&TITHING

KINGDOM E C O N O M I C S

STEWARDSHIP

TITHE PROFESSION

I give thanks this day unto the Lord my God for bringing me into prosperity, in fulfillment of the covenant of Abraham.

A wandering and lost sinner was I, bound to sin and ready to perish. I cried unto You, oh Lord, and You heard my cry

and saved my soul, and delivered me through Your great salvation.

You brought me unto this place, and gave me the Holy Spirit and revelation knowledge of the abundant life. Now I bring unto You the sacred tithe, the first fruit of the increase that You have given

me, according to Your holy commandment.

Look down, I pray, from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people according to Your own Word. I

receive by faith the blessings of the covenant and thank You for them, in

Jesus name, Amen.

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w o g m . c o m

And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.

-Leviticus 27:32

The tithe or the tenth may very well be the first test in stewardship. The Lord has called the tenth of all our income “holy.” It belongs to Him. Our willingness to surrender that which He calls for is the first test in stewardship. Remember, the steward owns nothing. He manages that which his lord (the owner) places under his power.

One of the first excuses many believers use to justify not honoring God with the tenth (the tithe) is that they can’t afford to. Kingdom Stewardship has to begin right where you are. You can’t wait until you feel like you can afford to do it. You truly can’t afford not to!

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. -Luke 16:10

Jesus says here that if you are not faithful when you have little, you will not be faithful when you have much. You have to make a decision to be a faithful steward right where you are! If you’re not tithing when you make one hundred dollars, you won’t tithe when you make a thousand. The point is, having more will never lead to better stewardship. Good stewardship must start right now; right where you are! It’s faithfulness in stewardship that promises us the increase. Stewardship is not summed up in one’s willingness to tithe. That only accounts for 10% of the whole. Stewardship requires management and faithfulness over 100%. The tithe is only one-tenth of that.

KINGDOM ECONOMICS:UNDERSTANDING STEWARDSHIP1 STEWARDSHIP & THE TITHE2T he first principle in Kingdom

Economics is that God (the King) owns everything! That biblical truth requires that we understand stewardship. Stewardship is the management of the resources that belong to another. It is impossible to prosper in the Economy of the Kingdom of God and not apply the principals of good stewardship.

Jesus said, “And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own” (Luke 16:12). That statement was in reference to verse 11, where He said, “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches.” Here, Jesus makes it abundantly clear that the prerequisite to increase is faithfulness to God at your current level.

Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. -1 Corinthians 4:2

The steward owns nothing; he manages that which his Lord has placed in his control. The word “lord” means owner. One might pay rent to the ‘landlord’ or the land owner. Jesus is Lord - He is the Owner. He is the King.

Our prosperity is directly related to our faithfulness as stewards. The King reserves the right to expand our resources if we prove ourselves faithful. He also has the power to withdraw or withhold resources from the unfaithful steward. We must learn stewardship! Study Matthew 25:14-29 and discover the importance of faithfully managing what the Lord delivers to us.

It is important to make a profession toJesus your High Priest while “tithing the tithe.”

Study Deuteronomy 26 and Hebrews 3:1.

Other than the excuse of not being able to “afford” to tithe as was mentioned earlier, many believers have taken the position that tithing was done in the Old Testament under the Law and is not necessary today.

First of all, tithing began over 438 years before the Law was given to Moses (Galatians 3:17). Abraham honored Melchizedek with the tithe in Genesis 14:19 where we read that Melchizedek “blessed him.” Hebrews 7:1-10 teaches us that Melchizedek was a figure of Jesus being called “King of Salem” (short for Jerusalem) and “Priest of the Most High God.” The bible says “to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all” (7:2).

God had made a covenant to bless Abraham and we see that promise manifest when Abraham honored God with the tithe and He in turn blessed him. Therefore, the very origin of the tithe is that of a covenant that brought about “the blessing.” According to Hebrews 5:6, this order would last “forever.”

Secondly, God called tithing an “ordinance” in Malachi 3:7. An ordinance is something that is ordinary for all. It is and has always been a custom of Kingdom Stewardship. No wonder God said, regarding this ordinance, “I am the LORD, I change not” (Malachi 3:6). Jesus endorsed tithing in Luke 11:42.

We see Jacob in Genesis 28:22 commit to honoring God by giving the tenth of his income to the house of God. This came immediately following God showing him a revelation of heaven opened and a ladder stretching between heaven and earth with angels ascending and descending upon it. This was truly an “open heaven” and it led Jacob to commit the tenth of

his income to the Lord. This open heaven is exactly what God promises to those who tithe in Malachi 3:10. Jacob associated this knowledge and revelation with the house of God. He set a stone for a memorial and poured oil upon it (Genesis 28:18). Today, the church has been called to be the pillar and ground of Truth – the rock that Jesus spoke of as the foundation of His church (see 1 Timothy 3:15 and Matthew 16:19). The tithe, from the very first revelation of the house of God in the Old Testament, is to be offered to the church.

Some will say they tithe to people that they know of who have needs. That’s what alms are for (gifts to the poor). The tithe has and will always be used for the resources of the work of God’s earthly ministry.

The tithe is the tenth of your income; gross income that you receive before taxes, retirement, savings, etc. The tenth is the Lords (Leviticus 27:32). The tithe is not some imaginary number that you make up. Technically one person doesn’t “tithe” more than another. The tithe is based on a percentage: ten percent of our gross income.

Example: If you made $500 this week and after taxes you were left with $350, your tithe would be $50.

An offering is anything you give above the tithe. Let’s say you owed someone $100. Without paying the debt, one day you gave them a gift of $10. How would they view that “gift” considering you have not paid the debt? We can’t begin to give to God until we have returned what is already His.

Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. -Malachi 3:8

Once we begin to show ourselves as faithful stewards, He has promised to bless our lives. Malachi 3:10-12 list specific benefits that we will begin to receive when we honor God with tithes and offerings.

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. [11] And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. [12] And all nations shall call you blessed.

-Malachi 3:10-12

In dealing with tithing in Malachi 3, God ends with this statement in verse 18, “Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” He literally says that tithing would separate those who have surrendered to God from those who have not.

Jesus reiterates the same message in Matthew 6:24 when He said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” I’ve heard men say, “Well, God’s not concerned about my money; He’s just concerned about my heart.” Yet Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21).

Make a decision today to be a faithful steward and trust God to give you the true riches - the blessing! “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich and he addeth no sorrow with it“(Proverbs 10:22).

The tithe is the tenth. As we read earlier, it is the Lords, holy unto Him. You may be wondering, “Why does God designate the first tenth of my income as belonging to Him?” One day I went through the Bible using my Bible App and looked up the word “ten.” I couldn’t help but notice the pattern of “tens” in the bible and how this number seemed to represent ‘testing.’ Here’s a few examples:

‣The Ten Commandments

‣The Ten Plagues sent to test Pharaohin Egypt

‣Saul’s thousands and David’sten-thousands (proving his kingship)

‣The Ten Lepers that Jesus cleansed showing He was the Messiah

‣The Ten Virgins

‣The Ten Talents

‣The ten days of severe testing in theBook of Revelation

There’s a clear pattern of the ten representing a test. Are you passing the tithe test? The tithe is the only thing I recall seeing in God’s Word where He specifically challenges us to “prove” Him.

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.

-Malachi 3:10

The steward must be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2). Tithing is a test of faithful stewardship to God. How can God bless 100% of your increase when you are not faithful with what He has called you to do with the first 10%?

THE TITHE TEST3 EXCUSES FOR NOT TITHING4

WHERE DO WE TITHE?5

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TITHES & OFFERINGS?6

THE BLESSING7