The Law of First

Welcome everyone!

Announce Nancy Meyer’s birthday!!

Mention about how every Sunday, the building that we meet in, is locked and secured by a team of individuals who monitor the doors going out and in via cameras, as well as walk the building and check the doors to ensure that they are locked and secure. They also walk the building during the service and make sure that you and your children (both kids church as well as the nursery) are safe and secure for your peace of mind and safety)! This all being said, we need some more volunteers to help with the surveillance team. This can be men and women, as we need some to monitor the cameras from the sound booth room and others to walk the facility and check the integrity and safety of the building!

If you have your Bible with you this morning, or if you’re using a tablet or smartphone, would you please turn with me to the same passage that we opened up with last Sunday and that we read together. That passage was Proverbs 3:1-12. Now, everyone please stand with me and let’s read our declaration together, before we engage in the Word together.

“This is my Bible. I believe that this book and every word found within it are truly the living, breathing Words of almighty God! I know and believe that when I speak the words written in this book over my life and over my family, that I am literally bringing the authority and power of heaven into the midst of our lives and into whatever situation may be taking place. I believe that Jesus the Christ, is the Son of the living God and that He is the living, breathing Word of God! The Word of God is life, it is love, and it is power! This book was written with me in mind! Thank you God for your Word! Amen!”

Now, as you remain standing, we are going to do our cooperative reading of God’s perfect Word together. I will start with the first verse and then you will all read together the next verse and we shall repeat this until we read through verse 12. Is everyone turned to Proverbs 3:1-12?

Proverbs 3:1–12 ESV

1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, 2 for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. 3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. 9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; 10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. 11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, 12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

LEAD OFF IN PRAYER FOR THE MESSAGE, FOR THE CONDITION OF THIS NATION AND FOR THE LORD TO BE GLORIFIED THROUGH US AND ALL THAT WE DO!!

YOU MAY BE SEATED!

Let me ask everyone a question this morning. How many of you like to be in 1st place when it comes to life events?

Like for instance, when you’re competing in an athletic event, or when you’re playing a board game, or even if it’s something like entering into a contest or the lottery of whatever the situation may be. How many of you like the idea of coming out in 1st place?

I think that most of us, even if it’s less of an issue than it may be with others, most of us like the thoughts of ending up in 1st place, right?

We are not, as a whole, a society that is reared to want or desire less than first place.

And over the past decades, there has been a strong move in fostering the mindset of, the “top dog”, the “head honcho”, “numero uno”.

We reward those who push to the top and with no regard to those they stepped on to get there.

I remember playing on a church softball team years ago in Chattanooga, when I was around 23-24 years old.

We were a church team, but we played in an inner city modified softball league, which meant that most of the time, we were playing against businesses and other secular based teams.

What I remember about that time was how much you couldn’t tell the difference between our team and the others on the field.

And after the games, if we lost, there was obvious vented frustration and anger and even at times, anger vented out to the opposing team!

Losing was not at all a popular subject!

The simple point is that losing, or not being in first place, “number one”, is not an option for a lot of people.

Now I know that there is a competitive side in many people and that is not a bad thing, as it drives people to achieve and excel in whatever they are working at.

It is a known fact that “game night” at the Palmer house can be intense and challenging, because we have some competitors in our house and it shows!

But moving beyond just competitive, I want to point out the more impacting mindset of “having to be first in life” and always wanting the top seat, the top position, being in the limelight all of the time.

That is, the mindset of, “me, me, me” all of the time!

How many of you are familiar with the term, or the phrase, the “Me Generation”? If you were born in the time frame of around 1946 to 1964, then you were in the group called the..........the “Baby Boomers”, right?

Well, in the 1970’s, this group was named the “Me Generation”, or as depicted upon the cover of New York magazine, as the “Me Decade”. And the understanding was that this generation was self-absorbed and looking out only for their own interests. Something that was fueled by the growth in the American industry and increase in the national economy and more opportunities for growth. (And also the explosion of media and technology starting to advance in the home.)

Well, fast forward, skipping a generation, my generation, the “Gen x” generation, and you arrive to the “gen y”, or the “millenials” generation, which is those who were born somewhere between 1981-1996.

Time magazine, in May of 2013, published a very popular edition that year, entitled, “Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation”.

The reasoning behind this, was large in part driven by the narcissistic mindset of so many, and this mindset had been fueled by several factors.

Homes where both parents worked and thus less true parental and structural guidance was a huge issue.

This being replaced by the advent of the digital media age and 24/7 access to the world wide webb, but especially the social media craze that had begun and the mass explosion of the smartphone era!

Selfies and one’s perceived image on the social media platforms, became the all important status symbol.

You now had multiple platforms to go between and with which you would work feverishly to increase your ratings and likes and friends status and thus you could create an image of yourself and be seen exactly how you wanted to be seen by the world!

It seemed to be narcissism on steroids!

Now in fairness to the millennials, they were a bi-product of what we gave them and where this nation was heading.

We are quick to point out that whenever you see them, they are always looking down at their smart devices and brooding over what’s going on around them social media.

But, if you go all the way back to the 1940’s and a series of photos done by Stanley Kubrick, you will find one of particular interest, entitled, “riding the subway”, in which Mr Kubrick shows a subway car full of younger adults, on their way to work and everyone of them had their heads looking down and buried in the daily newspaper, which was their prime media source at that time!

The overall point here is that “self image” and “self importance” have been exalted and a quasi-narcissistic society had exploded.

And this same sort of thing has infiltrated the church world as well!

Last year, a book came out entitled, “When Narcissism Comes To Church” and it was written by an author named, Chuck DeGroat. Part of what this book dealt with, was the huge issue of pastors, preachers, leaders in the church world, who were full blown narcissists.

And you have seen a lot of this over the last few years, as some of the mega church pastors have flaunted and paraded around showing off their wealth with really expensive sports cars and wearing $5,000 sneakers and $750 pants and holding $1,900 Gucci bags!

These were people who loved the social media raves and the attention that they were getting and doing it all in the name of Jesus!

In other words, where I am going right now, this morning, is that the understanding of having to be number one and having a prideful heart and aspiring to be seen that way, is not new, but it has been fueled over the past decades within this nation and around the world as well!

You can see this very progression within the seven letters to the seven churches that our Lord Jesus had the apostle John, write while he was exiled to the isle of Patmos.

In those letters, as you read through them, you will begin to see traces of the departure from Christ and His Word and His will for His body.

You see love being walked away from within His body. You see works being exalted, while devotion to God and His Word, being over looked.

Sin, including sexual sins, where allowed into the churches and not addressed and removed by the preachers and leadership of the churches.

And in fact were embraced by them!

False teachings of the gospel message were spreading throughout churches.

And the finality of it, is the seventh church at Laodicea, where Jesus has this to say to this body, “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”

In other words, pride and the narcissistic mind set of “me first” and “self- reliance” had infiltrated the church.

And it is still present in the modern day church, unfortunately!

So, this morning, we are going to start looking at what I am calling, the “Law of First”. And what I am wanting to achieve in this message, or series of messages, depending on the leading of Holy Spirit and where He leads me in the Word of God, is that many, if not most of us will place the Lord God, exactly where He is supposed to be in our lives..............and that is FIRST!!!!!

I know that my saying to you that God is to be first in your life, seems redundant and that you will say that you already know that, but to many of us, I cannot say all of us, but to many of us, if you look closely, you will begin to see those areas in your personal lives, where something, or someone else has been placed in the driver’s seat and God is co-pilot at best and in the backseat at worst, in your life in those areas.

And it should NEVER be that way!

Over the past couple of Sundays, I spoke to you about trusting in the Lord at all times and I based it upon the book of I Samuel and situation of Saul becoming king of Israel, right?

And I was going to begin to share with you about the rise of King Saul and parallel that to our own lives today.

But in the midst of reading on it and of what took place in Saul’s life, I felt a shift in my spirit was to where I was to go, for the time being.

If you look at Saul’s life, from when he was called to be king and thereafter, you will see a progression starting to take place.

Saul was not depicted as prideful in the beginning of his account in the Bible.

In fact, he was shown as more obedient and submissive to his father and that of his family at that time, than anything.

The Bible shows that Saul dodged and tried to stay out of the “lime-light”, when the opportunity arose, verses clawing tooth and nail and trying to get into it.

But as Saul rises in power, something noticeable begins to manifest in his role as king and leader.

In I Samuel 13, you see pride and arrogance showing up in the decisions that Saul was making.

Saul, after hearing that his son Jonathan, had defeated a garrison of the Philistine army, blew the trumpet and thus sounded the alarm and made everyone aware that he, Saul, had defeated the Philistine army himself!

And then later in that same chapter, while hiding in fear from the Philistines, Saul became impatient and no longer waiting on God and the prophet Samuel as he was instructed to, Saul took it upon himself to operate as the priest and offer the burnt offering to the Lord, himself!

This was beginning of the end for Saul and it showed that his pride and self-serving attitude were taking over, versus his reliance upon the Lord.

Saul had removed God from being number one in his life and instead placed himself in that key position!

And in reality, it’s not hard to do the same thing in our lives today, if we are not careful and if we are not keeping our eyes and our hearts attuned to God and His Word for our lives and if we are no longer seeking and willing to listen to God’s Holy Spirit in or lives!

Self will always begin to take over in our hearts if we are not careful.

This is the very thing that Paul warns us of in Romans 7, where he speaks of the reality of sin and our flesh warring against our spirit each and every day!

And so, we are going to take a look at how God established His relationship with His people and what He required of them as well as of us today, when it comes to having a relationship with Him!

And let me just go ahead give you the Cliff Notes version of what is said in the Bible and how it reads for our lives................God is to ALWAYS (EVERYONE SAY “ALWAYS”), God is ALWAYS to be first in our lives and in all things for or lives!!!!!!

When you read in the Old Testament throughout the laws given through Moses, to the nation of Israel, you will begin to see a theme and a word showing up in these laws.

Listen to just a couple of passages and see if you can pick out the word that I am referring to.

Exodus 13:1-2, says, “The Lord said to Moses, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

Exodus 23:19 says, “The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.”

Numbers 15:19-21, “and when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall present a contribution to the Lord. Of the first of your dough you shall present a loaf as a contribution; like a contribution from the threshing floor, so shall you present it. Some of the first of your dough you shall give to the Lord as a contribution throughout your generations.”

The passage that we started off reading together, Proverbs 3:9-10, “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”

Do you see the common word and theme in these few verses?

“FIRST”.........God was requiring the people to put Him first in their lives, through their gifts and offerings!

Here’s another one for you, in Leviticus 27:30 we read, “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.”

Where do you see the word “FIRST” in that verse?

The word “tithe” as used here literally means a “tenth”.

So, where do you get the word “first” from tenth, you might ask?

Well, it is the tenth that God requires that makes the difference.

If I have $1,000 in my hand right here, in the form of 10, $100 bills, and I want to calculate my “tithe”, my tenth, off of it to give to the Lord, how do I go about that? (AND PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM USING AN IMAGINARY VISUAL FOR THIS ONE!!! I DON”T ACTUALLY HAPPEN TO HAVE $1,000 AT MY DISPOSAL!)

Well, if my tithe is a tenth, that is the same as 10% in modern math, correct? (I know that MATH is a really dirty word to a lot of you, but it is necessary in life and by the way, God loves math and numbers and exact measurements! It’s all in His Word!)

So, what is a tenth, or 10% of $1,000?

Right, it’s $100. So, back to original question, where do you get the word, “first” at from this example?

Because, God is to receive that very “FIRST” 10% of your gain, or in our case, He would receive the very “FIRST” $100 that you count out off of your $1,000!

Not the middle $100, or the last $100 that you received and count out, but rather, He is to receive the FIRST of this!

Too many of us say that we put God first in our lives, but our actions dictate and say something completely different!

Let me ask you a question, when you are paying your bills each week, each month, where is God at in your order of where the money goes?

In other words, when you’re allocating where you are going to be sending your money and who gets the money first, where is God at in your decision making?

Is He waiting in line behind others whom you deem of greater necessity first, before Him?

Maybe you don’t really honestly think about it that way, but rather, you just look at bills that you owe and start writing out your checks in order of when they are due, or sending it electronically. (You see young people, years ago, we used to use these paper items known as checks to send money!!

But my point is this. God is supposed to be and should be the first check that you write out, as you give Him your tithe, before you give to all of the others!

And for those of you who cling to the whole, “Well, we are no longer under the law and thus, we are no longer under the obligation of tithing to the Lord”, let me say this.

The concept of giving the first and the best of what we have and of giving a “tithe” to the Lord, existed long before the Law of Moses was ever given!

The very first three accounts of giving to the Lord and that of giving a tenth to the Lord, existed way before the Law was ever given and put into place!

In fact, it was through the law of firstfruits and that of the firstborn, that God was building the greatest blessing the world has ever seen!

I’ll come back to that one.

In Genesis 14, we read of Abraham, after having just defeated five kings and their armies, with just 318 men (talk about God coming through for you), Abraham was met by Melchizedek.

This is what the Bible says in Genesis 14:17-24,

Genesis 14:17–24 ESV

17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. 21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24 I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”

Now, did you see it? Abram gave a tenth to the King and priest, Melchizedek, before it was ever demanded.

Melchizedek was a very important direct agent of the Lord God on earth. We don’t know a lot about him, accept that he was the king of Salem (Shalom, which is to say, he was the king of “peace”) and that he was the priest of God most high, before their were ever priests established by the law through God.

Many believe that this was a Christophany, that is, Christ coming to the earth, but the author of Hebrews says this of king Melchizedek in Hebrews 7:1-3,

Hebrews 7:1–3 ESV

1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

He “resembled” the Son of God, is what is says. Not that he was the same as the Son of God. (That word for resembling in the Greek, literally means to be made like, or similar to.)

So, the point being, Abram gave a full tenth of everything from the spoils of the battle (a tenth of everything that took from these 5 kings and their armies from all of the nations that they were ravaging!)

Abram gave the tenth, the first fruits to the Lord God, through His servant king Melchizedek, before there existed a law saying to!

So, the giving to God first and of the first tenth, was in place before any law was there to mandate it!

Let’s go back real quick to the very first recorded offering to God, in Genesis 4:1-7,

Genesis 4:1–7 ESV

1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

Why did God not accept Cain’s offering?

I mean, couldn’t we just take the stance and assume that God is God and therefore He can do anything?

Well, it is true that God is God and He is all powerful and able to do anything, except, He can never go against His own nature!

So, next week, we are going to look at why God did not accept Cain’s offering and also talk more about God and His plan, through the firstfruits and the firstborn, bringing the greatest blessing the world has ever known!

All that I want you focusing on for today and throughout this week, is this: “Is God first in my life?”