Jesus is God's tithe

Genesis 4:1-7 NLT “[1] Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, "With the Lord's help, I have produced a man!" [2] Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel. When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. [3] When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. [4] Abel also brought a gift-the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, [5] but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected. [6] "Why are you so angry?" the Lord asked Cain. "Why do you look so dejected? [7] You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master."

1.Cain and Abel.

a.Their gifts were amazing but it was their heart that God was looking at.

b.Each of us as God’s Managers when giving a gift to God in the form of an offering or returning to Him the tithe can take on a very dangerous and destructive attitude.

c. The right spirit is so imperative to be in right standing before God.

d.We can do things to please men, satisfy culture, punch our religious duty clocks but God weighs the heart.

                                            i.     As a manager, a trustee, a steward of God I wish to live my life according to His Word, to His order, and to His standard, that is my measuring apparatus.

                                         ii.     If I chose to measure in any other way I am measuring with the wrong standards and I'll never live up to the rightness I can have in Christ.

1.Jesus is God's tithe and grace is His disposable income.

2.Tithe simply means the tenth.

Malachi 3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! 11 Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies.

e.God’s job is to rebuke the devourer for our sakes and my job is to faithfully give.

                                            i.     I don’t know about you but I remind the Devil every now and again about what God has promised me.

                                         ii.     I know I don’t necessarily have to but it feels so, so good to do so.

                                       iii.     As a child of God, God will rebuke the Devil and every thing that would try to devour my resources.

1.It’s His promise to me.

2.God gave us His very best.

a.He gave to us the very best of heaven, all of this earth, and the very best in all of creation in Jesus Christ.

                                            i.     There was no other gift God could have given to pacify sin, destroy its hold on mankind, or dismantle the enemy’s work besides Jesus Christ.

1.There was no other sacrifice, offering or tithe that God could have given but Jesus.

2.How could we want to get off so cheap?

3.I hear people talk about God today and what they may or may not give to Him or give to His purposes and I get concerned because our giving is to God and not to any man.

a.My tithe is designated for God’s use.

b.My giving, my offerings are designated to God.

c. My promise is from God, and God is obligated by His very word to open, pour out and guard my resources. 

b.God has given us healing; God has given us encouragement, salvation, life, and joy.

c. God has given to us the very breath we breathe and the very ground we walk on.

                                            i.     The scripture teaches that He flung the stars into the sky calls them by name, He formed the mountains with His hands, carved the rivers with His fingers and that the clouds are the dust of His feet surely He can handle my needs.

d.God gave me 206 bones to hold up my structure, He gave me a heart and veins to pump blood through my system, muscles to help me make every move I could ever dream of.

e.He gave me a brain, some of you might be thinking He didn't give you much of one but regardless He gave me a brain to be able to make solid, sound, and well thought out decisions.

                                            i.     His greatest gift, His greatest offering that He could have ever given was in and through His Son Jesus Christ.

                                         ii.     His one and only Son died and shed His life-giving blood for all of mankind.

1.What a sacrifice, what a gift, what a blessing.

2.He gave first.

3.He didn't withhold the greatest gift of all time.

Illustrate here: Poncho that only covers one or an umbrella that covers all. God does not have a poncho mentality He has a cover all mankind.

Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 25 "That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are?

32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need."

f.   God’s will is that you not be anxious about anything, but that you connect to peace and security.

g.Helping you overcome whatever is making you fearful, anxious or uneasy this morning.

3.Life is more than food and clothing.

a.Vs 25.

                                            i.     There are three things that we would lose if we did not have food and clothing.

1.First, we would lose some pleasures.

2.Food tastes good.

3.It is pleasurable to eat.

                                         ii.     Second, we would lose some human praise and admiring glances if we didn't have nice clothes.

                                       iii.     Third, we would lose long life if we had no food at all or weren't protected from the cold with clothes and shelter.

1.So we get anxious about food and clothing because we don't want to lose physical pleasures, human praise or length of life.

b.And to this Jesus responds:

                                            i.     Life was not given primarily for physical pleasures, but for something greater—the enjoyment of God.

                                         ii.     Life was not given primarily for the approval of man, but for something greater—the approval of God.

                                       iii.     Life was not even given primarily for living on this earth, but for something greater—eternal life with God.

c. Vs. 26: This not a lesson in laziness.

                                            i.     The birds dig their worms, seize their bugs and cushion their nests with strings and leaves.

1.But Jesus says, “it is God that feeds them.”

a.Birds don't anxiously horde things for the day God doesn’t show up.

b.They go about their work as though when the sun comes up tomorrow, God will still be God.

                                                                                                  i.     How much more, then, should we consider the provision and mercy of God tomorrow, since we are not mere birds, but children of our heavenly Father?

d.The biggest difference between a disciple of Jesus and a bird is that we have the capacity of honoring God by our faith.

                                            i.     God can be counted on to work for us tomorrow just as much as today.

e.Vs. 32 Anxiety shows that we are too close to the world and too far from God.

4.God made a way for all of mankind when He sent His Son Jesus to take away sin.

a.How in the world could I now think or even engage in the thought that God would refuse to make a way to help me now.

                                            i.     Now all of a sudden God turned selfish.

Psalm 37:25 "Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread."

b.Now lets look at Cain and Abel once more.

                                            i.     Observe, each son had a calling, a job.

1.One was a gardener, and the other a farmer.

2.It is the will of God for every one to have something to do in this world.

3.Parents ought to bring up their children to work and understand the value of a hard days work and all its benefits.

a.Give them a Bible and prepare them with a life calling.

c. The offerings of Cain and Abel were different.

                                            i.     Cain showed a proud, unbelieving heart.

1.I'll just give what I want, this is good enough mentality therefore he and his offering were rejected.

2.He came frustrated and prideful.

                                         ii.     Abel came as a sinner with his sacrifice expressing humility, and sincerity.

1.His obedience was blessed as he offered his first and very best to God.

2.Abel offered in belief, sacrifice, and gratefulness.

3.He gave cheerful and repentant.

d.In every age                              there have been two types of worshippers.

e.Cain type managers, who are proud, hardened despisers of the gospel method of salvation, attempting to please God in ways of their own devising.

f.   And Abel type mangers, which are humble believers, who draw near to Him in the way He has revealed.

                                            i.     Cain indulged malignant anger against Abel.

                                         ii.     He harbored an evil spirit of discontent and rebellion against God.

g.There is not an angry, envious, or fretful look that escapes God’s observing eye.

                                            i.     God reasons with us rebels; declaring if you come in the right way, you’ll be accepted.

h.Many when choosing to walk in their own ways refusing submission to God begin the Cain Managing perspective.

                                            i.     I will give what I want, when I want, how I want and God needs to accept it.

i.   While Abel's managing abilities differ greatly, he considers God as his source, guidance, mercy and provision.

                                            i.     Abel knew that he was accountable to God and connected himself to that giving perspective.

1.Cain murdered his brother Abel in a moment of rage.

2.When God confronted Cain, He let Cain know that Abel's blood, was crying out to Heaven.

j.   What did the blood of Abel cry out for?

                                            i.     Judgment! Justice! Condemnation! Vengeance! A Curse!

                                         ii.     Thousands of years later, the Son of God was systematically tortured and killed in a bloody, violent act.

                                       iii.     Hebrews tells us that the blood of Christ "speaks a better word" than the blood of Abel.

k.If the blood of Christ is speaking, what does it say? 

                                            i.     It cries out, Grace! Mercy! Salvation! Forgiveness! Peace!

                                         ii.     The blood of Christ covers the guilty, the broken, and the wounded.

                                       iii.     Shielding them from guilt, shame, and despair.

1.It speaks a better word.

Genesis 4:13 “Cain replied to the LORD, "My punishment is too great for me to bear!”

l.   Cain wasn't upset or apologetic he was interested in his overwhelming punishment with no regard for his sin against his brother, his parents, or against God.

                                            i.     Just like the Devil to get us to focus on how were treated and how we might suffer instead of how others might.

1.God has invested so, so very much and it's imperative that we invest now.

                                         ii.     Investing our first gifts, investing our greatest gifts, investing sacrificially and generously.

1.That's God's way.  

2.Our tithing, our giving, our offerings, our service, our worship, our compassion for others is all tied to our hearts.

a.God reads our hearts, our minds, and our motives better than a cat scan.

m.               Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of His day.

Luke 11:42 “But how terrible it will be for you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, and herb gardens but you completely forget about justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things.”

n.These Pharisees tithed meticulously, yet did not truly love God.

                                            i.     They were challenged to do both.

1.If John 3:16 is truth then either all scripture is truth or a lie.

o.Giving offerings to Him and returning the tithe to Him is truth as much as anything else in His word.

                                            i.     Hell is real, healing is real, salvation is real, the Holy Spirit is real, and tithing is real.

Luke 6:38 NLT “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full-pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back."

Join us April 4th, 2015 at 10am for our annual Easter Egg Hunt and BBQ! Everyone welcome!