Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Oh Friends, what a challenge from the Most High God Jehovah! Are we up to it? We should be. Sorry, the right answer is, of course! He’s been challenging His followers for eons now, and those who take up the challenge always lose, cause we can never out give God. Remember two days ago we mentioned Jacob promising to tithe, give a tenth of his earnings to God if He brought him back home safely? And Jacob did pretty well for himself, both in term of his earthly wealth and his family. Oh Friends, it’s all a part of what we’ve been recently discussing, giving and sowing. Today we’re dealing particularly with giving to our God, the one who makes it possible for us to acquire anything in the first place. So here, in the days of Malachi, He’s challenging His people, as a gesture of their good intentions, of their right hearts, to give ten percent of anything they earn to His house, His church, and see if their earnings won’t increase dramatically. Now this has been a contentious issue from the very start, even till now. People find all sorts of reasons why not. Oh Friends, the Lord Himself doesn’t really need it, but the people who look after His church and its affairs certainly do. If we want them to look after the church’s work properly then we’ve got to provide them with the means to do so. Who is the church? We are. It’s therefore our responsibility to ensure that there is enough to do the Lord’s work. And Friends, a tenth is not all that much; just ten cents out of every dollar. Is that too much to give our God? Are we going to begrudge Him a few measly cents out of all He’s given us? I certainly hope not. Sol wisely said to ‘ Honour the Lord with thy substance (possessions), and with the first fruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses (vats) shall burst out with new wine.’ (Prov.3:9-10) And Friends, besides being wise, Sol was also filthy rich, so if he says that the Lord shall be the first recipient of our increase, whom are we to argue eh, especially when that generosity will bring us bigger increases? Therefore my people, let’s do as our God challenges: ‘Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat (food) in mine house.’ Yes mih breddren, let’s give generously to our local churches so that they can continue to do the good work they’re doing, and even improve on it. You know in these disastrous times it’s the church that many turn to, giving them an even bigger role than normal to play. Now they have to spread the Word, but also help more poor, feed more hungry, clothe more naked and look after more sick, because in hurting times there are always more folks needing help. Now let’s get one thing straight; tithing doesn’t mean our total giving should be equal to ten percent. It means giving ten percent to the Lord’s church alone. Any other giving you do should be outside of that. I know it sounds a bit onerous, especially now, when we’re all struggling to keep our heads above water. But Friends, that’s the challenge I’m throwing out to all of us today. Let’s give ten percent to our local church, in addition to the other organizations we help. Let’s rise to God’s challenge, let’s load His storehouse ‘and prove me now herewith saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.’ Wow! Oh mih people, yuh know what happened the last time the Lord opened the windows of heaven? That was in the time of the great flood; it rained forty days and nights. (Gen.7:11-12) That just goes to show how much the Lord will bless us in return, we won’t have space to store it. Isn’t that wonderful! Now listen to this story of how our God works. After the idols were destroyed in Israel, under Hezekiah’s reign, and the people returned to serving the Lord, the king instructed everybody to offer tithes. They began in the third month and finished in the seventh, that’s four months of offerings. And when Hezekiah asked after the offerings, ‘Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have plenty left for the Lord: for the Lord hath blessed his people; and that which is left is in this great store (abundance) (2 Chron.31:10) Yes mih Friends, the Lord blessed His people when they seriously began giving their tithes. It will be the same with us if we upgrade our giving to one tenth of what we earn. As usual though Friends, there’s always this proviso; we must do it out of a right heart, not just because we expect the Lord to bless us with more. Remember, in whatever we do, the state of our hearts is the most important factor in the Lord’s eyes. Oh Friends, these are probably some of the roughest times many of us have ever experienced, and many of us are struggling just to stay afloat, but believe me, there are plenty people suffering worse than us, and it’s our bounden duty, as followers of Jesus, to help the poor, sick, suffering and downtrodden. This we can do through our local churches, but sadly the churches are also suffering because we the members are hurting. However my people, the less fortunate must be helped, and it’s our job to see to it. So I’m imploring us, let’s step up to the plate, and accept the challenge the Lord has thrown out to us today. Let’s tithe, so that the Lord’s storehouse can be full, and enable His church to properly carry out its duties of spreading the Word and helping the less fortunate. If we do it from a right heart, the Lord will eventually bless us with more than we can ever ask or imagine. Oh Friends, please, let’s take this leap of faith so that the Lord’s Name can be suitably glorified in a land that’s become very ungodly. That’s a major part of why we’re in such dire straits now, and to improve it, we have to turn back to the Lord, through prayer, worship and tithing. I know that many of us give generously in terms of what we think we can afford, but I implore us to now make a conscious effort to tithe from this point forward. We won’t regret it. Much LOVE!…we waste more than ten percent on Lucifer…so why can’t we give our God a tenth…it’s put to much better use…
Oh Friends, what a challenge from the Most High God Jehovah! Are we up to it? We should be. Sorry, the right answer is, of course! He’s been challenging His followers for eons now, and those who take up the challenge always lose, cause we can never out give God. Remember two days ago we mentioned Jacob promising to tithe, give a tenth of his earnings to God if He brought him back home safely? And Jacob did pretty well for himself, both in term of his earthly wealth and his family. Oh Friends, it’s all a part of what we’ve been recently discussing, giving and sowing. Today we’re dealing particularly with giving to our God, the one who makes it possible for us to acquire anything in the first place. So here, in the days of Malachi, He’s challenging His people, as a gesture of their good intentions, of their right hearts, to give ten percent of anything they earn to His house, His church, and see if their earnings won’t increase dramatically. Now this has been a contentious issue from the very start, even till now. People find all sorts of reasons why not. Oh Friends, the Lord Himself doesn’t really need it, but the people who look after His church and its affairs certainly do. If we want them to look after the church’s work properly then we’ve got to provide them with the means to do so. Who is the church? We are. It’s therefore our responsibility to ensure that there is enough to do the Lord’s work. And Friends, a tenth is not all that much; just ten cents out of every dollar. Is that too much to give our God? Are we going to begrudge Him a few measly cents out of all He’s given us? I certainly hope not. Sol wisely said to ‘ Honour the Lord with thy substance (possessions), and with the first fruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses (vats) shall burst out with new wine.’ (Prov.3:9-10) And Friends, besides being wise, Sol was also filthy rich, so if he says that the Lord shall be the first recipient of our increase, whom are we to argue eh, especially when that generosity will bring us bigger increases? Therefore my people, let’s do as our God challenges: ‘Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat (food) in mine house.’ Yes mih breddren, let’s give generously to our local churches so that they can continue to do the good work they’re doing, and even improve on it. You know in these disastrous times it’s the church that many turn to, giving them an even bigger role than normal to play. Now they have to spread the Word, but also help more poor, feed more hungry, clothe more naked and look after more sick, because in hurting times there are always more folks needing help. Now let’s get one thing straight; tithing doesn’t mean our total giving should be equal to ten percent. It means giving ten percent to the Lord’s church alone. Any other giving you do should be outside of that. I know it sounds a bit onerous, especially now, when we’re all struggling to keep our heads above water. But Friends, that’s the challenge I’m throwing out to all of us today. Let’s give ten percent to our local church, in addition to the other organizations we help. Let’s rise to God’s challenge, let’s load His storehouse ‘and prove me now herewith saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.’ Wow! Oh mih people, yuh know what happened the last time the Lord opened the windows of heaven? That was in the time of the great flood; it rained forty days and nights. (Gen.7:11-12) That just goes to show how much the Lord will bless us in return, we won’t have space to store it. Isn’t that wonderful! Now listen to this story of how our God works. After the idols were destroyed in Israel, under Hezekiah’s reign, and the people returned to serving the Lord, the king instructed everybody to offer tithes. They began in the third month and finished in the seventh, that’s four months of offerings. And when Hezekiah asked after the offerings, ‘Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have plenty left for the Lord: for the Lord hath blessed his people; and that which is left is in this great store (abundance) (2 Chron.31:10) Yes mih Friends, the Lord blessed His people when they seriously began giving their tithes. It will be the same with us if we upgrade our giving to one tenth of what we earn. As usual though Friends, there’s always this proviso; we must do it out of a right heart, not just because we expect the Lord to bless us with more. Remember, in whatever we do, the state of our hearts is the most important factor in the Lord’s eyes. Oh Friends, these are probably some of the roughest times many of us have ever experienced, and many of us are struggling just to stay afloat, but believe me, there are plenty people suffering worse than us, and it’s our bounden duty, as followers of Jesus, to help the poor, sick, suffering and downtrodden. This we can do through our local churches, but sadly the churches are also suffering because we the members are hurting. However my people, the less fortunate must be helped, and it’s our job to see to it. So I’m imploring us, let’s step up to the plate, and accept the challenge the Lord has thrown out to us today. Let’s tithe, so that the Lord’s storehouse can be full, and enable His church to properly carry out its duties of spreading the Word and helping the less fortunate. If we do it from a right heart, the Lord will eventually bless us with more than we can ever ask or imagine. Oh Friends, please, let’s take this leap of faith so that the Lord’s Name can be suitably glorified in a land that’s become very ungodly. That’s a major part of why we’re in such dire straits now, and to improve it, we have to turn back to the Lord, through prayer, worship and tithing. I know that many of us give generously in terms of what we think we can afford, but I implore us to now make a conscious effort to tithe from this point forward. We won’t regret it. Much LOVE!…we waste more than ten percent on Lucifer…so why can’t we give our God a tenth…it’s put to much better use…
SCRIP-BITS 