10/09/11 - Blessed Life PT2 - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore continues the series "The Blessed Life" with part 2, "1st Things 1st" in this Sunday morning celebration.

The Blessed Life PT2
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, October 09, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com


Sermon Notes:

The Blessed Life…
1st Things 1st—God must be 1st

There are 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 on faith, but over 2000 on money and possessions. Jesus talked about money in 16 out of 38 parables. You will never have a complete relationship with God until you understand and practice His principles of handling money.  (Matthew 6:24—cannot be loyal to both)

We want to put God first in every area including our Finances! Finances relate to every area of your life. How we handle our finances tells God “Who’s first in our lives!”

Matthew 6:21 “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”

Romans 12:1-2 “Don’t be conformed, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  “God changes us by changing the way we think.” 

I learned these principles before I was a pastor.  Sheryll and I instituted them once we saw them in the Word. 


3 Things we must understand about Tithing:
-   It is a test.
-   It is Biblical.
-   It is a benefit.

Malachi 3:6-11   He does not change—important point.  Ordinance: a principal of “ordinary behavior”. But isn’t this to Israel? Paul teaches in the NT that everything that happened to Israel was an example for us.  Isn’t this OT?  Just 15 verses later and it would have been in NT.  God put it where He wants it because it is a test.

*   Tithing is a test.  The number 10 in the Bible represents tests.  How many plagues in Egypt?  How many commandments?  How many times did God test Israel in the wilderness?  How many times did Jacob’s wages change?  How many days of testing for Daniel?  How many virgins tested in Matthew 25?  How many days of testing mentioned in Revelation?
   -    Jesus bore the curse for me so I can’t be cursed.  He also bore our sin, our sickness.  I can choose to live under a curse even though He paid the price for us not to be.
   -    I am under Grace, not under the law.  Can I now murder, steal, commit adultery?  In fact, Grace exceeds the Law.  If it was wrong under law, it is wrong under grace.  If it was right under the law, it is right under grace. Matthew 5:17-20—the righteousness of grace always exceeds that of the law.  Vs 21-22, 27-28: Jesus who is FULL of GRACE teaches that grace will not only fulfill the law but exceed it.

*   Tithing is Biblical: Genesis 14:18-20 500 years before the law.  Hebrews 7:1-8 teaches that Melchisidek is a type of Christ, maybe even Christ himself. Mortal men may take my tithe out of the offering box, but it is Jesus who is receiving it. Genesis 28:22 Jacob tithing 400 years before the law—note to God’s house.  Leviticus 27:30-It belongs to God. Deuteronomy 26:2 take the tithe to a place where God has chosen to make His name abide. Matthew 23:23 The one who saved me said “You ought to do it.”

*   Tithing is a Benefit: 2 Chronicles 31:4-10    Tithing empowered the priests to devote themselves to the Word of God. The King was concerned for the welfare of the people when he saw how much they were giving.  The priests told him that ever since they began tithing, the Lord was blessing them so much they couldn’t wait to give. The heaps were the 10%.  The big heaps were in the people’s homes!


3 Principles To Live the Blessed Life:
1.   The Firstborn must be sacrificed or redeemed.
2.   The Firstfruits must be offered, it must be brought.
3.   The Tithe must be 1st.


1. The Firstborn Must Be Sacrificed or Redeemed

Ex 13:1-2 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Dedicate to me every firstborn among the Israelites. The first offspring to be born, of both humans and animals, belongs to me.”

Ex 13:12-13 “you must present all firstborn sons and firstborn male animals to the Lord, for they belong to him. 13 A firstborn donkey may be bought back from the Lord by presenting a lamb or young goat in its place. But if you do not buy it back, you must break its neck. However, you must buy back every firstborn son.”

Every time one of your animals delivered its firstborn, you had to sacrifice it, or if it was unclean, you had to redeem it with a lamb.
*   The firstborn clean had to be sacrificed
*   The firstborn unclean had to be redeemed.

Do you realize what this is a picture of?
*   Jesus, the Lamb, God’s firstborn Son, was born clean.
*   We were born unclean and therefore the clean was sacrificed for the unclean, and we were redeemed. (Purchased back)  Jesus is God’s tithe.  God takes tithing personally.

The tithe is not legalism or religious duty. It’s about putting 1st things 1st! Jesus was God’s tithe!  God gave Jesus first in faith even when we were sinners. God didn’t wait to see if we would change or repent or get worthy.  The tithe is about putting God first! It’s about our heart!
*   Any first thing given is never lost. Any first thing not given is always lost. (If you don’t redeem it you will break its neck) The First belongs to God!

Romans 11:16 (NCV) “If the first piece of bread is offered to God, then the whole loaf is made holy.”
*   The first portion given redeemed the rest. The first portion is the redemptive portion.
*   Would you rather try to make it through life with 100% and all of it cursed, or with 90% and all of it redeemed and blessed?

Coming to Church is giving the first to the Lord.
*   Some people’s week begins on Monday to make deals. Some people’s week begins on Friday to party. For believers, our week begins on Sunday! The New Testament Church met on Sunday because of the principle of firstfruits.


2. The Firstfruits Must Be Offered: We don’t give them, we bring them!

Ex 23:19 “The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God.”

2 Chronicles 31:5 “The people of Israel responded immediately and generously by bringing the first of their crops and grain, new wine, olive oil, honey, and all the produce of their fields. They brought a large quantity—a tithe of all they produced.”

God’s portion is devoted or consecrated to the temple, which means that it has a blessing. But if it’s not given to God, it’s cursed because it’s stolen.  Achan took the consecrated things into his house (Joshua 6-7) and it brought the curse on his whole household and hurt the entire nation. 

Why do we bring it and not give it?  Because it is not mine.  It’s like returning the car I loaned you while I was out of town—you are not giving me anything, you are bring me what is mine.  I don’t designate where it goes, because it doesn’t belong to me.  It goes where the owner says it goes and the Bible never says the tithe is allowed to go anywhere but the house of the Lord.

Why did God accept Abel offering, but not Cain’s? Genesis 4:3-5 “And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering.”
*   Cain’s was brought “in the process of time.” It wasn’t first fruits but Abel’s was the firstborn!
*   God cannot accept anything other than the first and the best.  He is perfect.  He cannot change.  If He plays 18 holes of golf His score will be 18.


3. The Tithe Must Be Brought First

Leviticus 27:30 “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the LORD.”

Proverbs 3:9-10 “Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.” Is it possible to give 10% and not be tithing?

The Firstborn belongs to God. The Firstfruits belong to God. And the tithe belongs to God also but it must be first!

It’s the same principle! The first portion belongs to God!
If I gave you 10 1-dollar bills, (1) How much is the tithe? (2) Which one is the tithe?

Let’s say that you get paid on Thursday. You pay all of your bills and then buy groceries. Then write the tithe check before you come to Church. Is it really faith to give 10% after we’ve paid all of the bills first?  Aren’t we establishing our priorities when we willingly pay everybody else first and then see if there’s enough leftover to give God His Portion?

Why did God say that all of the Silver and the Gold from Jericho had to be given to the Lord’s house? (Joshua 6)
*   Because it was the first city in the Promised Land, firstfruits.
*   You can have all of the rest, but give the first to me.
*   God didn’t say, “After you’ve conquered the Promised Land, then give me 10%.”  (Or 10% of Jericho)
*   He said, “Give me all of the silver and gold from the first city” and that took faith!
Abraham, the father of our faith, offered Isaac, his first.
*   God didn’t go to Abraham when he only had Isaac and say, “After you have 4 or 5 more sons, I’m going to come to you and ask you for one of them.” God asked for the first when he had one and only the promise of more.

Because the First Portion is the redemptive portion!
*   The first portion is the portion that redeems the rest.
*   The first portion carries the blessing.
*   You don’t want to give the first portion to the electric company! We fear the IRS, and GMAC, the mortgage company and the phone company more than we fear the Lord. Another way to say that is we respect them more or we put them first rather than the Lord.  Make sure you give the redemptive portion to the One who has the ability to bless the rest.

Tithing says, “I’ve got a stack of bills here but I’m going to give to you first just like you gave Jesus first.”

Matthew 6:31-33 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

Put God 1st and everything else just finds its place. Our priorities stay where they should be.

Why do we tithe, why do we bring the first and the best? 

Exodus 13:14-15 “And in the future, your children will ask you, ‘What does all this mean?’ Then you will tell them, ‘With the power of his mighty hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt, the place of our slavery. Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, so the Lord killed all the firstborn males throughout the land of Egypt, both people and animals. That is why I now sacrifice all the firstborn males to the Lord—except that the firstborn sons are always bought back.”

Because we haven’t always been Christians, we haven’t always been saved.  We were slaves, our backs scarred by the lashes of brutal taskmasters, nothing was ours, even our families could be used at another’s will.  Then God, by the power of His mighty hand, delivered me.