obedience is the secret!

THE SEWING LAW IN THE ETERNAL KINGDOM ...

Tithing and offerings were common practice in the Old Testament. Jesus, Jesus' apostles and followers practiced it. After all, there have always been and there will be orphans, poor (needy) and widows. The Eternal is the owner of gold and silver. He doesn't need us or our money. However, the Eternal has established Principles, which, if obeyed, will bring blessings and benefits to our lives. If disobeyed, they will have consequences. We should not act out of interest, but out of gratitude and recognition of what the Eternal is in his essence, after all his son Jesus Christ offered for us. Of course, we want to be blessed, but more than that, we need the presence of the Blessor. Jesus gave an order: Jesus appears to the eleven disciples

Matthew 28.16-20; Luke 24: 36-49; John 20: 19-23; Acts 1.6-8

14 Finally, Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples while they were at the table, eating. He rebuked them for not having faith and for insisting on not believing what those who had seen him resurrected had told them. 15 Then he said,

- Go all over the world and announce the gospel to all people. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 Those who believe will be given the power to perform these miracles: to cast out demons by the power of my name and to speak new languages; 18 if they catch snakes or drink any poison, they will suffer no harm; and when they lay hands on the sick, they will be healed.

How to fulfill this order without resources? In Jesus' time, this was even possible, however, much longer, due to long walks and long trips by ships, carts and mounted on animals. They were unable to reach a large number of people at the same time, as today is possible with the internet. Today, there are means of transport to optimize time, digital resources, TV programs, where media spaces are very expensive. In Jesus' time, the worship was at home or outdoors. Today, due to the laws, rules and bureaucracies, normally, closed spaces are purchased and prepared according to the “rules” for receiving people, with acoustics, security, in short, with all the necessary infrastructure. There are expenses for light, water, telephone, internet, maintenance and cleaning, evangelism material, social works, mission trips, rent, evangelism projects and support for the Persecuted Church in the world (MISSÃO PORTAS ABERTAS) among others. Nothing is free, but everything is for Grace! and provided by the resources of the brothers (tithes and offerings) to sustain and propagate the Kingdom of the Eternal throughout the land until Jesus returns! Jesus cannot count on the government, but on His Church, who are each of us who profess faith in Him! Are there false prophets, profiteers and greedy dogs? Yes! Many the Holy Bible says so! If you don't feel good about tithing or giving in a local church! Do it by faith to an institution you trust: Nursing homes, orphanages, nursing homes, projects that help street people, the elderly, widows. But, do not retain what is not yours! For the Bible says that when we withhold, we are stealing from the Creator! Even if you don't believe in tithing anymore. The New Testament, after Jesus' resurrection, reveals many passages clarifying that the offering is necessary. As for the value, it's you and the Eternal! By faith!

The Eternal will not forget your deposit until that Great day! 2 Timothy 1: 12b

1 Corinthians 9: 9-27

Rights and duties of an apostle

9 In the Law of Moses it reads: "Do not tie the ox's mouth when he is treading the wheat." Is God interested in oxen? 10 Or was it about us that he said that? Of course, this is written in our favor! Both the sower and the reaper do their work in the hope of receiving their share of the harvest. 11 If we have sown the spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we receive any material reward from you? 12 If others have a right to expect this from you, do we not have much more rights than they do?

However, we have not used that right. On the contrary, we have endured everything so as not to disturb the gospel of Christ. 13 Surely you know that those who work in the Temple are from the Temple who receive their food. And they also know that those who offer sacrifices on the altar receive part of the meat of the animals that are sacrificed there. 14 So the Lord also commanded those who proclaim the gospel to live by the work of proclaiming the gospel.

15 But I have not used any of these rights, nor am I writing this now to claim those rights for myself. I would rather die than do that! And no one will take away the pride that I have to act like this! 16 I have no right to be proud to announce the gospel. After all, doing this is my duty. Woe is me if I don't announce the gospel!

17 Therefore, if I do my work of my own accord, then I can expect some payment. However, if I do it as a duty, it is because it is a job that God gave me to do. 18 In that case, what is the payment I receive? It is the satisfaction of announcing the gospel without charging anything and without demanding the rights that I have as a preacher of the gospel.

19 I am a free man; I am not anyone's slave. But I became a slave to everyone in order to win as many people as possible for Christ. 20 When I work among Jews, I live as a Jew in order to win them over to Christ. I am not under the Law of Moses; but when I work among the Jews, I live as if I am under that Law to win the Jews over to Christ. 21 Likewise, when I am among non-Jews, I live outside the Law of Moses in order to win non-Jews for Christ. This does not mean that I do not obey the law of God, because I am, in fact, under the law of Christ. 22 When I am among the weak in the faith, I also become weak in order to win them over to Christ. So I become everything to everyone in order to be able, in any way possible, to save some.

23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel in order to share in your blessings. 24 You know that in a race, although all runners take part, only one wins the prize. So run in such a way that you win the prize. 25 Every athlete who is training can take hard exercises because he wants to receive a crown of laurel leaves, a crown that, by the way, does not last very long. But we want to receive a crown that lasts forever. 26 So I run straight to the finish line.

I'm also like a boxer who doesn't miss a blow. 27 I treat my body harshly and force it to be completely controlled so that, after having called others to join the fight, I myself will not be eliminated from it.

Of the multitude of those who believed, one was the mind and one was the heart. Nobody considered anything they owned, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There were no needy people among them, for those who owned land or houses sold it, brought the money from the sale and placed it at the feet of the apostles, who distributed it according to the needs of each one. Acts of the Apostles 4: 32-35

Honor the Lord

with all its resources

and with the first fruits

of all his plantations; your barns

will be completely full,

and their barrels will overflow with wine.

Proverbs 3: 9-10

Jesus looked and saw the wealthy putting their contributions in the gift boxes. He also saw a poor widow put two small copper coins. And she said, "I claim that this poor widow has put more than all the others. All of these have given what was left over; but she, from her poverty, gave everything she had to live." Luke 21: 1-4

In everything I did, I showed you that through hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus himself, who said: 'There is greater happiness in giving than in receiving' ".

Acts of the Apostles 20:35

There are those who give generously,

and sees its wealth increase;

others retain what they should give,

and fall into poverty. Proverbs 11:24

I received everything, and what I have is more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received the donations you sent from Epaphroditus. They are an offering of mild aroma, an acceptable and pleasing sacrifice to God. Philippians 4:18

The disciples, each according to their means, decided to provide help for the brothers who lived in Judea. They did so, sending their offerings to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

Acts of the Apostles 11: 29-30

The practice of tithing today is not law for Christians, but it is also not condemnable before God, since anyone who contributes healthily to the Lord's work does so voluntarily and by faith.

Undoubtedly, our contributions have served to help those in need, to expand the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the world through missionaries and various media, to support leaders who work full-time in the churches (2 Cor 11: 8-9; 1 Tim 5.18), for the construction of congregations, where we can come together as a church and worship God in a more organized way, to create, maintain and expand truly social projects.

In short, we can consciously and effectively contribute to the Lord's work, "because God is not unjust to forget your work and the work of love that you showed for his name while serving the saints and still serving" (Hb 6.10).

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