TITHING MUST ALWAYS BE FIRST

OPENING SCRIPTURE:

HONOR THE LORD with YOUR POSSESSIONS, And with the FIRSTFRUITS of all your INCREASE (referring here to your finances); ¹⁰ So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine. (Proverbs 3:9,10 NKJ)

• The very first word that jumps out is: Honor
• Concerning The Lord, to honor Him means: To put Him in 1st position.
• God cannot be in 2^nd place!

How do you honor the Lord with your possessions?

• You recognize that everything you have was given to you by Him. He owns it! By doing so you have placed Him as #1.

How do you honor the Lord with the firstfruits?

• The firstfruit of your increase is your tithe, the first 10% of your increase.
• That firstfruit or 10% or Tithe is holy!
• Because it is holy and the tithe must be brought to God first. It cannot be offered in second place. Otherwise, it will not be holy.

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. (Leviticus 27:30 NKJ)

• Do you why it is holy? It belongs to God! It has to be honored in 1^st place!

POINT #1: THE FIRST REDEEMS THE REST. (Exodus 13:1-2)
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “CONSECRATE (SET APART) TO ME all the FIRSTborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; IT IS MINE.” (Exodus 13:1-2 NKJ)

• The word consecrate means to set apart. When something is Holy, you set it apart. As a matter of the word holiness means to set apart for Godly use!
• God sees tithe in the same manner. It is Holy. It is His. It must be set apart for Godly use. It is must always be first!
• Now this passage was written 1400 B.C. But God was setting up the stage for His Son.
• God was setting the stage redemptive power of the firstfruits.
• The First has the power to redeem the rest!

¹² that YOU SHALL SET APART to the Lord all that open the womb, that is, every FIRSTborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the Lord’s. ¹³ But every firstborn of a DONKEY you shall REDEEM WITH A LAMB; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.  (Exodus 13:12-13 NKJ)

• In the OT the donkey represents an unclean animal and the lamb represents a clean animal.
• When you were born were you clean or unclean? Unclean!
• So in many ways in our B.C days, we could be classified as “Donkeys”.
• Was Jesus born clean or unclean? Clean.
• The Bible calls Jesus, the perfect lamb. Without blemish.
• The lamb redeemed The donkeys

THE LAMB WAS SACRIFICED FIRST!

• He sent His Son first! He sent His Sons while we were still mocking Him.

“But GOD DEMONSTRATES His own love toward us, in that WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 NKJ)

• He sent His Son first!
• JESUS WAS GOD’S TITHE FOR HUMANITY!
• The redemptive power was in the principle of the firstfruits. God gave Jesus first in faith that humanity will embrace the redemptive power of the lamb!

God created tithe for us for that same exact reason.

• When it is brought to God first, in faith, the rest is redeemed.
• The redemptive power is in the principle of the firstfruits
• We bring the tithe (1^st 10%) to God first in faith that the rest (the 90%) will be blessed by the redemptive power of the lamb.

The 10% which is your tithes, redeems the 90%

• Exodus 13 concerning the lamb and the donkey. Do you want happens to the donkey that is not redeemed by the lamb? It is cursed. “If you will not redeem it, you shall break its neck”. If you don’t redeem it, it is cursed.
• Which one would you rather have 100% of what is cursed or 90% of what is redeemed and blessed?
• TITHING DEALS WITH THE REDEMPTION OF YOUR HEART

POINT #2: THE FIRST DEFINES THE POSITION OF YOUR HEART

¹⁹ The FIRST of the FIRSTFRUITS of your land you shall BRING into the house of the Lord your God. (Exodus 23:19 NKJ)

• The key word here is Bring the first of the firstfruits (The tithe). Same word we find in Malachi 3. “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse”
• It does not say give. You cannot give what does not belong to you.
• Bringing is a test of the heart – Bringing is a position of the heart!

STATEMENT: THE POSITION OF YOUR HEART MATTERS TO GOD.

Why God rejected Cain’s offering but accepted Abel’s?

And IN THE PROCESS OF TIME it came to pass that Cain brought AN OFFERING of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. ⁴ Abel also brought of THE FIRSTBORN OF HIS FLOCK and of their fat. And the Lord RESPECTED (RECEIVED) Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. (Genesis 4:3-5)

• It’s not that God WOULD NOT but He COULD NOT accept it.

GOD CAN’T BE SECOND.

• In theology, it is called: The Preeminence of God. God is not only first of all, He is above all, He is before all.
• He could not accept Cain’s offering: God was not in first position in Cain’s heart

STATEMENT: THE POSITION OF GOD IN YOUR HEART MATTERS

SOBERING QUESTION: Where’s God positioned in your heart? For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21 NKJ)

HONOR the Lord with YOUR POSSESSIONS, And with the FIRSTFRUITS of all your INCREASE; ¹⁰ So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine. (Proverbs 3:9,10 NKJ)

• Only when tithe is placed 1^st can you experience verse 10
• Only when Jesus is placed first can you experience abundant life.

CONCLUSION

• What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?