Prophecy and Mystery Contrasted - Mystery 15

[0:00] This paper this morning written by one of the medicos of our community dealing with this issue and the good doctor pointed out that the insidious nature of this virus is such that someone can be someone who is working for instance as personnel in one of the care facilities in a nursing home can be tested for the virus and test negative.

[0:35] Yet they are infected but the infection does not immediately show for several days and then the symptoms come with it.

[0:46] But the difficulty is once they test negative they think that they are free to go anywhere and ordinarily that's what one would think and they sometimes go into these nursing homes being being infected and not even realizing it because they just tested positive tested negative and yet they carry the contagion and they can infect others and this is often what happens.

[1:11] So it's a very insidious uncooperative kind of virus that we are dealing with and we've never been here before. Consequently we're just kind of feeling our way and trying to discover as weeks go by what works best and what doesn't.

[1:29] And sometimes it's a real puzzle even to our experts. So if it's a puzzle to our experts you can guess where that puts the rest of us. It's a very difficult time. So the precautions that we are taking this morning and that is the wearing of a mask and we're supposed to wear masks unless we are an officiant.

[1:50] So that sounds like a highfalutin title. I get to be your officiant this morning and speak without a mask. So thank you for your cooperation and for understanding. And I wish I could tell you when all of this is going to end but we just don't know yet.

[2:05] So may we pray together. Father we are grateful for this time that you've allowed us to be together. And we simply ask once again that you will undertake for us as we open your word.

[2:18] Use it to comfort and encourage. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. I do have some handouts I want to remind you of. And one has to do with the stated goals of Black Lives Matter are anti-Christian.

[2:37] And it is an article written by an African-American woman. I hope you will avail yourself of it. It is in the collection of literature items out there.

[2:48] And another one that is referred to as the cancel culture that's coming our way. It's already here. It's called You Cannot Be Christian. And there are some in our culture who are taking the position that you're being Christian and insisting on Christian values make you part of the problem.

[3:14] So you can expect those screws to be tightening because they will. And scripture as much as indicates that. And then another article that I've really encouraged people to get.

[3:25] This is the kind of article that you not only want to keep, but you want to keep it forever. It's called Dispensationalism by Charles Baker. And make sure that you have a copy of it and file it away where you'll have availability of it for future reference.

[3:41] It's an excellent, excellent article. So Mr. Stamm has written a wonderful volume called Two Minutes with the Bible. You've heard me talk about it before, but listen to this.

[3:53] This is for August 30. And it was written over 40 years ago. That moon shot some weeks ago was really something.

[4:08] We hit the moon right on target. Took 4,319 pictures on the way as close as 1,000 feet and all in extraordinary detail so that we now have pictures of the moon 1,000 times sharper than any previously taken.

[4:28] Now remember, this was written 40 years ago. So we say, well, what's the big deal about that? We've been to the moon and back several times, blah, blah, blah. Now we're thinking about Mars. But if someone has pointed out, okay, good.

[4:41] So we've gone to the moon 239,000 miles away. That is the equivalent of you just stepping out of the back door of your house and putting your foot on the stoop of the back door.

[4:58] That's the equivalent of going to the moon when you consider what's out there. Mr. Stamm goes on to say, How proud many of us feel now.

[5:09] How wise and great we Americans are. Yet now that our achievement is a few weeks old, let's look at it again in the light of the whole picture of American life.

[5:20] And be reminded, he is describing the American life as it existed over 40 years ago when he wrote this. And he said, Let's face it.

[5:33] America is perhaps the most violent of civilized, quote, unquote, nations. And we can't seem to curb the rapid growth in crime.

[5:46] 40 years ago? Our women dare not walk the streets of many of our larger cities at night. And none of us dare walk through some localities.

[5:59] From shoplifting to armed robbery, from intoxication to dope addiction, from assault to murder, crime in America has risen to an all-time high and is rising faster all the time.

[6:14] What would Mr. Stamm think now? What good will it do us to achieve landings on the crust of the moon in, say, six or eight years, if in the meantime we dissipate our moral strength in dishonesty, immorality, vice, and crime?

[6:34] It is in this very connection that St. Paul wrote by inspiration of God, For the preaching of the cross is to those who perish foolishness.

[6:46] But unto us who are saved it is the power of God, for it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

[6:59] The world, with all its wisdom, cannot save itself. It is only Christ's death on the cross that can save, for there our sins were paid for, that we might be justified freely by God's grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

[7:18] There's a stack of these two minutes with the Bible on the shelf back on and the tables back there, and you are welcome. I can't recommend it too highly. It'll take you through the year, two minutes in the Bible at a time, and it is outstanding material that is dispensationally oriented.

[7:35] You will appreciate it to no end. In your bulletin, I want to make an announcement and a kind of an explanation correction about this gold Krugerrand that is for sale, the insert in your bulletin.

[7:48] I took the liberty of altering the dates that are given here simply because we've had such an abnormal kind of Sunday morning gatherings.

[8:00] I'm afraid that there are people who have not or are not getting the word about the availability of this Krugerrand and will not have opportunity to submit a bid on it. I think it is all pretty much self-explanatory, but the only thing I want to elaborate on is the figure has been changed.

[8:19] It's currently valued at $2,000 plus, and I checked that just this morning, and I think the spot price was somewhere around $2,400, but it can change every day.

[8:31] So the spot price has to do with the value of gold or the Krugerrand at the moment, and be advised that this is a one-ounce solid gold Krugerrand, and it is valued at over $2,000.

[8:45] And if you would like to submit a bid, put it in a sealed envelope, clearly market coin bid, whatever your bid is, just drop it in the envelope, in the offering envelope back there.

[8:59] No later than. Sunday, September 26, and that will provide everybody a little more time to deliberate, to think about it, to hear about it, to decide what they want to do.

[9:12] Otherwise, I think we might have left out some folks who were not aware of the opportunity, and we certainly wouldn't want to do that. Also, be advised, if you will, that we are continuing to meet with our men's class, and it is right here at Grace.

[9:29] It is just a simple continental breakfast, but we have a Bible study that follows and a good time of fellowship and discussion, and that will continue this Tuesday morning right here at Grace, and following Tuesday mornings until further notice.

[9:45] We look forward to the time when we'll be able to return to either the airport cafe or to some other local restaurant. That would be more neutral, but so far that has not been a possibility.

[9:56] Something I do want you to look forward to, and I'm looking forward to it, and it'll be here before you know it. Wouldn't it be wonderful if things are relatively normalized by then?

[10:07] for Friday, for Friday, November 13th, the Amish dinner at 5 o'clock.

[10:19] What a great way to spend Friday the 13th enjoying an Amish dinner. I just hope we're able to do it, and it doesn't have to be postponed again, but a whole lot will depend on what this virus is doing in the meanwhile.

[10:32] So have you an announcement or something that is not in the bulletin? Okay.

[10:49] Okay. Would you please open your Bibles to, well, let's see.

[11:03] Let's go to Malachi. Prophecy of Malachi, last book in the Old Testament, and we are going to engage a subject this morning that I know is of interest to everybody because it has to do with money.

[11:32] not only the source of it, but the use of it, and we are doing this because we are making distinctions between prophecy and history, and I want to clarify right at the outset when we talk about the area of prophecy, that is not to be limited simply to things having to do with predicting the future.

[11:59] That's just part of it. When we talk about prophecy, we are thinking more specifically in connection with the old dispensation of law that was instituted under Moses in the Old Testament that is generally thought of as the first five books of Moses called the Torah in Jewish lingo, but it also incorporates all of the Old Testament and so far as we are concerned, the four gospels as well, and even a goodly portion of the book of Acts.

[12:35] All of that scripture that I have just mentioned was functioning under the old order, that is, the dispensation of law, and it had to do with prophecy because so much of it involved the nation Israel and promises that God had made to them and the manner in which he was dealing with them, as opposed to mystery.

[13:02] And mystery can best be defined by the word secret. A mystery is something that cannot be known. A biblical mystery is something that cannot be known or understood or even imagined until somebody reveals it and discloses it.

[13:24] Then the lights come on. Then you can say, oh, now I get it. But up until that time, it remains a mystery. And it is called a mystery because, as Paul referred to it in Ephesians chapter 3, this secret thing that was never revealed before.

[13:43] And what that means is it was never part of prophecy. It was never mentioned, never thought of, never disclosed, never imagined by anybody. Yet, it existed in the heart and mind of God and he reserved it there unto himself exclusively until the time would come when he would freely reveal it to everybody.

[14:13] That is the essence of mystery. And the very first person to whom God revealed it was probably the most unlikely person in the whole world because he revealed it, first of all, to somebody who hated Jesus of Nazareth.

[14:37] Isn't that amazing? Jesus of Nazareth, hated by Paul, had the mystery revealed to him by Jesus of Nazareth.

[14:49] How's that for an act of grace where God selected his most violent opponent and revealed, disclosed to him something he had never told anyone else, something that no one else had ever dreamed of because as you go through the Old Testament and I'm talking about Genesis to Malachi and the four Gospels, all you have there exclusively, Israel, Israel, Israel, the Jew, the Jew, the Jew, the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that's it.

[15:29] Gentiles are completely incidental. Incidental. Figure in, not at all. In fact, in virtually every situation, they were in opposition to the chosen people of Israel, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants.

[15:46] They are called Gentiles. They are called the uncircumcised and they make up 99% of the world's population. They did then.

[15:57] They still do. But the mystery of all things has to do with the unheard of amalgamation that combining the putting together of these two totally disparate entities, the Jew and the Gentile, and putting them on the same plane, making no difference between them, both being justified on the basis of faith, of simply believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[16:37] That is the essence of the mystery. Nobody, especially the Jew, nobody ever imagined that.

[16:48] and when it came to pass and Paul was revealing it and preaching it, he was forced to pay a terrible price for doing so because it did not go over well.

[17:06] Who relished it? Who welcomed it? The Gentiles. Because what did they have before? Nothing but paganism, idolatry, many gods, no security, no assurance, and when Jesus Christ paid that ultimate price on the cross, it was the Gentile who was redeemed and brought into a sphere of redemption just as much as the Jew.

[17:38] And God made no distinction between them considering all under sin that he might have mercy upon all. This is incredible stuff. And you know what? It is not very much understood even by Christendom today.

[18:01] Why is that? I can only think of one reason and that is because the word of God has not been serviced as it should.

[18:16] Instead of an exploration, an explanation of scripture, Christianity in so many areas has been reduced to nothing but ritual and tradition and faulty role and mechanics and disguises whereby the true message has simply been obscured and people don't know it.

[18:41] And I say that to our shame because after all, we've been on this for 2,000 years and I don't think we've made a very good showing with it. It is sad.

[18:53] Greatest thing in the world is God condemning all under sin and redeeming all through the finished work of Jesus Christ and it is still a secret to so many even in our churches.

[19:06] So, what we are trying to do is show how these, in this modified service, show how these two segments are antithetical to each other.

[19:20] How there is literally no comparison between them and no connection between them. They are radically different and that is the elements that belong to prophecy as opposed to the elements that belong to mystery.

[19:36] And one of those that we are considering has to do with money and I want you to look at Malachi chapter 3 because it is in the prophecy section. Be reminded if you would that previously, previously we were using the 9 o'clock hour to more fully develop the theme of mystery and then we would follow at the 10-15 hour to develop its counterpart to that particular segment with an explanation of the mystery and how it differs from what we brought at 9 o'clock.

[20:12] But because we've had to go to this modified service and virtually completely eliminate the 9 o'clock hour, what we are forced to do now is take both of those elements in one segment which is what we are doing right now.

[20:30] We are going to incorporate the concept of prophecy on the one hand and its counterpart mystery on the other hand and enable you to see the two of them.

[20:43] And perhaps maybe this is even a preference. Maybe it's even an improvement because at least you're seeing both of them in the same setting because previously there were a number of people who were not here at the 9 o'clock hour and didn't get the prophecy section.

[20:58] All they got was the mystery section. So we are trying to make a valid distinction that I think is very, very critical and something that people really understand maybe as much as they understand anything and that is money.

[21:14] So I would like you to turn if you would please to Malachi chapter 3 and verse 8. Be reminded this is the last book in the Old Testament and it is a post exilic book and by that it simply means that Malachi was one of the prophets who ministered to the children of Israel after they had undergone the 70 year period of captivity in Babylon and about 25% of those who had been exiled to Babylon had returned to Israel under Zerubbabel who would be the Jewish governor not a king but the Jewish governor and Nehemiah whose assignment would be to rebuild to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so Malachi is ministering to those

[22:15] Jews who spent 70 years in captivity and many of them died off there they were buried there in Babylon and it was their descendants who were coming back now to the land of Israel and taking up residence and rebuilding their homes and rebuilding the wall and rebuilding the temple and everything and it is that element of people that Malachi is addressing and he is taking them to task because of their what can we call it nothing but their stinginess verse 8 says will a man rob God well that's kind of an unthinkable concept rob God of course not no one would do that yet you are robbing me but you say how have we robbed thee in tithes and contributions and the word tithe in Hebrew simply means a tenth a tenth ten percent that's the tithe and tithes plural is just ten percent multiplied

[23:22] I remember years ago Paul Pontus when he was one of our elders did an extensive study on tithing in the Bible and he came up with the figure comparing all of scripture in the Old Testament and all that was required that when they were to bring the tithes and it was all figured up it came out to twenty three and one half percent that was the tithes with an s on the end that's what they were actually obligated to it wasn't a paltry ten percent you know some people congratulate themselves when they give their ten percent but the tithes is plural in tithes and contributions you are cursed with a curse for you are robbing me the whole nation of you and here is the verse bring the whole tithe into the storehouse and where would that be what would the storehouse be it's the temple there was only one that was there in

[24:26] Jerusalem and all the children of Israel were to bring the tithes into that common storehouse the temple and when he calls it my house that's always in reference to the temple and test me now since in this says the Lord of hosts if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no more need that's quite a promise now no matter how you slice this I don't think there is any way you can escape the idea here that their stinginess and their withholding of their tithes obviously using them for personal needs etc was something that was common and the prophet here is calling them out for that and yet

[25:27] I don't think there is any denying the reality that God is saying if you will give your tithes bring them into the storehouse as you are supposed to you can trust me to really make it worth your while I will provide for you by way of a result a blessing and generosity beyond your wildest imagination but it's going to depend on you doing what you need to do by way of your tithes can you possibly call this giving in order to receive I don't know how else to slice it that's exactly what it says and it comes with a condition it comes with a promise don't be surprised if you hear some of those on television today some of the prosperity preachers tell you that if you will give your best gift and send it to this ministry then you can expect

[26:46] God to honor that by pouring out on you a blessing where do they get that kind of thinking right here right here the principle is here it is a principle installed in the Old Testament in the dispensation of Israel the time of prophecy that is exclusively intended for the nation of Israel not for anybody else God isn't making this promise to the Babylonians or the Assyrians or the Egyptians or anybody else this is strictly his people his people in a covenant relationship and it is a promise of fruitfulness a promise of blessing try me and see if I will not make good on what I've promised that's pretty plain now this whole business of tithing and bringing it into the storehouse what's that all about where does that come from how does that figure in we'll show you numbers chapter 18 back further in the Old

[27:59] Testament and of course we are still dealing with prophecy the book of numbers chapter 18 this is before the children of Israel even arrive in the land of Israel they're still en route from Egypt and in chapter 18 of the book of numbers we shall begin reading well let's start with verse 21 numbers 18 21 now remember when we're talking about remember the time frame here Moses is in charge this is this is fifteen sixteen hundred years before Jesus is born all right and we read beginning in verse 21 and to the sons of Levi okay what's special about Levi Levi is the priestly tribe

[29:00] Judah is the royal tribe Levi is the priestly tribe if you were going to be a priest ministering in Israel your first qualification is you have to be a Levite you can't just volunteer for the job and say I want to be a priest if you were a descendant of Levi one of the twelve sons of Jacob you were automatically born into the priestly tribe and when you came of age usually considered to be at the time of thirty you were able to be inducted into the priesthood officially and you could function as a priest you know it is not coincidental that John the Baptist who was a priest a Levite Zachariah his father John's father was a Levite and his wife was a Levite and

[30:00] John was six months older than Jesus and he began his ministry as a priest when he was thirty years of age and God called him to begin preaching the gospel of the kingdom and baptizing for the repentance and the remission of sins and after he had been on call if you will after he had been preaching for six months guess who else came along six months later in connection with his thirtieth birthday Yeshua Hamashiach Jesus of Nazareth and John who was a priest himself baptized Jesus as a priest not being from the tribe of Levi which ordinarily would make him ineligible but Jesus was after the order of Melchizedek in Genesis a completely different priesthood altogether this is a priesthood that had only two priests in it

[31:05] Melchizedek and Jesus the only ones and Jesus when he is 30 years of age is inducted into the priesthood of Melchizedek and it is a fascinating thing so we read here in verse 21 the sons of Levi behold I've given all the tithe in Israel that is to them all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance what's that mean that means the sons of Levi get they receive all of the tithes that all of the rest of the tribes of Israel bring to them and that is their livelihood that's how the Levites are going to be supported because when they come into the promised land and God divides all the acreage up and gives to Manasseh this land from here to here and gives to Dan this land from here to here and gives to each one apportions their land when they come into the land of Israel guess what the Levites get by way of territory nothing they don't get one acre they get something entirely different no land no land on which to grow crops no land on which to graze animals no ability to make a living if you will just by being Levites so it would seem that they are a distinct handicap but read on the text if you will verse 21 the sons of Levi behold I've given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance in return for their service which they perform the service of the tenth of meeting this was the caring for the ritual for the sacrifices for caring for the animals for the sacrifice of the animals for inspecting the animals all of the ritual the incense the burning of the incense the altars all the rest of it this was their pay this was their livelihood and this is what they were paid for and the text says in verse 22 and the sons of

[33:13] Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again lest they bear sin and die only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting only the Levites and they shall bear their iniquity it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations and among the sons of Israel they shall have no inheritance that means no land no acreage nothing to pass on to the next generation for the tithe of the sons of Israel which they offer as an offering to the Lord I have given to the Levites now it is called giving these tithes unto the Lord but in essence they weren't given to the Lord at all what did he need with them what did he want with them nothing he said if I were hungry would I ask of you he has no need of these

[34:16] God doesn't receive anything from the tithes but the choice priests of Israel do and that's how God deigned to support them because they would have no livelihood otherwise the tithe of the sons of Israel which they offer as an offering to the Lord I have given to the Levites for an inheritance therefore I have said concerning them they shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel then the Lord spoke to Moses saying moreover you shall speak to the Levites and say to them when you take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord a tithe of the tithe tithe you you see you see the principle that's set up here it is establishing the basis of giving and it is very orderly and very significant what they are doing and verse 27 your offering shall be reckoned to you as the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat and so you shall also present an offering to the

[35:25] Lord from your tithes which you receive and so on and so on now that's the way it was instituted and supposed to be carried out under prophecy in the nation of Israel but what happened there's going to be an upheaval what will cause that where will it start it starts on the cross when our Lord uttered those incomparable words it is finished and the veil in the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom God signifying this is over this is done with I'm finished with this a whole new order is going to be established and as

[36:25] I've said before something that I'm sure that our Jewish friends would disavow and deny but I am convinced that the scriptures teach it Judaism is a defunct religion it has no legitimacy before God at all it is over and done with why because it was never intended to be permanent it was intended to be a covenant established under the Mosaic law that would be in force until the basis for a new covenant would be provided that's what Jesus did that's what he meant the night he was betrayed when he took that cup and said this cup is the new covenant in my blood and that effectively set aside the old the old covenant served its purpose but it was temporal from the beginning as is evidenced by the fact that a new covenant is provided and it is the new covenant that makes the old covenant old it is world war two that made world war one world war one instead of the great war it was succeeded by something and the old covenant was succeeded by the new covenant the old is defunct and the

[37:57] Jewish people today bless their heart they are so fragmented and so fractured all over the globe and their belief system varies anywhere from atheism on the one hand to the extreme hasidim on the other hand where they grow their hair long with the curls and they engage in observing the sabbath in ways that you and I can scarcely imagine but they do it out of good faith I'm sure they do it with a sincere heart but the point is God no longer requires that from them they think he does but he doesn't and they are doing it primarily out of ritual and tradition and if you remember Tevi the milkman and fiddler on the roof tradition plays a pretty big role in the mind and heart of the Jewish people and they've got an incredible tradition a tradition unlike that of anyone else in the world but the time for

[39:02] Judaism is passé and this is why now under mystery under mystery as opposed to prophecy we are saying and Paul is saying and the New Testament is saying for there is no difference between Jew and Gentile bond or free male or female everyone is on the same plane now in Christ that is the secret that was never before even imagined and now it is the coin of the realm in the New Testament so if you will come over while we're pretty close here let's just come around with just a few pages to Matthew chapter 23 it's the first book in the New Testament and I just want you to look at how meticulous they were about this Matthew chapter 23 Jesus is confronting the scribes and Pharisees and he's not in the political correct language woe to you scribes and

[40:05] Pharisees hypocrites for you tithe mint and dill and cumin what are those those are spices spices can you imagine sitting down at your table and taking a device that will help you separate those little teeny teeny pieces of spice so that you give God his 10% and you separate those that is fastidious that is meticulous that is picky picky picky this is the kind of precision that they engaged in in these areas you call it nitpicking detail I guess that's what it was but they were so meticulous and so scrupulous in that and he says you tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law you engage in these nitpicking little details so that gives you bragging rights that you tithe even of your mint the dill and cumin but justice and mercy and faithfulness these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others this is called majoring on minors and they were good at that all

[41:31] Jesus was telling them to do is major on the majors not on the minors and you've got similar expressions in Luke chapter 11 and also in Luke chapter 18 and we won't go there now but I want you to see the startling contrast between the principle of tithing that was required of the Jewish people and a complete utter total opposite that is required of believers under mystery and the dispensation of grace and we need to go for that to 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 not the only place where it is but it's a place where it would be found more clearly I think than anywhere else 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 and when we get there we're dealing with an entirely new era this is long after death burial and resurrection of Christ long after the day of Pentecost what we are reading here in 2nd

[42:31] Corinthians is probably probably in excess of 15 to 20 years since Christ had been crucified and in 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 beginning with verse 1 Paul says writing to these people by the people he's writing to for the most part are former pagans they're Gentiles and they lived in Greece in the city of Corinth in Greece as pagan and idolatrous as you can imagine I mean these were the people that had a statue of a god on every corner just like those in Athens and we read that Paul says in verse 2 I know your readiness of which I boast about you to the Macedonians namely that Achaia has been prepared that is ready to give since last year and your zeal has stirred up most of them that's another way of saying your generosity has been voiced to them and you have incited enthusiasm in them for giving but

[43:34] I have sent the brethren that are boasting about you may not be made empty in this case that as I was saying you may be prepared what he's saying is I'm going to be visiting you and when I do I will appreciate anything that you will have collected for me to take back to Jerusalem for the poor saints in Jerusalem you see welfare programs did not exist this is nothing more than a divinely instituted occasion for those in Christ being of financial assistance to others in Christ who were many many miles away because those for whom Paul is going to take this collection and this money are Jews back in Israel and he is in Greece we're writing the letter to those in Greece and he says in verse 5 so I thought it necessary to urge the brethren that they would go ahead to you and arrange beforehand your previously promised bountiful gift can we call that a pledge previously promised yeah it's kind of a pledge these people were making some kind of a commitment financially that they would be able to provide for those poor saints in

[44:53] Jerusalem your previously promised bountiful gift that the same might be ready as a bountiful gift and not affected by covetousness in other words he is saying I'm going to arrive there before long and when I do I would really appreciate it if you would have this collection all taken care of and set aside by the time I get there so that there will not be a need for any collections when I come beautiful now this I say verse six he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly you know there is a principle there he's using an analogy that all of these people were very familiar with and it has to do with growing crops you sow seed and the less seed you sow the less crop you get it just works that way it's cause and effect if you want a bumper crop you sow more seed if you are stingy with the seed you can expect a pretty lean harvest because that's the way it works that's the principle he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully reminds me of that psalm

[46:24] I think it's 126 not sure 126 maybe verse 6 where the psalmist says something about they that go forth sowing in tears shall reap in joy why would they be sowing in tears what's that mean simply means this the seed that you sow is seed that you cannot use for baking for making right now you can't grind that seed and make bread from it because you're putting it in the ground and it almost makes you feel like while you're sowing it you're throwing it away so there are the tears understandably as this seed is sown they think in terms of how much bread this seed could make when you grind it up and make it into bread but you can't do that when it's in the ground but when you put it in the ground and you give it time and you give it water and you give it sunshine it brings forth an abundance and the more you put in the ground the more you get from the ground assuming of course you have those other elements there so he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart you know what this is called just two words

[48:04] I hope you remember them forever grace giving there is no tithing here this is not tithing there is no way you can connect it with tithing tithing was an old order and the old order is out and not only is tithing out but guess what so is the Sabbath so is the kosher diet so is everything that pertained to the laws of Judaism it's all gone there is a whole new order that has come in and do you know what this has never taken hold in the Jewish community never has they are still locked in to the diet to the

[49:09] Sabbath to circumcision to everything that accompanies it because they refuse to accept the new order and what was provided under it time is coming and they will and Paul says when he writes to the Romans that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in and Paul was so grateful that blindness in Israel is only in part only for some of the Jews because if it were total it would have included Paul but he didn't and he has spiritual sight to see it's an amazing thing let each one do as he has purposed in his heart okay that means 10% right nope well maybe it means 23 and a half percent which is what all the tithes added up to nope do you know what it adds up to it adds up to zero if you don't want to give don't give simple as that now that is a bitter pill to swallow for

[50:34] Christians it's an especially bitter pill for pastors to swallow because after all where are you going to get the where with all to sustain the church to provide your salary and everything else where is that going to come from it has to come it must come from the free unhindered will of people who choose to give out of a desire to give rather than out of the necessity to give and I'm afraid if I don't give God is going to get me God is going to bring some calamity into my life if I don't give generously so even though I'd rather not give I don't want to give I'd rather use this money for something else I'm going to give because I'm scared not to nonsense that is not grace giving grace people need to understand that our greatest motive for giving is born out of a sense of deep appreciation and gratitude for what

[51:51] God has done for us and when you give that way Paul said you are a cheerful giver not a grudging giver a grudging giver says I really don't want to put this money in the offering box but I'm afraid not to that's giving with the wrong motive keep it and pay your bills with it or take a vacation or do something if you can't give it with the right attitude God doesn't want it think of that this is all about grace giving how does this differ with tithing in the old testament ha night and day radical but do you know what this does this puts the burden of responsibility on the individual and do you know that is what the essence of

[52:56] Christianity is all about because it deals with the volition of the individual God has given us a will and we are to utilize our will our volition in a way that is honoring to him and this is one way we can do that another way we can do it is just just by being here just by being available just by taking in the word of God so that when we take in the word of God it can do a work in us this is what sanctification is all about it is growing in the likeness of Christ growing and maturing and developing in Christ and you do that based on your diet and your exercise your diet has to do with the spiritual food that you take in that affects and impacts your attitude and your actions it determines your value system it enables you to establish it it determines your attitude and out of your attitude flows your actions it is a beautiful thing that

[54:17] God has established and the money is just one small part of it but it's an important part because we all have bills to pay we've got utilities to pay it would be nice to have lights on and all the rest of it that goes along with it so we assume responsibility for things that we don't have to but choose to remarkable difference it's being freed from a kind of bondage that tithing would put you under and we are not under that bondage we have free access and when we give we give joyfully we give gratefully we give because we choose to give not because we have to give and it makes all the difference in the world it's amazing absolutely amazing let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart not grudgingly or under compulsion God loves a cheerful giver and God is able to make all grace abound to you that always having all sufficiency in everything you may have an abundance for every good deed as it is written he scattered abroad he gave to the poor his righteousness abides forever this is just an amazing thing

[55:35] I tell you it is just so the gospel of the grace of God and everything that goes with it is just so absolutely marvelous so remarkable so refreshing so different from everything and anything established under the law of Moses that it's just incomparable and we we are privileged to drink deeply of the wells of the grace of God and enjoy him and enjoy his provision and enjoy giving and enjoy receiving and just enjoy everything about our life in Christ because as I've often contended one of the most dynamic things that God wants you to do with your salvation is enjoy it and not endure it what a God what a gospel what grace amazing you may well have some question or comment

[56:42] I'd be happy to entertain them anybody the roving microphone is in process thank you Mr.

[56:53] Rambeck anybody with a question or comment feel free okay I think you know this guy all right so this this you know you probably know Jamie and I both well we met each other in the charismatic church in this Malachi chapter three in some churches we went to we heard every single week and it definitely put a lot of pressure the teaching we got was you know if you it wasn't just the tithes the tithes will prevent the curse but if you want the windows of heaven to open you got to do the offerings on top of it but many years ago I looked up what is this tithing thing anyway where is that found what does the Old Testament say about it and I found it looked very different from what was typically taught from the pulpit is what we're supposed to do but it was difficult when we changed our approach to giving we actually got a lot of warnings from others parents and other people that we knew if you stop tithing look out you're going to be in big trouble and that really is a huge deal and it has an impact on your

[58:22] Christian life in a big way oh yeah absolutely I appreciate that I've heard all kinds of testimonies from people who've been there and done that and I remember one dear lady she decided this one particular week that she was just not going to tithe she just was not going to give that week and she didn't and you know on Tuesday her refrigerator went out and you know what her conclusion was God's getting God's taking it out on me God is punishing me for withholding that tithe last Sunday and now this is going to cost me a whole lot more money and bless her heart this is this is the way we think you know listen thinking and living in the doctrine of the grace of God is about the most contrary thing to human nature that you can get I'll tell you what is consistent with human nature because

[59:27] I've lived it I've been there legalism legalism you've got to do do do and grace says done done done and you didn't do it Jesus did it and he has set you free and Paul wrote to the Galatians and he says it is for freedom that Christ has set you free do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage oh those Galatians I am amazed that you are so soon removed from him who called you by his grace into another gospel which is not another at all it's a sham and they were sold a bill of goods Paul had been there to Galatia and had preached the gospel of the grace of

[60:28] God and it was such good news and the people embraced it and they were living high in the grace of God and rejoicing in it and in came the Judaizers and said understand the apostle Paul has been here well yes and what did he teach well he teach that we are free in Christ but what about circumcision except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses you cannot be saved that is the capstone of your salvation you people aren't saved you can't be saved unless you're circumcised and become like a Jew and Paul really took them to task they had they had sparks fly over this issue and you know something they're still flying legalism and grace are still at opposite poles and

[61:28] I don't know that there's anything in the whole Christian community that is so misunderstood as law and grace wow but I just I so desperately want every grace person to have a handle on this so you can rejoice in the grace of God to the max and the thing that makes it all worthwhile and all possible is not what you did it it it it it it it it it it it to you as a free gift now don't go attaching a bunch of strings to it wow I could almost get excited about this comments or questions before we dismiss anybody well thank you so much for being here today and

[62:32] I appreciate you I don't I don't like I said have no idea how long this is going to continue but we will I can assure you that we will return to what we would consider normal just as soon as possible and nobody wants it more than yours truly so in the meanwhile we will do what we have to do because we are trying to and use precaution and I would invite you to stand and we'll close loving father we are once again completely enamored by this incredible thing called grace it just exceeds our wildest imagination and when we recognize that it all comes about because of the thoroughness and the depth and the breadth of the finished work of Christ on that basis why should not this grace be made available indeed it should our

[63:35] Lord Jesus paid such an incredible price to make this grace available to us and we recognize and our hearts go out to those who do not recognize it and we thank particularly the Jewish people for the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ we are happy blessed benefactors of that marvelous grace help us to soak it up and live it out and express it and transport it any and every way we can in the worthy name of our Lord Jesus Christ Amen