We are called to respect the altar of God – back in the days when priests offered sacrifices for the people, there was an increase of bribery as folks wanted to get rid of their lame, crippled and diseased cattle or sheep, and paid the priests to offer those on the altar, as if God were blind! Malachi was a prophet to the priests who had a lot to say about honoring and respecting the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, as you can read in the verses noted above. God’s principles don’t change, He will always bless you if you put Him first. If we have all our bills in front of us and wait til they are paid up to pay our tithes, we will never manage the 10% because the bills always seem so insurmountable. But if we line them up and put the tithe at the head of the line, we will find that supernaturally, the money is there to pay the rest! The priests (pastors) are responsible to tell the people that God is righteous and deserves the firstfruits of our labor, as Malachi aptly points out. We will miss out on a huge life blessing if we allow that 10% of our paycheck, disability or unemployment check (whatever we are getting as income, as opposed to monetary gifts from others) to go unpaid to the local church, the storehouse of blessing.

Tithing is probably the scariest thing we will ever do as Christians! It is easy to get saved, but it sure it hard to trust God with our money. Only 6% of the church in America tithes, according to Barna Research Group. This proved true several years ago, when Ps. Phil asked me what I had given in an offering. We discovered we’d given the same amount, and in a group of over 100 people, each of us had contributed 1/3 of the total offering taken that day. The 6% had prevailed, sadly. We are promised a return on our tithes and offerings, thirty, sixty or even a hundred times over what was given. No bank has ever given me that much of a return! What God can get through our hands and into others, He will get to us so we can do it again. If we are on food stamps, share some with others – there are always areas where we can give to people.

We have to learn that God sees our heart, He knows how much we make, and He is asking us to repay Him for the blessing of being able to work, or being able to draw a check due to disability, unemployment, etc. We want everyone in this church to thrive, and tithing is foundational to making that happen. We must look at our hearts, decide to give the Lord the honor and respect He deserves, lay our tithes on the altar, and watch the miracles unfold! I can’t wait to share more about this and tell you great stories of many who have tithed and received new jobs, raises, bonuses – all because we took a chance and risked loving God with our whole hearts.

Verses Used:
*Numbers 18:26
*Malachi 1:6-8
*Malachi 3:8-10

The First Fruits, though mentioned seven times in the New Testament, is an Old Testament concept. Before we move forward into this essential truth, we must understand that the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, or the Law is still important to us of the New Covenant. Why? Because, though the Law presents itself as a long list of rules, it is, in reality, God establishing truth. Yes, the Law without its fulfillment (JESUS!) is a curse (as Paul says) upon life, making things so very hard. But, after Jesus came and fulfilled the law with His death and resurrection, we became free to look at the Law as God’s truths, and it is from this platform that we proceed into the First Fruits.

The First Fruits came out of a festival where the Hebrews would bring their first cut of grain and a one year old male lamb to be sacrificed before God. The offerings were presented to the Priests (thank God we no long need a priest to mediate for us; we have Jesus, the High Priest) on the day after the Sabbath. The priests would prepare the sacrifices and place them on the burning alter. God would smell the smoke and accept the offerings. Very simple. So, how does that apply to us now? Seeing as this is Atlanta, there is an obvious lack of sheep. And, as stated before, we live in the New Covenant where Jesus fulfilled the Law, so…do we need lambs?

No. But the principle is still the same. You see, the First Fruits is not about giving God a lamb-burger. It is about remembering what God has done for us. If you believe as I do, you know that Jesus died on a Friday; was in the grave through Saturday (the Sabbath); and rose again on Sunday (the day after Sabbath). Think that over for a minute. Jesus was presented as the perfect replacement on the day after Sabbath! Jesus is God’s First Fruit. When Jesus was crucified before a blood thirsty crowd whose only goal was to silence Him forever, His blood became the First Fruit–the Fulfillment of the Law. God wanted Jesus’ blood more than the crowds screaming “Crucify Him!” He wanted it so much because He knew that when the blood and water hit the ground that it was a seed being planted. And that when Jesus rose again on the third day, He became the fulfillment of First Fruits Law, and from that moment on, the Harvesting of the NATIONS would begin!

You see, in this, the New Covenant, the First Fruits is about PEOPLE. All throughout His ministry, Jesus used the image of grain and wheat to represent people. (“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”) The New Covenant First Fruit Sacrifice is all about People (wheat/grain), Jesus (the lamb), and the holy Spirit (the wine–wine was also part of the sacrifice). So, when you give in the First Fruits Offering, you are giving to the empowerment of the House to reap the harvest. You are giving to the changing of people’s lives. It is always about the people.

Hebrews 6:19-20 (NLT): This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. (con. in chp. 7)

Money is a real thing. It is easy for Christians to have faith in eternity. Eternity is unseen. We can hope for something unseen and seemingly far off. That’s simple. But money is right in front of us. Day and night, it is on our minds. Do we have enough? How can we get more? It plagues relationships and destroys marriages. There is no freedom in money….UNLESS it is used to the glory of God.

Now, in order to use money for God’s purposes, you need to know the TRUTH about the tithe. The Tithe is not a “give God lots of money and He will give you ever more money!” (Though, it is 100% Biblically true that blessing is on your life if you tithe). I cannot prove the “give money and God gives more money” ideology Biblically at all. I prefer to teach the Bible, so the Bible I will teach. In regards to the tithe, here is what I have found.

The Genesis account of Abram and Melchizedek is the first ever mention of the tithe. It happened long before the early church sold all their things (homes and fields included) in order to provide for the poor, long before Jesus said for us to give him everything, and long before the Law dictated that the Hebrews tithe. This event happened at the very start of God’s redemptive plans for the earth.

God chooses Abram as the vessel to begin the plans of redemption for earth. When God wants to move on earth, He chooses one person to use. He is preparing Abram. During this time of preparation, Abram achieves a great victory through the Lord. He gains massive wealth! Immediately, the world comes in to make a deal. The King of Sodom represents the world. He is hoping to trick Abram into a deal. (Even now, the world is trying to strike a deal for your money: “Buy this or that or wear this or eat that, and you will feel good about yourself!”) But God intervenes.

Enter Melchizedek: a man with no family, no lineage, and no point of origin. He simple appears. This is odd, for everything and everyone in the Old Testament has some sort of origin in the form of “Such and such begot from such and such and so on.” There is nothing like that for Melchizedek. But we do know one thing about him: He is the King of Justice and Peace (“Melchizedek” means Justice; “Salem” means Peace).

He and Abram meet at a table where He, Melchizedek, produces bread and wine. Together, they break the bread and eat. Then, Abram gives Melchizedek a tenth of his spoils. Such a strange response! Completely against human nature or will. Abram gives it without prodding. Melchizedek does not ask or demand it of him. Abram simply gives it as a response. What is it to which he is responding? God.

Melchizedek–it is believed by many scholars including myself–is actually Jesus. There are several points in the Old Testament where Jesus came before His time to encourage His people. These events are known as Theophany. Jesus came in the midst of chaos, and Abram responded to Him. You see, even here, before Law or Salvation, God was establishing structured principles into the earth; He was sending truth in the chaos. The bread and wine were not by accident. Jesus was sharing the covenant with Abram. And Abram’s heart responded to God by giving ten percent of what he had.

God was not after Abram’s stuff. God is not anti-stuff. He is not out to steal all your stuff. God truly is not concerned with your stuff. He says it plainly in His Word that if you put HIM first, then you can have all your heart desires (Matthew 6:33). Stuff is not the issue. God wants your heart. It was Abram’s heart that responded to Melchizedek. It was his heart that drove him to give. And that is the truth of the tithe. Yes, we could study the laws that dictate tithe; yes, we could look at Jesus and see what He asked for (and 10% looks mighty nice next to the 100% Jesus requires); and yes, we can even preach on how the early church gave up everything. But God is interested in the response of the heart. How does your heart respond?

We have to retrain our thinking about what is important in this world and in this life. God wants us to have material things, but he wants us to be willing to give things up too. He wants us to put him first. If we give our things and our lives up to Him, he will add all things back to us.

Verse 22 tells us to trust God in all things, not worrying about provision. Look at the lilies and how they grow – they are not worried that they will be provided for. Verse 32 says do not be afraid for what you have or need. Sell what you have and give it to those who are in need. Store up your treasures in heaven because the purses in heaven have no holes in them. We have to keep our priorities and perspectives straight when it comes to wealth and possessions.

Haggai 1:6 – Haggai was sent to Israel at a time when the country was very wealthy. He asked the people why are you living in luxurious houses while God’s house lies in ruin? You have planted much but harvested little. We can have lots of material wealth and possessions, but they will never content or satisfy us. When people try to fill the holes in their life with material things, the holes are never filled. You can never get things that are big enough or nice enough to fill a hole in your heart.

We need to always put God and His house first. Let’s build the temple. Then God will take care of our house. God says “When you build my house, and I will build yours.” He isn’t just talking about our physical house, but our entire lives.

Giving is one of the most powerful intimate moments you will share with God. The apostle Paul calls it pure worship. There is no closer heart to heart contact with God then when we are giving Him something – serving, worshipping, tithing. Materials are fleeting – they just come and go. It’s just life. Things happen. What God is looking at is how we interpret these circumstances in our heart. Do we trust in His divine provision?

God planted seed in the ground to plant trees. We can’t have fruit without trees and we can’t have seeds without fruit. God created this cycle and this principle when He created the first seed.

God planted beautiful trees in the garden, and in the center of the garden he placed the tree of life. Jesus – Jesus was meant to be in the middle. “I am the vine and my Father is the gardener.” Christ is the vine, we are the branches, grafted into the vine as we connect to Christ. His seed is planted in us.

God wills it that we all should prosper, multiply and be fruitful. He has given us the ability to bear fruit. Part of the fruit that comes from and is released from our life comes from giving. Our gifts are like seed. When we sow, we create a field of righteousness in our lives. By putting seed in the ground and creating our own garden, our gifts of giving put Christ at the center of our life – our garden. The Bible says where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Our attitude towards giving demonstrates very clearly what is at the center of our garden – our world.

When we plant in the soil of our lives and Christ is at the center, God multiplies our seed. But if we aren’t planting, how can we be fruitful? If we don’t plant, God has nothing to multiply.

Jesus said if you don’t understand this parable – you sow, you reap – you won’t understand any of the other parables or principles of the Kingdom. When we give, we are giving to Christ, the head of our church, the high priest, the center of our garden. The result is fruit and blessing in our lives, as we become fruitful and multiply.

Jesus replied, why are you so worried about having no food? Why won’t you learn or understand? Can’t you remember what I just did (referring to the miracle of feeding the 5000)? I wasn’t talking about bread – I was trying to give you a revelation.

But the disciples missed it, because their minds went straight to the food. If all you think about is what you have, you can miss the revelation of what you really have – what you have in God. Things are different when you get them in the hands of Jesus. God will something small and transform into something that is huge. It looks small to us when we think that is all we have. But that’s not all we have – it’s all we have if it stays where it is and we keep it – we have to get it into the hands of God.

This is especially true with tithes and finances. It may not seem like a lot to you, but if you get it into the hands of God, it has multiplying power. What you have in your hand is like your life. Jesus says stop worrying about what you have – I have proven to you what I can do with a little – I have proven to you that I can transform a little into abundance, as with feeding the 5000. What you have will only ever be what you see as long as it is in your hands. When you give it to Jesus – the high priest – it can be something else. Every time we give – we tithe, give to building fund, give offerings – we take something that is finite, that is tangibly in a boundary, and we break the boundaries over whatever that thing is. In the hands of Jesus, it becomes miraculous. It can multiply and do things that it never could if it stays in your hand.

I never want to be in God’s house and not participating on every level – involved spiritually, physically and financially. I want to always have my heart engaged. Jesus is always teaching us something. He wants to get us involved in our miracle – wants to grow us, not do it all for us. Between lacking and abundance there is a plan that God wants to bring forth in your life so he gets you involved.