Journey To Blessed

[how many of you loved school? like being in school, the homework, the projects, like you thrived and sometimes you wish you could have that routine again?

How many of you are normal like me and were ready to get out of school?

Okay if you were like me you probably had this happen. You show up to school one day and you get to your class and you sit down and you teacher says "it's time for todays test" and if you were anything like me this was your response...]

What test?

[many believers do not know that there is a test that we all take in the bible. did you know that you face a test? you do! Every two weeks. Every month. Every 1st and 15th. Every 15th and 31st. You face a test. And here is the test...]

Who will you thank for you income?

You take that test by what you do with the first 10% of your income

[there are around 500 verses in the bible concerning prayer, close to 500 concerning faith, but more than 2,000 verses talking about money...

Jesus talked about Money in 16 of his 38 parables that he told. So clearly, from the Bibles standpoint, there is something we need to understand about money.]

Malachi 3:6–11 (NKJV) — 6 “For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. 7 Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says the Lord of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’

[this is God talking. The God that does not change is talking. You have gone away from my ordinances. The ordinary behavior of someone that follows Jesus. A preacher a church didn't make this next verse up this is God speaking...]

8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts;

[this is a test for us but it is the only time. Ever. In all of scripture that God actually says "hey in this... you can test me! Put me to the test. You dish out the test and see what I can do. That must mean this is significant."

[tithing is an ordinance. That simply means that it's considered ordinary behavior by God. Not over the top or above or beyond. it's just the ordinary behavior of God's children of someone that follows Jesus much like communion which we are doing next week.

But I didn't make these words up. They may seem like strong words But God says literally you have robbed me when you refused to tithe.

Tithing is a test.

Now here is why I believe God chose 10%. 1st because a percentage is fair to everyone. No matter how much you make it's equal for everyone. But 2nd because whenever you see 10 in the Bible it's always linked to a test. Check this out

How many plagues in Egypt OR how many times did God test Pharos heart

How many commandments

How many time God test Israel in wilderness

How many times Jacob wages changes

Daniel tested?

Virgins tested

Days of testing in revelation?

Disciples?

This is a two way test! It's the only place in the Bible where God says test me and see if im good. I want you to see what I can do. I want to open the windows of heaven.

90% with God's blessing goes way further than 100% without.

Some people say "well tithing isn't a thing anymore because that was under the law so we don't have to do that anymore. Tithing was wayyyy before and wayyy after the law.

That argument doesn't make sense. There are principles under the law that we should still walk in... Thou shalt not commit adultery was under law. Steal was under law.

GIVE ME YOUR WALLET

Tithing is Biblical

[you are not a bad person if you do not tithe. But a lot of people don;t believe that it's in the BIBLE. ]

Genesis 14:18–20 (NLT) — 18 And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine. 19 Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And blessed be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.

[Melchizedek is a type of Christ and some theologians believe this is Christ in the OT and 500 years before

Genesis 28:22 (NLT) — 22 And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.”

Leviticus 27:30 (NLT) — 30 “One tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy.

Deuteronomy 26:1–2 (NLT) — 1 “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession and you have conquered it and settled there, 2 put some of the first produce from each crop you harvest into a basket and bring it to the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored.

Deuteronomy 26:13–14 (NLT) — 13 Then you must declare in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘I have taken the sacred gift from my house and have given it to the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows, just as you commanded me. I have not violated or forgotten any of your commands. 14 I have not eaten any of it while in mourning; I have not handled it while I was ceremonially unclean; and I have not offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God and have done everything you commanded me.

[Let me ask you a question. If Jesus himself said that you ought to tithe... would you tithe? Ill ask the other side of the room... Here is the sad part.. some of us still have to think about it. That the one that bled and died on the cross, gave everything, that we wouldn't give back. If Jesus said you should tithe... in the NT.... IN RED... would you do it?]

Matthew 23:23 (NLT PC PARAPHRASE) — 23 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

Hebrews 7:8 (NLT) — 8 The priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on.

[men on earth receive it but it actually is given to God]C

Tithing is a Blessing

Hekiziah one day is reading scripture about tithing and they are in a economic recession and realizes we are under a curse because we have not been tithing...]

2 Chronicles 31:4 (NLT) — 4 In addition, he required the people in Jerusalem to bring a portion of their goods to the priests and Levites, so they could devote themselves fully to the Law of the Lord.

[remember malachi said bring the tithe so there would be food. Think about it today though spiritual food. When you come to church do you enjoy the spiritual food that you get? Someone is paying for it... Not trying to be offensive. I know it seems blunt but someone is paying for all of this... this will bless you , your marriage, your children, your grandchildren.]

2 Chronicles 31:5–10 (NLT) — 5 When the people of Israel heard these requirements, they responded generously by bringing the first share of their grain, new wine, olive oil, honey, and all the produce of their fields. They brought a large quantity—a tithe of all they produced. 6 The people who had moved to Judah from Israel, and the people of Judah themselves, brought in the tithes of their cattle, sheep, and goats and a tithe of the things that had been dedicated to the Lord their God, and they piled them up in great heaps. 7 They began piling them up in late spring, and the heaps continued to grow until early autumn. 8 When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw these huge piles, they thanked the Lord and his people Israel! 9 “Where did all this come from?” Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites. 10 And Azariah the high priest, from the family of Zadok, replied, “Since the people began bringing their gifts to the Lord’s Temple, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare. The Lord has blessed his people, and all this is left over.”

[commandment is sent out that we need to be tithing. They go through their harvest during this famine basically and he sees all the people are giving and asks "are they okay? Do these people even have enough left after all they have given" and he says "They have more than enough. God has provided more than they even needed. This is the tithe. This is whats left over"

People have several times shared testimonies about tithing and how it has changed their lives. Here's what every person who tithes testimony is "We are so blessed. It all changed when we began tithing"

here's what people who don't tithe have always said "I cannot afford to tithe" not mean or rebellious people just cannot afford it. Here is whats true...]

You will never be able to afford to tithe...

Until you tithe.

[illustration about giving three people 10,000 and asking they pass one 1,000 to my wife to take care of her. Keep the 90 just give my wife 10% so she is taken care of]

[Jesus says im going away for a while... but while i'm gone... i want you to take care of my wife... the church is the bride of Christ... tithing might be more personal to Jesus than what you've thought. Because it's his wife.