Giving - 3/8/26 - Meadows Baptist Church - Pastor Charlie Branch

Welcome to the podcast of Meadows

Baptist Church of Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. We're so glad you joined us

today. If you enjoy today's message, be

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with your friends. Now, let's join

Pastor Charlie Branch with a word from

God.

All right. If you will take God's word,

turn with me this morning to the book of

Leviticus.

Leviticus, chapter 27.

Leviticus 27 · chapter mention

I told you I was going to be more

practical uh in Sunday school in the

coming weeks. I dealt with the subject

of fasting on last week and I want to

deal with the subject of giving today

particularly tithing and uh just it's

been on my heart for a while I was uh in

meeting there a few weeks ago

one I think it was the Sunday Sunday

that we had a 2:00 service I went up to

Westside Baptist Church there and heard

brother Lindsay preach uh on Sunday

night and he was preaching to his church

about tithing and uh best message I've

ever heard in my life on the subject. I

encourage you to go back and listen to

that. You just go to the day, whatever

day it was that we had the 2:00 service

and he preached on it that night and it

was absolutely tremendous. I am not at

all going to try to give an exhaustive

lesson on that this morning. I basically

just want to share with you the basic

principles of it. And I know you know

this this morning. It'll be nothing new

to you, just to refresh our memory of

it. Maybe maybe share something with you

never seen before. I don't know. I just

want to be obedient to the Lord and uh

deal with this subject. So, we we'll

look at a verse here, Leviticus 27. Kind

of use this as a launching pad. And uh

like I said, I normally don't like to do

this. I'm going like to just teach

through the verses, but I'm going to use

it as a launching pad concerning this

subject today. And uh I think partly the

reason why I did this in Sunday school

is because I know you people tithe and

so it ain't going to be so scary for me.

But uh uh Amen. And I just try to be

obedient to the Lord. Amen. But uh uh

it's a a refresher and encourager for

us. And I'll say this, there's nothing

more encouraging from the word of God.

Uh when the preacher preaches or teaches

on something and you're already doing

it, when you're already doing what

you're supposed to be doing, um it's

just like a shot in the arm. And that's

what I want this to be this morning. So

let's look verse number 30, Leviticus

27.

Look in verse 28 rather.

The Bible says says notwithstanding no

devoted thing that a man shall devote

unto the Lord of all that he hath both

of man and beast and of the field of his

possession shall be sold or redeemed.

Every devoted thing is most holy unto

the Lord. none devoted, which shall be

devoted of men, shall be redeemed, but

shall surely be put to death. And all

the tithe of the land, whether of the

seed of the land or the fruit of the

tree, is the Lord's. It is holy unto the

Lord. And if a man will at all redeem

all of his tithes, he shall add there to

the fifth part thereof.

And concerning the tithe of the herd or

of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth

under the rod, the tenth shall be holy

unto the Lord. He shall not search

whether it be good or bad, neither shall

he change it. 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 Si. Father, thank you

for this time. Thank you for uh this

lesson this morning. And God, I ask you

that you will help me uh to relay these

simple truths concerning this thought of

tithing this morning. and help us to be

practical. And Lord, I pray it'd be

fruitful in each of our lives. And we'll

be sure to give you thanks for it

because we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

This principle this morning, it's a

touchy subject amongst a lot of people,

but I'll say this, if you do it, it's

really not that touchy of a subject. Um,

it's just what we're called to do from

the scripture. Now, I could come in here

and say to you this morning, take for

granted that you know uh what I'm going

to share with you this morning, but I

don't want to do that. Okay? I want to I

want to give you a biblical basis for

why tithing is still biblical in the

church uh in this day and time. Now, the

number one argument that you hear

concerning tithing is is that it's an

Old Testament truth. And I would agree

with you on that. I would say tithing is

an Old Testament truth. Furthermore,

when you look at the New Testament and

you consider the principle of the tithe,

it's almost always used in the negative

sense. You look at what Jesus talked

about the Pharisees there in the New

Testament, they would talk about, you

know, the Pharisee and the publican in

that instance there when they were

praying, the Pharisee made his

boisterous prayer, you know, how that he

fasted and that he tithed and he, you

know, he tithed of all that he

possessed, you know, bragging about his

his the function of his religious life

and and it's almost you always almost

see it in a negative sense, but I'm

reminded that just because it's not

really laid out, the Bible does not say

in the New Testament that th you know

thou shalt tithe but I'll say this

there's some principles that carry over

and I'm going to share that with you

this morning and furthermore it goes

back much deeper than what we realize

this tithing principle and so I want to

lay three things on your heart here this

morning if you write these down I I

encourage you I put these in the fly

leaf of my Bible and I'll share them

with you maybe be something good for you

to remember I I titled these thoughts

here number one tithing and faith faith,

tithing and faith. And then there's the

second thought is is tithing and the

house of God. And then the third thought

here is is uh tithing and blessing. Now

I want to look at these thoughts and I

just want to give you a biblical basis

for what tithing is. Now ti a tithe is a

tenth. All right? That's what you notice

in this text. He says in verse 30, "And

all the tithe of the land, whether the

seed of the land or the fruit of the

tree is the Lord's." And so the emphasis

of the tithe is is it's not first of all

it's not what's left over. The tithe is

not the money that you have left over

after you've paid all your bills and

done everything at the end of the month.

The tithe is the first fruits. That's

the offering that we're commanded to

give. It comes off of the top. And uh

this this may be something I don't know

that this has ever been uh dealt with

here. I know I myself have not preached

it uh in the church particularly, but a

tithe, you know, people ask, "Does a

tithe go off of the net or the gross?"

Well, uh you know, the Lord, he he can't

help that the government takes a lot of

our money away. And so, we should tithe

off the gross. And you say, "Well, do

you do that?" Well, here's what I do,

and I'll just share this with you. Um I

tithe off of the net all year long, and

then I give up give the makeup to that

after it's over with. All right. Now, if

you were to look at the roles, what we

have here at the church of my tithing

record, it would not match up to what I

make here at the church. But the reason

that is is because I give a lot of it in

cash. Okay? And that's that's what I

want to share with you this morning. I

tithe. I believe this. Okay? We ought to

give over the tithe. All right? And we

ought to make sure that we're giving

more than that because God's required it

of us. And I'll share this first of all,

this thought of tithing and faith here

in the text. Notice notice Genesis

chapter number 14. This is the first

mention that you find of the tithe in

scripture. Genesis chapter 14

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

under the heading the tithe and faith.

Notice what your Bible says here. And I

want you to turn with me and keep your

Bible open uh on these truths here as we

look at each of them together. Genesis

14 verse number verse number 18.

The Bible says in Melzdc, king of Salem,

brought forth bread and wine, and he was

the priest of the most high God. And he

blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram

of the most high God, possessor of

heaven and earth. And blessed be the

most high God, which hath delivered

thine enemies into thy hand." And he

gave him tithes of all. And the king of

Sodom said unto Abram, "Give me the

persons, and take thy goods to thyself."

And Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I

have lift up mine hand unto the Lord,

the most high God, the possessor of

heaven and earth, that I will not take

from a thread even to a shoe latch, and

that I will not take anything that is

thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have

made Abram rich." Now, what you discover

in this text here is there's three

people that's mentioned here. There is

Melzdc, the king of Salem. There is this

man Chader Leon uh that is uh the king

of Sodom here or it's not his name's not

Chader Leon but he's just listed as the

uh king of Sodom here in the text and uh

you notice here the Bible says in verse

20 that Abram here Melzdc's come and

he's brought bread and wine here he's

the priest of the most high God he

blessed Abram verse 19 and verse 20 and

Abram Bible says and blessed he the most

high God which hath delivered thine

enemies into thine hand. And he gave him

tithes of all. And so the principle of

this right here is that this Melzdc now

you know in your Bible Melzdc is a uh

what we believe according to the book of

Hebrews is a pre-incarnate appearing of

the Lord Jesus Christ. And so this king

of Salem, the Bible compares him in the

book of Hebrews to Christ. He's without

father. He's without mother. He's

without beginning of days or ending of

years. the Bible says and compares him

to Christ. And so the comparison is here

that Abram here the first principle of

the tithe in the scripture is given to

Melzdc. And so I thought about this when

you think about the tithe and faith. We

often at times equate the tithe to a

command of the law. Now I'm going to say

more about that in a minute. It is a

command of the law. But even before the

law was given. All right. When did the

law come to be? Exodus chapter number 20

is when the the law the ten commandments

appeared. Isn't that right? And so

before the law appeared the tithe was

already introduced. It was given to the

priest. Melzdc is the high priest uh of

that temple there. What this is

representing here is he's a priest of

the most high God. Abraham gave him

tithes. Notice that of all. And so the

subject of the tenth is is is clearly

laid here. And the subject here also as

well that it is of the entirety of what

he had is given here in verse 20. He

gave him 10 a tithe of all. And so the

principle of the tithe, you say, what

does that have to do with faith? Well,

who is Abraham?

Abraham's the father of Israel. But what

do we know Abraham as? He's the father

of the

faith, right? Isn't that what the Bible

teaches us? The Bible says in Romans

chapter number four that Abraham is the

father of the faith. Now what do we

operate under? We operate under the

faith of Abraham. Isn't that right?

Genesis chapter 15 and verse number six

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

the Bible says and Abraham believed God

and it was counted unto him for

righteousness. And so as he represents

the faith unto us. So at the beginning

of the faith, isn't that interesting

that the first thing you find with him

is the tithe. So the principle relays

back to the message of faith. Let me say

this. The tithe is not to is not meant

to be given out of faith.

Now we we think a lot of times you know

well you know I just I don't have it to

give preacher. Well the truth is you can

you don't have it not to give.

>> You can't afford not to give the tithe

>> because the tithe is at the beginning

and everything else that comes out of

that we're to frame our life around

that. It's a lot of what you know the

principle in our mind is we build we

build church around our life in this day

and time but the the truth is we're

supposed to build our life around

church. This is the principle of the

tithe. We build we build you know our we

build our giving around our lifestyle

what we can afford. But the truth is we

ought to to build our lifestyle around

what we're before what we're giving. You

know what I'm saying? We it ought to be

measured first and foremost. And so

Abram here in the text, he is firstly

giving tithes unto king of the king of

Salem. There's a lot more I could say

about that. And so tithing is emphasized

in in the faith first and foremost

before the law was ever given. It was

emphasized here by Abraham. But I'll say

this also, not only the emphasis of

tithing and faith, but there's also the

emphasis of tithing in the house of God.

And this is even before the law is given

as well. Notice Genesis chapter 28.

Genesis 28 · chapter mention

Genesis chapter number 28.

Genesis 28 verse number 18.

this chapter here the Bible says that a

that uh uh in the text that there is he

Jacob has a visit with the Lord. Verse

number 16 Jacob awaked out of his sleep

said surely the Lord is in this place

and I knew it not. Verse 17 and he was

afraid and said how dreadful is this

place. This is none other but the house

of God and this is the gate of heaven.

And Jacob rose up early in the morning,

took the stone that he had put for his

pillows and set up for a pillar and

poured oil upon the top of it. And he

called the name of that place Bethl. Now

what do we know that word Bethl means?

It's the house of God, right? Look what

he says. Verse 19. But the name of that

city was called L at first. Jacob vowed

a vow, saying, "If God will be with me,

will keep me in this way that I go, and

will give me bread to eat and raignment

to put on, so that I come again to my

father's house in peace, then shall the

Lord be my God. This stone which I've

set for a pillar shall be God's house,

and of all that thou shalt give me, I

will surely give the tenth unto thee."

So the principle of the tithe carries

over not just from Abraham as he's the

father of the faith but here Jacob is

the father of Israel. Now mind you this

this is all before the law has come

about. Okay this is before the ten

commandments are given. This is before

Moses exhorts the children of Israel to

give the tenth uh there as it's measured

uh in the book of numbers. We'll talk

about that in just a minute. But I've

noticed this in this text. Now what did

Jesus tell us? Matthew chapter 6 and

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

verse 33 said, "Seek you first the

kingdom of God and his righteousness and

all these things shall be added unto

you." Well, what was he talking about

when he said all these things? He was

talking about food and raignment. Wasn't

he? You know, he said after these things

do all the gen do all the Gentiles seek.

You know, your heavenly father knoweth

that you have need of all these things.

And I find it interesting what Jacob

says in this chapter. Listen to what he

says in verse 20 again. If God will be

with me and will keep me in this way

that I go, listen what he says, and will

give me bread to eat and raignment to

put on. Jacob's not asking for anything

else. Now, I'm reminded of the principle

in the New Testament. The Bible says,

"Having food and raignment, let us be

let us be there with content." Amen.

That's what the That's the New Testament

principle that we're to be content with

clothes to wear and food to eat. And I

know this morning we've all got much

more abundance than that. Amen. But the

truth is still the same here. That

principle follows along with the tithe.

Verse 22. And of all that thou shalt

give me, I will surely give the tenth

unto thee. Now, he's not saying just,

you know, Lord, I'm going to take off

what I have to require to live and I'm

going to give you a tenth out of that.

I've heard people do that. Okay? That's

not what this is. It's a tenth of all.

It's a tenth of all. Look what he says.

I will surely give and of all that thou

shalt give me I will surely give the

tenth unto thee. Now the truth here I

want to relate to you is is that he was

there at the at Bethl the the house of

God. It's the the place where Jacob met

with the Lord and it was there that he

instituted the tithe for himself. You

understand that up to this point this

didn't mean anything to Jacob. He might

have offered it. We don't have any

record of that in the scripture. But it

wasn't until Bethl that Jacob realized,

"All right, I I need to give back

because he's given to me." Now, truth

is, we could give a 100% never repay God

for what he's given. Amen. But we ought

to give what he's asked us to. All

right? And so this prince, you say,

"Preacher, these are willful offerings."

Well, I'm going to I'm going to get to

that in just a minute. Okay? These are

are willful offerings, but it's

scriptural. Amen. I'll say this. You

don't find the command to fast nowhere

in the scriptures. But I'll tell you

this, there's an exhortation, there's an

expectation to do so, just as the tithe

is. So, we consider here uh the tithing

and faith with Abraham tithing and the

house of God. Um there it's represented

with with Jacob first and foremost. Turn

with me to the book of Numbers.

Numbers chapter number 18.

This chapter deals with the the Levites,

the charge of the priest and Levites and

their portions,

what's given to them.

You can look through this chapter. Not

going to take time to do so, but the

summary is found in verse number 21

of this chapter. Numbers 18 verse 21.

Numbers 18:21

Verse 20. And the Lord spake unto Aaron,

Thou shalt have no inheritance in their

land, neither shalt thou have any part

among them. I am thy part in thine

inheritance among the children of

Israel. And behold, I have given the

children of Levi all the tenth in Israel

for an inheritance for their service

which they serve, even the service of

the tabernacle of the congregation. So

there the principle is that the tithe is

for the operation of the temple. Now

that principle, you know, people use

that a lot of times to, you know, say

that, you know, to pay the pastor. But

I'll tell you what it's for. It's for

the the work. It's for the operation of

the church is what it's for. Okay? When

you tithe, that is for the support of

the local church. That's what keeps the

assembly operating. It's what keeps the

lights on. It's what keeps the power

bill paid. And everything else that goes

on around here is operates out of the

tithe. And missions is over and above

that. So, this is what tithing has to do

with the house of God. There's a lot

more I could say about the Levites and

all that goes with that. Of course, we

know that they were they were not given

an allotted land. They were not given an

inheritance. Their inheritance was the

house of God itself. And they were

tenants. They lived in that land. Uh

that was not theirs, but their

belongings. They were fed out of the

house of God. They were kept out of the

house of God. And it was they were kept

by the tithe. Now, I want to remind you

of this. All right? They didn't tithe

money. Okay? Uh what did they tithe?

They tithed their crops. They tithed

their animals. And so it was a tenth of

their flock. And so let me just say this

as well. You say, "Well, how would they

have measured that? How would they have

measured a tenth?" I'll say, "It's a lot

more easy for us in this day and time."

But you know, if they would have had so

many animals, they would have took a

tenth of that. That's basically what

I've looked at and studied off of that.

They would do a tenth out of their

flock, a tenth out of the crop, however

they would measure that and the

bartering that they did. And that was

that was one of the uh condemnations

there in the book of John. I'm going to

turn there and read that for just a

minute

just because it's on my mind while I'm

thinking about it. Jesus got upset with

the Pharisees over this matter.

John chapter number John chapter number

two.

John 2 verse number 14 verse 13.

The Jews Passover was at hand. Jesus

went up to Jerusalem, found in the

temple that those that sold oxen and

sheep and does and the changers of money

sitting, you know the story. He makes a

scourge. Verse 15, he drives them out,

runs out the sheep, the auction, pours

out the changers money. Verse 16, take

these things hence, make not my father's

house a house of merchandise. What they

were doing is is they were taking

advantage of the people of God that were

traveling in to offer sacrifices. They

some of them would travel hundreds of

thousands of miles, hundreds of miles to

come and worship. And so what they would

do is instead of bringing their offering

with them when they would get to the

temple, these people would sell them an

offering, but they were robbing the

people of God and patting their own

pockets with it. Jesus was very upset

about that. God doesn't take lightly

about about the money of his of the

house, the operation of the church. He

does not take that money lightly. And we

ought to be careful. I'll give an

account for what I do with that as the

pastor. And so there's the principle of

tithing and faith. Tithing in the house

of God. Now let's deal with this thought

of tithing and blessing. Okay. What does

a tithe have to do with blessing? Now

the verse that we always go to, you've

probably heard it a thousand times.

Malachi chapter number three. It's the

last book of the Old Testament. Malachi

chapter number three

verse number eight.

The Bible says, "Will a man rob God? Yet

ye have robbed me. But you say, "Wherein

have we robbed thee?" In tithes and

offerings. Verse number nine, "You are

cursed with a curse, for you have robbed

me, even this whole nation." Now,

obviously, you say, "Well, that's a a

precept to Israel." Let me remind you

something. This this same commandment

carries over. Okay? It's a command to

give the tithe. And so, where this

command is disobeyed, there is a curse

that follows that. Notice verse number

10. Bring ye all the tithes into the

storehouse, that there may be meat in

mine house. And prove me now herewith,

sayith the Lord of hosts, if I will not

open you the windows of heaven, and pour

you out a blessing, that there shall not

be room enough to receive it. So the

tithing command here comes with a

blessing. Now, this is the thing about

our Lord. Now, he's not obligated to do

this. All right? But isn't it

interesting? What is God obligated to

do? What is the only thing God is

obligated to do?

Is fulfill his word, isn't it?

Isn't that right? If God says his word,

what does he say? He said, "Heaven and

earth will pass away." He said, "But

one, there not going to be one jot or

one tit that's left unfulfilled." Amen.

You know that's paraphrasing. But God

says on the authority of his word,

notice it again. Bring ye the tithes,

all the tithes into the storehouse.

Notice that that's that's that's put

there again. And it's total to total all

all the tithes into the storehouse that

there may be meat in mine house and

prove me now herewith sayaith the Lord

of hosts if I will not open you the

windows of heaven and pour you out a

blessing. God is saying you can prove me

by this.

Now I can't promise you that you'll have

more money if you tithe. But I can tell

you this. You'll have more joy if you

tithe. You'll know more of the blessing

of God if you tithe the way you're

supposed to. Now you say, "Preacher,

what is that blessing?" Well, I'll say

this. For those of us who are saved this

morning, we could talk about, you know,

the dispensational truth and all of

that, but for those of us who are saved

this morning, if you haven't tithe,

you're not right with God.

And so, if you are refusing to tithe,

you don't have fellowship with the Lord.

But if you do tithe, you have you you

have the peace of knowing I have open

open fellowship with the Lord. That is

promised to those that operate on this

type. God says, "Prove me. See, if I

don't pour you out a blessing, I'll say

this. You cannot outgive him. If you

give what he commands, he'll give what?

What he wants to give into your life and

bless you the way that he wants to. You

say, "Preacher, well, what does this

have to do with New Testament? Where

does where do we see the principle of

giving in the New Testament?" Well, I'm

going to I'm going to not going to be

preaching on that particular subject

today, but I'm going to be dealing with

another thought that leads into that.

So, let let me say this before I go any

further. We've established this. Number

one, tithing was before the law. We

could say we can all agree with that.

All right. This morning, tithing was

before the law. It was offering offered

unto the Lord there. It's offered first

under the king of Salem, Melzdc, the

type of Christ. It's pledged to him. And

then Jacob offers that unto the Lord at

Bethl at the house of God. And so,

tithing was before the law. Tithing was

introduced by the father of the faith.

And we've noticed that tithing was

reinforced by the law. If you need

another verse for that, you can turn to

Deuteronomy chapter 14 verse number 28.

Deuteronomy 14 · chapter mention

The same truth is relayed. Tithing is

reinforced. It is a command of the Lord

to tithe. It's it's reinforced there in

chapter 27 of Leviticus verse 34. These

are the commandments which the Lord

commanded Moses for the children of

Israel on Mount Si. So it is a

commandment. We realize that. Okay. But

where does this come into the New

Testament? Where does this fit in our

lives? Well, Jesus said this in the

Gospels. Luke chapter number six

concerning giving. Luke chapter number 6

verse number 38.

Notice what your Bible says. He says,

"Give and it shall be given unto you.

Good measure pressed down and shaken

together and running over shall men give

into your bosom." Notice what he says,

that last phrase. For with the same

measure that you meet, with all it shall

be measured to you again. Now, I don't

think it's coincidence that Jesus worded

it that way.

You say, "Preacher, you saying that if I

give a tenth, God's going to give a

tenth back to me?" No. What he said in

that text is is that what we are

commanded to give? We are commanded to

give by the text. Let me say that. Verse

38. What's the first word? Give. That's

a command from God to give. All right.

Now, the measure, look what he says

about the measure. Give and it shall be

given unto you good measure, pressed

down, shaken together, and running over.

Now, he just said to give. what he is

saying is what's going to be given back

to you. He says good measure. He said

that fullness it's pressed down. It has

the image you know I I remember this I

use this illustration just for sake of

you know trying to express it to us. Uh

the one time that I worked in the

tobacco field growing up we put tobaca

in the racks. Now I didn't know anything

about hanging burly or anything like

that. And I thank God that I didn't know

anything about that. But we had flu

cured. We didn't have it. another a

family a friend family friend we knew

had tobacco and they wanted us to come

help one day and they had these racks

these big tubs and what you would do is

is you would fill that thing completely

to the top and then you would get in the

top of it and you would trump it down

and in in that thing you would trump it

down. You probably probably people

probably don't like the thought of

people's dirty boots and feet being

that. But anyway, we would pack it down

and what we'd do is we'd put more on top

of it and keep packing it down and put

more on top of it and keep packing it

down till it was so tight you couldn't

get any more in it. Then we'd close it

up. You know what it would be doing? It

would be sticking out of the sides of

that thing everywhere because it was so

tight. The imagery here in this verse,

he says, "Good measure be given, pressed

down, shaken together, and running over.

It's going to be completely full and

overabounding. It has the idea of a

super abundance. That's what this means.

It means an immeasurable amount. He

says, "Give the amount that that that

you know, whatever God puts on your

heart." And we'll see that in just a

minute. I'm going to go to another

verse. But he gives that stipulation in

the end of the verse. For with the same

measure that you meet with all, it shall

be measured to you again. And this comes

back to the phrase that I said before.

You cannot outgive God. If you give him

a tithe, like you know that that's the

minimum what we believe from the

scripture. God is going to bless you for

giving what he commanded you to give.

But I'll say this, you go beyond that,

the blessing is exponential.

And u notice this. Notice this verse

with me. Notice the book of 2

Corinthians.

This is what Paul says concerning this

subject.

2 Corinthians chapter

chapter 9

verse number six.

2 Corinthians 9:6.

2 Corinthians 9:6

But this I say, he which seweth

sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and

he which sweth bountifully shall reap

also bountifully. Verse seven, notice

this. Every man according as he purpose

purposeth in his heart, so let him give,

not grudgingly or of necessity, for God

loveth a cheerful giver. Now, people

want to argue the tithe, whether that's

a principle in the New Testament. We've

already displayed that. All right? It's

a principle of the faith. It's something

that is expected. But he says here in

verse number seven, when he says, "Every

man according as he purposeth in his

heart, so let him give." That in has in

mind that there is a minimum that we are

to give. All right? That's not, you

know, well, you know, I I I can't give

this month and so I'm not going to give

this month. No, there's a minimum that

is to be given. All right? That's that's

that's the tithe. That's the first

fruits. But you also understand there

are the offerings and there's there's

places in the Old Testament talk about

that. The offerings that go above that.

And so we're to give as what God we're

we're to give what God puts on our

heart. Notice that according as as he

purposeth in his heart, so let him give.

And what's said here about this is is

what reveals to us the truth. Now he

says not grudgingly. Let me say this.

your gift. God is not so much concerned

with your gift as he is the attitude in

which you give it.

I need to say that again. God is not so

much concerned with your gift as he is

with the attitude in which you give.

You can give 50% of your income, but if

you do it with a heart, you know that

you know full of pride and saying I'm

I'm keeping this place operate. Brother

Gravely tells a story about a man in his

church and through different set of

circumst

they built the fellowship hall you know

is having a problem with rules of the

fellowship hall and uh you know he said

uh you know I I want to do this at the

fellowship hall are you going to allow

us to do this certain activity in the

fellowship hall and brother brother

brother brother Gravely said this no

we're not going to do that man looked at

him and said you know my my tithe pays

your salary. $300 a week. His tithe was

$300 a week. And brother Gravely said

said, "No, you don't pay my salary. God

pays my salary."

And he said, you know, he said, "That

man left." He said, "But God sent us

three more families in that paid tithe

and went beyond that." Truth is, God's

not concerned with how much you give,

but how you give. Verse number seven,

not grudgingly or of necessity for God

loveth the cheerful giver. Notice verse

eight. And God is able to make all grace

abound toward you, that ye always having

all sufficiency in all things may abound

to every good work. God does not want

you to be impoverished, all right, to

pay your tithe. You shouldn't be

impoverished to pay your tithe. Okay? If

somebody has a $100, that's $10 off of

that. You're not going to be

impoverished by that. All right? that

that 90 is going to do the same thing

that the hundred would do. Let me say

it'll do a lot more when you give God

the 10. Amen. But the truth is God wants

you to give in the effect to number one

to support the work of God to carry it

on. But he also says here in verse

number eight, the principle is that God

is going to take care of what you have

to lay down. Now what is that? Where is

that scene? Let's go back to Abraham for

just a minute. What what is the emphasis

of Abraham? This is a beautiful picture

of this thought. What did God promise

Abraham? Promised him a seed, didn't he?

Who was that seed? Isaac. Isaac was the

promised seed. And we know the story

goes on. Isaac is born in their old age.

God comes to Abraham. He says, "All

right, Abraham. I want you to take your

son, your only son, Isaac. What I what

do you want to do?" He want to go up on

the mountain and offer him.

And you know what? He didn't say a

tenth, did he?

He didn't tell him to cut off his foot

or his leg. Amen. He said, "I want you

to offer all of him." And when he got up

there, what happened? He went to he

raised the sword to slay his son. And

what did God do? There was a ram called

in the thicket. And God spoke from

heaven. Now, I'm not telling you that

God's not going to say, you know, you

don't have to give your tithe this week.

Now, that's not what it is. God is

saying, if you'll give your tithe, I'll

give you more than you could have ever

had keeping that 10% yourself.

>> Amen. And what happened? God blessed

Abraham because of his faithfulness. So,

something else I was going to say, but I

think we're going to end it off there.

Truth is, tithing it is a principle in

the in the Old Testament, but it carries

over to you and I. It's a principle of

the faith or offered unto Christ, and it

belongs to the Lord. And first and

foremost, and like I said, I'm not

concerned about this crowd doing that. I

just wanted to reiterate that uh this

morning. and I'll probably preach on it

sometime because the ones that need to

tithe ain't here. Amen. And uh so I love

y'all. I appreciate you. And uh Amen.

Thank you for bearing with me through

that. Amen. Let's pray. Father, thank

you for this time. Thank you for the

truth of your word. And Lord, we don't

have to give grudgingly, but God, we can

give cheerfully

knowing Lord, you own the cattle of a

thousand hills. Lord, you're able to.

>> Thank you for joining our service today.

We'd love it if you join us in person

the next time you are able at Meadows

Baptist Church. Our physical address is

2988 Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. Our service times are Sunday

school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday morning

worship at 11:00 a.m., Sunday evening

worship at 6:00 p.m. and Wednesday

evening Bible study at 700 p.m. For more

information, visit us at

meadowsbaptisturch.com.

Thanks again for tuning in.