F4F | Debunking Robert Morris Blessed Life Part 1

Fighting for the Faith

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

F4F | Debunking Robert Morris Blessed Life Part 2

00:15

Welcome to another installment of Fighting for the Faith. My name is Chris Roseboro, I am your servant in Jesus Christ.

00:22

This is the channel that compares what people are saying in the name of God to the Word of God. Now, as promised, we're going to take a look.

00:30

We're going to do two episodes, this one and the next one, looking at the false teaching of Robert Morris as it relates to giving.

00:38

And we're going to do an in -depth look today at what does the

00:43

Bible teach for those of us who are in the New Covenant, not the

00:48

Mosaic Covenant. The tithe is a Mosaic Covenant command. Those of us who are in the New Covenant, what are our obligations?

00:56

What has God obligated us to regarding giving to the church? And you're going to find that it doesn't even come close to the teaching that you get from men like Robert Morris and others.

01:08

In the past, I have referred to Robert Morris as the money man. He's the rainmaker of the seeker -driven movement, purpose -driven and charismatic movements.

01:20

If you've spent any time in any big box churches with regularity, they will bring in his video teachings on the blessed life and use this for the foundation for, you know, for giving.

01:34

And boy, oh boy, man, this guy, he really pushes down the thumbscrews and he can make blood come out of a rock.

01:43

But the thing is, is that his teaching doesn't make a proper distinction between the

01:49

Mosaic Covenant and the New Covenant. And if you haven't watched the video on sorting out the biblical covenants, pause right here, go watch that video.

01:59

I know it's long. Go watch that video, take your notes, and then you'll have a proper understanding of the difference between the

02:08

Noatic, the Abrahamic, the Mosaic, and the New Covenants. Christians are not under the

02:15

Mosaic Covenant. We are not obligated to keep the commands as it relates to tithing in the

02:21

Mosaic Covenant. We have a different priest altogether, and that's

02:26

Priest Jesus. And so because of that, when anybody takes the Mosaic commands regarding tithing and applies them to Christians in the

02:34

New Covenant, you know you're dealing with somebody who is either deceived or is intentionally deceiving for the purpose of making a buck.

02:43

Now, a little bit of a note here. In fact, let me go ahead and whirl up the desktop and let me pull up my web browser.

02:51

And that is that for this segment of Fighting for the Faith, we've sped up the video of Robert Morris by just a little bit, by just a little bit.

03:02

So if it sounds like he's going a little faster than he normally preaches, we've done that on purpose because we have a pretty large swath of this sermon that we want to get to, and we don't want to belabor the point.

03:15

He has a tendency to kind of wander, and since his stuff hangs so close together, it would do it violence if we just went to different sound bites.

03:25

So that's what we're going to do today. We're going to actually listen to a large portion of it, and we will get into the biblical text, and today we will get a full -blown teaching on what is our obligation as a

03:37

Christian, as Christians in the New Covenant, when it comes to giving. There is a command taken from the

03:44

Mosaic Covenant that is brought forward into the New as it relates to giving, and I like it.

03:52

Let's just say it's appropriate. But what Robert Morris is teaching, no, absolutely not.

03:59

Robert Morris is a false teacher, and the whole book and the video series on the

04:05

Blessed Life absolutely bungles the New Covenant and the

04:10

Mosaic Covenant and makes no proper distinction between the two of them, and he puts people in bondage and makes it so that he teaches this false teaching that your money is cursed.

04:22

Your bank account is cursed if you don't set aside the very, very, very first 10 % of what you earn and give that to God first, then you're cursed and you fail the test.

04:33

So without any further ado, let's get to it. Here is Robert Morris. And tell you the title, again, we're in a series called the

04:41

Blessed Life, and the title of today's message, I got this title from something that I used to say a lot when

04:48

I was in school. The title of this message is, what test? Any of you relate to this?

05:00

Did you ever have that experience? You walk into class and everyone's got their books out and they're studying and they say, are you ready for the test?

05:08

And you say, what test? Yeah, I didn't do well in school. But I am proud of myself because I graduated in the top 10 % of the lower one -third of my graduating class.

05:19

So I'm proud of myself for doing that. But the reason I named it what test is because many believers don't know that there's a test in the

05:27

Bible, and you actually take this test every time you get paid. Really?

05:33

There's a test in the Bible, and I take this test every time I get paid? Really? I'm not familiar with this test, at least according to any sound texts.

05:42

So let's take a little survey here. All the campuses and all the churches that are joining us, how many of you get paid once a month?

05:49

Can I see your hand? Put your hand up. How many of you get paid either every other week or twice a month?

05:55

Can I see your hand? So that's most of us. How many of you get paid every week? Can I see your hand? How many of you never get paid? I'm sorry.

06:02

I'm sorry. Okay. But if you ever get paid, you'll take a test. The test is, whom are you going to thank for your income?

06:12

Now, this is not a biblical test. And what he's saying is going to be false on its face, especially for people in the

06:19

United States. And let me explain, because everybody who gets a paycheck here in the

06:25

United States, we have what's called withholding. And withholding means that even before I get my check, when

06:36

I get paid, the government has already got their portion of it. The government automatically gets paid first every time any of us in the

06:46

United States gets paid, and they get paid first. Therefore, that means that I automatically fail the test.

06:54

If what you're saying is true, Robert Morris, then as a Christian, I have to say, I can't.

06:59

I can't have withholding taken out, because then I'm saying that I'm thanking

07:04

Uncle Sam every time I get paid rather than first, I'm thanking him first, rather than thanking

07:12

God. It's absolutely absurd. This is not found in the Bible. He's made up this test.

07:21

And you take that test by what you do with the first 10 % of your income. Whom are you going to thank?

07:27

Whom are you going to worship for your income? You know, some people... Oh, great. We're all worshiping

07:33

Uncle Sam according to his definition. People thank Visa. It's the first one they pay.

07:39

The only problem is that Visa does not... Which text is he preaching from again, by the way? Did you notice a biblical text yet?

07:45

There's no biblical text yet. Have the power to bless your finances, but God does. So turn to two passages, please.

07:52

Malachi chapter three, last book of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter three, and then Second Chronicles 31.

07:57

We'll go over there in a moment. And we're going to... All right. Malachi three and Second Chronicles are dealing with what covenant?

08:06

Mosaic. These are Mosaic covenant texts. In fact, let's take a look at Malachi.

08:13

And in taking a look at Malachi, we'll be able to kind of sort out what's going on here in Malachi three.

08:18

So context, context, context. These are our three rules for sound biblical exegesis.

08:25

And so here's what it says, Malachi chapter one, a son honors his father and a servant his master.

08:32

If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear?

08:39

Says Yahweh, the Lord of hosts, O priests who despise my name.

08:46

But you say, how have we despised your name? By offering polluted food upon my altar.

08:52

But you say, how have we polluted you? By saying that Yahweh's table may be despised.

08:57

Note the word table here. We'll talk about that here in a second. So when you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil?

09:04

And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor.

09:09

Will he accept or show you favor? Says Yahweh, the Lord of armies. And now entreat the favor of God that he may be gracious.

09:17

So you can see what's happening in Malachi's day. People are utterly despising the Mosaic covenant command regarding tithing.

09:25

What is the Mosaic covenant command regarding tithing? Deuteronomy chapter 14.

09:33

I hope you're sitting down because the one thing I've never heard guys like Robert Morris ever do is touch this text.

09:39

This explains what the tithe's all about. Are you ready? Deuteronomy 14 .22.

09:45

You shall tithe all the yield of your seeds that comes from the field year by year.

09:53

And before Yahweh your God in the place that he will choose to make his name to dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine and of your oil and the firstborn of your herd and the flock so that you may learn to fear

10:08

Yahweh your God always. Say what? Listen to what the command is.

10:15

You take your tithe and you bring it to Jerusalem and in Jerusalem there you eat it.

10:26

Tithing is more akin to a Thanksgiving meal. Watch what he says here.

10:34

And if you're going to truly tithe, what do you do? You got to take it to the place where God has caused his name to dwell.

10:40

Year by year. And where's that? In Jerusalem. This is a Mosaic covenant command.

10:47

We in the new covenant are not under this command. All right? All right. So, let's see here.

10:53

So, before Yahweh your God in the place that he will choose to make his name to dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, of your oil and the firstborn of your herd and your flock that you may learn to fear

11:08

Yahweh your God always. And if the way is too long for you so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when

11:16

Yahweh your God blesses you because the place is too far from you, which Yahweh your

11:21

God chooses to set his name there, then you shall turn it into money, bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that Yahweh your

11:32

God chooses. And spend the money for whatever you desire, for oxen, for sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves.

11:45

So, you're going to know if you live a long way from Jerusalem, you take your tithe and you sell it.

11:51

You take the money. You go to Jerusalem. And when you get to Jerusalem, there you buy whatever you want, strong drink, ox, sheep, wine, whatever your appetite craves.

12:04

You buy it. Now, this is why the money changers were set up in the temple, by the way.

12:11

Because people who are traveling from a long distance, you didn't want to buy your tithe animals from using

12:21

Roman coins, did you? I mean, those Roman coins have the Roman emperor and that's idolatry.

12:26

So, yeah, they were making a good trade there by making people exchange their denarii for temple shekels.

12:35

That's what that was all about. So, take it and then spend it for whatever you want.

12:41

Oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, whatever your appetite craves, you shall eat there before Yahweh your

12:50

God and rejoice, you and your household, and you shall not neglect the

12:55

Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you. So, what did you do with the tithe?

13:05

Brought it to Jerusalem and you ate. And you gave a portion of it to the

13:13

Levites. Now, have you ever heard any of these Yahoos say that the tithe that you consumed it?

13:23

Nope. They always just take, well, bring it into the storehouse. That's the church. No, it's not.

13:29

No, it isn't. See, and you're going to note that you consume along with your family, the tithe.

13:36

You eat it. It's like I said, it's more like a Thanksgiving meal, which is one of the reasons why in the new covenant tithing isn't the command.

13:46

That's not what's commanded because it would make no sense. If you want us to have a meal at church.

13:54

Okay. And we'll share some with our pastor. That ain't going to work. So, what is the command in the new covenant?

14:02

I'm glad you asked. Let's take a look. Okay. So, the apostle Paul covers this in first Corinthians chapter nine.

14:08

This is the explicit text that teaches, well, how, what are we to do regarding pastors and supporting them?

14:16

Here's the answer. So, Paul says, am I not free? Am I not an apostle?

14:21

Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? He has seen Jesus our Lord. He is free and he is an apostle. Are you not my workmanship in the

14:28

Lord? Now he's talking to the church of Corinth. I'm not really Paul's workmanship in the Lord in that sense, but the people of the church of Corinth are.

14:35

So, if to others, I am not an apostle, at least I am to you for you are the seal of my apostleship in the

14:42

Lord. So, this is my defense to those who would examine me. By the way, Paul never charged. He would always forego his right to make his living by the gospel for multitudes of reasons, but they're going to be laid out here.

14:59

Although he had a right to make his living by the gospel, he chose not to exercise it. Paul remained a tent maker and he did receive support from other churches when he would go to plant churches, but that was a little bit of a different thing altogether.

15:11

So, the church of Corinth, Paul never required them to pay him and there were people who came along, the so -called super apostles, and condemned him for not charging.

15:22

Keep that in mind. So, he says, this is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have a right to eat and to drink?

15:29

Yeah, we do. Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife as do the other apostles and the brothers of the

15:35

Lord and Cephas? Uh -oh, Cephas brought his wife along with him? Oh no, the first Pope was married.

15:43

Somebody better let Rome know about this text. I digress. So, or is it only

15:48

Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?

15:55

Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?

16:02

Do I say these things on human authority? No. Does not the law say the same?

16:08

And then watch this. This is the command that gets rolled into the New Testament as it relates to pastors earning their living by the gospel.

16:16

For it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. You see, you can't go to the tithe.

16:24

If you understood the tithe is like a Thanksgiving meal and people ate their tithes and gave a portion of it to the

16:30

Levites, that ain't gonna do. So, what Paul does by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he goes into the

16:35

Old Testament and he finds this command. Don't muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. That is the governing command as it relates to supporting pastors.

16:47

Are you saying my pastor is an ox? Yes, he is your congregation's beast of burden. And he needs to adopt that view of himself, by the way.

16:55

All right, so then he goes on. Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not speak certainly for our sake?

17:02

It was written for our sake because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop.

17:13

If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

17:19

If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more.

17:25

Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

17:34

Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings?

17:44

In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

17:51

And there it is. So the idea here is that in the types and shadows in the Mosaic covenant, Levites who were serving in the temple made their living by serving in the temple.

18:00

They received a small share of the sacrifices as well as this tithe. They didn't receive the whole tithe.

18:06

They received a part of it. And even the sacrifices were consumed by the people who were offering them up.

18:12

The food wasn't wasted. So in that way then, this is the command that you shouldn't muzzle the ox while it's treading out the grain.

18:20

And the command of the Lord is this, those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. Well, how much am

18:26

I supposed to give? Well, this is where 2 Corinthians 9, 7 comes into play.

18:32

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion.

18:39

God loves to show a forgiver. So, Christians are not required to give 10%.

18:45

They can give 10%. They can give 5%, 1%. And I would even argue that if you are poverty stricken or you're financially strapped, you have not only no obligation to give, the church has an obligation to serve you.

19:02

Let me give you a text on this. So, in Acts chapter 6, we learn of something interesting. In these days, when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the

19:11

Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

19:17

Look at that. The ancient church, those who were the most poverty stricken would be the widows.

19:24

And what did the church do? The church supplied their needs, gave to them.

19:32

You think these widows were required to tithe and told that they were robbing

19:37

God if they didn't? Of course not. So, the 12th Psalm, the full number of the disciples says, it's not right that we should give up preaching the

19:42

Word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the

19:49

Spirit and of wisdom, whom we appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the

19:55

Word. And what they said pleased the whole gathering. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, the apostolate of Antioch.

20:10

And these they set before the apostles, and they prayed and lay their hands on them. Yeah, and what was their job?

20:19

The daily distribution of food for widows, those who were absolutely poverty stricken.

20:26

And so, I would note in my time, I've seen some horrible things happen in the name of tithing.

20:32

And that is that women who are single mothers, who are financially strapped, they are today's, many times they can often be the equivalent of today's widows.

20:46

They are financially strapped. They're raising their kids and they're barely getting by. I've seen in churches, oh, you have to give, you got to give 10%.

20:56

It's legalistically demanded of them that they give 10%. And I've even heard of church members who've been sent invoices by their churches who keep track of their tithe records.

21:09

It's unbelievable. But in Scripture, it's really clear. In the New Covenant, each one gives as he's decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion.

21:18

If 10 % were required by God, every paycheck, that's under compulsion.

21:25

So, if you want to support your church with $100 a week or a month or a year, that's between you and God.

21:34

God loves a cheerful giver. That's between you and Him. But note then that in 1 Corinthians 9, 14, that those who proclaim the gospel,

21:44

God, it's that they make their living by the gospel. So, if you were to just kind of sort this out, just, you know, realistically then, we're not obligated to tithe, but each congregation should sit down and work their budget out accordingly.

22:00

All right? So, we've called a man to be our pastor. Well, he's married and he has kids and his kids are small and they're going to need dental work.

22:07

They're going to need, you know, maybe private schooling. They're going to need, you know, they're going to need to pay for sports.

22:13

They're going to have a car payment, insurance. They're going to need a place to live. They're going to need food. They're going to need clothing and they're going to have to save up for college and stuff like this.

22:22

So, you work out, okay, what it's going to be necessary to pay this man properly because the

22:30

Lord has commanded that those who proclaim the gospel get their living by the gospel and you're free to give whatever you want.

22:38

And then as the congregation, you say, all right, it's realistic that based upon what this guy's needs are, that we're going to pay him, you know, $50 ,000, $60 ,000, $70 ,000 a year, depending on where you live.

22:51

If you live in Southern California or up in the San Francisco Bay, you might have to pay your pastor, you know, like $167 ,000 a year just so that he can get by at the bottom of the middle class.

23:03

I don't, it all depends on where you live. But the point is this, is that that's a completely different question altogether.

23:11

All right? How do we make our living by the gospel? How can our pastor do that? And again, you know, each one must give as he's decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion.

23:22

So, any pastor who goes to Malachi chapter three and avoids the context in one of what's going on and then somehow says, you're robbing

23:32

God if you don't bring the tithe, Christians are not obligated under the

23:37

Mosaic covenants command for tithing. And if we were to follow that Mosaic covenant command for tithing, well, we're going to have to sell our tithe, convert it to money, fly to Jerusalem, buy whatever we want, you know, to eat there, you know, whether it's sheep or goats or oxen or cattle and have a

23:58

Thanksgiving meal every year in Jerusalem. That makes no sense. It makes no sense whatsoever.

24:05

So, always and again, the guys who are telling you, you've got to tithe, I sit there and go, you don't know your covenants.

24:13

You're confusing one of the commands of the Mosaic covenant with, you know, with what we are as Christians are to be doing under the new covenant.

24:21

Under the new covenant, God wills that a pastor make his living by the gospel and by preaching it and Christians are to give what they've set aside in their heart.

24:30

There is no specific number. 10 % is a good number, but it's not required.

24:36

You can give 10, you can give five, you can give 15, you can give 20, you can give two.

24:42

That's between you and God. And quite frankly, it ain't none of my business and it's nobody else's either.

24:49

So, you get the idea. So, let's come back then to Robert Morris on this teaching here where he's claiming that you have a test every time you get a paycheck and where's he going?

24:59

Malachi, which is, Malachi is one of the prophets of the Mosaic covenant and he's, and God is rebuking people for not keeping the covenant.

25:08

Go through a lot of scripture in this message and I want to show you that tithing is scriptural and it is in God's word.

25:16

Of course, it's scriptural. It's found in the Bible. It's one of the commands of the Mosaic covenant and the

25:22

Mosaic covenant has been made obsolete by Christ. In the new covenant, yeah,

25:28

Jesus is our priest. Yeah. So, I don't have to show up in Jerusalem, you know, to give my, you know, to eat my tithe in the presence of a

25:37

Levitical priesthood. So, Malachi chapter 3, verse 6, this is where we'll start. Malachi 3, 6.

25:42

For I am the Lord, I do not change. That's very important. I don't change.

25:49

Yeah, but the covenant has, we're not under the Mosaic covenant. Not change. Therefore, you are not consumed,

25:56

O sons of Jacob. And I think that's humorous. He says, I don't change. That's why I haven't killed you yet, personally. That's what

26:01

I think he's saying there. I was nice and I'm still nice. All right. Verse 7. Yet from the days of your fathers, you have gone away from my ordinances.

26:09

Now, we're going to come back to that word ordinance. What does it mean? Okay. Malachi 3, 7. Let's take a look at this real quick.

26:17

And you'll note, he's quoting it out of context and he's not paying attention to the fact that these are commands related to the

26:25

Mosaic covenant. For I, the Lord, do not change. Therefore, you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed from the days of your fathers.

26:32

You have turned aside from my statutes. Talking about the commandments of the

26:41

Mosaic covenant. You have not kept them. Right? So return to me. I'll return to you, says

26:46

Yahweh's Sabbath oath. But you say, how shall we return? Will man rob God?

26:52

Yet you are robbing me. But you say, how have we robbed you? In your tithes and your contributions. You are cursed with a curse for you are robbing me and the whole nation of you.

27:02

Okay. He's invoking the curses of the Mosaic covenant here. If you do not obey all of the regulations of the

27:11

Mosaic covenant, you are invoking a curse. And what are they doing? They're presenting for their tithe and their contributions, ganky animals that are sick and near death.

27:23

All right? So that was what shows up in chapter one.

27:29

This means that they have no faith. They have no regard for God whatsoever. They're just going through the motions. So bring the full tithe in the storehouse.

27:36

Watch this. That there may be what? Food. What did the children of Israel do with their tithes?

27:44

They ate them and they shared part of the tithe with the Levitical priesthood.

27:50

And therefore, you get the idea. So when you know your details, you sit there and go, oh my goodness, these guys have been hoodwinking me for decades.

27:59

Yes, they have. You're not obligated as a Christian to tithe. You set aside in your heart how much you want to give.

28:04

It's between you and God. Who cares? All that matters is that God commands that the man who's serving you make his living from the gospel.

28:12

Okay. Coming back here. And have not kept them. Return to me and I will return to you, says the

28:18

Lord of hosts. But you said, in what way shall we return? Now, before we read verse eight, let me just remind you, this is

28:24

God talking. This is God. The God who does not change. Yeah. Two people under the

28:30

Mosaic Covenant and he's invoking the curses of the Mosaic Covenant because they're not obeying the statutes of the

28:37

Mosaic Covenant. And the Mosaic Covenant has been made obsolete and put away by Christ. This is the

28:42

God who does not change talking. He said, you go away from my ordinances. I just need to probably tell you, the word ordinance means a principle of ordinary behavior.

28:51

You've gone away from my principles of ordinary behavior. No, he's referring to the statutes of the Mosaic Covenant.

28:57

What you're saying is not correct. For God's children. And they say, well, in what way? Now, I want you to notice this because this next verse, a preacher didn't make this up.

29:05

Okay, this is God speaking. Verse eight, will a man rob

29:11

God or steal from God? Yet you have robbed me. You've stolen from me.

29:16

But you say, in what way have we robbed you? Now, watch again. This is God talking in tithes and offerings.

29:23

You are cursed with a curse for you have robbed me, even this whole nation.

29:29

Bring all the tithes. That there may be food. Deuteronomy 14 is clear.

29:37

You eat the tithe, dude. It's Thanksgiving. Into the storehouse. That would be the church. That there may be food in my house.

29:45

Again, that's the church. No, it's not the church. That's because a portion of the tithe went to support the

29:52

Levites. What he's saying, he's not making a proper distinction between the

29:59

Mosaic Covenant and the New Covenant here. He doesn't know his Torah well at all. And try.

30:05

The Old King James uses the word prove. The English Standard Version uses the word test. Test me now in this, says the

30:12

Lord of Hosts. I just want you to know how many times he puts says the Lord of Hosts, so we remember who's talking here. The one who can't change is talking.

30:18

Test me, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.

30:25

And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes. Yeah, there was a curse associated with not obeying the

30:33

Mosaic tithing laws. Read the back end of the Book of Deuteronomy in the curses section.

30:39

It's pretty explicit. You got to do all of it, man. So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, says the

30:48

Lord of Hosts. So what he's going to do here is basically say that, you know, if you don't bring in your tithe, if you fail this test, every time you get paid,

30:56

God's going to curse your finances. We're not under the

31:01

Mosaic covenant. There is nothing in the New Covenant where there's a threat that if you don't bring a tithe and if you don't make it the first thing you write a check for when you get paid, that God's going to send the devourer to destroy your bank account.

31:18

That is pure mythology. And it's a bungling of the covenants. And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land, says the

31:28

Lord of Hosts. Who's he talking to? The Israelites under the Mosaic covenant.

31:33

Did they obey it? Nope. They broke it left, right, and center. This is God talking, and this is the God who can't change.

31:40

You have to remember that. Yeah, that's why he changed the covenant. It's a new one. God doesn't change.

31:45

He changed the covenant. He says, you've gone away from my ordinances. You've gone away from my ordinary principles of behavior.

31:52

Statutes of the Mosaic covenant. That's slippery right there, but it's not ordinary patterns of behavior.

31:58

Wrong. Tithing is an ordinary principle of behavior. No, it's not. It is a command of the

32:04

Mosaic covenant. Watch children to thank God for their income, for their harvest, for their increase. That's an ordinary principle.

32:10

And he said, because you've gone away from my ordinary principles, you're under a curse now. And you need to understand, so many times we say, well,

32:15

Christians can't be under curse because Christ bore the curse of the law on the cross. That's right. Actually, let's take a look at that.

32:21

I'm glad he brought this up because this absolutely comes into play in Galatians 3.

32:27

In Galatians 3, we hear this, verse 13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.

32:36

So, the threat regarding the devourer, if you don't pay your tithe, is part of the curse, the cursing section of the law, okay?

32:46

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.

32:54

We're not under the Mosaic covenant. We've been set free from the curses of the Mosaic covenant.

33:01

So, I'm glad he brought this up, but the text says the exact opposite of what he's saying.

33:07

That is in regards to our salvation. But are you saying then that you can live any way you want and it doesn't affect you? Is that what you're saying?

33:12

Non sequitur. No, I'm not saying you can live any way you want. I fully recognize that nine of the ten commandments get reiterated in the new covenant and they are still applicable today.

33:25

They determine what is sin and not sin, what is God's will for us regarding worship of God and belief and trust in him, as well as how we love our neighbors, okay?

33:37

Totally believe that. But that being the case, the Mosaic covenant command to tithe is kaput, along with the

33:46

Mosaic covenant. We're not under it. See? Because that's just crazy to think that way. See, if we steal, there are consequences.

33:54

A curse is a consequence. If you steal, there's a consequence. What if you steal from God? And so many people say, well, yeah, but the

34:02

Lord owns it all. Yes, but he actually gives us stewardship over it, but he reserves 10 % for himself.

34:07

No, he doesn't. In the new covenant, there is no command to tithe. Again, 1

34:13

Corinthians 9 spells out what the obligation is. The obligation is that somebody who proclaims the gospel, makes their living by the gospel, and how much then is somebody required to give?

34:25

Whatever they've set apart to God in their heart. It's between them and God. That's what 1 and 2

34:32

Corinthians 9s teach. Wow. That's why he says you've stolen, because he says,

34:38

I have set apart the tithe for the house of God. No, the tithe was a Mosaic covenant thing.

34:45

And by the way, Deuteronomy 14 makes it clear, only a portion of the tithe was given to the priest.

34:51

The rest was consumed by the person who grew it. So if you keep it, you're stealing it. And this word is also used in Joshua 6 and 7, when they took the tithe, they were supposed to bring, he said,

34:59

Israel has stolen. Stolen. And again, please, please hear me. I didn't make these words up. No, you just twisted them up.

35:06

These are strong words. God says, you've stolen from me. No, God is speaking to Mosaic covenant

35:11

Israelites, that they aren't keeping the commands of the Mosaic covenant, and they're guilty of stealing from him.

35:17

You've robbed me. And because of that, you're under a curse. And I don't want you under a curse. Oh, I'm so glad you don't want me under a curse, which means you don't even understand how the covenants work.

35:25

I don't want you living under a curse, but you're voluntarily placing yourself under a curse. No, I'm not. And no Christian who doesn't tithe is voluntarily placing themselves under a curse.

35:35

The curse is associated with the Mosaic covenant. Because you're going away from my ordinary principles of behavior.

35:41

No, statutes of the Mosaic covenant, sir. Now, I had a conversation with the

35:47

Lord one time about this passage, because this is probably... Now, check this out, okay? How does he know what he's saying is true?

35:54

Not by sound exegesis, because God talked to him directly. Check this out.

36:00

Most famous passage on tithing, although there are many passages on tithing. I'll show you some of them today. But this is probably the most famous one.

36:06

And so, I had a conversation with the Lord one time, and I said, Lord, the number one reason that I hear that people don't tithe is they say, well, that's in the

36:13

Old Testament. By the way, the person who says that has close to a proper understanding.

36:20

And what I mean by that is that it's not a matter of whether it's in the New Testament or the Old Testament. The question is, which covenant is a part of?

36:28

It's part of the Mosaic covenant, and the Mosaic covenant is kaput. So, we've got a problem here, you know, because what he's engaging in is a straw man argument, and it doesn't actually address the real issue at heart.

36:45

It's not the distinction between Old or New Testament. In fact, even Jesus was born under the law and was a tither and commanded others to do so as well.

36:56

In fact, he had to because he was fulfilling the law for us. But all that being said, that's not the issue.

37:02

The issue is a matter of covenants. That's in the Old Testament. And so, I said to the Lord, you know,

37:07

Lord, you put this in Malachi 3, and then there's Malachi 4, and then Matthew 1. Couldn't you have just waited, I mean, just a little while?

37:17

I mean, you know, these verses only miss the New Testament by like 15 verses. I mean, couldn't you just waited just a little while and put it, you know what the

37:25

Lord said? I just felt in my spirit, he said, I put it right where I wanted. So, you see what he's doing here?

37:30

Well, I know this is true because the Lord talked to me and since the Lord told me, I put it right where I want it.

37:36

The Lord affirmed by speaking directly to me that this is true. Pete And the reason is, here's point number one, because tithing is a test.

37:46

Jared No, it's not. It's a Mosaic covenant command and it was

37:51

Thanksgiving. You don't know what you're talking about. First Corinthians 9 lays out the obligations of a believer.

38:01

And the command is not about tithing. It's about not muzzling the ox while it treads out the grain.

38:08

Sir, you are twisting up the Bible terribly. And you're not properly distinguishing between the

38:14

Mosaic covenant and the New covenant. And as a result of it, you are teaching falsely and you are taking from people money that doesn't belong to them.

38:24

And you're putting them under bondage and putting them back under compulsion. But again, scripture is clear in this regard.

38:33

Each must give as he's decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion.

38:39

God loves a cheerful giver. That's the command of the New covenant. So, this is episode one.

38:46

Then we're going to do one more as it relates to Robert Morris and the blessed life. And in the next one, we're going to take a look at the principle of the first.

38:55

When you knock out his false teaching on tithing and then obliterate and show that he's twisting scripture badly regarding a so -called principle of the first, the rest of his teaching completely falls flat.

39:08

And again, scripture is clear. We are not under the tithe. The tithe is a Mosaic covenant thing, and it makes no sense to bring the

39:15

Mosaic covenant tithe command into the New covenant because people ate their tithes and shared part with the

39:24

Levites. So, this makes no sense. It's just, it shows a complete lack of understanding of how the

39:30

Old Testament and the New Testament work together. And that's really the primary issue is that so many

39:35

Christians, they do not understand how the Old Testament works. They don't know their covenants and they don't know how to properly distinguish commands related to one covenant or another, and they end up mingling them together.

39:48

And by doing so, they come up with all kinds of really bad, bad doctrines. And Robert Morris's false teaching regarding the blessed life is just one example, just one manifestation of these, of the false doctrine that comes when you don't understand your biblical covenants.

40:06

So, hopefully you found this helpful. If so, all the information on how you can share the video is down below.

40:11

And until next time, may God richly bless you in the grace and mercy won by Jesus Christ and his vicarious death on the cross for all of your sins.