Participants:
Series Code: TMC
Program Code: TMC000021A
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00:18 Thank you, folks. We're very happy to welcome all of you
00:21 back tonight. Appreciate you being here. 00:24 You're going to be blessed especially tonight 00:26 as you listen to Steve Darmody sing for us at this time. 01:00 As I see the marks of sin 01:05 I feel a sadness 01:08 but there's a thought 01:11 that always brings a sweet release. 01:16 Soon our Savior will be here... 01:21 that day is drawing near 01:26 when tears, trials, and heartaches 01:31 all will cease. 01:36 Oh, how wonderful 01:39 heaven will be! 01:44 To be with Jesus 01:48 throughout eternity. 01:52 No earthly thing can compare 01:58 to what is waiting for us 02:02 there... 02:07 Oh, how wonderful 02:10 heaven will be! 02:27 Oh, just think of all the countless joys 02:33 of heaven. 02:35 A better land, a better life 02:39 than we could know. 02:43 We will be forever safe 02:48 through His forgiving grace. 02:53 This gift is ours 02:56 because He loves us so. 03:02 Oh, how wonderful 03:06 heaven will be! 03:10 To be with Jesus 03:14 throughout eternity. 03:19 No earthly thing can compare 03:24 to what is waiting for us 03:28 there... 03:34 Oh, how wonderful 03:38 heaven will be! 03:42 Oh, how wonderful 03:48 heaven will be! 03:53 To be with Jesus 03:56 throughout eternity. 04:01 No earthly thing 04:05 can compare 04:09 to what is waiting for us 04:13 there... 04:20 Oh, how wonderful 04:25 heaven will be... 04:36 Oh, how wonderful 04:42 heaven 04:44 will 04:47 be! 05:06 Tonight our subject is So Many Blessings 05:11 I Can't Count Them. 05:16 We have not the foggiest idea 05:20 of what God does for you and for me. 05:23 And tonight Maddy's going to sing 05:26 a song about the goodness of God 05:29 to you and to me. What He does for us day by day. 05:46 From the very moment 05:50 I met Jesus there 05:56 I had peace and joy 06:00 within. 06:06 Life is filled with meaning... 06:10 gone are doubt and care. 06:15 He's forgiven all 06:19 my sins. 06:25 God is good to me. 06:29 Out of His abundance 06:33 blessing like the rain 06:36 comes pouring down. 06:41 He renews my spirit, 06:45 satisfies my soul, 06:50 fills me with His love 06:53 divine! 06:58 God is good to me, 07:02 and it all began 07:06 when Jesus made His presence 07:11 known. 07:14 Gratitude o'erwhelms me 07:19 making my heart sing 07:23 for I am His and He 07:27 is mine! 07:34 When I wake each morning 07:39 to my heart's delight 07:44 He is waiting there 07:49 for me. 07:54 When I'm in His presence 07:59 everything's all right. 08:04 That's where I'm content 08:07 to be. 08:13 God is good to me, 08:18 out of His resources 08:22 blessings like the rain come pouring down. 08:30 He renews my spirit, 08:34 satisfies my soul, 08:38 fills me with His love 08:42 divine! 08:47 God is good to me, 08:51 and it all began 08:54 when Jesus made His presence 08:59 known. 09:03 Gratitude o'erwhelms me 09:08 making my heart sing 09:15 for I am His 09:20 and He is 09:25 mine! 09:47 Our Father in heaven, we come to You tonight 09:51 thanking you for all the wonderful things 09:55 that You've done for us. You've been so good to us. 09:59 Lord, may we take note 10:03 of what Your Word says about Your blessings. 10:07 May we surrender our lives to You. 10:10 And we ask that You will give us the wisdom, 10:13 the understanding that we need 10:16 that we might learn how to walk by faith 10:20 and to please You in all that we do. 10:25 For this we ask in Christ's name, Amen. 10:35 Have you ever had someone say to you 10:38 when you were talking about somebody else and they said: 10:40 "Well, they have lived a blessed life? " 10:44 "They've been blessed in a special way. " 10:47 You see, I found that in the Scripture 10:50 God wants to bless you. 10:53 In fact, you're acquainted with texts where it says 10:56 that He's more willing to give you the Holy Spirit 10:59 than you are to give good gifts to your children. 11:01 It says that God cares about you. 11:04 He wants to bless you in a special way. 11:08 Promises that. 11:10 Well, if someone would have just shared with me 11:15 years ago when I was a young person 11:18 what I'm going to share with you tonight 11:21 it would have made a marked difference in my life. 11:24 I mean a very definite difference in my life. 11:28 And so I hope that each of you here tonight 11:30 will listen carefully, and I hope that you're blessed. 11:33 And I hope that from this day on 11:36 it will make a marked difference in your life. 11:38 And particularly young people. I hope this will 11:41 be of great great help to you 11:43 because God wants to bless you. 11:46 He says this, Ezekiel 34:26: 11:56 God says: "I'll make them and everything around 11:59 a blessing. " And He promises that He will do that. 12:04 And as you read through the Scripture 12:07 you can see where God made definite promises 12:10 and how He carried out those promises. 12:14 Joshua: folks, the children of Israel have gone through 12:18 40 years in the wilderness. 12:20 They have now gone into the land of Canaan. 12:25 They have driven out the Canaanites and the Perizzites 12:28 and Jebusites and all the Hittites and all these people. 12:31 Joshua is old. 12:35 Come time for him to die. 12:37 I want you to listen to his words. 12:57 Now listen, folks: 13:20 Of all the things that God promised the children of Israel 13:23 he's saying: "Not one word of it has failed. " 13:27 Think about that. 13:29 Promised that He would care for them, look after them, 13:32 what He would give them. And everything that God 13:35 promised happened. 13:38 I mean, Nehemiah talks about this. 13:43 Talks about what happened to them as they were going 13:46 through the wilderness and how God cared for them. 14:00 I mean, have you ever been out in the Sinai desert? 14:04 Huh? Have you ever been there? 14:06 Folks, it won't even grow a weed 14:10 let alone a cow. 14:12 I mean, nothing there and yet it says 14:14 "you lacked nothing. " OK? 14:18 "Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. " 14:24 Nothing they lacked! 14:27 So here you're going down through time 14:29 and God promises and cared for them. 14:31 Ask Solomon. Blessing the temple 14:34 and he's talking to all the children of Israel. 14:37 These are his words: 14:50 Do you know what the Scripture says about the days of Solomon? 14:56 Do you know what it says about it? 14:58 It says that gold was like stones. 15:07 I mean, they were blessed beyond comprehension. 15:12 Very, very special way accord- ing to all that He promised. 15:16 Listen to what He promised: 15:25 He said: "Everything that God promised 15:28 everything happened. " 15:30 So what I'm trying to get across to you 15:33 is if the Book here, folks, 15:35 promises it, do you think it will happen? 15:40 Huh? You convinced of that? 15:43 The Bible says that if God promises it 15:46 it'll happen because the Scripture says 15:49 "God cannot lie. " 16:17 So what I'm telling you tonight 16:19 that God will not fail on His part. 16:24 OK? God will not fail on His part. 16:28 Promises certain things to you and me. 16:44 He said: "God promised it; hang on; 16:47 He can't lie. " 16:49 In fact, when Jesus was on earth 16:55 He sent the disciples out. 16:58 Now you weigh carefully the way He sent them, 17:00 'cause this is the way He sent them here in Luke... 17:03 Luke 22:35: 17:28 Didn't lack a thing. 17:30 God was more than capable of taking care of them. 17:35 Do you think He's capable of taking care of you tonight? 17:38 An old preacher was visiting one of his parishioners... 17:44 an old lady. 17:47 When he got to the home and he was visiting with her 17:49 he picked up her Bible. 17:52 And as he picked up her Bible he began to page through it 17:55 and he found certain texts that were underlined. 17:59 And then underneath the text would be written the letter 18:02 T and P. 18:04 And he thumbed through it and he saw these all the way 18:07 through the Scripture. And finally he said to her, 18:10 he said: "What are these texts that you have underlined 18:13 here in your Bible? " She said: "Oh those are promises of God. " 18:17 She said: "Those are all promises. " 18:19 And he said: "Well that's fine" he said: "but what do these 18:21 letters T and P mean? " 18:23 She said: "Oh, that means tried and proven. " 18:26 See? And it'll work! 18:29 Tried and proven: the promises of God. 18:33 Now, what I am telling you tonight is all, all the promises 18:39 in this Book - listen to me carefully - 18:41 all the promises in this Book are conditional. 18:48 Don't think they're not. 18:50 All the promises in this Book are conditional. 18:56 If you and I fill the conditions, 19:00 God will carry out His promise. 19:03 That's what you've got to understand in your head: 19:06 that if you fulfill the conditions 19:10 God will carry out His promise. 19:12 When I was a young person if somebody would have just 19:15 made that clear to me, what a difference it would have made 19:19 in my life. Listen... this is what the Scripture is saying, 19:22 what God promises to you and to me. 19:24 Deuteronomy 11:26: 19:34 A blessing and a curse. 19:37 That's what He's setting there before you. 19:39 All right? 19:48 He said: "Here's the blessing if you obey. " 19:52 That's the condition, right? 19:55 Yes, that's the condition. "If you obey, gonna bless you. " 19:58 That's what He promises. 20:05 They're conditional... all of them are. 20:08 But they're marvelous promises. 20:10 And the conditions, folks, are not difficult. 20:14 They're not hard. 20:16 I have people say to me: "Well, Brother Cox, 20:20 I don't know... " You listen, God promises this: 20:31 See if you do that you're going to receive the curse. 20:34 OK. you say: "Well, I've lived a very very bad life. " 20:41 I talk to people and they say: "Oh, the Lord could never 20:45 could never forgive me. Could never forgive me... 20:48 I've done such bad things that the Lord just couldn't 20:52 forgive me. " Well, you want to see what the condition is 20:57 to be forgiven? 20:59 This is the condition; this is what the Scripture says. 21:13 If you have lived a very wicked life, 21:17 you have done a lot of bad things, 21:19 all that God asks you to do - the condition is - 21:23 is to come to Him and confess our sins. 21:27 Confess your sins to Him. 21:29 What will happen? 21:31 OK... here's the promise: 21:41 Dear friend, I don't care how bad you've been. 21:44 God's not interested in keeping you out of heaven. 21:47 God's interested in getting you in! Amen! 21:49 And so all He just says to you is 21:52 "Come to Me; confess your sins. 21:54 And if you'll confess them, I will forgive them. " 21:59 He is faithful. That means God is on duty 22:05 24 hours a day. OK? 22:09 He's faithful; He's just. 22:12 He'll forgive your sins. 22:15 That's the condition. All you've gotta do is confess them. 22:19 OK? You say: "Well... 22:23 I'm not real sure that there's any hope for me. " 22:28 "Not real sure that I could be forgiven 22:31 and that I could be saved. " 22:33 "I'm not sure that there's really any hope for me. " 22:36 Well, what is the condition for salvation? 22:41 You know? What do I have to do to be saved? 22:45 What is the condition for being saved? 22:48 Well, let's look. 22:57 That's the condition. 23:00 If you want to be saved you have to call on the name of the Lord. 23:05 That's what it says. 23:07 Come to Him; call on Him. 23:09 Say: "Here I am, Lord. I'm lost! 23:11 I'm a sinner; I've done all these bad things. 23:14 My life is a wreck, Lord... I'm coming to You. " 23:17 And this is what the Scripture says: 23:18 Promise: "shall be saved. " 23:24 Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 23:29 Dear friend, don't tell me tonight that you're too bad. 23:34 Don't tell me that you can't do all this. 23:38 Those are not the conditions. 23:40 The condition is that you call upon the name of the Lord. 23:44 Call on the name of the Lord and you SHALL be saved. 23:48 That's the promise He gives you. 23:51 Well, you say: "What about baptism? " 23:57 "I really... what's the condition for baptism? " 24:02 I run onto people that say: "Well, 24:04 you know, do I really have to be baptized? " 24:08 Well, let's look and see what the Scripture tells us. 24:20 That person who believes... 24:22 part of the step... 24:24 "and is baptized... " Let's see. That's the condition 24:27 what's the promise? 24:31 So the Scripture is very, very clear, folks. 24:34 All the promises here - all of them - 24:38 are based on conditions. 24:40 All you and I have to do is fulfill the conditions. 24:43 The condition is if you want to be saved 24:46 call on the name of the Lord. 24:48 That's the condition. 24:50 If you want to be saved, then call on the name of the Lord, 24:53 accept Him as your Savior, be baptized. 24:57 Those are the conditions. 25:00 How often we try to make our own. No! 25:06 All you've gotta do is do what God asks. 25:10 Those are the conditions. 25:12 You say: "Well, what about my daily needs? " 25:16 What about, you know... what about such things as 25:21 food. Is that involved? 25:25 Does it involve what I eat? 25:29 Or what about such things as shelter? 25:32 Or what about such things as clothing? 25:37 Does that enter into the picture? 25:40 Well, let's look at the condition. 25:43 See what God has to say about it. 25:53 Now what did it say? 25:56 "Well, I know this is what the Lord would like for me to do 26:01 but my work interferes with this. " 26:06 "I know this is what God wants me to do 26:10 but if I do that that's going to... 26:13 to affect my life too much. " 26:20 Seek what? "First the kingdom of God... " 26:25 In other words, God say: "If you want to have 26:28 food, if you want to have shelter, 26:31 if you want to have clothing, 26:33 then seek first the kingdom of God. " 26:37 And if you do that, what's going to happen? 26:40 Let's look at the promise. 26:48 "Oh, " you say, "Well Bro. Cox, that doesn't mean food 26:51 and that doesn't mean shelter 26:52 and that doesn't mean clothing. " 26:54 Oh yes it does. 26:56 Oh yes it does. Just read the text before it. 26:59 Listen to what it has to say. 27:12 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. 27:15 All these things" - right there - "will be added to you. " 27:21 OK? So dear friends, let's get our priorities right tonight. 27:27 If you want to be blessed, 27:30 if you want a blessed life, 27:32 then put God first. 27:36 Doesn't come after everything else. 27:40 You know? Don't get through with everything else and then 27:43 say: "Well, if there's any- thing left for the Lord, OK. " 27:45 But seek Him first and His righteousness 27:50 all these things will be added to you. 27:54 Promises that. 27:56 Well, say: "Sure would like to have a child. " 28:04 "Prayed for a child. Does that have anything to do 28:08 with my serving the Lord 28:11 whether He'll give me a child or whether He won't? " 28:15 Does that enter into it? 28:17 Now folks, I'm talking to you about living it day by day 28:21 for the Lord Jesus Christ. 28:23 Have you been praying for a child and haven't had one? 28:28 You'd like to have a child? 28:30 Well, let's see what the conditions are. 28:43 So the Bible says: "If you fear the Lord 28:46 and you walk in His ways..." 28:50 Let's see what the promises are that God says will happen. 29:00 OK. He said: "If you fear the Lord, 29:03 you walk in His ways, when you sit down to eat 29:06 you'll be? happy... " 29:09 "and it shall be well with you. " 29:14 Now listen... let's continue on because the promise hasn't ended 29:17 here. We're continuing in Psalm 128 verses 2 and 3: 29:31 You want children? There's the promise right there. 29:37 All you have to do is fear God 29:41 and walk in His ways 29:43 and that's the promise that He gives. 29:46 See, I'm trying to get across to you, folks, 29:49 not one word of that Book will fail. 29:54 Moses said: "You can't think of anything that God promised 29:57 that's failed! " And it won't fail for you 30:00 if you fulfill the conditions. 30:03 That's all God is asking of you 30:06 is just fulfill the conditions. 30:09 So if you're concerned about having children, 30:12 then fear the Lord, walk in His ways. 30:15 Have you read in the Bible about a woman that did that? 30:18 Huh? You ever read in the Bible about a woman 30:20 who did that? "Behold, thus shall the man be... " What? 30:24 "blessed... " Who what? "fears the Lord. " 30:27 OK. Have you ever read about Hannah? 30:31 Hmm? Didn't have any children. 30:35 Felt terrible 'cause she never had a child. 30:39 But she feared God. 30:42 She walked in His ways and she pled with the Lord 30:46 and He gave her a child. You remember that? 30:50 Named the child Samuel. 30:53 Yes. I Samuel 1:27: 31:07 She said: "For this child I prayed! 31:09 And God answered that prayer; gave me this child. " 31:14 And He'll do the same for you, folks. 31:18 "Oh, " you say, "Well, I'd like to live a long life. " 31:24 "I'd like to have the promise of a long life. " 31:30 Well, that's conditional. 31:32 Did you know that? It's conditional. 31:35 Let's see what the conditions are. 31:46 That's the condition. 31:47 You want to live a long life? 31:49 Honor your parents... young people particularly. 31:53 And I have some say: "Well, my parents aren't very nice. " 31:57 Well, that may be true 32:00 but you still have an obligation to honor them. 32:05 You don't have to agree with their ways 32:07 if their ways are wrong 32:09 but you still have to honor them. 32:11 That God expects. If you want to live a long life, 32:14 honor your parents, young people. 32:16 It has more to do with you than you have any concept of. 32:22 Honor your parents. 32:24 This is what happens if you honor them. 32:26 Let's look at the promise: 32:37 Said: "If you want to live a long life, 32:39 if you want to have a happy life that it might be well with you, 32:43 then honor your parents. " 32:46 It's a promise given to you. 32:49 You see, no one ever bothered to explain all these things 32:53 to me when I was growing up. 32:57 Nobody ever told me all these wonderful promises. 33:01 That if I would just do those what God would do. 33:07 When I began to understand them 33:10 changed my life completely. 33:14 Changed it completely. 33:16 Financial help? You say: "Man, 33:20 it's a struggle all the time. " 33:24 "Can't seem to get ahead. " 33:28 "Constantly working; I can't seem to get anywhere. " 33:32 Folks, don't misunderstand me... 33:35 I'm not trying to offer you God just for financial help. 33:40 But I am trying to tell you that if you will follow Him, 33:45 if you will fulfill the conditions, 33:47 He will bless you. Promises that. 33:50 Now I'm going to share some things with you 33:53 that probably are going to be kind of shocking to you 33:57 as far as what it takes to be blessed financially. 34:01 But let me show you. One thing that it says 34:03 very clearly that if you want to be blessed financially 34:07 is you have to give. 34:10 Hmm. 34:11 You say: "What do you mean give? 34:14 I don't have anything to give with! " 34:17 Well, let's look and see what God says. 34:20 Let's look at the conditions. 34:34 That is a condition, folks. In fact, giving 34:38 is the law of heaven. Did you know that? 34:41 Giving is the law of heaven. 34:44 And you never can get anywhere financially 34:48 if you don't give. 34:50 Won't work! Sorry. 34:53 If you give, you want to see what the promise is? 34:56 This is what the Scripture promises: 35:11 Huh! That's the promise: 35:14 that if you give, God will bless you and it will be 35:19 given to you good measure, pressed down, 35:21 running over. 35:33 The very same measure that you use in giving to others 35:38 it'll be given back to you. 35:41 That's the promise. 35:44 So if you want to get ahead financially 35:48 give. Say: "It's crazy! " 35:53 I know it is... but it's true! 35:56 It works... it works. 35:59 Now there's another thing that I want to tell you that works 36:03 concerning finances. You may not have understood it 36:07 but I can tell you right now... And let me tell you something: 36:09 I don't know very many things 36:13 that are good or I can say are really nice 36:17 about old age. You know? 36:20 I can't really enumerate a lot of things that old age 36:24 does for you. But one thing it does do for you 36:28 is it gives you the ability to look back 36:31 and see how things have taken place. 36:35 You see, you can do that. 36:37 And I can tell you over the years 36:39 I have watched and I have seen this principle over and over... 36:43 And I've seen people struggle over it and say: 36:46 "Oh, I can't do that" 36:48 and I've seen other people that said: "Oh, I don't understand 36:51 how this is going to work" and they did it anyhow 36:53 and how God abundantly blessed them. 36:57 Let me tell you what it is. 37:01 Sabbath. If you want to be blessed financially 37:07 keep the Sabbath. 37:11 I'm dead serious. 37:12 I've seen people say: "Oh, if I was to keep Sabbath 37:16 I'd lose my job! " 37:17 You might... you might. 37:22 But let me tell you something: if you do, 37:25 God will bless you. 37:28 Now let me explain a principle to you. 37:31 God never asks you... God NEVER asks you 37:35 to do something that it costs you that God 37:39 in turn won't repay. 37:43 You remember the time when Jesus was speaking to the crowd? 37:46 And there were so many of them they had backed Him clear up 37:51 to the shores of the Sea of Galilee. 37:53 And they were right in His face 37:55 so close to Him He couldn't talk 37:57 and so He asked Peter if He could use his boat. 38:00 And He stepped in Peter's boat, 38:02 had Peter row back from the shore a little bit, 38:04 and then He could see the crowd and He spoke to them. 38:07 When He finished He said to Peter: 38:10 "Cast in your net. " 38:12 And Peter said: "What are You talking about, Lord? 38:14 We just fished all night and didn't catch anything. " 38:16 Now folks, the Sea of Galilee is perfectly clear. 38:21 They only fish it at night. 38:24 OK? They had fished all night long. 38:27 "There's no fish there... you can look and see! " 38:30 And Peter said: "Nevertheless at Your word 38:34 I'll throw in the net. " And he threw in the net 38:36 and they caught so many fish that the nets were breaking. 38:39 Now do you understand what was happening here? 38:42 Do you understand what's happening here? 38:44 All Jesus is doing is paying Peter for using his boat. 38:51 See? That's what's happening here, folks. 38:55 And so you need to understand 38:58 that when God simply says "Do this! " 39:01 I don't care if it costs you. God will repay. 39:05 It says He is a rewarder 39:08 of those that diligently seek Him. 39:11 So if you keep the Sabbath, what's He going to do for you? 39:14 OK... look... 39:16 here's the condition: 39:21 That means don't trod it underfoot. 39:24 Don't treat it with disrespect. 39:29 He said: "If you stop doing what you want to do... " 39:32 OK? 39:41 Those are the conditions. You don't trod the Sabbath 39:44 underfoot. You don't do your own pleasure on His holy day... 39:48 on the Sabbath. You call the Sabbath a delight, 39:50 the holy day of the Lord and honor Him... " OK: 39:59 He said: "This is not a day 40:02 that you are to use for yourself. " 40:05 And let me get something clear. 40:07 I had someone tell me that, they said: "Oh, it doesn't make 40:10 any difference which day you keep. " 40:14 "You can keep any day. Whichever day you want to keep 40:16 for the Sabbath that's OK. " 40:19 Let me tell you something tonight: 40:21 that is OK - OK? provided 40:26 you're the one that calls the shots. 40:29 OK? Provided you're the one that's calling the shots. 40:34 But if God's the One that's calling the shots, 40:37 then it makes a great, great difference. 40:40 See? Because it's His day... OK? 40:44 So He said: "If you'll quit walking on the Sabbath, 40:46 if you'll treat it with respect, if you'll honor Me 40:49 not doing your own ways... " 40:51 What's He going to do for you? 40:53 Let's look at the promise. 40:58 You want to make the Lord happy? 41:19 Dear friends, if you want to get along financially, 41:22 then keep the Sabbath. 41:26 God won't fail. 41:29 OK. One other thing if you want to prosper financially. 41:35 Then the Bible says if you want to do that 41:37 then you need to return the tithe. 41:42 Scripture is very clear on that. 41:45 I can tell you right now... 41:48 I've had people say: "Oh, Brother Cox. What are you 41:50 talking about? " I've had young couples to me... 41:51 come to me and they say: "Oh, Brother Cox, we're in 41:54 terrible financial shape. What can we do 41:57 to get out of this condition we're in? " 41:59 And I say: "Return the tithe. " 42:03 And they say: "What do you mean 42:04 return the tithe? We don't have enough to live on now! " 42:08 If you want to get out of debt, return the tithe. Amen! 42:12 That's a promise. Let's look... here is the condition: 42:26 Folks, I mean here God's coming out and saying: 42:28 "OK... if you don't believe Me, try Me. " 42:30 "Just try it if you don't believe Me. " 42:34 That's what He's saying. That's the only promise 42:36 I know in the Scripture where God uses those words 42:39 and says: "Try Me. " 42:41 "Try Me... see if it's right. " 42:44 OK, that's the condition. Let's see what the promise is. 42:59 You want to be blessed? 43:02 Then return the tithe to Him. 43:04 He says: "If you do that, I'll pour out a blessing on you 43:08 that there won't even be room enough for you to receive it. " 43:12 That is a promise that He gives. 43:15 "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sake... " 43:29 He said: "I'll bless you in a very very wonderful way. " 43:33 What does the Scripture mean when it talks about a tithe? 43:37 The word tithe means a tenth... that's what it means. 43:44 If I make a dollar, then a tithe is ten cents. 43:49 If I make ten dollars, a tithe is one dollar. 43:53 If I make a hundred dollars, a tithe is ten dollars. 43:58 A tenth. And I can tell you a little secret tonight: 44:03 nine tenths... mark my word... 44:07 nine tenths with God's blessing 44:12 will go farther than ten tenths with His curse. 44:15 Amen! In fact, I was talking to a fellow, and he 44:19 told me that one night he was preaching on this subject 44:21 and this fellow came up to him and he said: 44:24 "Ah, " he said, "you don't have to pay tithe to be saved. " 44:29 And my friend said to him: "How did you arrive at that? " 44:33 He said: "Well, the thief on the cross never paid any tithe 44:36 and he'll be saved. " 44:38 And my friend said to him, said: "Yeah, " 44:41 said, "that's true. " He said: "That's very true. " 44:44 He said: "Just one difference between you and the thief 44:47 on the cross. " And he said: "What's that? " 44:50 He said: "He was a dying thief and you're a living one. " 44:57 Great, great difference there, you see. 44:59 So what I'm trying to say is just the promises of God 45:03 are given to you, folks. 45:05 And He just simply says: "Return a tithe unto Me 45:10 and I will bless you abundantly. " 45:24 When it says it's holy to the Lord, dear friends, 45:27 then that simply means it doesn't belong to you. 45:30 In fact, you don't GIVE tithe, you RETURN tithe. 45:35 See, it's not yours. Never has been; never will be. 45:39 And what God says to you and me 45:41 "If you're a good steward and you return the tithe, " 45:46 He says, "then I'm going to bless you. " 45:48 And He will, dear friends... abundantly. 45:51 Abundantly! 45:53 I've given tithe... I've returned tithe 45:59 when it took every cent that I had 46:04 and God has never failed... NEVER! 46:09 He won't fail at all. 46:11 There's marvelous stories in the Bible about it if you read them. 46:15 Did you ever read about Jacob? 46:19 Huh? You remember the time when he was fleeing from his brother 46:22 Esau and he gets out here on the plains of Bethel 46:24 and he lies down and he has this dream? 46:27 You remember that? 46:29 And in that dream he sees this stairway going up into heaven 46:32 and he sees angels going up and down on that stairway. 46:35 And when he woke up the next morning he said: "Oh, " 46:37 he said, "this place must be the house of God. " 46:39 And he set up an altar there and he worshiped the Lord. 46:42 And he said to the Lord this... this is what he said to Him: 46:54 You remember that, don't you? 46:55 Said: "I'll return a tithe to You of everything You give me. " 46:59 And so he goes on down to his Uncle Laban's house. 47:02 Uncle Laban has two daughters: 47:05 Rachel and Leah. 47:08 Rachel is beautiful; Leah is ugly. 47:15 And you know who Jacob fell in love with? 47:18 Rachel. 47:20 You know who he spent his life with? 47:23 Leah. OK? 47:25 But nevertheless, he fell in love with Rachel. 47:28 And so he goes to Laban and he says: 47:32 "What do I have to do to have the hand of your daughter? " 47:34 And he said, "Oh, " he said: 47:36 "not much. Just work for me for seven years. " 47:42 Jacob said: "OK. " 47:44 So he worked for him for seven years and came time. 47:49 He said: "I've worked for you 7 years. 47:50 I want my bride. " 47:52 And so they had the wedding, but over in the Middle East, 47:55 you know, they wear veils. 47:57 And so they had the wedding 47:58 and Jacob gets his bride home 48:00 and she takes off the veil and lo and behold 48:03 he has Leah not Rachel. 48:05 And he said: "I didn't work seven years for you! " 48:08 Takes her by the arm and takes her back to her father. 48:11 Said: "Listen, I worked 7 years for Rachel. " 48:14 He said: "Well, sorry... there's a custom here in our country 48:17 that the oldest daughter has to marry first. " 48:20 Said: "I'll tell you what: work for me for seven more years 48:22 and I'll give you Rachel also. " 48:25 Jacob says: "OK. " So now folks, he's worked for 48:28 for 14 years. His total pay has been 2 women. 48:35 You know, I don't know how good of bargain that is. 48:40 But nevertheless 48:42 Laban calls him in. He says: "Well now Jacob, 48:46 if you're going to stay here and if you're going to work for me, 48:48 I guess we need to work out some financial arrangement... 48:51 arrangements and pay. " 48:52 And Jacob said: "OK. " 48:54 And Laban says: "I'll tell you what, " he said: 48:57 "I will give you all the spotted sheep, 49:01 all the spotted cattle, all the spotted donkeys. 49:05 Anything that's spotted I'm going to give to you. " 49:09 Jacob says: "Fine. " That is really generous 49:12 on the part of Laban since all his cattle are black angus. 49:16 There's not a spotted one in the bunch. 49:20 And so God said: "Jacob, 49:24 go out there and cut down this cane. 49:28 And every place that the cattle drink - 49:31 in the ponds, the rivers, the troughs - 49:35 everywhere they drink you lay that cane 49:38 and cross it and lay it in there. " 49:41 He went out, cut the cane down and laid it in there. 49:43 And when the cattle started calving 49:46 the next spring they were spotted. 49:50 Spotted. 49:51 Laban came out and said: "What in the world's going on here? " 49:54 "You know, this can't be. Fence is broke or something. " 49:57 You know... said: "This can't be! " 49:59 "So, " he said, "next spring it'll be all right. " 50:03 Next spring they were spotted again. 50:06 Laban called Jacob in and he said: "Listen, 50:09 I've been thinking this thing over, " and he said: 50:10 "I'll tell you what. I've decided I'm going to take 50:13 the spotted ones and I'm going to give you the solid ones. " 50:16 And Jacob said: "OK. " 50:18 God said: "Jacob, get that stuff out of the water. " 50:21 You can read it! 50:23 I mean, God promises there. 50:26 I can read to you in the Word of God 50:28 when he's talking to his wife Rachel. 50:30 He said: "Your father has changed my wages 50:34 ten times... " What he said... 50:37 and God did not permit him to harm me. " 50:41 But I can tell you, when he was changing his wages 50:43 he was not raising them... he was lowering them. 50:46 OK? And when he left Laban's house 50:50 he was an extremely wealthy man. 50:53 Why? Cause he said: "Listen, 50:55 of anything You give me I'll give a tenth to You. " 50:58 And he honored God and God blessed him. Friend, 51:02 tonight He'll do the same for you - Amen! 51:05 if you and I are just faithful. I'm just sharing with you 51:08 blessings that God will give you. 51:11 If you fulfill the conditions, those are things that He says 51:15 He will do for you and for me 51:17 if we just follow the Lord in it. He promises! 51:21 Jesus made it very clear 51:23 that we are still to return the tithe today. 51:27 Matthew 23:23, He's speaking to the Pharisees 51:30 and the scribes and so forth. He said: 51:39 Now, folks, those were the smallest means of exchange 51:43 they had back then. And so He said these scribes 51:46 and Pharisees... they were very very 51:51 minute about paying everything. OK? 51:54 But watch what He says: 52:01 He said: "Oh, you're faithful in paying your tithe 52:03 but you've neglected the weightier matters of the law 52:06 such as justice and mercy and faith. " 52:09 He said: "You forgot those. " But listen to the words of Jesus 52:21 Jesus made that just as clear as a bell: 52:24 that you and I still are to return our tithe. 52:29 Blessings that God gives to you and to me. 52:34 Deuteronomy 28:2, listen carefully: 52:50 All these blessings shall come upon you 52:53 and overtake you. 52:55 You want to live a blessed life? 52:59 There's the opportunity, folks. 53:01 All God is saying to you tonight is 53:04 "Fulfill the conditions... I'll bless you. " 53:07 "I'll bless you in a marvelous way like you can't believe! " 53:12 If you and I will just follow what He says 53:15 He's gonna bless you now... here, this life. 53:19 Promises it. 53:21 But above all that 53:23 you fulfill those conditions, dear friend, 53:27 and you'll not only be blessed here 53:29 but you'll be blessed for eternity. 53:31 Marvelous! 53:33 Matthew 25:34: 53:42 He said: "Oh, all you people that have walked with Me, 53:44 by faith you followed, Come all you blessed of My Father" 53:55 Promises that to you. 53:57 God won't let you down. 54:01 When I went to the Seminary 54:05 I had stayed out of school for a year. 54:10 I had sold books all that year. 54:14 By selling books I had made enough money 54:18 to pay for my education. 54:20 I had enough to pay for my education. 54:23 My wife was going to work 54:27 and she was going to make enough to pay for our housing 54:30 and our food and so forth. 54:31 That's how we intended to go to the Seminary. 54:34 We got to the Seminary and everything was going along fine. 54:40 But oh, it came December - 54:44 month of December - and we were out working 54:48 with one of the churches. 54:51 And that night my wife got very very cold 54:57 because we were outside in what we were doing. 55:01 And when we got back home she got a sore throat. 55:06 We didn't think much about it. 55:09 Gave her medicine and stuff for it. 55:11 But she had strep throat, 55:15 and out of the strep throat she developed a very very 55:21 serious condition and they had to put her in the hospital. 55:27 And the doctors came and told me that 55:33 the mitral valve in her heart had been damaged 55:37 and that she would be flat on her back 55:41 for six weeks. 55:44 And then when she came home she could not work 55:47 or do anything for another six weeks. 55:52 And so I went in and had a seat by her. 55:55 We talked, and I said: "Honey, 56:00 I'm going to drop out of school and get a job 56:04 so that we can continue to make it. 56:06 And when you're back on your feet well then I'll try to 56:09 finish up the Seminary. " 56:12 And I'll never forget. She looked at me and she said: 56:14 "You know, we've been faithful. " 56:17 She said: "We've been faithful in returning our tithe. " 56:20 She said: "We've tried to do what God wants us to do. 56:23 Why don't you take Him at His word? " 56:27 And I said: "What do you mean? " 56:28 She said: "Why don't you just stay in school? 56:30 See what the Lord does. " 56:32 Well, you know, I have to admit that's a little difficult 56:37 for me. I'm not... I don't know if you understand 56:41 cholerics by nature, but I'm choleric by nature... 56:44 And finally I said to her: "OK, I'll do that 56:48 but I'll tell you what. " I said "I'm going to go sell the car. " 56:51 And I said: "I'll walk to the Seminary 56:53 each day and back. That's the least I can do. " 56:58 So I went out and sold the car 57:00 and we lived on that for a while. 57:02 But soon that was gone. 57:03 And I expected any time, you know, 57:06 to say: "Well, I've gotta go back to work here. " 57:10 Folks, let me tell you: 57:13 I went down to the post office or to the mailbox 57:17 day after day. Here would be letters 57:22 from all different places in the United States - 57:26 not one place but all over the United States - 57:30 no names on them, no letters in them 57:33 just money. 57:35 Just money. 57:37 I'd open it up and here'd be an envelope 57:39 and in it would be money. 57:40 I didn't know who it came from at all. 57:44 I can't remember in that whole time 57:46 ever getting a letter that there was money in 57:50 that somebody put their name to. 57:52 I didn't know who it was coming from or where, 57:54 but it came from all over the United States. 57:57 I graduated from the Seminary; 58:01 I graduated totally free of debt... 58:05 hospital bill and everything. 58:09 Now you can't convince me 58:11 that God won't do what He says. 58:14 If you will just take Him at His word, 58:17 believe Him, He will bless you 58:20 in a very very wonderful way. |
Revised 2019-06-17