The Power of Tithing and Offering Together

Message Goal

This sermon will help people to understand the necessity of the tithe and offering and how they will bring a refreshing to their lives.

(1) At the amount of money he has for the Lord’s work,

(2) At the deepening of his spiritual life in paying the tithe and giving offering,

(3) At the ease in meeting his own obligation with the nine-tenths, and the generosity of going be-owned the tithe

(4) At the ease in going from one-tenth to a larger percentage,

(5) At the preparation this gives to be a faithful and wise steward over the nine-tenths remaining,

(6) At himself for not adopting the plan sooner!

Introduction

Ask yourself a deep soul-searching question, "if I truly gave a tenth of my increases to God's Church, could life get much better fro you? What about my offerings, if I truly gave sacrificially, would my life be profoundly affected in a positive way like the bible declares? If you never truly tithe or sacrificially offer to God what is rightfully His your life will be adversely effected,it will not get better also God is not pleased! Life will change for you in more ways then you can count in a very positive way; Tithing and offerings will surprise you, the Christian who tithes and give offerings will be surprised:

(1) At the amount of money he has for the Lord’s work,

(2) At the deepening of his spiritual life in paying the tithe and giving offering,

(3) At the ease in meeting his own obligation with the nine-tenths, and the generosity of going be-owned the tithe

(4) At the ease in going from one-tenth to a larger percentage,

(5) At the preparation this gives to be a faithful and wise steward over the nine-tenths remaining,

(6) At himself for not adopting the plan sooner! your heart changes, your ways changes; your lifestyle changes, your thinking change all for the good! When you put into action the power of paying what you owe God

Text: Mal 3:8-10

8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!” You ask: “How do we rob You?” “By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions. 9 You are suffering under a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me. 10 Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way,” says the Lord of Hosts. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure. 11 I will rebuke the devourer f for you, so that it will not ruin the produce of your land and your vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the Lord of Hosts. 12 “Then all the nations will consider you fortunate, for you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of Hosts.

Context

This was not the first question God asked the priest, nor is it the first question the priest asked the LORD!

The prophet Malachi had a very difficult ministry which was to address the priest of that day with very pronouncement of God.The priest and the community lost an admiral amount of respect for God, there fear (reverence) seem to have all but depleted! Probably if you were to ask the average church goer today if the they had a deep respect for God, they would say most certainly without hesitation. However, we must put on our observation spectacles, we would see a mis alignment between their words and action. These church goers of Malachi day had lost all respect for God and it took God to exposed this very truth through the hand of His Prophet (the preacher). Their lives were erroding and erroding quikly

, “I have loved you,” says the Lord.“Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’

, "6 “A son honors his father,And a servant his master. If then I am the Father Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts To you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’

They had strayed away from the one who raised them( Ex 20:12 Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Pv 30: , "11 There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother. )

Instead of giving God their best sacrificial offerings as He required, they found no problem giving their lame!

Dute 15:21 But if there is a defect in the animal, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.

Ezk 22:26 Her priests do violence to My instruction and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they do not explain the difference between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

7 “You offer defiled food on My altar, But say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’ By saying, ‘The table of the Lord is contemptible.’ 8 And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil?

They even questioned God in a very disrespectful manner about the sacrificial offerings!

Points

Tithe and Offerings

Vs.8, "“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!” You ask: “How do we rob You?” “By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions.

How do we today rob You?

This question was asked in a totally ignorant manner, these people simply was not taught! when the priest should have instructed them as they were instructed by the LORD,

But you ask: How do we rob you? This demand for a reason or motivation is apparently not meant as sheer rhetoric, but suggests a frame of mind which reveals a shocking unawareness of the transgressions. The background of this “ignorance” is apparently the failure of the priests to give true instruction in the law (2:6, 8), and therefore the people are destroyed from lack of knowledge (). It is God’s desire for us to know the basic meaning of the tithe and offering.

What is The Tithe

See . Each year, Israelites donated one-tenth from their crops and vineyards to the sanctuary. The practice of giving one-tenth of one’s possessions was known from the patriarchal narratives (; ). The tithe went to support the Levites, who in turn had to tithe to the priests ().

What about Today:

Many say that , “you will not find the tithe in the new testament! I found the tithe mentioned eight times, Hebrews alone mentioned it five times.

If Everybody Tithe: If the Protestant people of America alone were tithing their income we could easily evangelize the entire world and put a copy of the Bible into the hands of every heathen on earth inside of ten years. According to government statistics, we are spending annually in this country six hundred dollars for luxuries for every dollar we spend for missions. We spend in America more for tobacco in a single year than both the United States and Canada have spent for missions since white man discovered America.—Oscar Lowery

What is the Offering

If Everybody Tithe in this church alone heres what would happen

The Power of Not Giving

Could it be said that because of lack of tithing and giving of lame offering we worsen our surroundings on a personal level and in our church?

Lets look and the principle of not giving

Lets look at what if you do began to tithe

What happens to your church when you do not tithe and give offering that at pleasing to God?

The Power of Giving

What was it that God said would occure if they tithe and gave their best sacrificial offerings?

What does it mean to open up the windows heaven

What does it mean to pour you out blessing that you cannot containe

The righteous can not afford to withhold giving, to do so can cause one to struggle to live!

Challenge:

Test God's word by giving Him His Tithes

Test God's Word by giving Him our Best Offering

Test God's Word by giving to God's Kingdom

Conclusion: