The gospel of Jesus Christ is free. The grace of God does not have a price tag on it, but it costs to pipe it out to the world. You don't really pay for the water, but you pay for the service. You have to pay for the pipes and the man that reads the meter and keeps the bills and puts the chlorine in and all the rest of it. Every December, our church has a stewardship campaign. There's absolutely no reason for a church to operate financially all year, a week or two behind in its bills, always under pressure, always in a state of financial crisis. To whom much is given, much is required. And our Lord has been good to First Baptist Church. He has been good to us individually as well as collectively. We live in a land of abundance and blessing and plenty. In January the 1st, we begin a new budget. It will mean a weekly expenditure of approximately $13 ,000. There are, for example, nine men on our staff. There are seven secretaries, five custodians. We have maids. We have church visitors. We have an insurance bill of nearly $30 ,000 every year. Nearly $100 ,000 will go to building indebtedness. Thousands and thousands of dollars will be given to world missions. And hundreds and thousands of people through this will be blessed and strengthened and won to Jesus Christ. All of it costs money. I confess to you that when I began preaching through the Bible, I was not sure how it was going to turn out. But isn't it just like the Lord? Today, when I need a good sermon on money, here in the middle of our stewardship campaign, that's exactly where we are in the Bible. Now, I didn't plan it that way, but someone did, and I'm grateful. I want you to turn with me in your Bibles, please, to Genesis chapter 14. Genesis chapter 14, verse 7. Tonight is a must. You dare not miss it. The message on Vietnam. And at that time, I shall give you the background of the entire chapter and the story of the First World War under Ketali Omar. Suffice it to say today that Abraham had taken 318 men into battle against nearly 400 ,000. The victory that he had won was a victory that could only come miraculously from the hand of God. Consequently, he was grateful for God's blessings upon him. In verse 17 of the 14th chapter of Genesis, these words, And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Ketali Omar and the kings that were with him at the valley of Sheba, which is the king's dale. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God. And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hands. And he, Abram, gave him, Melchizedek, tithes of all. If you've ever seen me take up an offering, I'm sure that you'll never believe this, but I really don't enjoy talking about money. Frankly, it has been most difficult for me to preach on tithing and stewardship and money through the years. I've tried to analyze myself, and I think there are two reasons. One is because I am very touchy at the point that I fear a new member or a new convert who accepts Christ or who joins the church after they have joined that some of them really think, Oh, I see, just like I thought, that's really all you wanted all the time. You may be assured that such is not the case. We desire not yours, but you. Our Lord desires both yours and you. The other reason is that I think I am a dreamer and rather idealistic, and I really believe that in the ideal atmosphere, when God is moving and people are being blessed, that people ideally should just give because they're happy, because they want to give, because they can't keep from giving. Over against this, however, I am well aware of the fact that many persons do not know what the claims of God on their lives financially are. They do not know what the Lord expects. We do not hesitate to tell a new convert that he needs to be baptized, that he should join the church, that he should begin to read his Bible regularly, that he should witness for Christ, that he should share of himself. And yet when it comes to the point of talking about money and telling him that the Bible says the tithe is holy unto the Lord, many times we back down. Some time ago, an elderly man who had had some heart trouble had won $150 ,000, had been given $150 ,000 that was left in a will. His doctor was afraid that the news of the great inheritance would probably so shock him that he would have a heart attack and die. And so after they thought it over, they decided to call for the local minister. So the local preacher went out, and he was the one charged with the responsibility, carefully, delicately, and tactfully, of informing the man of his great inheritance. Well, the preacher prayed and thought and planned, and with great hesitation and great wonder, he approached the door. He knocked on the door, went in and sat down and began to chit -chat about the things that would be of importance to the man. And finally, he came around to talking about television. And he said, sir, let me ask you a question. Suppose somebody entered your name in a contest on television. Oh, he thought he was really getting somewhere, and he was working smoothly into it. And he said, suppose as the result of that contest, the television station called you and said, you have just won $150 ,000. What would you do? Without a moment's delay, the good brother said, why, Reverend, I'd give it to the church. And the preacher had a heart attack. If that ever happened here, I'd have more than a heart attack, I'm sure. Now I want to say three brief words to you this morning. The way that this man, Abraham, gave so spontaneously a tenth of all he had to the man of God who was representative of God's authority to him on this earth was such a blessing and so inspirational that I think it bears our investigation. Theologians agree that this man, Melchizedek, was an Old Testament type of Christ as a priest before God. Now we talk about priests in the context of usually thinking of a Catholic clergyman. The Bible, however, says that all redeemed children of God are priests. The Bible says, We have a great inheritance. We're children of the king. We have a great responsibility. We are all priests before God. Every child of God is charged with the responsibility of helping bring men to the Lord. It is not exclusively the responsibility of any one individual. It is the job of every Christian. Three things, briefly. Number one, in the giving of the tithe to Melchizedek, representative of God, type of Christ, he gave without precedence. He gave without a precedent. This is not only the first war mentioned in the Bible, the first priest mentioned in the Bible, but it is also the first tithe mentioned in the Bible. Now, frankly, I don't know if it was a kind of a chicken and an egg thing, whether the Lord looked down one day and said, That's a pretty good idea. I'm going to establish a law that all men are to do what Melchizedek did, or whether he did it because God told him to do it. But I do know this, it had never been done before. No one told him to do it. He didn't have to do it. What he gave in the giving of this first tithe to the Lord was the natural flow of a heart filled with love. It was the normal thing to do. And I believe, ideally, that when people are rightly related to God, it's normal for them to want to make tangible their expression of faith to God. The giving of offerings unto the Lord in gratitude, as this man has said a moment ago, is so natural that Jesus even made it one of the most important things in all of the Bible. Jesus equates it with spirituality. Do you know that more is said on this subject than almost every subject in the Bible? Our Lord himself said, The giving of a man's possessions are a good barometer of his loyalties. If a man gives more to his home or football or business or job or friends than the kingdom of God, these things are probably idols in his life. This is what's first. It is natural as night following day that a man that loves God would express his gratitude in a tangible and physical expression. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be, has always been the rule of thumb for men's love for the Lord. Sixteen of the thirty -eight parables of the New Testament refer to the stewardship of possessions. Five hundred times the Bible speaks of prayer. Six hundred times it speaks of faith. But more than one thousand references are made to a man's faithfulness to his stewardship of the things that God has given him. God knows us, doesn't he? He knows what's dear to us, and he knows that the natural expression of a man's love to God is going to be his stewardship. Now our Lord is not the author of confusion. He has a perfect way to finance the kingdom of God. He doesn't have a plan for your life in every other area, whom you shall marry, where you live, where you spend eternity, and then turn around and be totally unconcerned about your possessions. God doesn't want you to be bankrupt. He doesn't want you to be broke. He doesn't want you to be behind in your bills. He says, let me be your financial partner. Invite me into your life. And when you do that, I'll run your financial affairs. I've said this a thousand times, and I repeat it again today. You say, preacher, I have more money going out than coming in. I can't tithe. I'm in bad financial shape. Dear friend, that's probably the reason you're in such a mess. Because you are trying to go it alone. And you'll get worse and worse off. The only way for you to have financial stability is to acknowledge God as your partner. And you do so by presenting the tithe unto the Lord. Nobody told him to do it. He had no example. It was natural. It was the normal thing for him to do because he loved the Lord. In a heart of gratitude for what God had done, he gave without precedent. Number two, he gave personally. He brought a physical gift to a physical medium of himself, physically and personally. Some people say, should you send your children to Sunday school? No, not at all. You ought to bring them to Sunday school. And the Bible also says, bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse. Our Lord wants us consistently to bring our offerings to him. He gave it himself. He gave physically. Melchizedek, at that time, was God's authority on earth. It was God visualized, made tangible in this world. Now, if you and I are going to tithe today, how are we going to bring a physical, personal tithe personally to a personal God? It simply cannot be done. We are not able to go up to God in heaven and give our tithes every Sunday morning. Consequently, we need to understand the scope of where the tithes are to be brought. Now, the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the head of the body of Christ in heaven. But the body of Christ on earth is the church. Now, we're all in agreement with that. The word church is ekklesia. It is a New Testament word, which means call out ones or refers to a local assembly. Now, the word ekklesia has the connotation of a town meeting. It is an independent, structured, localized, autonomous, democratic, self -governing body. Jesus Christ used that word ekklesia, which refers to the local town meeting after which we fashion all of our modern forms of democracy when he said upon this rock, the rock of himself as God's son, I will build my church, my ecclesia, my town meeting, my called out ones. I think it is interesting to note that of the 119 references in the word of God to church, over 92 % of them are referring to the local New Testament church. The structured body of Christ. The Bible tells us on the first day of the week when ye come together, it is at that time in relationship to the prosperity of God that everyone is to lay by and store his tithe and his offering. Now the word of God tells us that we are not to assake the assembling of yourselves together. There's a very great movement that's gone on this century, ever since the turn of the century, since the 20th century began to de -institutionalize, de -characterize, de -structure the church. We talk about the great world church, the world church at large, but in reality that in that sense, the church is just being formed. It is being called out and will not be completed until the last convert has been saved before the coming of Christ. Until that time, our Lord has left us with locally functioning churches. Why is it that the great church cannot function together? Because the head is in heaven. There is no way to have a government, a rule to determine how the money will be spent, what the work will be, how it is to be done, until the church is completely structured. And that will be done when the king comes. But for now, Christ is in heaven, and he has charged the under -shepherd when the local group of people in each independent church with that responsibility. So he says, do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together. Obviously, you and I as Christians cannot assemble ourselves with the great church everywhere every Sunday. It's impossible. One woman came to Dr. R .G. Lee once and said, I want to join the choir of Bellevue Baptist Church. He said, fine, we'd love to have you join. We'll write for your membership. Where do you join? Where do you belong? She said, oh, I'm a member of that great world church. I'm a member of the great invisible church. I don't believe in local churches. Well, he said, that's fine. Why don't you go sing in that great invisible choir and sit on great invisible pews and listen to a great invisible preacher preach a great invisible sermon? I repeat, the church generally, the world church, the entire body of Christ is being organized, is being called out every time men are one to Christ. But for now, the head is in heaven. And I submit to you that the only way that the church can function properly in accordance with the New Testament is in local functioning groups. Frankly, I believe as far as I can tell in every independent Christian organization that is functioning today, but it must be an arm of the church, an extension of the church. Christ came for the church. He established the church. He died for the church. He left the church. He's coming again for the church. I'm a church man. Jesus is a church man. The New Testament is a church book. So if we are going to organize ourselves and not forsake the assembling of ourselves and not break that commandment by coming together every Sunday, he said on the first day of the week, don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together. Obviously, since I cannot worship with the whole church at large each Sunday, it is to be with a local church. Now he says on the first day of the week at that assembly, at what assembly? The local church assembly, let every one of you lay by in store as God has prospered him. Now, what does that mean? Well, that doesn't just mean do the best you can. As God has prospered him means in relationship to the rule of thumb that God has set. Isn't tithing a wonderful thing? The teenager who makes 30 cents babysitting can give three cents. The man who makes three thousand dollars on a business deal can give 300 to the Lord. It makes it equal. The first day of the week, I think the Bible is clear as to what is the measure of our tithing, where it is to be brought, our stewardship, and when it is to be brought. It is to be brought personally the first day of the week in the local body of assembly people. Frankly, I probably give more to outside organizations myself many years than I have through my local church. But my tithe first of all goes to the church. Sometimes I and others have given 20 and 30 percent, over and above. I send money to Billy Graham all the time. I believe in these things, but the tithe is the Lord's. The church is structured now until the coming of Christ on a local basis. In that local weekly assembly, the tithe, the stewardship, is to be laid aside in God's store. People say to me all the time, well, I'm saved. I love Jesus, but I'm not much of a church man. That's kind of like saying, I love flying, but I don't like the water. I'm not much of a, I mean, but I'm not much on airplanes. I like swimming, but I'm not much on water. I like eating, but I don't like the food. I like the piano, but I don't like music. I like orchestra, but I don't like the sounds. I love Jesus, but I'm not much on the church. Impossible. Impossible. Jesus Christ is the head and the church is the body on earth. And it is only together that they can do the work of God in winning men to Christ around the world. If I said, oh, I love my wife, but I send all my money to some gal in Florida, you wouldn't believe me, would you? Now listen to me. If you love the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, you ought not to be sending all your money to every group and organization around the world. The tithe is the Lord's. I believe the Bible teaches through the local New Testament church and every dime extra you can give to every soul winning organization around the world. Praise the Lord. I'll do it with you. Let's do all that we can, but put the tithe in the church. I do not go over and pay my taxes and say, now here's half of my taxes at City Hall, but I'm going to give the other half of it to the United Fund and to the Boy Scouts. That's not for me to determine. That's not my tax money. That's theirs. They own it. They collect it. The tithe is the Lord's. And so the Bible tells us that he gave as a precedent. He gave personally. And the final word is that he gave publicly. Someone wrote down what he did. So somebody had to know that he had done it. Abraham didn't write this. He didn't write it down himself. Someone recorded it of him. Now one of the great conflicts of signing a pledge card or making a public committal or giving a tithe or doing any good work is the Bible says, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. But then it turns around and says, let your good work shine before men. Now, how can I reconcile the two? Very simply by continuing and finishing the rest of the verse. The rest of the verse says, let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father, which is in heaven. Amen. And so if it is for the glory of God and others are inspired by it, I do not think that it is wrong for public announcement to be made, not by individuals specifically, but I think what we're doing is good. I want you to know that your staff 100 % have signed cards to tithe, have signed a pledge card. Now you say, preacher, you're not trusting us. You're not depending on us to give. That's not the issue. Ladies and gentlemen, there's nothing legal about this card. That pledge may be Lord. It may be raised. It may be dropped at any time. You don't even have to call us. That's strictly between you and God. The signing of a card is merely a statement of your intention. It merely gives us a ballpark estimate of how far we can go at each time in the church and how much we can do. It is a general survey of the intent of the membership. Two -thirds of our deacons thus far have signed. And I certainly hope that this is no indication of the fact that these men are not tithers because a man who does not tithe is not qualified to be a deacon. But I think the reason is that some of the men haven't been contacted yet or haven't figured their tithe. They're so busy they've got so much they haven't got it figured out yet. I hope that's the case and that by tonight all of us will be a hundred percent. Next Sunday we will report to you what all of our leaderships, leadership has done. Every secretary, every, in every department, every training union director, every committee member, every Sunday school teacher, every organizational head, all together. And on the 20th, the remaining body of the church membership will make their pledges. And I'm praying and want you to join with me that we will be able to say publicly our Lord has blessed the goal is more than committed. There are so many other things I'd like to say to you. My time is gone. Let me finish with this. Some time ago there was a man whose boy died. He was talking to one of his friends about stewardship. The man was complaining. He said the church always talks about money, always wants money, always needs money. Every week it's a new bus or a new program, a new this or new that. The man said, you know sir, a long time ago I used to have a son. When that little fella started to school, that little boy cost me a lot of money. There were shots to get, there were books to buy, there were clothes to purchase. And then he went to high school and it cost me more money. There was money for dates and money for cars every time he turned around. And then when he went off to college, wow, it really cost me. But he said one day in a tragic accident, my son was killed. And for the last seven years, he hasn't cost me a single nickel. The cheapest thing in the world, the most expensive luxury in the world is a church that's not doing anything. It costs money to fly. It costs money to go. It costs money to produce. We could reverse the trend. It would be very easy to cut this budget 25, 50, 75 percent, do absolutely nothing and not need a nickel to serve the Lord. A dead church doesn't cost any money. Last week in training union, one of our directors was trying to teach the little boys and girls about the importance of tithing. One of the little eight or nine or 10 year old youngsters said, now you mean that my mother and father, the Bible teachers are to bring 10 percent of what they make and give it to the Lord weekly. That's right. Now just a little fellow, but very bright, he began to think. He said, well, my mama makes $8 ,000 and daddy makes 22. That'd be 30 ,000, wouldn't it? Yes. Wouldn't that be $3 ,000 teacher? Teacher said, yes, that's right, son. It would. This is last Sunday night. Little fellow said, well, my daddy gives 50 cents a week and my mama gives 50 cents a week and they give each of us a nickel or two. Why? Why? And the teacher had no answer. Let's stand. Father, thank thee for the wonderful faithfulness of our precious people. Thank thee that for every widow that gives a nickel, for every millionaire that may give 20 or 30 ,000, every working man that gives eight or 10 or 12 or $15 a week, every student that gives a quarter and every, every person that has any part from a penny to a very, very large gift. Thou has placed it on an equal basis that all may share. We don't give because we have to, because we're pepped up or constrained into it, but because we love thee and we want to. And dear heavenly father, we pray today that not one single person may go away without the claims of Christ having been pressed on their heart in the matter of stewardship and shall have answered the question, what will I do about what Jesus has told me to do? Help us to be faithful. And may this be a healthy stewardship financial year coming up because the people of God shall have pledged and then pledged and then proceed to paid to take care of the needs of spreading the gospel. Help us to remember that it's not just dollars and cents and bills, but in the file analysis, it's one thing, children, teenagers and parents who need Jesus Christ. And we are entrusted with the responsibility of getting him to them. We pray in his name. Amen. May I have your attention?