack that and say, well, the ministers, they should have wages. Okay. Well, I guess I shouldn't feed my family. I guess I should just beg. I guess I should just work two jobs. I mean, this is work what I'm doing. You know, it is the work of the ministry and, you know, we have real needs and also, you know, we like to put on events, chili potluck, you know, right. We're going to have the chili cook-off. Hey, there's going to be some church provided food there. Where do you think that comes from? That comes from the tithes and there's a lot of other places that goes, you know, all the materials that we give away, the missions trips that we take. These are all the tithes, but they're not necessarily the churches. They're the churches that have, because it's been given to us by God and we are stewards of that money to put it back into the service for God to help spread the gospel and to help build up God's people. So we see here, first of all, that the tithe, it was given unto Melchizedek, right? It wasn't given unto necessarily, you know, an organization. It was given unto the person of Jesus Christ. It was, Jacob gave a 10th unto thee, referring to God. He said, I shall give a 10th unto thee, not necessarily just unto the local church. Now go over there to Leviticus chapter 27, like Leviticus 27. Well, we'll see this. The Bible just clearly spells it out that, you know, the tithe is the Lord's. So if tithing is something you don't want to do, if tithing is something that you have an objection with, you know, well then just understand who it is that you're withholding from. It's not necessarily the church, it's God. And it says here, Leviticus 20 verse 30, and all the tithe of the land, whether the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree is the Lord's. So all the tithe is the Lord's. It is holy unto the Lord. But if a man will at all redeem out of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the Lord, or the flock, even whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. He shall not search out, 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 are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in Mount Sinai. So we see here again the tithe being brought up, of course now here it is found in the law. This is where we start to get into the law where it's mentioned and we start talking about how it's to be used in the service of the temple and for the priests and the Levites. But even, and we looked at the earlier examples with Melchizedek, we looked at the other example of Jacob, but the tithe is even, we see the concept of it even earlier than that in the Bible. And you can see the concept of this, you know, I heard a sermon on it and I always thought this was interesting. There's the concept of the tithe all the way back in the Garden of Eden, if you think about it. Because what is tithing? You're giving a portion, you know, a fraction of what you have unto God. What has been given to you, you're giving back to God. You're saying this is God's and it's his, it belongs to him. Well there was all the trees in the Garden of Eden, right? But there was one tree that God said, that's mine, you can't eat it. So you can see this concept goes all the way back even in the garden, that there's some things that God just reserves for himself. We could talk about Cain and Abel. Abel brought the firstlings of his flock. You know, he brought the firstlings of his flock. So that was him, you know, this concept of tithing is just throughout scripture. In fact, there's no, you know, if you want to call it a period or whatever, there's nowhere in scripture where you don't see tithing. It's in the Old Testament, it's before the law, it's in the law, it's after law, it's in the New Testament, it's all over. We've already looked at these examples of Jacob and Abraham, but also one I thought of was the spoil of Jericho. Think about that. When they went into the land, the first city that they conquered, God said, you're not going to take any of the spoil. It should all be brought into the, it will be given unto me, it will be sanctified unto him for use in the temple. And of course we know that what happened to the guy who decided to go and take some for himself, right? Achan? You know, that cost him dearly. So you see the tithe is just, it's throughout scripture, it's not just in one portion of scripture or one part of the Bible, but throughout the Bible. So what is the tithe specifically? The tithe is a 10th of your increase, right? It's a 10th of your increase, your income. You know, back then they measured their wealth, like you could think of Joe measured his wealth in his flocks. You know, he was the richest of men. The Bible says he had more abundance than any of the other men around him. And it talks about all the herds and flocks and everything that he had. So today, of course, we don't do that. We talk about, you know, if we're going to measure somebody's wealth, how much are you worth? That would probably be, you know, in US dollars or some form of currency. So the tithe is simply just an increase of your income, your worth, whatever, however you're providing for yourself. Look there in verse 32 of Leviticus 27, it says, and concerning the tithe of the Lord or the flock, even so whatsoever passest under the Lord, under the rod, excuse me, the 10th shall be holy unto the Lord. So what is he talking about here? He's saying, you know, you're going to pass them through the rod and you're going to count and every 10th sheep you're going to take, and that's going to be the Lord's. And you know, early on, I mean, I started tithing when I got in church, like from the first instance, I just, it was just something I understood before even being taught. I just kind of thought, well, you know, that's just what the church does. Well, we don't want to just do things because, well, that's just what the church does. We want to understand why are we tithing? Why do we believe what we believe? And I remember when I first started tithing, I started talking to somebody about it. And you know, I was kind of like, well, man, you know, why is it that we got to do that? And he kind of corrected my attitude and he said, well, think about it this way. You know, God asks for the 10th and he lets you keep 90th. You know, he doesn't, he lets you, he asks for 10% and he says, you just, you can keep 90% of what's already his, you know, it's already his anyway. And you know, it's God that gave you strength and power to get wealth to begin with. You know, what was the other way around with God was like, well, you'll give me the 90th. You know, you'll give me 90% and you can keep 10. You know, that, that would be kind of a, we probably, that would really rub us the wrong way. Right. That, that would probably, then we would probably really get up in arms, but you know, God's just asking for the 10th, just that one portion. And we see this concept all throughout and, and you know, what is he talking about? Just giving the 10th of what you have unto him, of your increase. Now what is the purpose of the tithe? You know, why is, why is it that God has this concept or this principle or this doctrine, this teaching of tithing throughout all of scripture? Well, it, the purpose of it, I think is twofold. One is to teach us that first of all, it all belongs to God anyway. You know, that, that, that God, you know, that we should be responsible and we should, you know, it's, it's kind of showing us and, and, uh, it teaches you gratitude for what you have when you, when you tithe to say it's an acknowledging of God and acknowledging that God has blessed you and things like that. But also specifically in the law and in the New Testament, it's to provide for those that are in the service of God. It's to provide for God's ministers. And of course in the Old Testament, that would refer to the Levites and the priests because there's a thing, if you would turn over Numbers chapter 18, the Levites, they had no inheritance among the children as Israel, Israel, if you recall, Joseph, uh, you know, was divided up into two tribes, you know, you had Manasseh and Ephraim. And then you have the Levites who, who had no inheritance among the children of Israel that they, uh, you know, they, they, they didn't receive any land and look here at Numbers 18 verse 23, it says, but the Levites shall do service of the tabernacle, the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations that among the children of Israel, they have no inheritance, but the tithes of the children of Israel, which they, uh, which they offer is that heave offering unto the Lord, I have given unto the Levites to inherit. So it's real important to understand, you know, how this money is flowing. This tithe is flowing. It's not just the, the, you know, the people are giving unto the Levites. No, they're giving it unto God and God in turn is giving it on to the Levites. He's didn't know what it says there. If we read it carefully, that's what it says. He says the tithes of the children of Israel in verse 24, which they have offered as a heave offering unto the Lord. So who are they giving it to? They're giving it to God. I have given to the Levites. So that's how it gets into their hands. It goes through God to them. Therefore I have said unto them among the children of Israel, they shall have no inheritance. So we see that in these times, you know, the Levites, they relied on the tithes. They, they counted on it. That was how they were going to, you know, feed their families and take care of themselves and provide for themselves were for the tithes. And you say, well, what a bunch of lazy bums, but you got to think about what these guys were doing. I mean, they're, they're, they're maintaining the tabernacle. They're, they're teaching and preaching the word of God. They're leading, you know, there's a lot of singers in there involved. They're, they're, they're breaking up the tabernacle, taking it down, maintaining the temple when it was built. Think about the sacrifices. Who here has ever skinned an animal? You ever gut an animal? That's hard work. Get the hide off of something, break it down. You know, and that's messy, bloody work. And that's what these, these guys were doing, taking out the ashes and dumping them and all the other things. I mean, go read Deuteronomy. Go read Leviticus and you can get the job description that's involved. And then you're going to, you know, people are going to turn around and say, well, you know, they should do that and work a job. You know, they should do that and, and, and also go work 40 hours a week or something like that. Well, it's a lot of work to be in the ministry if you're doing it right. Now are there lazy, good for nothing bums today that just sit around and just collect ties and fleece the flock and aren't, aren't doing anything, the work service of God. Yeah. But you know, but that doesn't change the fact that this is what God has ordained. And uh, you know, uh, that's not the case around here with the people that are employed by this church, you know, and I know I'm a little biased here, you know, they work hard for what they get and it's not an exorbitant amount of money. It's what they need to survive, you know, and, and to, and to take care of their families and they work hard to do the work of God. So we see here that the Levites, they survived off these ties. They had no means, they had no land to provide for themselves and we see that it was God taking care of them. He was giving what was given to him unto them and in turn they serve God on his behalf. So turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 14 and I know we're going to in the book of Deuteronomy and Thursday, so we won't spend a lot of time there, but what's great about Deuteronomy is that, you know, you have the command to tithe and you see how they were supposed to tithe back then. And then you also see that, you know, other people benefited from the tithe. It wasn't just them that benefit from it. He says in Deuteronomy chapter 14, look at verse 22 thou shalt truly tithe. So there's your title sermon. So where do you get a sermon title like that? Thou shalt tithe. How dare you? It's right there. Thou shalt truly tithe. Oh, that's a command friend, you know, and it goes on and says, and all the increase of thy seed that the field bringeth forth year by year in verse 23 and thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God and the place which he shall choose to place his name there. The tithe of thy corn of thy wine and of thine oil and the first things of thy herds and of thy flock that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always and if the way be too long for thee so thou shall not be able to carry it or if the place to be too far from thee which the Lord thy God, excuse me, shall choose to set his name there when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, then thou shalt turn it into money and bind up the money in thine hand and shall go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose and thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after for oxen and for sheep or for wine or for strong drink or for whatsoever thy soul desireth and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God and thou shalt rejoice thou and thine household and the Levite that is with thine gates thou shalt not forsake him 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 shall lay it up within thy gates and the Levite because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow which are within thine gates shall come and shall eat and be satisfied that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all thy work and all the work of thine hands which thou doest." So some real interesting things about the tithe here. One, you know, they're at the very end. One reason to tithe is so that the Lord will bless thee, you know, in all the work of thine hand which thou doest. You know, I heard a guy preach once and I thought this stuck with me. You know, sometimes people, they get into a pinch financially. They're struggling financially and they think, well, you know, I'm just going to hold off tithing for a while. I can't afford it. Friend, that's the time you can't afford not to tithe. I mean, that's the time we should make sure that you're tithing is when you're struggling financially to make sure that God's going to bless. You know, maybe there's something else going on that you need to work on in, you know, your life, you know, maybe your work ethic or whatever. Maybe you could put in extra hours to make ends meet, whatever you got to do. But the last thing you want to do is stop tithing. You know, when we write out our budget, we made our budget, tithe is the first thing, you know, that, that comes out of that budget just to make sure that's taken care of. And so you see that right there. That's, that's something interesting is that God, you know, he will bless you if you do this. This is something, and I'm not saying like televangelists that, you know, if you send in your money right now, that God's going to give you tenfold back and you know, you're going to, you're going to have a long suit like me and you're going to, you know, you're going to drive a Mercedes and all this stuff and you're going to get a gold grill and some big fat rings and all that. You know, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying God's going to make sure that you prosper and he's going to take care of you and give you what you need and help you to succeed in what you do if you will honor him in this way. What's also interesting in this passage is that we see not only the Levites eating of it, but also the people that are tithing themselves, they're participating in this. Of course, you know, back then this wasn't something that they did every week. He says every three years you shall be, you know, for three years you will lay up and store the tithe of thine increase and then after three years you will bring it to Jerusalem and you will eat it there. But notice he says you're going to eat it, the Levite's going to eat it, your family's going to enjoy it with you. You know, it was a time, if I were back then I would probably look forward to this. This would be like every three years you get to go on a little vacation, go see Jerusalem, hang out, you know, you know, get a little fat and sassy, you know, enjoy some good food, you know, and take care of some other people. I mean, the Levite's being provided for and not only that, the stranger, the fatherless, the widow, you know, why should we tithe? Well, so the church, you know, it's not just to pay for those that are in the ministry, but when somebody's truly destitute, when someone's truly in need and needs help, you know, the church should be there to help them in that way. You know, of course, we're not going to hand out to every, you know, lazy derelict who just doesn't want to get a job, but, you know, sometimes people, hardworking people, they get in a position, you know, something happens in life, something happens. They truly need help. And the church can be there to help them with that if the people are doing their part as well in the tithing. So we see here in Deuteronomy that others benefit from it. You know, we're going to benefit from it this Thursday. You know, you're going to eat some of the meat with the priest, right? You're going to sit down with the Levites and you're going to have some good chili. You know, we're going to provide for that. And of course, you can bring your own chilies as well, but, you know, every Sunday, every Sunday so often, you know, we'll order a bunch of taco meat. I mean, how many guys have come in, you know, before soul winning and had tacos and ate some good carne asada right here in this building? And, you know, we had the church picnic coming up. There's going to be a lot of organic beef patties getting grilled that day. And that all comes out of the tithes. You know, that's all that's that we're giving back, not to mention everything else this church does with the tithes that come in. So we see that even back then, you know, the tithe was something that others enjoyed. It was something they benefited from. And it's the same way today. And, you know, it's important to understand that, you know, the Levites, they were commanded to take the tithe. They were, this is the way God set it up. This is the way God wanted things to go. Now, turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 31. Second, I'm sorry, did I say Corinthians? I meant Chronicles. Second Chronicles chapter 31. I apologize. I get a little nervous preaching this topic. I'll be perfectly honest. And you bring up money in church, it's just everyone's kind of. I don't know why. It's not a problem here. Everybody, you know, that I know of, tithes. But he says in Second Chronicles chapter 31, look at verse four, Moreover, he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and Levites that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord. You know, the reason why they were supporting them is not so that they could just, you know, just sit around and be gluttonous. It was so that they could be encouraged in the law of the Lord. You know, like Peter said in the book of Acts, it was not neat that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. You know, that there's something that those that are ministering in the work of God, they need to be encouraged. They need to be able to, you know, get in the word, preach the word, study the word, and practice the word, you know, and preach the gospel and all of that. So that was one of the reasons why he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and Levites that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord. And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in the abundance of first fruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and all the increase of the field. Man, doesn't the Bible just make you hungry sometimes? Sometimes I'll read the Bible and I'm like, I'm getting hungry. It talks about, you know, all the land that flowed with milk and honey and the grapes of Eschol. And we'll wrap this thing up here a little quicker than I thought and get some lunch in. And he says in verse 6, And concerning the children of Israel and Judah that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of the holy things which were consecrated on the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps. In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps and finished them in the seventh month. And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and His people Israel. Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and Levites concerning the heaps, and Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him and said, Since the people began to bring the offering into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and have left plenty. For the Lord hath blessed his people, and that which is left is this great store. So when people are doing what they're supposed to be doing in this area of tithing, there's an abundance. There's more, actually, than what is even necessarily needed. And then that can go back into the work of God. That can be used for other things, and it's a huge blessing. And here's the thing, the church grows with the tithe. We don't have to set like a, we need X amount of dollars every month to function or this thing's gonna just shut down. What'll happen, if people stop coming and the tithe stop coming in, the building will just get smaller. And that's a big reason why you should rent as a church, I believe. I was even asked recently, would we ever consider buying a church building? And my response was it would have to be like a smoking deal. Like I mean, you would have to just make all the sense in the world, but as far as Pastor Andrew's concerned, that's a big fat no. It's never gonna happen. And it makes perfect sense to me because of the fact that what if half the church gets offended and leaves? And then we gotta pay for this, now we can't pay for this. Well, we'll just go get a smaller space that's more affordable, and then the tithes will take care of that. And the church can grow, it can flex with the tithe. It's not constrained. And a lot of church, and this is important, and I've seen this firsthand, where churches get in over their head and they paint themselves in the corner financially, where they go out to a bank and they take out triple digit loans, just hundreds of thousands of dollars, millions of dollars sometimes, just to build a building. To do what? To do the same thing we're doing right now. To do this exact same thing. Preach the word, edify the saints, go out, do some soul winning, have some fellowship. I mean, does it really matter how high the ceilings are this morning? Thankfully we have AC, that's kind of a necessity around here, but we don't need some giant edifice to man, we don't need to have 10 acres of land and a huge parking lot and the biggest building in Tucson in order to serve God. We can do it in humble, modest building like this, which I think is pretty nice. If you've forgotten how nice it is, we can go back over to, I can, we'll take a drive over to First Avenue and Glen and we'll hop out and take a walk around and hang out and enjoy our neighbors and look around and see what kind of company we had over there. It was pretty rough. But we can do the exact same thing here that we could do in any building, anywhere. And that's why we're not going to ever purchase a building, so we're not going to paint ourselves in this corner where we're like, hey, ties are a little low this month and we got this bank payment coming up and there's interest involved and if we don't get it, then I'm going to have to dip into my pocket and, you know, the churches do that all the time. And churches go belly up because of money. People that get into these huge buildings, churches, they have these splits, people leave and next thing you know, they're in some 12,000 square foot building with 12 people, you know, and some of those are kids. They don't even have jobs yet. They can't even tie, even if they wanted to. So there is a blessing. What we've seen throughout this is that there's a blessing associated with tithing, but there's also a curse that's associated with tithing, specifically with not tithing. But turn over to Malachi chapter three, Malachi chapter three. You're going to Malachi three, I'll read to you from Proverbs chapter three. It says, be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil. It shall be health to thine navel and marrow to thy bones. Honor the Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thine increase. Now the Bible's saying it, that sounds like a command to me again. Honor the Lord with the first fruits of all thine increase. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. You know, again, there's this blessing that's associated with honoring the Lord with your first fruits. Then when you do with that, that God will fill you with plenty, that your presses will burst forth with new wine. But on the flip side, there's also a curse. Well, if you refuse to honor the Lord with the first fruits of thy substance. Is there in Malachi chapter three, verse eight, will a man rob God? Well, the answer to that is yes. Men do that. Yet ye have robbed me, but ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings, ye are cursed with the curse, for ye have robbed me. Even this whole nation, bring ye all the tithes in 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 the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. So again, you see that there's this blessing and this cursing associated with tithing. And here's the thing, God's going to get that tithe one way or another out of us. It's not like we get to just keep our tithe and be like, well, nah, nah, the boo-boo, finders keepers. God will get it out of us. People say, oh, that's just a scare tactic to get people tithed. No, it's actually just what the Bible teaches. And if it scares you, good. And if it scares you into tithing, great, because then maybe you won't have that appendix removed or something like that. Now, I'm not saying every time you have your appendix removed it's because you're not tithing. We know that there's a lot of other things that go on it, but God gets it out of us. You know, I'm going to hang on to this money, I'm going to make, you know, I just can't afford a tithe right now, and now you've got a flat tire. You know, I can use that because I've had a flat tire, okay, so. And it wasn't because of that, all right. Or maybe it was, I don't know. But here's the thing, God gets it out of us one way or another. If we think we're just going to hold back on God, and maybe we'll get back to it later, God might just come down and say, no, I'll just take it out somewhere else. I mean, didn't he do that with the children of Israel? Weren't they commanded to let the land rest every seven years? And he said, hey, let it rest on the seventh year, and on the sixth year I'll give you enough for the sixth year, the seventh year, and the eighth year. I'll give you enough food in the sixth year that you won't even need to plant that seventh year. You'll be eating it into the eighth year while those crops are starting to grow again. He's saying, let the land rest. You know, and science finally caught up with the Bible and figured out that, you know, that's a smart thing to do, to let the land rest or to rotate crops and things like that. But he told Israel specifically to let the land have a Sabbath of rest every seven years. And of course, they didn't do that. And God said, OK, they didn't do that for what, 490 years? And God said, OK, well, now it's time for you to pay that. And he took them out of the land for how long? For 70 years. And he said, I'm going to let the land rest for every Sabbath that you didn't let it rest. And God got it out of him. He got it out of him. He got that tithe out of them, so to speak. And God will do the same thing in our own lives. So you know, there's a blessing, there's a cursing that's involved. We see it's all throughout the Old Testament, but you know what? Tithing is not just in the Old Testament. It's also talked about, to some degree, in the New Testament. And go ahead and turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 9, 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Now I know we talked about, you know, on Thursday, how there are some things in the Bible, in the New Testament, excuse me, that are specifically repealed in the New Testament. Certain portions of the law, the law of Moses, have been done away with in Christ. And we talked about that on Thursday. But just to remind us, you know, such things as the Sabbath, right? We don't observe the Sabbath, the Holy Days, the dietary restrictions. Again, a whole other sermon right there. But those things have been done away in Christ. But tithing is not one of them. People will say, oh, tithing's done away in the New Testament. That's not the case. Nowhere in the New Testament will you see where God says, and thou shalt not tithe. In fact, he talks about the fact that we should be tithing. Look here, in fact, Jesus, you're going to 1 Corinthians 9, but remember what he said to the Pharisees in Luke 11? Woe unto you Pharisees, for ye tithe, mint, and rue, and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment, and the love of God. These ought ye have to done, and not to leave the other undone. He wasn't rebuking them for tithing. He was saying, look, tithing was the only thing you were doing. You ought to have done that. You said you ought to have done it, you know, and not to left the other undone. So even the Pharisees had it figured out, you know, that they were tithing. But look at 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 1. Paul says, Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are ye not my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you. For the seal of my apostleship are ye in the Lord. I'd answer them that do anexandme in this, Have we not power to eat and to drink? Have we not power to lead about a sister or a wife, as well as other apostles or brethren, of the Lord and Cephas? Or only I and Barnabas have we not power to forbear working? So what Paul is saying here is that, like, he's saying, look, me and Barnabas are single. He says, have we the power to lead about a wife, a sister, right, a sister in Christ he's talking about. Have we not power to be married and to have children, as the other apostles are? Have we not power to forbear working? Is he saying not do anything? No, he's saying forbear not being a tentmaker, which was his trade, that was his occupation, he was a tentmaker. You know, to not work a secular job is what he's talking about. Like the other apostles, that's what he's saying, the other apostles have that power and that's what they do. Like Peter and Cephas, they have stopped working. Not in the sense that they're just at home with their feet up, but that they're not working a secular job. They have families that need to be provided for. Verse 7, look there, he says, who goeth the warfare at any time at his own charges? People say, oh, the preacher, the deacon, the people on staff, they should continue to work a secular job. We should go to warfare at our own charges. I don't know if we got any military guys in here this morning, but I'm pretty sure if there was, well, brother Garza, you were in the military, right? When you went to the military, did they ask you to buy your own boots and your own gun and your own fatigues, your own canteen, your own backpack, say, welcome to the service. Here's the things you're going to need. Go down there and dole out your own cash. No, they provide all those things for you because you're in their service. It's the same way in the local church. Those that are provided for by the church, they are in the service of the church. They are ministers. What does that mean? Servants of the church. So Paul is saying here, look, it only makes sense that the servants should be paid. Who goes to war for any time at his own charges? Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not the fruit thereof? Or who defeateth the flock, and eateth not the milk thereof? Say I these things as a man, or sayeth not the law the same also? Oh, the tithing's been done away in the New Testament. And here's Paul quoting the law in the New Testament, admonishing people that they have the right to forbear working and to receive tithes of the people. Verse 9, for it is written in the law of Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. And I'm going to take the time to explain what he's talking about there. That's a specific law that God put in the law. He said, look, don't muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. The reason we said that was not because the ox was a chatterbox. He was talking too much, not getting his work done. He was treading out the corn. He's saying, look, while the ox is working, treading out the corn, let the ox bend over and have some of that corn. Let him eat so he can continue to do the work. That's the illustration. That's why God has that law. That's an illustration. That's what he goes on and says there. Does God take care for oxen? Or sayeth it all together for our sakes. For our sakes, no doubt, this is written. He's saying, look, the reason why that's in there is so that we would understand that those that are treading out the corn, those that are doing the work, those that are planting the vineyard, those that are feeding the flock, they should be partakers of that. He goes on and says there in verse 10, excuse me, for sakes, no doubt, this is written, he that planteth should plow in hope, and he that threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? He's talking about the things that you would help to support him with. His food and raiment, things like that, the money. He goes on and says in verse 12, if others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless, we have not used this power. So it's not that he didn't have the right to do it. Paul will say, well, every pastor should be like Paul. No, Paul was, first of all, Paul wasn't a pastor. He didn't even meet the qualifications. He was an evangelist. He was a missionary. He was not a pastor. He started churches, but he did not pastor churches, and it was a very unique position that he fulfilled. But he still had that power, right? Nevertheless, we have not used this power, meaning that he had the power to do this. See, Paul went without as a testimony to others to be like him. Not that they had to be, but that he would forbear working as to be a good example. Not that there was anything wrong. He said, look, we have this power to take of the tithes, but suffer all things lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? So again, he's referring back to the law, and so he's bringing this into the New Testament and saying, they that minister about holy things live of the things of the temple, and they in which wait at the altar are the partakers with the altar. That's how the Levites and the priests, that's how they were taken care of. They would take part of that sacrifice, and they would eat it. Even so, verse 14, that's an important phrase right there, what does that mean? In the same way, in like manner, just as it was then, so is it today, the Lord hath ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. Those that are ministering the things of Christ should live of the things of Christ. I think that's pretty clear. I don't think this is something I have to really drive into anybody this morning. This isn't a nail that I think is, I have to sit here and pound for very long. I don't have to kick this horse very much, right? Because I think everybody in the room gets it, and it's a pretty simple doctrine, give a tenth unto the Lord. If you don't tithe, why don't you test God, prove God herewith, he says. See if God doesn't bless you, see if God doesn't open up the windows of heaven and pour you out blessing for honoring him with your first fruits. So here's the thing, you don't have to tithe, but you might want to consider what happens if you don't. We saw in Malachi that people are robbing God, we saw what happened with the children of Israel when they didn't give the land, the Sabbath of rest. Consider what happened if we stopped tithing, if everyone in the room just quit. I would go back to work in the field, the wages wouldn't be there. I'm not saying it wouldn't be coming in here and preaching, but not that they're spectacular, but hey, the sermons would be even worse. You think they're bad now? They would be even worse. There would be even less time to study and read, less time to prepare. You wouldn't be blessed by God, God wouldn't be blessing. You might even stop coming to church altogether. You can at least say that about tithing, at least it makes you come to church once a week. If you're a person that says, well I know I got to tithe, well that's going to at least get you in church at least once a week, you're going to lay in a store that you can give it on the first day of the week. You might just stop coming altogether. Maybe we'll come to church, I'll come in, I'll drag myself in, I'll exhaust it and preach even a lamer sermon. And then when we go out soul winning, we won't have any Bible tracks, we won't have any invites, we won't have any DVDs, we won't have any New Testaments to give out. We'll just have to draw them a map by hand, and we'll just tell them where they are, will you drive down, and then you take a left, and we'll try to get them there. No activities, no chili cook off. Well we could still bring our own chilis, that's a relief. No church picnic, no Mexico admissions trip, no Indian soul winning on the reservation, none of these things. So just to kind of wrap up here, just to summarize, to conclude, tithing is not a concept that's found exclusively in the law. It's found clearly throughout all of scripture. The New Testament makes it clear that there's a parallel between the Old Testament and the New Testament's ministers, we just read that in 1 Corinthians 9, there's a parallel there that just as the ministers then survived off the offerings, even so it is today. And here's the thing, it's your decision to make, but the scripture is clear. We read it in Deuteronomy, thou shall truly tithe. It is a command, so let's go ahead and pray.