Blessed | The Testing That Takes Faith

Welcome to Reach KC everybody, it's so great to have you guys with us. I just want to invite you all to stand up and join in. And there's not a place where your mercy and grace won't find you again. There's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you. There's nothing, oh, nothing is better than you. Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you. Lord, there's nothing, nothing is better than you. Yeah. You turn morning to day. You give beauty for ashes. You turn shame into glory. You're the only one that can. You turn morning to day. You give beauty for ashes. You turn shame into glory. You're the only one that can. You turn grace into goddess. You turn folks into armies. You turn teeth into hallways. You're the only one that can. You turn grace into goddess. You turn folks into armies. You turn teeth into hallways. You're the only one that can. You're the only one that can. You're the only one that can. Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you.

There's nothing, nothing is better than you. Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you. There's nothing, nothing is better than you. Yeah. You turn morning to day. You give beauty for ashes. You turn shame into glory. You turn shame into glory. You're the awesome one of heaven. You turn mourning to dancing. You give beauty for ashes. You turn shame into glory. You're the awesome one of heaven. You turn bones into armies. You turn seas into highways. You're the awesome one of heaven. You turn grace into guidance. You turn bones into armies. You turn seas into highways. You're the awesome one of heaven. You're the awesome one of heaven. You're the awesome one of heaven. Hallelujah! I could run a thousand miles to win the race of life. But what's the value without you? I could write a thousand songs to captivate your heart for more than your past. Would you seek the depths of me

when you see me? You see my heart through the eyes of your mercy in the light of your son. You love me with open arms and the pride of a father. I was once a prodigal burdened by my shame till you came along to remind me of you. Love is unconditional and in your eyes I'm worthy of forgiveness. What was lost is now revealed when you see me. You see my heart through the eyes of your mercy in the light of your son. You love me with open arms and the pride of a father. When you see me God, you see my heart through the eyes of your mercy in the light of your son. You love me with open arms and the pride of a father. Oh, you love me yes, you love me

and you'll never leave me but you'll never leave me oh, cause you love me. Ooh, ooh, ooh Who am I to love Who am I to save my soul Who am I without you, Lord Who am I to be worthy Who am I to marvel at Who am I to call me yours Who am I to love Who am I to save my soul Who am I without you, Lord Who am I to be worthy Who am I to marvel at Who am I to call me yours Who am I to love me? Who am I to save my soul? Who am I without you Lord? Who am I to be worthy? Who am I to draw my power? Who am I to call me yours? When you see me You see my heart Through the acts of your mercy In the light of your son You love me With open heart In the pride of a father When you see me

You see my heart Through the acts of your mercy In the light of your son You love me With open heart In the pride of a father Oh you love me Yes you love me With the pride of a father Oh you love me Yes you love me With the pride of a father Oh you love me Yes you love me With the pride of a father applause & cheers playing in bright rhythm Give us clean hands Give us no arms Show us that's where The miracle starts Beyond what I know Beyond what I see You changed what my world Began with I won't surrender Won't do what you will Let me Just lay me on that soil This life, this sin of greed

You can have it all God You can have it all You can have it all God You can have it all You can have it all God You can have it all You can have it all Humbly we come But boldly we stand More than we ask To give or give Spirit of God Move our praise Heaven and earth Collide in your name I'm only surrendered Go do what you have been made Just make me your vessel This life, this sin of greed I'm only surrendered Go do what you have been made Just make me your vessel This life, this sin of greed You can have it all God You can have it all, you can have it all, God... You can have it all, you can have it all, God... Watch Your Spirit on our praise, come down, revival fill this place. Turn our faith for greater deeds, though we ask, we seek, we pray. On this Sunday, the fifth propane, Jesus Christ, Thy highest gain. Finish Your power, light the flame, though we ask, we seek, we pray.

Watch Your Spirit on our praise, come down, revival fill this place. Turn our faith for greater deeds, though we ask, we seek, we pray. On this Sunday, the fifth propane, Jesus Christ, Thy highest gain. Finish Your power, light the flame, though we ask, we seek, we pray. Though we ask, we seek, we pray. You can have it all, you can have it all, God... You can have it all, you can have it all, God... Watch Your Spirit on our praise, come down, revival fill this place. Turn our faith for greater deeds, though we ask, we seek, we pray. On this Sunday, the fifth propane, Jesus Christ, Thy highest gain. Finish Your power, light the flame, though we ask, we seek, we pray. Watch Your Spirit on our praise, come down, revival fill this place. Turn our faith for greater deeds, though we ask, we seek, we pray. On this Sunday, the fifth propane, Jesus Christ, Thy highest gain. Finish Your power, light the flame, though we ask, we seek, we pray. Though we ask, we seek, we pray. Though we ask, we seek, we pray. Jesus, we come to You fully surrendered. Lord saying, You can have it all. It's all Yours in the way, God. You can have everything. You can have all of our life, all of our choices, all of our decisions. Everything is yours. Our family, our marriages, our children, their future. God, it is all yours. None of it is ours, God. It all belongs to you. We fully surrender it to you, Jesus. Because we know, we know that when we do, God, that you can do miraculous things, God. When we fully surrender to you, you work in our lives in miraculous ways, God. You can have it all. You are worthy of it all. You are worthy of it, Lord. The sacrifice you made is more than enough, God. And any sacrifice we bring is nothing compared to the work that you did on the cross, Jesus. And so, Lord, we surrender to you this morning. We give it all to you this morning. We say, Lord, you are worthy. God, you are worthy of our praise. You're a worthy God. Lord, we thank you and we praise you. We know that you are good

and you are faithful. Our lives are yours. Do what you will today, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Well, good morning. Reach, Casey. Turn to your neighbor, tell them, good morning, and it's good to see you. You look good today. It is good to see you in the house of the Lord this morning. I'm so glad to see all of your faces today. If you're new around here, we just welcome you. We want you to know that you are a part of the tribe here at Reach, Casey. The second you step into the door, you are a part of the family. And so, we're so glad to have you with us this morning. You know, yesterday, we were driving out to, a team of us was driving out to Algoa, and I was talking to my friend Ryan on the way out there. And I was just talking to him about our, my family's journey here to moving to Kansas City. And we were reminiscing, I was reminiscing with him about what that process looked like for our family. You know, this month, January, marks five months since we moved up here and became a part of Reach, Casey. And it feels like we've been here forever. You know what I mean? We feel like we are a part of the family here. And as I was talking to Ryan, and I was telling him about what the Lord did in our lives, and what he asked us to do, one of the things I was telling him is that the Lord asked us to sell all of our possessions, to leave our family and our friends, our community, and to follow him. And we made that decision to move, to leave everything we knew, and give up everything to come and be a part of what's happening here. And as I was talking to Ryan, he said, man, that must have taken a lot of faith. And I was like, well, yeah, it did. And I'm not going to deny the fact that it took a lot of faith. But I also know that I trust God. And God has proven his track record of faithfulness to our family time and time again. And while it was a sacrifice to give everything away, and say, yes, we're going to move, we're going to go to this new place, we're going to do this new thing. I also knew that God is faithful, and that I can trust him. Because again, he has proven himself over and over and over again in our lives, that he can do more with my sacrifice than I could do if I held on to it. You know, and so as I was thinking about this, I was just thinking about like, why do we with a can have everything I have, but also we give to God because we trust him. We trust that he is going to take care of us. We trust that he is going to provide for us. We trust that he cares about all of our needs. And so when we give, we don't just give saying, Lord, I love you, we do. But we also give because we trust that he is good, and that he is faithful, and that he can do abundantly more with what I can give him than what I could do if I held on to it for myself.

It's worth it to give it all to God. And so this morning, I just want to encourage you to seek the Lord in that. Seek how can I give to the Lord? How can I type? How can I give abundantly more than what I have before? And see how God works in your life, in your family, in your in your spiritual maturity, because you've decided to make that decision to give. As our ushers come forward, There's multiple ways you can give today. You can give online by scanning the QR code You can also drop it in the bucket as they come by. Let's pray this morning Heavenly Father Lord. I just thank you. I Thank you because I know that you are faithful and that you are good Lord I know that I can trust you with every single detail of my life I can trust you with my family with my with my marriage. I can trust you with my finances Lord and I know that when we give it to you Lord you do abundantly more than what we could do on our own It's so God we give with a happy heart and we give knowing that you are trustworthy and you're faithful and you're good Lord We just pray over this offering today Lord pray that you would multiply it and do the work that only you can do through it Lord, we love you, and we praise you in Jesus name. Amen Hi, I'm Pastor Jessie and we're so excited that we are taking a missions team to the Dream Center in LA this summer June 1st through 6th This trip is intended for anyone who is 15 years old and up based on the Dream Center and their requirements There are a lot of activities and ministry opportunities that we will not be able to participate in unless we're at least 15 years old Also something to note is we need all registrations in by January 31st That way I'm able to communicate with the Dream Center and let them know exactly how we do. Hi, I'm Pastor Jessie And we're so excited that we are taking a missions team Hello Hi, I'm Pastor Jessie Let's I know I do look different but you can call me whatever you want You can call me Pastor Adam. You can call me Pastor Jessie But at the end of the day, we are going to LA for the missions team This summer in June. And so if you want some more information, you can go out to the Connect Center Pastor Jessie, this is actually Pastor Jessie right here. Wait, wait, everybody Pastor Jessie. That's Pastor Jessie It was the picture of the video on there. And so she would love to get you some more information There is a deadline of

The 31st of this month to sign up that does not mean you have to have all of the funds that day it just means hey if I'm interested and I want to get connected and I need to get some more information and I want to Sign up to to go on that trip get with her because we would love to get you Signed up so that we could have you on the trip. It's gonna be a wonderful time. It's gonna be the first week of June from June 1st to June 6th, and so I would encourage you to sign up. It's gonna be a wonderful time Well, hey, I am Pastor Adam. And so I just want to welcome you home to Reach KC if you've never been here, maybe your first time or first time in a long time We are just so glad that you are here that you are a part of what God is doing here And and we just want to get you connected and so you can get connected to the growth track You can get connected through the Connect Center and hey that times past bro. That ship has sailed Mike I'm just kidding, buddy But you know, we would love to get you connected and just be a part of it I always say me casa yo casa and so we would love to just make this a part of your daily tribe and your weekly tribe and so Just welcome home. And so hey, well, this is a series I have jumped into and and I kind of took a break. We've been in Romans for the last 109 weeks and So I I've jumped into this series and and I titled this series blessed and You know a lot of the times I don't think we really understand that we are blessed to be a blessing right God has given us what he has given us so that we can be a Blessing to those that are around us and today I want to look at a sermon that I have titled the testing that takes faith The testing that takes faith and and if the room is this quiet the whole time, it's fine You know because I know that it's something that is Resignating in the heart and it's gonna hit and I promise and because this is a series Honestly that has to do all about the heart. It's all about our heart and so how many of us here would say that I want to be a passionate follower of Jesus a man if a hundred percent of the hands ain't up

We're gonna give you that opportunity at the end of service a man to surrender your life to Jesus And so we want to do it, but how many of us are willing to do whatever it takes? To be a passionate follower of Jesus Amen, there's less hands there. It's okay. It's okay. I understand because you think that it's a it's a trick question And I'm gonna I'm gonna set you up for an alley-oop and that's not really the case but how many believers don't realize is that is what a lot of us don't believe or realize is that there is a test in the Bible that is actually a test that we get that we take every time that we get paid did you know that that there is a test in the Bible a test that that doesn't change what's in your heart but it actually reveals it it doesn't it doesn't change the test doesn't change what if you ever get paid the test is this who are you going to thank with your income amen amen that's not the answer for a lot of us though because the test the test is this who are you going to thank or you could say it like this who are you going to worship see test aren't interruptions to life they're invitations to discover what we truly believe and that's what it is some people think visa right amen you like I got a visa payment I've got to pay some people thank their landlord right it's the first thing that you got to pay hey I got to pay my rent I got to get connected the only problem is is visa or the bank or even your landlord does not have the power to bless your finances did you know that they do not have the power to bless your finances but God does and so this morning we're going to go through a lot of scripture I literally have scriptures from every book in the Bible it feels like and so we're just going to read through the scripture and see what it says and we're going to start in Malachi 3 I like to call him Malachi okay if you call him Malachi it just sounds more gangster and it just makes it you know it's like my homeboy Malachi is the last book of the of the Old Testament and Malachi just it sounds like an Italian mafia gangster and and when you read it you can read it with more aggression and it just you know it just sounds really cool and he's like just forget about it you know what I mean but in and now I'm gonna say in Malachi 3 in Malachi 3 here's what the Lord says he says for I am the Lord see

Malachi was a prophet and if Malachi was a prophet that means that in the Old Testament it was one of the ways to communicate to the people of God that was how it was because until the Holy Spirit came we didn't have direct access to God like that and so he says Malachi says for I am the Lord I do not change now this is very important that that God says hey I do not change and you can see that over in Hebrews because he says that I am the same yesterday today and forevermore but he says I am the Lord I do not change therefore you are not consumed Oh sons of Jacob now this is pretty humorous to me when you're reading this because he says hey I don't change and that's why I haven't killed you yet now when you think about it that way it's kind of crazy but he said hey I am still nice and that is the only reason that you are still here but he says yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from my ordinances and have not kept them and the word ordinance here literally means the principle of ordinary behavior it's the principle of ordinary behavior and he says hey return to me and I will return to you if you come back to me I will come back to you this is what God does who does not change this is the God who does not change he's always the same and he's saying hey you've gone away from my principles of ordinary behavior and they say how in what way we're like how did we how did we get away from your ordinaries and and I want you to notice this this is God speaking he says will a man rob God will a man rob God and he says but you say in what way have we robbed you and he said you are cursed with a curse you have robbed me even this whole nation bring all the tithes into the storehouse that would be the church and there may be food in my house again that may be the church now check this out notice how many times he says who is saying this right if you look through it he wants us to understand that the one who never changes is saying what he says and try me which literally is translated as test me in this says the Lord of Hosts and see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such a blessing that there will be not room enough to receive it 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 and all the nations will call you blessed for you will be delightful will be a delightful land says the Lord of hosts. Now this is the God who cannot change that's talking. He's the one that is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore and he says hey you have gone away from my ordinances, you have gone away from my principles of ordinary behavior. See oftentimes the ordinary behavior are the things that we want applauded for but that's the standard conduct that the Bible calls us to abide by and we shouldn't need applauded for the things that are ordinary behavior. We shouldn't ask for attention for an ordinary behavior. God is wanting us to do something he says hey you have gone away and he's talking to the people of God and he says hey you have gone away from my principles of ordinary behavior. Listen tithing is an ordinary principle of behavior for God's children. It's a way to thank him. Now before you leave just listen okay just just hang in there I know this is a touchy subject think about how I have to feel communicating it to you okay so you just have to think about this it's a way to thank God for our income, for our harvest, for our increase. If you are here today and you do not have a personal relationship with the Lord, hey use this for educational purposes. Okay use this for educational purposes but if you do have a personal relationship with God God says in the Bible that you have stolen from me, that you have actually robbed me and because of that you are under a curse and there are consequences and I don't want you to be underneath of consequences but your actions and disobedience you are voluntary placing yourself underneath of a curse because you're going against my ordinary principles of behavior. That's what the scripture said and I have to admit personally I have heard numerous things that are in it. I've heard numerous reasons about why people don't actually tithe. Let me give you a few of them. It's an Old Testament principle it don't even apply to us today. It's an Old Testament principle. See a lot of us will honestly here's another good one I don't trust the church. She said nope that's fine then why are you here? Because if you trust me to give you an impartation into

your life but you don't trust us to run the finances that are given then what are you doing? Because if we don't trust the church it's man-made or another one is the Bible isn't completely accurate when it comes to tithing and honestly the list could go on and on. Now before you check out on this principle that can change your life I want to just dig into the scriptures and today I want to give you three biblical truths about tithing. If you're taking notes I would encourage you to take notes even if you don't necessarily believe in this principle because I hope that if I was teaching on a relationship series everybody would be dialed in waiting for the next truth that would change their life and and how they could find the next person and three principles about how you can find a godly spouse everybody be dialed in but what about when we look at three biblical truths about tithing and the first truth about tithing is this is tithing is a test. Tithing is a test. Did you know that testing doesn't create character it reveals it? God is testing our hearts. He is testing us to see if he really has his heart. Remember last week it's all about the heart it's all about what is in our heart. Tithe is literally a Hebrew word that means one-tenth part or ten percent. This is where we we get this idea from so we know that it's ten percent because that's literally what the Bible means or what the word means in the Bible that's what it is and here is why God chooses ten percent he chose ten percent because instead of an amount he chose ten percent so that it's fair for everyone. It doesn't matter if you make $300 come on a man somebody well you know we broke as a joke I mean that's just what it it don't matter if you make $3,000 $30,000 $300,000 it's a penny on every dime it's a dollar on every ten it's ten on every hundred it's ten thousand on every hundred thousand or it doesn't matter what it really is it's the same for every single person although I don't know why it is but it seems like it's harder the more you make huh you know what I'm saying and honestly it must be true because study after study has borne this out that the more you make the less you actually give percentage-wise. Why is that? Because if you make a million dollars you can easily drop 20 grand in the bucket and

everybody's gonna applaud you when really you actually rock. God of $80,000 or if you make $500 and you're supposed to put 50 in but you give five and then you give two to the homeless person down on the corner and you say that we've done a good deed I gave a tie that church for five bucks and I gave an offering to the person down there what happened we robbed God of $45 and I remember one time finishing this big job I used to actually have a job where I could do that and and I received a big check and instinctively after paying everybody I counted the cost and because for me I always tithed on business income not just personal because why I wanted God to bless my business not just my personal finances but I counted the cost come on you know what I mean when you get a top and when you tithe and you get a check you automatically know what 10% of it is now I'm not saying you're always excited about that 10% but when you get that money that comes in and you you see it and the funny thing is is it's always the same amount it's just on a larger scale but when we get a $20,000 check all of the sudden that's like you know like oh Lord are you sure you need this and he's like I don't know do you need the 20,000 it's like well hold up hold up I mean Biggie said it best more money more problems come on how many of us know that you know I'm saying but the difference is though is when maturity allows you to see that number as a blessing instead of a curse right because that changes it what if what if we actually begin to give in the capacity of when God calls us to do that when I got this check from this big job it was actually a week that we canceled service and let's face it not many people make up their God they're giving for the week that they didn't attend amen come on that's why I encourage you to set it up online did you know that they say that the average Christian in the United States attends only like two out of every six services like if everybody showed up to church in one week we wouldn't even know what to do there's probably 1,500 people that call our church home but after after this week we deposited the check and Catherine looked at me and said babe because back in the day I remember this Catherine actually used to have to help

do the pot deposits every week because we didn't have a full staff and and she looked at me and she said hey babe with what we were able to give this week we actually made up more than what was a normal week and what it would have brought in as the church and now for me I was like dude that's awesome you know what I mean like hey no we didn't we had to cancel church because of the snow and then we was actually able to give more than what would have actually happened now the reason that God chose ten right is because in the Bible the number ten is actually a test it represents a test for instance I'm gonna give you a test this morning right so I'm gonna ask you a question and I'm gonna ask you to answer me out loud and so that way that we can see how you do and we'll judge you off of your test we'll judge you in a healthy way we won't judge you in a bad way okay and so here's the first question how many plagues were in Egypt ten okay like six people knew that and so okay we just need to do some more biblical studies and it's okay it's okay now now now I could have said that in a different way I could have asked how many times did God or test Pharaoh's heart ten amen come on this is gonna get easier as we go how many commandments are there ten see see okay now here's a couple that's gonna get trickier cuz I knew you guys was gonna start figuring this out pretty quickly cuz I know you guys are smart cookies but it should get pretty easy how many times did God test Israel in the wilderness see you guys are smart man how many times were Jacob's wages changed see it was it was a test of his heart how many times was Daniel tested see this is easy how many virgins were tested in Matthew 25 10 see you guys I mean I don't even know why we're doing this how many days of testing were mentioned in Revelation how many disciples were there ha see see this was a test you see what I'm saying it was a test and and so I was just wanting to see if anybody was paying attention you know what I'm saying and so so I knew that was gonna happen see it's it's like when you say like what what color is bread white you know and all these things then it's like where do you get a milk from and it is anyway I don't even know what that joke was but and but but anyways so tithing is literally a test that's why the number 10 is associated

with it now here's something that you may not know it's actually a two-way test. See God not only tests you but this is the only place in scripture that I know of where God actually says hey you can test me. Test me. Like how many of us from the street like bro you can test me if you want to. You know I'm saying? You know I'm saying? Like you can see what's really gonna happen. You can test me if you want to and God says hey test me. Mess around and find out. Mess around and find out what I really do to you and see if I would not open the heavens for you. God says test me to see if I am pure. The word here for test or prove is actually a Hebrew word that is speaking of the purifying process of metal or gold to see if it is pure. God says test me to see if I'm pure. Test me to see if I'm authentic. Test me to see if I am really who I say I am. Why? Because I want to bless you. I want to open up the heavens and pour out my blessing upon you. I want to rebuke the devourer over you but it depends on if you're going to thank me and worship me and walk in faith that I have the ability to bless 90% more than you can do with a hundred percent. See that's what he is saying and now I hear people say things like yeah well that's only in the Old Testament or tithing was introduced underneath the law and in the New Testament we are underneath grace so we are under the law so that doesn't really apply to me and so what I'm going to do is I'm going to show you some scripture to you to prove that tithing was before the law. Now the law was the Old Testament when when Moses was given the Ten Commandments and I want to show you hundreds of years before the Ten Commandments so that we can show you that this principle of tithing was before the law, after the law, and also reiterated in the New Testament and honestly I honestly don't really understand the argument because I was under the law but now I'm under grace and so let me give you it let me give you an example. Tim, give me your wallet real quick. Do you have a wallet? I should have asked somebody that had a lot of money. I'm not saying anything bro but I pay you so I know. Now I'm gonna keep this okay thanks because the Bible says thou shall not steal in the Old Testament but that's under the law and I'm under grace and so I can actually keep your wallet now and I don't have to

worry about it because there's grace and so if it's it's all good. Now the crazy thing is if we actually lived this way it would be craziness. That would be foolish. That doesn't make any sense. Well thou shall commit adultery is under the law. Okay so you're saying you can cheat on your wife and there's actually no earthly consequences because you're under grace? There was like 16 wives that said brother I'm telling you right now I will murk you. Like I will kill you and your mama too. I'll kill anybody you know. They don't even care you know and and they're like well thou shall not murder. Like you can't kill me or you I can't kill you she says I can't kill you because that was under the law that thou shall not murder and so I'm not under the law I'm under grace and so I can kill you and and say I'm a believer in God and and guess what it's that's not just crazy that's dangerous. Like literally you know I'm saying it's not just crazy it's dangerous and so so it doesn't make any sense. The second truth about tithing is tithing is biblical. So tithing is a test and tithing is biblical. I think we need to know that it's biblical because there are a lot of people in the world that don't tithe. Now if you don't tithe hey you're not a bad person. Again if you're not a follower of Jesus hey this is for educational purposes. I'm just giving you an education of what the Bible says and don't don't hey we're not preaching this so that we can get your money we're preaching this so that God can get your heart because it's a heart issue. If you don't tithe you're not a bad person. I don't judge you. Honestly I don't even look at our tithing records like that all of the time. I do but I don't look at them like that all the time because I'm not gonna judge you by what you give or don't give and so that is not why we are saying this this morning. A lot of people don't tithe because they don't believe that it's in the Bible. They don't believe that it's biblical and they say that that the church has made this process up to get their money and there's a lot of skepticism about the church and money and honestly rightly so. a lot of cases right like it's I mean there are things but here is what helps me personally when I give to a church or ministry I understand that it is

more about my stewardship and my faith and that I am honoring God that and that church or ministry has the responsibility to be a good steward of those resources now that church they ain't gonna answer to me for that I mean this one does kind of you know because like I have to get I give to reach KC as well I get a giving statement at the end of the month we give 10% or more of our of our income to the church but they are a church or ministry isn't gonna answer to us they're gonna answer to God that's who they're gonna and so hey when I give it's out of my hands it's like okay God I did what you asked me to do and now you do what you do and then whatever those people do with it it's not in my hands I don't care how big the check is now check this out 500 years before the law so 500 years before the Ten Commandments was given to Moses you see something about a story of two men one named Abraham and one named Melchizedek okay now if you go to Genesis 14 I told you I'm gonna be all over so if you are in a real paperback Bible I hope you know where you're going in the scriptures because by the time you find the other one you're getting ready to flip to another one and we're gonna be all over the place and so Genesis 14 tells us this and Genesis and we're looking at the story of Abraham in 18 14 18 it says then Melchizedek king of Salem Salem actually means peace brought out bread and wine so there's literally a representation of communion even in the Old Testament and so the king of peace is literally bringing communion and he was a priest of God Most High and 19 he says and he blessed him talking about Abram and said blessed be Abram of God Most High possessor of heaven and earth and blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hand and he Abram gave him Melchizedek a tithe of all now remember this is 500 years before the law Galatians in the New Testament actually says that Abraham is our spiritual father and Hebrew says that Melchizedek will look at this in a moment that Melchizedek is actually a type of Christ many theologians actually say that this that he could potentially be Jesus Christ in the Old Testament because it says that he has no genealogy check out what the book of Hebrews says about him Hebrews 7 see I told you you're gonna be all over

the place keep your finger in Genesis because we're gonna go back to Genesis here in just a second Hebrews 7 says this in verses 1 & 2 for this Melchizedek king of Salem priest of the Most High who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of kings and blessed him to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all first being translated king of righteousness and then also king of Salem meaning king of peace without father without mother without genealogy having neither beginning of days nor of law end of life but like the son of made like the Son of God also remains a priest continually so our spiritual father gives a tithe to a type of Jesus or Jesus possibly himself 500 years before the law so that that disassembles that theory okay so now look at 400 years before law just in case that one didn't help we'll look at another one in Genesis 28 this is Jacob and God talking and it says in verse 22 Genesis 28 verse 22 and he says in this stone which I have set a pillar shall be God's house now again it's an implication that the tithe goes to God's house and all that you give me I will surely give a tenth to you this is Jacob talking to God now so we looked at 500 years before the law we looked at 400 years before the law now let's look under the law in Leviticus 27 I told you I'm all over the Bible today we're gonna go through every single 66 books I'm just kidding hey somebody told me it wasn't biblical scratch that we can prove it in every single book of the Bible amen and so we're gonna go to the scripture and talk about it Leviticus 27 it says this and all of the tithe of the land whether the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree tree is the Lord's in other words in other words it belongs to God it is holy to the Lord it is holy that means it is set apart for God God has literally set this apart for himself this is why God can say that we are stealing it from him in Malachi or Malachi however you want to say it in Malachi 3 he has told us he said hey I have set this apart for my house and my work and if you keep it from me you are stealing it from me Deuteronomy 26 says this that's in the Old Testament in the first five books it's what would be called the Torah so it's in the it's in the first five books or the Pentateuch

you could find that it's Genesis somewhere right along in that process and in Deuteronomy 26 verses 1 through 2 it says this Deuteronomy 26 it says and it shall be when you come into the land we'll be in Deuteronomy for a minute so you'll be thankful and it said in Deuteronomy 26 verses 1 and 2 it says and it shall be when you come into the land which the Lord your God has given you as an inheritance and you possess it and dwell in it that you shall take some of the first of the produce of the ground we'll show you later why this is actually a tithe which you shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving you and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord where the Lord your God chooses to make his name abide again referring to the church and then skip down to verse 13 this is powerful right this is a powerful truth Deuteronomy 26 verse 13 right then you shall say before the Lord your God I have removed the holy tithe the set apart 10% from my house and I have also given them to the Levite the stranger the follow the fatherless and to the widow according to all your commandments which you have commanded me I have not transgressed your commandments nor have I forgotten them see when we place our tithe in God's house or the church together we have the opportunity to honor God's commands by reaching out to those in need the church helps us literally fulfill our calling to honor God with our finances in our life see many of us don't realize it but when we went to Algoa yesterday and took a whole team and there was 268 men in the gym of Algoa prison guess what you was there too if you gave anything to the church in any time recently you was there too you paid for the gas to get there you paid for the $50,000 worth of equipment that we probably got to go in there and set up and have an event to where many many many men surrendered their lives to Jesus at the altar yesterday and was able to actually walk out and say man because I because you was here you guys helped me and you guys helped me see the truth of it and many guys are gonna be sending applications to the reach home so just get ready because I mean there was like 10 dudes that said hey I'm coming I just happened to wear a reach home shirt yesterday during the concert amen so they could

know what we was actually doing and get to be a part of it and so God counts it towards us every single one of us and even rewards us for what the church does to meet the needs of the community and in verse 14 he says this I have not eaten any of it when mourning they're talking to the Lord I have not eaten any of it in mourning you know what that means he said I didn't even use part of it when I was going through a difficult time hmm even when my bills didn't look like they was gonna get paid I didn't use my money God I honored you first I held true to what you asked me to do I've held true in this commitment nor have I removed any of it for an unclean use now think about it how often do we use our money for things that are sinful let alone the part that God said to give to him huh and then he goes on and he says nor given any of it to the dead I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God and have done according to all that you have commanded me look down from your holy habitation from heaven and bless your people let me ask you a question this morning okay you've said a lot in the Old Testament let me ask you a question if Jesus said himself you ought to tithe would you tithe because here's the sad part a lot of us still had to think about it a lot of us still had to think of the one that bled that died on the cross so that we could have a person relationship with Jesus if he was to say that you ought to tithe would we say that we still have to think about it would we say that we still don't trust man or we still don't or even worse would we actually refuse and get angry and walk out of the room like many people have already simply because we're talking about money and man this is the first time I've came to church in a long time and man every single time I come to church is all they're talking about money why because God wants your heart we don't want your money God has provided every bill is paid we're buying new buildings we're renovating it we're doing it all because God is providing through you guys and through everything we don't have to beat people over the head let me put it another way if Jesus said that you ought to tithe in the New Testament in red letters would you do it let me show it let me show it to you Matthew 23 23 Matthew 23 23

says woe to you that means cursed so woe to you scribes and Pharisees you hypocrites he said all of you people that thank you actually have a relationship with God this is Jesus speaking all of you that think that you have a relationship with God because you're doing some of these things and yet you are bankrupt in heart he said you hypocrites for you paid tithe 10% of the men and anise and cumin and have neglected the way your matters of the law justice and mercy and faith listen very carefully here he says these you these you ought to have done without leaving the others undone here's what Jesus said he said you give us a tenth but it isn't even of the first fruits and you have neglected justice mercy and faith Jesus says hey you do what you are you do what you ought to do but you leave other things undone he said see you should be doing this without leaving the other things undone there really isn't any wiggle room in this this is Jesus saying this and the question before us this morning is this is what are we going to do with what we have heard he said hey don't leave these things undone this is Jesus in the New Testament check out this in Hebrews it is a powerful vision of what happens every time we give a tithe this is where it is this isn't stuff that's made up Hebrews 7 verse 8 he says here on earth here mortal men receive tithes what but he receives them but there he receives them of whom it is witness it is witness that he lives here is this visual you put your tithe in the bucket or you give online like I do right and you are giving and a mortal man or woman receives that tithe here in some capacity and every time we give while it is received here in a bucket or or whatever way that it is it is also being received by Jesus Christ himself he receives your tithe of whom it is witnessed that he lives there is something holy about the tithe when we give it testifies that God lives that the Redeemer lives in our life and the third truth about tithing is this tithing is a blessing tithing is a blessing 2nd Chronicles 31 is where we'll be out here in just a second and Hezekiah is reading the scriptures in the time of his day and he says exactly what we have looked at about the tithe and he realizes that he and the people

have been robbing God and they're literally in this economic recession during their time and he realizes something and he says hey we are suffering the consequences of keeping for ourselves what belongs to God and he says hey the whole nation is suffering because we're not tithing and we are stealing from God look 2nd Chronicles verses 31 I'm sorry chapter 31 verse 4 he said moreover he commanded the people who dwelt in Jerusalem to contribute support to the priest and the Levites that's the house that they might devote themselves to the law of the Lord now remember when Malachi spoke the Lord said bring the tithes to the storehouse so that there may be food in my house they're talking about natural food but think about it in terms of today as in spiritual food let me ask you something when you come to church other than today do you enjoy the spiritual food that you get you've got to do your friends yes because you continue to invite them back but let me put it in a different way I want to give you this analogy. Would any of you here go to a restaurant, eat the meal, and then dip out before paying? Now I probably better read the room because I'm probably asking the wrong ones. They're like, yeah, I'm finna do that for lunch, bruh. Sunday's the best day because the restaurants be busy, you know, and so I'm hitting it up after church and I'm gone, you know what I'm saying? Like, we gonna eat steak. It's the only day we get to eat good, you know? But let me ask you this. How come Christians do that every single week? Right, we go to church, we eat a meal, we partake in all the things that God has provided in his house and then we skip out on the check. And the amazing thing is, is God is the one

who provided it for us in the first place. He's just simply asking that we bring a part that has been set apart already for him. I mean, literally, he's just saying, hey, hey, this is for you. And if I'm honest, if I'm being very transparent, this is a series that I have moved like two or three different times because I know the weight of it. I know it. And finally, it got to the point where I felt like the Lord was telling me, hey, what are you doing? There are people who need to hear this truth and you're robbing them of their opportunity to respond. And so no longer is it something, but now I am held responsible. And listen, I know that this is hard to hear, but it is a truth that will set you free. And applying what we are hearing can literally change your life. It can change your family, your marriages, your finance, your children, your grandchildren. It can change the course of generations to come. Imagine if you said, hey, I am going to start today teaching my children and my grandchildren to honor God in every single way of their life. Imagine what would happen for the future to come. Imagine when you're gone and your kids are still honoring God in such a capacity,

then you have changed the generations to come simply because of this one principle. It can change you, I promise, but you have to start living it out for that change to actually happen. And so Hezekiah says this, I'm reeling it in. I know, I know. So Hezekiah says, everyone needs to bring the tithes to the house of God in 2 Chronicles 31. And we're gonna look at verse five through 10. And he says, as soon as the commandment was circulated, the children of Israel, so Hezekiah is pleading. And he's like, hey guys, we have missed it. We're suffering from this economic recession because we have dishonored the house of God. We have dishonored what God has told us. I wonder if maybe that's why we're dealing with some of the stuff that we're dealing with today. Because even the Christians that are saying that they're Christians has not even been honoring God. Like he said, what if the voice of me was actually like the voice of Hezekiah? Said, hey, you have been dishonoring God. This is why we're dealing with the economic recession that we have been dealing with. And it says, as soon as the commandment was circulated, as soon as the children of Israel found out, they brought in an abundance, the first fruits of gain, grain and oil, wine and honey, or oil and honey, and of the produce of the field.

And they also brought in abundantly the tithe of everything. And the children of Israel and Judah, who dwelt in the cities of Judah, brought the tithe of oxen and sheep, also the tithe of holy things, which were consecrated to the Lord your God. They laid in heaps. And in the third month, they began laying them in heaps, and they finished in the seventh month. Now these are the months that are related to the harvest seasons. And when Hezekiah and the leaders came in and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel. Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. And Azariah, the chief priest from the house of Zadok, answered him and said, since the people began to bring the offerings in the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and we have had plenty left. For the Lord God has blessed his people, and what is left is a great abundance. And he said, so the king sends out this commandment. Guys, we have not been tithing. We try to bring our tithes to the house of the Lord. Then in the third month, there's this harvest, and they send in the tithing. In the seventh month, there's a harvest,

and they send in the tithe. And then when the king comes to visit, we see these heaps just heaped up. And now we gotta remember, right, we have been in this severe economic downturn, and he sees these heaps in the Lord's house, and he questions the priest, and he said, hey, man, are the people okay? Like, do they got enough? Like, have they been given too much? Like, do they have enough? And he's like, no, I mean, look at what we got. And the priest says, oh, king, don't even worry. He said, as soon as the people started doing it God's way, God blessed them. And what you are seeing. here it's just the 10% you should see their 90 you should see what they got left over and I've been in ministry for quite a while now and over the years I have heard two types of testimonies about tithing consistent testimonies too right and here they are tithers have consistently said to us pastor we are so blessed we are so blessed I mean once we started tithing things came into alignment in our lives and God blessed us and here's what non tithers say we can't afford it that's it that's all they say we can't I can't afford it and again that doesn't make them bad people like right it doesn't make them mean people here's a life lesson you will never be able to afford to tithe until you start tithing because tithing is what breaks the curse and rebukes the devourer and opens the door for blessing let me give you one last illustration really quick I know the worship team is behind me and we're getting ready to play can I get three guys three guys three three guys real quick okay to Tim come on okay okay here here let me get this guy he looks eager

okay James what's your name again Matt Matt what's your name again David okay Matt James and David here's what I want here you guys can turn around right and let me give you this one last thing because let's say that I give all three of these guys some money right and and and and I'm going away for a while and I have provided for Catherine but I want to provide some more while I'm gone like I want to get I want to make sure that my wife is taken care of and I can channel my resources through you three guys okay can you guys handle that if I if I was to give you guys some funds now I'm gonna send here here you can look at me this would make it more more powerful I'm gonna give each of you $10,000 okay hey can you go grab no I'm just kidding this is just an illustration okay I was like hold on seriously no I don't have that kind of money okay I could like give you guys those big checks and then you wouldn't be able to cash it anywhere but listen I trust each one of you that when I give you this $10,000 that you will bless my wife okay I want you to bless my wife because I'm gonna be gone for about a year and I want you to bless my wife now now all I ask is that you would give her 10% of that thousand or that that $10,000 that's a thousand dollars a month you can keep nine grand you eat you already thinking about what you gonna buy bro I see it in your eyes I can tell and so I'm talking to my wife every single day and it's an extended trip and I'm gonna be gone for quite a few more months and after three months I think about these funds and and I ask my wife I say hey babe what has happened with those funds from from David Matt and James what's happening she says she says man David you're doing great she said he is doing great he sends me a thousand dollars a month like it's clockwork he's got it set up and it comes out the first and 15th of every month he is on top of it and I say well what about James and she said man James he is doing fantastic he's sending me $2,000 a month really she's like yeah I'm like what why and she's like I don't know but every month he is sending me $2,000 a month and I say well what about Matt and she's like we need to talk about Matt I said why I said what's Matt doing I seen it in his eyes when I told him I was gonna give him $10,000 every month and he had 9,000 left over he said

he was buying some J's he was buying a whip he was gonna do some other stuff but he was gonna make sure that you was good babe he said that and she said well the first month he gave me 700 the second month he gave me 400 and the past couple months he hasn't given me anything now I want you to think about this really think about it how do you think that that would make me feel how do you think that that would make me feel that I'm giving you $10,000 a piece and it's coming from me it's coming from my bank I'm sending it to you so that I can make sure that my wife is taken care of and you can keep the 90% Matt like you can have it bro but you're just ignoring what I'm asking you to do right what do you think I'm gonna do it's probably gonna be than what God would do. God would just take the money. I'm not going to say what I would do because we're being recorded right now and I don't want any alleged allocations. Here's what I know. I would not send you any more money. You know what I'm saying? It ain't nothing personal. You know what I'm saying? It ain't nothing personal, but it actually is personal because I wanted to get to my wife. But because he has proven that he can't be trusted, I'm not going to send him any more money. But what I'm going to do is I'm going to take what I was giving you and I'm going to give it to you, David, because you trusted. You proved it to me. You proved that when I asked you to do what you was going to do, that you would give it to my wife. And not only have you proven that you can be trusted, but you've also proven that you can be generous towards my bride. I love my wife. Now think about this. Jesus said this. He said, hey, I'm going away for a while, but I'm coming back. And while I'm gone, I want you guys to take care of my wife. I want you to give her 10% and you guys can have the rest. Why? Because the church is the bride of Christ, correct? Yes. Now listen very carefully. Tithing might be more personal to Jesus than we ever even thought because it's all about his wife. You guys are done. Thank you so much. I really don't have $10,000. I wish I did. I would give it to you right now just for this. Listen, I know that this can be hard to hear. And some of us would even say, Jesus wouldn't do that. Go back and read the parable of the talents because he did it. But here's what I know is if we apply this, it can change the course of generations. Here's where we take a stand church.

We aren't going to allow the devourer to continue to take anything from our families, but we have to start living it first in order for it to happen. Would you be willing to say today, hey, you know what? I'm going to take a stand for my family and I'm going to break the curse that has been over their life. I'm going to break the poverty mindset that we have been stricken with for years and years and years down the generations. And I want this to open up the heavens so that my family can be trusted and honor God with everything that they have so that I can tell the devil that you no longer have a hold over my family. Because as for me and my house, we are going to serve the Lord with every single thing that we have. And it doesn't matter if it's my finances. It doesn't matter if it's my marriage. It doesn't matter if it's my kids or my family. I'm always going to trust and honor God with everything that I have. Amen. If I could have everybody stand with me for just a moment.