It's Time to Come Up: Part 5
It’s Time to Come Up || Part 5 - Day 2
Haggai 2:6-9 NKJV
For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
Luke 6:38 NKJV
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
Matthew 6:19-26 NKJV
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
Proverbs 3:5-10 NLT
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones. Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.
Matthew 23:23 NLT
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.”
The law (or principle or rule) of first mention is a guideline that some people use for studying scripture. The law of first mention says that, to understand a particular word or doctrine, we must find the first place in Scripture that word or doctrine is revealed and study that passage. The reasoning is that the Bible’s first mention of a concept is the simplest and clearest presentation; doctrines are then more fully developed on that foundation. So, to fully understand an important and complex theological concept, Bible students are advised to start with its “first mention.”
In Genesis 4:1-7, we read the story of Cain and Abel. If you read this story without any revelation, it almost seems like God is picking on Cain. Or that Cain brought an offering to the Lord, and God was in a bad mood that day and decided to reject it. But we all know through other scriptures in the Bible, that’s not true. We know through reading the Bible that God is not a respecter of persons, but He is a respecter of principles.
We also know that when Abel brought his offering to the Lord, that God received it, and He rejected Cain’s offering. In studying this passage, it was discovered that there are many theologians that believe that Cain and Abel were bringing tithes to the Lord. Now if you look at this story through the lens of tithing, everything makes perfect sense. Because we know these three things about this event:
One, they were instructed to give a certain amount to the Lord.
Two, Cain knew what was right, and still did not do it, and therefore was rejected.
Three, the difference between being accepted and not accepted was giving in faith.
Let me ask you this question. Which requires more faith? Bringing a portion of the tithe or bringing all of the tithe? Bringing your best to the Lord or bringing what is left over to the Lord? For example, if you made $2000 this week and your tithe is $200. Which takes more faith? To bring $50 to the Lord? Or to bring the full $200? It takes more faith to bring the full $200.
Hebrews chapter 11 lets us know why Cain was rejected and Abel was accepted. It had nothing to do with one being the offering of blood and one being the offering from the ground. If so, then faith has nothing to do with it. Hebrews 11 tells us that Abel’s offering was accepted because it was offered in faith. In other words, he brought what God had instructed, and not what he wanted to bring.
Tithing in faith isn’t just having an expectation like Abraham, but it’s also having the obedience of Abel to bring what God has commanded. If you do right, you will be accepted. If you don’t do right, then sin lies at the door. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone who starts struggling and falls back into sin. Three to six months before they backslid, they stopped tithing. Sin lies at the door, but you are supposed to rule over it.
Tithing in faith guarantees your worship, sacrifice, your offering, will be accepted by God.
Let’s pray together…