“Straight Talk About Tithes” Part 1
Dec.7, 2007 AM - Danny L. Williams
Lev. 27:30-33
In all the years that I have been pasturing (9yrs now)
I have never believed in beating sheep.
I believe the way to lead God’s people is through teaching.
The Bible says, “the entrance of thy word gives light.” Psm. 119:130
Some of you have come from Ministries and back grounds that were centered on abuse,
And what I want to do this morning is to
teach sound biblical truth so that you don’t waver from it.
Now this teaching, this morning is not just for those who don’t tithe, but it is partiality for those of you who do.
So that you may get the full benefit from your tithe.
Because, a lot of people just do things with out being taught.
We just submit to it and say, “I do it but I don’t know why.
Amen.
And that is very important, because I believe that 90% of the people who do tithe really don’t know why they tithe.
They know God said to, but they don’t know why he said to.
And the bible says in all thy getting, get an understanding.
Now, understand there a certain things that can be preached, but others have to be taught in order for you to get the breakthrough you are suppose to have.
I do believe that God is suppose to bless his people.AMEN
I JUST DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THE ENEMY,
Would be better to me in sin, Than God would be in Salvation.
And over the years, it has been hard to balance this issue, because the Church tends to go to one extreme or the other in terms of talking about blessing.
Because, the some Pastors teach now that your level of faith is a result of how much you prosper.
And I don’t think that is biblical because, I don’t have to drive a Rolls Royce to prove to you that I believe God.
And it is not fair to say that because, I have problems at home or with my child I don’t have faith.
Or you live in a better house than I and that is why God has blessed you more.
Because, the Apostles never lived in much of a house.
And they had all kind of faith.
They were raising the dead, healing people and all of that.
And so This morning I want to balance truth and very practice and be very sound.
Because, many of us have never been taught and we keep asking God to bless us and God is not going to pour new wine into old skin.
Simply, because the old skins can’t hold it.
So, there has to be a change in the old skins so that God can bless you.
I’m going to be very basic this morning, and simplistic and I hope that when we are done it will be a blessing to you.
My first Question is:
1. What is a tithe?
I know that seems ridicules to some of you, but there are some that really don’t know what a tithe is.
And we just assume that you know,
When you get saved, people assume you know everything.
Example: Somebody will say, “He is Anointed”
But, if you have never been in church, what is anointed?
And I never really realized how bad church colloquialisms were and how damaging they were until I started about 5 yr’s ago dealing with brand new Christians.
And they didn’t know how to define anointed, or slain in the spirit.
And One person was telling another,
And said when the pastor touched Him, he fainted.
And I thought that is a good description if you didn’t know what was going on.
You would say they fainted.
So there has to be an education.
So what is a tithe?
Simply stated, a tithe is a tenth of your GROSS income.
A 10th of your gross income.
Tithe- tenth---
It is a tenth of your gross income that is considered an opportunity for you to worship God, through obedience to his word.
By setting it aside as HOLY unto him.
Example:
And in bible days it went far beyond money,
because they weren’t always dealing with money as commerce.
They were dealing with crops and cattle, oxen and other animals.
Illustration”
If you had ten oxen that were born to you the first one belonged to God.
If you had ten bushels of Corn, the first bushel belonged to the Lord.
So, it was a tenth of what ever was taken in, their gross income was set aside and it was considered Holy unto the Lord.
And I want to talk just for a min. what it means for something to be holy unto the Lord.
I don’t know what it means to you, but my back ground
When I think of Holy “””
I think of Clean or Pure.
But, actually when the bible talks about holy unto the Lord it means,
Consecrated.
It means, that it is set aside.
It means that God has exclusivity over it.
In other words It belongs to God and it is for his use only!!!
So, what ever you consecrate to the Lord, it is exclusively His.
Like Holy Matrimony,
It’s Not so much the cleanliness of the marriage as it is the consecration of the marriage.
And it means, that I am set aside to this person, they are set aside to me and collectively we are set aside to God….. so hands off…..
That is what make matrimony Holy.
So, in bible days if it was consecrated, that meant it belonged to God.
And I hope you understand, that God takes that very serious.
What is His, he takes very seriously.
And I think sometimes we do teach in such a condemning way that people don’t understand why they do what we teach.
And there is so much on tithing,
that I would never be able to exhaust the subject in 4 teachings or even 10.
God talks so much more about money than so many things that we emphasize so much more.
And God is so serious about tithe that if you were to use his money, he wants interest on the money you used.
That is scriptural.
So it is not just pay it back, it is pay it back with interest.
Why? Does he need the money?
No,
He wants you to know and understand that this is his.
And God took that so serious that when they stopped bringing the tithe He said that they had robbed him.
This has nothing to do with who the pastor is, it has nothing to do with the church, it has nothing to do with were the funds are going.
It has everything to do with an act of worship, between you and God.
If somebody is abusing the funds “God is going to Judge them.
You will still get your blessing.
Because, you did it as holy unto the Lord.
But, by the same token, it should give you a since of comfort that you are sowing into Good Ground.
Ground of accountability.
Because the anointing on the Head will travel down top the Congregation.
Lev.27:30-33
Now I want you to have a firm foundation under you because I don’t want you to do any thing that you can’t explain.
Like I told them on Wed. Night ---Bible study will wolf proof you.
So you don’t get into these Hocus pocus, bathroom prophets, beauty shop Pastors,
Where they start leading you into things were they have no scriptures.
Simply::: If you can’t explain it you shouldn’t be doing it.
Lev:27:30 says “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 unto the LORD.
31 And if a man will at all redeem [ought] of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth [part] thereof.
A fifth or 20% what the bible cause usury.
Interest on his money
And please, do not think for one min. that you are helping God out.
Think about that for a min.
Because, what ever you have “He gave it to you”
So there is a lesson to be learned here,
Illustration:
If you don’t have any money and I come along and give you 20 dollars, and I tell you 2 belong to me, When you give me the 2 back, don’t act like you enriched me, because I gave you the 20.
So obviously he doesn’t need the two, he is showing us that we need him to get the 20 and be thankful enough to return him 2.
And one of the thinks I learned, as a pastor is that God doesn’t need an particular persons money to do any thing.
Example:
I was at a church and we had one significant giver.
In the whole church, and they left.
And I mean we were poor
Poor pooooo
These people came and gave and it was like $212 dollars a month and back then that was a significant amount. And we needed it.
And we needed it bad,,, bad,,, bad,,,
So bad I still remember the peoples name, it was 20 yrs ago and I still remember it.
And they need to leave for us.
Because God was teaching a young man that he was God and not them.
Because, You can’t teach faith if you don’t have any faith….
That he was God and not this couple.
And one of the way credibility is proven,
And I know that most of you won’t like this but
Creditability is accountability with finances.
I knew that would stop the shouting.
See: we have been taught so much deception that when we hear truth, it doesn’t make any since.
It is like people teach and those who always shout, and believe that when they give tithe or offering, that all of their debts are going to be cancelled.
And everybody gets slain in the spirit over that,
But again you only get slain, because you are on the debt end.
If we stop shouting a min. and think what about the people who owe you.
See: and we say it is not fair they still owe me.
And if you are not renewed in the mind, you will pray that God will help you out of things that you need to over come.
And you will never be what of called you to be, because you will stop working over their and start working over here, same game ,,, just adding scriptures.
Vs. 32-33
God says don’t just give me what you don’t want.
Because, Giving is about worship.
You might want to note that.
Giving is about worship.
And it get into your attitude in the New test.
Look at
2 Corinthians 9:6 – 8
So at the point that you just start giving any thing it means that you just don’t care.
Now understand,
The widow gave more than all the rich people Gave
Luke 21:1-3
But the reason that it impressed Jesus, was not by how small she gave,
it was that what she gave was all she had.
And So percentage wise she had out given, any body
Because God does things by percentage.
She gave 100%
The rich may have given more
but, God looks at what you have and compares it to what you give
to determine your level of Giving.
Example:
So for somebody who runs to the altar and lays down a 10 dollar bill, it really is a sacrifice, but for some one else it is an insult.
So you need to run your hips back the other way and sit down,
“””THAT should never be on the altar,,,
Because you should never sashce up to God’s holy altar and act like something is a sacrifice that really isn’t not.
You may have done that in the past and not been taught, but now, when you move toward the altar you know that Altar is for a sacrifice.
The altar in the New test and the old the altar is always for a sacrifice.
They shed blood on the altar, which is painful.
So, if you give something on the altar that causes no pain and doesn’t challenge your flesh, it is not a sacrifice.
They shed blood on the altar.
So don’t ever get into things like you friend is in the altar so you just decide to go with her.
Example:
It is like your grand mama , making you come to the altar to be saved.
It really doesn’t count for anything, because granny pushed you to the altar.
See: I got baptized like that the first time,
All I got was wet.
I got baptized because it was Easter and I was 12.
And I was so worried about drowning that I didn’t get any thing but wet.
And some of you are missing a real experience but you are just not understanding what God has for you.
The next question is
2. WHY 10%
What is it about ten percent that turns God on?
Why didn’t he say 30%?15%
And there is such a thing as doubling you tithe.
And I have seen people who have moved in a realm of faith where they would double their tithe.
And I have even seen people who have tithed on what they wanted to make.
They really challenged the Holy Spirit and said I’m going to call those things that be not as though they were.
And I’m going to prove you,
Jesus said in Matthew 9:29 According to your faith be it unto you. Do you know what according means?
In proportion too, In harmony with,,,,, it is a musical term
But 10 percent is the minimum.
Why? 10percent?
Answer,,, Ten is symbolic of the whole.
Our numerical system teaches in groups of ten.
And in our system of numeric’s, if you can count to ten you can count to a million.
Because a million is just groups of tens.
And when you count from 1-10 and they say 11 you have gone back to one.
See and when you give the tithe, what you are really saying is,
All of my money belongs to you.
I just represent it with the tithe.
The tithe is symbolic of the whole.
And this principle is so powerful that, You got saved on this principle.
Example:
Jesus, represents the whole body of Christ.
And that is what it means like in
Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:
Because he is the tithe where I represent the whole.
And Because I am in him, and when the father accepted him he also accepted me.
Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
So when you bring your tithe up you are saying,
All of my money is under God’s sovern authority and rule.
And that is why the enemy can’t get to you finances, because you have brought it under the umbrella of the covenant.
And that is important because when, you bring it to God,
you don’t have to worry about it.
Because you know God has got your blessing covered.
And what ever God has for you is for you.
Because when God, gets ready to bless you, he doesn’t meet with no body.
He doesn’t call no board of directors. And take a vote.
When God gets, ready to bless you, he blesses you.
And all of your critic’s mouths are stopped, and that stopping happened because you have a Covenant with God.
And you are in another realm.
And God says if you bring the ten percent I’ll bless the 90, because the 10% represents the whole.
The 90 is in the 10 people.
Church: I know what it is not to tithe.
And say, when I get out of debt then I’ll tithe.
But, I’m so glad that when the Holy Spirit, started teaching me the word, so I could start moving in faith so I could get my finances out.
And I know you want me to be real spiritual and not say any thing about money,
but let me tell you something.
78% who are in prison are in prison over money.
The major cause of divorce in this country is not over adultery it’s over money.
The thing people argue over all the time is over money.
And I’m not talking about being rich I’m talking about getting a flow.
That is why they call it currency.
If you can get a flow, so that you can get your mind off of whether you can pay for lunch or not.
And you can get back to witnessing and operating in the supernatural realm.
We could get some people saved.
What is it that blesses God?
The money or the obedience?
You have the answer already.
God is not broke.
He said the silver and the Gold are mine. I own everything.
So understand, what God really gets out of your giving is the obedience.
Example..
Susan’s gift.
The point is “ what blesses God is the obedience and the spirit in which you do it in.
The message is more important than the gift.
A lot of men don’t understand that about women.
We keep giving you things and you keep wanting us.
What blesses God is the obedience.
And the sacrifice is the expression of love.
God doesn’t need any thing seeing what ever you give God he has already given you.
It is your obedience that constitutes worship.
The word worship comes from the Latin word that means
Worth Ship
How much is he worth to you?
Let me see your check book…..
Giving is an expression of worship.
The best investment you could ever put your money in is with God.
One woman broke an alabaster box, and began to wash the feet of Jesus.
Now, the alabaster box, represented what some scholars say a life savings.
She spent on Jesus feet, and Judas was UP SET>>
Huge attitude.
And Judas never got delivered off his attitude over money,
And some of you have sat around communion and your mind has not been regenerated about money and even though you are here finically, but you are not here and you have a Judas spirit.
And you can tell you have it because when it comes to this issue, you get an attitude.
Anything else can be taught and you have a good spirit but when it come to this, I’ve struck a nerve.
And if that strikes a nerve you have to check and make sure that you don’t have an underling Judas spirit.
And if you do have it, you just need to be delivered from it.
Because, ultimately you will end up selling out something more valuable , Your relationship with Jesus, Christ…for something temporal 30 pieces of silver and you will end up hanging yourself spiritually, backsliding,
Talking about, that is all them churches want is money…
God doesn’t just want your money He wants your life!!! Church.
He want to be LORD over everything in your life.
And If you have an attitude over money he is not your Lord over everything.
Why would he want to be God in faith and family and leave out finances?
He doesn’t we do.
Question?
We want God to be there for Faith and Family but don’t ask for finances.
Where are you in your finances?
If you are struggling in finances this is the first place you start, not prayer.
And for God sake don’t say I need to pray about it.
Why do we pray over things God told us to do?
God wants your Life!!! All of it../…..
Call Becca::::
