A Heart That Gives: Part 3

1 Timothy 6:17-18 (NIV) Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

1 Timothy 6:6-8 (NLT) Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

There has only been one financial system that God has ever given to this world, and that is the system of the tithe that He gave to the nation of Israel.

Tithe — “a tenth.” 

Leviticus 27:30 (AMP) And all the tithe (tenth part) of the land, whether the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy [set apart, consecrated] to the Lord.

Proverbs 3:9 (NIV) Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops. 

Exodus 23:19 (ESV) The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. 

Genesis 4:3-5 (NKJV) And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat.  And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. 

Judges 6:19 (NKJV) But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated [set apart] to the Lord; they shall come into the treasury of the Lord. 

Deuteronomy 26:1-2 (AMP) Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and live in it, 2 that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His Name (Presence). 

Romans 11:16 (NKJV) For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

Proverbs 3:9-10 (NIV) Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. 

“We have found in our home that God’s blessing upon the nine-tenths, when we tithe, helps it to go farther than ten-tenths without His blessing.”  —Billy Graham

Who — us

What — our income

When — before anything else

Where — local church

How Much — 10%

Genesis 14:18-20 (NKJV) Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said:  “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”  And he gave him a tithe of all. 

Hebrews 7:1-3 (NKJV) For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 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,” 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

Hebrews 7:8 (NKJV) Here mortal men receive tithes, but there He [Jesus] receives them, of whom it is witnessed that He lives.

Genesis 28:20-22 (NKJV) Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”  

• “If it was right under the law, it is now wrong under grace.“

Matthew 23:23 (ESV) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faithfulness.  These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 

Malachi 3:6-12 (NKJV) “For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. 7 Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them.  Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.  “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’ 8 “Will a man rob God?  Yet you have robbed Me!  But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try [test] Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 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; 12 “And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.  

• Generously (2 Cor. 8:2, 9:6)

• Willingly (2 Cor. 8:3, 12)

• Proportionately (2 Cor. 8:14-15, 9:6)

• Lovingly (2 Cor. 8:24, 1 Cor. 13:3)

• Cheerfully (2 Cor. 9:11-12)

• Sacrificially (Heb. 13:16, Mark 12:44)

• As unto the Lord (Mt. 25:40)