"Truth - A Marketable Commodity"

Melchizedek, blessing Abraham

"Truth - A Marketable Commodity"

"Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils."

(Hebrews 7:4)

Genesis 14:20 states, "And blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.  And he gave him tithes of all."  (Genesis 14:20)  Tithes, paid by Abraham to Melchizedek, and paid by obedient Christians today, are the reason the gospel is reaching into all the world with fervor.  Investors:  Here it is, the treasure you can lay up where neither moth nor rust can touch it, the investment that never loses its value, the investment that far exceeds earth's market value; what is it?  "Truth - A Marketable Commodity."  

 Barnes' notes gives an excellent commentary

of  Abraham's tithe to Melchizedek:

 "And he gave him a tithe of all.  -  This is a very significant act.  In presenting

the tenth of all the spoils of victory, Abram makes a practical acknowledgment

of the absolute and exclusive supremacy of the God whom Melchizedek

worshipped, and of the authority and validity of the priesthood which he 

exercised ... It is obvious that here we stand on broader ground than the 

special promise made to Abram.  Melchizedek was not a partner in the call of

Abram, and yet the latter acknowledges him as a priest of the Most High God.

Hence, we must fall back on the covenant made with Noah - the representative

of the whole race after the deluge - as the broad basis of authority on which 

Melchizedek acted.  That covenant, then, was not a dead letter.  It still lived 

in the heart and will of a part of the nations.  Its hallowing and exalting 

truths had produced at least one center of pure and spiritual worship on the 

earth.  Even Abram, the called of God, acknowledges its constituted head. 

And the Most High God, Founder and Upholder of heaven and earth, 

thereby guarantees its validity for all who in every place call on his name

in sincerity and truth."

Melchizedek and Abraham

The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary states, "Just when and where the idea arose of making the tenth the rate for paying tribute to rulers and of offering gifts as a religious duty cannot be determined.  History reveals that it existed in Babylon in ancient times, also in Persia and Egypt, even in China.  It is quite certain that Abraham knew of it when he migrated from Ur. (Gen. 14:17-20)  By Abraham's day, the giving of tithes had been recognized as a holy deed."  Indeed, the Encyclopaedia Brittanica says that, "the custom was almost universal in antiquity." 

Tithing was a sacred duty revealed to Abraham by God.  And, Melchizedek was called the King of Salem, which means King of peace according to Hebrews 7:2, and he was a priest of the Most High God.  In Psalm 110:4, the coming Messiah (who is Jesus Christ our Lord) is said to be made Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

You say, "What does all this have to do with me?"  People, today, are looking for investments like gold, and other commodities that don't quickly lose their value.  Why?  The dollar is failing; the euro is failing; Nations are going bankrupt; the world is tottering on the precipice of a One World Currency, which is the oracle of endtime Bible prophecy about to be fulfilled.  So?  Giving to the work of God is the best investment you could ever make!  Your investment has eternal value.  And, tithing, as shown, is Biblical, a tenth of all income is the foundation of all giving.

Money is loved for a lot of wrong reasons, but it's still the need to accomplish all things valuable and invaluable.  It's the source of greed, the source of power, the source of position, the commodity of the rich, the angst of the poor, the Market's baby, the hard worker's dime, the Joy of a lotto winner, the ultimate downfall of a slothful squanderer, the valuable lesson for the lemonade stand owner, the family war at the reading of the will, a wielding and unmerciful wand for the hounding IRS, the bargaining earmarks for hungry politicians  ...  Or it's the billboard that calls you to the Lord Jesus Christ, the tracts, the Holy Bibles and the food that feed the Nations, the Easter production and Christian movie that caresses your very soul, the wings of flight that carry the Truth of Jesus Christ our Lord to every Nation - kindred and tongue, it's the Church's wheels, the Bible's wind, the honest anointed Preacher's world vision, and it's "God's"  ... when we place it back in His Holy hands  ...  It all belongs to Him  ...

The love of money can be the root of all evil or it can be dedicated to the root of all Good.  Who will fund Truth?  Who will take up his cross of wealth and follow the Lord, paving the road with money to market Truth?  Who will give so that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ burns like a roaring flame in every Nation of our hungry lost world?  Who will lay up his treasure in heaven that everyone possible in earth can go to heaven?  Who?  Who?  Who?  Maybe Almighty God is knocking on Your heart  ...  It's all about the One who died and rose again; the One who's coming again very soon; the One who's looking for a Few Good Men or Women to carry the cross, light the flame, and light the world with the only thing that will save planet earth: "Truth - A Marketable Commodity." 

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

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Investing in the souls of men, women and

children is the greatest investment of all!