Sermon

First Fruits: Initiating a Promise for 2026 | Pastor Scott & Pastor Caleb

Free Life Chapel Podcast

Open publisher episode ↗

Publisher transcript

Transcript

View source ↗
  1. Free Life Chapel. How are you today?

  2. Thank you for jumping on and checking

  3. out this podcast today where we're going

  4. to help you understand better about

  5. first fruits. Uh we celebrate first

  6. fruits every year at Free Life Chapel

  7. and uh but we always want to bring

  8. understanding so that there's not just

  9. blind uh obedience, blind just running

  10. with it. We want you to get your

  11. fingers, get your heart into it so you

  12. understand the power and the principle

  13. behind what we're talking about today. I

  14. have got Pastor Caleb Thomas with us,

  15. sir.

  16. >> My man, my boy, my son, flesh of my

  17. flesh, bone of my bone, all that good

  18. stuff.

  19. >> Uh, Caleb, thank you for jumping on as

  20. we have this just quick conversation on

  21. first free.

  22. >> Uh, this is a principle that quite

  23. honestly a lot of Christians are really

  24. not aware of. Man, that's right. Like,

  25. so even myself, I grew up, as long as I

  26. can remember, it's been something that

  27. you have been teaching on, right?

  28. >> But it's not been something that I was

  29. educated on, right?

  30. >> You were educating. I just I wasn't

  31. listening or I wasn't even aware of it.

  32. So, it wasn't until uh man, probably

  33. about 10 years ago where I started

  34. getting a little bit more to grips as to

  35. what is first fruits, find out what it

  36. is for myself. I know you and mom, you

  37. and Pastor Cindy have been doing it for

  38. decades now.

  39. >> Yeah. Over 25 years. We've been

  40. celebrating first fruit at the beginning

  41. of every year. It's just become a

  42. principle. Once I saw this in the Bible,

  43. it really hit me when I was studying my

  44. my passion for the Hebrew roots of the

  45. Christian faith. Yeah.

  46. >> And I began to see it in one of those

  47. books that quite honestly, okay, I saw

  48. first fruit mentioned several places in

  49. the Bible, but then I had to go all the

  50. way back to that one book of the Bible

  51. nobody reads, Leviticus. And I I I found

  52. in Leviticus chapter 23,

    Leviticus 23 chapter mention

  53. like bam, there it is amongst

  54. >> the seven major festivals called the

  55. Lord's feasts that that God says this is

  56. to be to be something that happen

  57. annually to honor me.

  58. >> Yes, sir.

  59. >> And so, Leviticus chapter 23 is where

    Leviticus 23 chapter mention

  60. this chapter is that mentions all seven

  61. of these major festivals. And I'm not

  62. going to read through all of them for

  63. time's sake, but I will draw all those

  64. who are listening their their attention

  65. to verses 9 through uh verse 14. Okay?

  66. >> And just a couple of verses here I will

  67. read. The Lord spoke to Moses saying,

  68. "Speak to the people of Israel and say

  69. to them, when you come into the land

  70. that I give you and reap its harvest,

  71. you shall bring the sheath of the first

  72. fruits of your harvest to the priests.

  73. and he shall wave the sheath before the

  74. Lord so that you may be accepted on the

  75. day after the Sabbath the priest shall

  76. wave it. Verse 14 says, "And you shall

  77. eat neither bread nor grain parched nor

  78. fresh until the selfsame day until you

  79. have brought the offering of your God.

  80. It is a statute forever throughout your

  81. generations in all your dwellings."

  82. >> He was kind of nailing that part down of

  83. don't lose this principle. Don't lose

  84. this idea.

  85. >> Yeah. continue to pass this down. Like

  86. this is something that this isn't just

  87. good for y'all, but this is going to be

  88. good through the end of time. That's

  89. right.

  90. >> Cuz it's not a man-made idea.

  91. >> That's right.

  92. >> It's a God-made idea.

  93. >> And a lot of folks make the mistake of

  94. calling these Jewish festivals, but the

  95. Bible says, Leviticus 23 says, they're

  96. the Lord's festivals,

  97. >> which means it's not owned by a people

  98. group. It's not owned by generation.

  99. That's right. It's not owned by a

  100. demographic.

  101. >> If you're owned by the Lord, then this

  102. is for you. So we need to I think it's

  103. important we're we're not legalistic in

  104. throwing elbows so folks say we're not

  105. doing this.

  106. >> Everything that I've found Caleb you

  107. know this we've talked about this

  108. growing up every place in the Bible that

  109. we find that we can follow it and act

  110. out live out our faith we need those

  111. handles in our faith life.

  112. >> That's right. And that's what one of

  113. these cool parts of getting back to this

  114. root system, if you will, when it comes

  115. to this is there's always a the next

  116. step in our faith for us to be able to

  117. take. Exactly.

  118. >> And if we only look so surface level,

  119. maybe to what we've already been exposed

  120. to, then we might look up and like,

  121. well, what's my next step? Acting as if

  122. I've arrived when I know that I have I

  123. know that there has to be something

  124. more. And so, this gives us a great next

  125. step that I'm excited for this season

  126. because we're coming into it here at

  127. Free Life. Yeah, this has been a

  128. gamecher for so many folks that have

  129. discovered it, bought into it, have

  130. lived it out, and they're watching the

  131. results happen. And that's why we want

  132. to continue to bring this information.

  133. So, first fruit literally in the Hebrew

  134. means a promise to come.

  135. >> It's it it's when you participate in

  136. first fruit, what God is saying, you are

  137. literally initiating a promise that it's

  138. up to me to to hold it true in your

  139. life. I must bring it to pass. So I am,

  140. it's almost like saying, God, I'm going

  141. to trust your resume.

  142. >> Right.

  143. >> This is before you act on my behalf.

  144. >> I will honor and celebrate you ahead of

  145. time.

  146. >> That's right.

  147. >> And so it's a promise to come that we're

  148. getting involved in. That's what the

  149. actual word first fruit means. It's

  150. crazy because it's like the Bible said

  151. his word will never return void. That's

  152. right. He's the same yesterday, today,

  153. forever. Again, bringing it back to this

  154. is a Lord's feast, not anything else.

  155. Because if he did it before, he could do

  156. it again.

  157. >> No, completely. That that's exactly

  158. right. Uh Proverbs 3 uh is is a verse

  159. that is is quite often quoted and and it

  160. says this in verse 9. Proverbs 3:9,

    Proverbs 3:9

  161. "Honor the Lord with your wealth and

  162. with the first fruit of all your

  163. produce, then your barns will be filled

  164. with plenty and your vats will be

  165. bursting with wine." So there's a then

  166. right statement there. So if then it

  167. created a a it's a clause that says you

  168. get to initiate. Y

  169. >> you do your part, I'll do mine. But it

  170. says honor the Lord with your wealth and

  171. with the first fruit of your increase.

  172. >> So what's the difference there then

  173. between like a first fruit and a tithe?

  174. >> Because the tithe is the first that we

  175. bring about the first 10%.

  176. >> Yes. So so this is a big conversation

  177. that for years in fact when I was

  178. growing up I heard it mixed. There

  179. wasn't an understanding as to what first

  180. fruit was. So let's talk about this

  181. first of all uh to show the difference

  182. between a first fruit and a tithe. First

  183. fruit in the Bible is considered the

  184. best part.

  185. >> Okay?

  186. >> And your tithe is considered the set

  187. 10%.

  188. >> Okay?

  189. >> So there there's a there's a different

  190. in fact the very first first fruit we

  191. have is the is the gift the the offering

  192. that Abel brought to God in Genesis

    Genesis 4 chapter mention

  193. chapter 4. Yes sir. That was a first

  194. fruit offering, okay, that he brought,

  195. >> okay?

  196. >> Uh and so it's it was we don't we're not

  197. allocated a certain number. It's

  198. different in different arenas. And we're

  199. going to talk about how that plays out

  200. in our lives.

  201. >> That's cool. Cuz even with that Abel

  202. one, I said he said it it was pleasing

  203. to the Lord.

  204. >> That's Oh yes. Oh, it's a

  205. >> So it wasn't even just something that it

  206. was accepted because of the set value.

  207. That's right. It was something that was

  208. pleasing because of how it touched his

  209. heart.

  210. >> Exactly. Exactly. Second thing is first

  211. fruit is seasonal. Tithe is ongoing.

  212. >> Okay. Yeah.

  213. >> So this first fruit we celebrate it once

  214. a year

  215. >> beginning of the brand new year.

  216. >> But the but the tithe is every every

  217. time you gain in

  218. >> the harvest. Yeah.

  219. >> You you bring a first fruit and and then

  220. the the you bring a tithe, I should say.

  221. And then the the third and the final

  222. difference is the first fruit is given

  223. before the harvest comes in. The tithe

  224. is given after

  225. >> the harvest has come in.

  226. >> One is in anticipation or expectation

  227. and the other is in response to what you

  228. have done.

  229. >> That's right. I give it back.

  230. >> First fruit is saying, "God, I trust you

  231. to be my supplier and I will give on a

  232. full trust that you're able to do what

  233. you said." And the tithe is saying, "I

  234. got a paycheck this week. I want to

  235. thank you for the ability to work for

  236. the job and I return the tithe." See,

  237. the tithe is returned to God. He owns it

  238. all,

  239. >> right?

  240. >> We return the time. But the first fruit

  241. is me saying, "I trust you. I'm I'm

  242. placing it all on the line." So there

  243. are differences. And this this carries

  244. throughout the Bible. First fruit is

  245. mentioned both in the Old Testament and

  246. New Testament. Multiple books. We don't

  247. have time to get into all that. This

  248. will be an hour podcast. We don't want

  249. to don't want to run down that line. But

  250. the in the Old Testament, it means a

  251. promise to come. In the New Testament,

  252. first fruit literally means a sacrifice

  253. in the beginning. And and it really

  254. begins to relate to especially giving a

  255. picture of Jesus becoming our first

  256. fruit.

  257. >> Yeah.

  258. >> And we'll talk more about that in just a

  259. minute. But this idea of first fruit

  260. comes from an agricultural mindset.

  261. That's that's exactly who Israel was.

  262. They were an agricultural people. They

  263. grew their food.

  264. >> And in fact, something really

  265. interesting when when I was growing up,

  266. my dad had he loved to have a garden. I

  267. think we grew more weeds than we did

  268. plants or or or any any any vegetables.

  269. But he would plant peas and and and and

  270. tomatoes and lettuce and carrots and

  271. onions and green peppers and d

  272. one thing that continually came up was

  273. whenever we would have a row of

  274. something planted, there was always one

  275. or two that always seemed to produce

  276. before anything else did.

  277. >> And then the bulk caught up later,

  278. >> right?

  279. >> But these like y'all are the earlier

  280. man. Look at you. you know, big

  281. achievers. Let's go.

  282. >> But that is literally a picture of first

  283. fruit being wired into

  284. agriculture.

  285. >> Wow.

  286. >> In fact, rabbis and and and farmers have

  287. studied this for a long time. Like why

  288. are these why do these produce so early?

  289. >> It is if God is saying, I'm going to

  290. show you what the first fruit is now.

  291. Will you be faithful with it?

  292. >> So even though I did, he's helping us

  293. >> Yes.

  294. >> initiate even though we're the ones

  295. initiating. He's like, "We need all the

  296. help we can get. So, let me at least

  297. show it to you. And here's your sign.

  298. Big neon Las Vegas lights. It's the only

  299. thing that's grown. Are you willing to

  300. trust me?" And that's exactly what

  301. Israel did. Israel would go through a

  302. long winter. And then all of a sudden,

  303. when they were ready for the harvest

  304. because the first fruit happens in the

  305. spring. It's right after the winter, the

  306. brand new year, the first month of the

  307. year. And when that hit, finally, the

  308. wheat is growing. Well, they've been

  309. through a long winter. They're ready for

  310. some fresh grain,

  311. >> but the first grain that produced that

  312. was going to be the first fruit and it

  313. would get marked

  314. >> and they would say that has been set

  315. aside for God. And as they would mark

  316. that and the Bible calls it a sheath uh

  317. s h e af especially as we read in

  318. Leviticus chapter 23 it because it's not

    Leviticus 23 chapter mention

  319. a specific it's just a first growing uh

  320. group and that's why it's not a specific

  321. number like the tithe added to it. It's

  322. not a specific thing. Uh but the rabbis

  323. say that state that it was approximately

  324. 150th of the total harvest is what was

  325. coming in. That's that's what they

  326. identified it as. So they marked that.

  327. that they would bring it to the priest,

  328. present it, and the priest would wave it

  329. as a wave offering on and declaring the

  330. promises of God that he makes over that

  331. man, over his family, and as all of

  332. Israel would do that, it was over the

  333. nation of Israel. And so, this is how

  334. the first fruit was celebrated,

  335. identified, and brought in. If there was

  336. an uh we'll just say a fig tree, figs

  337. are big in Israel, fig trees growing,

  338. they would mark the first figs that

  339. would ripen with little strings and tie

  340. those on. and those will be brought in

  341. honor of God. So everything was always

  342. whatever ripened first, take that to

  343. God. And that was a sacrifice because

  344. >> you know when that is your livelihood.

  345. We have no capacity to live beyond this.

  346. We got to grow our food. We can't just

  347. run to Publix and pick something up if

  348. our tree goes dead, right? I mean we

  349. we're going to need this.

  350. >> You're literally stating my dependence

  351. our dependence is on you. And that's

  352. very different than where they came from

  353. in ex out of the Egypt, right? Because

  354. Egypt was was was just, you know, they

  355. were there for 400 years. They had all

  356. kinds of gods that they were taught to

  357. depend on.

  358. >> Exactly. So that this idea of

  359. >> total dependency, this idea of there is

  360. no other option. Yeah.

  361. >> It's I'm making it happen on my own or

  362. God, I put my life in your hands. Yes.

  363. Where this first fruit comes from. So

  364. now

  365. >> the cool thing about first fruits though

  366. was uh there's a lot of things that

  367. happen on the day of first fruits. Yeah.

  368. >> Throughout the Bible. Yeah, for sure.

  369. >> Like it wasn't just like a one hit

  370. wonder that you got the top of the

  371. billboards only one time. Like there

  372. there was an I'll use what we use at NYE

  373. an encore that God kept doing on the day

  374. of first fruits throughout the Bible.

  375. >> Right. Completely. And for all of our

  376. free lifers uh who have gotten the uh

  377. the brochure. That's right. Uh these

  378. brochures are available to everybody uh

  379. throughout this month that you'll have

  380. as a great resource to look through it.

  381. Uh they're actually listed here. And I

  382. just want us to hit them real quickly.

  383. Yes, sir.

  384. >> Uh and move through these. Notice, and

  385. here's the important thing,

  386. >> that all of these events that we're

  387. about to mention all happened on the

  388. same day of the calendar.

  389. Nissan is the first month in the Hebrew

  390. on the Hebrew calendar. Nissan, the

  391. 17th. The 17th day of the month of

  392. Nissan is when all of these took place.

  393. Not on the exact same year over the

  394. years, but that same day. Uh Noah's ark

  395. came to rest on Mount Arat. That's okay.

  396. So, pretty cool event. We all are aware

  397. of that. Genesis chapter 8 lays that

    Genesis 8 chapter mention

  398. out.

  399. >> Uh Moses led the children of Israel

  400. through the Red Sea.

  401. >> Kind of a big deal.

  402. >> Think they came out of the Red Sea on

  403. the day of first fruit

  404. >> sprouted.

  405. >> Yes. They they they they and and we will

  406. we'll talk about that. It's a picture of

  407. baptism. The whole nation was baptized.

  408. They were immersed. They didn't get wet,

  409. >> right?

  410. >> But they were immersed under the water

  411. because it was above them.

  412. >> And they came out the other side. God

  413. literally baptized the entire nation at

  414. one time on the day of first fruit.

  415. >> That's dope.

  416. >> And that'll have significance more in

  417. just a second. Yeah.

  418. >> Israel ate the first fruit. Uh Israel

  419. ate the fruit of the promised land. Yes.

  420. Joshua 5,

  421. >> which is which is powerful because

  422. remember this in Joshua 5 when they went

  423. into the promised land. The enemy had

  424. been there before they were there,

  425. >> right?

  426. >> So the enemy had planted the trees, had

  427. grown the fruit. Israel walked in and it

  428. was already waiting on them. They didn't

  429. have to do the work, right?

  430. >> It was already provided.

  431. >> More than what they had ever seen

  432. before.

  433. >> Exactly. Bigger and better.

  434. >> That's right.

  435. >> Hezekiah Y

  436. >> cleansed the temple. That that was a big

  437. thing. It had been defiled and it was a

  438. mess and rebellion of Israel. But it was

  439. a time to just turn things back around

  440. and over to God. And Hezekiah had a

  441. passion for that. But it happened on the

  442. day of first fruit.

  443. >> Right. Queen Esther saved the Hebrews

  444. from annihilation.

  445. >> Yes.

  446. >> Being able to save an entire nation,

  447. entire people group from from hatred.

  448. Yes. And it happened on this day of

  449. first fruit.

  450. >> That's exactly right. That that's that's

  451. a big one. For such a time as this,

  452. right? That's it. And and that's when

  453. Hmon had built the gallows to hang every

  454. Jew on, but instead he got hung. That's

  455. right. And then this this one obviously

  456. Christ followers. This becomes the

  457. calling card. Jesus resurrected from the

  458. dead. Not on a random day. Right.

  459. >> Not just whenever he got kicked out or

  460. he finished his stay at the Airbnb hell.

  461. Airbnb hell.

  462. >> Right. Right.

  463. >> He he did it on first fruits.

  464. >> On the day of first fruit. And so when

  465. you look at the series of these events,

  466. all of them happening on the exact same

  467. calendar day of the year, here's what's

  468. really interesting.

  469. When you look at the numbers, the

  470. mathematicians have looked at this. The

  471. Bible has so many mathematical

  472. Yeah. brain straining ideas behind it.

  473. The odds of just two of these events

  474. happening on the exact same day of the

  475. Hebrew calendar are one in 129,000. Wow.

  476. One in 20 one in 129.

  477. >> In order for all of these events that we

  478. just mentioned

  479. >> to happen on the same day, all of them,

  480. not just two, all of these is one in 587

  481. quadrillion.

  482. Now, I'm glad you said that number, sir,

  483. because that's right here on the paper.

  484. And I didn't know how to say that one.

  485. >> I wasn't going to go I wasn't going to

  486. trillion, billion, million, and

  487. hundreds. I wasn't doing that. It's just

  488. the quadrat. Now, think about that. Do

  489. you know what that tells me? Number one,

  490. these odds are impossible, right?

  491. >> It's absolutely impossible. Number two,

  492. it also tells me it must be by

  493. intelligent design. There is a message

  494. behind this. This is not random. This is

  495. for us to search out and realize God is

  496. trying to tell us something behind this.

  497. >> That's it. Why would God waste his time,

  498. his effort? Yes. Or these signs. And so

  499. just for like you said, for one or two

  500. of them to happen, coincidence, happen

  501. stance, somebody might say, but for

  502. these certain things, if he's so

  503. intentional to create us, to create all

  504. that we see around us, right?

  505. >> Why can't we believe that this is a sign

  506. that he's given us to try to help us

  507. live the best life that he intended for

  508. us?

  509. >> Completely. It's on purpose. even to the

  510. point of connecting Jesus's resurrection

  511. on the day of first. Exactly. So, here

  512. comes the question. What is the message?

  513. >> All of these the what are they telling

  514. us? And that's what I want us to look

  515. at. And again, it's all right here in

  516. your in your brochures. I hope I hope

  517. you'll pick this up and check this out

  518. and read it and study it all for

  519. yourself. But, but let's let's talk

  520. these through again real quickly then.

  521. So, Noah's arc came to rest on Mount

  522. Arat, right? We we we know that. In

  523. other words, the storm ended.

  524. >> Mhm.

  525. >> It's over. Rest hit the people. In fact,

  526. Arat literally means the curse is

  527. reversed.

  528. >> That's what Mount Arat means. In in in

  529. other words, on the day of first fruits,

  530. the curse was reversed. Great.

  531. >> Rest is here. The storm is over.

  532. >> That's great.

  533. >> Okay. Sign me up for that one right

  534. there.

  535. >> No. Exactly. Exactly. And and as if that

  536. wasn't enough, right, the Moses uh

  537. leading the Israelites through uh the

  538. Red Sea. Yeah. What does that have to

  539. say? That God can get you through the

  540. impossible. That there's literally

  541. nothing that you or I can go through

  542. that handcuffs, that limits, that makes

  543. God scratch his head, makes a way where

  544. there seems to be no way. Yeah. And is

  545. able to do it still in our lives today.

  546. >> You're not stuck. That's it. God's got

  547. you, boo.

  548. >> He's got you, boo.

  549. Ex. Don't preach my message back at me.

  550. That No, that's exactly right. We're not

  551. stuck. And where he's led you, even

  552. though you can hear the enemy coming

  553. behind you, he will not be able to lay a

  554. hand on you.

  555. >> That's it. It's good. I like this next

  556. one as well. Uh Israel uh ate the fruit

  557. of the promised land. Uh supernatural

  558. provision

  559. >> that the he he's he's leading you to

  560. places that the provision is waiting on

  561. you. You're not going to have to go

  562. begin to work that. And there's nothing

  563. wrong with work and there's a lot of

  564. things that God does in our life that

  565. there is delay, but everything doesn't

  566. come with delay. Sometimes you walk into

  567. a a promise that's already mature.

  568. That's right. Something that I love. I

  569. know I need this reminder just like

  570. Hezekiah cleansing the temple. God will

  571. restore and renew our life. That I don't

  572. have to walk around busted and disgusted

  573. based off of what I have done, what has

  574. been done to me. But there's this

  575. renewal, this rejuvenation that I'm able

  576. to have because of God.

  577. >> And first fruit does that, Caleb. When

  578. we when we bring a first fruit, you are

  579. required to set your mind and your

  580. attention, your awareness on him.

  581. >> And it demands a renewal of my faith in

  582. him, too. That's right. Like, you know

  583. what?

  584. >> I'm going all in. I'm trusting him in

  585. this.

  586. >> It's like in Matthew, seek first the

  587. kingdom of heaven. Keep that on the

  588. forefront. So, we fix our minds not on

  589. what's seen, but what's unseen. That's

  590. right. Because what's seen is temporal.

  591. What's unseen is everlasting.

  592. >> That's exactly right. Yeah. Yeah.

  593. >> Queen Esther, uh, saving the Hebrews, I

  594. I I love this here because, uh, he

  595. literally God shut down the enemy's

  596. plan.

  597. >> Yes, sir.

  598. >> No weapon

  599. >> formed against me.

  600. >> Now, a weapon will be formed.

  601. >> That's right.

  602. >> The gallows were built, but it it won't

  603. be successful. And it literally was in

  604. in uh in living color right there.

  605. >> That's right. and then Jesus

  606. resurrection from the dead. How does

  607. that play out in our life today that God

  608. is going to give you a new life, a free

  609. life, but only through this relationship

  610. with Jesus? But it happens through this

  611. idea. God uses first fruits to continue

  612. to show us his goodness, his

  613. faithfulness. That's right. And how he

  614. wants to be active in our life.

  615. >> Well, Jesus becomes a picture of the

  616. Bible says uh that that that first fruit

  617. is that that precedes the whole.

  618. >> Right. So, we give 150th of what is yet

  619. to come. Jesus is a picture of what is

  620. to come because he rose from the dead.

  621. We will have a resurrection as well. And

  622. we are a picture of the greater harvest

  623. that is on the way. So these become

  624. exciting days that us and links us into

  625. it as well as awakening, bringing back

  626. to life dead dreams, dead hopes,

  627. believing again something can change.

  628. We're not stuck and limited. The fact

  629. that Jesus got up, we can too. So

  630. basically what you're saying is there's

  631. more reasons for us to lean into first

  632. fruit. Yes. Than there is for us to stay

  633. back. And and and I get it there.

  634. There's questions and I I don't

  635. understand it and what's going on. And

  636. this is why we at Free Life created this

  637. brochure. Yeah. So that uh one of my

  638. favorite phrases that we use here at

  639. Free Life, you say it all the time, sir,

  640. is uh God gave you a brain.

  641. >> Yeah.

  642. >> Use it.

  643. >> Yep. It's not just following whatever,

  644. right? Whatever somebody says from a

  645. microphone or whatever somebody says

  646. because God says it. Do research for

  647. yourself. We're blessed enough to have

  648. our own Bible. That's right. That we can

  649. look, by the way, Bob. That's right. In

  650. this month, look it up for yourself. And

  651. so this kind of resourcing to show this

  652. isn't a man-made idea. This is not a

  653. free life chapel idea or dance. This is

  654. a God a feast of the Lord.

  655. >> That's right.

  656. >> And because of that, it's something that

  657. he's going to bring to fruition. not

  658. because of a man. And God says, "What? I

  659. hold no strings attached and I do not

  660. give as the world gives."

  661. >> Right. Right.

  662. >> And he so excited.

  663. >> And he fulfills his word for his name's

  664. sake.

  665. >> That's it.

  666. >> His reputation is what's on the line.

  667. And so that's what we're talking about

  668. here. Let me let me read this one last

  669. passage to you as if we need any

  670. anything else to convince us to get

  671. involved in this. Exodus 23 verse 19 is

    Exodus 23:19

  672. a verse that creates a lot of huh. It's

  673. almost like that dog that kind of looks

  674. sideways, you know, when he hears a

  675. certain song. Here's here's what Exodus

    Exodus 23:19

  676. 23:19 says. The best of the first fruits

  677. of your ground you shall bring into the

  678. house of the Lord your God.

  679. Straightforward. Yeah. Boom. All right.

  680. And this is throughout the Bible. But

  681. then the second half of that verse says

  682. this, "You shall not boil a young goat

  683. in its mother's milk."

  684. >> Okay, please tell me how this all goes

  685. together. That doesn't

  686. >> on PK County, not down P.

  687. >> Yeah. And unless you understand the

  688. context, it would not it would not

  689. click. Go back and put this back in its

  690. order. Think before Exodus 23. The

  691. nation of Israel was locked up in Egypt.

  692. 400 years of bondage.

  693. >> While they were there, they were taught

  694. paganism. They were taught cultic

  695. rituals. They were taught all kinds of

  696. incantations. Say this, do this. They

  697. were just like we are. They were just

  698. people trying to get by and try every

  699. superstition of culture that they could

  700. lock into

  701. >> one of the one of the cultural uh uh the

  702. cultic uh activities that were used for

  703. harvest because everything was

  704. agriculture in those days. If it didn't

  705. rain, if the ground didn't produce, they

  706. didn't eat. Uh, one of the big things

  707. that happened in Egypt, many scholars

  708. and common commentary writers all

  709. understand and believe this that what

  710. was going on was Israel as a nation had

  711. learned from e Egypt that they would

  712. take a a a mother ram, a a mother goat

  713. and boil her baby in that milk and then

  714. take the broth and take the ashes and

  715. scatter it, spread it on the field and

  716. that it would produce and promise us a

  717. greater harvest in the next year

  718. >> almost sacrifice in the field

  719. >> basically. Yes. And so it was looking to

  720. another God in order to provide.

  721. >> So with that in mind when you hear this

  722. passage, bring the first fruit of your

  723. ground. You shall bring it to the house

  724. of the Lord your God. Do not boil a

  725. young goat and its mother's milk.

  726. >> Yeah.

  727. >> It's like, okay.

  728. >> So you you're rescripting where my

  729. resource comes from. Culture says one

  730. thing. You're saying another. And listen

  731. to how he follows it up in verse 20,

  732. Caleb. I love this. Behold, I send an

  733. angel before you to guard you on the way

  734. and to bring you to the place that I

  735. have prepared.

  736. >> Wow.

  737. >> What?

  738. >> That behold. Look out. It's coming. It's

  739. there.

  740. >> Making announcement. That's right.

  741. >> That you don't need any magical

  742. incantations. And culture may not

  743. understand this cuz I know all of Egypt

  744. does it this way. My people do it

  745. different. You trust me. Don't jump into

  746. the mess that they do. I'm sending an

  747. angel ahead of you that's going to lead

  748. you, guard you, protect you, and get you

  749. to the place that I've already prepared

  750. for you.

  751. >> That's right.

  752. >> It's waiting on you. That's right.

  753. >> I'm not deciding what trying to figure

  754. out what to do with you. I already have

  755. a place prepared that I know I want you

  756. to be. So, all of this is locked and

  757. loaded, son, into our faith, into our

  758. practice of our faith regarding the

  759. first fruit.

  760. >> That's right. And so this is how we play

  761. it out at Free Life Chapel. We challenge

  762. every person, every family. And this is

  763. something that we're putting out there

  764. based on what the rabbis say it being

  765. 150th,

  766. >> right,

  767. >> of what uh the harvest was. What your

  768. mother and I began to do. Pastor S and I

  769. began to decide, okay, for 150th, well,

  770. we have 52 weeks in a year. Yeah. Not

  771. 50. Let's take one week's salary.

  772. >> Yes, sir.

  773. >> We get 52 of those a year. Let's take

  774. one week's salary and let's bring that

  775. to God in January in the beginning of

  776. the brand new year, which is exactly

  777. when first fruit was celebrated, the

  778. beginning of the brand new year. Let's

  779. honor him there and declare a promise to

  780. come. That's right. Over the rest of the

  781. year,

  782. >> man, I remember um my first time

  783. participating with First Fruits. Uh I

  784. was not able to do a first week salary

  785. or like an entire week salary. That's

  786. right.

  787. >> And I remember I had brought it up to

  788. you and I was feeling down. I was like,

  789. "Right,

  790. >> dad, I I can't do it." Like, I literally

  791. just couldn't. And uh you said, "Caleb,

  792. that's fine. It's it's not a matter of

  793. uh it wasn't a matter of this is what

  794. was required. It's what is the sacrifice

  795. from your heart to God's heart." That

  796. just you to you to him. He knows that

  797. you're treating him as the provider.

  798. That I'm not trying to stash someone

  799. underneath the mattress. I'm not trying

  800. to hold some back just in case God

  801. doesn't come through. not creating a pad

  802. for. He doesn't need any help. He

  803. doesn't need any pad.

  804. >> No. Exactly. And and this is not us

  805. buying a miracle. You're not you're not

  806. purchasing. Miracles are not for sales.

  807. We could not afford them. They're not

  808. that cheap. Yes. They're whole. This is

  809. a holy principle that we're operating

  810. in. And all you're doing is presenting

  811. your heart and saying, "God, I'm trying

  812. to get away with nothing. I bring you

  813. the best that I can in this moment. The

  814. tithe is decided 10%."

  815. >> Yes, sir.

  816. >> This this first fruit is free will. So I

  817. bring you the best. We've decided that

  818. we're shooting for that 152nd of our

  819. year. But maybe somebody wants to bring

  820. a day's wage, two days wage, four days

  821. wage. That's right.

  822. >> Whatever that looks like. We have

  823. settled on that one week's wage, but

  824. bringing something to honor God from my

  825. house to you. And then I will declare

  826. for the rest of this year the promise to

  827. come. God's a blesser. Yes, he is. But

  828. there's this next season that we get our

  829. hands in it. and Caleb, the testimonies.

  830. >> I was about to go there. The the the

  831. testimonies that we've had, I I shared

  832. with you. I've already gotten text

  833. messages from folk from the church. Yes.

  834. Just saying, "Hey, I didn't need When is

  835. first? When can we start giving the

  836. first fruit?" Cuz I'm ready. We had

  837. somebody send in their first fruit

  838. before December the 31st.

  839. >> Already ready.

  840. >> Yes. Yes. But when you

  841. >> when you've been a part of it, when you

  842. see it where it's laid out that this

  843. isn't a good investment,

  844. >> this is principle. This is foundational.

  845. This is a God idea.

  846. >> What other response can I have? But like

  847. I'm expect God said, like you said

  848. earlier, it's on his resume. So he's

  849. only going to do what he has already

  850. been doing. That's right. Which is be a

  851. man of his word. And so I'm excited

  852. about it. and free life. I'm so excited

  853. for you to be able to take this next

  854. step in your faith. This is the year

  855. that you do it. This is the year where

  856. you take that step forward. This is the

  857. year where you pat yourself on the back

  858. for doing what God's word said to do.

  859. I'm excited for you to be a part of it.

  860. >> Exactly. It's going to be so good. Pick

  861. up a first fruit brochure. This is not

  862. just a brochure. This is a resource

  863. guide. Yeah. It's got a lot of scripture

  864. in here, uh, verses for you to look at,

  865. reference, Old Testament, New Testament,

  866. explain to you how to play this out. The

  867. way this works, uh, the last two Sundays

  868. of January for us at Free Life is

  869. everyone will bring forward. The Bible

  870. says they brought their first fruit.

  871. It'll be placed in my hands and we will

  872. stand and we will I'll wave it as the

  873. priest did above his head and pray over

  874. your house, your first fruit offering

  875. and declare God's blessing over the rest

  876. of this year for your life because of

  877. how you've acted out your trust in his

  878. fidelity, his credibility over your

  879. life. It's going to be an exciting

  880. another exciting year with more

  881. testimonies coming and I want you to add

  882. your name to it. So, we're starting it

  883. right now. Pick this up. I think it's

  884. going to empower your life and we'll

  885. have more things to come. Caleb, thank

  886. you for being on with me.

  887. >> Thank you for allowing me to be here.

  888. Free Life, we love you. We'll see you on

  889. Sunday.