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TITHING AND EXCESSIVE GIVING Do these Old Testament works of the ousted ceremonial temple law ‘buy’ God’s blessing for New Testament believers in the Lord Jesus Christ? (Heb. 8:13; Gal. 3:10-14)
Renette Vermeulen
[Acknowledgement to the people who published these images]
· Benny Hinn ‘sells’ ‘God’s’ blessing, “Use your credit cards to pay $1,000 in offerings! The blessing will last only 2 minutes and will create 500 churchgoing millionaires or even billionaires!” [Coca-Cola Dome, Randburg, S.A.] · Hillsong Church Brian and Bobby Houston declares, “Money can buy you everything!” · TD Jakes, “Top Salesman of Jesus” states, “Jesus is a Product” to sell to the world... · Just as pagans do in the occult, Kenneth Copeland calls up the demon named “Money” at the top of his voice, “Money……… Money…… Money……….. Money…………… Come to me, Money………..” · When confronted with the Truth about their incredible false teaching, Benny Hinn shouted at one of his critics, “I wish God will give me a Holy-Ghost machine gun to blow your head off!” ————————————————————————————————— The following statements, pictures and postures of Christian clergy clearly tell everyone why these leaders are capable of perverting the Word and Gospel of Christ to such a horrible extent; mercilessly abusing the blood-cleansed body of Christ. Masonic orders, inspired and supported by the Illuminati, rule all church orders.
[Acknowledgement to the people who published these photos] Photos Above From The Left: Jesse DuPlantis, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, and pope Ratzinger displaying the horned sign of the goat-god Baphomet; the god of the masonic lodge. Christians should ask whether these leaders began to speak sign language — or does the horn sign, in this context, not say, “I love you,” but actually, as known in the occult, “I belong to the devil?”
[Acknowledgement to the people who published these photos] ‘Photos Above From The Left: As signified by the masonic compass and square on his book, Kenneth Copeland’s ‘Firm Foundation,’ the Great Architect Of The Universe, is Baphomet, the goat-god of the masonic lodge. [See ‘Kenneth Copeland: God is Both Male & Female,’ by Joseph Chambers. ‘Exposing Kenneth Copeland,’ by Dr. Carl McIntire.] Middle: The ‘Stand in the Gap’ steeple on this guy’s T-shirt is in fact the Promise Keepers’ filthy phallic symbol of masonry! Right: The photo on the Word of Faith magazine cover: Since the Tower of Babel, (Gen 11,) the ‘sacred’ obelisk, tower, or church steeple had been the symbol of Baal or sun god worship, and the worship of the erect phallus, (the male reproductive organ,) as the ‘giver of life.’ This indecent symbol is the essence of all pagan and masonic worship, which is the worship of Baphomet, the goat-god of lust and power, or Satan himself. Masonic Orders are a satanic sex cult.
GOD STRICTLY FORBADE THE SYMBOLISM AND USE OF SACRED [MASONIC] PILLARS AND THE WORSHIP OF FALSE GODS UNDER BOTH THE OLD AND THE NEW TESTAMENT COVENANTS: · 2 Kings 10:26-27, “And they brought the sacred pillars out of the temple of Baal and burned them. Then they broke down the sacred pillar [tower, obelisk or steeple] of Baal, and tore down the temple of Baal and made it a refuse dump to this day.” · 1 Cor. 10:14-22, “Flee from idolatry… Am I saying that an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they [deliberately] sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons…” ___________________________________________________________________________________
© COPYRIGHT NOW UNBANNED PUBLICATIONS — all rights reserved NONE OF THESE BOOKS, DISCUSSIONS AND ARTICLES ARE FOR SALE, YET THE CONTENT AND CONTEXT MUST NOT BE ALTERED, USED IN MATERIAL THAT IS SOLD; CLAIMED OR PREACHED AS PERSONAL PROPERTY AND REVELATION, OR MISUSED IN ANY WAY. IF YOU FIND MY BOOKS FOR SALE, PLEASE NOTE THAT THEY ARE FRAUDULENTLY SOLD BY PEOPLE WHO EXPLOIT MY WORK FOR PERSONAL GAIN Jesus commanded, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give!” (Mt. 10:8.) TRUE BELIEVERS MUST NOT SUPPORT OR AID THOSE WHO USE ‘THEIR MINISTRIES’ TO ENRICH THEMSELVES; PEDDLE THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, AND/OR ABUSE THE GIFTS AND TEACHINGS, WHICH THE HOLY SPIRIT HAD ENTRUSTED TO THEM. Real believers do not have to scheme and ‘lean on the arm of flesh;’ God Himself will supply all the real needs of His sincere workers and advance His Kingdom here on earth. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Word and Spirit of God, and the wonderful privilege to work ‘for’ God are not for sale. ___________________________________________________________________________________
PERSONAL DECLARATION: I am only interested in the truth and in telling the whole truth — which is not ‘judging’ or ‘loveless criticism,’ but obedience to the commandment of God to publically expose the works of unrepented teachers and prophets that do not teach the truth of contextual Scripture, because they endanger the eternal lives of millions of believers, and wreak havoc on their lives here on earth, (1 Ths. 5:21; 1 Jn. 4:1-4; Eph. 5:11.) ___________________________________________________________________________________
Contents · Jesus’ believers live under His New Covenant and give as they “purposed in their own hearts”· “Do not muzzle an ox” and “The labourer is worthy of his wages” mean paying tithes and offerings to churches?· God forbade us to accept and follow teachers that do not teach the Truth of His Word. Instead, we must expose them.· Tithes were Old-Covenant taxes to God’s Theocracy or Old Israel’s God-ruled government/temple system· God was not addressing blessed, New Covenant believers in the Book of Malachi. He called the adulterating priests “robbers!”· The context of Malachi 3:8-10 that is used to extort tithing is Malachi Chapters 1 & 2· Jesus and His first disciples never commanded tithing· The physical Levitical priesthood was changed into the spiritual priesthood of Melchizedek· “Abraham tithed to Melchizedek before the Law so New Testament believers must tithe to Jesus?”· The misuse and mismanagement of tithes — not our problem? This is a different gospel of another Jesus· The contextual truth of “All these things will be added unto you..."· The false Seed-Faith and “First Fruits” principles· God’s ‘seed’ is not money it’s the Word! - Lu. 8:3-21.· What is the real truth about sowing and reaping hundredfold?· What is the real truth of “Give, and it will be given unto you?”___________________________________________________________________________________
The Following is, in part, an Extract of the free Book, Relationship Versus Religion
JESUS’ BELIEVERS LIVE UNDER HIS NEW COVENANT AND GIVE AS THEY PURPOSE IN THEIR OWN HEARTSThe aim of this discussion is not to turn New Testament/Covenant believers into greedy graspers, but to free Jesus’ believers, who are staggering under the yoke of unscriptural, legalistic, ceremonial church laws, from oppression, (Gal. 5:1.) To give freely “as we purpose in our hearts” or as the Holy Spirit leads us, is part of every believer’s life in Christ, (2 Cor. 9:7.) However, nowhere in the context of the New Testament Covenant do Jesus and His disciples compel believers to ‘tithe’ or to ‘give until it hurts.’ Our willing offerings, inspired by the Holy Spirit, must provide for those in real need, and for the need (not the greed) of those who were truly called by God to preach the Gospel of truth, and who do not have any other means to earn an income at the same time. Jesus was a carpenter. Peter was a fisherman. Paul was a tentmaker. In Acts 18:1-7, Paul visited Aquila and his wife Priscilla, “for by occupation they were tentmakers. And they reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath… But when the Jews opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said, ‘Your blood be upon your own heads. I am clean…’ And he departed from there…” Paul also declared in Acts 20:34, “You know that these hands provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak, [for Jesus said,] ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive…’” Hence, Paul modeled this truth in 1 Corinthians 4:12 & 1 Thessalonians 4:11 by saying, “And we labor, working work with your own hands.” And he declared in 1 Thessalonians 2:9, “Remember our labor and toil; for we laboured night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, [while] we preached to you the Gospel of God.” Ţ As clearly seen in above, God will never call anyone to preach or support a false gospel — or to use His Gospel as a money-making tool. Supporting these two causes, (to preach and support only Jesus’ real Scriptural truth,) is love in deed and truth. This kind of charity is agape – the basic requirement of the Moral or Royal Law of Love. For as long as believers live on earth, Jesus’ only New Testament Covenant, contained by His “new commandment” or Moral Law of Agape, will remain unchangeable, (Jam. 1:14-20; Jn. 13:34; Mt. 28:18-20.) As evidenced by Paul’s conduct, the Old Testament Malachi Chapter 3 is definitely not a tithing mandate to extort money from even poor believers to keep an unscriptural hierarchy of church clergy in the greatest of luxury, (Acts 2:40-47.) Jesus and all His disciples taught New Testament believers that the main principle of Godly love or agape is to give willingly for the support of believers (and even our enemies) in need, (2 Cor. 9:7; Eph. 4:28; Heb. 13:16; Phil. 2:4; Jam. 2:14-17.) The Lord Jesus has commanded every believer to sacrifice spiritually unto God all that he or she is, and all that they have, (Mt. 16:24-26.) This means that everything – our spirit, soul, body, life, thoughts and priorities – our complete Moral-Law obedience, (which proves our faith and agape for God,) as well as our finances, must be wholly sacrificed on God’s spiritual altar, (1 Ths. 5:23.) New Covenant believers, personally born again from the Truth of God’s Word and the Power of His Holy Spirit, have only one law that governs them, “A New Commandment I give to you, that you love (agape in word and deed) one another as I have loved you…” Mt. 22:36-40, “You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength, and the second is like it: You will love your neighbor as yourself…” This is agapaö love for God and agape love for our ‘neighbors;’ the genuine act of New Covenant worship, (Rom. 12:1-3.) Jesus declared in Mt. 25:40, “...Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of [My disciples,] you did it to Me.”
“DO NOT MUZZLE AN OX” AND “THE LABORER IS WORTHY OF HIS WAGES” MEAN PAYING TITHES?”Question: What about “do not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain?” Answer: Muzzling an ox means to fasten the poor animal’s mouth with straps so that, while it is working itself nearly to death, it cannot take one mouthful of grain. Have you ever seen an ox grabbing so much of the grain that it can buy helicopters, jets, and build castles for itself? Question: What about “the laborer is worthy of his wages?’” Answer: It is a lie that Jesus was so rich He had a ‘treasurer’ carrying boxes filled with money. Jesus was interested in saving souls with His New Covenant Gospel of Grace; He was not into money. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve both God and Mammon…” (Mt. 6:24.) Mammon does not merely personify money, but all forms of materialism. “Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head,” (Lu. 9:58.) Paul wrote, “We did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and struggle we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden or impose on any of you.” And in 2 Ths. 3:7-12, “Not because we [true ministers, the spiritual elderly], do not have a right to such support, but we wished to make ourselves an example for you to follow. For we gave you this charge: If anyone, [ministers included], will not work, neither let him eat…” This is the example by which Paul lived, (1 Cor. 9:16-18,) “I merely preach the Gospel, that gives me no reason to boast, for I feel compelled of necessity to do it. Woe is I if I do not preach the Gospel. For if I do this work of my own free will, [if I religiously assigned myself to the task,] then I have my reward, [I receive my ‘church’ pay or tithing and offerings for doing the job]. But if it is not of my own will, [as God called, equipped, and ordained me], I am entrusted with a sacred trusteeship and commission. What then is the actual reward? Just this, that in my preaching the good news, I may offer it absolutely free of expense to anybody, [because God supplies all my needs through giving me work to do with my own hands, and makes it possible for me to execute His calling], not taking advantage of my rights as a preacher, [a servant elder].” Paul actually said, “If I were a member of the unscriptural, religious church clergy, I would have counted it my legal right to be paid for my services. The mere fact that I am able to offer the Gospel absolutely free of charge IS my pay! For if I now choose to be rewarded by men, I actually forfeit my reward in heaven, (Mt. 6:1-8.) We cannot expect to be paid twice for the same job, can we?” Accordingly, Paul The Servant chose to work with his own hands, rather than to be paid for the spiritual services he rendered. And he instructed all sincere believers to follow his example, (2 Ths. 3:6-10.)
GOD FORBADE US TO ACCEPT AND FOLLOW TEACHERS WHO DO NOT TEACH THE TRUTH OF HIS WORD, BUT RATHER TO EXPOSE THEMGod commanded in 2 John 9-10, “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the [contextual truth of God’s Word, but preaches false doctrine instead,] does not have God. He who abides in the [truth of] Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this [truth,] do no receive him into your house nor greet him; [as a fellow disciple of Christ and a member of His body of believers,] for he who greets him, [not just being courteous but blessing him, supporting him, fellowshipping with him as a fellow believer,] shares in his evil deeds.” “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but instead, expose them…” (Eph. 5:11-16.)
TITHES WERE OLD-COVENANT TAXES TO GOD’S THEOCRACY; THE OLD TEMPLE PRIESTHOODIn the beginning of the Old Testament, God Himself was God and King over Old Israel. Israel was supposed to have remained a Theocracy, or a chosen, completely God-ruled nation, but they wanted a physical king and a grand, physical temple like the pagan nations have, (1 Sam. 8:4-22; Acts 7:44-50.) So, Solomon built Him a physical temple, and a human priesthood became God’s ‘parliament’ over Old Israel. The Levitical priesthood functioned from the temple as God’s human government. Obedience to the outward, ceremonial, ritual, Old Testament Law, which pertained only to the old temple covenant, was compulsory because it governed both the religious and social lives of the Hebrew nation. The Ceremonial Law commanded the Old Hebrews to pay tithes, (plural), while the principle of giving offerings was agape, (Godly love.) The latter was part of the inward, Moral Law, which still governs all the people of the world, and under the New Testament Covenant, it remained Jesus’ only New Testament law for believers, (Rom. 2:14-16; Heb. 10:16 KJV; Jn. 13:34; Mt. 22:36-40.) So, Old Testament tithing was Old Israel’s taxes. The tithes (plural) of Old Israel amounted to about 30% of each Hebrew’s income: 10% for the upkeep of the temple and Levitical priests; (the government,) 10% to support the national feasts, and about 10% for charity, (Old Israel’s ‘welfare fund or social grants.’) Hence, to cheat with the tithes was to rob God, [their King and Overseer of the Government,] of His taxes. To steal is a transgression of the Moral Law. Committing tax evasion against God was a serious offence, as the priesthood was entrusted with honestly distributing the tithes and alms. The Law prescribed that any transgression of its statutes would bring Old Israel under the entire cursed state, or cursed position of Deuteronomy 28. So, the priesthood of Malachi was “cursed with a curse for robbing God of His taxes and offerings!”
However, under the New Testament Covenant, which Jesus established at the cross when He completely did away with the Old Testament Covenant that centred on the Hebrew nation, (Heb. 8:13; chapters 7-9,) Jesus became the Only “Mediator of a better [New Testament] Covenant.” The Old Testament is now merely an example to New Covenant believers, (1 Cor. 10:11,) showing them how God dealt with sin according to His Moral-Law. “In that He says, ‘A New Covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what has become obsolete and old [has] vanished away,” (Heb. 8:6-13.) Because New Testament believers live under an entirely different, spiritual Covenant, “God does not dwell in a temple made with hands,” and the born again body of Christ, (true believers from all the nations,) is the spiritual temple of the Holy Spirit, (Jn. 3:16; 1 Cor. 3:16-17.) All those old, outward, ceremonial temple laws fell away together with the Old Testament covenant. And so did the physical nation of Israel and the physical old temple with its physical priesthood. To keep any of the old temple’s ceremonial laws, only brings New Covenant believers back under the entire cursed position that ruled them before they accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, (Gal. 5:1-6; Deut. 28.) That is why Paul plainly explained that Jesus “became a curse [in our place] so that we could [freely] inherit [the full blessed state] of believing Old Abraham,” (Gal. 3:10-14.) He said in Gal. 3:21, “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness [salvation, redemption, blessing, holiness, etcetera,] comes through the [ceremonial] law, then Christ died in vain.”
GOD WAS NOT ADDRESSING BLESSED, NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS IN THE BOOK OF MALACHIBy confusing and fusing the Old and New Testaments, which are two different Covenants, preachers have indoctrinated Jesus’ blood-cleansed, New Testament disciples to believe that they must pay the tithes or taxes of Old Israel and give offerings to ‘earn’ blessing from God. Otherwise, according to them, God ‘curses them with a curse.’ It is an unchangeable fact, as Paul explained in Gal. 3:10-14, that New Testament believers already live in a state or position of blessedness through their personal faith in, acceptance of, and discipleship in the Lord Jesus Christ, (Gal. 3:10-14.) Sincere believers were spiritually born again from (or taken out of) a position or state of bondage and cursedness, and placed into this position of redemption (or complete deliverance, salvation, and blessedness) in Christ, (1 Pt. 2:9-12; Col. 1:13-14; Eph. 1:12-14.) Thus, they freely ‘inherited’ the entire spiritual position of blessedness, which the old patriarch of faith in God, Abraham, enjoyed in Him. [Also see: BLESSING OR CURSE — THE CHOICE IS YOURS] As the entire old, ceremonial law pertained to a completely different covenant, (the Old Testament, physical temple-era which Jesus came to fulfil, annul, and destroy at the cross,) the old prophet Malachi was not speaking to New Testament, blessed believers in Christ, (Mt. 5:17; Heb. 8:6-13; Gal. 3:10-14.) The Old and the New Testaments will forever remain two completely different Covenants. |
