Episode Transcript
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(00:06):
Number one in your notes.
Write this down.
Taylor Swift is not the onlyone who has eras.
You know the eras tour.
Okay.
There are four eras of givingin scripture.
Let's talk about eras.
What I'm about to do, and Igotta do this as fast as I did it
all day, I'm gonna blazethrough this with you is let me help
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you understand.
It's just like Star Wars.
There's the prequels, thenthere's the Star wars series, then
there's the new trash onesthat Disney made that we don't like.
So there.
Amen.
So there's eras of Star Wars.
And then you find out, wow,Anakin turned and he wasn't always
evil and blah, blah, blah.
So in the Bible, there's eraslike that, and you can trace the
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lineage.
Okay, so let me help you,because you all have a spiritual
lineage.
Father Abraham, any sons, andmany a.
I'm just kidding.
All right, all right.
That's how we did it.
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So Father Abraham.
Why do we call him Father Abraham?
Because it was credited to him righteousness.
When he chose to abandonpaganism, the gods of his father,
to actually go serve theHebrew God.
And as he went into adirection he knew not.
That's what the Bible says.
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It was credited to him, righteousness.
And he became the father ofmany nations.
So if you accept Christ Jesus,then you trace the lineage of Jesus
to David and from David to Abraham.
Are we all on the same page?
So those are eras.
So I'm gonna take you throughthe eras.
Now.
Take a look at my Bible.
And this Bible is theProtestant Bible.
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This is the true Bible.
Okay, Now I'm gonna tell youit's true because there are 66 individual
books that teams of scholarsover the eons have scrutinized and
determined that the 66individual books are all inspired
by God, which means they camethrough human hand, but they were
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written through a human hand,but inspired by God.
And they compiled the 66individual books to create the Bible.
Does this make sense?
And so anything in addition tothis is not scripture.
But this is scripture.
And when you go to the book ofGenesis and you read it all the way
through the book ofRevelation, you are essentially reading
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four eras.
Okay, that's the way tothinking of it.
So let's go faster.
Pre Mosaic era.
This is the first era that yousee in the Book of Genesis.
This means before the law of Moses.
So this is before the law of Moses.
This is the pre, meaningbefore Mosaic, meaning Moses.
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So this is what was happeningbefore the law of Moses.
Now, I'm going to read this toyou to illustrate a point.
Genesis, the 14th chapter.
It says, and Melchizedek, Kingof Salem, brought out bread.
This is intentional.
Bread and wine.
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He was priest of God MostHigh, and he blessed him and said,
blessed be Abram, by God MostHigh, possessor of heaven and the
earth.
And blessed be God Most High who.
Who has delivered your enemiesinto your hand.
Woo.
That's powerful.
And Abram, this is.
And this is the cause andeffect Abram gave him.
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Who's him?
The priest of God Most High.
Who's the priest of God Most High?
Melchizedek.
A tenth of everything.
Okay, we gotta break this downbecause this is very foundational.
Who's Melchizedek?
Trick question.
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We don't know.
Biblical scholars all offerdifferent explanations, but I'm going
to give you some clues.
This mysterious priest showsup and he shows up with bread and
wine.
Who do you know that shows upwith bread and wine?
Yeshua.
He shows up with bread and wine.
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What does the bread represent?
His body.
What does the wine represent?
His blood.
What does his body beingbroken and his blood being spilled
represent?
Covenant.
Covenant.
So Jesus shows up like this.
So you have this mysteriouspriest named Melchizedek who shows
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up with bread and wine, and heis the priest of God Most High.
I have a high priest who praysfor me.
Okay, come on, don't get mestarted with a praise break.
We're already going over.
I have a high priest who praysfor me.
Who's our high priest?
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Jesus.
And Jesus has the ability togive you what God has for you.
Am I right?
He's an intermediary.
He's an intercessor.
And he is able to transactfrom God to you.
So here's you.
Here is Jesus, the intercessor.
And here is God.
So Jesus is intercedingbetween both of you.
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And God wants to destroy you.
But Jesus died for you,covered you with his blood.
And then you receive theapproval that Jesus received over
him.
Over you.
Because when God sees you, hesees his blood.
Are y'all with me?
Is this good?
And that's called the gospel.
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Okay.
Are you with me?
Let me ask you this.
Is God poor?
Does God lack anything?
No.
And if Jesus is theintercessor, then you're here and
you're in relationship withChrist and you've been saved.
You have come into covenant.
With who?
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With God.
And covenant means?
Come on, women, let's talkabout marrying a rich man.
Oh, I heard the new V1locations off of Wall Street.
I'm going to the V1 Manhattan.
Come on, somebody.
Don't we understand that whenyou make a vow and you come together
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in covenant, whatever I haveis yours and whatever you have is
mine.
Legally.
Don't we understand that?
Okay, so you get married to God.
And it's almost as if you'resaying, listen, you're getting a
Sallie Mae bill, three creditcards, two of them are hidden.
I'll tell you about those later.
And you're giving to God.
But then what happens is hehas an unlimited supply.
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So you come into covenant withhim, and you are the bride of Christ.
And may I submit the idea toyou that it makes God look good for
you to be blessed if you arehis bride.
Cause Jesus ain't gonna haveno busted bride.
Jesus is gonna take care of you.
Because when you look good, helooks good.
Can somebody shout?
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I am the bride of Christ.
Can somebody shout?
He takes care of me.
See, this is a revelation.
Melchizedek, Christrepresented bread and wine, covenant.
The priest of God, a brokerfor covenant and blessing.
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But then what does Abram do?
He gives away a tenth.
Let's talk about 10th.
Oh, no, I get it.
He's gonna make me give all mymoney today.
This whole service is a hijacking.
Listen, I'm Italian.
There are easier ways to getyour money.
I would have just jumped youon the street out there.
I wouldn't be standing up heregiving speeches if I wanted your
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money.
And by the way, you just movedto New York so you can make money.
This is the worst place tostart a church and try to become
a megachurch pastor.
Go to Tulsa, go to the Bible Belt.
Go where the cost of living is lower.
You don't go to the mostexpensive region in the U.S.
i am here not for what you cando for me, but what God can do for
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you if you will get out ofyour own way.
And I'm trying to help youunderstand the word tenth.
Okay, tenth is this.
If you got a hundred dollars,What's a tenth?
$10.
If you get $1,000, what's a tenth?
A hundred dollars.
Okay, so this is what happened.
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Look at what Melchizedek said.
I'm gonna deliver the enemiesinto your hand and I'm gonna bless
you.
And the response was, I'mgonna give you a tenth of everything.
Abram said, I'm gonna give.
Who told Abram to give a tenthof everything?
Nobody.
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Lie, Number one.
We don't have to tithe becauseJesus came and he ended the law.
And we're under the New Covenant.
Wrong.
Biblically illiterate hundredsof years before the law.
Abram's most natural intrinsicresponse to being blessed by God
on high was to give him atenth of everything and nobody had
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to tell him to do it.
And that means that when youexperience the blessing and favor
of God, what should happen ifyour heart is in the right condition,
is you want to give back tohim what's already his.
Okay, let me break this downeven deeper.
You make wages.
What is a wage?
A wage is when you get whatyou earned.
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So I work 40 hours.
You better give me my check.
That's how they talk on thejob sometime.
Am I right?
That's a wage.
For the wages of sin is death.
So you know what you get foreverything you did?
Death.
For the wages of sin is death.
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I'm trying to help you.
Wages is when you get what you deserve.
But what is a blessing whenyou get what you didn't deserve,
but the blessing of God?
The gift of God is what?
Salvation.
So here's what I'm saying.
Let's say you work a job, andfor your 40 hours of work, you get
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$1,000.
How much do you tithe?
$100.
But the thing about it is, if.
Okay, oh, Lord, help me, Jesus.
If you believe that you're thereason why you got that thousand
dollars, then you don'tunderstand how this whole thing works.
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Because guess what?
Your heart is beating involuntarily.
You know who's controlling it?
Sovereign God.
And let me just tell you, forthose of you who have a past, can
I remind you that when youwere strung out on drugs, you should
have never even got to this day.
Can I just tell you, when youwere drunk and you were high and
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you were sleeping around, youdodged death many times, but you
didn't save yourself.
You were saved by the Savior.
And you don't even have theability to live on anything other
than grace.
And so when I give God a 10,what I'm simply acknowledging is
God, the only way I'm able towork this job is that you give animation
and life to my body.
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And I'm going to bring youback what's already yours.
Because without you, I am nothing.
That's what Abraham said.
10% of something I nevershould have got is a good deal.
Tell your neighbor that's agood deal.
10% of something you werenever supposed to get is a pretty
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good deal.
Am I right?
Okay.
Tithing existed before the law.
Everybody say before the law.
But here's the key.
It was voluntary.
Nobody told Abram to tithe.
It just was the natural thing.
It was intrinsic, which means internal.
He just knew to do it likeyour kids.
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Have you ever been doing the dishes?
And all of a sudden, one ofyour kids comes up to you, and they're
like, mommy, can I help youwith the dishes?
And you're like, oh, you'resuch a good child.
And then that other kid comesup, and while you're doing the dishes,
they have a bowl full ofcereal, they dump the whole thing
in there, and they walk around.
Shut up, Mom.
I'm just kidding.
Only white kids do that.
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Okay, I got your attention.
I got your attention now.
So what is the.
Come on, don't get hung up on it.
What is the difference between kids?
One of them never had to betaught to help you.
But something internal toldthem I should help.
Because there are some peoplewho are born helpers, then there
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are other people who are born takers.
And the born helpers need tolearn how to be served sometimes
in life.
And the born takers need tolearn how to serve in life.
And so both of them have abenefit and both of them have a burden.
Because we have what's calledinborn personality.
Does this make sense?
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And so I got two girls, andone of them I have to teach to give,
and one of them I have toteach to allow somebody to serve
them.
But that's their inborn personality.
Are we all on the same page?
So it was almost as if Abrahamdidn't need any training.
Because when he gotencountered by God, the most normal
thing to him was to do what?
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To reciprocate.
Reciprocate.
Now, let's blaze through this.
Then Jacob made a vow.
Everybody say vow.
Okay, when you get married,what do you do?
You say your vows.
And when you say your vows,you are making.
Are you making a commitment?
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No.
You are making a covenant.
Okay, you're with me.
Go back to Elizabethan timesback in Shakespeare's day.
They believed in the power ofwords and vows so much that you wouldn't
even say a wedding ceremonyamongst actors, because they would
believe that to say thewedding ceremony would make it true.
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And you would end upaccidentally marrying that person
because that's how much yourwords matter.
Isn't that mind blowing?
You wouldn't even going backto their time.
That's why when you read allthe Shakespeare plays, you'll never
see a real wedding ceremony conducted.
It's only insinuated becausethe actors were like, I Can't even
say pretend vows to youbecause there's no such thing as
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pretend vows.
That's the way people believedjust hundreds of years ago, not even
thousands.
Now our words mean nothing.
Hey, I'll see you there at seven.
Psych.
Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'll be there for load in at6:00am Psych.
What?
Y'all must be young.
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They don't remember.
Psych.
I'm from the 90s, y'all.
And we used to say psych allthe time.
Psych.
What that meant?
You like that?
You're like, man, he's wilding out.
What did he drink before service?
Listen, our words.
Why do our words not mean anything?
I want to live a kind of lifewhere if I say it, I'm going to do
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it.
I want to be a man of my word.
We need to be people of our word.
So Jacob made a vow.
And he said, if God, if Godwill be with me and will keep me
in this way, that I go andwill give me bread to eat and clothing.
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Clothing to wear so that Icome again to my Father's house in
peace, then the Lord shall bemy God.
And this stone which I haveset up for a pillar shall be God's
house.
And all that you give me, Iwill give a full tenth to you.
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This is the language of covenant.
He's making a vow.
Can I give you a quick side note?
Your children may have leftthe faith, but Jacob is the grandson
of Abram.
And Abraham's encounter wasnot good enough for Jacob.
How many of you know everygeneration has to have their own
encounter?
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And let me just tell you, forsome of you, you've been living off
your grandma's prayers, andyou need to get in the prayer closet.
Let me speak to some of youyoung people.
Your mama prayed you throughsome situations, but it's time that
you take the prayer mantlefrom your mama.
It's time for you to learn howto pray like your mom used to pray.
You used to make fun of theway your mom prayed.
But, homie, you're about topray like your mom.
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It's time to take a mant.
Jacob had something in hislineage, but he needed an encounter
with God for himself.
It was not good to hear aboutGranddad's encounter.
He needed an encounter for himself.
We have a generation thatneeds an encounter with the king
for ourself.
And this is what he's doing.
Look, Will, Will, Will.
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He's saying, if you will, I will.
How many of you have everheard preachers talking about making
a deal with God.
How many of you have ever makea deal with God?
Come on, you're on the toilet.
Lord, if you save me fromthis, Lord, I promise, if you get
me out of this, Lord, my gutsare turning inside out.
Come on.
I've heard some of you, that'sthe only time you pray.
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We've all been in that situation.
Oh, Jesus, I serve you all thedays of my life.
Now, why am I being funny?
I'm putting a gas mask on youso I can cut you real deep.
Because let me tell you, evenwatch this.
My friend, Daniel Chand,Evangelist Daniel Chand.
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He's all over the United Kingdom.
He's a renowned evangelist.
He was a boxer that was facinga trial.
He was going to jail.
And he literally cried out toGod and said, God, if there's any
way, God, if you can save mefrom this, I will serve you.
All the days of my life I will give.
And it's so funny how many Igot chills even getting ready to
say this.
How many stories have youheard great men of God say where
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they made a deal with God andGod actually honored it?
Do you want to know why?
Because when people are makinga deal with God, they're speaking
the language of covenant.
If you do this, I'll give youmy whole life.
And the Lord says, come sit atthe table.
I'll do a deal.
See, because God is attractedto the language of covenant.
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God doesn't want to be yourside chick.
God doesn't want to be your boyfriend.
God doesn't want to be yoursugar daddy on the side.
And there are some people thatuse this tithing message for the
prosperity gospel so they canmake him instead of Father God, sugar
daddy.
No, you have to commit to him.
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And then you got to go beyondthe commitment to covenant to say
God, in good days and baddays, when I'm up in the mountaintop
or down in the valley, thoughyou slay me, yet will I praise you
if I get what I want?
And if I don't get what Iwant, you are sovereign God and I
will worship you no matter what.
He's looking for a job.
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He's looking for Job.
That's the language of covenant.
When Job had his friends, allthese idiot friends around, and some
of you got Job's idiotfriends, you haven't blocked yet,
telling him stupid stuff.
And Job was like, though heslayed me yet will I praise him in
the good or the bad?
I'm covenanted to God.
I didn't serve him because hegave me a huge family.
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I didn't serve him because hegave me all of these material things.
I served him because of who he is.
He is worthy of all worship.
He is matchless.
He is holy.
He is God alone.
And he demands my worship.
And because of that, he endedup getting double.
This is the depth of it.
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Look at this language.
Some of you have nevercovenanted with God.
You've made agreements, youmade commitments, but you never made
covenant.
And that's what this looks like.
But everybody say full tenth.
Okay, what is a full tenth?
This doesn't even really makesense to me, and let me tell you
why.
Because mathematically it doesn't.
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It's, it's paradoxical.
A tenth is 10%.
So when you use the phrasefull tenth, that sounds crazy.
Let me help you.
It's a heart posture inagricultural society.
If you had 10 sheep and yousaid, well, how many would you give
if you had 10 sheep?
One.
So a 10th would be one.
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So if you gave one sheep, youhave a choice.
Maybe I'll give God the onethat's maimed and crippled and can't
procreate.
Maybe I'll give God the one Idon't want.
Maybe I'll give God the onethat already cannot multiply itself.
So you technically gave atenth, but you didn't give a full
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tenth because the.
Okay, watch this for your notes.
Here's what a full 10th looks like.
Oh, 10th.
Here's what it looks like.
Watch.
What's first plus what's best.
This is the equation in the spirit.
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See, in the natural realm.
You could say, oh God, I gaveyou a tithe.
I gave you a tenth.
No.
Did you give what was firstand did you give what was best?
That is the true definition offull tenth.
And by the way, I didn't saythis in the other services, but we're
just doing a very deep Biblestudy right now.
Melchizedek shows up anddeclares the blessing.
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Did Abram wait until he wasblessed to give the tithe?
It's almost like the firstthing he did was tithe.
Jacob is here now making a covenant.
Did God actually enact his endof the covenant yet?
No.
So did he tithe before or after?
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See this?
Because that requires what?
This message is a lifechanging message.
It requires faith.
Watch.
Oh, I feel something.
I'm about to speak into thecore of your wound.
I'm about to speak into thecore of your wound to give a tenth
of everything before heupholds his end of the bargain.
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Reveals that you trust he iseventually going to do it.
But to a group of people whohave been burned by other people.
Your trust has been fractured,and you're treating God like man,
that's the wound.
Thank you, Holy Ghost.
I figured it out.
It took me seven years.
It took me seven.
I literally figured it out onthis stage right now.
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That's the problem with theNortheast is you've been broke.
Your trust has been broken by politicians.
Your trust has been broken by pastors.
Your trust has been broken byspirit spouses.
Your trust has been broken by employers.
And you are now treating Godlike you treat man.
That's why the Lord told me.
Where's Bella?
Bella, remember we had thatconversation about hope versus faith?
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This is the meaning of it.
Remember that?
I am getting my mind blown.
The Lord loves y'all so much.
You have no idea.
I was walking around the otherday, and the Lord says, mike, you
operate in faith, but you needto learn hope.
And I've always looked at hopeas a lesser value than faith.
But how many of you know thescriptures talk about hope and faith?
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Faith and hope.
Here's the difference.
Hope is when you actually believe.
You have an expectation thatGod is going to fulfill his promise.
Faith is when you believe it,but hope is when you expect it.
Oh.
Faith is when you believe it.
Oh, yeah.
God will do it.
But hope is when you say, oh,I'm so excited.
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Cause it's already on the way.
I know that he cannot lie.
And I'm gonna go ahead andgive a 10th now because he's always
gonna fulfill his end of the bargain.
And he's gonna bless me somuch greater than this 10th.
Anyways.
I don't just have faith.
I also have hope.
Somebody shout hope.
Oh, come on.
This thing was generationalAbraham Tithe and then his grandson.
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Man, I believe one day I'mgonna have a grandson.
And I believe my grandson isgonna carry on the lineage.
And my grandson's gonna say,my grandfather came to New York City
with nothing, and he ended updominating this place for the kingdom
because he believed in the tithe.
And I have Father Abraham, andI'm gonna be J.
Come on, somebody.
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I am not gonna patronize amighty God with a little tip.
I'm gonna and say, lord,you've already given me the nations
for my inheritance.
If only I would ask for them.
I want to be that kid walkingaround with a holy, righteous God.
Oh, yeah.
You know what's funny?
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As the Lord changed my mind, Ididn't realize that when there's
signs up for real estate.
My whole life, I never eventhought I could have them.
So I didn't even notice the signs.
But when I started launchingChurch Across America, when I saw
a for sale sign, my mind changed.
Because I believe I can.
I will shall.
There are things that youbelieve you can't have.
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Who told you you can't have them?
Who said that?
I remember walking around andit's so funny how little our prayers
are.
But I was off of in Palmetto,you know, with that whole Ridgewood
area, and I remember prayerwalk in Ridgewood, and I saw this
little office space, and I would.
Jericho Mart said we couldn'teven afford the $2,500 for that little
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space.
And Lord, I need a.
I need a space.
And Lord, I claim this space.
This is my space.
Lord, I pray.
Thank you.
We're gonna have it, thislittle office space, and then, boom,
before you know, it's given tous, then I start streaming out of
this place.
And I kid you not, this iswhat happens.
In my comment section.
A guy says, I recognize whereyou're at.
It's the basement of a placethat was where you rent videos, and
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that was the pornography section.
And I was literally breakingthe spirit of lust and perversion
from the basement of a spacethat had a history of being the porn
horn section of a rental space.
Isn't it just like God?
How many of you know thatthere are buildings in New York City
that we already own?
The deed just hasn't been transferred.
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Oh, come on.
You got.
This is.
This is.
This is hope.
I have an expectation.
Why would I not?
He will store up the wealth ofthe wicked just to transfer it to
the righteous.
Oh, that's prosperity gospel.
Show me the poverty gospel in scripture.
Show me Jesus starving.
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Show it.
Show me his disciples nothaving enough.
Show it to me.
Show me the.
Show me the poverty gospel.
Show me where Abraham had to.
I love.
Prophet Randall said this last week.
This is the biblicaldefinition of wealth.
Never having to say no to God again.
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That's the definition of wealth.
Never having to say no to God again.
How many of you want to be wealthy?
That's the definition of wealth.
I don't have to tell God no.
See, because we're operatingin these principles, let's blaze
through the last bit of it.
Let's talk about Mosaic law.
Moses under the law, Leviticus 27.
Every tithe of the land.
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Everybody say every land.
Say land.
Seed.
Say seed.
Okay.
Say fruit.
Okay, look at this.
The concept is the tithe is Total.
Is that how you say total?
Total.
Praise God.
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I'm incrementally.
In another 60 years, I'll befully bilingual.
Every tithe of the land,whether of the seed of the land or
the fruit, is the.
Who is it?
But I thought it was mine.
It's my land.
It's my, my.
No, no, no.
It's the Lord's, because youwere never getting it without him.
And so 10% of it reserved for him.
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Next.
The tithe belongs to God.
See, this is the wordeverything is hinging on.
This word belongs.
If you think that it's yours,you're never going to give it.
But it belongs to God.
And it's actually, from abiblical standpoint, it's not generosity,
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it's actually obedience.
Because the Mosaic law said,hey, the law is intended to help
you understand God's heart.
And because of that, whatGod's saying is, the 10th is mine.
So you're not being generous,you're just bringing it.
So this is a key watch.
Bring.
You could write this in your notes.
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Bring, bring versus give.
And I gotta correct something.
Theologically, when you give atenth, you are actually not giving.
You are bringing beyond.
A tenth is giving.
So when we talk about this isthe giving portion of service, the
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assumption is, you've already brought.
And then according to the HolySpirit, and you're trying to say,
okay, now what do I give?
That's the way of thinkingabout this, because the tithe belongs
to God.
Okay, I can sense the skepticism.
Oh, Pastor Mike, we're notunder the law anymore.
Well, neither was Jacob andneither was Abram.
(30:09):
They didn't need it.
Then what was happening whenMoses was on Sinai receiving the
tablets written by the fingerof God, having a burning bush experience
with an elevation worship songplaying and I'm just joking.
When all that stuff washappening, what was happening down
below?
Golden calf, am I right?
It was financial gold.
(30:32):
Let's melt down our gold.
And there's a financialcomponent to it.
So they stepped out ofobedience and they started serving
themselves.
Isn't it amazing that at Wallstreet, there's a big golden bull?
Do you know that historically,the golden bull, do you know what
God that was for baal?
So on Wall street, there'sBAAL worship.
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That's literally the same idea.
If you brought in a BAALworshiper and you walked them through
Wall street and stopped themat that bull, they would literally
start worshiping.
They'd say, this is baal.
This is our God.
Did you know that Tim Kellerdid a study and discovered that historically
in America, for almost half ofour existence, the highest point
in every town was almostalways a church with a cross at the
(31:17):
top.
And then this invisible linehappened and it turned into the McDonald's
arches and then eventually skyscrapers.
And what that's an indicatorof is we went from one nation under
God where our highest valuewas God, to now, our highest value
being consumerism and materialism.
Because the highest point of every.
(31:37):
Okay, I wish I could, Lord,please give me five more hours.
So when I go to Sicily andretrace Paul's apostolic journeys,
the Greeks would always buildtheir pantheons in the highest point.
They.
So you would see, when you goto Sicily, you see, they did not
build them down below.
They built them at the highestpoint because they were trying to
(31:59):
interact with the heavenlies.
The highest point alwaysrepresents a supernatural experience.
That's why I believe partlyGod has called me to Manhattan to
bring down every false thingso that Christ would be resurrected
or not resurrected, Exalted.
Above all, we need to lift thecross above consumerism and materialism.
(32:19):
And it doesn't seem strange tome that God would put V1 church on
wall street because above thedollar is the king of all kings,
the one who owns it all.
And we are lifting up the nameof Christ over all that f foolishness.
I'm almost done.
The Levites.
I've given every tithe inIsrael for an inheritance to return
(32:41):
for their service.
What they do their service tothe tent of meeting.
Okay?
The law established that thetithe comes into the tent of meeting
and then it is distributed todo the temple worship, including
amongst the Levites.
Let me detonate a lie from the enemy.
(33:01):
I'm not giving to this churchbecause I'm not gonna help that pastor
have a better car than me.
And I'm not gonna help thatpastor have a better house than me.
And I'm not gonna help thembuy these LED walls and buy these
new cameras.
No thank you.
I'll just give to a nonprofitwhere it can go.
I'll give to the guy on the street.
No, no, that's biblical illiteracy.
(33:23):
Because in both testaments,old and new, when you gave the tithe,
you didn't give it to a nonprofit, you didn't give it to whatever
you didn't designate and say.
I'm gonna give you this money.
Make sure you buy a new furnace.
Make sure you buy what I wantyou to buy.
You gave it.
And the Levites were in chargeof disseminating those funds and
determining It.
(33:44):
So when people come and say,oh, I'm not giving to the church
because I have it designated,look them in their eye and say, you're
in the wrong tribe.
You're not a Levite.
As a matter of fact, I've beento other churches where the finances
have been misappropriated.
But when you read the Bible inthe New Testament, it says, when
you tithe, it's as if you giveit directly to Jesus himself.
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And so here's the thing.
Even if the church does thewrong thing with the money, you did
the right thing.
And the blessing and favor ofGod is upon your life.
And you don't have to worryabout getting into manipulation and
control because God's alreadyin control.
Ananias and Sapphira liedabout what they did with money in
the New Covenant and they gotstruck down dead.
(34:30):
Who had to do their church discipline?
Nobody.
You think God's gonna let youtake care of the church better than
he would?
Who do you trust?
Ooh.
Who do you trust?
The very first person that Ihired for this church was not myself.
This is a true story, and I'mproud of this story.
(34:50):
The very first person I everhired for this church was a non blood
related, independent CPA whodid all of our bookkeeping.
And I was like, lord, I am notgonna let one penny come through
my hands that's used in thewrong way.
When we went to go buy thebuildings in Indiana and Long island,
the lender that we work withliterally told me to my face, I have
(35:10):
never seen church financialsthis clean before.
Because I.
Not because I fear you, butbecause I fear God.
I'm not.
I fear the Lord.
I actually believe there willcome a day where I will stand before
God and he will say, I havebrought all this money through you.
What did you do?
And that is going to be themoment where I'm going to say, come
(35:31):
on, God, you know what I did.
Come on, y'all.
Why are you playing like that?
You know exactly what I did.
Come on, tell them.
Tell them, God.
Tell them what I did.
Like, that's how I want tolive my life before the Lord financially
on Judgment Day.
I'm sitting there smiling.
Yeah, tell them.
Tell them, God.
Show them what I did.
And if you can't say the sameabout your finances, today's the
day of freedom.
(35:52):
Today's the day ofbreakthrough for you.
Okay, so the tithe does not goto a nonprofit.
I am sick and tired.
Send this to all yourentrepreneur friends who try to say
it's a biblical principle.
The biblical principle doesnot work without covenant to the
one who wrote the Bible.
And you have to understand,you don't give to a nonprofit because
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the tithe doesn't belong toyou to designate.
It belongs to God.
So you got to bring it back tohis storehouse.
The tithe supported the houseof God.
Casa de Dios.
See?
Did I say that right?
Will man rob God yet?
(36:35):
You are robbing me.
But you say you that.
But.
But have we robbed you in yourtithes and contributions?
We're gonna go fast.
Tithe and contributions?
Why is this separated?
This is.
I'm trying to teach you something.
Tithe is separate thancontributions because the tithe belongs
(36:59):
to God.
The tithe.
Watch, watch, watch, watch.
The tithe is what you bringback to God, and then the contribution
is what you give.
See?
It's even separate.
And Malachi.
Well, you know, prophets arealways angry.
You know what I mean?
My friend Jeremiah Johnson,he's always mad.
(37:20):
You know, all my friends whoare real prophets, they're always
angry, but, you know, becausethey have a sense of justice.
You know, prophets are like that.
This is wrong.
I'm gonna make it right.
I'm gonna set it right.
So Malachi, the book ofMalachi is important because this
prophecy is going forth andthe justice of God is saying, hey,
hey, hey, hey.
You think you're doing theright thing, but the Lord sees you,
(37:41):
and you're actually not givinga full tithe.
And what it says is, you'recursed with a curse, for you are
robbing me.
So the prophet is literallyusing the word me to denote.
This is God speaking throughme right now.
And it's saying, bring the full.
Everybody say full tithe.
But why wait?
Almost slapped you on accident.
(38:03):
Didn't Jacob say the same thing?
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.
Didn't Jacob say, I will bringyou a full tithe?
Didn't the book of Leviticussay the same thing?
I will bring a full tithe.
See?
Do you see the concept?
So what happens is people'sheart always bends towards.
(38:23):
What can I get away with?
We always bend towards theminimums when the gospel is demanding
that we bend towards the maximums.
Y'all with me still?
Oh, I know you know thisbecause when you go to five guys,
you're like, I don't want abaggie of fries.
I want fries in the big bagspilling over, and I want fries in
(38:45):
the little baggie.
Am I right?
Oh, don't act like you don'twant that.
We in America.
Come on.
I Want fries so bad I haven'thad carbs in weeks.
Lord Jesus.
But in America, we don't wantwhat we paid for.
We want more because we'reconsumers and sometimes we go to
(39:06):
God.
How much can I get?
Oh, Lord Jesus, how much can Iget from you?
And how little can I give in return?
Isn't that what happens whenwe go to a restaurant?
How much food can I get forthe least amount of money?
Stop treating God like a fastfood restaurant.
Stop treating God like a.
(39:26):
Oh, come on.
Consumerism is always, howmuch can I get for how little can
I give?
But it's the opposite.
In the kingdom, I'll giveeverything if I get nothing because
he's God.
This is called worship.
You feel the atmosphere shift,but this is how good your God is.
(39:50):
Covenant.
When you do this, he says, I'mactually gonna go above and beyond.
Now watch this.
Where's it at?
Where's it at?
There will be food in my.
Oh.
And thereby put me to the test.
Oh, this is one of my favorite scriptures.
It's one of the most loving scriptures.
(40:10):
It's like he says, I knowyou're scared.
I know that your family comesfrom multiple generations of poverty.
I know that you have been.
Your trust has been broken.
You can't test me on whateveryou want, but on this, I know how
deep the pain goes.
So put me to the test.
(40:33):
You have permission to test God.
That's a big deal.
Look what it says and put meto the test.
Says who?
Who says it?
The Lord of hosts.
Who's the hosts?
See, you're skipping stuff.
Are you doing your dailygrowth journal?
I can, I do.
Julie, I do need to preach fortwo hours every Sunday to get you
(40:54):
all caught up through the week.
Who's the host?
The Lord of hosts.
He's saying, all of the angelarmies, I command them.
All of the supernatural realm,I command them.
I am the Lord over all, the host.
Everything is under my dominion.
And I'm giving you permissionto test me in the 10th.
(41:17):
The tithe.
A partial tithe is no tithe at all.
That's what we learn from this.
But I also got good news for you.
Two types of blessings come,material and spiritual.
And let me just because we'reending, we're ending.
We're about there.
Anybody who says that thematerial blessing is not something
(41:40):
that should be emphasized whenyou're preaching the word of God
has not done a close enough reading.
And they are over correctingout of faith, fear of man, and some
bogus bunk whack theology theyheard from another church.
Because when I look at thisbook, I see provision and prosperity
and overflow, and I see God'speople being richly blessed, and
(42:02):
I see them being able to shakethe nations.
As a matter of fact, when youget to the New Testament, there are
no needs amongst each otherbecause there's so much generosity
flowing that they met alltheir needs.
They don't need food stamps,government cheese, welfare, rent
subsidies, because they havethe kingdom of heaven coming into
(42:22):
the earth, and it's flowingwith so much power that there's nobody
poor among them.
That's what I'm looking for.
That's the kind of church I'mgoing to, Pastor.
I'm going to pastor the kindof church where we are given.
We're like.
I call Mayor Eric Adams Mayor.
We don't.
We're good.
We don't need the grant moneybecause we've got generosity.
(42:45):
Oh, we're good.
We're good.
We don't need this.
See, there's something aboutwhen we take our rightful place as
royal priesthood and we say,God, I have everything through covenant,
then guess what's gonna happen?
We are gonna begin to operatein a level we've never seen before
in the earth.
And there's gonna be nobodythat can stop us.
How many of you believe it?
(43:08):
Wait a second, Pastor.
But Jesus came to nullify the tithe.
Wrong.
Biblically illiterate.
But woe to you Pharisees, foryou do right to tithe on mint and
rue and every herb.
Look at that word.
Every.
See, this is the same wayGenesis talks.
(43:29):
This is the same way Malachiand Leviticus talks.
And now here we are in thebook of Luke.
Why?
Because these are Jewishpeople under the Jewish law, which
means this was normal for themto think about this.
Okay, let's talk about Goya.
Adobo.
Sasson.
Am I doing good?
Green spice.
Sofrito.
(43:52):
I felt the anointing.
Sofrito.
What else?
What else?
Somebody help me out in the back.
Obey, they said.
Obey last service.
Praise God.
I felt the anointing on that.
I have a very multicultural stomach.
Can you tell?
So here's my point.
This is basically what was happening.
(44:13):
Jesus sees these Pharisees andhe's watching them and he's observing
them, and he's saying, hey,you've done well to tithe on everything.
Imagine going to the grocerystore and you get your sofritos,
you get your Goya, you get allyour stuff, and you dump it all out
on the table, and you divide Atenth of all of it and say, this
(44:33):
is for the Lord.
And instead of Jesus saying,yo, yo, yo, yo, you don't have to
do that.
I love you.
I'm your buddy.
Give me whatever you want togive me, just give.
God loves a cheerful giver.
Give me $5.
Give your money to thehomeless person.
Jesus does not talk the wayAmerican church pastors talk.
(44:56):
He literally said, hey, goodjob tithing.
You should tithe on everything.
But don't neglect justice andthe love of God.
If Jesus was ever gonna havean opportunity to say, let's not
tithe anymore cause I'm here,that would have been the moment.
But he does the opposite.
(45:16):
He literally tells them, goodjob for tithing.
You should tithe, even.
Cause mint is really little,herbs are really little.
And what Jesus was saying is,you've done a good job tithing, even
on the most minute things,good job, but also love God with
your heart.
Does this make sense?
So when people say, I don'thave to tithe, why did Jesus not
(45:37):
tell us to stop?
It's, you can't.
Because whether you're gospelcoalition, reform, community, double
predestination, Calvinist,John Piper, Tim Keller, they actually
believe the same thing.
I'm telling you right now.
What they believe is that 10%is the minimum and that we shouldn't
(46:00):
be having an argument over this.
And I know that this offendspeople, but I'm telling you, I've
preached in Anglican churches,Baptist churches, Methodist churches,
I'm serious.
Liturgical churches, highchurch, low church, and every church
unanimously has had the samebelief that 10% is a basis of a minimum,
(46:21):
not a maximum.
And it's weird becauseChristians very rarely unite on anything.
But the one thing that I'veseen theologically is they unite
over this.
Now, why do I say that?
Jesus acknowledged and heaffirmed tithing.
The issue is not just tithing,but it's also loving God.
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And others do not think that Ihave come to abolish the law or the
prophets.
I have not come to abolishthem, but fulfill.
Everybody say fulfill.
Okay, as we come to a close,the word fulfill is very intentional
here.
See, everybody thinks thatJesus abolished, but he actually
(47:02):
fulfilled.
What's the difference?
When I encountered my sonAbram and I blessed him through Melchizedek,
he responded by giving me atenth of everything.
Two generations.
When I came as this mysteriousangel of the Lord and wrestled Jacob
and I blessed his life, heresponded with covenant.
(47:25):
The question is, now that heis encountering you, do you understand
how to Respond with thecovenant as well.
The other way to say this is,hey, before I was saved, my heart
couldn't do this.
But now that I'm saved, myheart can do things my heart never
did.
(47:46):
Raise your hand if after youaccepted Jesus, you were able to
do things that you were notable to do before.
I'm being serious, okay?
Because when you accept Jesus,when someone's like, I get it, you
go to church.
No, no, no, I'm not a churchgoer.
No, I get it.
You're going to all theseevents all the time.
Oh, I get it.
You listen to Christian music.
No, no, you don't understand.
It's not about that.
(48:07):
I wasn't bad and now I'm good.
I was dead and now I am alive.
This is the thing.
I'm trying to help you understand.
This Speedy Du Santo couldhelp my heart.
Forgive my abuser, forgive my tormentor.
I can bless those who curse me.
I can actually pray for my enemies.
My heart, my Sicilian Italianheart couldn't do this.
(48:28):
But my regenerated gospelheart can do this.
And the things that I didn'thave power to do, the Holy Ghost
gave me power to do.
That is the gospel.
So when people are like, Ican't give perfect love, cast out
all fear, it's the gospel.
So he came to fulfill it.
(48:51):
Do you not know that those whoare employed in the temple service
get their food from the temple?
And those who serve at thealtar share in the sacrifice sacrificial
offerings.
In the same way, the Lordcommanded that those who proclaim
the gospel should get theirliving finances from the gospel.
Doesn't this sound just like Leviticus?
(49:13):
This is the thing.
Anybody who would try to argueme on any of the points I've made,
when you look at all four erasof the Bible, they talk to each other.
They're redundancies for each other.
They say the same things.
This is the apostle.
And the apostle is speaking tothe church at Corinth.
And now Jesus has resurrectedand ascended to heaven.
(49:35):
And Jesus literally says, youshould tithe.
You're good to tithe.
Then Paul shows up, and Paul'slike, hey, do you know how the pagans
have temple worship and theyreceive money so that they can carry
on the work of the temple?
And he was echoing Leviticusalso, the people who provide the
temple worship for the houseof God should receive finances to
(49:57):
continue the work of God.
And the reason why he had tosay it to the church at Corinth is
because over the last 2,000years, we have the same problem as
the Church of Corinth.
We need a reminder that we arenot giving to the house of God for
the work of God.
We are giving to God himself.
And he is administrating thework of God.
His own will is being workedout through it, and we got to learn
(50:20):
how to trust.
The point is this.
Whoever sows sparingly willreap sparingly.
And whoever sows bountifullywill also reap bountifully.
Each one must give, must giveas he has decided in his heart.
And if you're looking at thisword heart, this is everything.
(50:41):
We're gonna end on thisexercise, not reluctantly or under
compulsion.
What's that alluding to the law?
It's alluding to the law.
For God loves a cheerful giver.
This is identity.
(51:03):
What happened when you got saved?
You got a new identity.
So what?
This scripture is used.
It's actually abused.
And I want even all of mypastors to hear this.
All my campus pastors, all ofmy ministers, all of my V1 college
students, all of my congregates.
I am sick and tired of thisscripture being misquoted and misinterpreted
(51:27):
as an excuse to come below the tithe.
Because people who have thefear of man, they'll use this scripture
to say, you don't have to giveunder compulsion.
Just give.
God loves a cheerful giver.
But see, what they're actuallydoing is they're taking an ancient
scripture that was actuallyinspired by God, written through
a Jewish man, and they'relistening it through modern ears
(51:50):
and distorting it.
Let me break it down a littlebit deeper.
Think about this, okay?
Before I even break it downand for real, we're done.
How many of you as a teenagerwere ever grounded for a really long
time?
Anybody?
Okay.
A lot of you.
Man, we got some bad kids atthis church.
Okay, Too many of you raisedyour hand.
(52:10):
Now I'm a little scared.
So what happens is, whenyou're grounded for a long time and
you get privileges removed,when you get them back, you appreciate
them more because you're like,man, I was sitting in my room, I
didn't have nothing.
Now you get what I'm saying?
It's like somebody who's beenin prison for years eating prison
food, and then you take themto Applebee's and they're smashing
(52:31):
all those half apps like it'sthe best thing ever happened to them.
Because there's somethingabout restriction that actually makes
freedom taste so much better.
So what?
This is actually Saying is aJewish man is saying, we've been
under the law.
We've been under the law.
We know that there'sconsequences for not doing the things
(52:52):
according to God.
We had to tithe.
And I read this tongue in cheek.
I read this to say, each oneof us must give as he's decided in
his heart.
But the little wink that he'sdoing is, you know your heart that
Jesus transformed.
You know your heart that theHoly Ghost of God lives on the inside?
You know your heart that usedto be selfish, now it's selfless.
(53:15):
You know your heart that usedto be full of fear and malice and
distrust, and now it's full ofthe freedom of the Holy Ghost.
Yeah, give what that heartdecided to give.
It's almost like he's saying,duh, we've all been free, and whom
the sun sets free is free indeed.
So, hey, you don't have togive under compulsion, but give what
your heart that's fully beenset free tells you to give.
(53:38):
Only a heart that's incaptivity would tip God instead of
tithe.
So I don't read this as the cause.
I am an apostle, and I don'tread this as an apostle being like,
hey, it's all right.
Jesus is your buddy.
Just give whatever you feel like.
God loves a cheerful giver.
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Can you imagine being.
How many of you have ever beena waiter or waitress?
Can you imagine somebody beingso happy to give you a dollar?
Oh, wow, you're gonna love this.
And you're like, I'm gonna getkicked out of my apartment.
Cheerful giver.
That term has been sodistorted in the American church.
(54:22):
What's cheerful is I can givein a way that my fearful heart would
have never let me give, andthat makes it cheerful.
I'm able to do something thatmy natural mind could never do.
Three realms.
Mental, emotional, spiritual.
For the history of thischurch, there's many of you that
(54:44):
are trapped in mental.
Some of the most stingy peopleI've ever met are theologians.
The higher their iq, the lowertheir giving.
The more they study theScriptures, the less generous they
are.
That's what Jesus was pointing out.
He was basically saying,you're tithing off of all your spices
and stuff, but you don't evenlove God.
(55:04):
And so you just want people tothink you're doing the right thing.
Then all of a sudden, theemotional people, sometimes there's
Pentecostals, charismatics,and if I tell a whole bunch of good
stories about how God blessed,then they'll give out of their Emotions.
And then they'll never giveagain until I make them emotional
again.
(55:25):
I grew up in churches where ifyou were preaching real good, they
would literally bring up moneylike you were a stripper and throw
it on the stage.
But in that tradition theywere like, man, you're preaching
good, so I'll give more the better.
You preach performance basedgiving, but then their spirit.
Would you stand to your feetfor a moment?
(55:46):
Somebody say identity.
So here's how I want to end.
I want to show you how this isthe way that God treated you.
Because I think we read thescripture as like, you should be
a cheerful giver.
But how many of you noticethat Jesus is God Tithe.
He's the firstborn of all creation.
(56:07):
He's the alpha and the omega.
So God.
Okay, okay, let me give youanother one.
Remember we talked about 10 sheep?
This is gonna blow your mind.
His only begotten son.
That's tithe language.
Then we miss it because Goddidn't say, I have 10 sons and I'm
gonna give you the bad one andhe can die for you because I hope
he dies anyway.
(56:29):
Think about was the languageof tithe.
I'm gonna give you my onlybegotten son.
And in the beginning was thefirstborn of all creation.
He gave you his best and hegave you his first.
He bankrupted heaven bytithing Jesus.
(56:51):
Now let me read this scripture again.
And I'm going to read it as ifGod is speaking to you.
I sowed generously into youwhen I gave you Jesus, but I will
reap generously when you reciprocate.
Now see how it says each onemust give as he's decided in his
(57:12):
heart.
I have decided to give you Jesus.
Jesus has decided to go allthe way through with the cross.
Not reluctantly, not under compulsion.
Oh, he didn't have to die.
He chose to die.
He.
In a moment he could havecalled Michael the Archangel and
(57:33):
a legion of warrior angels andsaid, get me off of this cross and
slaughter all these Romans.
But the Bible says hewillfully gave his life while you
were yet sinner.
He put his life out on theline and died for you without any
promise that you would receive him.
So when he asks us to give,this is spiritual formation.
(57:56):
This is me discipling you.
I'm not asking you to give tothe church.
I'm asking you to become likeGod, your Father.
That's what this scripture,the real interpretation of this scripture
is.
I don't have to do this.
I'm not under compulsion.
I willfully surrendered my life.
For God loves a cheerful giver.
(58:17):
Let me rephrase that.
For God loves when people, hisown children, act like him.
Think about how deep this goeswhen you're a mom or a dad and you
see your children mimickingthe bad side of you.
No, no, don't say the cuss word.
Mommy shouldn't have said it.
You shouldn't say it.
But then there's other timeswhere I've come into the room and
(58:39):
I've seen my daughters prayingfor each other.
See, God delights when we actlike God.
And this is what this is allabout right here, is we are going
to become like the one that we behold.
So close your eyes and bowyour head.
I want to remove all thedistractions across every location
right now.
If there's some areas of yourheart that you're still like, oh,
(59:02):
Pastor Mike, Apostle Mike.
I just feel like I can't.
In this area, there's still something.
There's fear, there'sreservations, there's hurt, there's
distrust.
Would you just lift your handwith nobody looking?
Just show me your hand.
Okay.
There's a lot of you.
Okay, you can put your hands down.
Just take a look at me for a second.
I started this church with 18 people.
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I don't know how much any ofyou give, because I don't want to
know.
Our pastors and leaders know this.
I've stayed out of it for aslong as I could stay out of it because
it's between you and God.
I didn't launch sevenlocations because I had ambition
to.
Just how many churches can I launch?
I just wanted to disciple people.
This is your discipleship moment.
But I will.
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I'm gonna make you a promise.
The Lord says, test me in this way.
Right now, we're gonna do twomore things real quick, and then
you're gonna give anopportunity to test him.
And I promise you, not becauseof me, but the Lord, that if you
step up into this, that Godwill open up the windows of heaven
and pour out a blessing thatyou can't contain.
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But guess what?
You don't have to.
This is not a salvation issue.
This is not a heaven or hell issue.
But I do think that this is anissue of what's next for your life.
So if you raise your hand, Iwant you to pray, and I want all
of you to pray together.
Just so we don't leave anybody out.
We're gonna pray a prayer ofconfession, and then we're gonna
end with one last thing.
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So repeat after me.
Heavenly Father, I plead yourblood over my heart, over my mind.
I surrender every area for youto change and transform and mold
me.
Heavenly Father, empower me byyour holy spirit to give, to serve,
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and to live.
By faith.
I choose to receive a newidentity through the gospel, empowered
to do the things that thegenerations before me could never
do.
It starts with me today inJesus name.
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Now, the word Amen means letit be so.
Can somebody say let it be so?
Okay, now hold this moment andgo take a seat for a little bit longer.
And we're about to get out ofhere, so just take a seat.
Now here's we're gonna do.
Now this is the next form of warfare.
In Malachi, chapter three, itsays that when we tithe, he will
rebuke the devourer on our behalf.
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How many of you know that thedevil came to kill, to steal and
destroy?
So we have ushers across every location.
We're where are the ushers Here.
And if you are writing acheck, they're here.
There he is.
If you need a pen or anenvelope, and then if you have a
phone, right in front of youat every seat at both locations right
now.
Indiana, New York, all overthe US Online.
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What I want you to do isthere's a link to give online, but
right in front of you isactually an orange disc and it's
overflow.
That's our giving platform.
Now, I'm going to give yousome time, but the Bible says if
you will tithe, if you willgive a tenth.
And I believe that this issomething my family's been doing
for years, and it's brought usto levels we never could imagine.
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The Bible says he will rebukethe devourer on your behalf.
And I believe that these areprinciples for all believers.
So what I want you to do is this.
Take your phone out, I wantyou to tap the orange disc.
If you have Apple pay, if youhave Google pay, you can set it up
right now.
And this is a holy moment.
What does the word holy mean?
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Separate.
Oh, come on, I heard you say it.
You're getting it.
The word holy, all it means is separate.
You set it aside.
So when you say God, you areholy, holy, holy, what you're actually
declaring is God, you areseparate, meaning God, there's none
like you.
Doctors treat, but you're holy.
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You heal.
You're separate.
You're not like them.
Man will abandon and walk out.
But you're holy.
You'll never leave me norforsake me.
So the question right now, inthis moment is.
Have you ever designated thetithe to separate your money, to
be holy unto the Lord?
Separate.
Separate.
So right now, I want to giveyou an opportunity with your phone
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to do that, to tithe and test God.
As a matter of fact, I want tomake sure I say this the right way.
I believe so much in thismoment that there's many of you that
you can tithe right now.
And I would say, give it sometime and come back to me and tell
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me that God did not work amiracle in your life.
There's something about seekfirst the kingdom, and all these
things will be added unto you.
When you put it first,everything else comes into alignment.
I have no other explanationfor the favor that I've seen on my
life than my wife.
And I have continually tithed.
So right now, I see a lot ofphones out.
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So I want to make sure I giveyou ample time.
You just.
I'm a boomer.
I'll be honest with you.
I still actually use realcards with plastic and checks.
I know that's embarrassing,but if you use your phone, I guess
that's the thing, people taptheir phone.
So you can tap your phone onthat orange disk and then just take
the time to go through andsign up to tithe.
And this is a holy moment.
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This is different than anyother moment.
Oh, and the ushers are passingthe buckets.
Thank you.
If you are giving physicalnow, there's two groups of people
right now as we just wrap upthe next minute or so.
There's people who aredisobedient, who are giving an opportunity
to be obedient.
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They're bringing the tithe.
Then there are others that are obedient.
But now they're going tobecome generous because maybe the
Lord's speaking to you for contributions.
And so I just want to give youan opportunity to respond.
So step into the tithe or gofrom the tithe to generosity.
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This, I believe, is an opportunity.
My wife and I were sitting ina service just like this years ago,
before the pandemic.
The pastor that was preachingsaid that he was raising money to
buy cameras to reach Muslimswith the gospel.
And the Lord spoke to me andsaid, give $5,000 right now.
And at that time, $5,000 wasnear impossible.
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But I did it.
As a matter of fact, I had myphone open just like many of you
have your phone open.
You're setting it up.
And I put $5,000 in the phone.
And my wife nudged me becauseshe was watching me.
And she said, mike, the HolySpirit Told me the same number, and
I gave that money.
And it was a hard thing to do,but I did it.
Did you know that withinmonths, the global pandemic happened?
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I went online, and then myonline ministry exploded.
And before that, I was gettingtwo or three likes on everything
I would post.
I didn't really even careabout social media.
But something shifted, andhere's the principle from that.
You have to sow into the areayou want to grow.
If you want to grow online,sow online.
If you want to grow inministry, sow in ministry.
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You sow where you want to grow.
So right now, there's anopportunity to go beyond obedience
into generosity.
If you sow.
And there's three voices you hear.
You hear yours, the devil'sand the Holy Spirit.
And I believe that the HolySpirit is leading you into generosity.
So I'm going to take just aminute more because let y'all wrap
up on your phones, and then Iwant to pray for you because the
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Bible says he will rebuke thedevourer for your sake.
Amen, man.
Mark my words, over the nextseveral weeks, there is going to
be an avalanche of testimonies.
A tidal wave of testimoniesfrom this church.
I'm talking like you havenever seen before.
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It is about, mark my words.
After today, people are gonnapoint back to these services this
Sunday and they're gonna say,that changed my life forever.
Cause there's something aboutthe root of giving.
All right, let me.
Can I pray for you, Father?
I thank you right now for eachand every one.
Lord, this has been a journeythroughout the entire Bible, all
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four eras of giving.
And Lord, we know your heartconcerning us.
And I pray God that you wouldrebuke the devourer on our behalf.
I thank you for promotions onthe job.
I thank you for new jobs.
I thank you for doors ofentrepreneurship being open.
I thank you, God, that eveninheritances and unexpected finances
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and things will come.
And Lord, those that werefaithful with little will now be
made ruler over much.
In Jesus name.
Can somebody shout Amen?
Okay, now we got one lastaspect to all this.
So stand your feet one more time.
I know you're tired.
Stay with me.
Let's fire up.
I'm gonna teach you one lastspiritual lesson.
Are you ready?
So did Abraham tithe before orafter the blessing?
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Okay.
Did Jacob tithe before orafter the blessing?
Before.
So what we're gonna do is take15 seconds and worship God before
the breakthrough, before thefinancial release.
Before.
As an act of faith.
Come on.
Are y'all with me.
Come on.
Father, we thank you before ithappens that we are blessed in the
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city, blessed in the field.
We are the head and not the tail.
Come on, somebody.
And we thank you, Jesus.
Someone shout hallelujah.
Come on.