Week 3 | Honor God with the Tithe

We said: God Owns Everything and We Own Nothing. If you were not with us during these weeks, you can go to our website and find the series there. I said I was going to share with you in these five weeks, six principles. Today I want to deal with two of them together. They are the same. It simply says: Honor God with the Tithe and second, Bring the Full Tithe to the Storehouse!

We give time to what we deem as important, and we spend money on what we truly value. The prophet Malachi paints a dire picture of Israel. The people had returned from captivity, and the Temple had been rebuilt. Life looked as if it had gone back to normal. Yet, the prophet Malachi points out that the people were merely giving lip service to their faith. In fact, their worship was unacceptable to God because it was counterfeit. So, God rebukes them; chapter 2:

· God rebukes them because they do not love Him with a pure heart.

· God rebukes them because they do not offer to Him their best, but their leftovers.

· God rebukes them because they have profaned His name and His house.

· God rebukes them because they do not honor Him.

They were worshiping God, but their worship was counterfeit. So Malachi says for these reasons I call you to repent and return to God what is His, the tithe, the 10%. When you honor God with the tithe, you will discover the Lord our God is good! Honoring God with the tithe is going to take faith.

1. Faith PleasesGod. (Heb. 11: 6, 8)

The kind of faith that pleases God believes:

· God is who He says He is

· God can dowhat He says He can do.

2. Faith Gives To God At Least The First Ten Percent Of Everything. (Genesis 14:17-24)

The tithe predated the Law and was incorporated into the Law. In…

• GENESIS: The tithe was initiated before the Law

• LEVITICUS: The tithe was codified under the Law

• MALACHI: The tithe was restored following the exile

• MATTHEW AND LUKE: The tithe was reinforced by Jesus Matthew 23:23, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, and yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.” (CSB)

• HEBREWS: The tithe was universalized through Melchizedek. Going back to Genesis 14, it tells the story of Abraham gathering a force of fighters to bring back Lot. They defeated their foes, taking a large haul of booty. On the way back, Abraham encounters Melchizedek. Hebrews 7:1 says, “This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High.” Melchizedek is a “type” of Christ.

Three things happen when you practice tithing, giving the first tenth of all your income to the Lord:

a. You are putting God first in your life (Deut. 14:23)

b. You are setting your heart right before God (Matt. 6:21)

c. You are positioning your life to be blessed by the Lord. (Mal. 3:10)

God is faithful to His Word and to you. Because of God’s Faithfulness, how should you respond?

Giving the best to God sanctifies the rest! Give to God the best, the first ten percent.

God will be faithful to fulfill His promises.

God is faithful to His Word and to you. Now is the time to return, bring, test, and see! (Mal. 3:7-10)

God promises to open the windows, the floodgates of Heaven, and pour out upon you the blessings of God until there is no need. It is like God opens His heavenly ocean upon our lives… blessings and blessings!

This is undeniable! It is what God’s Word says!

Listen carefully: You cannot out give God!

Whatever I shovel out to God, He gives back to me, and His shovel is always bigger than mine!

Every time you give God the first ten percent of all He gives to you, God sanctifies, sets apart, and blesses the ninety percent.

Mali. 3:11 says that God will “rebuke the Devourer for your sake” on this earth.

· God rebukes the Devourer because we love Him with a pure heart.

· God rebukes the Devourer because we offer to Him their best, but their leftovers.

· God rebukes the Devourer because we do not profane His name and His house.

· God rebukes the Devourer because we honor Him.

You will discover the Lord our God is good!