Five Powerful Promises Are Yours When You Tithe
FIVE POWERFUL PROMISES ARE YOURS WHEN YOU TITHE
Selected Scriptures
Back when men had to wait in a waiting room, when their wife was giving birth, 4 men sat waiting for the nurse to tell them whether their wife had given birth to a boy or girl. The nurse came in and asked, "Is Mr. Brown in here? He jumped up and said, "I'm Mr. Brown." She said, "Mr. Brown we are pleased to announce that your wife just had twins." He said, "What a coincidence, because I work for the Doublemint Chewing Gum Company." In a few minutes the same nurse came in again and asked, "Is Mr. Jones here?" He jumped up and said, "Yes, I'm Mr. Jones." "Mr. Jones I want to inform you that your wife just had triplets." He said, "That's incredible. What a coincidence, I work for 3-M Company." A few minuets later, the same nurse came back in again, and asked, "Is Mr. Smith here?" "I'm Mr. Smith." "Mr. Smith your wife just gave birth to quadruplets." "He said, "That is incredible, I work for 4 Seasons Nursing Homes." That left one man in the hospital waiting room. Again, the same nurse came back, and as soon as she did, the man jumped up and ran out of the hospital. And he ran down the road, and he kept on running. Somebody said, "What was that all about?" Another person said, "I don't know, but he just ran out of the hospital mumbling something about working for 7- Up." That is the attitude of some when the subject of stewardship is shared. They want to run.
God wants to be your provider, and protector. And that happens when you make a personnel covenant with God to tithe. And he wants to pour into your life blessings.
I want to give you 5 benefits of making a covenant with God to tithe.
FIRST -- WHEN YOU TITHE, GOD BECOMES YOUR PROVIDER.
Malachi 3:10
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. (NIV)
Notice from verse 10 what God says He will do when you tithe.
"I will throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."
Interestingly enough, those are the exact same Hebrew words used in Genesis 7:11 for the great down pour of rain that flooded the earth. There God said, 11the floodgates of the heavens were opened. (NIV)
Do you know what God is saying? Just as God abundantly brought down the rains, He can also shower down blessings. Does that mean that you will win the lottery if you tithe? No. Does that mean that God will make you a millionaire if you tithe? No. Notice the word "BLESS" in verse 10. Do you know what the Hebrew word "BLESS" means? Literally the Hebrew word means to kneel or to praise. God is saying, when you tithe, He will bless you to such an extent that you will kneel before Him in praise. Let me illustrate what I am talking about.
We have a couple in our church where the
husband became ill and was declared disabled by
his doctor. Suddenly, there was no income. One
Sunday, they came to church with just $16.00 in their checking account. The wife said, "We are going to tithe $10.00 of it." The husband said, "Honey, we can't do that. All we'll have left is $6.00, we can live on that." She said, "But I believe that God will bless us." That Sunday they placed a $10.00 check in the offering plate. Someone in the church gave me an envelope that same Sunday for this couple. They opened it after church, and in the envelope was sixty dollars. And the wife said, "See, honey, I told you so."
Tithing has not made them wealthy in materials things. But they have been blessed beyond your imagination. Does that mean that if you make a covenant with God to tithe you will not have any troubles? Not at all. This same couple is unemployed due to health problems. Their finances are not what they were in the past. But God keeps pouring out His blessings upon them.
Do you know where tithing originated? You might be thinking, "Well pastor, that is easy. Tithing began with the Old Testament law." No, tithing began before the Old Testament law. Did you know that Abraham in Genesis 14:20 is the first one mentioned in the Bible to give a tenth as a tithe? That was over 400 hundred years before the Old Testament law was given. Abraham in the dispensation of Grace discovered that God was an abundant provider and tithed. Abraham came to know God, not by the name God, but as Jehovah-Jireh, meaning "the Lord provides." Have you discovered that? Do you know God as provider? You can.
God is bigger than your needs. Stop looking at what you can't do and start looking at what God can do through you.
SECOND -- WHEN YOU TITHE, GOD BECOMES YOUR PROTECTOR.
Malachi 3:11
11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. (NIV)
Malachi 3:11
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. (KJV)
What is God saying? The second benefit of tithing is that you will live under God's umbrella of protection. Have you ever been driving down the road and a red light came on the dashboard of your car? If you ignore the light, you're going to have some problems with the car, and it will cost you.
This week as I was driving my car, the red light came on. And the voltage regulator began to show the electrical power to my car was going out. We took the car to the mechanic, and of course it was the alternator. The repair bill came to $219 that we did not have. So I called the mechanic and said, "Could we pay $100 now, and the rest 3 days latter?" He said, "O.K." So Velva and I went to the bank to draw the money out of our savings account. And as we attempted to do that, guess how much money was in the account? Absolutely nothing. The account was completely empty. Well, we did pay a portion of the bill. It left us broke. But the whole point is God has protected us from even worse happenings.
I believe that if you don't give God the first tenth of your tithe, a red light will come on. If you ignore the red light may get by for a while, but
soon the problems start escalating, and things will go from bad to worse. You will pay the tithe to the mechanic, doctor bill, and to the appliance repairmen.
THIRD -- WHEN YOU TITHE, YOU BECOME A PARTICIPANT WITH GOD.
Malachi 3:8
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, `How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. (NIV)
The third benefit of tithing is that you stop being a spectator and become a participant. You will not feel a part of a church until you become a participant by giving of your finances and time. No matter how good the sermons are, no matter how good the fellowship is, your church will not become fully alive for you and impact your life until you pay the price. When you withhold your tithes, you rob God and hurt yourself.
THOSE WHO GIVE NOTHING, GET
NOTHING. THOSE WHO GIVE
SOMETHING, GET SOMETHING.
THOSE WHO GIVE MUCH, GET MUCH
2 Corinthians 11:8
8 I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. (NIV)
FOUR -- WHEN YOU TITHE, YOU QUALIFY FOR GOD'S PROMISES.
The fourth benefit of tithing is that there are special promises in the Bible just for you. Let me give you 2 of them.
PROVERBS 3:9-10
9 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. (NIV)
Luke 6:38
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken
together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (NIV)
What is God saying? God is saying that He wants to bless you make your finances out last the month. Many people think that we need a tax revolt. Do you think we need a tax revolt? I tell you something more affective than a tax revolt. If you tithe God says, He will multiply your gift. "You say, "O.K. preacher, how does God do that?" I don't know. He's done it in my life. All I know is that Jesus said, "Luke 6:38
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
What ever we release, it comes back. It is amazing.
Ecclesiastes 11:1
1 Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. (NIV)
What does the verse say? Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it soggy? Is that what it says? It says it will return. God promises that when we give it comes back. No one else promises that. Your mortgage company hasn't promised that. Your utility company hasn't offered that deal. You don't find Luke 6:38 written over a lottery ticket.
Can you trust what the Bible says about salvation? Can you trust what the Bible says about
the second coming of Jesus Christ to rapture His church? Can you trust the Bible in what it says about forgiveness of sin? Can you trust the Bible what it says about finances? Look at:
2 Corinthians 9:8-12
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." 10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (NIV)
This is what it boils down to. You can stay on your plan, and struggle financially. May I urge you not to do that. It is so unproductive, and it doesn't glorify God. These promises are yours if you will faithfully tithe.
FIFTH -- WHEN YOU TITHE, YOU LEARN THAT TITHING PAYS.
The fifth benefit of tithing is that tithing pays. It pays rich dividends to tithe. Perhaps you are suffering financially. The paycheck ends before the month ends. Do you want to be set financially free? I am convinced that your first step to getting on top of your finances is to start by giving God 10% of your income. Let me ask you a question. How can God trust you with more money when you will not manage what he has already given you?
When Velva and I first started tithing, the
first thing that God did was to give me a raise at
work. I won cash awards and prizes. God richly blessed us. And He still does.
I know that not everybody is not in God's
plan for blessing. If you're not there I'm going to share with you how you can get there. One of the reasons you're not in on it, is because you have never been willing to release a tithe back to God. You can make your start by willing to say, "I will tithe for the next 3 months." If you are not a tither, don't let this scare you. This message is not to raise money. It is designed to get you on God's miraculous plan. If you're willing to say, "Lord God I am willing to tithe everything that comes to me for the next 3 months, so I can get on God plans, I'm going to ask you to pray a simple prayer. Pray it silently. The prayer goes like this: "Dear God, I know that you own everything, that your resources are there for me. I am willing to tithe of all that comes to me. And I will trust you to keep your promise, to return back everything that I give, so I can give even more. In Jesus' name Amen."
FIRST -
FIVE POWERFUL PROMISES ARE
YOURS WHEN YOU TITHE
Selected Scriptures
Back when men had to wait in a waiting room, when their wife was giving birth, 4 men sat waiting for the nurse to tell them whether their wife had given birth to a boy or girl. The nurse came in and asked, "Is Mr. Brown in here? He jumped up and said, "I'm Mr. Brown." She said, "Mr. Brown we are pleased to announce that your wife just had twins." He said, "What a coincidence, because I work for the Doublemint Chewing Gum Company." In a few minutes the same nurse came in again and asked, "Is Mr. Jones here?" He jumped up and said, "Yes, I'm Mr. Jones." "Mr. Jones I want to inform you that your wife just had triplets." He said, "That's incredible. What a coincidence, I work for 3-M Company." A few minuets later, the same nurse came back in again, and asked, "Is Mr. Smith here?" "I'm Mr. Smith." "Mr. Smith your wife just gave birth to quadruplets." "He said, "That is incredible, I work for 4 Seasons Nursing Homes." That left one man in the hospital waiting room. Again, the same nurse came back, and as soon as she did, the man jumped up and ran out of the hospital. And he ran down the road, and he kept on running. Somebody said, "What was that all about?" Another person said, "I don't know, but he just ran out of the hospital mumbling something about working for 7- Up." That is the attitude of some when the subject of stewardship is shared. They want to run.
God wants to be your provider, and protector. And that happens when you make a personnel covenant with God to tithe. And he wants to pour into your life blessings.
I want to give you 5 benefits of making a covenant with God to tithe.
FIRST -- WHEN YOU TITHE, GOD BECOMES YOUR PROVIDER.
Malachi 3:10
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. (NIV)
Notice from verse 10 what God says He will do when you tithe.
"I will throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."
Interestingly enough, those are the exact same Hebrew words used in Genesis 7:11 for the great down pour of rain that flooded the earth. There God said, 11the floodgates of the heavens were opened. (NIV)
Do you know what God is saying? Just as God abundantly brought down the rains, He can also shower down blessings. Does that mean that you will win the lottery if you tithe? No. Does that mean that God will make you a millionaire if you tithe? No. Notice the word "BLESS" in verse 10. Do you know what the Hebrew word "BLESS" means? Literally the Hebrew word means to kneel or to praise. God is saying, when you tithe, He will bless you to such an extent that you will kneel before Him in praise. Let me illustrate what I am talking about.
We have a couple in our church where the
husband became ill and was declared disabled by
his doctor. Suddenly, there was no income. One
Sunday, they came to church with just $16.00 in their checking account. The wife said, "We are going to tithe $10.00 of it." The husband said, "Honey, we can't do that. All we'll have left is $6.00, we can live on that." She said, "But I believe that God will bless us." That Sunday they placed a $10.00 check in the offering plate. Someone in the church gave me an envelope that same Sunday for this couple. They opened it after church, and in the envelope was sixty dollars. And the wife said, "See, honey, I told you so."
Tithing has not made them wealthy in materials things. But they have been blessed beyond your imagination. Does that mean that if you make a covenant with God to tithe you will not have any troubles? Not at all. This same couple is unemployed due to health problems. Their finances are not what they were in the past. But God keeps pouring out His blessings upon them.
Do you know where tithing originated? You might be thinking, "Well pastor, that is easy. Tithing began with the Old Testament law." No, tithing began before the Old Testament law. Did you know that Abraham in Genesis 14:20 is the first one mentioned in the Bible to give a tenth as a tithe? That was over 400 hundred years before the Old Testament law was given. Abraham in the dispensation of Grace discovered that God was an abundant provider and tithed. Abraham came to know God, not by the name God, but as Jehovah-Jireh, meaning "the Lord provides." Have you discovered that? Do you know God as provider? You can.
God is bigger than your needs. Stop looking at what you can't do and start looking at what God can do through you.
SECOND -- WHEN YOU TITHE, GOD BECOMES YOUR PROTECTOR.
Malachi 3:11
11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. (NIV)
Malachi 3:11
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. (KJV)
What is God saying? The second benefit of tithing is that you will live under God's umbrella of protection. Have you ever been driving down the road and a red light came on the dashboard of your car? If you ignore the light, you're going to have some problems with the car, and it will cost you.
This week as I was driving my car, the red light came on. And the voltage regulator began to show the electrical power to my car was going out. We took the car to the mechanic, and of course it was the alternator. The repair bill came to $219 that we did not have. So I called the mechanic and said, "Could we pay $100 now, and the rest 3 days latter?" He said, "O.K." So Velva and I went to the bank to draw the money out of our savings account. And as we attempted to do that, guess how much money was in the account? Absolutely nothing. The account was completely empty. Well, we did pay a portion of the bill. It left us broke. But the whole point is God has protected us from even worse happenings.
I believe that if you don't give God the first tenth of your tithe, a red light will come on. If you ignore the red light may get by for a while, but
soon the problems start escalating, and things will go from bad to worse. You will pay the tithe to the mechanic, doctor bill, and to the appliance repairmen.
THIRD -- WHEN YOU TITHE, YOU BECOME A PARTICIPANT WITH GOD.
Malachi 3:8
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, `How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. (NIV)
The third benefit of tithing is that you stop being a spectator and become a participant. You will not feel a part of a church until you become a participant by giving of your finances and time. No matter how good the sermons are, no matter how good the fellowship is, your church will not become fully alive for you and impact your life until you pay the price. When you withhold your tithes, you rob God and hurt yourself.
THOSE WHO GIVE NOTHING, GET
NOTHING. THOSE WHO GIVE
SOMETHING, GET SOMETHING.
THOSE WHO GIVE MUCH, GET MUCH
2 Corinthians 11:8
8 I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. (NIV)
FOUR -- WHEN YOU TITHE, YOU QUALIFY FOR GOD'S PROMISES.
The fourth benefit of tithing is that there are special promises in the Bible just for you. Let me give you 2 of them.
PROVERBS 3:9-10
9 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. (NIV)
Luke 6:38
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken
together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (NIV)
What is God saying? God is saying that He wants to bless you make your finances out last the month. Many people think that we need a tax revolt. Do you think we need a tax revolt? I tell you something more affective than a tax revolt. If you tithe God says, He will multiply your gift. "You say, "O.K. preacher, how does God do that?" I don't know. He's done it in my life. All I know is that Jesus said, "Luke 6:38
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
What ever we release, it comes back. It is amazing.
Ecclesiastes 11:1
1 Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. (NIV)
What does the verse say? Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it soggy? Is that what it says? It says it will return. God promises that when we give it comes back. No one else promises that. Your mortgage company hasn't promised that. Your utility company hasn't offered that deal. You don't find Luke 6:38 written over a lottery ticket.
Can you trust what the Bible says about salvation? Can you trust what the Bible says about
the second coming of Jesus Christ to rapture His church? Can you trust the Bible in what it says about forgiveness of sin? Can you trust the Bible what it says about finances? Look at:
2 Corinthians 9:8-12
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." 10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (NIV)
This is what it boils down to. You can stay on your plan, and struggle financially. May I urge you not to do that. It is so unproductive, and it doesn't glorify God. These promises are yours if you will faithfully tithe.
FIFTH -- WHEN YOU TITHE, YOU LEARN THAT TITHING PAYS.
The fifth benefit of tithing is that tithing pays. It pays rich dividends to tithe. Perhaps you are suffering financially. The paycheck ends before the month ends. Do you want to be set financially free? I am convinced that your first step to getting on top of your finances is to start by giving God 10% of your income. Let me ask you a question. How can God trust you with more money when you will not manage what he has already given you?
When Velva and I first started tithing, the
first thing that God did was to give me a raise at
work. I won cash awards and prizes. God richly blessed us. And He still does.
I know that not everybody is not in God's
plan for blessing. If you're not there I'm going to share with you how you can get there. One of the reasons you're not in on it, is because you have never been willing to release a tithe back to God. You can make your start by willing to say, "I will tithe for the next 3 months." If you are not a tither, don't let this scare you. This message is not to raise money. It is designed to get you on God's miraculous plan. If you're willing to say, "Lord God I am willing to tithe everything that comes to me for the next 3 months, so I can get on God plans, I'm going to ask you to pray a simple prayer. Pray it silently. The prayer goes like this: "Dear God, I know that you own everything, that your resources are there for me. I am willing to tithe of all that comes to me. And I will trust you to keep your promise, to return back everything that I give, so I can give even more. In Jesus' name Amen."
FIRST - PROVIDER
SECOND - PROTECTOR
THIRD - PARTICIPANT
FOURTH - PROMISES
FIFTH - PAYS
PROVIDER
SECOND - PROTECTOR
THIRD - PARTICIPANT
FOURTH - PROMISES
FIFTH - PAYS
Tom Myers