Tithes Explained: Kingdom Investment

Invocation

The Lord is in His Holy Temple.

Let all the Earth keep silent before him.

I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the House of the Lord.

Our feet shall stand within Thy gates Oh Jerusalem.

Song- My Tribute (Tremaine Hawkins)

How can I say thanks For the things You have done for me? Things so undeserved Yet You gave to prove Your love for me The voices of a million angels Could not express my gratitude All that I am and ever hope to be I owe it all to Thee

To God be the glory To God be the glory To God be the glory For the things He has done

With His blood He has saved me With His power He has raised me To God be the glory For the things He has done

Oh, ust let me live my life Let it pleasing, Lord to Thee And if I gain any praise Let it go to Calvary (Calvary)

Oh, with His blood (His blood) He has saved me (He has saved me) With His power (His power) He has raised me (He has raised me) To God (to God) be the glory (glory) For the things He has done

Opening

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to say good morning to everyone in their respective places and it is my prayer that you all have had a good day thus far. Amen. To the Deacons, Elders, Ministers, and to everyone under the sound of my voice. Everybody is somebody in God’s Kingdom. Amen. To my beautiful wife whom I love dearly. Amen.

I want to get into the Word as I want to be sure that I can cover all the material remaining in this series on tithing. So last week we paused our series so I could open up a new can of worms so to speak by talking about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. We often talk about his death but many times we overlook the faith it required from his disciples, who would go on to carry the Gospel when Christ ascended the Mount of Transfiguration.

That said, I want us to get back into our lessen on tithing which, believe it or not, ties into our lesson on last week because it is (partially) through the tithe that we are able to see the meaining and need of sacrifice in our Christian walk. It is this notion that takes me into the Word of God for today.

Give Series Title: Tithes Explained

Give Subject: Kingdom Investment

Give Scriptures: Malachi 3:8-10 & Matthew 5:17-20

Read Scripture: Malachi 3:8-10

Malachi 3:8–10 KJV 1900

Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, Even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be meat in mine house, And prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, If I will not open you the windows of heaven, And pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Prayer

Introduction

So, it was 2 weeks ago we talked about the tithe in relation to the law. We started this series talking about the Garden of Eden and how the tree in the midst of the Garden was likened to a tithe. From that we were able to form a definition of the tithe and get an understanding of the tithe as an effort of ours to give back to God what belongs to him. Furthermore, we were able to get an understanding that the tithe is bigger than the law because what he is asking us for is his anyway.

That said, we moved that next week further into the book of Genesis where we talked about the tithe in relation to Melchesidec, as we covered the first biblical mention of the tithe in Genesis 14. In this passage of scripture, we see Abraham who stands in representation of the entire body of Christ. We then have Melchesidec who is a theophany of Jesus the Christ appearing to Abraham in fulfilment of the scripture which was to come: Revelation 22:13. Here we learn that the tithe is bigger a debt owed because it speaks of relationship with God. You pay the tithe because you owe a tithe but in the midst of relationship the desire to do right by the relationship supercedes the need to pay a debt.

We then moved into book of Deuteronomy as we discussed the early versions of the law as it pertains to tithing. In the book of Deuteronomy we learn the actual law as it pertains to tithing. We learn the role the people had in helping their community and the processes in existence for the Levites to have sustenance. That said, another passage of scripture exists in the book of Numbers 18:24-32 where we see development in the law as different layers of the law are developed to address the needs among the people.

That said, we now proceed to get an understanding of the tithe under grace as I seek to drive home to need for a tithe as an expression of relationship.

Malachi 3:8-10

In the scripture, we see that the prophet Malachi is addressing the Israeli community because they have become lukewarm.

Many times we look at this passage of scripture in two ways;

We see the curse inherit in the scripture because the prophetic Word given to the people of Israel.

Then, we see the blessings promised in the scripture through the prophetic Word given to the people of Israel.

The problem with both of these views it they view Malachi purely through the lens of the prophetic but do not account for the law which supports the prophetic word given.

However, beyond that, both of these perspectives are incomplete as they do not account for the fulfillment of the law nor do they account for the era of that prophetic word.

I want to deal with the latter before we move on to deal with the former.

Over the past month, we have dealt with the concept of the prophetic and spiritual timing, both on Sunday Mornings and Wednesday Nights.

If I gave a prophetic word specifically to one person in this room on today, that same prophetic word does not then apply to another person who heard about it simply because they somehow heard about it.

With that understanding, it is important to note that the true power of a prophetic word is that it is rooted and grounded in the Word of God.

In that sense, if you know where to find that prophetic Word in the scriptures you can then apply that same Word in your own life.

Taking that into account as we look at Malachi 3, we see a prophetic word based in the power of Word of God.

Here Malachi, speaking the Words of God, gives the promises of curses in the event that the people of God do not pay their tithes.

Malachi goes on to speak with The Words of God to give promises of blessings if the people are faithful in the payment of their tithes.

In that sense, the prophetic words of Malachi are uttered in an era operated under the law with the power and influence of the law within them.

With that we proceed to our new testament reading today.

Read & Analyze: Matthew 5:17-20

Matthew 5:17–20 KJV 1900

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Here we see that Jesus has come to fulfill the law given by God.

Notice that in his statement the Christ equates the law and the prophets by conjoining them in his sentence.

This reinforces for us the knowledge that the prophetic words given throughout scriptures are only given on the basis of the scripture that had already been given.

What do I mean?

As anointed as Isaiah was, had he prophesied that Jesus would come through the lineage of Moses he would have been wrong.

As anointed as Ezekiel was, if he had prophesied that proper worship in the Temple would be restored before Jesus came he would have been wrong.

Why?

Because the law had already demanded that Jesus come through the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah… that eliminates Moses who is descended from Levi.

Furthermore, the Law already made it clear that Jesus would come back to redeem the world among a people who had rejected him… which requires improper worship in the Temple.

In much the same way, if someone comes and prophesies something to you that is contrary to scripture that has already been given they are wrong and out of order. I am Sorry.

So how does this apply to the scripture we are in right now.

Christ came to fulfill the law, but he did not destroy the law.

Fulfill the law in the sense that the law required a sacrifice but the sacrifices they had used up until that point were insufficient for total redemption.

The lambs, oxen, goats, doves, and other things were good for the sin offerings, burnt offerings, and day of atonement.

However, these things could not satisfy the full price of sin that was placed on the head of every person.

So, Jesus comes as a perfect sacrifice to pay the full price for the world and offer salvation to those who would serve him as Lord and Worship him as Savior.

In so doing, what he does is renders the effect of the law (on those who are saved) to be null and void because instead of you paying the price the blood you are covered in atones for the price.

So when Malachi makes the prophetic utterance will a man rob God… what he is in effect saying is… the people of Israel were robbing God by not giving him the tithe the law DEMANDS.

But, the price for that unpaid tithe was paid in the blood that he shed.

Put simply, if we say that people have to pay tithe we also must tell people to take off their mixed linen garments.

We have to completely discredit the Gospel if we want to nitpick what we want to command people in accordance with “the law”.

The other issue is that by looking at Malachi as we do, we take the prophetic word out of its context.

With the knowledge that he came to fulfill the law, the prophetic word in Malachi can be considered fulfilled.

Conclusion

The tithe is a representation of your salvation

Because the point of you being saved is not just for God to save you.

But it is about your offering up your life to him even though he gave it to you.

Frankly the tithe is the most basic representation of your faith.

Now can you be saved and not tithe absolutely.

You can also be married and never kiss one another… but as a representation of Your marriage somethings come naturally.