An Excellent Life - Part 3
by Kevin Allen
August 20, 2023 · Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Malachi 3:7-10, Matthew 22:37-38, Exodus 13:2, Exodus 13:12-13, John 1:29, Exodus 23:19, Proverbs 3:9-10, Malachi 3:8-9, Malachi 3:6, Genesis 4, Genesis 4:3-5, Leviticus 27:30, Malachi 3:11, 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, Genesis 14

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kevin-allen--an-excellent-life-part-3
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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You know, in our world — we, uh — in America here, we have had this motto or mantra that has been something we've lived by. And for a while I feel like I embraced it too, until I really got to thinking about it. And then I forgot thinking about it — I didn't know if I agreed with it. And I mean that: I didn't know if I agreed with it from a biblical standpoint. And that's the — the motto or the mantra: that we are all about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And where I'm going with this is: I feel like that pursuit of happiness portion of that motto has really done us a disservice. The Bible talks a whole lot about the joy of the Lord, not about the happiness. And there's a difference in those two words. See — see, being happy all the time is the Fool's Aaron. It's just impossible to be happy all the time. It is. But seems like our society, for a long time, is said that's what we're about: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If you're not careful, that mindset can — can really skew the way you think about a lot of things. And when you — especially when you find yourself not being happy — you — you begin to wonder, "What — well, what's wrong with me? Or what's wrong with my circumstances? Or what's wrong around me? Why am I not happy?" Well, there's nothing in this book that says you're going to be happy all the time. Nothing. And if somebody preaches you that you're going to be happy all the time, I would encourage you to go back to the word and read it yourself. That's just not there. But there's a lot it's said about the joy of the Lord.

Joy is different. Yeah, things in my life can sometimes not go according to my plan, or not work out the way that I think that it should, and it can seem to rob me of my happy. But it doesn't steal my joy. See, I have joy in my security in him — that there is much more than just this life. There's something waiting on the other side of this life for me. I — I anchor in that hope that is there, and that whole brings me joy. That joy is different than happy, because I can be unhappy and still have joy.

We have been talking for the last few weeks about living an excellent life. We have been spending time in — in that little Book of Malachi that's at the very end of the Old Testament. It's — it's — it's basically a wrap up little book, as it segues from going to the old into the New Testament, before we get to those — those years — hundreds of years — of silence between, where there was no open revelation or no — no — no word directly from God. There was a silent period. But before that happens, we see this — this Prophet Malachi, as God's moving on him, and he's beginning to pin some words that he's trying to write some wrongs that had been put into place. People had skewed ideas about what they should be doing. And Malachi is saying, "Hey guys, I just want you to know: God's not happy. He's not happy. And he's calling back to a standard of excellence in all areas of life."

And two Sundays ago I talked about how important it is that you and I — we come into the house of God with a right mindset; that we're not to bring blemished lambs into the house of God. Under the Old Testament system, that was the way they came in. They worshiped. They brought in sacrifice there. And — and they were very, uh, haphazard with what they were selecting as sacrifices. And God was moving on the prophet to write these words and to basically say, "I'm not happy with you bringing — bringing your leftovers." And I admitted to you that there have been times in my own life when I've come into the house of God, and because I knew how to go through the motions of worship, I — I may have looked like to all of you like I was doing well. I had my hands up and had my eyes closed, and I could sing the verses, but inside, and in my mind, I was far away. I was — I was bringing God a leftover worship. But when I read through Malachi, I got convicted, because God's not happy with just whatever I bring him.

Now, don't misunderstand me: you can come to God as you are. He — he'll receive you. So whatever bad decision you've made, or whatever lifestyle you may have been living, whatever mistakes or favors — none of that negates God's love for you, or he'll take you as you are. But here's — here's the reality: he never leaves you that way. All right? He is always desiring to pull the best out of you. And as you are working with God, his desires that we always bring our best to him. And he has done nonetheless — he, uh — he always gives his best for us.

So that was our first week, is about how that we can — we can live a life of spiritual excellence when coming to the house of God. And last Sunday I began to talk about relational excellence, and how that he's a God that's a covenant keeping God. He keeps his relationships, even when we fail, even when — when we don't keep our end of the bargain. God always keeps his end. And when it comes to salvation, he went so far as to — is to seal both ends of the contract. He didn't — he didn't — he didn't depend upon man to do it. He instead — he made us a unilateral recipient of a promise he made, and he's kept that promise. And you and I are to keep our promises in our marriage, and our promises with our relationships, with our kids, and — and our friendships, and on the jobs. It's important that we live an excellent life when it comes to our relationships.

And today I want to dive in and move a little bit forward with the subject matter that usually everybody thinks about when we go to the Book of Malachi, and that is being excellent in our finances. What does Malachi have to say on this matter? Malachi chapter 3 is where I want to start. For all the guests here today, we're so happy that you chose to worship with Center Point Apostolic church. I hope you feel welcome. Happy to have you. Those watching online, we're happy to have you too.

Malachi chapter 3, verse number seven, reads this way: "Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from my ordinances and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, In what way shall we return?" Verse number eight: "Will a man rob God?" That's kind of an odd question, isn't it? I mean, how do you rob God? Do you go in like, "Hey God, stick him up"? The question tonight — the prophet's here, he's saying, "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, In what way have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings." Verse number nine — sobering words here: "You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation." Verse 10: "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house." Now listen to this: "And try me now in this" — God's basically saying, "I dare you. I dare you to do it, to try it. Try me, this" — "says the Lord host — if I will not open for you the windows of heaven — and pour out for you such a blessing that there will be not room enough to receive it." Now, I want to say this: I started off this sermon today talking about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and how the pursuit of happiness is the Fool's Aaron, because it's impossible to be happy all the time. Blessings in life are more than happy. Blessings in life — especially those that come from God — bring life sustaining joy.

Sometimes people approach the way that they give in their ties and offerings as, "I give to get." And if that's your mindset, I promise you, the word of God is always true and God's going to honor what you do. But there's something on the other side if you can have a shift in your mindset of what you get to do, and hopefully I can explain that a little bit better today.

The foundation, in essence, of a Christian life is to follow Jesus and to hold absolutely nothing back from him — to be a disciple. Hopefully that's the desire of all that are in the room: is, "I want to be one that follows after him." And to be obedient in my life is — is that I cannot separate my financial life from my life of worship. They are intertwined. They are to connect. To be a lover of God is to be a giver, because he is a giver. To be filled with his spirit, and to be obedient to where that spirit is leading me, is — is that I have to acknowledge that he is a generous God. In other words, when we move in salvation, our wallets have to be converted as well.

Matthew 22, verse 37: "Jesus said to them, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment." When you and I give God our lives, it includes our treasure. What I mean by that: it includes our time. It includes our talent, our abilities. And it also includes our finances. According to Jesus, the places and the people that we give our treasures to are the keepers of our heart and the objects of our affection. So today's meant for you and I to stop and think a little bit about not just what God is directing us to do in his word, but where we are in this moment. Because I promise you: there is a deep running connection between humanity and money. And if you want to lock down the spirit in the service real quick, just start talking about ties and offering. But I'm okay today. I'm comfortable, because God's with us here.

God must be first in every area of your life. Amen — that's a — that's a truth. He needs to be first in every area. The very first principle that you and I — it's necessary that we get a hold of, we grasp it — is that if you're going to understand giving, you need to understand a principle that is called first fruits. It's also called the principle of the firstborn, or the tithe. Some Christians are confused about tithing and the principles of first fruits, but I want you to notice with me — we're going to go to the 13th chapter of Exodus — we find an important financial precedent that is being established here in this chapter. Verse number two of Exodus 13 says: "Consecrate to me all the first one" — everybody say, "Oh" — "all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast, it is mine." This is God talking here, and he's saying, "Whatever is born — whatever the firstborn is, of man and beast — it belongs to me," says God. Verse number 12 of that chapter: "That is, 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 Lords. 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 men among your sons you shall redeem."

According to what we just read in the Old Testament, the firstborn was to either be sacrificed or redeemed. Sacrificed or redeemed. There was no third option. Those were the only two that were available there: sacrifice or redeemed. With that in mind, think about the account in the New Testament in which John the Baptist meets Jesus on the banks of the Jordan River. John was baptizing, and he looks up and he sees Jesus walking towards them. At that point it says in John chapter 1, verse number 29: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." Interesting language that John chooses to use in addressing Jesus. But what we're seeing is a correlation and a connection back to the Old Testament of what was being established: that something had to take place with the first ones that come. We are inspired by this declaration, and John perfectly defined the role of Jesus: that he had come to be the lamb. And John was proclaiming that Jesus was the firstborn. Jesus was clean, perfect, unblemished in every way. On the other hand, every one of us who have been born — we have all been born into sin. That's what the word of God says. But not him. He was in this world, but not of this world. And John proclaims there, on the Jordan River banks, exactly who he is: he is the Lamb. He is the one who's going to take our place.

The firstborn, if it was unclean, had to be redeemed by a clean animal. The law stated that the firstborn, if it was clean, had to be sacrificed. Again, we're connecting back the importance and the significance of Calvary. And I know I'm doing a little teaching this morning. I think it's important that we get this concept around us, because oftentimes we try to take away the importance that — that finances play in the process of salvation. Now, don't get me wrong: you're not going to purchase your way into heaven. But as I say many times, you can misbehave your way into hell. And at some point, when you're presented with the truth in the scripture, you have two options: either you can be obedient, or you can say it doesn't apply. And in that moment, you are living in a rebellious state. And rebellion is a salvation issue. You okay?

When Jesus redeemed us by his sacrifice, he brought us back for himself. He was literally the first fruit offering. You and I must need give our first fruits when we come to — before God, and our ties. And in the very same way, before we see the blessing, if we give it out in faith — God did not wait to see if we would first change, or repent, or clean up our life. He didn't say anything — you know, "I'm willing to die, but I want to make sure they're going to do this first." Anybody else thankful he didn't wait? Anybody else happy he didn't wait? I know I am, because I need his grace and mercy in my life. And if he'd been waiting on me to get myself cleaned up, I would have never made it. I need what — what he did. I need that finished work applied into my life. I need it every day. Every day I need grace. Every day I need mercy. I'm so thankful that he was willing to be the first fruit. Did he — did he exercised and operated in faith? But — but as often times as the case, he sets the precedent for you and I to — to live our life — accordingly. He shows us it can be done, and he — he's desiring for you and I to join in this relationship with you and I. As we come in, we — we can give our best before God.

On a side note: have you ever wondered why God will take all the firstborn in Egypt? Anybody ever read that story, when the dead things was coming over, and you're like, "Well, man, that just seems like —" Anybody else read the Old Testament sometimes? You think, "Man, God was angry." Anybody else glad you're in the New Testament days? Yeah, me — me too. Because, man, he was kind of tough. But I also want to say to you: all the firstborn males belong to him anyway. They all belong to him anyway. All the firstborn of all the animals belonged to him anyway. They were already his. He had already set the precedent that was there. But the firstborn didn't die in Israel. Why? Because they have been redeemed by the lamb. Moses gave instructions for them to apply the blood — what, over the doorpost, and — and — and the sides of the doorway — that when the death angel came, he seen what: the blood's been applied. It's still important to have the blood applied in your life, ladies and gentlemen. And if you don't fully understand that, then come see me afterwards, and I'll — I'll gladly open up the scriptures and talk about it. That's not my message for today, but it's important that you live a life that has the blood applied to it. Because when the blood's been applied, you've been redeemed. I've been redeemed. We are the redeemed of the lord. We are the redeemed of the Lord. That's a good thing, whether you are the redeemed of the Lord. His blood is applied to my life.

This principle of first fruits — it's very, very powerful. I've heard it said that — that — that sometimes we don't always fully appreciate what was being done in the Old Testament. I'm be — I'll be honest with you: there's a time in my life when I begin to read through my bread chart, and there's — there are parts of the scripture there in the Old Testament that would cause my eyes to get — to get a little heavy. Anybody learned Leviticus? If you're awake at two in the morning, you're struggling to sleep, just open up Leviticus. It will make you go just — just like that. You go, yeah. But the — the — the — the — the closer I get in — into my relationship with God, and — and continue to study, the more I appreciate all of the connections that are there. Let's see, the word of God is not just, you know — why this and why this, why there's all there? Why is this — some of this is controversial? Why does this still have to — I'm going to tell you that — that I'm still searching out the depths that are in his word, and in my lifetime I will by no means have exhausted all that is here. But — but as I continue to dig, I find out two things there: he's way bigger than I — and then I can even comprehend — and everything is being connected together for a reason.

The principles of the first fruit are very powerful. We are to give our first to God: our time, our talent, our ability. To put it another way: when the firstborn lamb is born in the flock, it is not possible to know how many more lambs they may produce. But God says, "Give me the first." He didn't say, "Give me the ninth." He didn't say, "I'm going to give you seven or eight and then after that —" No, he says, "I want you to — I want you to trust me. I want to prove that I'm a trustworthy God. I want to show you that you can depend on me, that you can build a life around me, and then you will be blessed by honoring me. But what I'm looking for you is to have enough faith in what I'm telling you to do. So the very first blessing you get it — give it back to me. Give it back to me." Because you're trusting in that moment. He's — he's saying it's — it's an exercise in faith. It means giving to God before you see if you're going to have enough.

Oftentimes I've spent the years counseling with people and seeing those that have been in — in financial, uh — uh crisis, and as they're beginning to talk to them about what's going on, one of the first questions I asked him: "Well, are you honoring God with your tithes and offering?" And more often than not — in fact, it's the overwhelming majority of the time — the answer is, "Well, no, I'm not really doing all that, God. I'm going to get there, Pastor. I'm going to get there." And the first thing I say to them is: "I don't know how to instruct you any further if you're not willing to trust God in — in — in — in the faith walk of saying, 'God, this is my tithes that you asked for me. This is my offering I'm going to give back to you.'" But yeah, I promise you: you can live better on 90 than you'll ever live on 100. And I know I stand this morning in a great cloud of witnesses that are in this room, are willing to say that — that 90 works better and my family's life than 100, every time. Every — there's a whole room full of us in this, to tell you: I've lived this and proved this time and time again. That doesn't mean there haven't been lean times in the Allen household, because there has. And there hasn't been times that we didn't discuss about what we were going to do. But what was never up for — for debate is that we were going to pay our tithes, because God had asked us to do those things. And I will tell you this: there's been things happen in our life that are beyond explanation. There's — there's no way that you can set down logically with pen and paper and explain what has happened in our life. We know it is the divine hand of God that has been upon us, because we have done our part, and God always does his part.

Tithing simply means a tenth. The — you take 10 percent of your gain in this world, and from the beginning, you give it back to God. If you make five hundred dollars, fifty dollars you give back to God. Now, some of you may be thinking, "Man, things must be getting tighter in here. Then opened that Mother's Day out, and pastors seen the budget; he's got to come up there, and I'm —" I'm going to tell you this: this is one of my biggest struggles, is to stand in the pulpit and talk about these principles. It's not because they're not true — because they are true. It's not because I don't believe in them — I absolutely believe them. I've lived in my whole life. But I know that I also drive my income from the church, and it seems sometimes as if it's self-serving for me to stand up and say, "Hey, you really ought to be given to God." But God convicted me several years ago. I mean, he — he raked me over the coals and said: "Because of your pride, and because you don't want to feel bad, you are robbing my people of the blessings that I want to give them." So I had to spend some time repenting over it. And I made myself a promise that I was going to, on an annual basis, talk about this very subject matter, because it's important. And it is important. But I'm going to tell you — right now, the church's finances are just fine. We're doing well, because God takes care of us. But I feel to preach this a day for two reasons. Number one: we're studying the Book of Malachi, and it's just there. And number two: that I know that some of you can benefit from these principles that I'm teaching you today. Your life can be dramatically different if you'll just take God at his word. By tithing, it's as if we're saying, "God, I want to recognize you first."

Now, I want to say this: there was a time in my life — we've always — Chastity and I — my wife's right over there — we have always, in our entire married life, and even before we were married, we individually, separately, we have always tied. I was taught by my parents the importance of it. And I realized that the principle, right off the bat, that — that God just honors that. So there's never been a time in my life that I haven't tithed — time in my life whenever I had a gain come away, that wouldn't turn around and give it back to God. But what I've seen here is — is in this principle of — of living it, that there's an importance to do it: that we — we give God our best first. "I give the Lord — I'll give you back what you — what you have given me, and I'm going to put you first in my life. I want to trust that you're going to take care of the things in my life." Tithing — giving 10 — is one of the ways I acknowledge that: "God, I put you first. I can trust you."

Now, what I have not always done — this is something that — that came to me a few years ago as I began to study out more — was the principle of the first fruit. And what I mean by that is — is, early on, that tithing always became a part of just our — our budget. Are you guys okay? It was just part of our budget. So as we were budgeting stuff out, we had 10. But — but usually what would happen is: we would get paid, and we — we'd pay mortgage, pay this, pay that, pay that, and then pay the tithes. We just do it all; it was there. But then I've seen the scripturally that there was something significant that kept coming up over and over again about this first fruits principle. What was it there? So as I began to really dive down and dig into it, I became very convicted about the fact that God says, "I want you to give me my portion first." And then what I hope to do with the next few minutes that I have with you is to show you the significance and the power of the first fruit principle.

The first fruit, or the first portion, is the redemptive portion. Everybody say, "Redemptive." In other words, when the first portion is given to God, the rest is redeemed. In the same way, coming to church at the first of the week is the way of giving to the Lord the first of your time. This is the first day of the week. We — we — we believe this. We — we — we come in. We're not Seventh-Day Adventists. We — we know that Jesus Christ was put in the tomb, and on the third day he rose again. The third day was — was the Sunday. Was the — was the beginning of the week. And that's why we celebrate. We have church on Sunday. And that's — if you don't understand that, I can explain a little bit later at another time; come question me and I'll talk to you about it. But Sundays are important for a reason. Sundays are important because it's the first day. One of the first things we should want to do in our life is to start our week off worshiping God. We should come in here, because the week has already ended; this is a new week. We should come in with an attitude of thankfulness: that, "God, you've given me another week. You've given me another opportunity. And before I do any of the other things that I'm going to have to do this week, my first priority is to come into your house for Thanksgiving, to enter into your course with praise, to be in your presence, to tell you how great and wonderful you are, to say that I am here and I love you, and God, I want to worship you with everything. And here's the day — it's supposed to be the Lord's day, not the Lord's two hours." Are you okay?

I know church is not meant to be stuck in the middle of all the other activities of the day. Church is to be what we do. We are the church. We're to come in — we're an experiences — to give him our best. As God's people, we need to give the first part of our week to Jesus. The reason the New Testament Church met on Sunday was — was because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They gave their first, in their time, to God in worship. And show should we do this also. This is why I feel it's important that we begin to worship, and that we are engaged in worship, and we don't just watch worship. Now, this is not meant to hurt anybody's feelings who's watching online. I'm so thankful that you are online. But online is not the same as being here. The temptation, when we do it online, is to watch — versus when you're here, you typically engage. We are to be engaged in worship.

Not only does the firstborn belong to God, but the first fruits belong to him also. Exodus 23 and 19: "The first of the fruit — first fruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. And you shall not bull a young goat in his mother's milk." A lot of stuff in scripture makes you shake your head, like, obviously somebody did that, right? It's like the warning label to their own things: the reason that warning label is there is because somebody did that. "Do not eat the tube of Preparation H." They — they put it there. Why? Because somebody did. Are you guys okay? "Do not bully young — young — young goat in his mother's milk." Somebody did that, and God was not happy.

But this verse goes even further, to say that — look, I'm gonna go back, if it's still on the screen — put the — put it back up there on the screen. It says, "The first of —" What? "The first of the first fruits." So, because there would be a first fruit harvest, but it's very specific, and it says, "The first of the first fruits." God says, "I want that." What's he doing? It's a faith thing. It's a trust factor. He's saying, "You don't even know how much you're going to harvest. It's inconsequential. But what you get first — bring it to me. Bring it to me. I — I want that part." This means that the last of your first fruits is not acceptable. It's not the tenth portion of your first fruits; it's the first portion of your first fruits. Read the verse again: "The first of the first fruits." The house of God is where you bring it — nowhere else but to the house of the Lord.

Now, people have asked me before, like, "What — do I have to just pay my tithes here? Can I pay my tithes here, and I can pay my tithes over there, because I feel like this place over here, God's leading me to do that?" Well, I — this is how I believe, and I feel like I can support it scripturally: you need to bring it into the — house where you attend. Where do you go? Where are you being — are you being blessed by? Now, if you choose to give an offering above that somewhere else, then it's okay. But you bring it into the house of God.

Now, I've had that question before: "Well — well, is it — what do I pay on the — do I pay on the gross or the net?" Well, what was your increase? In a way, we've always viewed it is: we just — we just pray on the gross, whatever it is, and we — because, "God, thank you for the — for the whole that you gave me." Some — some say, "Well, I'll pay on the net, because that's all I bring home." Look, I'm not going to get into the weeds with you on this, all right? But I heard it said one time — and for whatever reason it just stuck in my spirit, has this felt right about it — someone asked, "Well, do you want a gross blessing or a net blessing?" Well, if you're asking it that way, I'll take gross all day long. I would say this: pray about it. Pray about it. Pray about what you feel like is right.

Look at this, going into Proverbs 3, verse 9: "Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your increase. So your barns will be filled with — what? — plenty, and your vats will overflow new line." As this passage suggests, tithe into the Lord's house involves honoring the Lord with our possessions, as with the first fruits of all of our increase. So what are you saying to me, Pastor Kevin? Like, if I go pack by — buy a new pack of — of Titleist Pro-V ones — that I need to bring — bring a few of those in here and entitle them? That — yes, you do. I need some golf balls. I'm just kidding. That's funny.

In our world, things are a little different than they were when this was being written. They were an agricultural, for the most part — that's how they did. They brought in — so everything was their increase. That's what they used them. You know, they didn't always have coins that they traded and — and — and did commerce with. Most of the time they would go in and like, "Hey, I got this chicken; I need a haircut." So I'll tell you this: the increase that you have — whatever is the gain going forward. Now, there's some of you sweet folks — and I love you; you just — you just bless mine and Chastity's heart. Some of you do: you put a garden in every year, and you bring chasing on the first fruits of your garden, and — and we enjoy those things. And you just make — you make — make a smile every time you do that. And you — you're — you're being obedient at the scripture.

Now, here's the deal: I'm not asking all y'all to go to Kroger's over there, and every time you shop you got to like — but if you do, I got a list of things I can — just — I promise, that was just — so, what — what is your increase? What is your financial gain? And then think through that, you know, because today, where you got — you have all the different vocations — your increase comes in a monetary way. No matter how it comes, the word of God makes it clear: you should honor God with that.

You remember the fall of Jericho in the Bible? Those of you who maybe know this story: Jericho was the first city that they were going to go in to conquer, right? And what was the command in Jericho when they went in, as they were going to be — God granted the victory. Remember the marching around the walls of Jericho, and it fell. But there was an instruction before they went in. Anybody remember the instruction about the stuff that was going to be there? It was — it was what? They were to not touch it — leave it all, the war spoils that were there. Why? Because it was the first one. It was the first city. And God was saying, "I'm going to show you something." He's always showing us something. He's always saying, "Look, I'm sure she'd be my God. But — but I want you to be obedient in what we're doing. I want you to trust me. But your obedience is showing that you trust me. Your obedience is showing that I can be faithful." So in the first thing — there were more cities that conquered, and they got to keep it all. But remember — remember what happened. Remember Aiken, right? Aiken went in, and he's seen a new pair of clothes. And I'll be honest with you: if you hadn't had a change of clothes and new shoes in 40 years, that would be tempting. He had not new clothes in 40 years. And he goes in, he sees that, and he sees like a wedge of silver or gold — I remember which one it was — and he took those things and hit it. And then God — before they go in, God speaks and says, "Look, there's a reproach. There's here — there's sin in the camp." Somebody was disobedient with the first, and ended up — you know how the story goes — ended up destroying his whole family. So family — because they couldn't be obedient to God.

There's something about the first. God has always — ladies and gentlemen, always, always has, and always will — has something that set aside, that belongs only to him. Garden of Eden, right? All the things that took place in there, but yet there was one — one tree that he said, "What? Don't eat of it." Why? Because God always has something to set aside and says, "That belongs to me." Always, in life. The tithe is the consecrated that belongs to the Lord, in the Lord's house. But if we take it for ourselves, it becomes a cursed thing.

Malachi 3 8 9: "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, In what way have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse." Now, that sounds tough, doesn't it? Let's — let's be honest: in our culture today, that language seems a little — we want to bristle up a little bit. "Why am I cursed? I don't want to be cursed." Anybody here want to be cursed? No. Nobody wants to be cursed. So that we have to — well, why? Because you took what belongs to me and you kept it yourself.

Verse number six: "For I'm the Lord, I do not change." Because some people say, "Yeah, that was an Old Testament thing." It may be in the last book in the Old Testament, it was an Old Testament thing. That same chapter, verse 6, says, "For I'm the Lord, I do not change. Therefore you're not consumed." My question is to those who say it no longer applies or is active today: if God declares that he does not change, then when do these things supposedly change, if he doesn't change? Now, I know there are some things that were under the old covenant that no longer apply because of Calvary — salvation issues, what needs to happen. We don't have to take a lamb anymore, because he was the lamb that was slain for us. There are parts of this part that we don't have to do. But even Jesus himself — he goes in to explain, as he's given a rebuke, and saying the tithe of the deal and the men, those things you should have done, but it's the other things you left undone. Tithing doesn't go away, ladies and gentlemen. There are people who go to great lengths to try to explain it, but I promise you, the principle of God is still true. Tithing, the firstborn — of the first fruits all belongs to the Lord. It was not the law, but an unchanging principle. Because, ladies and gentlemen, tithing pre- — pre- — predated the law. It was something that goes all the way back to Abraham. Moses is the one that was given the law. This goes back all the way to Abraham. A matter of fact, I'm going to show you something: that it goes back even farther than that — Genesis chapter 4.

This is something that — that really came to me, because I want to be quite transparent: for a long time, this little passage I'm fixing to read you somewhat troubled me. I felt like I didn't have full clarity of what was being expected. Then — then I felt like God gave me understanding through prayer. Look at this: Genesis chapter 3, verse number four: "And in the process of time" — everybody say, "Process of time." So time has passed. In case you don't know: Genesis 1 was the creation. Genesis 2 was — was the creation of man, all right? Genesis 3 was the fall, all right? They mess up — that's the fall. So Genesis 4: time has passed. They've been kicked out of God, out of Eden, right? Everybody with me in the story? They're out of Eden. And it says in verse number three: "And in the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought" — what? — "an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord." I'm going to stop there, okay? So he's bringing an offering. Now, we would think: this — offerings are good. God likes offerings. Offerings should be happy. So all we know up into this moment — and this is why everything's — the words are important. The words are important. We have: time has passed; an offering is brought. Everybody clear of what we got so far? Times passed; an offering is brought, of the fruit of the ground. Verse number four: "Abel also brought of the" — what was it? What did he do? — "of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering." Verse 5: "But he did not respect Cain in his offering. And Cain was very angry, in his countless girl."

Now, I'm gonna be honest with you: you read that, and I'm gonna be like, "Okay." I've heard it explained a lot of ways. And I'm not saying the people that explained it to me were necessarily wrong, but I was never completely 100 on board with the explanation. Something didn't settle right. Now, what we have is: we have no precedent of offerings before this. We don't — all we have is: stuff was created, and they got kicked out of the garden. That's — that's — that's as far as we are in history. Man shows up, God created him, they're there, and they got kicked out of the garden because they're messed up. That's all we know. And then it says, "In the process of time" — time has passed — and then now we see an offering that's being given. Everybody with me? But why has one offering been accepted, and the other offering has not been accepted, when I don't have any precedent to go off of, and I can't base this off of anything else but what words I have in front of me? And the only distinctive difference between the two was: one was a fruit, and one was a lamb. But if I stopped for a minute, then I go into the rest of the Bible: fruits were acceptable offerings; we know lambs were acceptable offerings. So fruits are — so both of these things can be accepted. But in this passage, one's not accepted, and one is accepted. So what's the other difference? One was the first. There's something significant about the first fruit offering that God desires, even in this moment. Here, I see: it wasn't about the fruit, sister Kennedy. It was: he didn't bring the first fruit. I feel like that story would be different if it was said, "And Cain brought the first fruits of his harvest, and Abel brought the first ones of his flock." I feel like there would have been acceptance. But because Cain refused — Cain says, "I'll bring you an offering, and I — I'll get around to it." So that's why I feel like we have to be very cautious in how we approach our tithing and offering: is that it's not — it's not a casual thing. That when we have an increase, the very first thing we must do is stop and acknowledge: "God, thank you for the increase that you have brought my way. Maybe I felt like I should earn more, but God, what I did earn, I'm going to be thankful for, and I'm going to bring it to you." There's something powerful about having your mind wrapped around the first fruits principle.

The lesson for us is that God's looking for our hearts when we give. He's looking for our attitudes. He's looking for our faith as we approach it. When we give up the first of our — of our increase in our life, God receives the respect in that offering. The tithe is your first fruit, and the tithe must be first. The Bible makes this clear in Leviticus 27 30: "And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed or the land, or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's, and it is holy to the Lord." Just as the firstborn and the first fruits belong to God, so does the tithe that belongs to him. But like — but like the other two, it has to be first.

There's something powerful about when you stop for just a minute, when you get in there. Because the — many of you — please, please know that we got a good giving church here. You guys, many of you are faithful. We are — we are well above the curve when it comes to participation and faithfulness and giving, as a whole, in this church. But — but I'm here today just to say: for some of you, I feel like there's something that's been missing in your life. It's the first fruits principle. There's something there. I'm telling you: I know you're committed, and you're honoring God. But there's a little above that, when you stop immediately and say, "God, before I even buy a cup of coffee — before I even do — God, first thing I'm going to do is — I have now had an increase." And we live in a digital world, and a lot of times — most of you, most of you in the room, have direct deposit, right? Most of us do. We like that world, that is convenient. I don't like going to the bank now. That — my — my dad's from a different generation; he always wanted to check, you know. "We want to hold the check. I want to go down there with a check. I want to meet the banker." But my dad likes to talk a lot. He likes to talk to the tellers, into the — all that. I love him. I love him. But the moment they did direct deposit, I'm like, "Yes, sign me up."

But here's what — here's what we've got to be cautious of: is, a lot of times, that stuff hits our accountant before we know it. We're automatically deducting this, and deducting this, and deducting this, and — and unbeknownst to us, it's already being used before I got a chance to redeem it. So there's something about the moment I know it comes in: the very first thing I do is, "God, before it goes anywhere else, I'm giving you yours." Because there's something about when that redemptive part goes out: it takes and makes the rest holy. See, it's filthy looker — King James language, it's filthy Luca — but I can redeem it by the first fruits. principle. That doesn't mean I get to do anything I want to do with the 90. I still got to be a good steward with it.

There's a principle today: when Abraham offered the firstborn son Isaac — notice, Abraham didn't wait to see if he had more sons, right? "I'll make you the father of many nations, but I want you to go ahead and take care of you first." Wait a minute: "I was almost 100 when this one showed up. How much longer is it going to take me to get more?" Well, what you see out of Abraham was simple obedience. Now, we know the story: he didn't have to sacrifice him. What was God looking for out of Abraham? What was the — what was the point? He said, "I wanted to know where your heart was at. I want to know if you were going to take that blessing, and if that blessing was going to take the place of me." See, when we come in with that first fruits principle, we're saying, "God, there's nothing more important to — you have blessed me." This is probably a little boring to some people, but I feel like it's something that has to be taught to the church, to get your mind around.

The Bible says that he is going to rebuke the Devourer for my sake. For my sake — did you catch that? Malachi: that if we'll do what we're supposed to do, that the Lord, for our sake, will rebuke the things that come against us. That again — that doesn't mean there's a guarantee you're not going to have a nail in your tire. You know, if you go out here in the parking lot, your car don't starved, he didn't rebuke the devour. Let me ask you a question: is there any way to know how many things he's kept us from? There's no way to know that. There's no way — there's no way to even try to get our heads around all that he has done. I'm telling you, there's something about living in the overflow of a life committed to him. Remember, it's not about happy; it's about joy. Joy is knowing I can lay my head down tonight, and I can pull Jesus up around me like a blanket. That's what joy is. That I can — I can leave it and say, "God, you are my protector. You are my shield. You are my ready present help in time of need. I'm living my life according to everything I know to do." And there is joy and comfort. I still have pains. I still have aches. I still have trials. I still have troubles. But that stuff doesn't rob my joy. My joy is in him. He is my joy. He is my comfort. He is my strength, when I live my life committed to him.

First Corinthians 16 1 says: "Not concerning the collection of the Saints, as I have given orders the church in galatia, so you also — so you must do also — on the first day of the week let each one of you lay aside — lay something aside — storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come." Paul's telling us that we should give something every week that's there, first day, that we can prosper. The New Living Translation says it this way: "In relation to what you have earned." In other words, we should give directly according to our paycheck.

I'm getting close to wrapping up. I don't tithe because tithing is a part of the Old Testament law. I tithe because tithing is part of the life that me and my family live. I've tithed all my life because it's proven that he is faithful and true. There have been so many families who have come to these church — I don't even know how to even begin to — to count — has come in, and I've taken the time to sit down and just talk about these principles with them, and I've watched their lives transform. I've watched him as God has opened doors, and things have happened for them, and he's done — done mighty. And again, it's not all just monetary stuff, okay? I've watched things that just — there's no other way to explain it other than it was God. It was God that did it. He rebukes the Devourer for you.

The principle of tithe, the first fruits of the firstborn, was an operation back when Abraham offered up his son in Genesis 14. Hebrews 5 talks about it. If something was not right — it was right under the law, or before there was a law — how is it not right now under grace? The Old Testament makes it clear, and it's mandated, and shown also in the New Testament. Can we, if we are in a willful violation of God's principle — and the years in how the first fruits enact — expect to see our finances come under a curse? Yeah. If you're disobedient, it's what the word says: you are cursed with a curse.

There's been times people have come in, and I took — I took this page at a Bishop's book. And here's the deal, okay? I don't know what you think about me or what I do. If — if you think that I get a running tally on everybody's financial reports and their givings, you know, on a monthly bear, on a weekly basis, and open up my email and there it is, and I'm like, "Oh, okay. Okay, well, they did. They didn't. They must have got laid off." No, I don't. About twice a year I get it. I go in there and purposely get an update, because I'm looking at people that are involved in high level ministry around here, to see what's going on. Because this is how I view an improved life: if someone also has to be faithfully contributing to the kingdom of God — and if you're in an elevated leadership position around here, I have to go in from time to time and make sure that you're doing all that you should be doing. The reason I don't look at it as a whole: because once a year, you know, we get the big report. I look through everything, and I have to sign the stuff, and you guys get your giving pledge stuff, and how that goes.

But here's — here's the deal: there's two things that happen whenever I view it. Two things, every day, without fail. There's two things that happen. There's a — there's number one, is: there's a part of me that stands back, and I get just emotionally overwhelmed at the faithfulness of — of those that give. And there are some that I know their situation. I know their situation, and I see what they have done, and it just blows me away. There's one. And then there's another emotion that wills up in me, and this is in — its emotion of disappointment and frustration, when I have been helping you pray about situations, and I didn't know that you haven't been contributing. I'm over here trying to pray against God's word. "What do you mean, Pastor Kevin?" Well, his word says if you don't do it, you're cursed. And I'm over here like, "Lord, help them out. I don't know what's going on. God, please help him out. Help him go through this." And then come to find out you're not doing anything you're supposed to be doing. So then the only way I know to do is say, "God, make it worse. Evidently they haven't reached a low enough point to understand the principle. So, God, just turn the heat up." You laugh, but how am I supposed to pray? If you were Pastor, how would you pray? I can't pray against God's word. That doesn't do me any good. No — you're like, some — of you, like, "Are you honestly going there and pray against me?" No. What I do is, I pray: "God, open their eyes and let them see. Let them see that you are faithful and you can be trusted." We can't be in willful violation and expect God to bless our life.

I've seen so many families — and — and we're going to wrap. I know this is a different Sunday service than normally have. But I still feel like there needs to be a time for us to — to draw in close to God at the end. And I'm ready — musicians can come. I've seen so many families in this church that drive a stake in the ground, say, "I'm going to do it this way." I've had a conversations — after conversation, I had a conversation a few — a few years ago with a great guy — great guy, tears in his eyes, and he was struggling and some stuff. And we had already talked a little bit about this. And as he was telling me what was going on, he was just in a financial hardship. And I just looked at him and I said — I said, "Hey, Bowie, are — like, are you honoring God? Are you doing what you know you're supposed to be doing?" He said, "I — I can't afford to do that." I said, "I'm sorry — you — you missed it. The words you just said — the — the words you need to say — but you need to reverse it around. What you should have said is, 'I can't afford to not.'" And this person is — again, it's a good person. Love them. Help them out. Get them in a better spot. Just told him — I said, "Look, here's the deal: you're never going to be any better. This is never going to be any better for you if you don't learn to put God first. I'm just going to tell you: this is going to be a cycle in your whole life. If — it's never going to be any better if you don't want to put God first." It was a few years later, he came to me. He said, "You remember the conversation you and I had?" And he — he recalled the spot and the place on this campus. "We're asked — yeah, I remember. Exactly. Remember vividly." He said, "Yeah." He said, "You were right: I can't afford not to." And he handed me a check for his ties for that month. It was unbelievable. The tears in his eyes — he said, "I don't know why it's took me so long to figure it out."

Again, you don't do it for that, okay? You don't go in — don't get — some of you'll be like, "I'm gonna ride a big one right now, and we're gonna go, and come on, sit by my mailbox, and wait on it." You've missed the whole point of my message. You don't give to get. You give because he asked. You've given faith. You give because he's a good God. You give because he's blessed you with it. You give as a sign of your obedience back, to say, "You have been too good to me, God. You could have asked me for the 90 and me to live on the ten. But you're a good God and said, 'Give me the 10 first, and watch what I can do with your 90.'"

So I don't know where everybody's at in this room. As I've already told you, I don't get into the weeds of it, because it would just make me have to spend a whole lot of time than I already spend in the altar repenting. But I will tell you this: this is something that you can't escape, and this is something you can't ignore. If you choose to, it's on you. This is not an agreement between me and you. This isn't an agreement between you and this church. This is an agreement between you and him. The church is going to be just fine. God takes care of the church. God takes care of his own. We're going to be okay. But if you want to see your life dynamically change, beyond any reasonable doubt, that he's a good and a faithful God — after all, it's the only place — it is the only place in scripture, Malachi chapter 3 — the only place where God says, "I dare you." The only place he says, "Prove me." In other words, he said, "You try it. You bring your tithes in. You bring it in, and see if I won't open up the windows of Heaven and pour out a blessing in your life that you can contain."

Part of living an excellent life is living an excellent financial life. And the only way you can do that is about bringing the first fruits back. I didn't even get into offerings, guys, because offerings go above and beyond. But I'm telling you: so many of you know this principle. You are living in an overflow of abundance. If I'd have told you you were going to be where you are right now 10 years ago, you'd have said, "There's no way. There's no way. There's no way." But what a good God we serve, who partners with us and comes along and says, "Look, you stand with me. Because if you don't stand — let's keep talking." You think about what he trusts some of you with now — how he's trust — that he thinks enough of you that he says, "Look, you've been faithful in this. I'm gonna — let's see if you can be faithful and — now this." And he watches what you do for the kingdom. I'm gonna tell you: there's no end to it — there's no into it. Just — just try, and see if God is not good.

This altar is open, okay? I'm fixing to do a closing prayer. Whatever you have need of, the Almighty is here. If you need salvation today — today is the day of salvation — and God can fill you with his Spirit today, I invite you to come down this altar and let us pray with you. If you need a healing in your body, the healer is here today. He can heal your body. Here's what I know: is there going to be a mighty move of God while someone preaches on ties? I believe it, because these are his principles. This is his truth. It is his word. But I also believe this: that if maybe you need to reevaluate how you think about this process, I invite you to come down the altar too. So: you need salvation, come. You need healing, come. You need to reevaluate your — come.

Let's pray. "Jesus, I'm so thankful for you and your goodness and your mercy. So thankful for the truth that is in your word, and your presence I feel right now. God, you see every heart in this place. I pray, God, that our desire would always to be to honor you with the first of our life, in every area and every way, in every respect. Oh God, give us a desire to be pleasing to you. Help us, Lord Jesus, see the truth that is in your word. For those needing salvation today, God, I pray that you would pour out your spirit in a mighty way. God, those needed healing in a body, I pray, Lord Jesus, you would meet that need today, in this room. We love you, father. We love you. You love you. You're worthy of all praise, glory, and adoration. Oh, in Jesus' name we pray." We're going to spend a little time right now praying. You don't mind — be respectful. That is prayer time.