Title: “Perfect Faith, Complete Blessing”
Contents
Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is one of the three major feasts - the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Feast of Unleavened Bread), the Feast of Harvest (Feast of Firstfruits, Pentecost), and the Feast of Ingathering (Feast of Tabernacles, Feast of Tabernacles) in the Old Testament (Exodus 23:14-16). The Feast of Harvest is the feast of giving thanks for God's grace for giving us the bread of life (First Fruits). Also, it is the Pentecost of the Pentecost of the Holy Spirit who died on the cross to save sinners and was resurrected on the third day, that is, the first fruits of resurrection, the confirmation of salvation, and the first fruits of faith (righteousness). The text is the blessing of those who give in faith. "Bring your whole tithe into storehouses, says the LORD of hosts, that there may be food in my house, and put me to the test with it, and see if I do not open the gates of heaven and pour out you so that there is no room for a blessing" (verse 10). This is an unconventional statement intended to bring blessings. "Test me in this" - God said, Do not test me (Matthew 4:7; Deuteronomy 6:16) - but the text tells us to test it. It is to 'confirm and testify' of God's love with perfect faith. Therefore, giving full tithes and offerings is a test of blessing.
First, it is a test of faith (total commitment).
When Abraham obeyed God's word and offered his only son Isaac as a burnt offering, God provided a lamb in his place and made him the source of the promised blessing, that is, the father of faith (Jehovah Reh / Genesis 22). Tithing is both a material (flesh) test and a spiritual test among the tests of faith. God placed the fruit of all life in the Garden of Eden and made Adam (human) eat it, but he told him not to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil (the fruit of good and evil/tithes/Leviticus 27:10; Deuteronomy 14:22; Deuteronomy 14:28-29). He said that one day you will surely die. This is God's command, and the tithe belongs to God, not to the giver. Also, the tithe is not determined by the giver, but by God (verse 8). We must obey what God tells us to do. God's word must be kept even now. The law is God's commandment.
Second, it is a test of God's love (Total acceptance)
God does not want material things, but a heart of obedience (faith). The material offered is a confession of love for God (Matthew 6:21). The salvation of life and our daily bread also came from His hand. In order to save sinners who disobeyed God's Word (Law), He died for our sins by dying on the cross, His only-begotten Son, and came as the Spirit of Resurrection (Spirit of Christ / Comforter = Holy Spirit / John 14). After resurrecting, Jesus appeared to his disciples and poured out the Holy Spirit on them so that they could become witnesses of the gospel of the resurrection of Christ. He is a confirmation of God's love. “Each one should do just as he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).
Third, it is a test of hope (total discipline).
The faith of tithing is not only a personal blessing, but it is a blessing received by those who have the hope of their descendants and generations. It was Abraham (Genesis 14:20) and Jacob (Genesis 28:22) who received the blessing through tithing faith. A representative person who has been blessed with this perfect tithing faith is the world's richest man, Rockefeller. “I will keep the locusts for you, so that they will not eat and destroy the produce of your land, and the vines of your fields will not fall before their due date, says the LORD of hosts. All the Gentiles will bless you because your land will be beautiful. saith the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 3:11-12). It is the grace of God that blesses not only individuals, but also nations and peoples. And it is a sign of complete faith and complete blessing.