Pastor Marty Sloan | Feb. 6 & 7, 2021

It’s Time to Tithe

And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”- Mark 4:13-20 (ESV)

The Model of Biblical Listening:

Awareness (What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” - Romans 7:7)
Understanding (For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; - Colossians 1:9)
Obedience (I Samuel 15)

The role of preaching/teaching the Word is one of seed-planting. Ultimately, the

determines the results.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness … - II Timothy 3:16 (NKJV)

How we respond to the Word of God

the fruitfulness of our life.

Never underestimate the

of the Bible.

Never underestimate the

of our hearts (Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. - Proverbs 4:23).

To receive the Word of God, our hearts need to be:

Free from idols (I John 5, Colossians 3)
Tender toward God (I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. - Ezekiel 36:26)
Obedient (If you love Me, keep My commandments. - John 14:15, But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. - Acts 5:29)

To be free of idols is to have nothing of

value than Him. (Isaiah 44)

To be tender toward God is to be

to His Word. (But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” - Mark 4:20)

To be obedient is to be

to His Word. (But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. - James 1:22)

Our response to the biblical command to connect God and money

our hearts.

Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” - Luke 19:1-10 (NKJV)

Jesus pronounces that self-sufficiency

the Gospel.
(But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets. - Luke 6:24-26)

Fools are rich toward self and

toward God. (Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” - Luke 12:13-21)

Jesus’ material/spiritual axiom: “You

serve God and money.” (Luke 16:1-13)

“How

it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Luke 18:24-25 (ESV)

Jesus’ repeated emphasis is that though generosity is not the means of redemption, it is an evidence of redemption.

Generosity and giving are

of discipleship.

Zacchaeus did not have a money problem; he had an

problem.

Money is a

counterfeit god.

Zacchaeus experienced divine

.

Tithing is a

standard for Christian believers. Tithe means one tenth.
(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. If a man wants at all to redeem any of his tithes, he shall add one-fifth to it. And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord. - Leviticus 27:30-32
“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, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts; “And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” Says the Lord of hosts. - Malachi 3:8-12)

We certainly wouldn’t want to be in a position of giving away less of our income than those who had so much less of an understanding of what God did to save them.

A

life comes in response to salvation.

Next Steps

• Consider the initial response of your heart when you hear the word “Tithe.”
• Respond to the entire Word of God.
• Commit to bring the tithe to your local church.

Resources

• The Blessed Life by Robert Morris
• Managing God’s Money by Randy Alcorn
• Tithing by R.T. Kendall