In Genesis 14, Abram gives Melchizedek a tithe of all the spoils. We are sons and daughters of Abraham. And we are a people who are to walk by faith. And I submit to you, I believe there's a higher principle than what we've previously assigned to the tithe. There is a principle, the law that God instituted, and it's called, "The Law of Sowing and Reaping." We can find it in both the Old and the New Testaments. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked. As a man sows, so will he reap." Paul told the Corinthians, "If you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly. If you sow bountifully, you reap bountifully!" Man, that's a law! Some of you are going to feel challenged by this message, while others will feel delivered!
It's not the Law, it's a LAW; it's a principle of the Kingdom. God instituted this thing way back in Genesis 8, as long as the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, winter and summer, will not pass away. We currently live according to the principle of sowing and reaping.
God wants us to check our motivation regarding our giving. Do we really believe that if we don't tithe, that God is going to curse us with a double curse? Cursed with a curse! Years ago I preached the double curse, I did! I had to ask God to forgive me. In Malachi it says, "Cursed with a curse," and anywhere it says that, it's a double whammy, or so I thought! Now understand though, that to "be cursed," oftentimes simply means the withholding of God's blessing or the removal of God's hand. And if His hand is removed in any area of my life, I am very vulnerable to attacks by the enemy. You might ask, "Does God ever remove His hand?" It isn't so much that God is removing His hand, it's more likely that I am restricting the hand of God. There are a lot of ways that we can bind God's hands from blessing us.
You reap according to what you sow. I know that Lisa's sister and brother-in-law own a big farm in Iowa. They grow a lot of crops, and they just recently went through the harvest season. Now Mark, her brother-in-law, he's a smart guy. He's a good Christian and a shrewd businessman, and that's a good combination! He's shrewd in a good way. Now, Mark doesn't just take his harvest and sell it all. No smart farmer would sell his entire harvest! If I had ten bushels of corn, I mean, don't you think I'm going to plan for next year's harvest? How many bushels am I going to keep for seed to plant for next year's harvest? I know that next year's harvest is going to be proportionate with the amount of seed that I sow. So, if I sow one bushel of corn and sell the other nine, give it away, or eat it (a lot of us eat it), my harvest next year is going to be in direct proportion to that one bushel's grain or seed, right?
Now, next year's harvest is important to me. I'm looking ahead; I'm not just trying to get as much as I can today, because a wise person is going to look to the future! This is called stewardship. Now, if I keep two bushels, can I expect to get at least twice the harvest as I would have received by only planting one bushel? Come on!
If I have ten bushels and plant one bushel, I can expect a harvest off the bushel. If I plant two bushels, I can probably expect a double harvest. This is called sowing and reaping; it's the principle of God; it's a biblical law. It's not the Law, it's a law of the Kingdom called sowing and reaping, seedtime and harvest.
It's biblical to expect a return on seed that is planted. Who would plant a seed and not expect a return? My son planted a seed in a clay pot he received at Children's Church, and when he planted it, he fully expected it to sprout and grow. He checked it every day! And boy, was he disappointed when it didn't! Why? Because he expected it to grow! When we plant seed we can expect a return; we can expect a harvest. That is a biblical principle set forth in the Word of God.
~ pg
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