Sunday, November 18, 2018

If God Said It, I'll Do It




Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.

Last week, Pastor Kyle continued in our Sunday sermon series, through the books of the Minor Prophets, with the third chapter of Malachi. He stated that just about everyone has, at one time or another, used to think one way about something, then later thought the other way about it. And sometimes this pertains to the response in our heart to God’s Word. We can respond to God with either an open and soft heart or a closed and hard heart. But, we want to be the kind of Christian that responds to the Lord and does what He says. Father God wants to purify His people, as they are His temple for the indwelling Holy Spirit. The cleansing of our heart makes us useful for God’s ministry work. We correct wrong practices with repentance. This includes the changing of our hearts about our offerings to God.

Leviticus 27:30-32 “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it. Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord.”

The word “tithe” is defined in the 1828 Webster’s dictionary as: the tenth part of any thing; but appropriately, the tenth part of the increase annually arising from the profits of land and stock, allotted to the clergy for their support and ministry. Tithes are 10% of personal income, predial (issuing from land), or mixed; personal, when accruing from labor, art, trade and navigation; grown or raised, when issuing from the earth, as vegetables, fruit, minerals, or oil; and mixed, when accruing from beasts, which are fed from the ground. In reality, it giving back ten percent of what God has first given us. Pastor Kyle explains that the practice is grounded in God’s character (specifically the fact that He does not change). This is called the immutability of God.

Deuteronomy 12:5-7 “But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.”

Pastor Kyle states that people have always struggled with the idea of tithing their income, but that’s no excuse to stay where you are at in not tithing to the Lord. Tithing is truly a response to God and provides the means and meets the needs for ministry outreach, ministry staff, and ministry facilities. The practice of tithing is one of the ways that we stay grounded in Jesus Christ and His mission. When we struggle in our mind and don’t bring the firth tenth to the Lord, we are robbing God and the work of the gospel on earth.

Let's continue Pastor Kyle message on "tithing" in the next post.
In Christ, Brian


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