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A daily Christian thought from:
ACP, The Church for the American Christian who is a Patriot
Pro-Christ, Pro-Life, Pro-Constitution.
34 Duck Pond Road
Harrison, Maine, USA
040440
Pastor Rev. Robert Celeste ACP/MCAC
Mr. Steve Burzlaff, Elizebeth, Kentucky
Special Guest Pastor Rev. Jim Marstaller, Pastor of The CornerStone Gospel Church in Naples, Maine
We are going to discuss tithing because it has come to my attention that many of you are not tithing to your home church. The basket comes by and you put in five dollars or so, but, that isn't tithing.
Before we get into tithing, it has just been brought to my attention that Peter Jennings is dead, died at 67 from lung cancer. Jennings made a career of criticizing and denying the Lord Jesus. As we think about Jennings, let us think about ourselves and Hebrews 9:27, John 3:3 and Matthew 10:33. Let us remember that all will stand before Jesus one day and be judged.
Now, on to the subject at hand, tithing.
Malachi Chapter Three
1 Behold, I will send My messenger, and he (John the Baptist) shall prepare the way before Me (The Lord Jesus, the Christ): and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come. Saith the LORD of hosts.
2 But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: 3 And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. 4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. 5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me. Saith the LORD of hosts.
Want to see something? In Matthew chapter three, we read about a conversation between John the Baptist and some Jews who were more interested in traditions than what God had ordered.
John said: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
The problem these Jews had was that they kept wanting to go to services to be seen, to pick up business contacts, to show off the wives, new dresses, the daughters new belly button ring, to let all know about and see the new carriage or whatever. They didn't come to hear the Word of God and let It convict them of sin so that they would change their ways. Are you like that? Do you listen to the sermon but miss the point because your mind is else where? Are you there because of the music? The size of the organ? Or maybe to see the girls? Read on my boy, read on, read what else Malachi has to say to you.
6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from Mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto Me, and I will return unto you. Saith the LORD of hosts.
But ye said, "Wherein shall we return?" 8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, "Wherein have we robbed Thee?" In tithes and offerings.
There it is, when you neglect tithing to your local church you are robbing God. As you read the next verse, you're going to see how deadly serious God is when He tells you to tithe and you don't.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove (test) Me now herewith. Saith the LORD of hosts, see if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Notice what God is saying in verses 8 thru 10. First He is telling you that if you don't tithe you are stealing from Him. He goes on to warn you that if you don't tithe, He will curse you. Think about it, you steal from God by not supporting His work and His workers by tithing, and He curses you. As we proceed with verse 10, we see God saying to you, "look, test Me, try Me, you tithe and see if I don't reward you with much more than you gave Me."
Now, let's say you, like Peter Jennings, just died, and there you are standing before Christ Jesus. He opens His book and says, "I don't know you, depart from Me you worker of iniquity!" You say: "But Lord, I attended church every Sunday, I swept the church out, I did this, I did that..." And Jesus says (if He even cares to answer you, which He very well may not, for there is no chance you are going to change His mind, because when you take your last breath, the books close), "You robbed Me, you stole from Me, you did not tithe, you tithed neither money, nor you." You see, if you are not giving money, how are you going to convince Jesus that you have actually given yourself to Him? You give money to your kids, to your family, to the United Way, the Red Cross and the Little League, but not to God and you expect Him to believe that you actually love Him more than those things? You find the money for wine coolers, beer, steak, hamburgers, electricity for the televison, gas for the car, house payments, new clothing, etc, but you can't spare ten percent for God? You give over 30% to the governments so that they can take away more of your rights, but you can't find ten percent for God? And you want Him to believe that you care about Him?
Recently the USA was attacked. We were attacked and as a result we have put our tails between our legs and given even more of our rights away to the government. We are afraid of our own shadows and too scared of world opinion to even turn Bin Laden and his gang into smoking sides of dung with a small nuke. And much of that has to do with the fact that we are cursed, we as a nation are being judged and cursed by God. Want it to end? Want to get back on God's good side? Tithe! As we read on in Malachi we will see that God Himself will protect us if only we will return to Him. Look what He told Solomon:
And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people; If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. And just who do you think God is referring to today when He says "MY people"? It is the church of Philadelphia, the little Born Again Washed in the Blood of the Lamb Christian community, that's who.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
If we turn back to God, if we put Him first, if we get on our knees and humble ourselves, asking Him to forgive us for our sins, ask Him to forgive us for the things we have said, done, thought, read and even dreamt, the things that have offended Him, if we start acting, talking, dressing and behaving as if we understood that He sees everything we do, knows everything we think, read, hear on the radio and cd player, and watch on television, and if we start putting Him first and get it through our thick heads that He is God and He made us for His pleasure, then and only then will He hear our prayers and heal our land. And that means tithing. Tithing money to your local church, tithing yourself wholly without reservation to Him and going to church services to hear the sermon and learn more about God, not to look at the girls, not to brag about the new car, not because your church has a big old organ, but to serve God.
13 Your words have been stout (hard and nasty) against Me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, "What have we spoken so much against Thee?" 14 Ye have said, "It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?" 15 "And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered."
16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His name. 17 And they shall be Mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not. (Malachi 3:1-18 ACP/KJV)
No, we here at ACP do not ask you to send money to us. Why? Because I look at ChristianPatriot.com as a way of thanking the Lord for what He has done for me, and He has blessed us with enough so that we do not want, we have no need for your money. But, there are churches out there, there are missionaries out there, there are missions right here in the USA that do need financial help. And how do you help them if you are not part of a living breathing solid Born Again Washed in the Blood of the Lamb Christian church?
I'm gong to close with a few words spoken to us by Christ Jesus through His half brother James, and a question:
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up;
OK, now my question. If you are not a member of an active Born Again Washed in the Blood of the Lamb Christian Church, how are you going to call the elders? Are you going to look up elders in the yellow pages?
Do you realize that if everyone of you reading this thought, just gave ten dollars a week more to further God's work it would add another $470,000 for missions, and other evangelical outreaches.
<A href="http://www.christian-news-in-maine.com/july16-2005.htm"> Good News Mission in Indianapolis</A> has a 1.5 million dollar a year budget, you guys could fund it for a year in three weeks.
Guys understand this, you have got to be honest with God, you have got to have a one on one relationship with God, not me, but with God. Christ Jesus is not a peer, He is not one of the guys down at the bar or gym, He is the creator, He is the final judge, and His judgement is both final and just. Don't trifle with Him, get serious, serve Him.
Jesus told Nicodemus: Unless a man is Born Again, he will not see the kingdom of heaven. And just as there are no blind men in heaven, oh there are some who were blind on earth, but they are not blind in heaven, so are there none who were not Born Again Washed in the Blood fo the Lamb Christians while on earth in heaven. No one lives for ever. Everyone draws a last breath, and then comes the moment of judgement. Be prepared for it. Read and obey what God has caused to be written in His book the Holy Bible. Don't trust me, don't trust your preacher, trust God, trust God's holy word, make sure that you and Jesus are on a first name basis, for it is He who went up on the cross for you, not me, not your preacher, not anyone but Christ Jesus.
Go read John 3:16.
Lord please bless those who bless You. Amen.
PLease pray for Danny Calhoun, Danny and Theresa Gilpatrick, Seth Winslow, George Robert and this ministry and all involved with it.
Never ever forget this: There aint no purgatory!
Lord Jesus, please give women a love for their babies, from the moment of conception on, let them love them I pray Thee. Amen.
The Lord bless you all and may He heal Mel's eyes and Myra's ears. May You be with Colby as he is now out of boot camp and into Fleet Marine Corps, A Christian babe amongst many a wolf.
And Lord I ask You to bless those who bless me and mine tenfold for the blessing they are to me.
Amen.
May the Lord understand the importance of Mac, Cecily, Steve, and Rev. Jim Marstaller to this ministry. Lord I need them both healthy and able to continue to hold up their ends. Lord this cancer of Mac's is starting to get in the way, this ministry needs him whole, just a thought Lord, is all it will take, just a thought on Your part.
There is a young man, a veteran who suffers from some kind of chemical weapon exposure, in a Veterans hospital in Colorado, he is young, and he is Saved, yet his wife just abandoned him. Please pray for him, Lord, help him and deal with her and those who hurt him, we ask this of the Father in Your name Lord Jesus, amen.
The Lord our God, Christ Jesus, be with and bless you all, amen.
The difference between a true preacher and a false preacher comes down to this. The true preacher uses God's word to convict of sin, the false preacher twist God's word to justify sin. The Lord our God, Christ Jesus be with you always, amen.
The Lord our God, Christ Jesus, be with you all and please keep your pastor and me in your prayers. Amen. My prayer daily is "Lord please bless those tenfold who bless me."
Pray for the President, pray for Attorney General John Ashcroft, pray for me, pray for all those who open their mouths or take pen in hand in an effort to sway public opinion.
The Lord God of the Universe, Messiah Y'shua be with you all, amen.
It is better to be a horse fly in the stables of the Lord Jesus than the CEO of hell.
All Scripture quoted, in both sermons and daily thoughts, except when done by a guest, is from the ACP/authorized 1611 King James Version. The words in red are those quotes of God the Son, the Lord Jesus and the words in purple are those qoutes spoken directly by God the Father and the words in this sickly greenish color are of satan. But all of the Bible is spoken by God and should be viewed as God's handbook for us to run our lives by 2 Timothy 3:16.
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