The Tithe Is Holy
I.
The tithe is holy unto
the Lord (Leviticus 27:30)
A. Holy-Hallowed, dedicated, consecrated, apartness, sacredness,
set-apartness, to be honored or treated
as sacred, to regard or treat as sacred or hallowed
1. The tithe and tithing is
to be honored and treated as sacred
2. If that’s God’s portion
it should be handled with great honor
and reverence
3. Holiness is the state of
being in agreement with God
B. Tithing is an avenue by
which we stay in agreement with God
1. When God says something is
Holy & u don’t treat it as such ur in
disagreement w/ Him
a. Adam ate of the tree and
was in disagreement with God
b. EX: The Word is holy and
when people neglect it and don’t treat it as such, they’re not in agreement
with God
2. If you’re not a tither
how can you say you agree with God & His Word?
a. If God says it’s His and
you say it’s yours that’s disagreement
b. How can two walk together
unless the be agreed (Amos 3:3)
c. Tithing becomes key to
staying in agreement with God and his Word and thereby receiving the promises
of it in your life
3. When I tithe the tithe
and treat the tithe with honor I’m saying God agree with you; this is yours and
it is Holy
II.
We have to handle the
tithe properly; mishandling Holy things is serious;
A. How you handle this Holy
thing shows God how you’ll handle other holy things
1. Adam and Eve touched the
tree and they were separated (Genesis 2:17)
2. Touch the holy thing and
die (Numbers 4:15)
3. Uzzah died when he touched the
Holy thing (1 Chronicles 13:10, 2 Chronicle 35:3)
B. Mishandling the holy
thing can cause defeat in your life (Joshua 6,7)
1. 6:18-The accursed thing
was the thing that was devoted or dedicated
a. It was the cursed thing
because if you touched it the curse came on you
b. The tithe is an accursed
thing because when you don’t return it the blessing isn’t working in your life
(Malachi 3:8)
2. 6:19-All the sliver and
gold was consecrated (Lev 27:31: Holy) unto the Lord
a. That stuff was God’s the
way the tithe is God’s
3. 7:1,11-They took of or
stole the thing that was God’s
a. 7:21-Achan took of the
silver and gold and it belonged to God
4. 7:12-Because the Holy
thing was taken they couldn’t stand before their enemies
a. They couldn’t even win
the “easy” battle when the holy thing was taken
C. Money is significant in
the Kingdom of God and in particular how you handle it
1. Acts 10:4-His giving put
the power of God into motion
III.
If the tithe is Holy unto
God, then it should be Holy unto us
A. The tithe/tithing was
supposed to be a special time where man brought the tenth of his increase to
His creator and worshipped him with it and honored him with it; it was supposed
to be a time of love and faith between the man and His creator
1. EX: A farmer in the OT
would bring in the crops when he went to harvest and would set apart ten
percent to God. Get the
picture. He has been waiting for a
couple of months and now it finally comes in. It’s precious to him, yet he takes the
tenth and honors God with it. God
knows the farmer could use all of it, yet the puts God’s portion aside because
he knows without God there’d be no land to farm, no seed to so, no sun, no
rain, no harvest so he has to honor God with this tenth.
2. Tithing is not an
obligation, but a privilege; it’s where we acknowledge are total dependence and
reliance upon God and our thankfulness to God.
B. There’s two parts to
handling the tithe properly: 1) Returning it 2) How you return it
1. Believers have been handling
the tithe haphazardly and not handling it as holy and we’ve missed out on a lot
of the benefits of tithing
a. The tithe is to be
treated with a certain level of respect, reverence, and honor
b. There’s nothing Holy
about scratching some ink on a piece of paper and dropping it in a bucket and
praying a five second prayer over it
2. There are people who are giving
ten percent, but who aren’t honoring the tithe or honoring God with the tithe
a. To honor something is to
treat it with special distinction, respect and you give it special place (1 Sam
2:30-Honor God by honoring the tithe, he honors us)
3. EX: It’s like if a
husband gave a wife a special gift and just tossed to her and said her you
go. He’s not honoring her with the gift;
he’s just giving it to her.
a. The words of love and
faith over the tithe are as important as the tithe
IV.
Tithing the Tithe
A. God’s interested in how
you give (2 Corinthians 9:7, Mt 23:23)
1. That tells me that just
bringing the tithe alone is not enough, God’s requiring more
a. Anything you do outside
of love & apart from faith carries no merit w/ God
2. Just b/c you do something
the Word says, doesn’t mean u did it in faith-Mt 17:15-17
a. Faith working by love is
what pleases God, it’s what causes the tithe to be acceptable to God, and
causes you to receive the benefits from tithing
b. You can drop your tithe
in the bucket and release no faith and without faith released you’ll see no
benefits from tithing
c. It’s not the act of
dropping ten percent in that makes the tithe work, it’s the love and faith supporting
and backing the tithe that makes it work
d. When you tithe the tithe
you not only release money, but you release the faith necessary to see the
power of the tithe work in your life
B. You can know a little
about the tithe, but not know anything about tithing because there’s a
difference between the tithe and tithing
1. The object, the money or
the goods is the tithe
2. Tithing is the process of
faith & love through which we bring the 10th to our high priest
C. Deuteronomy 26
1. 1-We’ve been translated
out of the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God
a. We are in the Kingdom of
God, the Kingdom of God is in us, and the kingdom is ours (Colossians 1:12, Luke
17:21, 12:32)
b. We are joint heirs with
Jesus (Romans 8:17)
2. 3-The priest in our days
is Jesus and we bring our tithe to him (Hebrews 6:20)
3. 5-When we bring our tithe
we’re supposed to release words of faith over it
4. 6-We too were in hard
bondage and treated evilly (Hebrews 2:15, Romans 8:15)
a. We were orphans with no
hope, no future, and our father was the devil (Jn 8)
5. 7-We cried unto the Lord God
and he heard us (Romans 10:8)
6. 8-The two-edged sword and
the Spirit of God cut open my spirit emptied me of spiritual death and filled
me to overflowing with the very life of God himself; I’ve been endued with
power from on high to have authority over the devil and walk out the victory
that Jesus provided-That’s a mighty hand, that’s an outstretched arm, that’s a
great sign and wonder (Romans 2:29, Hebrews 4:12, Ephesians 2:5)
a. You’re spirit being
recreated was greater than anything God did for them
7. 9-I’m in this place; in
the Kingdom; in the family, sitting at the King’s table; I’m not some stranger
or foreigner, but I’m in the household of God (Ephesians 2:19)
a. I’m in this place/Kingdom
and it flows/gushes with healing, prosperity, peace, joy, deliverance, freedom,
power, victory (Galatians 3:13, John 10:10)
8. 11-He has given me
healing, he has given me prosperity, he has given me peace, he has given me
joy, he has given me victory (2 Peter 1:4)
a. We rejoice in the things
that we believe we have received by faith
9. 13-We’re saying again
with our tithe
a. I have brought the
hallowed or holy thing
b. I’ve brought it because I
love you
c. I have not transgressed
or forgotten your commandment
10. 15-In response to us
returning the tithe we receive the blessing
V.
Deuteronomy 14:23-Through
tithing we learn to reverence God
A. When the tithe is tithed
properly with words of love & faith you are honoring him, reverencing him &
as you practice honor & reverenced you learn honor & reverence