Tithe-If You Love The Lord!

Tithe –If you love the lord

Text: Judges 7:9-22

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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.

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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!