WHY DO I GIVE? The Bible devotes 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, But over 2000 verses on money and possessions!

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1 WHY DO I GIVE? This is a subject that is very touchy! But Jesus talked about this subject a lot! In fact, Jesus talked about money 16 out of 38 parables, 1 out of 10 verses in the gospels! The Bible devotes 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, But over 2000 verses on money and possessions! Some people say, Tithing is Old Testament and part of the Law. They say it has no part of the New Covenant, and that it is legalistic and holds us in bondage. o First of all we can see in the book of Genesis that the tithe was initiated before the law. o We can also see that the last book of the Old Covenant is devoted primarily to tithe and the attitude behind it. It is my belief that this is no coincidence. This is a powerful area of Scripture that carries over into many areas of our life as Christians. God was reprimanding the children of Israel for their callus attitude. o Has God changed? The Word says that He is the same yesterday today and forever. o Do you think His attitude towards honor has changed? o In the book of Malachi we can see the importance of our attitude in our giving and the tithe Malachi 3: For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts. Listen at these five principles! I. THE "WHO S IN CHARGE" PRINCIPLE! God is the owner, I am the manager! o Psalm 24:1 "The earth is the Lord s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell... o Psalm 89:11 "The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fullness thereof, thou hast founded them."

2 o Haggai 2:8 "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts." o 1 Chronicles 29:14 "...of thine own have we given thee." A) God owns it all, it s not mine, I just manage it! You don t give God a tithe, you don t give God anything, you ve never given God anything! o Wake up! o You return the tithe! o Leviticus 27:30 "...the tithe is the Lord s." B) You don t give it to the One who owns it, you return it! The reason people withhold the tithe is they don t understand that God owns it! They think it is their money and they become possessive! (Matthew 25:14-30) C) If we don t tithe, we rob God! * Yet every Sunday when we pass by the tithe and offering box and we fail to put something in We witness one of the most serious robberies in our city! Our newspapers don t carry the story & no one files a complaint at the police station! D) What if someone reached in and took money out of the offering box? Some take it before it ever gets to the offering plate! If you make $ a week, how much belongs to God? o All of it does! II. THE "CHEERFUL ATTITUDE" PRINCIPLE! Stewardship starts with loving, not giving! Tithing is an act of love! A) Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 9:7-8 and listen to what God says! 7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: Grudgingly - The idea here is to give out of sorrow, i.e. being grieved to have given something to God s work or some worthy project! o This is not an attitude pleasing to God! Necessity - suggests something as difficult as pulling eye teeth! o People who give with this attitude usually view giving to God s work in much the same way they do paying a bill! o It s not something they do out of joy & love, but of necessity! Cheerful - hilariously, willingly without being pressured or shamed, generously & wisely. o Jesus is our example of this kind of attitude! 2 Corinthians 8:9 "For ye know the grace..." Matthew 10:8 Jesus said, "Freely ye have received, freely give."

3 B) We measure our love to Christ by the obedience of giving our tithe! John 14:21 "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself..." C) We can give without loving, but we cannot love without giving! I m not sure all happy people are generous, but I ve never seen a generous person who wasn t happy! III. THE "BIG SHOVEL" PRINCIPLE! You cannot outgive God! o I dare you to try! Luke 6:38 "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." A) When you tithe for the right reasons, you have gone into business with God! When you invest one-tenth of your income with God, He promises to "open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room...!" Malachi 3:10 B) God will not be any man s debtor, He will keep His promise! 2 Corinthians 9:6 "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly..." IV. THE "RIVER" PRINCIPLE! Our life is like a river not a reservoir. God will give to us what He knows will flow through us! A) Tithing helps the church carry out the great commission! The church is commanded to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every...! o This requires money to provide for the church building, provide salaries for God s servants, and carry out the countless other expenses associated with the ministry! B) A tithing church will not have to beg for money & plan gimmicks to raise its budget. Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." o We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give! V. THE "WHO HAS WHO" PRINCIPLE! Tithing recognizes God s ownership of our lives! The tithe is described in the Bible as the firstfruits, meaning, a tither gives to God the firstfruits to be harvested! Proverbs 3:9 "Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits..."

4 A) If we put God first in our lives, He will honor us! Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first..." o We demonstrate our dedication when we tithe! o We give Him the firstfruits because he is first in our lives! o Until God is in control of my life, I m out of control! B) Tithing will keep us from the lust of money! Those who don t tithe are not only disobedient, but they demonstrate a greater love for money than they do for God! 1 Timothy 6:10 "For the love of money is the root..." o But those who will weekly deposit their tithe in God s bank reveal their faith in God to take care of all their needs! Five things real quick of Why Should We Tithe. 1. Because Abraham COMMENCED it. (Genesis 14:18-20) 2. Because Moses COMMANDED it. (Leviticus 27:30) 3. Because Malachi CONFIRMED it. (Malachi 3:8-10) 4. Because Jesus COMMENDED it. (Matthew 23:23) 5. Because Paul urges us to CONTINUE it. (I Corinthians 16:2) Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. CLOSE In our text, verse 9 it says, "Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me." o I believe this curse is described by Haggai the prophet in Haggai 1:6 "Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes." There is only one way to lift the curse! o Verses Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts. One last point I want to make. It doesn t take a great stretch of our imagination to see the Old Testament shadow of the New. o After they were to inherit the Promised Land, they are commanded to take some of the first of all and take it to the place where the Lord God chooses to make His name abide. o Then, they were to go to the one who is the priest in those days, and bring the offering and worship before Him. o We know that in our day, Jesus is our High Priest. o Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle

5 and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus. o Jesus is the High priest of our confession, or we could say He is the High Priest of our words. Lets worship Him with our first fruits and confess our victory in Christ Jesus as He commanded us. As we come before the High Priest with our offering and make our confession before Him. We are even being told what to confess as we worship. We are to declare a confession of faith and victory over our enemies and thanksgiving unto God as our deliverer. Why do I give to God? Why not?