The Blessing of Generosity – Part 5 Lawson and Aaron Perdue

  Praise the Lord, friends, and welcome to the program today. I’m so glad that you’re with us. We’re gonna be sharing about the blessing of generosity, and we’re gonna specifically be sharing about the tither’s blessing, and we’re gonna talk today about Hebrews chapter seven, where I believe it shows us that Jesus receives our tithes. This is one reason I want to get involved in the tither’s blessing. Friends, it’s so good to have you with us, and we’ve been sharing all this week on the blessing of generosity. And when you get involved in generosity, there is blessing attached to it. We began with the scripture in Proverbs 11, that’s in verse 24 and 25 that says, “There is one who scatters and yet increases. There is one who withholds more than is sufficient, and that tends to poverty.” The message says, “The world of the generous gets larger and larger, and the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.” And the Modern English in verse 25 says, “The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters others will be watered himself.” So we talked for, you know, quite a bit about seed time and harvest. And then we begin to move into the tither’s blessing. Now, when we moved into the tither’s blessing, Malachi three verse 10 through 12 talks about a blessing that is on tithing. And I personally believe in that blessing on tithing. I’ve seen that work, but it’s not because we’re blessed that we never have any battles. And I remember years ago, we went through a great challenge in the year 2005, 2004, 2005. And when we went through that challenge, there’s a blizzard in the winter, and I actually had a lot of cattle, more than I’ve ever owned. I owed about $3 million to the banks and the feedlots. And there was a blizzard of a century, actually, hit in Lamar, Colorado. And you know what? I lost over a quarter million dollars through that difficulty. Now I’m fortunate that I didn’t go blessed, but that was kind of stuck in my mind and I was having a hard time getting over it. And Mark and Trina Hankins had come to town and Trina’s mom and dad lived at that time over in Buena Vista, brother and Sister Bearman. And so Mark and Trina were having their plane worked on here in town. And so they called me and asked me me if I would give them a ride to Buena Vista, and so I gave them a ride. And when I was giving them a ride, I had shared some of this difficulty, but at the same time I was talking about this challenge, I was talking about different blessings. And Mark just kept telling me, “That’s a tither’s blessing. That’s a tither’s blessing, that’s a tither’s blessing, that’s a tithers.” And you know what? That just got in my head. This is a tither’s blessing, and I’ve seen a lot, a lot of blessing. I’ve seen those things come to pass. At the same time, Trina began to minister to me and Trina began to just speak the word of God over me. And I remember this one scripture that she spoke in Proverbs 21:20 saying, “There is treasure to be desired in oil in the dwelling of the wise.” And when she began to speak those scriptures, it was like God poured healing oil over my soul and just begin to minister a great peace in the area of my soul. And I know sometimes, you know, we’re looking for blessing, we’re looking for good things, and we’re even receiving it. I was talking at the same time about this difficulty, I was talking about all the blessings that God had given me and Mark kept talking about that’s a tither’s blessing, but Trina, when she shared those scriptures, it was just like God poured healing oil over my mind and just healed it, praise God. And that helped me move out of that challenge. And ultimately, you know, the Bible says if a thief be found, he’s gotta pay back seven times. So I got everything the devil stole back seven times. It took me a few years, but I just keep at it. Praise God. Keep believing. Now we’re gonna be talking about the tither’s blessing. We’re gonna move into, we talked from Genesis 14 and Genesis 28 about, you know, tithing, the initiation with Abraham. We talked about it with Isaac, or Israel, Israel, Jacob, who became Israel. But we’re gonna move into Hebrews chapter seven, where the New Testament talks about tithing. So Aaron, why don’t you read in Hebrews chapter seven, we’ll be in verse one through verse 10. But we’ll begin to talk about this and see what this is really the major scripture in the New Covenant where the New Covenant talks about tithing.

 

  So it says here in Hebrews seven, “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, meaning king of peace, without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave 1/10 of the spoils. And indeed, those who are of the sons of Levi, who received the priesthood have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham, but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithe from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. Now beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better. Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witness that he lives. Even Levi who receives tithes paid ties through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.””

 

  Amen. So there’s a number of things that we see. Melchizedek, he’s the king of Jerusalem, the city of peace. He’s the priest of the Most High God. He’s a type of Christ. He met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and he blessed him. Now, what’s significant about that, Aaron? I like what you brought out about that in Genesis chapter 14 when Abraham was blessed by Melchizedek.

 

  Oh, he was blessed first before he gave the tithe. So yeah. He gave as a response to that blessing, he believed that blessing and gave as an act of faith.

 

  Amen. So some people try to tithe so that they can get blessed, but it’s better for us to understand that we are blessed and our giving is a result of the fact that we are already blessed. Part of this, you know what, in the New Covenant, we need to have a blessed mentality. And if you’re born again today, if you know Jesus as your personal Lord and your personal Savior, you are blessed. I like to say I’m blessed by the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth. Glory to God. There’s just something about when you know that you’re blessed. And the fact is, every born again person is blessed. One of my good friends says this often. There are only two kinds of believers, those who are blessed and know it, and those who are blessed and don’t, so praise God. We need to know that we are blessed. Praise God. Ephesians chapter one, verse six says that we’re accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:3 says that we’re blessed. 2 Peter chapter one, verse three says that God has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness through our relationship with Jesus. So you know what? If you got everything pertaining to life and godliness through your relationship with Jesus, you’re blessed. Praise God.

 

  Amen. You know, I heard a great message a few years ago that Joseph Prince preached on tithing and he actually preached it at a church that probably didn’t have a lot of teaching on tithing, but he talked about how it’s a mark of maturity. So he was preaching a message for mature believers, is what he said. And he shared a lot from Hebrews seven. I found it really interesting He said, this is something that actually mature believers tap into. I saw kind of a sad statistic that only 5% of Christians actually tithe.

 

  It’s terrible.

 

  And I think a lot of Christians are missing out on the blessing that’s, you know, those promises that are associated with tithing.

 

  You know, they did a study years ago, Aaron, on Fortune 500 companies and they found out that nearly every one, if not every Fortune 500 company practiced generosity, practiced giving at least 1/10. And they’re Fortune 500 companies. They’re blessed because they get involved. You know, and like we talked about in Proverbs, those promises about giving that we started with in Proverbs 11, verse 24 and verse 25, Proverbs works for everybody whether you’re a saint or a sinner. And yet, you know, a lot of studies say that less than 20% of Christians in the American church tithe, and you know what? People are plainly missing out on the blessing of God, and people, I had a man that came to me Sunday. He said, “Pastor, this works,” and you know, he’s 83 years old, supernaturally healthy, supernaturally blessed. And he has this haul-off business where he hauls off trash. He said, “I got up Friday and I only had four or five to move. By the end of the day I moved over 11 of these things.” And you know, God has, he said, “Pastor, what you’re saying works.” And man, I’ve seen all kinds of people tell me how much this works. I don’t know why people don’t want to get involved in it. And you know, my dad taught me as a young man, as just a little boy, he taught me about tithing when I was less than five years old. And I’ve never forgotten the lessons that my father taught me. My pastor told me when I was getting married, making $800 a month and I’d been giving $200 a month to the church, now I had to take on a house payment. And my pastor told me, “Lawson, you are a tither and you are a giver, and you’re never gonna lack, you’re always gonna have enough.” And you know what? I’ve always tithed and I’ve always had enough and God’s blessed me. I give far beyond a tithe. Mom’s talked about how, you know what? We are living in the overflow. We’ve been doing this for years and years and years. Praise God. I’ve been tithing for over 45 years. I’ve been giving, praise God. Hallelujah. And I am supernaturally blessed. You cannot beat God giving, no way. I taught all you boys, you know, you and your two brothers, Peter and Andrew. I taught you all the tithe and you’re all members of local churches. I wish they all came here, but you know, Peter’s in Miami, Florida, right now. Andrew’s in Denver, Colorado. Andrew goes to a good Spirit-filled church. Peter goes to a good life-giving church. You’re all tithers. You’re all givers and you’re all blessed and you’re all in different fields. And you know what, I believe it’s available to everybody, everybody who believes this. And if you’re a believer, you shouldn’t miss out on this blessing. Praise God. You don’t wanna miss out on the blessing. So, you know, there’s a number of things we’re gonna come back and we’re gonna talk about how that, you know, when it talks about paying tithes, that’s actually not talking about what Levi did. This is the only place in the scripture of Hebrew seven where it talks about paying tithes, but it’s actually talking about Abraham and what Abraham did. And when Abraham did it, Abraham did not pay it. Abraham gave it. He gave it as a gift.

 

  And it affected generations after him.

 

  Praise God. There were many generations that were blessed through Abraham’s gift.

 

  Yeah, the blessing of the Lord. God wants to bless, you know, generosity, tithing so much that it actually affects and impacts generations after you.

 

  Amen. I believe that you children are blessed, because I was a giver. I believe I’m blessed because my grandparents and my parents are givers. Praise God. And I believe you can be blessed. So stay tuned. We’ll be back after this. You don’t wanna miss it. Friends, I’m so glad that you’ve been connected with us while we’re talking about the blessing of generosity. We have these teachings and those live in church services available to you free of charge on our website at charischristiancenter.com in downloadable audio and video. Also check out my book, “Provision: Releasing Supernatural Increase in your Life.” We had the blizzard of a century and I had over 3,000 cattle scattered around the country. Most of them were in Lamar, Colorado. But what God told me to do, he said, “You need to look at what you have and not what you lost.” And as I did that, God brought me completely out of that. Friends, I’m so glad that you stayed with us. And we’ve been sharing from Hebrews chapter seven where the scripture talks about Melchizedek and Abraham and how Abraham, you know, came back from this battle with the kings, you know, getting Lot, getting his family back. You know what? You don’t wanna let the devil rob from you and run over you and steal from you. And when, you know, Abraham heard that his nephew, even though he hadn’t been the best, had been, you know, taken away from Sodom with his family and different things, Abraham went after those enemies and he took trained men and he got ’em back. You know, there are a lot of people today that will just let the devil run slipshod over them. They just think, “Well, whatever will be will be,” and they take no authority. And did you know we have authority in the New Testament. We have authority since Jesus has been raised from the dead and gave us his name and we have a covenant with God. And sometimes people are getting ripped off and not operating in the blessing of God because they simply have not taken authority. So Abraham, when he heard about that, he went after those foreign kings and he got Lot and his family and all these goods. And not only did he get these goods, he returned with the spoils of war. These foreign kings had been raiding many cities. And so Abram came back with a lot more than what the devil stole. Praise God. And when he met Melchizedek, the king, the priest king of Salem, Jerusalem, a type of Christ, Melchizedek blessed him. And we today, when you believe on Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are blessed. Hallelujah. But then Abraham gave him 1/10 of all. Praise God. And you know what? When we know Jesus, when we’ve met the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, we are blessed. So we wanna be givers. We wanna give, praise God. And when you give, you can’t beat God given. Man, you’re gonna be blessed, blessing ’em. Come on, you’d overtake you. Now, there’s a number of things. It says that Abraham gave 1/10 of the spoil and he compares these covenants. Let’s talk about this, Aaron, for a little bit. He says in verse five, Hebrews seven, verse five, “Those who are the sons of Levi in Levitical priesthood in the Old Testament, who received the office of priesthood have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law.” So they were commanded. Today we let people give free will, but they were commanded to take a tithe. Praise God. I think God knew that people would miss out on a blessing if they didn’t get involved in this. But he said, he goes on and says this in verse six. “He whose dissent speaking is not counted from them who received tithes of Abraham, blessed him that had the promises.” Melchizedek received tithes of Abraham and blessed him again. You know, he blessed him, and then Abraham tithed and he says, without contradiction, the less is blessed of the greater. And he begins to talk about this Levitical priesthood in verse A. And he says, here men die, the Levitical priesthood that received tithes. But there he receives them, whom it’s witness that he lives. Now this is why I get excited about tithing. This is the most exciting thing to me about tithing because it’s saying, Levi, this priesthood that died off, they received tithes. But now we have a priest that lives, who lives, who receives our tithe. Who is the great High Priest of the New Covenant?

 

  Jesus.

 

  So Jesus received my tithes. Man, that oughta crank your tractor. That oughta get you excited about getting involved in this blessing of tithing. Praise God. The tither’s blessing, praise God. Now it also says this. Also, I may say, Levi, who received tithes paid tithes in Abraham. That’s not talking about what Levi did. Who is that talking about? That’s talking about what Abraham did. So Abraham paid tithes or gave tithes. It says Abraham gave 1/10. Oh, it didn’t say Abraham paid tithes. It says Levi paid tithes. Not talking about what Levi did, talking about what Abraham did. So Abraham’s gift settled the debt of many generations, ’cause Levi lived, right, over 400 years before Abraham, or Levi lived over 400 years after Abraham. But then it says in verse 10, yet he was in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. So if Abraham’s gift settled a debt of many generations, then Jesus’ gift settled a debt of how many generations?

 

  Every.

 

  Every generation. So in Galatians chapter three, Aaron, turn to Galatians chapter three and read that. And let’s talk about how this relates to tithing. Genesis chapter three, verse 13 and verse 14.

 

  It says here that, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

 

  Amen. So when we think about that Christ redeemed us from the curse, does that include the curse for not tithing?

 

  Yeah.

 

  Yes. So there’s hardly anybody that will get up and say this. Pastors don’t want to get up and say that you’re not cursed if you don’t tithe. But I teach, you’re not cursed if you don’t tithe. God’s not cursing you for not tithing. But what happens if you don’t tithe?

 

  It’s just hard to tap in to what God’s already provided for you.

 

  It’s hard to receive the blessings that God has. So God has many blessings for us, you know, and if we take this and we go on, so Christ redeemed us from the curse, that’s every curse because it’s written cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. So Jesus took every curse on the cross. And now when we put our faith in him, we’re blessed. We’re blessed. Praise God. And so that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. Now, if we go into 2 Corinthians chapter eight and verse nine, what’s the scripture say in 2 Corinthians chapter eight, verse nine? It says that God is able to make all grace abound toward us. That we always, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. Amen. So this is in the context. 2 Corinthians 9:8 is in what context? It’s in the context of giving and receiving. And so since it’s in the context of giving and receiving, if you don’t get involved in giving, in sowing, you’re gonna miss out on reaping, harvest. So God wants you to be blessed, so you want to get involved in the grace of giving. You want to get involved in sowing so you can get involved in reaping. Praise God. So I like to say this. I like to say that Abraham’s gift settled the debt of many generations. Levi lived over 400 years after Abraham. Yet it says that Levi paid tithes, not talking about what Levi did, talking about what Abraham did. It’s the only time the Bible talks about paying tithes. I don’t believe that’s actually scripture. I believe Abraham gave 1/10 to all. So I believe if we’re gonna tithe, we ought to give it, right? But Abraham’s gift settled the debt of many generations. But Jesus’ gift settled the debt of every generation. But the reason we wanna stay connected in giving is because if we don’t, we’re gonna miss out on major blessing that God wants to bring to us. Praise God.

 

  And I think a lot of the blessing, it’s financial, but it also impacts us other ways as well. You know, I think like even Jacob, when he started tithing, I think it actually opened the way for him to receive, you know, his family, his children, and it just brought blessing to his family and generations after him. So it’s not just, you know, receiving financial blessing, but it can impact your relationships, impact your family, impact generations after, you know, the blessing of the Lord, it’s so immense that you can’t just contain it yourself. It’s actually poured out onto generations after you, maybe your actual children, or just people that are really connected to you.

 

  Amen. Aaron, my grandparents on both sides of my family were givers. They were generous people. My great grandparents I know on my dad’s side of the family were givers. And my parents were givers. So my parents, my grandparents, and at least some of my great-grandparents were all givers. And I know that I have received a blessing just being connected, right? I believe that I’m receiving generational blessings that came from my great-grandparents, my grandparents, and my parents. Praise God. And I believe that all of you, my seed, you know, you and your two brothers, Peter and Andrew, I believe that you are all blessed and you’re receiving generational blessing from us. Now, I don’t believe in the generational curse. That was a thing in the Old Testament. It’s not mentioned in the New Testament, because I believe when you came into Christ in 1 John chapter five, verse one, whoever believes that Jesus is the Son of God, is born of God. So if you’re born of God and God’s your Father, I believe the curse ended right there, right? The generational curse, because if God is my Father, there is no curse that I could receive from God my Father. However, I believe that all of you are receiving blessing, you know, generational blessing. And I believe that your children, Jesus, Terry’s, I believe all your children are gonna be blessed. Amen. All of you, you and your brothers, all of my grandchildren are blessed as a result of this. And when you come into a covenant relationship with God, you need to get involved in this blessing of giving, this blessing of generosity. Because there is no way you cannot beat God giving. Amen. God wants to bless you, coming in, going out, in the city, in the field. Hallelujah. Wants to bless you in your body, wants to bless you in your investments, wants to bless you in your work, wants to bless you in your family. Man, I love to read Deuteronomy 28, the blessing and the curses. And I like to read ’em all because I find out that in Christ I am blessed and Abraham’s blessings are mine. All these promised blessings of the New Covenant are mine in Christ. And I find out that I’m redeemed from all this curse. The curse included sickness, poverty, right? The curse included slavery and ultimately death if you study it out. So I believe that in Christ we’re redeemed from every curse and every blessing is ours.

 

  Amen. And that blessing, like we said, it can impact, you know, your family. It can also impact people that are associated. I think that blessing come on you and even God can bless you and bless your employer for your sake. I know like my brothers, people have wanted to hire them and promote them because they see the blessing of the Lord on their life. Sometimes their employers are Christians, sometimes they’re not even Christians, but they can see this supernatural blessing on them. And even Joseph was supernaturally blessed and he received promotion from Potiphar, from the the keeper of the prison, from Pharaoh. And that blessing spread around.

 

  Amen. And the way that you entered the blessing today is by believing on Jesus. If you believe on Jesus, you’re blessed. I wanna invite you to pray this prayer with me. Heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son. I believe that he died for my sins and you raised him from the dead and made him Lord. And right now I surrender my life to you in Jesus’ name. Blessings.

 

  When we step out in faith and tap into giving and receiving, there are tremendous promises available to us. Discover scriptural principles that will help you understand the abundant blessing that is connected to generosity. We are blessed to be a blessing. We’d like to bless you with a digital copy of the teaching, The Blessing of Generosity, a $20 value, free of charge. Download it today at charischristiancenter.com.

 

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