Tithe –If you love the lord
Text: Judges 7:9-22
Illus
A priest once asked one of his parishioners to serve as financial chairman of his parish. The man, manager of a grain elevator, agreed on two conditions: No report would be due for a year, and no one would ask any questions during the year.
At the end of the year he made his report. He had paid off the church debt of $200,000. He had redecorated the church. He had sent $1,000 to missions. He had $5,000 in the bank.
"How did you do all this?" asked the priest and the shocked congregation.
Quietly he answered, "You people bring your grain to my elevator. As you did business with me, I simply withheld 10 percent and gave it to the church. You never missed it." –
This morning I would like to bring you a message entitled Tithe-If you love the Lord.
Illus
Eric Hulstrand writes in Leadership magazine: "While I was preaching one Sunday, an elderly woman, Mary, fainted and struck her head on the end of the pew. Immediately, an EMT in the congregation called an ambulance. s they strapped her to a stretcher and got ready to head out the door, Mary regained consciousness. She motioned for her daughter to come near. Everyone thought she was summoning her strength to convey what could be her final words.
The daughter leaned over until her ear was at her mother’s mouth.
’My offering is in my purse,’ she whispered."
Let us look at the definition of a Steward…
This definition is really key.If we do not consider ourselves stewards of the Kingdom of God, we are going to have problems with Lordship, and we are going to have big problems when it comes to the area of Tithing.
Defintion: “Someone who is responsible for another man’s property.”
1. The barometers that points to the health of Stewardship
in our life, is our attitude concerning giving to the work of
the Lord.
2. it is our attitude towards giving, not the amount of our
giving that is the barometer.
3. There are times when God blesses us by putting us in the
place of the giver, and then there are times when God
blesses us by putting us in the place of the receiver.
It is not the amount, but the attitude that is important.
Duet 16:17
"Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee. "
"God judges what we give by what we keep."
- G. Mueller
"I have tried to keep things in my hands and lost them all, but what I have given into God’s hands I still possess." – Martin Luther
J. D. Rockefeller said, “I never would have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week.”
"If you give what you do not need, it isn’t giving" Mother Teresa
"The trouble is that too many people are spending money they haven’t yet earned for things they don’t need to impress people they don’t like.
Give according to your income lest God
Make your income according to your giving
We are going to use the Story of Gideon as a road map so to speak to learn about what God is asking of us in this all important area of stewardship.
Read Judges 7:9-22
Remember, stewardship comes down to Trust and Lordship. In no other area of our life do we need to practice Trust and Lordship than in our finances.
-Lets look at what we learn.
I. God said he will bless the tither
v. 9 9That night the LORD said, “Get up! Go down into the
Midianite camp, for I have given you victory over them! (NLT)
1. One of the ways He promises us His blessings is through
the principle of Tithing.
Malachi 3:10 Verse 10 says “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 you will not have room enough for it.”
2. The promise goes forth for those who are willing to give to
the Lord. The Tithe was a tenth
3. -It was to be the First Fruits…the best.
4. -It did not belong to the Children of Israel.
5. -There were other offerings expected above the tithe.
God has promised to bless his children if they will give. This is not only a Old Testament Principle
Matthew 7:9-11 says that God is willing to give good gifts to his children.
9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
B. Over and over the principle of God blessing his people
is there both in the Old and New Testament.
There is a prerequisite to receiving this blessing of God.
Tithing, A Priviledge:
A church was trying to pay for a new building over a period of three years. They asked the church members to pledge how much money they would be willing give for the new building over the next three years. A poor wash woman belonged to the church. She sent in her pledge card with a commitment of $468.00 (this was back when a dollar was a dollar.) The pastor and the deacons just couldn't believe she could give so much so they went to see her. They told her, "We know that you love the Lord and want to help with the new building but you cannot afford to give $468 in three years to the building program. All you do is wash clothes to make a living.
She replied, "No, I figured it up. I wash 2 places a day, but I've got another place I can wash. I've turned it down because I've been so tired, but I've decided to do it for the next three years. I'm going to give that extra money to the building program." Then she continued, "Don't cheat me out of this privilege!" So instead of doing two washes a day in the neighborhood, she took three and she called the third "the Lord's wash." Imagine how much more we could do for the Lord if we had the commitment of this woman!
II. His blessings require our giving
v9 “Get up, go down against the camp,”
A. Most of the times when God says…I have delivered the camp into
your hands…now get up and go. …There is a condition!
Let me show you!!
Luke 6:38 –Give and it shall be given
2 Cor. 9:6 6Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get
generous crop. 7You must each decide in your heart how much
to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure.
“For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”£ 8And God will
generously provide all you need.
Phil 4:6,7, 6Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
7Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything
we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and
minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Matt 6:33 33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
-How about the Old Tesatment…
Isaiah 26:3 - 3Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace—
in peace because they trust in you.
Ps 31:19 19Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
-James sums it up…in 2:26…”Faith without Works is dead”
When we say we trust in God, and then we get up and go down to the enemies camp like the Lord told us too…then God truly can perform the miraculous in and through us.
Our financial giving once again is a barometer of whether or not we are getting up and going.
III. This is the way god operates
vv 13-15 13Gideon crept up just as a man was telling his companion about a dream. The man said, “I had this dream, and in my dream a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent, turned it over, and knocked it flat!”
14His companion answered, “Your dream can mean only one thing—God has given Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite, victory over Midian and all its allies!”
15When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship before the LORD.£ Then he returned to the Israelite camp and shouted, “Get up! For the LORD has given you victory over the Midianite hordes!”
A. When God asks us to do somethings…it may not always
Be the most conventional way, do it anyway.
1 He told the Leper to wash in the Dirty Jordon River…Did it Work? Yes.
2.Did the Leper’s conventional wisdom say it would work…No! It goes back to God wanting the credit…not man.
3.Oil and flour for the widow--------MAKE ME A LITTLE CAKE FIRST
4.Elisha-Prophet’s Widows Son—to be sold into slavery to pay a debt—gather vessels not a few—oil poured out
5.Peter to go fishing and get tax money—1st fish you catch will have money in its mouth!!
B. Sometimes God asks us to do some pretty crazy things in our giving.
1. It is so easy to try and talk ourselves out of this…
a. The enemy tries every rational in the book to
confound our efforts of obedience.
Here are some of lines he pitches to us…and excuses we use
1.I Can’t Afford It
2.If I had More I Would
3.I already Tithe just by my own standard
4. I am so far behind I don’t know where to
Start
5. I like to spread my tithe out
Don’t listen to these lies…if God is in it He will help you to be obedient to Him. Is it always easy…no
Illus: Tithing: You Can't Get Ahead of God
It is said that during the depression a jobless man heard that work might be secured in a town some distance away. The ticket to this place cost one dollar He had just one dollar and planned to make the trip Monday morning. But fifty cents of the dollar was unpaid tithe money; so, when the plate was passed on Sunday, he promptly put in fifty cents. Monday he took the other fifty cents and bought a ticket just halfway to the town. He got off the train, preparing to walk the remainder of the way. The devil whispered to him, "You are just a fool," and it did look a little that way from the human standpoint. But as he was about to start, he saw a sign, "Men wanted," giving the name of a place in that town. He went over and secured a job at five dollars per week more than the other place would have paid. God says, "Them that honour me I will honour," and He always makes good on His promises!”
Is it easy to Tithe?…No!
But listen closely to this last point.
IV. What God says God will do.
v22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords.
A. God calls us all to be cheerful givers.
1. He will never call you to do something that He will not also empower you to complete.
2.Does this mean if we tithe we will never have to sacrifice financially?
3. No in fact it may cause us to sacrifice greatly to fulfill what He is asking us to do. You know what…this is okay.
4. It is good for us to deny self every once in a while in order for the Kindgom to be built.
B. When I say that God empowers us…it doesn’t mean that money will begin to grow on trees in our front yard the moment we begin to tithe.
1. In fact if the Tithing principle is correct according to
Malachi, 10% is just our reasonable service…it has
nothing to do with our gratitude for what He has done for
us.
2. When I say that God empowers us…I mean that He will
provide, strengthen, equip, discipline, and train you to
make it through the lean times.
In the case of Elijah there was always just enough oil and flower in the bins.
Conclusion
Illus:
There was a knock on the door of the hut occupied by a missionary in Africa. Answering, the missionary found one of the native boys holding a large fish in his hands. The boy said, "Brother, you taught us what tithing is, so here--I’ve brought you my tithe." As the missionary gratefully took the fish, he questioned the young lad. "If this is your tithe, where are the other nine fish?" At this, the boy beamed and said, "Oh, they’re still back in the river. I’m going back to catch them now.”
We learn Lordship and Trust from Gideon. We also learn four principles we can put into the area of Stewardship, especially the area of financial giving.
1) God Promises His Blessings v. 9
2) Blessings Require Action v9
3) Actions are designed by God vv 13-15
4) What God Designs He also Empowers v22
-are you being obedient to the Lord
with your tithe?
