A Heart That Gives

Introduction

Find Genesis 14

I am talking this morning about tithing.

What is a tithe?

The word “tithe” literally means “tenth.” So, in the context of the Bible and in the context this message, I am talking to you about giving 10% of the money you make, faithfully to God, week after week, through the local church.

Hold Your Wallet!

There was a preacher who was telling the story about attending his first professional baseball game. His daddy was a tight wad. But His daddy knew that he loved baseball, and in an act of love, he saved enough money to get a ticket. He even saved enough money to go to the concession stand!

The preacher said that as he was walking back with his footlong hotdog, his eyes gazing on that delicious tubed meat, cased in that synthetic tubing, covered in ketchup and mustard, his daddy said, “Hey! Watch out!” Concerned for his hotdog, he said, “What daddy?” His daddy said, “You see that man over there?” The preacher said he looked up and saw a man he thought would be a hotdog thief, but now as and adult thinking back, he recognized the man to be a priest.

He said to his daddy, “Dad, why do I need to watch out for that man? Is he after my hotdog?” His daddy said, “No son, but it’s men like that who make it hard for people to buy hotdogs, because all they want is your money.”

Whether you tithe or you do not tithe, I have no idea.

I also need to be clear that tithing is an elementary principle of the faith. If you do not tithe, you can never be considered a mature believer. If we have a deacon here that doesn’t tithe, they ought not be deacons. If I don’t tithe, I ought not pastor. If you don’t tithe, you ought never consider yourself for leadership, because tithing is one of the most basic disciplines of the faith.

Where is tithing in the New Testament?

Some people use this line of thinking, they’ll say that tithing is an Old Testament concept, and that it isn’t mentioned anywhere in the New Testament, therefore, they shouldn’t have to tithe.

There are some problems with that thinking…

As we will discover today, tithing was a sign of adoration and worship long before the law of the Old Testament was established.

Why should God have to reestablish such a basic understanding of the faith when Jesus says that all of what the prophets taught were a sign of the things to come?

If the law of God, which could not save us, asks us to give 10%, how much more should we give under the grace of God?

This is where you might really dislike me, because I say that for a mature believer, giving 10% of what you bring home is just the beginning. As you mature in your faith, you’ll go from 10% to 11% to 12% and so on and so forth.

Now, I want to give you the backstory so you can understand what’s going on.

A. Lot Was Captured

There was a war that breaks out, and one of the men involved in this war was the King of Sodom. Sodom is where Lot lived. Lot was the nephew of the man named Abraham.

The King of Sodom is defeated, and Lot is taken captive. v. 13 tells us that some men escaped and came and told Abraham that Lot had been taken…so Abraham, along with three of his allies, go and attack the king that had beaten Sodom and taken Lot.

There, at the end of that battle is where we pick up in our text for today.

Read Genesis 14:18-24

I. The Choice to Tithe

After Abraham rescues Lot, there are two kings that approach him, the King of Sodom and the King of Salem. And right then, Abraham had to make a choice who he was going to make a deal with.

A. The King of Sodom

Genesis 14:17 NKJV

And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer (ka-door-la-oh-mare) and the kings who were with him.

The Bible tells us that the people of Sodom were exceedingly wicked. Now just imagine their king!

The place of Sodom represents everything that the world has to offer. Materialism, humanism, sexual perversion, frivolous spending, self-worship, and all manner of greed and drunkeness.

In v. 21, Abraham could have made a deal with this King, but he refused. He refused because he was a man dedicated to God and He wasn’t going to give himself over to the lusts of the world.

I know that this is where we are in our lives. We are all so tempted to indulge ourselves in the lifestyles of wicked kings and we will stop at nothing to get there. We will bring ourselves to financial ruin trying to keep up with the Jones’s.

It’s not that it’s wrong to be healthy and wealthy, it’s just that it’s wrong to make health and wealth the focus of our life and not the glory and honor of the Lord Jesus.

B. The King of Salem

Genesis 14:18 NKJV

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.

We don’t know much about this king except that the name “Salem” means “peace.” So Melchizedek was the King of Peace.

He is not the Lord Jesus but He is a picture and foreshadow of the Lord Jesus. Jesus is our High Priest in Heaven. He is, right now, praying for you, and praying for this church in the secret places of the heavens. The Bible tells us in v. 18 that Melchizedek was also priest of God Most High…

Hebrews 7:1–3 NKJV

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

This king, Melchizedek, was the opposite of the King of Sodom. The King of Sodom represented all that was wicked, and the King of Salem represented all that was holy.

When he came in contact with the King of Salem, Abraham knew this was the priest of God Most High, and Abraham gave 10%

Genesis 14:20 NKJV

And he gave him a tithe of all.

The bottom line is that we only have two choices in life. Either we are honoring the Lord, or we are chasing after the same things that the wicked chase after. Abraham made his choice, and he chose to give unto the Lord and to reject the blessings of the world…

II. The Motivations for His Tithe

After recognizing that Melchizedek represents all that is godly, we can see exactly what motivated Abram to give to Melchizedek instead of the King of Sodom.

A. The Motivation of God’s Grace

Genesis 14:18 NKJV

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.

Notice that the King of Salem brought out bread and wine. In the Bible, the bread is representative of body of our Lord Jesus. The wine is representative of His blood. There on the cross, in a might act of undeserved grace, the body of Jesus was broken for the satisfaction of God’s wrath. And the blood of Jesus was poured out as payment for the sins of the world.

When we observe the Lord’s Supper, what we are doing is we are reflecting on the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus made on our behalf, even when He didn’t have to. And the more I apprehend the love of God in my own life, the more wonderful the cross of Jesus becomes to me.

It’s because I can see the grace of God, that everything I have in my possession is something that I don’t even deserve. And when I consider the grace that God has shown me, it motivates me to give.

B. The Motivation of God’s Greatness

Genesis 14:19 NKJV

And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;

God is the possessor of Heaven and earth. When you get that truth down into your heart, you’ll understand that you don’t own anything but that God owns all of it.

How would you like God to do an audit of your financial life? Would you be ashamed to open the book and have God look at every dollar you spent? Well, news flash, He knows, and He knows because you are spending His money.

People get the wrong idea about God. They think that God takes His 10% and leaves the rest to you to do what you want with. No friend, He asks for 10% and then leaves the other 90% for you to manage. The hard truth that some of you need to swallow in your life is that you aren’t managing your money at all, you’re just living. Everything you do is because of impulse and nothing is because you are worshipping God as the possessor of heaven and earth.

C. The Motivation of God’s Goodness

Genesis 14:20 NKJV

And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”

We face all kinds of enemies in life. Sickness, doubt, lust, and all other kinds of sins…but God is good. And through the power of the cross He has delivered every enemy into our hands.

Now, if we serve a God that has conquered the whole world, and we serve a God that is unexplainably good, why exactly do we doubt that we can give Him 10%?

Friend, if there is ever a motivation to give unto God, it is because He is a Good Father.

Luke 12:24–26 NKJV

Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?

God is going to provide, because He is good, and because He is good, we can know that we can trust Him.

D. The Motivation to Give Unto The Glory of God

Genesis 14:21–24 NKJV

Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”

This is a man who relied totally on the grace and provision of God! Abraham says that he made a commitment to serve God and to rely on God alone. Did you know that you made the same commitment when you surrendered your life to the Lord Jesus? When you asked God to save you, what you were committing to was to be in complete surrender to Him.

It reminds me of when Jesus called the first disciples. The Bible says that when Jesus called Peter, James, Andrew, and John He said to them, “Follow Me.” And then the Bible says that they dropped their nets and followed Him. This means that they surrendered even their livelihood to God. From then on, they didn’t work simply to earn a profit, but they worked to bring glory to God, much like Abraham did. And God requires the same of us, total surrender.

III. The Heart From Which He Gave His Tithe

Abraham received a blessing from God in chapter 15, and by blood, God made a promise to Abraham that he would father a great nation.

When we talk about receiving a blessing through our giving to God, I want you to understand that just because you are faithful to give, doesn’t necessarily mean that God is going to give to you. But what I can promise you is that when you are faithful to give, God is going to produce something inside of you.

He is going to produce a new heart in you through giving…

A. A Heart of Generosity

What God is cultivating inside of you as you begin to faithfully give 10% is a heart that is heaven-bent on generosity.

Proverbs 11:25 NKJV

The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.

This is not necessarily a gain of material blessing. What the Bible is describing here is a heart that is fully alive. God is systematically, week after week, teaching you to be a giver instead of a taker. He is teaching you about His generosity. The Bible says that God is so generous, that He became poor so that we could be rich.

2 Corinthians 8:9 NKJV

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

Just a few verses later the Bible tells us that we shouldn’t do this…that we shouldn’t become poor to make others rich, but this is just an illustration.

What did God give? Friend, He gave everything. A God Who would give His perfect and beloved Son to a world of thieves and liars is a God Who gave everything. Not only did God give everything, but Jesus gave everything just so that He could be obedient to the Father. Jesus is there praying in the garden, and He knows that He is going to drink a cup filled with all the rape, plunder, murder, and lying in the entire world. And He is there, and the moment is so intense that streams of blood begin running down His cheeks. The King of Glory, the King that has all of the riches of Heaven is about to sacrificially give it, just to honor the Father.

Now, God is not asking you to give everything you have financially. He’s telling you that you ought to be giving 10%. And when you learn to give that 10%, you open the door to all kinds of generosity in your own life, because you’ll begin to learn some things.

You’ll learn that you can live on less than you make. Your heart will go from a heart that asks, “What can I get?” to a heart that asks, “What can I give?”

You’ll learn that generosity, and not consumption, is the secret to satisfaction and contentment.

The Greedy Land Owner

When you have an attitude of consumption, you have a heart like the greedy land owner. He was buying up all the land and running the other families off, and when they accused him of wanting all the land, he said, “I don’t want all the land, just the land that connects to mine!”

Some of you keep buying and buying and buying and you still feel empty because buying doesn’t satisfy. When you spend you only want to spend more because you realize how much you don’t have! But giving and living generously does satisfy, because instead of always thinking about how much you don’t have, you begin to consider how much you do have.

A heart of generosity means more than just financial generosity. What you’ll begin to notice is that you’re generous in every area of your life. You’ll be more generous with encouragement. You’ll be more generous with your time. You’ll be more generous in giving to and serving your spouse. You’ll all around be more generous when you live a life of intentional generosity. This is because your life goes from you being the center of the universe, to making God the focus and others the priority.

B. A Heart of Faith

What is required to give? Faith. We have to trust God. You cannot say that you really trust God if you won’t trust Him with a dime from a dollar.

Maybe you say, “It’s not God that I have a problem with trusting, it’s the place that I am giving it to.” Well, then pray in faith and ask God to remove those people Who are mismanaging His money…just be careful that He doesn’t take you out with them.

If you were to sit down and write out a budget…that means to go back through your bank statements and see what you spend and where… you’ll find out where your heart is at. You’ll find out how generous you really are.

I’m afraid that what you’ll find is..

That you aren’t being wise in your spending.

That you have room to cut back spending and be more generous.

That you’re trusting in stuff to make you happy and not the Lord.

The reason you’ll find that third thing to be true is that you’ll discover that you spend so much money on things you don’t need, and that you hardly give anything in comparison.

But you’ll never be able to admit that from a sermon, you need to go home and write it out, and see if it’s true. It’s the only way for you to know if you’re operating your life in selfishness or in generosity and faith.

C. A Heart that is Accepted

1. A Willing Mind

There are some preachers that don’t care what motivation you give with so long as you’re giving. But the only appropriate way to give is with a heart that is willing. If you give simply because you’re supposed to, or if you give because you’ve been emotionally manipulated and you feel bad for saying no, then the Bible says that your giving doesn’t even count!

2 Corinthians 8:12 NKJV

For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.

-This means that the dollar amount doesn’t matter, and that the willingness to give it is all that matters.

-Some people act like this in a church, “Well, I give the most money here, and I think this is the way things ought to go.” Friend, if that’s your attitude, this church doesn’t need or even want your money. There is not a single person in this church that is the financial provider of the church. God and God alone sends the increase, and we give Him the glory.

If there is a willing mind….then it is accepted. You could give $1million today, and if you do it begrudgingly, we’ll take it! It just won’t be accepted in the eyes of God.

2. Reaping Bountifully

I cannot promise you that God will make you rich if you give to Him generosity and in faith, but I can promise you that He’ll never make you rich unless you give to Him in generosity and in faith.

2 Corinthians 9:6 NKJV

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Again, I want to emphasize that this means giving financially, but it also means giving in encouragement and in friendship, and in all other areas of life. Something that is undeniably true is that the person who has the most friends is friendly to the most people. When we sow (scatter) sparingly in encouragement, in friendship, in financial giving, we will always reap sparingly. When we sow bountifully in encouragement, in friendship, and in financial giving, we will always reap bountifully.

3. Producing Fruit

Every time a person gets saved, every time we baptize, every time we host a fellowship meal, every time we feed a hungry child, the money you gave through the local church had something to do with that.

2 Corinthians 9:10 NKJV

Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,

God has supplied our church with everything that it needs. We have the right people for the work of the church, and we have the right people for the funding of the church. God has supplied seed to the sower, and He gives you His daily bread, so that through you, fruit is produced.

I don’t want you to withhold the seed that God has given to you, I want you to freely give it. Not for my sake, not for God’s sake, but for your sake.

God doesn’t need a provider, He is the provider.

I don’t have anything to do with the giving side or with my salary here at the church, I rely on God putting the right people on the finance team to have a heart to take care of my family.

But Friend, you need to begin to sow the seed that God has placed in your hand so that you can begin producing fruit in your life. A seed does no good unless it is planted.

Conclusion

I am not begging you to give. I am not trying to strong arm you into giving. If you give because you feel as though I am doing one of those two things, then you might as well not give, because it won’t count.

What I want from you today is to begin to trust God in a way that you have never trusted in Him before.

Some of you older saints, I want to tell you something, you think that this message doesn’t apply to you because you’ve been giving 10% all these years, well I am challenging you to give because of grace and not because of the law.

Those of you who are new to the faith, you go home, and you write out your bills, and you take an honest look at how you spend your money, and you get on your knees and you ask God to show you how to honor Him. I promise you that there is 10% there, if you’re honest.

For those of you in this room that aren’t a believer, don’t give your money. Keep it. What I’d rather you give to God today is your heart.