Tithing or Toiling? By James Lantz
The tithe connects us to the blessing of the Lord! The blessing is everything good and opposite of the curse. The fullest of God’s blessing is described in the book of Genesis prior to the fall of man and in the book of Revelation describing conditions after Satan is removed from the scene. No dying, no killing, no hatred, no depression, no disease, no hurting, no pride, no cursing, no toiling, no lack of any kind. Before Adams betrayal, he and Eve were experiencing life to the fullest, enjoying and taking dominion of everything good that God had created for them. They were clothed with the glory of God and privileged to walk and talk with the Almighty! God put His blessing on His beloved man. Gen. 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
It has been recorded how Adam, through the lust of his flesh, the lust of his eyes, and the pride of life stole God’s fruit (the tithe) and reaped the curse from his disobedience. God reinserted His blessing on Noah but two of his sons chose the ways of the world, leaving Shem and then his great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandson Abram with the blessing. God said to Abram, leave your country to a place that I will show you, and I will bless you. Gen. 12:1-4 . . . I will bless you and make your name great . . . Abram eventually separated himself from Lot and received the blessing from Melchizedek, priest of the most high God. Abram gave Melchizedek tithes of all the spoils he recovered in rescuing Lot from the four kings who had captured his nephew. This blessing of the Lord is so powerful that it will cause blessings to hunt you up and chase you down and overtake you. Ps. 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Tithing is about access and
The Tithe is about honor and access to the Blessing!
honoring the Great provider! God mentions three things, through the prophet Malachi, that he will do for the tither. 1. God will open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing. 2. God will rebuke the devourer so that our work will bear fruit. 3. The blessing of the Lord will be so great on us that other nations will call us blessed. Pro. 3:9&10 Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase. So shall thy barns (bank accounts) be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. Bursting out speaks of excess and abundance! God has said that those who honor Him, He will honor, and those that scorn and pay no attention to Him shall be lightly esteemed. The scripture speaks of the goodness and severity of God. (see Rom. 11:22) I am so glad that God has given us the privilege to bring our tithes to Him and receive of His great goodness.
Jesus was sent by the Father to redeem His man that had become eternally doomed to the devil’s hell. Jesus sowed his life as the sacrificial lamb, suffered, died, and rose again, so that we who believe could be raised up with him. Col. 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. When we made Jesus the Lord of our life we were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise, and received a down payment of our inheritance in Christ. (see Eph. 1:13&14) We are not yet able to enjoy all of what Jesus purchased for us but we have a taste of heaven right here on the earth. Our right standing with God has been restored through Jesus righteousness. We are sons of God right now even though we are still in this curse filled earth. The grace of God empowers us to live a holy life and tap into the blessing of the Lord. It is the Lord that provided the earth for us to live on. It is the Lord God who sustains us with food and water and air to breathe. Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Gal. 2:13&14 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. We activate our faith and love by doing what our Lord commands. (James 2:26 & John. 14:21)
The curse came as a result of Adam’s disobedience and toiling is part of the curse. Gen. 3:17-19 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. The curse of the law consists of three parts, spiritual death (not ceasing to exist but separated from God), sickness, and poverty. Jesus has redeemed us from all of the curse of the law! Jesus is our Jubilee! The very moment we were born again, we received the life of God and became a new creature in Christ. (John 10:10 2 Cor. 5:17 1 John 3:2) The curse of sickness and poverty has been placed on Christ at the same place where He took our sins. (Isaiah 53 Mt. 8:17 1 Pet. 2:24 Rom. 8:32 2 Cor. 1:20 3 John 2) Jesus came to give us the God kind of life and to deliver us from toiling. Mt. 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. When we enter into God’s rest we accept our place in the body of Christ and honor God’s way’s of doing things. Heb. 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. By committing to do what God has called us to do and believing God to help us get it done we have ceased from toiling. Can you visualize a marathon runner with long pants, heavy boots, and a forty pound knapsack on his back, smoking a cigarette, trying to run a race. He would be toiling, sweating, just trudging along until he finally gives up. Many in the body of Christ are still toiling, trying to get their bills paid, trying to get their healing, trying to make it big, trying to earn what God has already given them. Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Others have quit trying to serve God and are believing in a false grace doing things that God said should not be once named among His people. Jude 4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Lasciviousness means wanton or lustful, looseness, lacking restraint, and often refers to sexual looseness. People who believe in a false grace treat holy things, like sexual purity, marriage, honor, obeying authorities, tithing and sowing, and serving in the church as common. God’s grace empower’s us to serve Him and not serve sin, grace allows us to walk free from sickness and empowers us to prosper. Entering into God’s rest does not mean that we don’t get out of bed till 9:00 am and lay on the couch watching TV all day. Faith is the place of God’s rest. Joshua and Caleb were in faith trusting God to help them defeat
Believers are to live by faith – not by toiling!
the giants. Mary was in faith as she listened to Jesus teach the Word trusting that every one would get to eat at the proper time. Jairus kept on believing that his daughter would be healed and live even after the report came that she had died. He rested on the words of Jesus, Be not afraid, only believe and his daughter was raised from the dead. I don’t suppose your problem is any worse than what Jairus faced. When we have entered into God’s rest we are trusting in the blessing of the Lord to put us over. When we bring our tithes to the Lord we need to bring them in faith believing that God will bless us mightily just like He said. Heb. 7:8 And here men that die receive tithes; but there he (Jesus) receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. The Spirit of the Lord is saying to the church today, return to Me what belongs to Me (Honor, putting Me first, tithes and offerings) and I will return to you what has been bought (inheritance in Christ) for you.
