Fletcher — Who Controls the Tithe — Transcript

[music] >> Good morning, everyone. It's good to see all of you here today. Um I have a lot of information to present today, so I'm hoping that no one falls asleep on me today. You'll miss some of it. Um I'm going to open with another word of prayer. Our heavenly Father, we're so thankful and grateful that you've given us an opportunity to be called sons and daughters of the most high God. And I pray, Lord, that we can receive the information that you give to us, that we can draw closer to you. I pray and ask for your Holy Spirit to be upon me. And I pray for your presence and the holy angels to surround this church and help us, Lord, to give the truth always that you've given to us to live by and to abide by in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, this uh message that I'm giving today is partly it's one that uh has been discussed online for several weeks. It's incorporates part of a message that I did for another channel. Um but it's an ongoing message that's come up and being discussed online for the last several weeks ever since we hosted uh Dr. Conrad Vine to be with us. And uh his sermon entropy was a controversial a controversial subject uh topic for many folks in Adventism giving their opinions on both sides of the issue. But, friends, let's be clear on this. Our opinions only matter if they agree with God, all Uh the word of God is the only opinion that matters for us. But there's people saying things that don't really line up with the scripture because they're giving it as their opinion and stating it as fact. So, most honest Adventists with any amount of discernment would certainly agree that the apostasy is in our church a- and has been steadily increasing for many years, and today it's a serious matter that's affecting all of us. But anytime a watchman or someone gives the Elijah message and asks for repentance and coming away from sin that's always going to be met with resistance by those that don't want to hear that message. And today is no different. Those who are giving the Elijah message are always going to meet with resistance. It's happened all throughout the history of the church and all throughout the history of the Adventist movement. So, Dr. Vine knew that there would be some in Adventism that would not be happy with a message that was exposing apostasy in our midst. But like a true watchman, he gave it anyway. So, the satanic and demonic attack that was launched against him, especially by those proclaiming to be ministers of God was both vicious and it was personal. And the devil was quite pleased with it. And we're going to look at this further, but let's look at our scripture text here. Ezequiel 33:6 and 7. But if the watchman see the sword come and blow not the trumpet and the people be not warned if the sword come and take any person from among them he's taken away in his iniquity but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. See thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore, thou shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me. So, friends, you know, before I go any further, I want to read a couple quotes from the pen of inspiration because it perfectly agrees with the text that we just read. So, let's look at the first quote from Signs of the Times. The greatest want of this age is the want of men, men who will not be bought or sold, men who are true, honest in their inmost souls, men who will not fear to call sin by its right name, and to condemn it in themselves or in others, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall. And you'll notice the word needle to the pole is also Dr. Vine's ministry name. A N 2 P. But let's look at another quote here from manuscript 13. Call sin by its right name. Do not help the sinner to cloak his sin under a deceptive garment of righteousness. Many, she says not She says many, not a few, today are doing this. The sinner is not saved by smooth words, which palm off sin as righteousness. The teachers of truth are to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. So, these words are crystal clear. We are to reprove, rebuke, and exhort. We can't remain neutral and keep our mouths shut and still expect to be that we're going to be considered part of the 144,000 when there's open blatant sin in front of our eyes. So, notice that it said, "Men who will not fear to call sin by its right name." And sadly, there are too few of these men today in Adventism. But, Dr. Vine isn't one who fears to call sin by its right name. And he has suffered greatly for it. This was the sermon that he gave a few weeks ago at our invitation. So, the price that he had to pay for this was character assassination campaign. And this was a smear campaign upon his character, the likes of which we haven't seen in a long time. So, the attacks on his character were absolutely demonic. And for those who didn't see the sermon or who are not aware of the attack, uh I just want to briefly uh review it because this was a complete assassination campaign against his character. You You have a right to disagree with a brother in Christ, but when you try to assassinate their character, then you've taken You're out of bounds. You've taken it a step too far. So, let's look at this demonic attack. Conrad Vine gave this talk, he knew in advance that the sleepy armchair watchmen would wake up and launch attacks against him. But, I don't think he realized just how vicious this attack was going to be. He said so himself. In his talk Entropy, he discussed the following: the inroads of Marxist thinking in Adventism, the continued thrust of the UN in Adventist affairs, and the inroads of ecumenism. He called on Adventists to stop supporting this apostasy with their means and to use it to help those who are really doing the work faithful self-supporting workers. Now, it was this third statement that brought down the wrath of the armchair watchman and the conference only storehouse party members. They launched into a venomous and vitriolic personal attack against him comparing him to Satan himself. I'm going to not going to repeat the details of this ugly attack today. However, if you want a link to the presentation that I did on another channel, you can look at that. The tithe has been an area of confusion for many in Adventism today. So, we're going to look at this talk topic in depth. So, I look at some of the false rumors by the tithe police, especially those that are on the internet. Number one, there's only one address of God's storehouse, which is conference headquarters. Number two, directing tithe is the same as withholding tithe. Number three, tithe cannot be sent to irregular lines, which are self-supporting ministries. And Ellen White warned against it. Number four, redirecting tithe is satanic and against the spirit of prophecy. And number five, tithe is not for believers to redirect based on personal conviction. You have no individual choice in the matter. So, friends, these opinions here that are stated here and rumors have all one thing in common. They are all false and they do not agree with the Bible and the spirit of prophecy. And you're going to see shortly that the word of God is the only thing that matters, nothing else. And what they've been doing is twisting and reinterpreting what the spirit of prophecy says and the Bible says to fit their own false narrative. Friends, this controversy is not a new development. Did you know that there were tithe police even in Christ's day? We're going to read about them. Let's read about them. Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 23 23 and 24. And let's read about them. Notice what it says here, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin and have omitted omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought you to have done and not leave the other undone. You blind guides, which strain at a gnat and swallow a camel." And that happened. There was a lot of people straining at the gnat and ignoring the camel. The scribes and Pharisees may be long gone, friends, but their relatives are still around. And they're straining at gnats and swallowing camels today. Uh they were also around during Ellen White's day and she had to deal with them quite a bit, as we're going to soon see. Uh but before we do that, we want to look at some Bible examples of self-supporting ministries. And these are what Ellen White calls the commonly calls the irregular lines in her writings or self-supporting workers. Before we do that, we need everyone to put your spiritual discernment hats on because you're going to as I read these quotes, you're going to start recognizing the deception. But you need spiritual discernment to see it clearly. So, let's look at some Bible examples of self-supporting ministries. In the Old Testament, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Nehemiah, Ezra, Isaiah, Jeremiah, these were all self-supporting ministries. What about the New Testament? John the Baptist, self-supporting ministry. Jesus, self-supporting ministry. Jesus' disciples, also self-supporting ministries. Paul, the Apostle Paul. So, here's the question because a lot of people will bring this up, especially in reference to Jesus. Judas was the treasurer for Jesus. He was the ultimate self-supporting ministry. So, let's ask a question. What was in the bag that Judas carried? Money. Right? Tithe and offerings were in that bag. So, even though Christ knew that Judas was a thief, he didn't expose him to the other disciples because he wanted to reach him. His salvation was at stake. That's a very key point because some are using the example of Judas to say we can still support apostates. Doesn't matter. So, he gave Judas every opportunity to be converted. And Ellen White says something very clear. She says, "Circumstances alter cases." That's very important. And we're going to see this exact principle in the story of the widow with the two mites. So, God expects us to be faithful watchmen. In Isaiah 58:1, also in Ezekiel 3:17-21, also in Ezekiel 33:2-9. But, he never once in scripture assigned us the job of being the tithe police to dictate and to control the consciences of others. That is a personal decision. Those that are doing this, these online tithe police today, are really doing a work that God has never called them to do. That is a personal decision between you and God alone. There's no third party in that decision. So, what does the Spirit of Prophecy have to say about all these things? Let's look at this because you're going to see a lot of quotes and you're going to see a pattern that's recurring over and over again. Let's look at the first one. What about the storehouse? Ellen White states that the storehouse is the treasury of God or that which is used to extend the truth and save souls. That's from Two Testimonies 665. And notice what she says, "There are only two places in the world where we can deposit our treasures. In God's storehouse or in Satan's. There is no third choice. And all that is not devoted to Christ's service is counted on Satan's side and goes to strengthen his cause." Testimonies for the Church volume 6 448. Let's look at some more quotes. She says, "Send direct to the people. God's ways are not to be counter worked by man's ways. There are those who have means, means is money, and who will give large and small sums. Have this money come direct to the destitute your destitute portion of the vineyard." And notice this last sentence. She says, "The Lord, right down here, has not specified any regular channel through which means should pass." Those are key words, but let's look further. Let's look at another quote. "The different conferences have been led to look to the leading men at Battle Creek, which was the conference headquarters at the time, feeling that no important move can be made without their approval, right? This tendency has been growing stronger until it is what? A serious hindrance to the advancement of the work. This arrangement should have never should have never been. The Lord would have his people under his jurisdiction. The arrangement that all monies must go through Battle Creek and under the control of the few men in that place is what? A wrong way of managing. Friends, she wrote this under inspiration of God. Does God know what his storehouse is? Yes, he does. He certainly does and he knows how to manage his storehouse. He doesn't need these other people to help him manage it. We he we were never called to do that kind of work. But let's look further. Says the Lord works through various agencies. If there are those who desire to step into new fields and to take up new lines of labor, encourage them to do so. Notice that word encourage. Do not worry lest some means shall go direct to those who are trying to do missionary work in a quiet and effective way. All means is not to be handled by one agency or organization. Are you starting to see a recurring thing? I hope you are because she made things quite clear and there's no way to misconstrue what she's saying. Now, God's prophet was not trying to disorganize the church. God wouldn't start have his prophet start self-supporting work if their purpose was to disorganize the church. God wanted to support those that were doing the work and he was seeing that the devil was trying to come into the regular lines to disrupt the work. So, he instructed his prophet to start self-supporting work. That doesn't mean that everybody in self-supporting work is doing the work of God. It means that God wanted his message to get out. So, she started self-supporting work at the Lord's direction. And Satan was making inroads in the church because he really wanted to control the work of God. Robert J. Kloosterhuis, who was a former General Conference Vice President, he admitted in the August 1997 issue of Ministry page 147 that there is no biblical or Ellen White evidence that the conference is the storehouse, the only storehouse. The world is God's storehouse. And everything that we put to use for God's work goes into his treasury, and we'll show that. But in 1904, something changed. Prior to this time, Ellen White's life had been wrapped up in denominational work, but time after time, she had seen these heaven-sent opportunities and projects that were damaged, and they were ruined by stubborn leaders or committees. And they kept sinking these opportunities. So, the Lord directed her to start the Madison school. And notice what it says here in 8 manuscript 202, "When my advice was asked in reference to the Madison school, I said, 'Remain as you are. There is danger in binding every working agency under the dictation of the conference. The Lord had did not design that this should be.'" Do we believe the words of the prophet, yes or no? We believe her. So, she didn't want to have every working agency under the dictation of a few men at the top. And I want to show you something. This is from The Broken Blueprint because some people may not be aware of the circumstances surrounding the Madison school. And this is I'm going to read something here from Series B number 11, June 18, 1907. It says, "The Lord does not set limits about his workers in some lines as men are want to set. In their work, brethren Megan and Sutherland have been hindered unnecessarily. Means have been withheld from them because in the organization and management of the Madison school, it was not placed under the control of the conference. But the reasons why this school was not owned and controlled by the conference has not been duly considered. The Lord does not require that the educational work at Madison shall be charged all about before it can receive hearty support of the people. The work that has been done there is approved of God. Notice those words. And he forbids that this line of work shall be broken up. The Lord will continue to bless and sustain the work workers as long as they follow his counsel. So, God was going to bless and sustain this work at the Madison school, but she stipulated that it could not be placed back under the control of the conference. Notice what And in June 1904, at the time she told that the two men to purchase the Nelson farm, she also told them something very startling. Listen to this. She said they must make sure that the new project never be placed under denominational control. Let me ask a question. Did did Ellen White know what the church was? She certainly did. She knew the church consisted of regular and irregular lines. And she explained that in order to do this, they must incorporate the property under state law as a nonprofit corporation. And she said she would serve on their board of directors. That was equally startling because at no other time did Ellen White ever serve on a church or institutional board of any kind. She'd never done it earlier and she never did it later. It had been revealed to her, who revealed it? God. It had been revealed to her that she would need to do it on this occasion in order to demonstrate to church leaders and members everywhere that it was not wrong to start independent ministries. So, friends, and it would be as she said with Ellen White on the board, it says it would be very difficult for church leaders to denounce Madison as a renegade in rebellion against duly authorized church control. So, Ellen White had already dealt with the kingly power. This is not something new, it's been going on since the time of Christ. Kingly power in the church that was affecting the church. So, let's ask the question, is directing tithe withholding tithe? Can we direct our tithe or are we required to support open apostate hirelings teaching error and mixing the holy with the profane? Well, let's see what inspiration tells us about that. We, notice the word we, are responsible for the use or the what? Abuse of the Lord's goods. God calls upon men to invest their entrusted talents that when the master cometh, he may receive his own with usury. Letter 19B, 1892. Notice this next quote. It would be what? Poor policy to support from the treasury of God those who mar and injure his work and who are constantly lowering the standard of Christianity. Testimonies 3, page 553. We're starting to notice some consistency in these quotes, aren't we? Let's look at this. As there are woes for those who preach the truth while they are unsanctified in heart and life, so there are woes for those who receive and maintain the unsanctified in a position which they cannot fill. Fill. Second Testimonies 552. How do you maintain the unsanctified? Through tithes. That's how you maintain them. So, friends, you maintain the unsanctified apostate ministers with your tithe. If you do so knowingly, that's a keyword, knowingly, then God is going to place their sins on your head as well. You can't have woes if you have no choice where to direct your tithe. Does that make sense? There can't be woes if you have a choice. It You have a choice if you don't have a choice. So, let's look at some more statements. God will not condone our using tithe for the preaching of apostasy. Who preaches apostasy? Ministers behind the sacred desk. Or any use other than specified. There are fearful woes for those who preach the truth but are not sanctified by it. And also, notice these words here, also, for those who consent to receive and maintain. There it is again. The unsanctified to minister to them in word and doctrine. First Testimonies 261-262. Are these words confusing to anybody? This is not confusing, is it? Let's look at the next quote. God desires men to bring men into direct relationship and direct relation with himself. It says every man has been a steward of sacred trust. Each is to discharge his trust according to the direction of the giver. And by each an account of his stewardship must be rendered to God. Who's responsible? We are responsible to invest this means ourselves. Testimony 7 176 176 says, "You mean I can't go and blame it on the the pastor or the elder or the conference leader?" If I misdirect and support open apostasy, I can't blame it on them? They're not going to stand in the judgment for you, friends. You're going to have to stand alone. Now, once again, we can see that these statements are not confusing to those who want the truth. We can't claim ignorance. It's only confusion confusing to those that don't want the truth. Because, you know, it's very difficult to convince someone of something when their paycheck depends on them not understanding it. We cannot be forced against our will to support apostates that are teaching ecumenism, spiritualism, preaching that there's no atonement, we can't overcome sin, no need to obey the law, a variety of other heretical doctrines. We cannot be forced to support that. And somebody say, "Well, you know, well, pastor, what about those who sincerely believe that they're supporting God's work and they have no idea that their tithe is being used to support those who are working against God and who are doing the devil's work? What about those people?" Well, let's look at that. Let's turn in your Bibles to Luke 21. Remember the story of the widow and her two mites cuz they use this story all the time. So, let's look at that story. Notice what says here verse one. And he looked up and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, "Of a truth I say unto you, this poor widow hath cast in more than they all. For all these have their abundance cast into the offerings of God, but she, of her penury, hath cast in all the living she had." So, let's look at that closely. Because many are promoting this story as the false idea that you cannot direct your tithe because that's the same as withholding tithe. We just saw one person say that. So, they claim that you have no individual choice where to pay your tithes, even if it supports apostasy, you still have to do it because God is simply just going to overlook it since Jesus commended the wind- widow's faithfulness and he knew that the Pharisees were plotting to kill him anyway. Now, remember when our prophet said, "Circumstances alter cases." So, this is one of those cases, friends. So, while we each have an individual accountability, each quote applies to certain circumstances, right? It applies to the proper circumstance, rather. So, notice I want you to notice how this case is explained in Desire of Ages 615. Notice this closely. What does she say? She said, "Tears of joy filled her eyes as she felt that her act was understood and appreciated." Now, I want you to notice these words underlined. But, Jesus understood her motive. She believed the service of the temple to be of God's appointment, and she was anxious to do her most utmost to sustain it. So, did you notice the words Jesus understood her motive? And she believed the service of the temple to be God of God's appointment. So, God always considers the motives of a person based on what they believe to be right. The widow did not know that the priests were demon-possessed. She had no idea. But she truly believed that she was honoring God, and God honored her for her belief, her motive. Well, let's look at another example. Acts 10:1-4. Let's go to Acts chapter 10, verse 1-4. There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, a devout man and one that feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the people and prayed to God alway. He saw in vision, evidently, about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him and saying unto him, "Cornelius." And when he looked upon him, he was afraid and said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said unto him, "Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God." So, this was a centurion. He was not a Sabbath-keeper. He was not a Jew. He was not a Hebrew. He was living to the light that he had. And God credited him. God doesn't judge us based on what we don't know. He judges us based on what we know, or what light we've given that we've rejected. The centurion didn't know all the light. So, God accepted his alms. Friends, God will not condemn us for what we don't know, but if we knowingly maintain unsanctified ministers, then we're left without excuse. We can't go back and say, "Well, I didn't know." No, you knew. So, what about the false idea that tithe cannot be sent to the irregular lines, which Ellen White calls self-supporting ministries? You know, when conference leaders ignored Ellen White's continual appeals and tried to discourage others from sending tithe and offerings even to the Madison school, she sent this letter in frustration. She says, "To those in our conferences who have felt that they have the authority to forbid the gathering of means in a certain terri- territory, I now say this matter has been presented to me again and again. Wow, over and over. And I now bear my testimony in the name of the Lord to those whom con- whom it concerns, wherever you are, do what? Withhold your forbidding. You see, friends, the tithe cops were around in her day, too. They didn't want any money going anywhere but in but to them. To where they want to control over everything. So, Ellen White well knew that the leaders in the regular lines, they were hindering God's work. And it was God that told her to to start self-supporting work. And she did. In the Madison school, she started a self-supporting church school. So, notice what this says here for the years, "Because tithe is a personal decision between you and God alone." She says, "For years, the same routine, the same regular way of working has been followed, and God's work has been what? Greatly hindered. God calls for a revival and reformation. So, yes, his faithful servants that are giving the Elijah message will call for revival and reformation. The regular lines have not done the work which God desires to see accomplished. Let revival and reformation make constant changes. Something has been done in this line, but let not the work stop there. No, let every yoke be broken. Let men awaken to the realization that they have an individual responsibility. That's from letter 60, June 28. How many times does she have to say the same thing over and over again? How many different ways does she have to say it before we realize what she's saying? So, let's look at it again. She says, "The present showing is sufficient to prove to all who have the true missionary spirit that the regular lines may prove a failure and a snare." God helping his people, the circle of kings, the kingly power, who dared to take such responsibility shall never again exercise their unsanctified power in the so-called regular lines. Friends, are we seeing that unsanctified power today on full display? When you can't even speak in somebody's kitchen without their permission, that's called kingly power, friend. The Bible says, "All men are brethren, all your brethren." So, before we go further, let's answer this question, which is very relevant to the regular or irregular lines of work. The spirit of prophecy is crystal clear that the tithe can go to God's ministers to feed the flock and his Bible workers. And that's from one manuscript 189. So, a minister can be those who attend, who serve and heal, such as a physician or a medical mis- minis- medical missionary. It can be an evangelist. It can even be the wife of a pastor, a woman that is doing full-time work as a missionary ministering to others. And these workers that are both in the regular and irregular lines can be paid from the tithe. So, Ellen White's decision to direct the tithe, it really started around 1868. That was just a few years after the conference started. And it started because of the Hannah More incident. Do some of you remember that incident? The Hannah More incident. She was an Adventist missionary worker. I believe she was in the Methodist Church, but she was an Adventist missionary worker. Don't quote me on which church. She came from another church, and the church permitted her, the Adventist Church, when she was convicted about the Sabbath, she came over to work for the Adventist Church, and they permitted her to die from neglect. They didn't want to give her a penny. And Ellen White vowed that this was never going to happen again on her watch. And you can clearly see from these next quotes that the leadership they wanted full control of every penny, just like they do today, long before the Watson letter ever came out. And they continually, over and over again, resisted her efforts to support God's work in the irregular lines, which God told her to start. So, not only were church leaders telling the members that all funds have to pass through their storehouse and their hands, but they were declaring that it must be because they were the voice of God on Earth. So, if you thought that the Pope of Rome would claim that high distinction, they're they also claimed it. They're the voice of God. But, notice how Ellen White responded to that. God grant that the voices which have been so quickly raised to say that all the money invested in the work must go through the appointed channel at Battle Creek, GC headquarters, shall not be heard. So, she's saying the same thing over and over again, just in different ways, friends. And here's a letter she wrote to A. G. Daniels, published in Spalding Megan's unpublished manuscript. She says, "In reference to our conference, it is repeated over and over and over again that it is the voice of God. And therefore, everything must be referred to the conference and have the conference voice in regard to permission or restriction or what shall be and what shall not be done in the various fields." And what does she think about? She says, "We've heard enough abundance about that everything must go around in the regular way. When we see the regular lines are altered and purified and refined and the God of heaven's mold is upon the regular lines, then it is our business to establish the regular lines." She was pretty pretty fed up because they kept resisting her at every turn they resisted her. Here's another one. But when we see message after message that God has given has been accepted, but no change, she says, "Just the same as it was before, then it is evident that new blood must be brought into where? The regular lines." She's saying it. "It requires minds that are worked by the Holy Spirit of God, and unless that evidence is given, unless there is a power that shows that they are accepted by God to impart to the responsibilities that have been handled, then there should be a renovation without any delay." She wanted to rework the regular lines to have this conference pass on and close up as the conferences have done with the same manipulating with the very same tone and the same order. God forbid. God forbid, brethren. She wasn't happy here, was she? Wasn't happy at all. I want to read something real quick from PT Megan. It's from his diary. He kept a diary. And this is from his diary dated May 14, 1907. He said, "I talked to her, Ellen White, about the General Conference position that concerns non-conference owned institutions, which was the Madison school. They should have no money." She answered, "Fiddlesticks. A pack of fools ought to know better than that. Daniels and those with him have taken a position on this matter that is not of God." She said she had something written on this and would try to find it. She was upset. She wasn't happy, was she? And you see the same kingly power going on today. Nothing has changed, friends. So, by now it should be clear to all of us that Ellen White was battling the self-appointed tithe police in her day. And friends, the relatives are still here. They haven't gone anywhere. They're still around. They're posting their videos on the net about only one conference storehouse online and you can't support self-supporting ministries. You hear them. Just go online, you can hear them. So, what our prophet say about God's storehouse? Well, this is from manuscript 73, December 12, 1900. The what? World is the Lord's storehouse. The what? World. From which we are ever drawing, he has provided fruits and grains and vegetables for our sustenance. For us he makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall. The whole human family, good and evil, are constantly drawing from God's storehouse. And it makes every difference with those so highly privileged how they receive the Lord's gifts and how they treat the contract the Lord has made with them. He has made who his almoners? He has made them his almoners, directing them to draw from his storehouse and then make a return to him in gifts and offerings. That there may be meat in mine house. So friends, God manages his own storehouse. He doesn't need our help. He needs our help to be faithful watchmen. He doesn't need our help to interfere with other men and dictate to other men's consciences. He numbers the hairs on our head and he knows every single penny that we spend. He knows it. He doesn't need our help with that. And so he doesn't need any of these self-reporting, self-appointed tithe police on the net or anyone else to assist him in that effort, friends. To be another man's conscience and to dictate to someone else where they must spend their money to do the Lord's work and where they must attend church. That's strictly a personal decision between us and God alone. It's not their business. You know, I've had um people that have contacted me from different states, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, Washington, California. They don't want to support a hireling in their local church because the person is maybe attacking the truth, doing the devil's work, bringing in bail worship, promoting false doctrine. They don't want to support that. And they've said to me, "I don't want to go to somewhere and participate in something that dishonors God, participate in that. I'd rather stay home and watch on YouTube a service that is a blessing to me." What right do I have or anyone else have to say, "No, you got to go there and support him anyway." No, friends, you don't. There are hirelings right now that are masquerading as pastors. The devil has his agents working as pastors in our church. Do you realize that? And if people are not aware of the apostasy that's going on right in front of your faces, ask me. I'll send you I have two links I can send you. You can see their greatest hits right online. From 30 years ago and one from today. It's going on. So, the age The devil has his agents destroying the work of God. Should we be forced to support the devil's agents? No. You know, I just received a couple calls not too long ago, just recently. One of this last week actually and before. These These individuals were upset because one this person was in very, very bad physical shape. And they it was life-threatening. Let's put it that way. They called the pastor. All they wanted for the pastor to do was to pray. They called him, no response. They called him a second time. Well, yeah, I'll I'll I'll call you. Never called him. The second instance, same thing. She called She was going through surgery and she wanted the pastor to pray. So, she called and left a message for the pastor, "Just please pray for me." Never even got a call back. If you're a pastor and you're too busy to even pray with your own flock, then you shouldn't be a pastor. You need to take a seat because there are elders that are better shepherds of the flock. Take a seat and let the elder take charge. It's shameful. I prayed with both of them. But, what I'm saying, friends, is that these people are hirelings. Should these people now be forced to support that hireling? No. Not at all. This is Desire of Ages 616-617. The Jewish rulers recognized the obligation of tithing. And this was right, but they did not leave the people to carry out their what? Own convictions of duty. Ye blind guides, which strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. Christ called them hypocrites. Friends, we have to do the Lord's work and we have to see that the Lord's work is getting done. Because God is going to hold us accountable. God is definitely going to hold us accountable. Look at this. This is the Watson letter that some people say, "Oh, it's just a temporary thing. It was only It wasn't for everybody. It was just very temporary." She says, "I have myself appropriated my tithe to the most needy cases brought to my notice. I have been instructed to do this." Who instructed her? The Lord. And as the money is not withheld from the Lord's treasury. There it is again. It is not a matter that should be commented upon for it will necessitate my making known these matters which I do not desire to do because it is not best. She didn't want everybody knowing what she was doing because it's a personal decision. God doesn't want everybody to put their tithe in exactly the same place. He wants to be directing. He'll direct tithes to the destitute portions of his vineyard. God can direct it. We don't need to do that work. God will direct it. We just have to go to him, pray, ask for him to give us wisdom, and he will give us the wisdom to know what to do. God will give us that wisdom. So, you're going to notice that the tithe to a non-conference gospel worker was not withheld from the Lord's treasury because God still accounted that as going into his treasury. So, God doesn't want everybody, as I said before, to put their money in the exact same place. He wants all of us to go to him. That's why we need to always go to God and let him direct us, not anybody else. This is not for everyone else to know what you're doing with your tithe and offerings. Let's look at that. Look at Matthew. Matthew chapter 6 verse 3 and 4. Matthew chapter 6 verse 3 and 4. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret, and thy father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. So, when they come to you, well, what are you doing with your tithe? Can't let the left hand know what the right hand's doing. In other words, don't always say it's not your business. It's God's business. So, the question we must ask is does God give us individual freedom of choice then based on our personal convictions, or do we have to let somebody else direct our tithe for us and our offerings? What does inspiration have to say about this? Well, let's look. She made it clear. Do we individually realize our true position that as God's hired servants we are not to bargain away our stewardship? That's pretty clear. We have an individual accountability before the heavenly universe to administer the trust committed to us of God. How much clearer could she have made that? Some men or councils may say "That is just what we wish you to do. The conference committee will take your capital and will appropriate it for this very object." But the Lord has made us what? Individually. There it is. Individually. His stewards. We each hold a solemn responsibility to invest Invest This means what? Ourselves. It's right there. 1898. So, let's confirm this again because I don't want to leave any room for doubt because the chatter on the internet is going to tell you, "Well, that that was just a temporary thing." Notice what it says here again. Let it be borne in mind that is not our own property which is entrusted to us for investment. If it were, we might claim discretionary power. We might shift our responsibility upon others and leave our stewardship with them, but this cannot be because the Lord has made us what? Individually his stewards. We are responsible to invest this means ourselves. There it is again. The Lord has made us individually his stewards. We each hold a solemn responsibility to invest this means ourselves. God does not lay upon you the burden of asking who? The conference or any council of men whether you shall use your means as who sees fit you see fit to advance the work of God. God wants us to go to him. He doesn't want us to go to anyone else. There should be no doubt that God expects each one of us to be faithful stewards and no one else is to interfere in that process with our stewardship. You know, we have Adventists that drive many Adventists that drive past their local church to go to a church that's further away. Some people pass two and three churches because they're not being fed at their local church or they may have an apostate unconsecrated pastor there. What right is it that I have or anyone else to tell them, "No, you got to stay there at your local church and and support him anyway." It's not our business. If they want to drive two or three churches away, that's between them and God, right? This is what you call kingly power at its finest, friends. Special testimonies to ministers and workers. While it is not your own property that you are handling, yet you are made responsible for its wise investments, for its use or abuse. So, you mean the tithe cup? No, it's us. God does not lay upon you the burden of asking the conference or any council of men whether you shall use your means as you see fit to advance the work of God in destitute towns and cities and impoverished localities. We are not to merge our individuality of judgment into any institution in our world. We are to look to who? God for wisdom. We look to God. When we look to God because none of these men are going to stand up for you in the judgment, I promise you. They're going to say, "You're on your own." Again, we must go to God for wisdom. The people to whom God has given his means are amenable to him what? Alone. It is their privilege to give direct aid and assistance to mission. It is because of the misappropriation of means that the Southern field has no better showing than it has today. See, she's been dealing with this constantly, over and over again. The Lord would have his people under his jurisdiction. They are to look to God, inquiring him in faith, and follow on to know the working of his providence. That's testimonies to ministers ministers 3:20. So, that means that God, when he started self-supporting work, he wasn't there trying to attack the church and disrupt the church and break down the church. He wanted his work to get done. You know, the Pharisees in Christ's day, uh I want to deal with something that comes up all the time. Because it's an excuse to not call out sin and apostasy, and you've heard it, I've heard it. Oh, well, the church isn't Babylon. What does that have to do with calling out open sin and apostasy? Because the church isn't worshipping on Sunday, hasn't embraced Sunday sacredness, that's not a free pass to ignore sin and apostasy. It's not. We have to call out open sin. We have to be faithful watchmen. You know, the church that crucified Christ, was that a Babylonian church or were they Sabbath keepers? They were Sabbath keepers. That wasn't Babylon that crucified him. And we crucify Christ today, every day, when we disobey him or when we allow these apostate agents of the devil to tear up our church and we don't say anything. I want to see if I can find this quote. Yeah, this is Second Bible Commentary 996. Many dare not condemn iniquity, lest they shall thereby sacrifice position or popularity. And by some, it is considered uncharitable to rebuke sin. But the servant of God is under the most solemn obligation to present the word of God without fear or favor. He must call sin by its right name. We just read that. Those who by their carelessness or indifference permit God's name to be dishonored by his professed people are numbered with the transgressor, registered in the record of heaven as partakers of their evil deeds. The love of God will never lead to the belittling of sin. Second Bible Commentary 996. That's clear, friends. You want to act like it's not going on and pretend like nothing's happening? God counts you as an enemy if you don't raise your voice against it. Yeah, you may not be able to hire and fire these apostates, but you can certainly raise your voice against it. You certainly can do that. So, let's look at another quote. Again and again, I have been instructed to say to our people, "Let your faith and trust be in God. Do not depend on any erring man to define your duty. God is the one to whom to look for an understanding of individual duty. But when one man allows another to step in between him and the duty that God has pointed out to him, giving him giving to man his confidence and accepting him as a guide, then he steps from the true platform to a false and dangerous one. Such a man, instead of growing and developing, will lose his spirituality. That means we can't let anyone else interfere with us and our relationship with God. No one else is to be our conscience because we're going to have to stand alone in the judgment, friends. So, at this point, it should be clear that we have to depend on God alone for wisdom to direct our means to further the work of God. Because if everyone did what did what God wanted us to do, God will direct the means where he wants it to go. We don't need to worry about that. That's not our business. It's not our business where somebody else is placing their tithes and offerings. It's none of our business. It's God's business. It's strictly a personal decision. So, no one else is to be allowed to dictate to support the Lord's work. To dictate to us to be our own conscience. And do we realize, as I said before, many Sabbath Adventists, they drive past a local church and a local pastor who's not feeding the flock. He could be be presenting chaff. He could be mixing new theology, ecumenism, spiritualism, downgrading the spirit of prophecy, mixing the holy with profane, any number of things. The stories I've heard, I can't even believe it if I didn't hear it. What right does anyone have to tell them that they have to support an unsanctified apostate in the pulpit? They don't have to. God tells us the exact opposite. We are to jealously guard the avenue of the souls. We don't have to attend bail worship service. If it's bail worship, we don't have to attend. We have to guard what we see and hear. And you seen all the quotes today. We have a choice, friends. So, all the inquiries I receive from across the country tell me that there are some churches that are doing the devil's work. And we don't need to support that church with our means. So, that's why these people would rather stay home and watch a sermon or worship service that is pleasing to God and a blessing to them. As one gentleman told me, "I'm not going to waste my Sabbath with that." With that foolishness. Who's business is it to tell him that he has to? Who of us would dare to tell them otherwise? We are in the shaking time, friends, and the spirit of prophecy tells us that it is the straight testimony that causes the shaking in the church, not the tithe, not where we place our tithe. This is straight testimony. Right? And we don't want to support these guys that are fleecing the flock. No, we're not going to support them. If we know that they're fleecing the flock the flock, God is not going to expect you to support that man. So, what is what is it that cause causes the shaking then? Here it is. I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen. I was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the true witness to the Laodiceans. This straight testimony some will not bear. No, they don't they don't like it. They don't like the straight testimony. They will rise up against it, right? They rose up against it. They didn't want to hear it. And this will cause a shaking among God's people. Let's look at another quote here, friends. Some of us missed the whole point of the sermon entropy and use the tithe to avoid the much bigger issue of apostasy which is causing problems and rebellion in the church that we're facing today. So, God's servants are required to preach the truth and rebuke open sin in the church. It's the Elijah message that we're required to give. And anything less we're going to be counted on the side of the adversary of souls. Couple more slides and we'll wrap up. Great controversy in every generation God has sent his servants to rebuke sin both in the world and in the church. But the people desire smooth things spoken to them and the pure unvarnished truth is not acceptable it's not pleasing to their ears. They don't want to accept that. From our father cures, it is when the unbelieving cast contempt upon the word of God that the faithful Calebs are called for. It is then that they will stand firm at the post of duty without parade and without swerving because of reproach. The unbelieving spies stood ready to destroy Caleb. He saw the stones in the hands of those who had brought a false report, but this did not deter deter him. He had a message, he would bear it. The same spirit will be manifested today by those who are true to God. So, some of those folks are going to want to stone you when you preach the truth. They don't like it. That's okay, friends. We have to stand for the Lord though the heavens falls. We have to stand as straight as a needle to the pole. Now, I'm going to close with this text, Ezekiel 44:23-24. And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the profane. And cause them to discern between unclean and the clean. And in controversy, they shall stand in judgment. And they shall judge it according to my judgments. And they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my assemblies, and they shall hallow my sabbaths. Friends, let us all be faithful to God because the Bible and the spirit of prophecy doesn't tell us that the majority in the church and the majority in the world will be saved. It tells us the exact opposite will be lost. Let us all stand faithfully. I'm going to close in prayer. Our heavenly Father, help us to be faithful Calebs, every one of us, to stand for the truth because the days are coming when persecution will ring strong and hot against us. And only those that have made the Lord that have made the Lord their standard will stand up for the truth. The word of God is our standard, and if we abide and live by the truth, we are true and faithful Seventh-day Adventists. The sign on the building doesn't make us an Adventist. The building itself doesn't make us an Adventist. It's our willingness to receive, accept, and obey the truth. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. >> [music]