Transcription
[Music] you're all my [Music] need. All right, welcome to the Biblos Network. Praise God, Saints of the Most High. We are happy that you have decided to join us today. I trust that you are enjoying the great blessing of the Lord where you are. I hope that you are finding out that God is good. He is good, and he is good to his people. And when you live for God, it is an easy life. It is a good life, I should say. It is easy living for God with all your heart. It is not easy living for God halfway. So halfway doesn't work. It's the old song we used to listen to as teenagers. Um, Lord, I'm running, trying to make a hundred because 99 and a half won't do. So I don't want to live for God partially or fractionally. I want to give him everything I've got, all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. So I pray that that is your goal as well. And I hope you're enjoying the blessings of God where you are.
There's a lot to unpack this week. Great, great things happening. I have a great session, I believe, in store for us today. Um, before I do that, though, I want to get to a couple questions. Several of you have emailed questions to us, and they've kind of piled up on us, actually. So let me just answer some of them.
I got one message here from Billy. "Hi, Brother Ersan. My name is Billy. I have a question about your opinion on Charlemagne protecting the Christian faith against the Muslim invasion of Europe, considering that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Just curious of your opinion. I know you've spoken against Holy Wars, so I was wondering where or if you see a difference here in how God would have made a way for the truth, even if Islam had prevailed against Charlemagne, or if he had never taken up carnal arms. Thank you."
Great, great question, Billy. And I am against Holy Wars. I'm against the church taking up arms now and fighting Holy Wars. And our precedent for that, obviously, is the very verse you're talking about. You know, "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal." Jesus told his disciples, "Put up your sword." "I could call legions of angels to help me." That being said, though, God does use human agency. So when we get to the New Testament, we read that we are supposed to "give tribute to whom tribute is due, honor to whom honor, custom to whom custom." And it talks about the servant of the Lord, and that he "beareth not the sword in vain. He is a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." A lot of people think that's the preacher or the pastor. I don't believe that. I believe that that is civil authority. We are supposed to operate within the civil context, the contexts of the nations and the states and the cities that we live in. "Submit yourselves to them that have the rule over you."
Now, pastorally, that is true. But there is a higher power. You know, the Bible says, "There is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. They are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same." I've heard people try to say that that was ministry or pastors or some such. But I, when I read that, I do see that that is civil authority. We are supposed to be faithful in our giving in the nations that we live in, the governmental powers and authorities that we live in. And they are there to take up arms. We do still live in this world. The church is not supposed to take up arms. But there, God has made provision that civil authorities do take up arms. And we pray for those that are in those positions. The Bible instructs us to pray for them.
Additionally, if you read the book of Revelation 12, it says that the great dragon pursued after the woman, the covenant people of God. That spirit of antichrist, that beast, that Roman papal beast, would try to destroy that woman. And it talks about many beasts and these things that would come up out of the earth. Several people believe that some of the creatures that came up out of the earth actually represent Islam. And the, many people believe that the white horse in Revelation, I believe it was the white horse, not the one that Jesus rides towards the end, but the black horse, the red horse, the pale horse. I think it's the, maybe the pale horse. The pale horse, many of them that interpreted is green, and they point out that Islam has been Islam's standard over the years. And they feel that it's pointing to the rise of Islam and to Muhammad. They called them Saracens. My great-grandfather called them Muhammadans. We now call them Islamic jihadists. But obviously, during the time of the Holy Wars, Charlemagne did rise. Because of his rise, he was able to drive back the Islamic influence that would have engulfed Europe.
So in Revelation 12, when it talks about this beast chasing after the woman, we see this interesting thing that happens. The Bible says, "He cast out of his mouth water like a flood to carry her away, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the flood." So what does that mean? I don't claim to know everything about that, but it's an interesting portion of scripture. And I've often wondered if those were earthly influences that would arise that would open their mouth to swallow up or to rescue from the flood that was coming. And I believe that that is the case here. I believe that God would use earthly influences. He would use earthly instruments to accomplish his will on the earth. Charlemagne would have been one of those.
Wouldn't have just been in war. God also used monks and other instruments of preservation to preserve scripture. Not only that, but in some cases, he used Islamic scholars to preserve ancient writings. So some of our writings are preserved to us today because while Rome was burning, many of them, Islam was preserving them. There was a golden age of Islam and academia in Islam. It would have been around 900, 1000, 1100, 1200 AD. And it was a golden age where there was great medical advancement. There were great libraries in both the Middle East and in Moorish Spain. Michael Cides comes up out of Moorish Spain. His name was not Michael Cides, it was Miguel Cervantes. And he was heavily influenced by both Islamic and Judaic instructors. And his Oneness position was formed. His Christian Oneness theology was heavily influenced by Islamic and Judaic thought.
So God uses earthly influences to help preserve his purpose. And we see this in the ways, you know, scripture was preserved that way. God used Assyrian kings as his instruments to punish Israel and to correct Israel. He used Babylonian kings to do it. He used Alexander the Great to do it. I believe these are earthly influences. These are things that rise up out of the earth to accomplish God's purpose. The whole earth is the purview of God's will. And so if we see Charlemagne or any other secular ruler rise up to help God's people in time of need, he, the Bible says that "the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord, to turn whithersoever he will." So I believe, absolutely, God used all of those things. He can turn those Catholic influences back and forth, back and forth, to accomplish his purpose. Islamic influences, he used Pharaoh to accomplish his will. Pharaoh's obstinance and rebellion accomplished the purpose of God. And I could go on and on about it. It's a really fascinating topic.
But even Protestants, you know, I am not a fan of John Calvin or of Martin Luther, but I can appreciate the preservative work that they did do. While I can still distinguish the murderous trait and heritage and legacy they left, they killed many, many, many people. They took up arms. And I realize it's a product of the day they were coming out of Catholicism. So I'm not just trying to pick on them. But the point to be made is they are not the church, but they were used to help people at a certain time in various circumstances. They also killed people at certain times and under certain circumstances. So God uses it all. All of creation is his purview. So I hope that helps, Billy. Great, great question. I love those questions. That was a good one.
Um, what else do we have here? Here's a young lady that wants to remain nameless. She has been a firm Apostolic believer for the majority of her life. She has a Baptist friend of hers. She gave him a lot of scripture. He came back with some scripture, and she knows that it was misinterpreted. But she ran into Genesis 1:26. "God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." So what does that mean? Can you please explain what the Bible means when it says, "Let us make man in our image"?
I can, my nameless friend, I can. Now, I did a session on this where I talked about God speaking to the Man Christ Jesus outside of time. A lot of people feel that when those plural pronouns are being used, that maybe God was talking to the angels. Some feel that he is talking about the plurality of majesty. It's an ancient concept where God would refer to himself, and monarchs would refer to themselves in plural form because they had so many great attributes. I personally believe that God is speaking outside of time to the Man Christ Jesus. You'll see Jesus speaking to God, the man, the flesh speaking to the Spirit of God, praying to him. And you will also see God speaking to the Man Christ Jesus before he's born in prophecy. Hebrews chapter 1: "To the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. He hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. This day have I begotten thee." These, this was all spoken before Jesus was ever born. So how can you say, "Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee"? Well, Trinitarians want to say there's an eternal begotten. We firmly reject that. God is speaking prophetically here before Jesus is ever born. And when he was born, the prophecy came to pass. And God was speaking to him outside of time. God's not bound by time. We are bound by time. That's confusing to some people, though, because when you talk about eternity and time, the finite and the infinite, people get real squirmy about that, and they struggle with it. I can grasp it abstractly, but some people might wrestle with that concept. Know this: that whenever the Bible talks about plural pronouns, it is usually in reference to Jesus and the Son and the Father, it is usually and the Holy Ghost. It is usually, it is the, it is the man, the humanity of Jesus Christ, praying like any human would to the Spirit of God. It's a distinction between spirit and flesh. It is not two divine beings or three divine beings having a conversation and trying to work it out among themselves. But if you'll go back to the Oneness of God session that I did, "Oneness of God: An Answer to a Trinitarian," and there's another one, I think I did called "God Speaking to the Man Christ Jesus," if I remember right. So I deal with that subject very in-depth there. But that is a great question, and I hope that helps you.
Um, okay, here's one from Scott. "I have a question about prophecy in the church. If a person claims to have the gift of prophecy, how do you decide or govern whether a word is from God or not?"
Well, that's a very good question. You're getting into the gifts of the Spirit there, and you have got to exercise godly discernment. You have to have the mind of Christ, and you have to be anchored in the scripture. It's, it's not an easy thing to articulate, and people that don't have faith might even ridicule this kind of a conversation. But prophecy is very real. I've seen it happen. It has profoundly affected my life. God has spoken things dramatically into my life, and they came to pass. I have also had people speak things into my life that didn't come anywhere near coming to pass, and they were not from God at all. So how do we know whether they are true or not? Well, the easiest test is the test of time. You know, in the Old Testament, it said, "If a prophet prophesy and it come to pass, then you know that the Lord has sent him." And then later on, it gives a caveat: "Sometimes God will let it come to pass and will still bring a curse, be to see if you will walk in the way of the Lord." If it come to pass, but yet he tells you to transgress the word of the Lord, God wants to know whether you will follow the word of the Lord rather than just the word of a prophet.
You know, there's an Old Testament scripture where God told a man to remain at a certain place for a period of time. A prophet told him that. And so the young man stayed at this place and trusted in the Lord. And finally, an older man came in and said, "Well, the Lord told me to tell you to leave, and it's okay." And the young man said, "No, I can't. The Lord told me to stay here through the mouth of a prophet." And he said, "I know, but I'm telling you, the Lord told me." And so it's okay. So the young man took the older man's word for it. He left. And as he was getting ready to walk out, the older prophet told him, "Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, you did not take the word of the Lord, but you allowed a man to dissuade you after the Lord had spoken, God is going to judge you, and there's a lion waiting for you." Without that young man left, a lion pounced upon him and killed him. This is in your Bible. What a, what an amazing passage of scripture. I mean, I can't even imagine that happening today. But in that Old Testament time, and dealing with prophecy, it is a very profound and deep world.
So, first of all, time will tell. Just to answer the question quickly and succinctly, time will tell. Second of all, it will line up with the word of God. The person will be a vessel of God that God will use. And finally, you'll be able to feel it. A discerning person will oftentimes be able to feel that it is of God. You can try the spirits to see whether they are of God. And many times, I can feel things in the Holy Ghost. There's a discomfort, there's an uncomfortable feeling that I'll get. I won't be able to completely put my finger on it or define it clearly, but there'll be a discomfort that I get from what a person is saying. And whenever that happens, I have learned there's something off, and my spirit's picking up on it. So there is that as well. Now, that's not the final say about a thing. The word of God is the final say. Also, it's a good idea to run things past elders, and a multitude of counselors, there is safety. So I'll talk to my bishop, I'll talk to my leaders, I'll get counsel from people that are very wise and have great experience. And I'll keep that perspective in my life. So I hope that helps. There's a lot of people that have questions about that, and I hope that that helps you as you go forward.
Um, okay, last one, last question here. "Hey Biblos, praise the Lord. I appreciate your podcast, very informative and edifying. I found out you're located in Durham, North Carolina, and I realized I never heard your name or presence there. What organization are you affiliated with?" That's question one.
I am affiliated with the WPF, the Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowship. However, I fellowship with Apostolics. So I fellowship with independent Apostolics, UPCI Apostolics, PAOW Apostolics, ALJC Apostolics. If you are baptized in the name of Jesus, filled with the Holy Ghost, if you're Oneness, if you believe in holiness and separation, and you are holy and separate, you are my brother, you are my sister. I love you, and I will work with you, and I will love you and keep you in my prayers.
I lived in Wilmington, North Carolina for 10 years. I attended a UPCI church. Would you perhaps explain some of the splits from the UPC and/or Apostolic Oneness organizations? There's a history some of us newer members wonder about and have not received a clear answer.
Okay, that is a big topic. There are splits. There are different groups that have emerged. Wow, that's probably going to require a whole session in and of itself. The Apostolic world is a very interesting world. I love it with all my heart. I love the doctrine, I love the holiness, I love their ways, I love their peculiarity, I love everything about it. If you're an Apostolic person, you know it is a one-of-a-kind way of living. You could go back [Music] to I mean, one, those believers have always existed since the church age. They've gone under different names, different monikers. Probably in our day, and this is a very quick answer, this is no means in-depth, but during our day, the PAOW was one of the first ones that were formed. G.T. Haywood and my great-grandfather, Andrew David Ur, formed the PAOW. It's, it's probably one of the oldest. There are other smaller groups, but that's probably one of the larger known ones. It was formed, I want to say, back in the 20s, maybe 20s, maybe even earlier. Then the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ and the Pentecostal Church International, the PAJC and the PCI, was going way back in the 20s and 30s. They formed and eventually they merged in 1945 to form the UPCI, which is probably the most well-known Oneness organization. And it's wonderful people. Part of that organization, they do a great work in many ways. My grandfather was the general superintendent of that organization for a long time, and I do love them and I care about them and I care about the people. Some very, very good people.
In the 1960s, there was a split. One of the first big splits where the Apostolic Ministerial Fellowship, the AMF, formed. And that split over church government, lay versus pastoral authority, and holiness and standards. There was a split there. Later on, other groups came out of there. Now the ALJC is in there, and I'm not as familiar with their background, but I have some dear friends that are part of the ALJC, and they are an Apostolic organization. Then in the mid-2000s, the WPF, they pulled out and they formed a group, the Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowship. And that was largely over the feeling that there was a compromise. There were some things they were unhappy about. There were political dynamics where people got caught in political battles, and they formed a group. So, and then there's a whole independent Apostolic world that was never a part of anything, and they are just Apostolic, love God, and they have their groups. And now it is this amazing mixed bag of people who love God. And there are some people that think that if you're not part of an organization, that you can't go to heaven. I don't believe that at all. I think that if you are born of the water and born of the spirit, and a child of Jesus Christ, you're going to heaven. I love you and I want to help you get there. So we form Biblos to help people be strengthened in their faith. And it is for everybody. If the Holy Ghost can be for everybody, then the preaching of the word of God can be for everybody. And I love God's body. All right, that's all I'm going to get into as far as questions. I hope that helps. You can continue to have them, send them, and give them to us. We'll answer them to the best of our ability.
What I want to talk about today, guys, [Music] is this. I have seen this begin to emerge. People are talking about it. There are certain areas where people are talking about it in the charismatic world or the free Pentecostal world, the emergent evangelical world, in some cases. This question is asked: Is tithing for the New Testament? And so, I guess I'll title this today, guys, "Yes, tithing is for the New Testament!" Yes, it is. We're going to talk about it, and we're going to dive into it. I look forward to it. And feel free to send this to your friends and your acquaintances who are mixed up. Perhaps they're sincere. Perhaps they feel a misguided sense of righteousness in saying that tithing is not for the New Testament. They could not be more wrong. And I'm going to talk about why.
Okay, what is tithing? Tithing is where we give the tenth of our increase to the Lord. Offering is where we give above and beyond that tenth to God. So we don't pay tithes, we bring tithes. Tithing belongs to the Lord. Now, let me just say at the outset, when people ask, "What belongs to God?" Everything belongs to God. Everything. Everything you have, everything I have, it all belongs to the Lord. So in one sense, we are simply caretakers, we are stewards. You have 70 years given to you by God. If by reason of strength, then it is 80, then you're blessed. But during those 70 or 80 years, you and I are stewards. The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. And if you're a part of the new birth, then you are not your own, but you're bought with a price, with the precious blood of Jesus. So when we, God, God tells us to bring the tenth into his storehouse. And I know there's people right there that would go, "Oh my goodness, that's not right. Tithing's Old Testament." Oh, you know, they'll say things like, "We don't obey circumcision, we don't obey the Sabbath, so why in the world aren't we obeying tithing? We're free in Christ. We don't do this. We give. We are not mandated." And to those people, let me say, I love you. I appreciate you. And God bless your heart. You could not be more wrong. You couldn't be more mistaken. And so please take a moment and listen, and I want to help you with this. We'll dig, we'll dig into it.
And for those of you that have ever run into somebody that has said that, they'll get up on this soapbox and they'll really, really rant about it. They will say, "It's a lie. It's a sin." I saw a guy on Facebook. I've seen a couple people on Facebook that really made this, took this anti-tithing New Testament stance. And when they did, I mean, they were as self-righteous as you could get. And they had an answer for everything. They weren't scriptural answers, and they were not answers grounded in experience. And I'll tell you what I mean by that in a second. But just railing about it. And the points they were making were so juvenile, they were so mistaken. They do not take into consideration the whole corpus of scripture, the whole body of scripture. And so, like Isaiah said, "I will say to you, Come now, and let us reason together. Let us reason together."
Tithing and offering does not begin under Moses. It does not begin under Jacob. It doesn't even begin under Abraham. Tithe and offering goes all the way back to Abel, when he brought the firstling of his flock. The first instance we see that someone brings the first fruit unto the Lord, which is what tithing was and is. The first instance that we see of that is when Abel brings the firstling of his flock. From the Garden of Eden, God had people who brought the first portion of their increase to the Lord. This goes all the way back to the very foundation of the world, where Adam and Eve, God defines marriage as being between one man and one woman. He defines that he is one God. He defines seasons and days and years. He defines the sun, the moon, the stars, and the heavens and the firmament. He plants all of these things. And right in that context with Abel, he puts first fruits. The principle of bringing God your first harvest. Abel does this with the lamb that he brings. It's not just a lamb, it is the firstling of his flock. When we bring our tithe unto the Lord, it is the first fruits that we bring to him. So whenever I get any increase of any kind, the tenth is holy unto the Lord. It belongs to God. I don't pay it, I bring it. God allows me to keep the rest. And whatever I give beyond that tenth is then my giving. But the tenth is not a giving, it is a bringing. That's important to understand. It's a principle I was raised with. It is a principle that the scripture bears out very powerfully.
And over the last five years, there's been a rise in people who say tithing is not New Testament, it's not necessary, we're not going to do it. And I was talking to one of our young men here at Biblos, and I mentioned that to him. I said, "Now, in the last two years, that has lessened a good degree. They are not so strident anymore." And the reason they're not saying much is because they went out of business. Their churches closed wholesale. Just large swaths of people who had this great revelation, when it came time to close the doors of the church, they did. And all of those people with that revelation that you don't need to tithe unto the Lord, they just didn't. And so the outcry has grown much less. We don't hear it nearly as often as we did because they don't exist anymore. And I mean, I'm not trying to make light, but it's just comical that all of this vitriol and all of this anger and this railing about tithing not being New Testament, well, they're gone now. They're gone. They don't exist. They no longer operate because in their great revelation, they lied to people. And I'll talk a little bit more about that in a moment.
But from Abel bringing the firstling of his flock, we then move to Abraham, which is one of the predominant places where Abraham brings the tenth unto Melchizedek, who is the high priest of God. This is at the slaughter of the kings. He brings the tenth unto Melchizedek, who gives him bread and wine, which is a very powerful metaphor of the preaching of the word of God and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. The bread is the preaching, the wine is the Holy Ghost. So the man of God provides the sustenance that feeds the people. They feed the flock. The flock in turn, this is Abraham, he brings the tithe unto Melchizedek to propagate the office of serving the Lord and the work of God. It does predate the law of Moses. So for everybody that says that you don't have to circumcise anymore, you don't have to observe Sabbath days anymore, they are ignoring that this is pre-Mosaic. This is actually Abrahamic. And not only is it Abrahamic, it is superior to Moses. The Bible says that Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek. When you get to the book of Hebrews, it will tell you that Levi, which is one of Abraham's sons, who eventually became the tribe of Levi and of the priesthood, the Aaronic order, the family of Aaron, Levi was their grandfather, great-grandfather. He was still in the loins of Abraham. Paul says, "And he gave tithes to Melchizedek." And then he says, "No doubt the less is blessed of the better." He, what he meant was, Melchizedek was greater than Abraham, and by extension, was greater than Levi. And Paul's point was that the priesthood of Melchizedek is superior to the priesthood of Moses. The Abrahamic order is superior to the Mosaic order. The law of Moses was given to the nation of Israel, and there was a regimentation of tithing under that, and it was very involved, it was very intricate, just like the law was during that time. But tithing predates that. So we are not coming back under the law of Moses when we tithe. And whoever tells you that is very unaware of what the scripture says. I won't say ignorant because I don't want to be ugly, but it really, really frustrates me when they beguile people and they browbeat them because they learn just enough to be dangerous to talk people out of helping churches and building the kingdom of God when it's not true what they're saying. It's a false doctrine that you're not to bring tithe and offering. Malachi teaches that a man robs God by not bringing tithe and offering.
Now, there are people that would stop right there and say, "That's only to the Jews." And nothing could be further from the truth. Please understand your Bible. Jacob, which precedes Moses, he gave the tenth unto the Lord, and he did it at Bethel, which means the house of God. And he built an altar. He built an altar and he gave the tenth of all to the Lord. He made a covenant to give the tenth. And there we have our example of worshiping the Lord, building an altar, bringing the tenth unto the Lord. That Old Testament precedent is given to us that we now observe today. That's why we bring our tithe to the house of God, Bethel. And then later on, he even gets the further revelation that we're bringing it to El Bethel, the God of the house of God.
So when we get to Moses, he obviously includes the older covenant of Abraham and he incorporates tithing. And it's very intricate. This was an agricultural time. It was a time of husbandry, animal husbandry, and agriculture. And so people brought their fruit of the ground, they brought their animals. And even up into the turn of the century, early Pentecost, people would bring chickens, they'd bring eggs, they'd bring cheese or grain or something. And pastors would live of that in a very agrarian society. Now, we are a money-based, currency-based economy. And so that's how we give our tithe and our offering today.
Now, I can hear the naysayers howling, and I'm going to tell you why they are wrong. I'm going to tell you why it is a false doctrine to teach that tithing is not for the New Testament. It absolutely is for the New Testament for this simple reason: that Jesus is forever a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Tithing was for the order of Melchizedek. Jesus is a superior high priest. Melchizedek has no father, has no mother, no beginning of days, no end of days. People want to know what that means. It is a great mystery. Many people feel that it means he has no genealogy. And just like that would be the case, Jesus Christ would be born of God, he would be the Son of God, and he would operate in the priesthood of Melchizedek. And he is, according to the book of Psalms, forever a priest after the order of Melchizedek. And the Bible says that Levi had to propagate by reason of death, new high priests had to arise. But Jesus Christ died, he dies no more. And because of that, he does not have the power of what Paul called, or the right, rather, I'm sorry, the writer of Hebrews called, the power of a carnal commandment, but is the power of an endless life. So the priesthood of Jesus Christ, which is superior to Levi and Moses and Abraham, that priesthood never ends. He died once, he dies no more. And because of that, it is not the power of a carnal commandment, but is the power of an endless life. The tithing that was given by Abraham to Melchizedek is continued in the line of Jesus Christ, who is forever a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. He is the better, he is the one who blessed those that would come. And Melchizedek blessed Abraham, Levi, and Moses in that Old Testament paradigm.
Now, for those that would say, "Well, we don't follow circumcision anymore." Yes, we do. We do follow circumcision. Please understand the line upon line, precept upon precept, dynamic of circumcision. We don't circumcise in the flesh. But the Bible tells us in the book of Deuteronomy that we will circumcise our hearts. He called it the foreskin of your hearts. It's strong language, but it's a powerful image that literally God would cut away the fleshly mindedness. And the circumcision of Christ, which is superior to the circumcision of Moses, the tithing of Jesus Christ in the Melchizedek order is superior to that of Moses, Levi, and any other administration in terms of tithing. It is also superior in terms of circumcision. But we still obey circumcision. When you're baptized in Jesus' name and filled with the Holy Ghost, you're circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, and that is the circumcision of Christ, baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost. That's Colossians chapter 2. And it tells you in Colossians 2, "Let no man therefore spoil you, let no man therefore rob you of the great treasure, or to spoil your treasure through philosophy and traditions of men, rudiments of the world, vain deceit, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in him." Jesus Christ is the great high priest. So we still have a high priest. He is the Sabbath. So we still obey the Sabbath. He is the Lamb. We still obey the sacrificial lamb covenant. We still obey circumcision in Christ. And we still obey tithe and offering in Christ, Christ, by the priesthood of Melchizedek. So it is the power of an endless life.
Okay, that's my soapbox. It is why tithing is New Testament because Jesus never dies. There is no cessation or ending of his priesthood. And just like Melchizedek received tithes, Jesus Christ receives tithes. That's the theological reason why tithing is definitely New Testament. And then obviously, you have Jesus, who in his dealing with the Pharisees, he says to them, "You know, you are hypocrites because you give such attention to giving tithes of the mint and the herbs of the ground, but you leave the weightier matters of judgment, mercy, and faith undone. These ought you to have done, and not leave the other undone." So, in other words, Jesus was saying, "You should give your tithe and offering. You do a great job with that. Don't neglect the weightier matters of the law." Then in the New Testament, we understand that there are not just physical things, there are spiritual things. That without those spiritual things, the physical things would never work. So Jesus commends them for it. People will try to twist that and say he was just rebuking the Pharisees and try to dismiss that, but that's not what that is saying. So Jesus endorses it. He is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And there is a curse when we do not honor the Lord with the first fruits of our substance.
Now, there's a lot more to that, guys. But if you want to know how it's New Testament, the book of Hebrews powerfully outlines how the priesthood of Melchizedek works. Jesus is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, and all of the administrations of Melchizedek are continued in Jesus Christ, who is the superior priesthood.
Now, let me just talk practically for a moment. I got into a discussion with a man about tithing one time. He was as adamant as you could imagine. He had all of these eloquent reasons why it couldn't be true. And he brought up a bunch of historical stuff and a bunch of Catholic stuff. And like most people, he confused the Mosaic Covenant with the Abrahamic Covenant. He did not even understand the priesthood of Melchizedek. And we went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And I could tell he was used to browbeating people who didn't know the Bible. And when he runs into someone who does know the Bible, then it unnerved him. And he just, when your theology is not right, you just raise your voice and start hollering at people. Well, that's not going to work because we actually stand on the word of God. And raising the volume doesn't change the fact that it's true.
And finally, when it was done, I said, "You know, wait, hold on. Let me back up. Before we even get into theology, let me ask you something. Have you ever started a church before?" And he said, "Huh? What do you mean?" I said, "Well, where do you get your strong opinions from?" He said, "Well, I just read and study, and I feel like God talks to me." I said, "Have you ever started a church? Have you ever bled for the kingdom of God? Has your life ever been threatened? Have you ever faced starvation? Have you ever paid the price?" And he said, "Oh, no, I've never done anything like that. I went to a year of seminary, and my professors told me this wasn't necessary." And I said, "Oh, okay. See, all this time, I thought we were speaking here on equal grounds, and we were just two people with differing perspectives. But I came to realize that he had no grounds from which to talk."
I have started two churches. I know church planters. I love church planters, missionaries, home missionaries. And I can tell you right now, those churches would never have survived without people who gave tithe and offering. I thank God for faithful saints and pastors that are faithful in their tithe and offering. You build churches with people like that. And we lived of the gospel, just like the priesthood of the Old Testament did. It held us together. It put food on the table. It paid the bills. It helped us get our church building. It helped us now build congregations in different parts of the world where the name of Jesus can be preached and propagated. And missional efforts can go forward because faithful people are faithful to God. They do not rob God in tithe and offering. And so I realized that each person that I spoke to that felt so strongly about this, they've never done anything. They never built anything. They never gave their life. They never faced persecution. They've never had a knife pulled on them or a gun pulled on them in a bad neighborhood as they were evangelizing. They've never been mugged in a third-world country. They've never had to hold it together to build a church when people weren't supportive. And outside churches gave. Paul said, "I robbed other churches to supply your lack of service toward me." That's because he was planting churches in Thessalonica and Corinth and Galatia and Colossia and Philippi and Ephesus. I've stood in Ephesus before. And tithe-paying, offering-giving people supported those churches, and we were able to have revival in the Pauline missional efforts. And so every time I meet somebody that has very strong opinions, that's all they have. They have no corn in the crib. They aren't like the great men and the great women who gave their all and sacrificed and went into cities and preached the gospel and raised up congregations, great churches, great congregations that worship God and are one, good lighthouses and bastions of truth that help propagate this gospel around the world. That all comes from tithe and offering of faithful people who are practically applying what they are spiritually claiming.
So for all of the big-mouth people who like to spout on Facebook and YouTube that people don't know what they're talking about, and feel free to email this to them and send this to them, because they need to stop seducing people and lying to people about the truth of tithe and offering. And I, that's strong language, I know. I'm not usually that aggressive, but the truth is, it's a lie, and it hurts churches, and it hurts people's faith, and it's a disservice to the great men and women of God who have labored and served the Lord and gone on to their reward. And I thank God for those people. Not only that, but when I realized they've never built churches, they have no ground to stand on. They've never suffered in the arena. They've never paid the price. Then I, I won't dignify their arguments. Go out, start a church, and then you come back and tell me if it works or not. Do it without tithe and offering, and then let's have a conversation. Because you can't.
Having said that, I also noticed that when it came time to give to missions, these are tithe and offering churches. All these people that say you don't need to give tithe and offering, they don't propagate the gospel around the world. They just have Facebook and a megaphone. They just try to browbeat people. But they don't help when it comes time to give thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars for overseas efforts and preaching the gospel around the world to fulfill the Great Commission. The non-tithe, anti-tithe group, they are nowhere to be found. Where are you at? When it's time to keep a roof over the head of indigenous churches in third-world countries, in the continent of Europe, where it's expensive, and people have to hold it together, and there's a husband and a wife and children that depend on a faithful form of support. Where are you at when it's time to pay those bills? Because it's faithful people that do it. And thank God for those faithful people. And you shouldn't weaken the hands of faithful people preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. I do get passionate about that because they're wonderful people, and they deserve better than half-thought-out drivel. How's that? That's how I feel about it.
So to my friends that are mistaken, let me soften it a little bit here. I love you. I appreciate you. I do get a little worked up about it sometimes. But take the time to actually study the scripture, because it is a beautiful truth. You are actually entering into the giving nature of God. That's a whole session in and of itself. It gets into the bees and the honey, where God takes you from a consumptive worshipper and turns you into a giving, blessing worshipper. God is a giver, and it is more blessed to give than to receive. And tithe and offering is the gateway through which we begin to partake in the nature of God's giving. So this is why tithing is absolutely New Testament. It is a powerful, powerful administration that helps people to hear the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I don't just stop there. We teach entrepreneurism, we teach business, we teach dominion and blessing. That's an entry. Tithe and offering is an entry-level dynamic to giving to the Lord. There are a host of ways you can give. But it is the priesthood of Melchizedek. It is the power of an endless life. It is the ministry of Jesus Christ, who is the better, greater, faithful high priest. So I hope that helps you today where you are. I hope I wasn't too strong for you. The truth is that when I think of missionaries that are struggling and giving their all, I get passionate about them, and you should too. They deserve your prayer, they deserve your utmost respect. They give their lives for the cause of Jesus Christ.
One last thing I'll say, and I alluded to it earlier. During COVID, when churches began to go out of business wholesale, the very first ones that folded were people that said, "You didn't need to tithe." Imagine that. People who were taught tithe and offering, they sailed right through COVID because people understood the mandate from God. Churches that said that you did not need to tithe, that it was not New Testament, they folded like a deck of cards. And now they just have Facebook platforms, and a few of them survive, but they are greatly diminished. They will be relegated to the dustbin of history. They will be a footnote on the side of the road. They will fail like the false doctrine that they are. I'm not angry at people, I'm angry at the false doctrine and the lies from the devil that try to stop and hurt the real church and the real work of Jesus Christ. Thank God for people who are faithful. Thank God for pastors who administrate faithfully and take tithe and offering and turn it into the great lifegiving benefit and ministry that it is. It is the priesthood of Melchizedek, and there is a world that needs the bread and the wine of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So I hope that helps you today. I hope you're blessed. I pray that God blesses you and he keeps you, he causes his face to shine upon you, that he is gracious unto you, and he gives you peace. Until next time.