10/23/11 - The Blessed Life PT4 - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore continues "The Blessed Life" series with part 4, "1st Things 1st - God Must Be First" in this Sunday morning celebration.

The Blessed Life PT4
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, October 23, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com


Sermon Notes:


The Blessed Life…
1st Things 1st - God Must Be First

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.  How we handle our finances tells God “Who’s on first in our lives!”

Psalm 16:5 “Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine.”
(MESSAGE) My choice is you, God, first and only.  And now I find I'm your choice! You set me up with a house and yard. And then you made me your heir!”

Romans 11:16 (NCV) “If the first piece of bread is offered to God, then the whole loaf is made holy.”


3 Principles To Live the Blessed Life:

1.  The Firstborn will be sacrificed or redeemed-your choice.
2.  The Firstfruits must be offered, it must be brought.
3.  The Tithe must be the 1st 10%.


1. The Firstborn Will Be Sacrificed or Redeemed—one of the 2: you choose.

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.  He is God’s firstfruit. God takes tithing personally. (1 Corinthians 15:20 NKJV “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”) 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. He put us 1st in His heart and the result is we are saved.  The tithe is about putting God first! It’s about our heart!
•  Any first thing given is never lost (redeemed). Any first thing not given is always lost (sacrificed). (If you don’t redeem it you will break its neck) The First belongs to God!  (Christine’s story about the necklace)
•  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.

Why did God accept Abel’s 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.”

The first portion belongs to God! 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?  Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for giving 10% but neglecting the faith portion of the tithe. (Matthew 23:23)
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%.”
•  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 Abraham 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. God wants us to be blessed! Make sure you give the redemptive portion to the One who has the ability to bless the rest.


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. It’s like the arrow—the tithing is the tip.  Follow God’s “order” and it is much easier to hit the mark.  Do it “our own way” (iniquity: Isaiah 53) and we miss the mark.