Untitled Sermon (3)

RECLAIMING the POWER of FIRST FRUITS OFFERINGS – REVISED I

Supernatural Provision - Series

Proverbs 3:9-10 (NLT2) 9 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. 10 Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.

IT’S IMPORTANT to UNDERSTAND that FIRST FRUITS is a BIBLICAL PRINCIPLE that is PRACTISED and EMPHASISED THROUGHOUT the BIBLE. IT BEGINS in the ORIGINS of the BIBLE with FAITHFUL BELIEVERS like ABEL (in Genesis 4) and MOSES (in Exodus 23) & CONTINUES INTO the NEW TESTAMENT THROUGH the APOSTLE PAUL’S WRITINGS.

IT was MOSES WHO SAID, “As you harvest your crops, bring the very best of the first harvest to the house of the Lord your God.” (Exodus 23:19)

KING SOLOMON WROTE ABOUT IT TOO: “Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” (Proverbs 3:9-10)

FIRST FRUIT OFFERINGS are TYPICALLY an ANNUAL GIFT to the CHURCH DONE at “HARVEST TIME.” BECAUSE we’re NOT ACTUALLY HARVESTING CROPS, the HARVEST can MEAN DIFFERENT THINGS to DIFFERENT PEOPLE. PERHAPS YOU just GOT a BONUS at WORK.

THE PRINCIPLE of FIRST FRUITS is WHEN WE GIVE the FIRST and BEST of OUR FRUIT to GOD.

‘FRUIT’ in OUR MODERN DAY CONTEXT MEANS: INCOME, WEALTH and FINANCE. SO at the START of EACH YEAR, FAMILIES and INDIVIDUALS BRING a SPECIAL FINANCIAL OFFERING that GOES FAR BEYOND OUR NORMAL TITHING or OFFERINGS.

IT’S a SIGHT to BEHOLD EACH YEAR at NJWCLV, WHEN YOU SEE COUNTLESS PEOPLE GIVING EXTRAVAGANTLY to GOD. THE ATMOSPHERE BEGINS to CHARGE THROUGH JANUARY as WE FIX OUR EYES on GOD and LIVE in OBEDIENCE and FAITH. WE HEAR STORIES of SACRIFICE and GENEROSITY where PEOPLE GO ABOVE and BEYOND to BRING THEIR BEST.

HERE’S the AMAZING PART…

WHEN WE GIVE to GOD in OBEDIENCE and AFFECTION, HE GIVES BACK to US.

LET’S READ WHAT KING SOLOMON said AGAIN, “Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” (Proverbs 3:9-10)

GOD FILLS OUR LIVES to OVERFLOWING! AS a RESULT, GOD MOVES in POWERFUL and MIRACULOUS WAYS in SITUATIONS that ONLY HE could RESOLVE. WE HEAR of BREAKTHROUGH’S in HEALTH and FINANCE, RELATIONSHIPS and FAMILIES, CAREERS and MENTAL HEALTH.

LITERALLY WHEN PEOPLE PUT THEIR FAITH in GOD, GOD REVEALS HIS FAITHFULNESS to HIS PEOPLE.

CHILDLIKE TRUST

A frantic mother called her pastor one day. She was experiencing a bad case of “nerves” as so many of us do. He thought he heard a child’s voice while she was speaking, so he asked, “Is your child as upset and worried as you are?” “No, of course not,” she replied. “But why not?” persisted the pastor. “I suppose she puts her trust in me and lets me do the worrying,” she answered. “Then make a transference. Try to think of yourself as a child of God and, just as your child puts her trust in you, put your trust in God.”[1]

I. WHY DO WE BRING OUR FIRST FRUITS INTO THE CHURCH?

1. GOD ASKS US TO.

“As you harvest your crops, bring the very best of the first harvest to the house of the Lord your God…” (Exodus 23:19)

THE HOUSE of the LORD is the CHURCH; THAT’S US! IT’S ALSO a WONDERFUL THING to THINK that the CHURCH, WE are BUILDING TOGETHER is WHAT GOD CALLS “HIS HOUSE”. WHAT an HONOUR and a PRIVILEGE!

2. YOU’RE INVESTING BACK INTO YOUR HOME; YOUR SPIRITUAL FAMILY.

WHY WOULDN’T WE GIVE EXTRAVAGANTLY to OUR PEOPLE and OUR VISION. WE are AFTER ALL INVESTING in OUR CHILDREN and YOUNG PEOPLE, in OUR MEN and OUR WOMEN, the BROKEN WHO WALK THROUGH OUR DOORS and the DESPERATE WHO are TOUCHED by OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, and ALL the GENERATIONS and NATIONALITIES that CALL OUR CHURCH THEIR HOME.

THE CHURCH IS the VEHICLE by WHICH the WORLD is TRANSFORMED and this INCLUDES the NEIGHBOURHOODS where WE LIVE, WORSHIP and the PEOPLE WE WORK ALONGSIDE. OUR GIVING GOES BACK INTO the COMMUNITY WE BELONG TO.

WHO SPREADS the LOVE of GOD around LAS VEGAS. WE DO, the CHURCH. WHO BLESSES the POOR and HELPS the BROKEN FIND HEALING? WE DO. WHO SHAPES the NEXT GENERATION in the WAYS of CHRIST? WE DO! WHY WOULDN’T WE BRING the FIRST and BEST of OUR FRUIT INTO the HOUSE?

II. WHAT DOES FIRST FRUITS MEAN TO THE GIVER?

WE’VE ALREADY LOOKED at the ORIGINS of FIRST FRUITS in the BIBLE and WHY WE BRING this SPECIAL OFFERING INTO the CHURCH but NOW LET’S TURN OUR ATTENTION to WHAT FIRST FRUITS MEANS to the GIVER (TO US).

1. WE are MAKING a STATEMENT for the YEAR.

FIRST FRUITS is NOT a NEW YEARS RESOLUTION; IT’S a DECLARATION. IT’S WHEN WE SPEAK LIFE OVER OUR FUTURE and OUR SITUATION. WE SAY the TIME to COME, “God will win and so will I.

I AM PLANTING MY ROOTS in GOD’S SOIL and HE is MY PROVIDER.”

WE PROPHECY to the FUTURE: “WATCH OUT, WORRY, and STEP ASIDE, SELFISHNESS, FORGET ABOUT IT, FEAR, YOU NO LONGER HAVE a PART in GOD’S DESTINY for ME. THIS YEAR I PUT MY FAITH in the GOD WHO SETS ME FREE. IT’S MY TIME and IT’S MY TURN.”

THESE are POWERFUL STATEMENTS WE make OVER OUR LIVES at the START of the YEAR! IN 2021 WE are EMPOWERING the CHURCH to BELIEVE for the INNUMERABLE ABUNDANCE of GOD’S PLAN for YOUR LIFE and BE OBEDIENT to HIM as YOU WALK.

2. WE are STARTING as WE MEAN to GO ON.

WE BEGIN the YEAR in FAITH. WE DON’T PLACE OUR TRUST in ANYTHING BECAUSE GOD is INFALLIBLE and UNCONDITIONAL. WE SET OUT OUR STALL and WE POSITION OURSELVES UNDER GOD’S BANNER of PROTECTION and LOVE.

WHAT are YOU PLACING YOUR FAITH in this YEAR? ARE SETTING ALL YOUR HOPES on a RELATIONSHIP or POTENTIAL BUSINESS DEAL, or WHAT ABOUT a MYSTERIOUS YET HOPEFUL TAX REBATE? IT’S PERFECTLY NORMAL to PUT OUR TRUST in THINGS that SURROUND US but EVERYTHING OTHER than GOD is FALLIBLE and FRAIL, it BECOMES WEAK and is SUBJECT to CHANGE.

I RATHER PUT MY FAITH in the GOD. OUR GOD MADE US and KNOWS US. HE LOVES US and HE is OUR PROVIDER. HE KNOWS ALL and SEES ALL. IT MAKES SENSE to PLACE OUR FAITH in HIS ETERNAL GRACE.

WE are NOT WALKING this YEAR in OUR OWN STRENGTH and OUR OWN LIMITATION. WE are STARTING the YEAR PUTTING OUR FAITH in the RIGHT PLACE and POSITIONING OURSEVES UNDER the ABUNDANCE of OUR HEAVENELY FATHER. I PUT MY TRUST in a GOD WHO RECEIVES the FIRST FRUITS and BLESSES the REST.

Matthew 6:33 “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.” Jesus Christ

3. WE are SETTING UP the HARVEST.

KING SOLOMON TELLS US, WHEN WE GIVE OUR FIRST FRUITS, OUR ‘BARNS WILL BE FILLED TO OVERFLOWING’ AND OUR ‘VATS WILL BRIM OVER WITH NEW WINE’ (PROVERBS 3:10).

IMAGINE a HARVEST BEING MORE than YOUR CURRENT CONTAINERS can HANDLE.

LET’S NOT MAKE this ABOUT MONEY EITHER. LET’S SEE GOD for WHO HE IS: THE LORD of EVERYTHING!

AS GIVERS, WE are SETTING UP a HARVEST of GOD’S GRACE in ANY AREA of LIFE. THIS MIGHT MEAN the RESTORATION of YOUR MENTAL HEALTH or PHYSICAL HEALTH, this MIGHT BE a RELATIONAL ISSUE or STRUGGLES with OTHERS, or YOUR WORK or NEIGHBOURHOOD.

THE FOURFOLD PURPOSE OF FIRST FRUITS OFFERINGS

THE FIRST FRUITS OFFERINGS were GIVEN from WHAT were CALLED “the SEVEN FAVORED FRUITS of ISRAEL.” THE SEVEN FRUITS were BARLEY, WHEAT, FIGS, GRAPES, POMEGRANATES, DATES, and OLIVES. UNLIKE the TITHE, FIRST FRUITS OFFERINGS were CALCULATED and GIVEN BEFORE the HARVEST, NOT FOLLOWING the HARVEST. THE FIRST FRUITS OFFERINGS were “dedicated to the expression of heartfelt, thanks for God’s bounty and the presentation of the beginning of one’s harvest to Him.”

THE FIRST FRUITS OFFERINGS were BROUGHT with GREAT CELEBRATION in ANTICIPATION of GOD’S PROVISION of a COMING BOUNTIFUL HARVEST. THE CEREMONY was SPIRITUALLY ELEVATING and EVERYONE FELT DEEP REVERENCE, AWE, and JOY as THEY REALIZED IT is THE HOLY ONE ALONE WHO is the SOURCE of ALL BLESSING.”

THE PURPOSE of the FIRST FRUITS OFFERING was FOURFOLD:

I. IT HONORED GOD as the SOURCE of ALL BLESSING;

A Higher Honor

When an important building was about to be erected, a certain artist begged to be permitted to make one of the doors. If this could not be permitted, he asked that he might make one little panel of one of the doors. Or if this, too, were denied him, he craved that he might at least be permitted to hold the brushes for the artist to whom the honor of doing work should be awarded. If so small a part in a work of earth were esteemed so high a privilege, it is a far higher honor to have even the least share with Christ in His great work of human redemption.

II. IT SANCTIFIED the REMAINING PART of the HARVEST by BRINGING the HARVEST UNDER GOD’S AUTHORITY;

III. IT ASSURED that the COMING HARVEST would BE EXCEEDINGLY BOUNTIFUL;

IV. IT DEMONSTRATED that the GIVER could be TRUSTED in the STEWARDSHIP of the RESULTING WEALTH. (Romans 11:16; Proverbs 3:9-10).

Absolute Trust

Dr. J. R. Miller says: “It is often given as a wonderful proof of confidence in a friend that once when the great Grecian emperor, Alexander, was ill, it was told to him in a letter that his physician intended to give him poison under the form of medicine. The emperor put the note under his pillow. The physician came, poured out the potion, and gave it to him. The emperor looked his friend full in the face, drank the contents of the goblet, then handed him the letter. It was a beautiful trust. We are to have similar confidence in the will of Christ for us. We are never to doubt His love nor His wisdom.”[i]

DO the FIRST FRUITS OFFERINGS have ANY PRESENT MEANING and CURRENT APPLICATION for the BELIEVER TODAY? YES, WITHOUT A DOUBT.