[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Take your Bibles and go with me to Numbers chapter 18. Now don't forget Tuesday night. Mark it down.
[0:12] Get that on your schedule to be here Tuesday night before 630. Bring all the food and be ready and we'll eat together. And then after that we'll have a time of fellowship and sharing testimonies and telling God how much we love Him and how thankful we are.
[0:30] Let's let Thanksgiving really be about saying thank you. That would be a great thing. Now your Numbers chapter 18. This is a great chapter.
[0:41] You know God is going to give to the people of Israel and to Himself. He's going to give this group of people called priests. And these priests are going to be making sacrifices. And these priests are very important to God because God forgives us based on our high priest and what He sacrificed on Calvary.
[1:00] Jesus died for our sin. He is the ultimate sacrifice. He gave His life. And so every time we come to church we need to remember our sinful condition.
[1:12] We need to remember that we came to Him and by grace and by His mercy we're saved. And so they have priests. And they're going to have Levites. They're going to help the priests take care of the job. And so this chapter is going to be about how God takes care of His men.
[1:27] But before we go through the chapter and look it over, I want to remind you that we... God wanted for them to know that they were forgiven because of what He did. He wanted them to remember you are saved because of what I did.
[1:42] You are saved because a substitute bore your penalty, took your consequences. And that's how we're saved. The substitutionary death of Jesus Christ.
[1:54] He took what we deserved. He received our punishment. He received the consequences of our sins so that we could be saved. And so that's what's happening.
[2:05] But in Numbers chapter 18 God explains to the nation of Israel and He explains to His men how He's going to take care of them. So read with me if you would. We're not about to read the whole chapter but we'll go through it and kind of get you an understanding of what's happening.
[2:20] In chapter 18 verse 1 The Lord said unto Aaron Thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood and thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi the tribe of thy father bring thou with thee that they may be joined unto thee and minister unto thee underline that minister unto thee but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister unto the tabernacle of witness and they shall keep the charge and the charge of the tabernacle only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar and that neither they nor ye also die.
[3:05] And in verse 4 a stranger couldn't come near and so there's a whole explanation of what goes on and as you walk through the chapter with me we'll write down some things that you can remember about what God's doing.
[3:16] Let's have a word of prayer and ask him to help us understand Numbers 18 Father I thank you so much for your word and thank you for helping us understand how things work in your work how you plan for churches to operate how you set a pattern for that and a basis for that in the Old Testament and I pray dear God that you would help us as a church as we teach others how to do it and as we practice it here to put into practice what your word says and I give you praise for all in Jesus name Amen.
[3:46] I don't know if you know this but the New Testament wasn't written in a vacuum the New Testament was written based on the Old Testament if you take the Old Testament out if you take the Old Testament out the New Testament won't make near as much sense New Testament writers constantly quoted and referred back to the Old Testament Jesus knew the Old Testament was the word of God he made the comment that it was the word of God Paul knew it and everybody's constantly quoting it so we get to the New Testament we find out about the church we're not Israel anymore we are the church we're a different group of people but everybody God used to start the church came out of Israel and so they had this understanding so as you read the Old Testament you'll learn and understand the New Testament you really can't understand the New Testament without the Old Testament and you can't understand the Old Testament without the New Testament you need all of it it's all God's book and you need to read it all one of the biggest things I talk to people about when I travel and I try to help correct among young college students is they've read every theology book in the world and never read the Bible if you don't read the Bible you don't need to be reading any books
[4:50] Amen read God's word and know what it says so Numbers chapter 18 first thing I'd like you to go with and see is that God appointed Aaron and his family as a priest to do the spiritual work of Israel and he gave them as I already read to you he gave them the Levites to help them and serve them and to be a very important part of that ministry verse 1 Aaron and the priest are given to do the ministry verse 2 the Levites are going to help them the Levites are going to take care of the things of the tabernacle they're going to they're going to take care of moving the tabernacle setting up the tabernacle and doing all the things and other people weren't supposed to do it God said I have these jobs I want my priest doing I have these jobs I want my Levites doing and the rest of you got other jobs to do leave them to do those particular things the Levites were a gift of God to the priest to help them do the ministry look at verse 6 Numbers 18 6 and I behold I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel to you they are given as a gift for the Lord to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation so God had this great big worship service he wanted Israel to be practicing he wanted Israel to have this tabernacle to have the altar to have the ark of the covenant you remember he put the law in there the ten commandments and above that he put a mercy seat and all these animals are going to be slain and their blood is going to be shed and it's going to be sprinkled on the mercy seat and he wanted all that to happen but he said and so to you priest
[6:22] I'm going to give these Levites as a gift to you to help you do the ministry and it was a privilege in their eyes it was a privilege for these Jewish men to be in the ministry look at verse 7 therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest's office for everything of the altar and within the veil you shall serve I have given your priest's office unto you as a service of gift and the stranger that cometh now shall be put to death so God allowed these guys to do his ministry he allowed guys to be serving him he allowed there to be priests and he allowed there to be Levites and he gave them a ministry to do that's what's happening in Leviticus chapter 18 verses 1 through 7 the priests were placed in charge of the tabernacle the altar and the worship the Levites were a gift to the priest to help them get the job done everybody had a job to do and there were boundaries set on those jobs the ministry wasn't just for anyone it was for the guys God picked and said I want them doing this ministry
[7:22] God calls people to the ministry of preaching and teaching his word today I know and you know not everybody is going to be a missionary but God does call people and God does send people to be missionaries and pastors and send them around the world interesting in the New Testament he's going to have the apostles these special men that are going to be used to be like the foundation of the church and then he's going to give them Acts chapter 6 seven guys deacons that are going to serve them and help them so they can accomplish the work that God's given it's Old Testament it's New Testament it's what they did in Israel and there's different things we're going to do in the New Testament but everybody in the New Testament that would be hearing about the Old Testament that's the book that's going to be preached so God gave gifted men to the church or to Israel number two verse nine God provided for his servants financially God provided for his servants financially the priests were given several special offerings the heave offerings the wave offerings the hallowed things or things that God said that he wanted saved or dedicated to him they were to be given to the priest look at verse nine look at verse nine see it's interesting because you want to understand how God did things in Israel this shall be thine of the most holy things reserved from the fire every oblation of theirs every meat offering of theirs every sin offering of theirs every trespass offering of theirs which they shall render unto me shall be most holy for you for thee for you and for your sons for thy sons so God said
[8:56] I've got special offerings that we're going to use to take care of my people and he told them I want you to eat it in the right place and I want you to eat it with the right attitude in verse 10 they ought never take it for granted that God was providing for his men to be able to eat and they ought never take advantage of that God gave them the best stuff Israel had look if you would in verse 12 Numbers chapter 18 verse 12 all the best look at that all the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the wheat and the first fruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord them have I given thee God said hey I'm going to give my men all the best I want the priest to be taken care of I want the Levites to be taken care of and I want them to get all the best here's an interesting thing you got your Bible open underlined in verse 12 I have given thee I want you to notice that they were not considered gifts from the people but from the Lord they were not considered gifts from the people but from the Lord the people gave to God and God gave to his servants now you wouldn't know this much because you're a part of vision and probably not been a part of one of these stranger churches
[10:09] I have been known to preach in when I was traveling as a missionary but I was made to stand at the door more than one time over the years I'd sat at the door and people came by and the pastor said y'all stuff money in his pocket put it in his shirt pocket put it in his pants pocket stick it in his coat pocket and I'm saying you're going to talk about the weirdest feeling in the world you're just standing there people coming by sticking their hand in this pocket sticking their hand in that pocket and I'm like man this is like the weirdest thing praise God I don't have to go through that too much here's what God said they don't work for you they work for me you give your offering to God and I'll make sure my men are taken care of verse 13 verse 13 I want you to notice how many times you'll have to do this on your own because we don't have time to do it but verse 13 he's going to say shall be thine he's going to say it several times in the chapter the Bible says in verse 13 and whatsoever is first ripe in the land which they shall bring unto the Lord shall be thine everyone that's clean in thine house shall eat of it in verse 14 shall be thine 15 shall be thine 18 shall be thine are thine in verse 18
[11:11] God said I'm taking care of my men I am taking care of my men and God said I want you to clear it and be something really clear you're my men you're not church men you're not Israel men you're my men and I'm taking care of you so look at verse 19 look at verse 19 all the heave offerings of the holy things of the children of Israel offering to the Lord have I given thee he didn't say I even told them to give he said I gave it to you so the priest and the Levites could say we get our money from God God's one giving it and it's given through people but they would know God was taking care of them look at verse 20 now God gave them a ministry and then God took care of them financially in verse 20 the Bible said and the Lord spake unto Aaron thou shalt have no inheritance in the land in their land neither shalt thou have any part among them I am thy part and thine inheritance won't you underline that Israel listen to what I'm going to tell you there are 12 tribes and the Levites won't be considered one of those tribes they're separated to me do you remember the story this is just so you understand Bible in the Bible days the oldest son or the blessed son or the son who received the blessing he got a double portion and so if you remember the story of Joseph he gets to be chosen as that son and God gives him a double portion and Ephraim and Manasseh will become they get
[12:38] Joseph gets two parts in his sons and there's still 12 tribes but really only 11 tribes are represented one tribe gets divided up into two and the Levites are standing off to the side and all the land is being divided can you imagine they come into the state of Georgia and God said let's divide the country let's divide Georgia jump into 12 parts and don't give anything to the Levites don't give anything to the Levites don't give anything to Aaron and his family don't give them anything because I am thy part and thine inheritance and he wanted them to understand you're my men and I take care of you look at verse 21 God gave the tithe to take care of the Levites and the Levites were like the Old Testament deacons and they were a full time position look at verse 21 and behold I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance so 12 tribes come walking in with their tenth offering you got 10 10 chickens one belongs to God you got 10 baby chickens born you're going to give one to God you got 10 ears of corn one belongs to God and that's going to be given to the Levites the whole tribe man and woman and everybody is going to be divided because they have no inheritance but no one should feel like they were trying to get it they shouldn't think man these Israelites are taking our money because God said he was doing it in verse 23 the last phrase is they have no inheritance they have no inheritance go with me to verse 24 look at verse 24 the tithes of the children of Israel which they offer as he have offered unto the Lord
[14:20] I have given to the Levites to inherit therefore I have said unto them among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance so watch this look here here's an Old Testament lesson for you number one I have some men I picked and they're going to do my job for me they're going to do the ministry for me 12 tribes you're going to continue to have your farms and your businesses and all this stuff but I got this one group of people Aaron and the priests and the Levites are all out of the tribe of Levi they're going to do the ministry and they get no inheritance but they really do get an inheritance they just get no inheritance in the land no inheritance in the business but they get the Lord as their inheritance and they get the tithes from the nation of Israel to take care of them number one God has gifted people number two God's taking care of his people number three the Levites are going to tithe too no preacher ever has the right to feel like he ought not be a tither and a giver in the Old Testament of course not in the New Testament either but in the Old Testament you ought never think well I'm in the ministry
[15:27] I shouldn't have to give so let's see what the Bible said Numbers chapter 18 and verse 25 the Lord spake unto Moses saying thus speak unto the Levites and said to them when you take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance then shall ye offer up a heave offering of it for the Lord even a tenth part of the tithe so all the nation of Israel tithed and that's how the Levites got money and then the Levites tithed on the tithe so everybody is giving and everybody's giving the same amount they were giving a tithe to take care of the work of God they were doing it they were not exempt look if you would at Numbers chapter 18 and verse 29 out of all your gifts you shall offer every heave offering of the Lord of all the best even the hollow part out of it give you're supposed to give too watch this the ministry was considered their business the ministry was considered their business as much as my dad owned a farm and raised cows and pigs and chickens and horses and all the stuff he did the Levite was over here doing the work of the tabernacle the priest were over here doing the sacrifices they were doing all this stuff for God and God said let me explain something to you don't you look at the priest as living off the people you look at them as I gave them a job to do and I'm taking care of their paycheck look what it says
[16:49] Numbers chapter 18 and verse 30 therefore thou shalt say to them when it have he the best from it it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor and as the increase of the wine press now what's that saying did you know Lamar over here he's got him a wine press and so he gets he doesn't really have a wine press you wish you did don't you so let's just say he's got a wine press and he's collecting all the grapes and he's pressing out the juice and he's making grape juice and wine and he's doing all that stuff and all that he'll sell it he'll have all that money he'll have all that income he said exactly how it works for the preacher or the priest and the Levite that's how it works it's the same as the threshing floor they harvest their wheat and they thresh it and that's how the Levites the Levites do the ministry and that's considered their work they live off the tithes as a reward for their work numbers chapter 18 and verse 31 look at your bible and you shall eat it in every place you and your households for it is your reward it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation so it was right for them to eat the offerings god was pleased with them eating the offerings it was right for the nation of israel to give and it was right for them to eat those offerings number one god gave some gifted people number two god supplied the need of those people by the tithes that he had his people given number three they were going to be givers themselves they weren't going to be takers they were going to honor god the same way anybody else honored god by giving also and that they would live of it as a part of their work number four there's a clear teaching for us to learn as a church there's a clear teaching for us to learn as a church god gave gifted people god supplied the need of those people and the people that were given up ministry they were to tithe now we're not in israel i'm not a levite and the guys on the church staff aren't levites and the missionaries aren't levites we're the church we're no longer under rules and nobody's going to charge you a tithe and nobody's going to do that but there's some clear principles taught and so when you get to the new testament they're going to base what's happening in the church on what they already knew from the old testament and so jesus is the first one to teach the same principle you take care of the man of god and the work of god luke chapter 10 and verse 7 in the same house remain eating and drinking such things as i give the laborer is worthy of his hire so when this preacher would arrive a jewish preacher in the new testament was sent out by jesus he would go to another israelite's house he would walk into town he'd show up at the morgan's house he'd say hey brother morgan my name is also garden i'm a preacher need a place to stay the night some need you to feed me so take care of me all right and so if you didn't want to take care of me i go outside the door shake dust off my feet say fool you on you buddy and it was really a curse on you but if you took care of him you took care of him the laborer went out with nothing and the people of god took care of him and jesus said here's the principle you take care of the laborer you take care of the man of god that was the principle that he was teaching in matthew chapter 10 and verse 10 he said he said don't don't when you go don't take script for your journey don't take two coats don't take extra shoes don't take extra walking sticks with you the workman is worthy of his meat so he showed up and he got taken care of in the ministry first corinthians chapter nine and verse one now we're in a church we're a church and so you might say why do we support the pastor why do we support the pastoral staff why do we give so much money to all these missionaries and you might honestly be thinking to yourself it don't seem fair to me they don't have to work and i work and that don't seem fair to me and so the first thing is it's going to be based on numbers chapter 18 teaching you what to do and then we get the new testament and guess what paul's going to do he's going to say let me quote from you the old testament and
[20:49] show you that we take care of the man of god so if you got first corinthians 9 open with me in first corinthians 9 verse 1 he said am i not an apostle am i not free have i not seen jesus christ the lord are not ye my work in the lord look underline that are you not my work wait a minute where'd that come from you have remember that phrase he said just like for old lamar over here he's got a wine press and old paul he's got a a threshing floor and he said just like they got their work the preacher's got his work the levite's got his work the priest says his work you're and so paul says he starts the chapter now wait a minute aren't y'all my work i mean is that aren't you my work uh your work might be a business and your work might be a a farm and your work might be the other but aren't you my work paul says and then paul begins to explain to the corinthian church he's going to explain to the corinthian church that they ought to learn about taking care of their uh pastor and missionaries and men that work there and so he says let me explain something to you peter he's married and when he travels he takes his wife with him and you guys got to take care of his wife me and barnabas we're still single we don't have a wife and you guys don't want to take care of us it's in verse six look what he says first corinthians chapter nine in verse six he says he says or i only in barnabas have we not power to forbear working or are barnabas and i the only guys that have to keep making tents are we the only guys have to keep working at mcdonald's so we can preach the gospel is that how it's supposed to work and then he starts into an argument with a bunch of rhetorical questions starting in verse seven he says do soldiers go to war at their own expense you know a guy's gonna go my brother served on the nimitz an aircraft carrier he didn't buy the boat and he didn't buy the shoes he didn't buy the clothes when he went to the military it wasn't his expense and so paul said do any soldiers go out at their own expense the soldiers have to buy their own sword then he said and by the way who plants a vineyard and doesn't eat the fruit and who has a flock who has a herd of sheep and doesn't eat the milk the eat of the milk of the flock and then in verse eight look at verse eight the underlying this in verse eight first
[23:01] Corinthians chapter nine and verse eight am I talking like a man am I saying this because I happen to be in the ministry and I want y'all to take care of me or is that what the law says and when you read law you should automatically think about five books of the Bible that are called the law the books of Moses or the Pentateuch and they are let me see if you're saying women let's see if you know the Pentateuch the law and the books of Moses are you ready they are Genesis Exodus Leviticus numbers and Deuteronomy Paul said now wait a minute am I making a logical man's argument here or am I quoting the book he said I'm quoting the book so look if you would look if you would in verse nine he said it's written in the law of who verse nine he said in the law of Moses he said thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treads out the corn and then he asked a question was God worried about oxen was God worried about the animal and then he answers that answer he answers that question in verse 10 and he says or was it all together for our sakes was God worried about oxen was he worried about the bulls that are pulling the plows or was he worried about the men of God and he said no doubt look at what it says it says for our sakes no doubt it's written he said God wasn't talking about the the mule that pulled the plow God was talking about the preacher and how he ought to be taken care of then in verse 11 but verse 10 he said they plow and hope you should underline that in the verse 11 he said if we have sown unto you spiritual things is it a great thing if we reap your carnal things in other words if I would stand here and take the Bible and teach you the word of God if I brought you the gospel and I taught you about Jesus and I showed you how to go to heaven and I showed you what the Bible said about forgiveness and I taught you about praying is it any big deal that you would buy me a pair of shoes that's what he's saying to him in other words and then he gets really smart in verse 13 in verse 13 he's really you can just hear him he's a Baptist pastor and he's just winding up tighter and tighter and in verse 13 he said do you not know do you guys not even understand that they would serve the holy things they would minister of the holy things live of the things of the temple and they that wait on the altar are partakers of the altar he said you guys never read numbers 18 the numbers 18 let me tell you what it said it said is you take care of the altar I'll take care of you with the offering so that's the way it works that's the way it works and then in verse 14 he said something clear because you know at our church just to be blunt honest a large part way over 50% of the offerings go to either missionaries or salaries because when you add in a hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year that's given in missions look what it says in verse 14 for even so had the Lord ordained the Lord has ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel
[26:10] God said I meant for my preachers to live of preaching that's how I meant for taffling real quickly just popped into your head whoa whoa whoa Paul made tents and since Paul made tents it's okay to make tents but Paul will later say in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 he will actually say you're an inferior church because I wasn't a burden to you and I did make tents forgive me this wrong y'all should have taken care of me you're an inferior church and so there's a here's what he said God said we're supposed to take care of the men of God y'all know that from the Old Testament supposed to take care of the men of God in Galatians chapter 6 in verse 6 he wrote the same truth again in Galatians 6 6 he said let him that is taught in the word communicating to him that teacheth in all good things take care of the guy that's teaching you the Bible Philippians chapter 4 in verse 10 tells us about missionaries
[27:16] Paul writes back to the church of Philippi in Philippians chapter 4 in verse 10 he said I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again wherein you were also careful but you lacked opportunity and Paul writes him said man I sure am thankful that y'all take care of me I'm sure thankful that your offering got to me and I've already preached Philippians to you but here's what he said he said thank you for taking care of me so right now there are missionaries serving in Thailand and there are missionaries serving in India and there's missionaries serving all over the world that our church supports and you might say why do we have to give them so much money why don't they become business men and then they could make their own money because it's real simple that's just not God's plan the numbers chapter 18 he said I give my men a job to do and I provide the money not you you just give me your money and I'll see to it they get it that's what he told him in the numbers chapter 18 now the problem is you have to do that through a man somebody had to take it it didn't work that way at the at the temple because they brought you brought it in the door and then once you got in the door the the the priest knew exactly where it went they didn't have a treasure or a bookkeeper somebody checking it out you bring it in they eat it you bring it in they wear it and oh Eli's kids even got a little too fasty with it and they didn't like their meat soaked in the water like
[28:33] God wanted it and God got angry he said oh you you can't even wait till this give my it's been done the way I want it taken care of and so God said you take care of my men so he said you you're flourished again look at your Bible Philippians chapter 4 and verse 14 notwithstanding you have well done that you did communicate with my affliction in verse 15 he said no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving but you only but you sent once and again to my necessity so our church gives all kinds of money to missionaries because Mark Tolson stood in China today and he went to all the trouble to learn a language he went to all the trouble to rent a building he went to all the trouble to go out and invite people he went to all the trouble to put his family in less than ideal conditions and less than comfortable conditions compared to living in America they live nice let's just be honest you got to choose from here and there you'll probably choose here and if you don't believe that go visit for a while stay there a while and everybody talking a funny language and all the food's different and you can say I like Chinese food yeah well let them give you two sticks until you eat it with it amen I mean I'm like get me a fork amen bring me a spoon so I can eat Betty said it's a great diet plan because it takes so long to eat that way amen and so but you but get a hold of it here's what God said he said my plan was that my men would be taken care of and that's what was going on first Timothy chapter 5 and verse 17 showed you the verse before he said that the guys who teach labor and the word and doctrine give them a good salary give them a good salary now I wanted to take you back to
[30:15] Nehemiah chapter 10 God's people in the Old Testament didn't always take care of God's men like they were supposed to and number in a Nehemiah chapter 10 and verse 35 they were supposed to bring the first fruits of the ground and the fruit of the trees year by year to the house of the Lord they were supposed to bring it they were supposed to give it everybody knew what they would do or what they were supposed to do but they didn't do that and look if you would in chapter 12 of chapter 10 and look in verse 39 the last part they said we will not forsake the house of our God we won't leave them out now it was a real clear teaching to them because here you got Benjamin and his tribe and they got all this land that belongs to them and they can raise sheep and they can raise cows and they can take care of their family they got all these things they can do some of them could sell wood and some of them are going to be carpenters but then there's this group of Levites and their whole job is take care of the tabernacle take care of the temple take care of the offerings take be the priest do all that work if you have what other job they got that's all they got that's the only job they had and so they were to be careful not to forget the church but in Nehemiah 1310 you remember Nehemiah he goes to the city and he finds the walls are broken down and nobody's doing what they're supposed to do he was a cupbearer for the king and he gets away so he can help rebuild the walls of the city and when he gets there he finds out God's people are not doing what God's people are supposed to do and in Nehemiah chapter 13 and verse 10 look what he says I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them for the Levites and the singers that did the work were fled everyone to his field you know what happened they didn't give the offerings they didn't take care of the preachers and the preachers took off running and said hey that's it you don't want to take care of us we're not going to do our job and now the house of God wasn't being taken care of so in verse 11 Nehemiah gets mad and he said I contended with the rulers
[32:19] I said why is the house of God forsaken and I gathered them together and set them in their place but somehow they had forgotten to take care of the house of God the responsibilities of God you know Vision Baptist Church Cobb County we got a building that's we're renting for about four hundred dollars a month it's either four hundred or four hundred fifty dollars a month the guys are paying in rent over there and you know what happened was somewhere along the way the church people just quit they quit going out and winning souls they quit trying to build a church and so but we went in there and looked at that building the nursery had everything all the dolls and all the toys were lined up on the shelves it looked like the rapture happened the baby grand piano was sitting over here the electric guitar was on the on the platform the sound system was in the place the air conditioners were there the pews were there the lights were there everything was there and all the people were gone they had forsaken the house of God some preacher took off and ran took off ran maybe took off ran because the people didn't care their job maybe he didn't do his job who knows but all of a sudden it was empty it's a horrible tragedy when
[33:25] God's people do not love God and his work enough to support it financially and that's the lesson of numbers chapter 18 let me give you the last thing for you to remember giving is not legalistic by the way I am well paid and not asking for a raise we're in numbers chapter 18 the problem with preaching through the Bible is you come to numbers 18 so you read numbers 18 go home and read it and if I'm taking any step outside of it you come show it to me giving is not materialistic or not legalistic in Genesis 14 20 before the law was ever given Abraham gave a tithe of of the of the the the boatine of the what do you call it in English I can't think of the word of the bounty they took in battle the spoils of battle he gave a tithe of all of it in Genesis chapter 28 and verse 22 Jacob said I will surely give the tenth unto thee so God's been somehow new we're going to recognize God with 10 percent we're going to recognize that God helped me win the battle we're going to recognize that God's taking care of me and I'm going to give in the New Testament time is not taught that much more grace givens taught because you build it on the Old
[34:35] Testament in the second Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 9 the idea is not 10 percent you got a cap on giving it's like hey he just blew the lid off the top of it said give big time because you got a big God who's going to take care of you and meet your needs God's men were supposed to give so it is never an excuse you're doing God's work and he shouldn't be given over the years on the mission field and everywhere I've gone I've always said to the preachers I cannot believe you guys aren't givers I never know for sure I just guess but God's men are supposed to be givers too God's men are supposed to be givers we all give because we realize everything I have comes from God and boy that's really true isn't it here I mean good night it comes out of the offering plate you guys give it and the men decide how much I'm going to make and I get my paycheck that way and it's vision church it gives it and y'all would say yep well God pays you buddy but he don't pay me I work for General Electric well the Bible says that God pays you God gives you the ability to work and the power to get riches and God's the one that's taking care of you and you're recognizing that as you learn to be a giver you give in obedience to God no you don't have to give and if you don't give you're not going to die and you're not going to go to hell and God's not going to curse you and he's not going to break your legs he's not going to hate you and he's not going to think less of you but the truth is if I handed you 10 candy bars so I'm going to give you 10 candy bars anyway you'd be willing to give me one of them seem to me like you'd say well if I recognize God's given that to me I'll recognize him and give it back to him your giving is recognizing that it's
[36:11] God that's blessing you and not you doing it on your own I'll never forget being in Birmingham Alabama Tarrant City Alabama in the second church bedding I worked in there was a man that we visit every week we went by his and to see him every week and he would preach to us and he was in a bed he couldn't get out of bed he had had a horrible sickness hit him and he was a healthy man one day and just like in a day or two he was in the bed he never got out of the bed again he was kind of paralyzed his hands didn't work everything had gone wrong and I would sit there and he would say to me you know I never would look up to God at all I always thought look how strong I am look how big I am look what I can do I don't need God I don't need church he said now I'm on my back and all I do is look up at God and I would remind you that everything you have comes from God and so God wants you recognizing him that's not for me and I promise you God is my witness and my heart is clear my conscience is clear that is not for me but it is true that as a Christian you ought to know this you didn't determine that you'd be healthy you didn't determine you'd be able to work you determine you'd be able to do any of the things that you've done in your life one of the big reminders all of my life was that my sister Felicia born two years younger than I was born when we were sick I was six years old and Felicia was four and my baby sister was just one year old all of us got into measles and we were all sick and they put all four of us in the house and something happened with my sister Felicia and her fever went up to 105 and 106 degrees and it stayed that way for like 10 days they could not get it down it got up pushing 110 it was horrible in that time it fried her brain she had been born normal and healthy just like the rest of us but by the end of that week she would never ever be the same when she came out of the hospital she came home she could still talk but she didn't know how to write she didn't know she's only four years old she didn't know how to do anything she didn't know how to count you know any of the things a regular four-year-old would and when mother came my mother came out wearing her dress she looked and said woman I don't know who you are but you got my mother's dress on it was a weird deal and I can always remember thinking you know it's only the grace of God I'm still healthy I could have been her and she could have been me and she could have lived through it but God's given me the grace and it is God that gives you the power to work it is God that gives you the power to lead your home it is God that gives you your help and you would you don't have it on your own when we found out I had cancer you know I had never been to the doctor I just never went when I go into the doctor and I tell them I'm in trouble and ask for my medical history I mean I say this I got my tonsils out in seventh grade they said okay what else I said that's it they said all right how many blood pressure medicines I don't have any what what other kind of medicines I said I don't have any this was the last time you went to a doctor I said I don't remember I don't go to doctors I'm healthy till now you aren't in charge and so here's what given say and given said I know it's God who gives me everything and so
[39:11] I give to him because I recognize that all I have comes from him and honor him and then God uses what you use to honor him he uses that to take care of his work and his men and to get the gospel message around the world I'll not be a strange thing to you if you're a Bible reader and you go through the book of the books of the Bible you'll say what so it's there you say you've already said this to us I know we're just reading more books of the Bible there as we read we come across it again God wants his people to know we're giving people we're giving people so God had men that he gave a ministry to God said he would provide for that they would never take advantage of it they too would be givers they would not take God's money they would also honor God God would take care of them and they should know that their ministry was their work as much as anybody else one of the hardest things for me about being a missionary was this I was always dependent on you to give me the money well the hardest things about being a pastor for me all of my life has been I don't like people giving me stuff I like to think I wish I had a job I wish I was making my own money but that's what God was saying to his people this is your job this is your job and that's how you're supposed to feel about it I know I'm supposed to I just don't always feel that way but I hope you understand God's work operates on a principle he sat down in numbers 18 and well before it in other passages of scripture I hope you're a giver hope you recognize that as you support all the ministries that go on at our church you're just doing what God's people have been doing since he got all this going father I love you I thank you for the opportunity to be in your house I thank you for your people and I pray that your name would be glorified and magnified I thank you for your people love you and serve you and I give you praise for all in Jesus name amen this message was recorded at vision Baptist Church in Alfred Georgia for more information log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times location contact information and more audio and video recordings