God made this truth easy for us to understand, and I don't know about you, but for me personally, I was a little embarrassed the first time I actually opened my Bible and began to study these things out for myself.
It was then when I discovered that I had been misled for all these years, and I'm not blaming it on anyone.
It's my fault.
I should have been in this book and searching the scriptures for myself.
But when I finally did, when I finally saw it for myself, I looked at these verses in
almost disbelief.
It was hard to admit that I'd been wrong for so long.
Well, there are still many, so many today who refuse to admit their error.
And sadly, many of these cats have very prominent positions and are held in high esteem.
I'm going to sip some coffee and play a couple of clips real quick, so let's give a listen.
Pay close attention, and I'll be right back.
When God's people don't tithe, the result is retribution.
My daddy used to say, Steve, if you don't tithe, you won't get that 10 percent.
God's going to take it back.
You'll never get to enjoy it.
Daddy was right.
The Bible says in verse 9, you're under a curse, your whole nation has been cheating me.
Did you know that the New Testament also teaches tithing?
We read in text all over the Bible that it's more blessed to give than to receive.
Give and it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall men pour into your lap, for by your standard of measure, it will be measured to
you in return.
When Jesus said that, he knew what the standard of measure was in the Old Testament.
The minimum was a tithe.
And I believe this is what the Lord spoke about when he spoke of it in Luke 6:38.
He said, give, it shall be given unto you.
Now listen to the words.
Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, shall men give to your bosom.
I don't think we have seen that kind of harvest yet, the kind of harvest that where it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.
That kind of prosperity is in the future because that is that wealth transfer.
I mean God has blessed us in many ways, but that promise of Luke 6:38, I don't think we
have seen it in completion.
We have not seen the fullness of it yet.
That's coming.
So the first clip was mega pastor Steve Gaines, the 61st president of the Southern Baptist
Convention.
And the second clip was Benny Hinn.
The context of the passage is not about money at all.
Look back up at verse 25, Woe unto you that are full, for ye shall hunger.
He's speaking about food.
Even the first verse of the chapter tells us this, and it came to pass on the second
Sabbath after the first that he went through the corn fields and his disciples plucked the ears of corn and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.
Did you hear that?
Corn fields, ears of corn.
And in verses 3 and 4 we read, Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this
what David did when himself was an hungered, and they which were with him, how they went
into the house of God, and did take and eat the showbread, and gave also to them that were with him, which is not lawful to eat, but for the priest alone.
Eat, showbread, corn, corn fields.
Are you getting this?
So by the time Jesus gets to verse 38, the verse that these mega pastors take out of context, here Jesus uses an illustration, one that they would have fully understood, and it's about food, food that comes from their land.
This is plain.
A very popular verse, Luke chapter 6 verse 38.
A very popular verse when they need you to pull your wallet out.
It's taken totally out of its context.
Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over.
Now what's the truth about this verse?
Well keep it in context.
Showbread, eat, hunger, corn, corn fields.
This is a reference to how they measured grain, corn, and the process of how it was carried
out.
Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.
It's about a process they used, and those in the audience would have been quite familiar
with what Jesus meant.
It was a process where they would fill the measure about halfway, give it a good shake, and then press the corn together.
The idea was, when purchasing corn, you would follow this process so that you could walk
away with a maximum amount.
Put it in the measure, press it down, shake it together to make room so you can add some
more.
Then, do it again.
Press it down, shake it, and add some more.
This was done until the measure was full.
This is Christ using the illustration of measuring grain, not money.
He was using this illustration to convey a message to them, a message about how they
should deal with others.
And is why the rest of the verse, verse 38 says, for with the same measure that you meet
with all, it shall be measured to you again.
It's about how Christ wanted them to treat their enemies, which is why He said in verse 27, love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
And in verse 36, He spoke of how they should show mercy to others.
Isn't it outstanding when we simply stay within the parameter of context?
He wanted them to understand that being kind, even to their enemies, to unbelievers, was
the best approach.
With hopes that eventually their enemies in return would show them that same measure that
had been shown to them.
This is not God giving anything to the believer.
No, we'll leave that to the false teachers.
That's their message.
But when we stay in context, we see that this is about the unbeliever giving back, showing
that mercy that was given to them.
Shame on Benny Hinn, shame on the Southern Baptist pastor, Steve Gaines.
Luke 6:38 has nothing to do with money.
And we need leaders, pastors and teachers, that'll get their head out of the clouds and
get their feet back in the dirt, come down off their spiritual high horse, get back down
in the trenches with us common folk, and start being truthful for a change.
So as we see, this twisting of scriptures, this manipulation to manipulate people out of their money, it's not limited to the word fathers.
It's not just Charismania, but also among the Southern Baptist.
Twistianity runs deep, wolves run in packs, and they discourage independent thought.
And eventually our better instincts begin to short circuit, creating a collective group
think mentality.
Just get in line and follow the herd.
So what happens is, when fact-based material, objective evidence, when it finally presents
itself, you have trouble reasoning these things out for yourself.
Both Benny and Steve manipulated Luke chapter 6.
They rested and twisted it so hard that it lost its true meaning.
The context was totally abandoned.
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