Covenant Connector

Malachi 3:6–18 NIV

6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty. 13 “You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the Lord. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ 14 “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? 15 But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’ ” 16 Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. 17 “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

1. Our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever

God does not change

We are destroyed for lack of knowledge

Hosea 4:6 NIV84

6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.

We need to know

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Deuteronomy 8:18 NIV84

18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

God is a covenant keeper

You are able to make money because God is keeping His covenant

He does not change

2. Don’t mistake a command with a suggestion

Proverbs 3:9–10 NIV

9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

This is a command not a suggestion

When you honor someone or something, you treat them with special distinction and respect

We must Honor God

1 Samuel 2:30 NIV84

30 “Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and your father’s house would minister before me forever.’ But now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.

God knows how to take care of you

We must learn to take care of His House

3. Repent and get a clean slate

God is offering you an way to start fresh

Bring the whole tithe and offering into His house

Deuteronomy 26:14 NIV84

14 I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God; I have done everything you commanded me.

Don’t give to dead things

Time to return to God

The tithe is the minimum you should give, it is your starting point

You want to get right with God, start with the tithe

4. Tithe and offerings open the windows of heaven

Leviticus 27:3 NIV84

3 set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel;

Leviticus 27:30 NIV84

30 “ ‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.

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It has been reported that less than 20% of Christians (church going Christians) tithe

That is part of the reason why the Church doesn’t experience miracles

That is part of the reason why churches are struggling to build God’s Houses

That is part of the reason why so many Levites are working a secular job instead of ministering in God’s House

That is part of the reason why so many Levites leave the ministry because they don’t get paid

What would Jesus Do?

Would He go to a bank to ask for money to build God’s temple?

Imagine Jesus waiting in a lobby waiting for a loan officer to call His name to see if He qualifies for a loan

Jesus said to give Caesar what is Caesar’s and Give God what is God’s (Command not a suggestion)

A tithe of everything

All your increase

You can’t make a decision about the tithe, it is not yours

You can’t make plans with the tithe, it is not yours

You have to give the tithe to the church (house) where you are fed

Don’t eat the tithe

Adam and Eve ate themselves out of the presence of God

Tithing is a privilege

Satan can’t touch you when you tithe

Results of tithing: protection, revelation, wisdom, miracles, strength, and success

Would He go to a bank to ask for money to build God’s temple?

Imagine Jesus waiting in a lobby waiting for a loan officer to call His name to see if He qualifies for a loan

5. The law of seedtime and harvest

5. The law of seedtime and harvest

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Genesis 8:22 NIV84

22 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

The law of sowing and reaping

It’s the law

God will do what He said

If you sow, you will reap

What you sow, you reap

You can’t sow into the flesh and expect a spiritual harvest

It’s the law

You sow in the spirit, you will get a spiritual harvest

It’s the law

God knows what you are sowing (partial tithe is still stealing)

Don’t stop what you give, complete what you give

Your sacrifice doesn’t start until the tithe is met

The sacrifice moves God

The tithe is the covenant connector (God remembers His Promise)

Honor God and He will honor you

People will know that you are God’s because you will be blessed

Your children will be blessed

God has done it

God still does it

God will still do it