Principle of First Fruits and Tithes

I really am honoured to share God’s Word; I Love what we’re talking about this month…
Some people are nervous talking about money but I’m really gonna be honest and
transparent. This was a really hard message for me to prepare because I realize as I’m getting
ready to tell you what the Bible says about MONEY, I had to wrestle through what do I think
about what the Bible says about MONEY…
What is the conviction, what is the principle, what is the heart… in my heart before I share…
Before I kind of get in to my preaching, I want to share a base line of what is “Tithe… What
did it mean, what are we talking about when we say “Tithes and Offering”.

“Tithes” very simply means a TENTH so in the Old Testament when they talked about the
Tenth being brought to the storehouse to God’s house…
An offering was something that was just a Gift of Gratitude and offering was something you
brought before the Lord because you were grateful, thankful, and blessed… So here’s my
offering, there were sacrificial offerings, there were fruit offerings, there were animal
offerings, and there were offering gratitude brought.

But they did not stop talking about “Tithes and Offerings” in the New Testament, it was still
talked about and we’re going to see that today a lot of people, it can be a touchy subject,
and some people even in the church world think that “It was under the law so we don’t
need to follow that Law anymore.”
And today I just want to assure us of God’s Word today.
Because God’s Word says “Jesus did not come to abolish the Law but He came to fulfil the
Law.”
So, what does that mean when we’re talking about the Law of Tithes?
It means He didn’t come to abolish and put away what the Law is but instead, He wanted to
fulfil what does this mean for my heart… what is the principle that this law implies for my
heart…?
So, we’re going to dive into the principle that is going to significantly impact Spiritual Life
because Biblical Principles impact Spiritual Life.
This Biblical Principle that we’re going to talk about is going to impact your Spiritual Life,
your Physical Life, your Mental Life, and your Financial Life. All of it.
The Bible proves all of that.
So, the Principle is this… “When we offer our First and our Best to God, we can not Lose.”
THE PRINCIPLE OF FIRSTFRUITS: “When we offer our First and our Best to God, we cannot
Lose.”

When we bring back to God our first and our best which is the principle of first fruits…. WE
CANNOT LOSE.
I kind of could just say that and be done. If we just focused on that and just offered and
brought our first and best but you know, let’s not stop there.
Lets get in our Word because God’s Word is sharper than any double edged sword, it’s
gonna pierce your heart more than I want to pierce your heart… That sounded so mean, I
didn’t mean it that way… I just admit that I want God to get a hold of us today.
So, in Exodus 13:12-13…
Exodus 13:12-13 (ESV)
12 you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your
animals that are males shall be the Lord's. 13 Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem
with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man
among your sons you shall redeem.

Let me give you some context here, whats happening ? Why are we talking about killing
things?
Well, because in Exodus, this whole book is about the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt.
God had rescued the Israelites from the hands of Pharaoh in Egypt and they had this mass
exodus hence the name “Exodus” which means “the movement of a lot of people from a
place or a mass departure of people.”
And now, after the Exodus and God’s People have been redeemed, He set them free, and
now they were free to worship and follow God and God says “As a way to offer to me some
things and as a way to give back and bring back what I owned and what I have established,
what is all mine… I want you to give back to me every FIRSTBORN THAT BREAKS THE
ANIMAL’S WOMB THAT BREAKS THE GROUND, BRING YOUR FIRSTFRUIT TO ME. This is a way
to worship and honour me because I redeemed you, because I set you free. And so now what
comes out of your increase is in your freedom because when you were captive, your
increase, you didn’t get to have that, you were limited. And now, the increase that I’m giving
you in your freedom… Bring the FIRST of it to me and honour me with it.”

In Exodus 23, I just want to read verse 19, its says…

Exodus 23:19 (ESV)
19 “The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your
God.
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

God, again, just reminding them the best of your firstfruits, bring to the House of the Lord,
bring it to me He says.
So, God was asking the Israelites to worship Him in these ways. What’s really amazing about
the Bible is that this is something that was practiced in the Old Testament and in New
Testament and some of this context and this Festival of Firstfruits was created where its
called “The Feast of Weeks”
The “Feast of Weeks” is what has happened leading to today actually… So this is kind of
amazing because the feast of weeks is what happened 50 days after Passover…
Now, I just want to tell you if you are like “I was not ready to learn today, I was just hoping
someone would spoon feed me something today.”
Can we not just be spoon fed right now, can we not have the attitude of just consumption
but we’re gonna digest what’s about to be spoken by God right now, because this is good
stuff and best stuff because it’s God’s Word.

So, here’s what happened, part of Exodus, there were 10 plagues that Pharaoh was
presented with to test his heart… God tested his heart with 10 plagues… and the last and
final plague was that every firstborn in Egypt should be killed, the angel of death was gonna
go over and kill every firstborn and God said “You, people of Israel, put the blood of a Lamb
on your doorpost and this is going to signify the angel of death that I will pass over your
family, I will pass over your firstborn which means they will be saved and rescued. I will
redeem them with the Blood of the Lamb.”
Every doorpost that had that did not see death that night but every Egyptians saw the death
of their firstborn in their family and it is heartbreaking… And yet, it’s what God set forth.
And so, the Passover happened right?
And after the Passover which is a Festival and a Feast that is celebrated today… 50 days after
that, there is a festival of weeks, an offering of firstfruits and God is saying “When you bring
this offering of firstfruits, remember what I’ve done to redeem you and rescue you. And if
you can just bring this first offering back to me, you will see a blessing, you will see an
abundance, you will see a favor…”
I don’t know if you know this but Jewish people like to feast, they like the festival. So even
when Jesus was living, Passover was a celebration… People came together to celebrate. They
were celebrating what they thought was the Passover meal… What they didn’t realize at that
time was the Last Supper with Jesus.
And now they’re celebrating the Passover Meal and 50 days from that or about 40 days from
that, they’re gonna be celebrating the Festival of Weeks, the FIRSTFRUIT AND as they’re all
gathered once again to celebrate this Festival of Weeks, they have gathered… Worshipping,
they’re bring offering of firstfruits to the House of the Lord and the Holy Spirit poured out on
them.
Tongue of fire it says in Acts 2 poured out on them in this time of gathering and celebration
and offering of firstfruits.
This festival is recognized in the book of Leviticus and Numbers and it’s all recognized
throughout the Old and New Testament.
The Festivals, the Feast, and the celebrations, the things to commemorate and recognize the
Passover Lamb established in the Old Testament continued in the New Testament.
And God wants us to get this Principle… The Principle of First Fruits.
He really wants us to get this because God wants to be placed first in our lives. He
commands it.
The Ten commandments.
The First Commandment says “I am the Lord your God and there will be no other gods
before me”.
Church, He wants to be FIRST in our lives.
In those commandments, He’s reminding bringing people back, He says “I brought you out of
the land Egypt.”
Who else could do that but the Lord our God. And so, He wants to be FIRST in our hearts, in
all areas of our life.
God told the Israelites “Everything that you have now, I own all of it. I’m letting you live on it,
I’m letting you live off of it, I’m letting you steward it BUT I own it… So, bring it back to me.”
So, this was an actual thing they did. They brought literally the first part of their Harvest to
the House of the Lord. And that time the Tabernacle, the Priest, they actually used those
things as storehouses of food and grain and fruit to help feed and take care of the rest of the
village or the people that were there.
Again, that’s an Old Testament, so the firstfruits that were brought, the things that were
brought before the Lord as a form of worship were actually used to take care of the body, to
take care of the needs of the village and the church.
There were also contributions mentioned in the Old Testament, there were times where a
synagogue or a tabernacle would call for contributions to the House of the Lord to make
repairs, to make sure things were not left unchecked in the House of God.
So, we as a church today, we all see that it happens in churches nowadays. There are times
where we ask “Would you generously give so that our SOG church can be taken care of…”
So, our church building/church house is repaired so that our needs with audio, video things
of that nature are met and mostly these was seen in the Old Testament we still do it.
But what’s amazing is that as the Israelites brought their first harvest, the first of their
livestock, their firstborn, it says it needed to be redeemed with a Spotless Lamb… So, if there
was something that was born first that was unclean… The Scripture would say you need to
redeem that unclean animal with the spotless lamb…. So, it’s either sacrifice if it’s clean or
redeem what’s unclean with the clean spotless lamb.
This is again in the Old Testament.
Now, fast forward to the New Testament… Now, John was baptizing people then Jesus
appeared.
John the Baptist said “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
So, we’ve got the Old Testament, “Sacrificial Lamb” needing to be sacrificed so that we could
be redeemed and where that animal could be redeemed AND in the New Testament, Jesus
became that “Sacrificial Lamb” so that you and I can be redeemed.
This is an Old Testament Principle that still applies in the New Testament.
Amen?
The Principle of the First Fruit was not just a Law to bring money when it was needed in the
Old Testament BUT rather it is a Principle that applies now today because even with the
Sacrifice of Jesus, we still need to bring our OFFERING OF GRATITUDE and we still need to
bring our FIRST and our BEST.
So, Jesus in essence was God’s very FIRST FRUIT OFFERING.
Jesus in a way was God’s Tithe of Life.
God gave His very best and the Bible tells us that “Even yet when we were still sinners, Jesus
died for us.”
SO, EVEN AT OUR WORST, GOD GAVE US HIS BEST.
At our very worst, still a sinner, not knowing grace and forgiveness… God gave us His very
best when He gave us the GIFT OF JESUS.
So, can we give OUR BEST for THE BEST?
‘CAN I GIVE MY BEST AND MY FIRST FOR THE BEST?’
That is what the offering of first fruits and tithes is. It is saying that “I am to give my best, at
the very first because God, You gave me Your BEST.”
It sounds so simple, doesn’t it?
And yet, it’s so hard because it’s a heart issue.
Because whether we want to admit it or not, those cash money have wrapped themselves
around our hearts and it’s really not about money… It’s so much more than that.
The Principle of the First Fruits is about so much more.
So, obviously, this requires TRUSTING in God’s Promise for providing for us even when we’re
going to give away our livelihood.
The Israelites, The Jewish at that time, their livestock, their grain, what they harvested… That
was their livelihood, that’s what they lived off of just like our salary, our income, this is our
livelihood.
And God is saying “Will you bring it and give it to me?”

In Proverbs 3, I think many of you know this scripture, you’ve probably heard it and as
you’ve read it, I think we put it through the lens of just trusting God… But, lets read this
today through the lens of trusting with specifically our finances…
It says in Proverbs 3…
Proverbs 3:1-10 (ESV)
1 “My son, do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments,
2
for length of days and years of life
and peace they will add to you.
3
Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4
So you will find favor and good success[a]
in the sight of God and man.
5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
7
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8
It will be healing to your flesh[b]
and refreshment[c] to your bones.
9
Honor the Lord with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
10
then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.”

AMEN?
Trust the Lord with all your heart, do not lean on your own understanding of how money
works because God’s economy doesn’t line up with our economy.
My understanding of finances does not line up with God’s understanding of finances…
Because how can I give away my livelihood and expect to be taken care of?
“How can I give generously and sacrificially expect to have enough at the end of the day?”
Well, because at the end of the day, there’s an order to things when we put God first,
EVERYTHING’S IN ALIGNMENT.
When we put God first in our finances, somehow, our finances line up. When we put God
first in our time, somehow, our time is aligned.
We’re not perfect… No one is… We all do what we want to do sometimes but when I
remember to line my day to put Him first with my work, with my hobbies, with my interests,
somehow, my time is aligned.
Somehow, what’s more important to Him becomes most important to us so when we trust
the Lord with all our heart, when we realize that this teaching, this principle is something
that He does not want us to hold of or hope of. Things begins to shift.

So, maybe even now we’re feeling a little tested in this and that would make sense because
Tithing is a Test.
And Tithing even the word like I said “The Tenth, The Tithe” is oftentimes associated in the
Bible, the number “10” with “Tests”.
So, think about this, 10 commandments... It’s a Test of our Obedience. Can we follow God
in these commands? The 10 Plagues were a Test of Pharaoh’s heart. There were 10 Tests
where the Israelites faced when they were in the Wilderness.
Somewhere, that number “10” and I’m sure someone would love to do a study on this about
numbers… But 10 and the Tests and the Bible and why God has done that number together…
I think God is such a genius when it comes to numbers because He has a lot of numbers for
specific reasons and purposes and 10 happens to be the one for Testing.
He will Test us in our Tithing. He will Test us in our Offering.
A Test is not used to measure a teacher’s understanding … Have you ever had a teacher give
you a test and says “Okay, class, I have your test, take this test so that I’ll understand where
I’m at on knowing this information.”
No, right?
You don’t take a test so the teacher’s information is measured… You take a test to know
where you are at and this is where when God’s Testing us.
He is not trying to understand where His heart is at on this topic… He is wanting us to realize
where is our heart on this topic.
The Test is to measure where our heart is.
And what I love is that in this information, in this study, He is giving us an opportunity to
realize His truth and then align with the truth.
It’s not for me to convince you about a certain amount of money you can be giving… And
please hear me, we are not asking you for an amount of money.
God’s not even asking you for an amount of money, He’s asking you to give your BEST and
your FIRST as everything to Him and then to trust Him because the Honesty to God’s truth is
that 10% is not even a sacrifice room… 10% if we just stopped there, that wouldn’t even be
obedience for us because that is not sacrificial generous giving for us.
That’s just following a Law because someone threw out a number “Ok 10%, I can stop there,
I’m good.”

That’s not how God works in our hearts, that’s not how He measures…
What is He speaking to you, that’s what this is all about.
And I’m hoping and praying that we’re catching this that the Principle is not just about CASH
or MONEY, BUT the Principle is about HEARTS and where we’re at.

So, there’s the Spiritual Principle at play when we give back to God FIRST, WE CANNOT LOSE.
That even when we feel like we’re giving it all up, we’re still getting more than enough…
That’s the Scriptures we’ve read. But when we keep what is already God’s then the Scripture
is telling us that we are robbing Him.
So, let’s read in Malachi 3 verses 6 through 12… Are you still with me, Church?
It says…
Malachi 3:6-12 (ESV)
“6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7
From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept
them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.
Now, I just want you to ask yourself a question… “Do you think that God could be referring
to the Statute of Tithes and Offering in this Scripture? Is it maybe one of statutes that the
Church, His children, have turned away from?
The answer is: It could be! That would not be to far off the mark to say that was a statute set
in place as a ceremonial law that people have now walked away from.
Now, the Law was ceremonial, a lot of traditions that were established were ceremonial…
“We’re gonna make a show of this, we’re gonna show everyone that we’re giving our
tithes…” Listen, that’s not what this is about. Its not about the ceremony.
But God is still saying, “Have you turned away?” from even the heart of the matter, not just
the ceremony, not just the tradition…
Now, let’s continue to read the verses…
But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you
say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a
curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the
storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the
Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a
blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer[b] for you, so that it will
not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the
Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says
the Lord of hosts.”

Now, I do not want anyone in this room, walking out here thinking “Ok, if I start Tithing,
everything will be taken care of, I’m taken care of.”
Or “Oh, that’s why things haven’t been going good for me because I’m not giving a certain
amount of money.”
WRONG !! WRONG ANSWER !!
If you walk out of here with that mindset, with that understanding… You are not hearing,
you are not understanding the Principle of God’s First Fruit.
The Principle is give God your FIRST. Give Him your BEST.
And just watch how He provides.
The natural order is GOD FIRST and everything aligns… Everything follows.
And only you in your hearts of heart know if you are in alignment with God’s conviction with
what you’re giving and bringing to His storehouse.
Only you know that and so the Principle is true… Its not about the percentage (10%), its not
about the money, the cash, BUT its about the Conviction of the Principle…
But I will tell you because I don’t want to act like there’s not a correlation…
There is an “IF” and “THEN” situation here.

IF I bring to God my FIRST and my BEST… THEN there’s alignment in my life… I cannot explain
it. But its true.
And any of you that are tithers in this room, you cannot explain it either but you know that
its true.
You know that when you put God First in your finances, when you’ve tested Him in the Tithe,
when you’ve put Him to the test just like what He said in Malachi… “Go ahead and put me to
the test, see if I won’t overflow your barns and your bats with wine…. See if that won’t
happen because of what I’m doing.”

For those of you who have done this and you’ve practiced it in your life, you don’t know
how to explain it, but it all just seems to align… Am I right??

This is how God works and this is how He loves to work in our lives.
He said there in Malachi, “I do not change”.
He does not change, Church. God does not change.

There is a Promise in the Principle that when WE PUT GOD FIRST, there is BLESSING.
This is not a Get Rich Quick idea, this is not about how much money is being added to our
account…
There is something that happens when we put God First that even when we don’t have as
much money as we want in the bank, WE ARE STILL BLESSED.
That it’s an internal joy that we have. Its an internal intrinsic value that we realize that we’re
putting God first and now, we’re seeing the blessing in our life.
That when we try to keep it to ourselves, somehow, it doesn’t seem like it’s enough.
Do you know why, Church?
The answer is: Because we can’t provide for ourself enough in the that God can provide for
us and satisfy every need that we have.

That is the TRUTH of His PRINCIPLE, that even though we keep more, we will never have
enough IF WE HAVE NOT GIVEN FIRST to God.
And so, even though you’re not raising livestock, you’re not growing crops, YET, you are still
producing!
You are seeing increase in income and how have you aligned it in your life.
Is God aligned first in that Finance? Is He aligned first in our time? Is He aligned first in our
interests?
Because when God is placed FIRST, we CANNOT LOSE.
Now, I just want to close with the Book of Exodus 13 again in verses 14 to 16
Exodus 13:14-16 (ESV)
“14 And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’
So just before this, we’ve already read these Scriptures a while ago and God is saying “I want
you to bring the FIRST of EVERYTHING to Me… And then it goes on and says when the time
comes and your son asks you what does this mean, why are you killing all the firstborn of
our livestock? Why are you taking the first part of our harvest to the House of the Lord, what
are you doing? What does this mean?
This is what God wants you to say…
you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of
slavery. 15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I
sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I
redeem.’ 16 It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a
strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

Church, when our children ask “Why do you give generously and sacrificially?”
Answer this, “Because God gave so generously and sacrificially. How can I not?
How can I not offer FIRST AND BEST?
How can I not bring back to God just a small portion of offering… in return of all that God has
given to me.

And so, how can we offer today a sacrificial offering?

What we need to do today is to put God FIRST in every area of your life.
How do you need to align your life with Christ in this area?
Some of you might need to put God to the test in this, some of you might really resonate
with this idea that “I can’t afford it, I have nothing at the end of the month.”
See what happens when you put this first to God and see how He aligns everything else.
And see what happens when you are sitting down and you’re looking at your finances and
you say;
“God, I want to give generously, I want to give sacrificially to you. And may I see it that way
You see it because all I see is lack… All I see is not enough. How can I see this the way You see
it, Lord?”
Church, step out and TRUST HIM. Do not lean on your own understanding BUT instead,
TRUST GOD and HIS PROMISE for us.

Reality of life 😞😞

World's most famous fashion designer and writer, Crisda Rodriguez, wrote this article
before she passed away from cancer.

1. I had the world's most expensive car brand in my garage but now I'm traveling in a
wheelchair.

2. My house is full of all kinds of designers clothing, shoes and valuables. But my body is
wrapped in a small sheet of cloth provided by the hospital.

3. There is enough money in the bank. But now I'm not benefiting from that money.

4. My house is like a palace but I'm laying in a double size bed in a hospital.

5. I can go from five star hotel to another five star hotel. But now I'm spending time moving
from lab to lab in hospital.

6. I signed hundreds of people. Doctor's note today is my signature.

7. I had seven jewelry to decorate my hair - now I don't have hair on my head.

8. With a private jet, I can fly wherever I want. But now I need two people's help to get to
the hospital patio.
9. Although there are many foods, but my diet has two tablets a day and a few drops of salt
at night.

This house, this car, this jet, this furniture, so many bank accounts, so much reputation and
fame, none of them are useful.
None of all valuables could give me relief.
The real life is about entertaining many people and making them smile ′′ nothing is real
but death ′′ Life is so short.