THE POWER OF TITHES AND OFFERING
Proverbs 3:9-10 New International Version (NIV)
9 HONOR the Lord with your WEALTH,
with the FIRSTFRUITS of all your crops;
10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.
• HONOR GOD WITH OUR TITHES.
Leviticus 27:30 New International Version (NIV)
30 “‘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.
• OUR TITHE IS HOLY TO THE LORD.
*HOLY means Separated, Sanctified, Set – Apart.
Leviticus 27:31
31 Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it. (20%)
*If you use it, you must return it with additional 20% of its value.
• TITHING IS A DECREE AND A COVENANT FROM GOD
Malachi 3:7-12 New International Version (NIV)
7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.
9 You are under a CURSE—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see ….
THE BENEFITS OF GIVING OUR TITHES
10c If I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
a. OPEN THE FLOODGATES OF HEAVEN.
b. POUR OUT SO MUCH BLESSINGS WITH OVERFLOW.
11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty.
c. PROTECTION AGAINS PESTS ( Sickness and Diseases, Creditor who don’t pay, closing doors of opportunities.)
12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
d. YOU WILL BE CALLED BLESSED.
The Power of OFFERING
What is OFFERING?
Offering is your SEED for your NEXT HARVEST.
We must not EAT the SEED. We eat the FRUITS not the seed.
Example :
Farmers in the Ricefields.
2 Corinthians 9:6-15New International Version (NIV)
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
Principle : What you SOW, You will REAP.
Galatians 6:7
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
- Kung kaunti ang itinanim, kakaunti ang aanihin.
- Kung marami ang itinanim, marami ang aanihin.
- Kung Kabutihan ang itinanim, Kabutihan ang aanihin.
- Kung Pagmamahal ang itinanim, Pagmamahal ang aanihin.
- Kung galit ang itinanim, galit din ang aanihin.
- Kung panloloko ang itinanim, panloloko din ang aanihin.
- Kung PERA ang itinanim, PERA din ang aanihin. (Sowing and Reaping Principle)
7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
WHEN YOU GIVE…
- Give your BEST.
- Give from your HEART.
8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:
“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever.”[a]
YOU WILL BE BLESS ABUNDANTLY
- Your Barns will OVERFLOW.
- You will be a CHANNEL OF BLESSING. (Acts 20:35, It is better to give than to receive)
10 Now HE (GOD) who (1) supplies seed to the sower (YOU and ME) and (2) bread for food will also supply (OUR NEEDS) and (3) increase your store of seed and will (4) enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
11 (5) You will be enriched in every way so that (6) you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity (RECIPTIENTS will result in (7) thanksgiving to God.
12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. (a)
13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God (b) for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.
14 (8) And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.
15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (THE GIFT OF GENEROSITY)
TYPES OF OFFERING
1. FREEWILL offerings - this was an offering given voluntarily for the work of the Lord or Church or Ministry like Foundation, Love Offering and sharing of Blessings. A freewill offering could be given as follows:
Give to those in NEED.
Luke 14:12-14 ESV
He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
At the Leader’s request – Those who are willing would give generously.
For example, the Jews who had a willing heart were requested by Moses to bring offerings of precious stones, anointing oil, linen and other items to build the tabernacle in the wilderness.
Scriptures say that “… they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments” (Ex 35).
In fact, the people were so willing that they brought the offerings every morning (Ex 36: 3b). Their gifts were so abundant that Moses had to ask the people to stop bringing them in (Ex 36: 4-6).
Synonyms for freewill offering include willing offering and voluntary offering. in Ex 35: 29 and Lev 7: 16.
Other examples of freewill offerings could be found in Ezra 1: 1-6, 7: 16.
GIVING HONOR TO YOUR CHURCH LEADERS
1 Corinthians 9:14 ESV
In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
Galatians 6:6-10 ESV
One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
1 Timothy 5:17 ESV
Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.
Matthew 10:41-42 ESV
The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
2. PEACE offerings - this was given to express THANKS for something the Lord had done (Lev 7: 11-12).
- Birthday, Blessings, Bonus, Material Blessings you receive, and other good things.
3. VOWS Offering – In the context of offerings, a vow is defined as a promise/offering that would be kept/given by the individual if God would do something for them.
The Hebrew word is neder.
For example, Hannah asked God for a son and vowed that she would return the child to God as a Nazarite (1 Sam 1: 11). When she weaned him, she took him and her offerings to the temple in Shiloh (1 Sam 1: 24). The Lord then kept His part of the bargain and the child became a prophet.
Another example of a vow is the one made by Jacob when the Lord revealed Himself as he ran from Esau. God spoke to him about the blessings instore. Jacob vowed that he would tithe and build a place of worship in the place (Bethel) where he had seen God (Gen 28: 18-22).
Years later, as he returned home, he was told that his brother Esau was coming to meet him. Fearful for his and his family’s safety, he reminded the Lord of His promise to multiply his seed (the underlying prayer was for one of preservation). Later that night he met and wrestled with God (Gen 33).
The Lord kept His word and delivered him, having caused Esau to forgive him for the wrong he had done. The key truth, however, is that Jacob did not keep his vow to build the altar in Bethel. He built it instead in a place called Shechem, a disastrous move since his daughter Dinah fornicated with the prince of the land and lost her inheritance in Israel (Gen 33: 20).
God appeared to him and asked Jacob to return to Bethel and build the altar as he had promised (Gen 35: 1-3). When he did so, the Lord appeared to him again and blessed him, changing his name to Israel (Gen 35: 6-15). God wanted to renew him and take him to a new dimension of prosperity and the anointing. Jacob’s testimony really struck me when I saw the impact of failing to keeping vows made to God.
CONCLUSION
When we give, God is able to bless us more we could us or imagine.
