The Midnight Cry

So Many Blessings You Can’T Count Them

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: TMC

Program Code: TMC000021A


00:18 Thank you, folks. We're very happy to welcome all of you
00:21 back tonight. Appreciate you being here.
00:24 You're going to be blessed especially tonight
00:26 as you listen to Steve Darmody sing for us at this time.
01:00 As I see the marks of sin
01:05 I feel a sadness
01:08 but there's a thought
01:11 that always brings a sweet release.
01:16 Soon our Savior will be here...
01:21 that day is drawing near
01:26 when tears, trials, and heartaches
01:31 all will cease.
01:36 Oh, how wonderful
01:39 heaven will be!
01:44 To be with Jesus
01:48 throughout eternity.
01:52 No earthly thing can compare
01:58 to what is waiting for us
02:02 there...
02:07 Oh, how wonderful
02:10 heaven will be!
02:27 Oh, just think of all the countless joys
02:33 of heaven.
02:35 A better land, a better life
02:39 than we could know.
02:43 We will be forever safe
02:48 through His forgiving grace.
02:53 This gift is ours
02:56 because He loves us so.
03:02 Oh, how wonderful
03:06 heaven will be!
03:10 To be with Jesus
03:14 throughout eternity.
03:19 No earthly thing can compare
03:24 to what is waiting for us
03:28 there...
03:34 Oh, how wonderful
03:38 heaven will be!
03:42 Oh, how wonderful
03:48 heaven will be!
03:53 To be with Jesus
03:56 throughout eternity.
04:01 No earthly thing
04:05 can compare
04:09 to what is waiting for us
04:13 there...
04:20 Oh, how wonderful
04:25 heaven will be...
04:36 Oh, how wonderful
04:42 heaven
04:44 will
04:47 be!
05:06 Tonight our subject is So Many Blessings
05:11 I Can't Count Them.
05:16 We have not the foggiest idea
05:20 of what God does for you and for me.
05:23 And tonight Maddy's going to sing
05:26 a song about the goodness of God
05:29 to you and to me. What He does for us day by day.
05:46 From the very moment
05:50 I met Jesus there
05:56 I had peace and joy
06:00 within.
06:06 Life is filled with meaning...
06:10 gone are doubt and care.
06:15 He's forgiven all
06:19 my sins.
06:25 God is good to me.
06:29 Out of His abundance
06:33 blessing like the rain
06:36 comes pouring down.
06:41 He renews my spirit,
06:45 satisfies my soul,
06:50 fills me with His love
06:53 divine!
06:58 God is good to me,
07:02 and it all began
07:06 when Jesus made His presence
07:11 known.
07:14 Gratitude o'erwhelms me
07:19 making my heart sing
07:23 for I am His and He
07:27 is mine!
07:34 When I wake each morning
07:39 to my heart's delight
07:44 He is waiting there
07:49 for me.
07:54 When I'm in His presence
07:59 everything's all right.
08:04 That's where I'm content
08:07 to be.
08:13 God is good to me,
08:18 out of His resources
08:22 blessings like the rain come pouring down.
08:30 He renews my spirit,
08:34 satisfies my soul,
08:38 fills me with His love
08:42 divine!
08:47 God is good to me,
08:51 and it all began
08:54 when Jesus made His presence
08:59 known.
09:03 Gratitude o'erwhelms me
09:08 making my heart sing
09:15 for I am His
09:20 and He is
09:25 mine!
09:47 Our Father in heaven, we come to You tonight
09:51 thanking you for all the wonderful things
09:55 that You've done for us. You've been so good to us.
09:59 Lord, may we take note
10:03 of what Your Word says about Your blessings.
10:07 May we surrender our lives to You.
10:10 And we ask that You will give us the wisdom,
10:13 the understanding that we need
10:16 that we might learn how to walk by faith
10:20 and to please You in all that we do.
10:25 For this we ask in Christ's name, Amen.
10:35 Have you ever had someone say to you
10:38 when you were talking about somebody else and they said:
10:40 "Well, they have lived a blessed life? "
10:44 "They've been blessed in a special way. "
10:47 You see, I found that in the Scripture
10:50 God wants to bless you.
10:53 In fact, you're acquainted with texts where it says
10:56 that He's more willing to give you the Holy Spirit
10:59 than you are to give good gifts to your children.
11:01 It says that God cares about you.
11:04 He wants to bless you in a special way.
11:08 Promises that.
11:10 Well, if someone would have just shared with me
11:15 years ago when I was a young person
11:18 what I'm going to share with you tonight
11:21 it would have made a marked difference in my life.
11:24 I mean a very definite difference in my life.
11:28 And so I hope that each of you here tonight
11:30 will listen carefully, and I hope that you're blessed.
11:33 And I hope that from this day on
11:36 it will make a marked difference in your life.
11:38 And particularly young people. I hope this will
11:41 be of great great help to you
11:43 because God wants to bless you.
11:46 He says this, Ezekiel 34:26:
11:56 God says: "I'll make them and everything around
11:59 a blessing. " And He promises that He will do that.
12:04 And as you read through the Scripture
12:07 you can see where God made definite promises
12:10 and how He carried out those promises.
12:14 Joshua: folks, the children of Israel have gone through
12:18 40 years in the wilderness.
12:20 They have now gone into the land of Canaan.
12:25 They have driven out the Canaanites and the Perizzites
12:28 and Jebusites and all the Hittites and all these people.
12:31 Joshua is old.
12:35 Come time for him to die.
12:37 I want you to listen to his words.
12:57 Now listen, folks:
13:20 Of all the things that God promised the children of Israel
13:23 he's saying: "Not one word of it has failed. "
13:27 Think about that.
13:29 Promised that He would care for them, look after them,
13:32 what He would give them. And everything that God
13:35 promised happened.
13:38 I mean, Nehemiah talks about this.
13:43 Talks about what happened to them as they were going
13:46 through the wilderness and how God cared for them.
14:00 I mean, have you ever been out in the Sinai desert?
14:04 Huh? Have you ever been there?
14:06 Folks, it won't even grow a weed
14:10 let alone a cow.
14:12 I mean, nothing there and yet it says
14:14 "you lacked nothing. " OK?
14:18 "Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. "
14:24 Nothing they lacked!
14:27 So here you're going down through time
14:29 and God promises and cared for them.
14:31 Ask Solomon. Blessing the temple
14:34 and he's talking to all the children of Israel.
14:37 These are his words:
14:50 Do you know what the Scripture says about the days of Solomon?
14:56 Do you know what it says about it?
14:58 It says that gold was like stones.
15:07 I mean, they were blessed beyond comprehension.
15:12 Very, very special way accord- ing to all that He promised.
15:16 Listen to what He promised:
15:25 He said: "Everything that God promised
15:28 everything happened. "
15:30 So what I'm trying to get across to you
15:33 is if the Book here, folks,
15:35 promises it, do you think it will happen?
15:40 Huh? You convinced of that?
15:43 The Bible says that if God promises it
15:46 it'll happen because the Scripture says
15:49 "God cannot lie. "
16:17 So what I'm telling you tonight
16:19 that God will not fail on His part.
16:24 OK? God will not fail on His part.
16:28 Promises certain things to you and me.
16:44 He said: "God promised it; hang on;
16:47 He can't lie. "
16:49 In fact, when Jesus was on earth
16:55 He sent the disciples out.
16:58 Now you weigh carefully the way He sent them,
17:00 'cause this is the way He sent them here in Luke...
17:03 Luke 22:35:
17:28 Didn't lack a thing.
17:30 God was more than capable of taking care of them.
17:35 Do you think He's capable of taking care of you tonight?
17:38 An old preacher was visiting one of his parishioners...
17:44 an old lady.
17:47 When he got to the home and he was visiting with her
17:49 he picked up her Bible.
17:52 And as he picked up her Bible he began to page through it
17:55 and he found certain texts that were underlined.
17:59 And then underneath the text would be written the letter
18:02 T and P.
18:04 And he thumbed through it and he saw these all the way
18:07 through the Scripture. And finally he said to her,
18:10 he said: "What are these texts that you have underlined
18:13 here in your Bible? " She said: "Oh those are promises of God. "
18:17 She said: "Those are all promises. "
18:19 And he said: "Well that's fine" he said: "but what do these
18:21 letters T and P mean? "
18:23 She said: "Oh, that means tried and proven. "
18:26 See? And it'll work!
18:29 Tried and proven: the promises of God.
18:33 Now, what I am telling you tonight is all, all the promises
18:39 in this Book - listen to me carefully -
18:41 all the promises in this Book are conditional.
18:48 Don't think they're not.
18:50 All the promises in this Book are conditional.
18:56 If you and I fill the conditions,
19:00 God will carry out His promise.
19:03 That's what you've got to understand in your head:
19:06 that if you fulfill the conditions
19:10 God will carry out His promise.
19:12 When I was a young person if somebody would have just
19:15 made that clear to me, what a difference it would have made
19:19 in my life. Listen... this is what the Scripture is saying,
19:22 what God promises to you and to me.
19:24 Deuteronomy 11:26:
19:34 A blessing and a curse.
19:37 That's what He's setting there before you.
19:39 All right?
19:48 He said: "Here's the blessing if you obey. "
19:52 That's the condition, right?
19:55 Yes, that's the condition. "If you obey, gonna bless you. "
19:58 That's what He promises.
20:05 They're conditional... all of them are.
20:08 But they're marvelous promises.
20:10 And the conditions, folks, are not difficult.
20:14 They're not hard.
20:16 I have people say to me: "Well, Brother Cox,
20:20 I don't know... " You listen, God promises this:
20:31 See if you do that you're going to receive the curse.
20:34 OK. you say: "Well, I've lived a very very bad life. "
20:41 I talk to people and they say: "Oh, the Lord could never
20:45 could never forgive me. Could never forgive me...
20:48 I've done such bad things that the Lord just couldn't
20:52 forgive me. " Well, you want to see what the condition is
20:57 to be forgiven?
20:59 This is the condition; this is what the Scripture says.
21:13 If you have lived a very wicked life,
21:17 you have done a lot of bad things,
21:19 all that God asks you to do - the condition is -
21:23 is to come to Him and confess our sins.
21:27 Confess your sins to Him.
21:29 What will happen?
21:31 OK... here's the promise:
21:41 Dear friend, I don't care how bad you've been.
21:44 God's not interested in keeping you out of heaven.
21:47 God's interested in getting you in! Amen!
21:49 And so all He just says to you is
21:52 "Come to Me; confess your sins.
21:54 And if you'll confess them, I will forgive them. "
21:59 He is faithful. That means God is on duty
22:05 24 hours a day. OK?
22:09 He's faithful; He's just.
22:12 He'll forgive your sins.
22:15 That's the condition. All you've gotta do is confess them.
22:19 OK? You say: "Well...
22:23 I'm not real sure that there's any hope for me. "
22:28 "Not real sure that I could be forgiven
22:31 and that I could be saved. "
22:33 "I'm not sure that there's really any hope for me. "
22:36 Well, what is the condition for salvation?
22:41 You know? What do I have to do to be saved?
22:45 What is the condition for being saved?
22:48 Well, let's look.
22:57 That's the condition.
23:00 If you want to be saved you have to call on the name of the Lord.
23:05 That's what it says.
23:07 Come to Him; call on Him.
23:09 Say: "Here I am, Lord. I'm lost!
23:11 I'm a sinner; I've done all these bad things.
23:14 My life is a wreck, Lord... I'm coming to You. "
23:17 And this is what the Scripture says:
23:18 Promise: "shall be saved. "
23:24 Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
23:29 Dear friend, don't tell me tonight that you're too bad.
23:34 Don't tell me that you can't do all this.
23:38 Those are not the conditions.
23:40 The condition is that you call upon the name of the Lord.
23:44 Call on the name of the Lord and you SHALL be saved.
23:48 That's the promise He gives you.
23:51 Well, you say: "What about baptism? "
23:57 "I really... what's the condition for baptism? "
24:02 I run onto people that say: "Well,
24:04 you know, do I really have to be baptized? "
24:08 Well, let's look and see what the Scripture tells us.
24:20 That person who believes...
24:22 part of the step...
24:24 "and is baptized... " Let's see. That's the condition
24:27 what's the promise?
24:31 So the Scripture is very, very clear, folks.
24:34 All the promises here - all of them -
24:38 are based on conditions.
24:40 All you and I have to do is fulfill the conditions.
24:43 The condition is if you want to be saved
24:46 call on the name of the Lord.
24:48 That's the condition.
24:50 If you want to be saved, then call on the name of the Lord,
24:53 accept Him as your Savior, be baptized.
24:57 Those are the conditions.
25:00 How often we try to make our own. No!
25:06 All you've gotta do is do what God asks.
25:10 Those are the conditions.
25:12 You say: "Well, what about my daily needs? "
25:16 What about, you know... what about such things as
25:21 food. Is that involved?
25:25 Does it involve what I eat?
25:29 Or what about such things as shelter?
25:32 Or what about such things as clothing?
25:37 Does that enter into the picture?
25:40 Well, let's look at the condition.
25:43 See what God has to say about it.
25:53 Now what did it say?
25:56 "Well, I know this is what the Lord would like for me to do
26:01 but my work interferes with this. "
26:06 "I know this is what God wants me to do
26:10 but if I do that that's going to...
26:13 to affect my life too much. "
26:20 Seek what? "First the kingdom of God... "
26:25 In other words, God say: "If you want to have
26:28 food, if you want to have shelter,
26:31 if you want to have clothing,
26:33 then seek first the kingdom of God. "
26:37 And if you do that, what's going to happen?
26:40 Let's look at the promise.
26:48 "Oh, " you say, "Well Bro. Cox, that doesn't mean food
26:51 and that doesn't mean shelter
26:52 and that doesn't mean clothing. "
26:54 Oh yes it does.
26:56 Oh yes it does. Just read the text before it.
26:59 Listen to what it has to say.
27:12 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
27:15 All these things" - right there - "will be added to you. "
27:21 OK? So dear friends, let's get our priorities right tonight.
27:27 If you want to be blessed,
27:30 if you want a blessed life,
27:32 then put God first.
27:36 Doesn't come after everything else.
27:40 You know? Don't get through with everything else and then
27:43 say: "Well, if there's any- thing left for the Lord, OK. "
27:45 But seek Him first and His righteousness
27:50 all these things will be added to you.
27:54 Promises that.
27:56 Well, say: "Sure would like to have a child. "
28:04 "Prayed for a child. Does that have anything to do
28:08 with my serving the Lord
28:11 whether He'll give me a child or whether He won't? "
28:15 Does that enter into it?
28:17 Now folks, I'm talking to you about living it day by day
28:21 for the Lord Jesus Christ.
28:23 Have you been praying for a child and haven't had one?
28:28 You'd like to have a child?
28:30 Well, let's see what the conditions are.
28:43 So the Bible says: "If you fear the Lord
28:46 and you walk in His ways..."
28:50 Let's see what the promises are that God says will happen.
29:00 OK. He said: "If you fear the Lord,
29:03 you walk in His ways, when you sit down to eat
29:06 you'll be? happy... "
29:09 "and it shall be well with you. "
29:14 Now listen... let's continue on because the promise hasn't ended
29:17 here. We're continuing in Psalm 128 verses 2 and 3:
29:31 You want children? There's the promise right there.
29:37 All you have to do is fear God
29:41 and walk in His ways
29:43 and that's the promise that He gives.
29:46 See, I'm trying to get across to you, folks,
29:49 not one word of that Book will fail.
29:54 Moses said: "You can't think of anything that God promised
29:57 that's failed! " And it won't fail for you
30:00 if you fulfill the conditions.
30:03 That's all God is asking of you
30:06 is just fulfill the conditions.
30:09 So if you're concerned about having children,
30:12 then fear the Lord, walk in His ways.
30:15 Have you read in the Bible about a woman that did that?
30:18 Huh? You ever read in the Bible about a woman
30:20 who did that? "Behold, thus shall the man be... " What?
30:24 "blessed... " Who what? "fears the Lord. "
30:27 OK. Have you ever read about Hannah?
30:31 Hmm? Didn't have any children.
30:35 Felt terrible 'cause she never had a child.
30:39 But she feared God.
30:42 She walked in His ways and she pled with the Lord
30:46 and He gave her a child. You remember that?
30:50 Named the child Samuel.
30:53 Yes. I Samuel 1:27:
31:07 She said: "For this child I prayed!
31:09 And God answered that prayer; gave me this child. "
31:14 And He'll do the same for you, folks.
31:18 "Oh, " you say, "Well, I'd like to live a long life. "
31:24 "I'd like to have the promise of a long life. "
31:30 Well, that's conditional.
31:32 Did you know that? It's conditional.
31:35 Let's see what the conditions are.
31:46 That's the condition.
31:47 You want to live a long life?
31:49 Honor your parents... young people particularly.
31:53 And I have some say: "Well, my parents aren't very nice. "
31:57 Well, that may be true
32:00 but you still have an obligation to honor them.
32:05 You don't have to agree with their ways
32:07 if their ways are wrong
32:09 but you still have to honor them.
32:11 That God expects. If you want to live a long life,
32:14 honor your parents, young people.
32:16 It has more to do with you than you have any concept of.
32:22 Honor your parents.
32:24 This is what happens if you honor them.
32:26 Let's look at the promise:
32:37 Said: "If you want to live a long life,
32:39 if you want to have a happy life that it might be well with you,
32:43 then honor your parents. "
32:46 It's a promise given to you.
32:49 You see, no one ever bothered to explain all these things
32:53 to me when I was growing up.
32:57 Nobody ever told me all these wonderful promises.
33:01 That if I would just do those what God would do.
33:07 When I began to understand them
33:10 changed my life completely.
33:14 Changed it completely.
33:16 Financial help? You say: "Man,
33:20 it's a struggle all the time. "
33:24 "Can't seem to get ahead. "
33:28 "Constantly working; I can't seem to get anywhere. "
33:32 Folks, don't misunderstand me...
33:35 I'm not trying to offer you God just for financial help.
33:40 But I am trying to tell you that if you will follow Him,
33:45 if you will fulfill the conditions,
33:47 He will bless you. Promises that.
33:50 Now I'm going to share some things with you
33:53 that probably are going to be kind of shocking to you
33:57 as far as what it takes to be blessed financially.
34:01 But let me show you. One thing that it says
34:03 very clearly that if you want to be blessed financially
34:07 is you have to give.
34:10 Hmm.
34:11 You say: "What do you mean give?
34:14 I don't have anything to give with! "
34:17 Well, let's look and see what God says.
34:20 Let's look at the conditions.
34:34 That is a condition, folks. In fact, giving
34:38 is the law of heaven. Did you know that?
34:41 Giving is the law of heaven.
34:44 And you never can get anywhere financially
34:48 if you don't give.
34:50 Won't work! Sorry.
34:53 If you give, you want to see what the promise is?
34:56 This is what the Scripture promises:
35:11 Huh! That's the promise:
35:14 that if you give, God will bless you and it will be
35:19 given to you good measure, pressed down,
35:21 running over.
35:33 The very same measure that you use in giving to others
35:38 it'll be given back to you.
35:41 That's the promise.
35:44 So if you want to get ahead financially
35:48 give. Say: "It's crazy! "
35:53 I know it is... but it's true!
35:56 It works... it works.
35:59 Now there's another thing that I want to tell you that works
36:03 concerning finances. You may not have understood it
36:07 but I can tell you right now... And let me tell you something:
36:09 I don't know very many things
36:13 that are good or I can say are really nice
36:17 about old age. You know?
36:20 I can't really enumerate a lot of things that old age
36:24 does for you. But one thing it does do for you
36:28 is it gives you the ability to look back
36:31 and see how things have taken place.
36:35 You see, you can do that.
36:37 And I can tell you over the years
36:39 I have watched and I have seen this principle over and over...
36:43 And I've seen people struggle over it and say:
36:46 "Oh, I can't do that"
36:48 and I've seen other people that said: "Oh, I don't understand
36:51 how this is going to work" and they did it anyhow
36:53 and how God abundantly blessed them.
36:57 Let me tell you what it is.
37:01 Sabbath. If you want to be blessed financially
37:07 keep the Sabbath.
37:11 I'm dead serious.
37:12 I've seen people say: "Oh, if I was to keep Sabbath
37:16 I'd lose my job! "
37:17 You might... you might.
37:22 But let me tell you something: if you do,
37:25 God will bless you.
37:28 Now let me explain a principle to you.
37:31 God never asks you... God NEVER asks you
37:35 to do something that it costs you that God
37:39 in turn won't repay.
37:43 You remember the time when Jesus was speaking to the crowd?
37:46 And there were so many of them they had backed Him clear up
37:51 to the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
37:53 And they were right in His face
37:55 so close to Him He couldn't talk
37:57 and so He asked Peter if He could use his boat.
38:00 And He stepped in Peter's boat,
38:02 had Peter row back from the shore a little bit,
38:04 and then He could see the crowd and He spoke to them.
38:07 When He finished He said to Peter:
38:10 "Cast in your net. "
38:12 And Peter said: "What are You talking about, Lord?
38:14 We just fished all night and didn't catch anything. "
38:16 Now folks, the Sea of Galilee is perfectly clear.
38:21 They only fish it at night.
38:24 OK? They had fished all night long.
38:27 "There's no fish there... you can look and see! "
38:30 And Peter said: "Nevertheless at Your word
38:34 I'll throw in the net. " And he threw in the net
38:36 and they caught so many fish that the nets were breaking.
38:39 Now do you understand what was happening here?
38:42 Do you understand what's happening here?
38:44 All Jesus is doing is paying Peter for using his boat.
38:51 See? That's what's happening here, folks.
38:55 And so you need to understand
38:58 that when God simply says "Do this! "
39:01 I don't care if it costs you. God will repay.
39:05 It says He is a rewarder
39:08 of those that diligently seek Him.
39:11 So if you keep the Sabbath, what's He going to do for you?
39:14 OK... look...
39:16 here's the condition:
39:21 That means don't trod it underfoot.
39:24 Don't treat it with disrespect.
39:29 He said: "If you stop doing what you want to do... "
39:32 OK?
39:41 Those are the conditions. You don't trod the Sabbath
39:44 underfoot. You don't do your own pleasure on His holy day...
39:48 on the Sabbath. You call the Sabbath a delight,
39:50 the holy day of the Lord and honor Him... " OK:
39:59 He said: "This is not a day
40:02 that you are to use for yourself. "
40:05 And let me get something clear.
40:07 I had someone tell me that, they said: "Oh, it doesn't make
40:10 any difference which day you keep. "
40:14 "You can keep any day. Whichever day you want to keep
40:16 for the Sabbath that's OK. "
40:19 Let me tell you something tonight:
40:21 that is OK - OK? provided
40:26 you're the one that calls the shots.
40:29 OK? Provided you're the one that's calling the shots.
40:34 But if God's the One that's calling the shots,
40:37 then it makes a great, great difference.
40:40 See? Because it's His day... OK?
40:44 So He said: "If you'll quit walking on the Sabbath,
40:46 if you'll treat it with respect, if you'll honor Me
40:49 not doing your own ways... "
40:51 What's He going to do for you?
40:53 Let's look at the promise.
40:58 You want to make the Lord happy?
41:19 Dear friends, if you want to get along financially,
41:22 then keep the Sabbath.
41:26 God won't fail.
41:29 OK. One other thing if you want to prosper financially.
41:35 Then the Bible says if you want to do that
41:37 then you need to return the tithe.
41:42 Scripture is very clear on that.
41:45 I can tell you right now...
41:48 I've had people say: "Oh, Brother Cox. What are you
41:50 talking about? " I've had young couples to me...
41:51 come to me and they say: "Oh, Brother Cox, we're in
41:54 terrible financial shape. What can we do
41:57 to get out of this condition we're in? "
41:59 And I say: "Return the tithe. "
42:03 And they say: "What do you mean
42:04 return the tithe? We don't have enough to live on now! "
42:08 If you want to get out of debt, return the tithe. Amen!
42:12 That's a promise. Let's look... here is the condition:
42:26 Folks, I mean here God's coming out and saying:
42:28 "OK... if you don't believe Me, try Me. "
42:30 "Just try it if you don't believe Me. "
42:34 That's what He's saying. That's the only promise
42:36 I know in the Scripture where God uses those words
42:39 and says: "Try Me. "
42:41 "Try Me... see if it's right. "
42:44 OK, that's the condition. Let's see what the promise is.
42:59 You want to be blessed?
43:02 Then return the tithe to Him.
43:04 He says: "If you do that, I'll pour out a blessing on you
43:08 that there won't even be room enough for you to receive it. "
43:12 That is a promise that He gives.
43:15 "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sake... "
43:29 He said: "I'll bless you in a very very wonderful way. "
43:33 What does the Scripture mean when it talks about a tithe?
43:37 The word tithe means a tenth... that's what it means.
43:44 If I make a dollar, then a tithe is ten cents.
43:49 If I make ten dollars, a tithe is one dollar.
43:53 If I make a hundred dollars, a tithe is ten dollars.
43:58 A tenth. And I can tell you a little secret tonight:
44:03 nine tenths... mark my word...
44:07 nine tenths with God's blessing
44:12 will go farther than ten tenths with His curse.
44:15 Amen! In fact, I was talking to a fellow, and he
44:19 told me that one night he was preaching on this subject
44:21 and this fellow came up to him and he said:
44:24 "Ah, " he said, "you don't have to pay tithe to be saved. "
44:29 And my friend said to him: "How did you arrive at that? "
44:33 He said: "Well, the thief on the cross never paid any tithe
44:36 and he'll be saved. "
44:38 And my friend said to him, said: "Yeah, "
44:41 said, "that's true. " He said: "That's very true. "
44:44 He said: "Just one difference between you and the thief
44:47 on the cross. " And he said: "What's that? "
44:50 He said: "He was a dying thief and you're a living one. "
44:57 Great, great difference there, you see.
44:59 So what I'm trying to say is just the promises of God
45:03 are given to you, folks.
45:05 And He just simply says: "Return a tithe unto Me
45:10 and I will bless you abundantly. "
45:24 When it says it's holy to the Lord, dear friends,
45:27 then that simply means it doesn't belong to you.
45:30 In fact, you don't GIVE tithe, you RETURN tithe.
45:35 See, it's not yours. Never has been; never will be.
45:39 And what God says to you and me
45:41 "If you're a good steward and you return the tithe, "
45:46 He says, "then I'm going to bless you. "
45:48 And He will, dear friends... abundantly.
45:51 Abundantly!
45:53 I've given tithe... I've returned tithe
45:59 when it took every cent that I had
46:04 and God has never failed... NEVER!
46:09 He won't fail at all.
46:11 There's marvelous stories in the Bible about it if you read them.
46:15 Did you ever read about Jacob?
46:19 Huh? You remember the time when he was fleeing from his brother
46:22 Esau and he gets out here on the plains of Bethel
46:24 and he lies down and he has this dream?
46:27 You remember that?
46:29 And in that dream he sees this stairway going up into heaven
46:32 and he sees angels going up and down on that stairway.
46:35 And when he woke up the next morning he said: "Oh, "
46:37 he said, "this place must be the house of God. "
46:39 And he set up an altar there and he worshiped the Lord.
46:42 And he said to the Lord this... this is what he said to Him:
46:54 You remember that, don't you?
46:55 Said: "I'll return a tithe to You of everything You give me. "
46:59 And so he goes on down to his Uncle Laban's house.
47:02 Uncle Laban has two daughters:
47:05 Rachel and Leah.
47:08 Rachel is beautiful; Leah is ugly.
47:15 And you know who Jacob fell in love with?
47:18 Rachel.
47:20 You know who he spent his life with?
47:23 Leah. OK?
47:25 But nevertheless, he fell in love with Rachel.
47:28 And so he goes to Laban and he says:
47:32 "What do I have to do to have the hand of your daughter? "
47:34 And he said, "Oh, " he said:
47:36 "not much. Just work for me for seven years. "
47:42 Jacob said: "OK. "
47:44 So he worked for him for seven years and came time.
47:49 He said: "I've worked for you 7 years.
47:50 I want my bride. "
47:52 And so they had the wedding, but over in the Middle East,
47:55 you know, they wear veils.
47:57 And so they had the wedding
47:58 and Jacob gets his bride home
48:00 and she takes off the veil and lo and behold
48:03 he has Leah not Rachel.
48:05 And he said: "I didn't work seven years for you! "
48:08 Takes her by the arm and takes her back to her father.
48:11 Said: "Listen, I worked 7 years for Rachel. "
48:14 He said: "Well, sorry... there's a custom here in our country
48:17 that the oldest daughter has to marry first. "
48:20 Said: "I'll tell you what: work for me for seven more years
48:22 and I'll give you Rachel also. "
48:25 Jacob says: "OK. " So now folks, he's worked for
48:28 for 14 years. His total pay has been 2 women.
48:35 You know, I don't know how good of bargain that is.
48:40 But nevertheless
48:42 Laban calls him in. He says: "Well now Jacob,
48:46 if you're going to stay here and if you're going to work for me,
48:48 I guess we need to work out some financial arrangement...
48:51 arrangements and pay. "
48:52 And Jacob said: "OK. "
48:54 And Laban says: "I'll tell you what, " he said:
48:57 "I will give you all the spotted sheep,
49:01 all the spotted cattle, all the spotted donkeys.
49:05 Anything that's spotted I'm going to give to you. "
49:09 Jacob says: "Fine. " That is really generous
49:12 on the part of Laban since all his cattle are black angus.
49:16 There's not a spotted one in the bunch.
49:20 And so God said: "Jacob,
49:24 go out there and cut down this cane.
49:28 And every place that the cattle drink -
49:31 in the ponds, the rivers, the troughs -
49:35 everywhere they drink you lay that cane
49:38 and cross it and lay it in there. "
49:41 He went out, cut the cane down and laid it in there.
49:43 And when the cattle started calving
49:46 the next spring they were spotted.
49:50 Spotted.
49:51 Laban came out and said: "What in the world's going on here? "
49:54 "You know, this can't be. Fence is broke or something. "
49:57 You know... said: "This can't be! "
49:59 "So, " he said, "next spring it'll be all right. "
50:03 Next spring they were spotted again.
50:06 Laban called Jacob in and he said: "Listen,
50:09 I've been thinking this thing over, " and he said:
50:10 "I'll tell you what. I've decided I'm going to take
50:13 the spotted ones and I'm going to give you the solid ones. "
50:16 And Jacob said: "OK. "
50:18 God said: "Jacob, get that stuff out of the water. "
50:21 You can read it!
50:23 I mean, God promises there.
50:26 I can read to you in the Word of God
50:28 when he's talking to his wife Rachel.
50:30 He said: "Your father has changed my wages
50:34 ten times... " What he said...
50:37 and God did not permit him to harm me. "
50:41 But I can tell you, when he was changing his wages
50:43 he was not raising them... he was lowering them.
50:46 OK? And when he left Laban's house
50:50 he was an extremely wealthy man.
50:53 Why? Cause he said: "Listen,
50:55 of anything You give me I'll give a tenth to You. "
50:58 And he honored God and God blessed him. Friend,
51:02 tonight He'll do the same for you - Amen!
51:05 if you and I are just faithful. I'm just sharing with you
51:08 blessings that God will give you.
51:11 If you fulfill the conditions, those are things that He says
51:15 He will do for you and for me
51:17 if we just follow the Lord in it. He promises!
51:21 Jesus made it very clear
51:23 that we are still to return the tithe today.
51:27 Matthew 23:23, He's speaking to the Pharisees
51:30 and the scribes and so forth. He said:
51:39 Now, folks, those were the smallest means of exchange
51:43 they had back then. And so He said these scribes
51:46 and Pharisees... they were very very
51:51 minute about paying everything. OK?
51:54 But watch what He says:
52:01 He said: "Oh, you're faithful in paying your tithe
52:03 but you've neglected the weightier matters of the law
52:06 such as justice and mercy and faith. "
52:09 He said: "You forgot those. " But listen to the words of Jesus
52:21 Jesus made that just as clear as a bell:
52:24 that you and I still are to return our tithe.
52:29 Blessings that God gives to you and to me.
52:34 Deuteronomy 28:2, listen carefully:
52:50 All these blessings shall come upon you
52:53 and overtake you.
52:55 You want to live a blessed life?
52:59 There's the opportunity, folks.
53:01 All God is saying to you tonight is
53:04 "Fulfill the conditions... I'll bless you. "
53:07 "I'll bless you in a marvelous way like you can't believe! "
53:12 If you and I will just follow what He says
53:15 He's gonna bless you now... here, this life.
53:19 Promises it.
53:21 But above all that
53:23 you fulfill those conditions, dear friend,
53:27 and you'll not only be blessed here
53:29 but you'll be blessed for eternity.
53:31 Marvelous!
53:33 Matthew 25:34:
53:42 He said: "Oh, all you people that have walked with Me,
53:44 by faith you followed, Come all you blessed of My Father"
53:55 Promises that to you.
53:57 God won't let you down.
54:01 When I went to the Seminary
54:05 I had stayed out of school for a year.
54:10 I had sold books all that year.
54:14 By selling books I had made enough money
54:18 to pay for my education.
54:20 I had enough to pay for my education.
54:23 My wife was going to work
54:27 and she was going to make enough to pay for our housing
54:30 and our food and so forth.
54:31 That's how we intended to go to the Seminary.
54:34 We got to the Seminary and everything was going along fine.
54:40 But oh, it came December -
54:44 month of December - and we were out working
54:48 with one of the churches.
54:51 And that night my wife got very very cold
54:57 because we were outside in what we were doing.
55:01 And when we got back home she got a sore throat.
55:06 We didn't think much about it.
55:09 Gave her medicine and stuff for it.
55:11 But she had strep throat,
55:15 and out of the strep throat she developed a very very
55:21 serious condition and they had to put her in the hospital.
55:27 And the doctors came and told me that
55:33 the mitral valve in her heart had been damaged
55:37 and that she would be flat on her back
55:41 for six weeks.
55:44 And then when she came home she could not work
55:47 or do anything for another six weeks.
55:52 And so I went in and had a seat by her.
55:55 We talked, and I said: "Honey,
56:00 I'm going to drop out of school and get a job
56:04 so that we can continue to make it.
56:06 And when you're back on your feet well then I'll try to
56:09 finish up the Seminary. "
56:12 And I'll never forget. She looked at me and she said:
56:14 "You know, we've been faithful. "
56:17 She said: "We've been faithful in returning our tithe. "
56:20 She said: "We've tried to do what God wants us to do.
56:23 Why don't you take Him at His word? "
56:27 And I said: "What do you mean? "
56:28 She said: "Why don't you just stay in school?
56:30 See what the Lord does. "
56:32 Well, you know, I have to admit that's a little difficult
56:37 for me. I'm not... I don't know if you understand
56:41 cholerics by nature, but I'm choleric by nature...
56:44 And finally I said to her: "OK, I'll do that
56:48 but I'll tell you what. " I said "I'm going to go sell the car. "
56:51 And I said: "I'll walk to the Seminary
56:53 each day and back. That's the least I can do. "
56:58 So I went out and sold the car
57:00 and we lived on that for a while.
57:02 But soon that was gone.
57:03 And I expected any time, you know,
57:06 to say: "Well, I've gotta go back to work here. "
57:10 Folks, let me tell you:
57:13 I went down to the post office or to the mailbox
57:17 day after day. Here would be letters
57:22 from all different places in the United States -
57:26 not one place but all over the United States -
57:30 no names on them, no letters in them
57:33 just money.
57:35 Just money.
57:37 I'd open it up and here'd be an envelope
57:39 and in it would be money.
57:40 I didn't know who it came from at all.
57:44 I can't remember in that whole time
57:46 ever getting a letter that there was money in
57:50 that somebody put their name to.
57:52 I didn't know who it was coming from or where,
57:54 but it came from all over the United States.
57:57 I graduated from the Seminary;
58:01 I graduated totally free of debt...
58:05 hospital bill and everything.
58:09 Now you can't convince me
58:11 that God won't do what He says.
58:14 If you will just take Him at His word,
58:17 believe Him, He will bless you
58:20 in a very very wonderful way.


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Revised 2019-06-17