A Sower of Seeds

All right, we're gonna pray, and then we'll get started. Blessed Lord, you've caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning.

Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them so that by patience, comfort of your holy word, we may embrace and ever hold fast to the blessed hope of everlasting life through Jesus Christ, our

Lord. Amen. All right, so question is were there any questions here?

And holy guacamole, the chat was just going nuts. So I can't scroll through all of that presently.

Wow, so one person said that we just came out of a church where the pastor told us we had to tither, or both we and our finances would be cursed.

Are you kidding me? Wow, wow. Okay, so would you guys like a quick Bible study on tithing?

You know, I think that would be a helpful thing. What I wanted to do in light of last week's

Bible study, which was a crash course in eschatology, would be to also begin a study of the book of Revelation.

So how is the joy of faith different than the happiness of life? Joy is something that you can experience regardless of your circumstances.

Happiness oftentimes is tied to your circumstances. So funny enough, you can be depressed and still have joy.

It's a weird thing, but that's true. And the joy of our salvation is anchored in the hope that we have in Christ, the forgiveness that we have in him.

And so you'll note then that this is something produced in us by the Holy Spirit. I hate it when somebody preaches a sermon and they say something to the effect of, you know, that you need to have more joy.

How am I supposed to have more joy by you telling me I need to have more joy? It's like me yelling at a grapevine saying, you need to produce more grapes.

You know, that's not how you do it, you know? It's like, get busy, get me more fruit, would ya?

So the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy. Notice, second one listed, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self -control.

And so we can have joy in the midst of our sufferings. We can have joy in the midst of persecution. And that joy is anchored, again, in our salvation and the hope that we have of eternal life.

And those things can't be taken away from us by our circumstances. You know, if Christ is for us, who can be against us?

Christ is for us, who can be against us? Nobody can. And the reality is that oftentimes we allow people to kind of get under our skins, but that's not how that works.

Now, regarding the tithing thing, over and again, I try to point this out, but it's always a good thing here.

And that is that it's a common practice for people to talk about tithing.

But the Old Testament tithe is something way different, way different than what you would think it is.

So let me see if I can hunt this down in my Hebrew text real quick. I'm gonna look for some words. I'm gonna look for tithe and, yeah, 14,

Deuteronomy 14. This is what I'm looking for. All right, so let's start by looking at Deuteronomy chapter 14 and what the

Old Testament tithe was according to the Mosaic covenant. So over and again, when you have a

Christian pastor who says you have to tithe, if you don't tithe, then you're under the curse of Malachi.

How have we robbed the Lord in tithes and offerings? You need to bring your tithe into the storehouse and I'll rebuke the devourer, right?

This is what they claim. Well, that's out of context, because in the New Covenant, in Christianity, there is no command to tithe.

But it's good to know what it is that you're supposed to be doing if you were tithing in the

Old Covenant. So you shall, this is Deuteronomy 14, 22, you shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year.

And before Yahweh your God and 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.

So note here in verse 23, it says, you shall eat the tithe of your grain.

You eat your own tithe. Let me keep explaining what's going on here, okay?

So Deuteronomy 14 is like the televangelist's worst nightmare. I've never heard of them preach on this text. So you shall eat the tithe of your grain, and of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, that you may learn to fear

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

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

Yahweh your God chooses, spend the money for whatever you desire. Have you ever heard anybody preaching on this?

You want me to do what with my tithe? You go ahead and you buy whatever you desire, oxen, or sheep, or wine, or even strong drink.

They clearly were not Norwegian. Okay, whatever your appetite craves, and you shall eat there before Yahweh your

God, and rejoice in your household, and you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance.

So you're to share your tithe with the Levites, but notice they're not the ones who have control over it.

So the purpose of the tithe, the idea is that when you have a tithe, you bring 10 % of what it is that's produced on your land, you take it to Jerusalem, to the temple, and you have a big blowout

Thanksgiving feast, and you share some of it with the

Levites. Is the idea behind that the men that today we would call pastors?

Okay, so in the new tithe system, it's a totally different thing, but the principle's the same, that the

Levites made their living from serving in the temple, pastors also to make their living by the preaching of the gospel, that's what scripture says.

And so, but we started with our data point here, data point number one, tithing isn't what you've been told it is, okay?

So if this is tithing, and it is, Deuteronomy 14 defines it, is this any way to be able to support a pastor?

Once a year we're gonna gather up all of our crops, pastor, we'll share some of it with you, and we can go from there.

You know, and we're gonna have a big blowout party, and you're invited, you know, you can bring some of the leftovers home if you want.

That's not gonna do, okay? So Deuteronomy 14 tells you what the tithe is, and so it's not what you think, all right?

So when in Malachi, when it says you're robbing God, you're not bringing your tithes into the storehouse, the idea then is that people weren't taking their tithe, they weren't having their blowout parties in the presence of God, the

Levites were not getting their portion to support themselves, and so by doing so they were robbing

God, but God wanted to have a tithe meal with them, that was the point. And so, you know, going to the

Old Testament tithe is not an appropriate thing for Christians as far as a way to support the pastors, plus the commands as it relates to supporting a pastor are totally different.

So the next passage then was 1 Corinthians 9, and the apostle

Paul was a fellow who, funny enough, and this is strange, he worked for his living and didn't burden any of the churches that he planted or that he served, and so he made a living as a tent maker, and in making a living as a tent maker, he supplied all of his own needs.

And there were people, oddly enough, who faulted him for that, okay?

The so -called super apostles, you know, who charged the highest dollar for their great oration skills, they mocked

Paul and basically said, well, the reason why he doesn't charge anything is because he's such a terrible speaker that he could only charge pennies anyway, you know, compared to us who charge you more.

I know that sounds weird, but that's kind of how that went. So in 1 Corinthians 9 then,

Paul is constantly, everything he does, anything he does good for the church, somebody's gonna spin right around and use it as a slander against him.

It's a fascinating thing. So he says, am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our

Lord? You are free, you are an apostle, and yet you've seen, yes, you've seen Jesus. Are not you my workmanship in the

Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the

Lord. So this is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and to drink?

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

Lord and Cephas? You gotta note here, Rome's got a real problem because their first pope was married and brought his wife with him everywhere he went, all right?

So, or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?

Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruits?

Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? Then he says this, do

I say these things on human authority? Does not the Torah say the same thing?

And now this is where Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is going to reach into the

Old Testament and give us a commandment that we then are to apply as it relates to supporting men who preach the gospel.

And I love this one, it's like my favorite of all time, all right? For it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.

So, yeah, so a good thing to think, think about your pastor as an ox, and he's the beast of burden for your congregation.

He may smell like one too, but that's a different thing. So the idea then here is that the person who says you gotta tither your curse, that they're pulling forward the curses of the

Mosaic covenant into the new covenant, they do not apply. And the command then that is the one standing as it relates to men in the pastoral ministry and those who preach the gospel, it says the commandment is you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.

That's your governing commandment. And then he asks, is it for oxen that God is concerned?

Does he not speak certainly for our sake? It is written for our sake because the plowman should share in the hope and the thresher should thresh in the hope of sharing in the crop.

If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share in this rightful claim on you, do we not even more?

Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right. So Paul has a right here to make a living from the gospel and he's chosen of his own volition to not access that right and that right is found in don't muzzle an ox while it's treading out the grain.

That's the interpretation of it now given. So he says this, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

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

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

And there's your full stop. So those who proclaim the gospel are to make their living by the gospel and so when a congregation decides they're gonna call a pastor, they sit down and work out, well,

God wants him to make his living from the gospel, so can we make sure that he can put clothes on his back?

Clothes, family, his wife, have a roof over his head, food on the table, braces and dental work for little kids and school and all that other kind of stuff.

So the idea then is that this is gonna rule out the idea of you need to sow a seed, you need to sow a seed, make a payable to Chris Rose, bro.

And send it in now and God's gonna bless it 100 fold, 1 ,000 fold, yeah,

I feel 1 ,000 fold anointing coming on me right now. Yeah, this is nonsense, right? Yeah, so this completely rules that out and you'll note then

God wants pastors to make their living from the gospel, make their living not to exploit the sheep.

So when somebody pulls forward and says, you've gotta tithe and all this kind of stuff, they got it wrong and I would note this then also is that when somebody has a legalistic and a false understanding of tithing, what they end up doing is abdicating their responsibility when it comes to caring for the poor among us.

And so what'll happen is that let's say you get a single mom who comes to your church and that single mom, she's barely hanging on, that's how it goes with single moms, right?

And so she's coming to church and she's hearing week after week, you gotta tithe, you gotta tithe, you gotta tithe.

No, the job of the church is to care for those in need and so the idea here is that they lay a heavy burden on them and I've even heard of churches and seen the news reports of churches where the pastor sends a bill to those people who are not tithing and refuses to visit them in the hospital if they're sick or to do their funeral because they're behind on their tithing.

It's wrong and so you'll note then, pastors are to be taken care of, absolutely.

How much do they need to make their living by the gospel? Is tithing applicable in the

New Testament? You can tithe if you want but it's not a requirement and that's where the next part will come in and we'll talk about this.

So Paul then continues, he says, I have not made use of any of these rights nor am

I writing these things to secure any provision for I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting.

For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid up upon me.

Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward but if not of my own will,

I am still entrusted with a stewardship that what then is my reward?

That in my preaching, I may present the gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

And so you'll note that the Apostle Paul, the exemplary thing he strives for is to not charge anybody so that he can kind of boast in that sense.

But the second part of this then comes into play in 2 Corinthians 9. So you'll note 1 Corinthians 9, 2

Corinthians 9, they always work together. 2 Corinthians 9, let's see here.

Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints.

And so in 1 Corinthians 9, we're talking about caring for one another. We're talking about saints caring for one another.

For I know your readiness of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that in Achaia has been ready since last year and your zeal has stirred up most of them.

But I'm sending the brothers so that are boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter so that you may be ready as I said you would be.

Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated to say nothing of you for being so confident.

So I thought it necessary to urge you brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift that you have promised so that it may be ready as a willing gift and not as an exaction.

And so you'll note here, this is talking about a special collection that was being taken up for Christians who were experiencing famine in a different part of the

Mediterranean world. And this is a gift specifically for them and watch what Paul says, being ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.

And so when you, in the church then, since we're not under the tithe, our giving is not an exaction.

It's absolutely out of place. So the point is this, whoever sows sparingly also reaps sparingly, whoever sows bountifully also reaps bountifully.

Now over and again what'll end up happening is the televangelist or the preacher will quote this verse without any context here.

And we're talking about sowing in the sense of giving for the express purpose of supporting other believers who are in dire need.

This is in the centuries and millennia before there was social services, before there was welfare, before there was socialism or any kind of government way in which people had a safety net underneath them.

So what did the church do? They took care of each other. All right? So even this point is not about sowing money for the purpose of so that you can be blessed and receive from God a private jet or health, wealth or prosperity.

That's completely not even the point here. So each one must give then as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver.

So what are you to give? Whatever you want. How much?

That's between you and God. Full stop. Are you in dire need?

Are you, you know, tithing is not a thing that should be happening. What should be happening is the church should be figuring out how to help you.

It's all backwards when you run everything through the Mosaic Covenant and act like it applies today.

And it lays a heavy burden on people and makes it so that Christianity is a financially untenable religion because God demands after salvation by grace through faith alone apart from works, free gift of God, it's no longer free, right?

But you'll note then when it comes to giving, everything should be done freely. What you give is between you and God.

The end. You wanna give as much as you can afford, you can do that. You wanna give 5%, 10%, that's between you and God.

So you'll note then, as far as Kongsvinger goes, I haven't been really pushing the screws down on people.

Don, do you think I should tighten things up a little bit here? No, no.

No, no. Don says no. No, we're out of screws. Yeah. It was.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh my goodness, so this is really fun. On the chat, people are talking about, since they understand what the tide is, one says,

I'm bringing the wine, and the other says, I'm bringing raviolis. I've got the, you get the point.

Funny enough, this is right on track. This is right on track, you know?

So I was, when I taught this a few years ago to the Letheans online, in the first service, there's folks that are there from the

Netherlands, and at the time, I was gonna see them shortly after I taught on this, and I said,

I'm looking forward to enjoying a tithe with you, you know? And we had a good tithe party, you know?

And the pastor got to have, not just some of the leftovers, I actually got to have part of the meal, so it was fun.

But really, that's the point. And so you'll note then that even the tithe itself was never intended to be a burden.

It was never intended to be a burden. You take the 10%, you bring it, and you're going to consume it.

And if the journey's too long, you convert it into money, and when you get there, you buy whatever you desire.

You feel like lamb chops? You can buy some lamb. You feel like some steak? You can buy some steak, you know?

And you and your family are gonna have a blowout party in the presence of your God, and the

Levites get to share. That's the point. So Tony says, you've just shut down a few

Rolls -Royce dealerships. I wish. One of the things

I've noticed about false teachers is that when I teach the truth, they lash out at me.

So rather than fold up shop and say I repent, they lash out at me. That just seems to be a thing.

So current events, great example. So he says,

I know a few people outside this church who saw this for what it is and would not attend church because of what they sensed.

Yeah, yeah. So, and then Elizabeth says, God supplies what we give.

It all comes from him. Exactly. So you're gonna note here, this is,

I got a lecture from one of my pastors years and years and years ago. We had changed membership and we became members of Faith Lutheran Church in Capistrano Beach, California.

And Ron Hodel, he made a visit to our house to bring our tithe envelopes. And I was thinking, whoa, this is quite the visit.

You're gonna bring us tithe envelopes. And he said, here's the deal, Chris. He's all, everything you own belongs to God.

It's all his, all right? So how much you put in these envelopes, that's between you and him. And he says, it's none of my business and I don't wanna know.

And he said, and so the idea here is, is that just understand scripture says that we gotta keep the lights on and I'm supposed to be making my living from the gospel and this is

Southern California. So, that's pretty much what he said. Yeah. But then, and that's the ideas.

And so, you can do this then joyfully. And you can do it with an open hand. In fact,

I found that people are more generous when you don't put any restrictions on them, when you don't put any demands on them.

And when they give, they give cheerfully. And here's the thing. If I'm not preaching the gospel, then don't support us, you know?

But if you're hearing the gospel and God's word rightly preached, then it's the will of God that I make my living from the gospel.

So, and Kongsvinger has bills to pay before they pay me as well, so. And that's the idea.

How much you wanna give, I don't care. It's between you and God. It's, God loves a cheerful giver.

You know, there's no compulsion here. This is, so we give the gospel away for free.

And, you know, and we're gonna keep giving you the gospel even if you're not supporting. And if you wanna support, all the better.

So, that's the idea. Yes, ma 'am. In this day and age, how does, I mean, like you said, the welfare system and social service.

Okay, so how, the question is how does the church help the poor? Well, oddly enough, there's lots of different ways that you can help the poor.

So, one of the things is the scripture says that God wants the church to support the widows.

All right? In our day, I would almost argue that widows do just fine today.

The women who have the most difficulty are the single moms. All right? So, there are tangible ways to help them.

Financially, babysitting, you know, because here's the deal. When you're a single mom, oh, good night.

You get no breaks, okay? When Barb and I were raising our kids, I mean, Barb made sure that we took turns, you know?

And she'd tap in and I'd go take a nap and then I'd tap in and she'd go and unwind.

But single moms, they don't get any down time at all. So, the idea here then is that when it comes to helping people in need, there's many different ways in which you can do it.

And oftentimes, if you can provide childcare for a single mother and in a way that makes it so that they can save money by not having to put their kids in daycare, those are other things that the church can do.

So, the idea here is that get creative with how you want to help.

And then the idea then is that their suffering is our suffering and our job is not to exact money from them.

Our job is to help them, to alleviate some of their need. That's the idea.

And so, I would just say get really creative. What do you expect it should be for this week?

Oh, yeah.

So that it's itemized per person or? No, no, no, just the total. That's what I thought.

The shame board. The shame board. They'd say, okay, there were 43 people in church.

This much was donated. So, last week was 430.

Oh, my. And you see 500 and you say, well, we better up that. Oh, my, that's horrible. It was so it was, it was a shame board.

Yeah, that is a shame board. Yeah, that's what that is. We used to do that here, too, about 50 years ago.

50? Yeah. Maybe less. Every year at the annual meeting, there was a list of everybody who gave and they used to use the envelopes so they kept track of the amounts.

Yeah. That was part of the annual report. Oh, no. Yes, it was. Gosh, everybody could see.

That was the shame list. Oh, gosh. Donate this much or you're disqualified at the

Christmas party. Hopefully, you guys are hearing this, but wow, that's terrible. So, there used to be a shame.

Your giving was discussed in the annual meeting? The sum of your giving for the year by name was listed in the annual report.

Wow. No pressure. Yeah, no,

I'm not in favor of any shame boards or, yeah, I can't imagine why.

It's probably burned. Yeah. Yeah. I have seen churches where in the bulletins, they'll just state what the total giving was, you know, and usually that was like, it could be a weekly number and sometimes it's been a monthly, you know, just to keep the church apprised of where they are in relation to the budget and things like that, but it's never pointed to at all.

It's just there as a piece of information and I think that that's okay, so. Elizabeth writes, elderly people on fixed incomes.

Elderly peoples on fixed incomes need help. Social security doesn't go far.

No, it doesn't. That's another thing, you know, and you'd be surprised. A little bit goes a long way in helping people.

It really does. Laura says, expecting widows living on a limited income to give their mites is where it goes bad for sure.

Love how John MacArthur says, that system is coming down. Yep, yep.

So, we are to take care of church members in need, Elizabeth says, before outside people.

Yeah, actually, I would kind of argue in that direction, but you'll note that if you're part of a small congregation, there seems to be long periods of time when things are going smooth for people and then when you hit, somebody hits the bumps, they hit them hard, you know.

It's kind of an interesting thing I've noticed. In the bigger congregations, in larger congregations, there's always somebody who's kind of down for the count.

And so there's different opportunities there. But don't feel bad if you're in a situation where you know of a neighbor who isn't even a believer and they are in dire need, and don't feel bad helping them as if somehow helping them, you're cheating your

Christian brothers. When it comes to love your neighbor as yourself, it doesn't say love your Christian neighbor as yourself, it says love your neighbor.

And so Christ wills then for us to do our good works for the purpose of them seeing our light, which shines the light of Christ.

And so that's the other bit of it, is that our good works are done for our neighbor's sake. And when you get long gospel confused, you do your good works for your sake.

I'm doing, I'm tithing so that the devourer won't destroy my finances. Well, you're tithing for yourself then, right?

You're not helping your neighbor. And anybody who doesn't give the same amount that you do, at least percentage wise is somehow cursed and you look down your nose at them, this is nonsense.

So the idea then with money that we have, the scripture gives very strong instructions that we are to basically care for our needs with the work of our own hands.

And then Christians are admonished to put aside a little bit for people who are in need. And so our savings account budgets should look like, okay, well, this much for housing, this much for food, this much for insurance, and tuck away a little bit for people in need.

And you go, well, that's my savings account. Well, that's a different budget item altogether. Part of your savings account, if you have one, is scripture really makes the admonition for Christians to set aside a small portion for the purpose of meeting the needs of those who are in need.

And that's up to you who you want to do that with, all right? So, as a member of the congregation lost their job, you help them, you help them.

And you sit there and go, well, they need to go on unemployment. They already have, still help them.

Over 50 years ago, I was in a conversation with a fellow I worked for at the time, and he brought an interesting question to mind was, did the government's social welfare programs take the place of the church, or did the church give up its role in terms of social programs?

Boy, that's a tough question. So, the question is, did the governments take over the church's role, or did the churches abdicate their role when it comes to social welfare?

It's the early 60s. Yeah. So, I will say this, though. Here's the interesting thing is,

I can tell you of a particular phenomenon, maybe, I can't answer the question directly because I think it's a little bit more complex than just a yes or no one way or another, is that each of us, because we have the law written on our hearts, and the law says, love your neighbor as yourself.

We all, down deep, kind of on the ROM of our psyche, we know that helping those in need is a requirement of the law of God.

We know this. But the thing is is that when you do it directly, what's that gonna mean?

It's gonna mean sacrifice on your part. You're gonna know about it. And so, what

I've noticed about socialism and social welfare programs is kind of a fire and forget kind of giving, and it's no longer free, it's compulsory.

And what ends up happening is that people's consciences are assuaged. Oh, I feel like I've really helped because I voted for that party, and they raised welfare so that more people can have it.

Yeah, and that's right. It's never charity when it's done at the point of a gun. And so, you'll note then that in our society, then, socialism and social welfare programs then compete with Christian charity.

And I really think that scriptures make it clear that Christians are to be active in their giving for other people.

And note, I'm not talking about giving to the church. I'm talking about you actually have a bona fide neighbor who's short on cash.

You go in your ATM, and you take some money out, and you give it to them. Okay, and if they won't take it, then you basically find a way to make them take it without them knowing that you're giving it to them.

Oh, look what's in your cookie jar. I don't know how it got here. If you look at our healthcare system in the

U .S., the hospitals were church -based hospitals.

Yes. And still are to some extent. Yeah, that's right. They've lost their church affiliation. The same thing with nursing homes.

Yep, and then look at the book of Acts, too. So you brought up the fact that it was church organizations that really were the ones who put up the first hospitals.

And it's churches that have been setting up the outreaches for people who are on Skid Row and other things like this.

Churches are the ones who've always been active in these things. But this goes all the way back to the beginning of the church.

So if you think about it, the church is meeting each other's needs.

And let me find deacons. I'm looking for the first deacons in the book of Acts.

Hang on a second here. Deacon. Not in the

Gospels. In the New Testament. There we go. Let's see here. Book of Acts.

Hang on a second here. It may be chapter four or five. I think it may be at the end of chapter four.

Give me a second here. What's it say in six?

Seven chosen to serve. Oh, that's it, that's it, that's the one. Okay, all right, so listen to this one.

In these days, the disciples were increasing in number. A complaint by the Hellenists. So these are gonna be your

Greek -speaking Jews. Arose against the Hebrews, because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

So just look at the circumstance here. The circumstance here is that the church has taken it upon themselves, we have widows.

And in those days, widows are, you know, women are not really, they don't own land. They don't have the same rights as men do.

And so if you're a widow and you don't have, you're not under any kind of patriarch, financially, you're in dire straits.

And so the church has taken it upon itself to make sure the widows are being fed.

Well, as what ends up happening with human beings, sometimes you favor your own.

You know, those Norwegians, they kind of stick together, don't you know? And, right? So this would be like the

Norwegians and those who are Polish descent not getting along. All right, and wouldn't you know, the

Norwegians get the upper hand. That's kind of the issue. So there was a complaint that eroded regarding the distribution.

So the 12, they summoned the full number of the disciples and they said, it's not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.

But at the same time, it's not right that they give up serving tables. Right? So something's gotta give in this particular case.

So therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.

But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And so they said, what they said pleased the whole gathering and they chose

Stephen, a man full of faith in the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch.

And these they set before the apostles and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And so here you have the first deacons, the office of the deacon set up and this was for the purpose of what?

Really the mercy mission of the church. The church as part of its love for neighbor.

In love for neighbor, now the church is meeting the needs of those within their ranks who are down and out.

And they set up a whole infrastructure then to make sure that their needs are met. So word and sacrament ministry is going on still while at the same time, mercy mission and meeting the needs of those who are their own is being done.

And I hate to say this, but I think the Christian church has lost a lot of this. And part of the reason why we've lost it is so much of the proliferation of bad teaching regarding tithing.

But when you get rid of bad teaching regarding tithing and you see all the freedom that comes from the gospel and all the opportunities that exist in loving our neighbor who is in need, when scripture telling us that we should be doing it, now all of a sudden we recognize, oh, these are the good works

I get to do. And so the idea of a church existing that doesn't help meet the needs of those who are down and out among them, that church shouldn't exist.

So that's the idea. All right, so I gotta scroll to find out why

Heather is in the religious spirit club. Somebody banished you to the religious spirit club?

I get put there all the time. I get demonized. I have a spirit of Jezebel now.

That's weird. I guess that's a cross -dressing spirit. It's weird. Okay, okay.

Let's see, that would be, okay. Yeah, all right, let's see.

Yeah, all right. Keep pointing out. Heather says, I pointed out to a few friends that the

Pentecostal tithing teaching was false, and they think I'm a religious person now because of it.

Isn't that weird? Okay, so you sit in there and go, no, tithing, according to scripture, is not a thing, and they say you have a religious spirit.

That just seems so backwards. How do you pull that off? That's cognitive dissidence.

Yeah, yeah. Don't confuse me with facts. I have my mind made up. I know for a fact

I have to tithe, and if I don't, my finances are cursed. Stop telling me I'm free because of the gospel, you religious person.

All right. What are we doing and how are we doing on time? Terrible. It's okay.

I kind of expected that, but all right, so let me take a look at some of the back ends of the epistles as it relates to this as well.

Hang on a second here. Let's see. I think I want to go to Colossians.

Let me just double check. So we've got the wives submit to your husband's part.

I'm not allowed to say that out loud when my wife is present. Let's see here. No, maybe not here.

Let me do this. Do a hunt for a poor in the

New Testament, and I actually want the epistles on this one. Okay, we looked at that one.

Okay, so yeah, you'll note that at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 and then in mentioned in Galatians 2, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing that I was eager to do.

And then James, in his epistle, which is a hard -hitting epistle written against those who stupidly believe that being salvation by grace through faith means you don't have any good works.

That's nonsense. Paul makes it clear in Ephesians 2 .10 that we are saved unto good works. So James says, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our

Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. If a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing, you say, you sit here in a good place, while you say to the poor man, you stand over there, or you sit down at my feet, have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

But you've dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you?

Are they not the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

You'll note that scripture teaches us to see the poor as rich in faith and to look with some caution and suspicion at the rich.

You know, but isn't it the way of the world? We all aspire to be rich.

Let me think, I'm gonna look for another word here. Hang on a second here, I'm gonna look for eat. Yeah, eat in the epistles.

Hold on a second here. I know this is in the Thessalonians. I gotta hunt this one down, this is a fun one too. Give me a second to hunt.

Okay, 2 Thessalonians chapter three. Two Thessalonians three.

Okay, now we command you brothers in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness, not according to the tradition that you received from us.

For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we work night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you.

It was not because we do not have that right, but to give in ourselves an example to imitate.

For even when we were with you, we would give you this command, if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work but busy bodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the

Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. As for you brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.

If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note. So you know, there's a strong admonition to be busy at work and not idle.

And I'm trying to find that other text. There's a text that is related to this. The thief should steal no more.

Hang on a second here, I think, um, T -H, thief, there we go.

All right, there we go, Ephesians 4. Here we go, Ephesians 4, 28.

So therefore, having put away falsehood, this is verse 25, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we're members one of another.

Be angry, do not sin, do not let the sun go down in your anger, give no opportunity to the devil.

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor. Doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

And that's not just for thieves. You know, that's for all Christians. The idea of working with your hands so that he may share with anyone in need.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths. So you'll note then, created in Christ Jesus for good works, these are our good works.

This is part of it. You say, yeah, well, if I do that, then I'm not gonna be able to retire next year.

I have to wait until the following year. Bummer. Okay. Yeah, that happens, right?

So much of this teaching was injected into the church with the steady evangelical rejection of all tradition.

You can't induce this response without the house being cleared first. As a

Roman Catholic in my youth, I was not exposed to the tithing until I entered the world of evangelicalism.

A very American angle on all of this. Money becomes a measure and a proof of ministry's affirmation.

Yes, it does. So if we were to judge the effectiveness of the preaching of the gospel from Congregator B of money as the measure,

I failed miserably. So I don't have a jet out in the yard yet, so.

Heather says, the evangelical tithing reminds me of the Mormon teaching. They have animated lessons on it for kids.

Or could that be, actually it is the Mormons, I don't recall, but equally cultish. Yes, it is the Mormons, they do.

And in Mormonism, tithing is a necessary part if you want to aspire to become a deity.

So I'd be a terrible God. I don't know why I would wanna aspire to that. But tithing, you don't even have access to the temple and the temple rites unless you're actively tithing.

So temple Mormons are that elite class that are striving to become deities.

And tithing is a necessary component of it. Now, I will say this. When you look at how the

Mormon church's social services work, we could learn a lot from them.

Mormons, when they lose their jobs, never go hungry. You know, that's just the facts.

So, yeah. All right, well we'll wrap up here then today.

It was good to have you guys all here in the building with us. So turn around, say hello to who's left here at Kongsvigar, yay!

Yay! And we will see you guys, Lord willing, next time.

So I'll be teaching next Sunday, but I will not be in Aletheia on Saturday. So, all right, peace.