Unity Church of Castro Valley
Sunday Message for July 15, 2007
The Mystical Millionaire, Melchizedek
We are continuing our series about the millionaires of the Bible. It is in the story of Abraham that you meet the mystical millionaire, Melchizedek, who was both King of Salem and its High Priest. He is a mysterious figure in the Old Testament because nothing is definitely known of his background. It's believed that he was a descendant of one of the Babylonian high priests and probably a distant relative of Abraham.
According to ancient legend, Melchizedek conducted a Wisdom School in Babylon which Abraham attended during that first period of his life when he lived in Babylon. You can learn prosperity principles from Melchizedek that are indispensable to a permanent, enduring wealth.
HOW YOUR PROSPERITY CAN BECOME AN AUTOMATIC PROCESS
There are many success courses and self-help books about prosperity and they are all good. Anything that helps you to open your mind to increased abundance is worthwhile. But most of those courses - which often cost hundreds of dollars - and many of the success books - cover only a fraction of the prosperity principles practiced by the millionaires in the Bible.
Most of the courses and books explain how you can create your prosperity first through deciding what you want and then going after it through the goal-setting methods of: (1) Writing it down. (2) Picturing it. (3) Affirming it. Those prosperity techniques are very good, the millionaires of the Bible used them.
But you also need to: (1) Realize that prosperity is your spiritual heritage and then cleanse you mind of guilt about wanting to be prospered; (2) Learn how to get out of the "old country" by forgiving, releasing, and giving up limited states of mind and circumstances that you have outgrown, as Abraham did; (3) Give your prosperity a spiritual basis as Abraham did when he tithed to Melchizedek. This will ensure that your prosperity is permanent.
Through use of the mental laws of prosperity, you may be able to bring about temporary results. But you will become frustrated when those temporary results fade away.
By learning the entire formula for prosperity - including the advanced law of prosperity as taught by the mystical millionaire, Melchizedek - and as practiced by the millionaire Abraham - you will find that your prosperity becomes an automatic process. There will be nothing "hit or miss" about it. You will enjoy demonstrating permanent, enduring prosperity without experiencing the frustration of those still working at it from the competitive level.
MEET THE MYSTICAL MILLIONAIRE WITHIN YOU
Melchizedek held great fascination for both Jewish and Christian writers because he was the one to whom Abraham gave a fortune in tithes. He holds great fascination for us today because this wealthy King of Salem and High Priest symbolizes that mystical millionaire that resides within every one of us known as "Jehovah," "I AM," or "The Christ Mind."
Melchizedek symbolizes the level of mind that resides within all people, but of which only a few illumined ones are aware. This is the miracle level of the mind which, when activated, can produce prosperous results in your life quickly. People in all ages have known about this level of the mind, which they called the "superconscious." But rarely have they realized that within their superconsciousness was a mystical millionaire whose power could be activated for their increased prosperity!
EARLY PSYCHOLOGISTS KNEW ABOUT THIS MYSTICAL MILLIONAIRE
Psychologists Carl Jung and William James both believed in the superconscious mind. They felt that we have not only a conscious mind with which to think, and a subconscious mind for memory and emotions, but that we have a deeper third phase of the mind. This superconscious is Infinite Intelligence that longs to work for and through both the conscious and subconscious phases of the mind to produce fantastic good in our lives.
What these psychologists referred to as Superconsciousness, Divine Intelligence, Divine Mind, or the "I AM" power in man, is sometimes called "The Christ Mind," or "the Christ Consciousness." (Probably because Jesus Christ seemed to have developed perfectly this miracle level of the mind. This is reflected in His ability to manifest loaves, fishes, wine, and tax money. It was also from this miracle level of the mind that He healed the multitudes and even raised some from the dead.)
HOW TO ACTIVATE THIS MYSTICAL MILLIONAIRE
The ancient people had various secret names they intoned for activating this Superconsciousness. They knew that this third level of the mind is filled with miracle power.
They felt that if you would hold to that secret word in time of trial, it would rearrange your affairs and bring you through to victory. The people of the Old Testament did this by dwelling on the sacred names "I AM" and "Jehovah." The early Christians did so by dwelling on the names "Jesus Christ" and "Christ Jesus."
A divorced woman was heartbroken over the years she had given to her tyrant-husband. In order to save her sanity and recover her health, she finally divorced him. Her life seemed in shambles until she learned of the mystical millionaire within her.
As she began to call daily on the Name "I AM" in meditation, first her health improved; second she got work she enjoyed; third she met and married into one of America's super-rich families. She continues to enjoy the countless benefits that vast wealth brings.
WHY YOU ARE MASTER OF SUBSTANCE AND VAST WEALTH
You can make contact with this mystical millionaire in your mind and reap prosperous results.
It is significant that this mystical millionaire was King of Salem because "Salem" means "a place of peace, prosperity, wholeness, and perfection." Salem was later called Jerusalem, which means "realm of substance." As the ruler of Jerusalem, King Melchizedek was master of that realm of substance which is the basis of all wealth, and so are you!
Since we all have this mystical millionaire within, we all can become master of substance and manifest it as peace, prosperity, wholeness, and perfection in our lives. You can begin activating it by meditating often on this statement: "I am master of divine substance. I AM! I AM! I AM! I claim my mastery of divine substance now. Divine substance now manifests for me as peace, wholeness, prosperity, perfection."
Let's say that together, "I am master of divine substance. I AM! I AM! I AM! I claim my mastery of divine substance now. Divine substance now manifests for me as peace, wholeness, prosperity, perfection."
HOW THE MYSTICAL MILLIONAIRE CAN PROSPER YOU
When Abraham returned from doing battle with Lot's adversaries, he was met by King Melchizedek, who gave him bread and wine. Then the King blessed him.
That mystical millionaire within you, the rich I AM or Christ Mind, is constantly pouring out on you bread and wine - often in the form of rich ideas and opportunities. That same Infinite Intelligence, is constantly blessing you, just as this King blessed Abraham. But usually you haven't received the gifts or the blessings.
You can receive the wealth of the universe which that mystical millionaire is constantly trying to pour out on you in the following simple ways:
(1) By realizing that it is spiritually right, instead of spiritually wrong, for you to be prospered. (2) By feeling elated rather than guilty about wanting to prosper. (3) By realizing that prosperity is a necessity because it gives you freedom from bondage to people, places, or possessions. (4) By realizing that it gives you freedom to grow, and to expand your world in countless ways.
You can receive the wealth of the universe by opening your mind to it. Declare often, "I now open my mind to rich ideas, and to rich results. I am rich in mind and in manifestation now."
You can begin to receive this wealth by speaking the word of receiving. Say often, "I AM receiving. I AM receiving now. I AM receiving all the wealth that the universe has for me now."
Let's say those affirmations together, "I now open my mind to rich ideas, and to rich results. I am rich in mind and in manifestation now." "I AM receiving. I AM receiving now. I AM receiving all the wealth that the universe has for me now."
HOW TO MULTIPLY MONEY
Not only did Melchizedek give Abraham bread and wine, but he also blessed him. You have access to that same rich blessing, too!
A blessing is always an invaluable gift. Whatever is blessed increases. Blessing substance increases its flow. If your money is low or your purse empty, take it in your hands and bless it. See it filled with Divine Substance, manifesting for you as money, money, money. Declare, "I bless all that I have and I look with wonder at its increase now."
When preparing meals, bless the food knowing it is Divine Substance. Realize that you are constantly being clothed with the rich substance of the universe. The more you recognize and bless Divine Substance, the more it will manifest for you, and the richer you will become.
Declare often, "I bless my world with peace, prosperity, wholeness, and perfection now." Such words carry the wealthy blessing given to Abraham - that man of faith - so many centuries ago. That same blessing is meant for all who have the faith to claim it today.
Let's say those affirmations together, "I bless all that I have and I look with wonder at its increase now." "I bless my world with peace, prosperity, wholeness, and perfection now."
A FORMULA THAT CAN PROSPER YOU MIGHTILY
Abraham made contact with the lavish flow of substance offered him by the King of Salem by performing an act of faith. He knew that faith moves on substance, and that his acts of faith would help him to keep in touch with the unlimited substance that Melchizedek was offering him.
Abraham's act of faith was to tithe (Genesis 14:20) "one-tenth of everything." to this wealthy High Priest. In this simple act, you find a formula that can prosper you also.
The great temples of Babylon were lavishly supported by the tithes levied on prince and peasant alike. In his Babylonian home, Abraham had become familiar with the practice of tithing. He knew that the consistent practice of tithing had made the Babylonians one of the richest nations of ancient times.
Since ancient times it has been proved that those who tithe ten percent of their income to God's work find that their prosperity increases by leaps and bounds, until all fear of poverty has disappeared. The act of tithing gives your prosperity a permanent, enduring basis. To practice tithing is a fascinating and mystical way to be prospered.
The ancient people felt that "ten" was "the magic number of increase" which they invoke through their systematic tithes. They knew the word "tithe" means "tenth."
It is common knowledge that many of the most successful businessmen of the present day attribute their success to having formed the habit of tithing. Hundreds of thousands of people have grown out of poverty into financial affluence and comfort through the practice of tithing. Hundreds of thousands more are doing so today!
A young tycoon attended one of Catherine Ponder's prosperity seminars. At the close he said, "I made my first million through sweat-of-the-brow methods. It was hard work and I always feared losing it. Now I see why it was such a strain. I didn't invoke the mystical law of tithing, which would give my wealth protection and permanence. I now plan to tithe my way into my second million, and I expect it to be much easier to make and to keep this time."
A BUSINESSMAN'S MILLION-DOLLAR FORMULA
You can see how consistent giving to God's work opens the way to consistent receiving in your own work. It is a practice that is businesslike, orderly, scientific, and practical. If the farmer refused to give back to the soil a certain percentage of the crops which the soil had given to him, he would have no crops.
Since God is the Source of your supply, you must do something definite and consistent to keep in touch with that rich Source, if you want to be consistently prospered. Those who tithe are always certain they will prosper because they have the confidence and faith that goes with having God as a partner.
Throughout Hebrew history, they gave not the last and the least, but the first and the best. And their giving made them rich!
The act of giving restores a harmony and balance in both mind and body that results in happiness as well as prosperity. When your life gets out of harmony, you need to give in order to restore balance and abundance.
A businesswoman learned that the act of giving restores balance and harmony, which results in both happiness and prosperity. She began consistently to tithe to the church where she had learned this prosperity secret. It worked. She was prospered in her business. Then she was offered a business opportunity that could make her a millionaire. She took the new job, but was so confident of prospering that she no longer tithed.
One day she said to a friend, "I can't understand it. I was guided to accept this business opportunity, but nothing is working out right."
The friend suggested that she review the laws of prosperity to discover which ones she was no longer using. When she did, she quickly realized she had stopped tithing. At this point she had only $500 left in her checking account for both living and business expenses. She boldly wrote out a tithe for $50 and put it in the mail to her church. Customers soon appeared for her new business, things straightened out in other phases of her life, and she has prospered again.
Perhaps you are thinking, "But I can't afford to tithe." That is when you can't afford not to tithe! The greater the present financial necessity, the greater the need for invoking "ten, the magic number of increase."
You can tithe your way out of indebtedness! A businessman, who had always felt he could not afford to tithe, found himself $9,000 in debt at the time of his retirement. However, his wife had been a lifelong tither of her own income. At his retirement, she took over their financial affairs. Within two years she had paid off $7,000 of her husband's longstanding debt of $9,000! Soon thereafter she paid off the balance. She proved that tithing is the beginning of permanent financial increase.
One housewife has often restored balance in her financial affairs by tithing in advance. When she has a financial need, she gives a tithe of the amount she hopes to receive in advance. For instance, if she hopes to receive $500 she gives an advance tithe of $50. It is little wonder she recently became the recipient of a large inheritance!
Even though the rich "I AM" or Christ Mind, which King Melchizedek symbolizes, is constantly offering you unlimited supply, you have to do something as an act of faith to make contact with that lavish abundance. Your acts of faith move on substance and manifest it as rich supply - as this housewife proved.
WHERE YOU GIVE IS IMPORTANT
People sometimes have a psychological block against tithing, because well-meaning theologians have often stressed what tithing would do for the church, rather than what it would do for the individual.
The act of tithing, or giving back to God's work one-tenth of your gross income is not something that some minister dreamed up as a means of getting money out of you! It is a universal prosperity law that has been practiced since the beginning of time as a scientific and orderly method of prospering people on a permanent basis.
When you look up the great tithing promises in the Bible, such as the one given by the prophet Malachi, you find that they promised that the individual who tithes will be prospered. Of course the church will prosper also. But that is the secondary, not the primary cause for tithing. As you tithe, so you prosper is the promise. Protection is also assured: Malachi said, (Malachi 3:10) "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing." This is a prosperity promise. (Malachi 3:11) "I will rebuke the locust devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the produce of your soil; and your vine in the field shall not be barren, says the Lord of hosts." This is a promise of protection.
Be careful where you give your tithe. It is important that you give at the point where you are receiving spiritual help and inspiration.
A businesswoman, once said, "I have some apartments that I cannot keep rented, although I use all the prosperity laws. And don't tell me to tithe because I'm also doing that."
When asked where she was tithing, she said "I give my tithes to the church I used to attend, because they keep billing me. But I now attend another church where I get far more inspiration."
The answer was, "Tithe where you are getting help and inspiration if you wish to be prospered. It is inconsistent to do otherwise. To get inspirational help from one church, yet tithe to another is like going to one doctor for help, yet trying to pay another; or like eating in one restaurant, yet paying for your meal in another restaurant. Give at the point or points where you are receiving spiritual help and inspiration. This keeps you in touch with the flow of supply."
HOW WRONG DISTRIBUTION OF TITHES CAUSED FINANCIAL PROBLEMS
People sometimes say, "It is difficult to know where to give my tithes, because there are so many ‘needy' causes that are crying out for support."
True. But there is a standard rule that will guide you in your giving - one laid down in ancient times - as a businessman discovered. This man was in the real estate business and got careless with the distribution of his tithes.
One month he gave his tithes to a problem-prone relative, rather than giving it impersonally to his church. Everything went wrong. His bank account got mixed up and a number of checks bounced. A real-estate deal, from which he expected a commission of several thousand dollars, did not go through. Other channels of supply dried up and he was left in a financial bind.
Everything stagnated until he put God - and not a problem-prone relative - first again financially. There is nothing wrong in helping one in need, if you are careful what you give. By giving them only money, you offer only temporary help. Your charity can even keep them in poverty. It is far wiser to give them books and literature that show them how to use the laws of prosperity for themselves. This will help those in need to become self-supporting, even permanently prosperous. It will help them to become independent of poverty programs or charity handouts.
THE ANCIENT LAW ON WHERE TO GIVE
The ancient laws on tithing were very definite about where the tithe was to be given. The first tenth went to the priests, who then gave a tenth of that tithe, known as a "heave offering," to the place of worship. This first tithe was given impersonally. The giver had nothing to say about how it was to be spent. The second tithe was a festival tithe. The third tithe was for charity.
If you are giving several tenths of your income rather than only one tenth, then you should feel freer with your second or third tithe. But your first tithe should be given impersonally to God's work - or to individuals in spiritual work who have inspired you - with no stipulation of how it is to be spent by the recipient.
It is interesting to note that under Mosaic law, the people of the Old Testament gave away four-tenths of their income - three tithes plus "first fruits" of all their crops, and many other offerings - yet they never complained about giving too much. Instead, the more they gave, the wealthier they became. They suffered financial reverses only when they became self-satisfied and stopped tithing during the latter part of Solomon's reign.
You learn of this mystic law of prosperity when you are ready in your expanded understanding to begin using it. You soon discover that if you do not give voluntarily to the constructive experiences of life, you will find yourself giving involuntarily to the destructive experiences of life - but give you must. It is the law of the universe.
Several friends were working together on a special project that lasted a week. Every night after work on this project, they would go out together to eat. Three of these people took turns paying for the evening meals. The fourth one did not offer to pay for anything.
After concluding this special work project, on their last night together, they decided to dine out in special celebration. Again the fourth member of the group paid for nothing, though she enjoyed a lavish meal in beautiful surroundings. On the way home that night, she discovered that she had lost about $50 in cash. Some prized jewelry she had been wearing was also missing. She had quickly proved the law: Hold back and it will be withheld, even taken, from you.
WHY THE HEBREW PRIESTS WERE MILLIONAIRES
That Melchizedek was not only a King but a priest of great wealth has prosperous significance. In ancient times the priests were millionaires because the people gave their tithes to the priests, who then gave a "tithe of the tithe" to the place of worship. Wealth was considered a necessity for the priesthood because it freed them to devote their time to the development of their own spirituality and that of their followers.
Also the people of ancient times felt they should give to a consciousness of prosperity rather than to a consciousness of lack and need, if they wished to continue in their own prosperity. They knew that "nothing succeeds like success" and (Matthew 13:12) "For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away." They felt it was necessary for their priests and spiritual leaders to be lavishly prospered, not only so that they might be freed of material care, but also that they might continue sharing a prosperity consciousness with their followers. This is why the Levite priests of the Old Testament were later given none of the Promised Land. That rich legacy went to the other 11 tribes of Israel. Instead, the Levite priestly tribe was given tithes of all of the Promised Land!
Freedom from material care is still essential to the development of your deeper powers. Keeping the law of giving and receiving is still recognized as a great step in your spiritual development.
As you use the mystical law of tithing, don't apologize for the prosperity and success that begins to flow to you. Don't apologize even when you become a millionaire! There are enough riches available to make every person a millionaire without injury to another. There are enough prosperity laws available for man's use to make every person a millionaire, without depleting anyone else.
Of course, there is also a plentiful supply of poverty for those who ignorantly want it. Those who ignore the inner laws of prosperity that were used by the millionaires of Genesis will continue to reap a harvest of limitation. However, as you use the mystical law of prosperity you will surely reap its rich benefits.
For this purpose declare often: "I no longer strain and strive. I tithe and thrive. As I freely give my tenth to God, I reap a hundredfold increase."
SCRIPTURE: Genesis 14:20; Malachi 3:10-11; Matthew 13:12
REFERENCE: The Millionaires of Genesis by Catherine Ponder
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Last updated
July 17, 2007
