Strength to Strength – God’s Principles for Financial Increase

To not talk about money in church is to ignore large parts of the Bible’s instruction. In fact, Jesus taught more about money than He taught about heaven and hell, prayer and faith. How we use money is spiritual.

The Bible infers our use of money is spiritual. It’s one of clearest indicators of our loves, our values, our hopes, and it reflects whether we’ve grasped the basics of the Bible and the gospel.

Proverbs 13:22
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children…

No matter our station or status, when we order our lives according to Biblical principles, our homes and God’s house goes from strength to strength with each generation.

The Principle of First Things First

Proverbs 3:5–10
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.
Honor the LORD with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.

Proverbs 3:9-10 provide us with a principle, a practise and a promise.

The Principle – Honouring The Lord

1. We honour Him because He’s our Maker

By virtue of the fact He is Creator, the Lord is Owner of the heavens and the earth.

Psalm 24:1–2
The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.

Deuteronomy 10:14
“Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.”

Job 41:11
Everything under heaven belongs to me.

Haggai 2:8
‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.

He is the rightful owner of the earth and everything in it.

Matthew Henry
We must honour him, not only with our bodies and spirits which are his, but with our estates too, for they also are his: we and all our appurtenances [accessories, belongings, trappings] must be devoted to his glory.

Abraham Kuyper
“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”

2. We honour Him because He’s our Provider

Psalm 68:19
Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits…

Matthew 6:11
Give us this day our daily bread.

The Lord daily, actively, generously sustains us by providing all that we need to make life possible.

Deuteronomy 8:17–18
Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth…

3. We honour Him because He’s our Saviour

I honour Him as Creator because I belong to Him. I honour Him as Provider because I’m dependant upon Him. But I honour Him as Saviour because I love Him.

Like Mary (John 12:3) who took costly perfume and poured it out upon Jesus feet to honour Him, we willingly honour Jesus with our wealth in appreciation for all He’s done for us.

The Practise – Bringing The Lord Our First

Proverbs 3:9-10
Honor the LORD with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce;

In the first 5 books of the Bible, Moses mentions the idea of firstfruits 13 times, because it formed a key part of how they worshiped and acknowledged the Lord.

God called his people to bring the first yield – the first fruits – from their harvest to him as an offering. They would also offer the firstborn of their livestock.

-They brought their first to signify that the whole belongs to God.
-They brought their first as a tangible way of acknowledging that in every season, the Lord is the One who sustained them.
-They brought their first to show gratitude for God’s provision.
-They brought their first as an act of faith, trusting that God would cause the remaining crops to meet all their needs.

The Hebrew word for firstfruit is bikkurim, meaning “promise to come” or “promise of future blessing”.

The practise of bringing their first and best to the Lord flowed from the principle of honour.

Genesis 4:3-5
“In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.”

Cain brought some of what he produced.
Abel brought the first of what he produced.

Cain gave an offering, but it had no honour attached to it. Abel brought an offering, and because it was his first, it conveyed honour to the Lord.

Matthew Henry
God, who is the first and best, must have the first and best of every thing; his right is prior to all other, and therefore he must be served first.

God calls for the first of what we produce, because when He has first place in our finances, it reflects that He has first place in our hearts.

Throughout the Old Testament we see that when God’s people neglected the principle (honouring the Lord), they neglected the practise (bringing their first and best). There’s a correlation between the state of their hearts and the state of their offerings.

-In the days of the Babylonian exile then return under leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah
-In the days of Malachi, when he called Israel back to the Lord and the ordinance of tithes and offerings.
-In the days of Hezekiah when he restored and renewed Israel’s devotion to the Lord.

2 Chronicles 31:5–10
As soon as the command was spread abroad, the people of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field. And they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything. And the people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of the dedicated things that had been dedicated to the LORD their God, and laid them in heaps. In the third month they began to pile up the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. When Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD and his people Israel. And Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites about the heaps. Azariah the chief priest, who was of the house of Zadok, answered him, “Since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the LORD, we have eaten and had enough and have plenty left, for the LORD has blessed his people, so that we have this large amount left.”

Andre Olivier in “Money Matters”
Whenever God’s people get their hearts right the natural result will always be generous giving.

The Promise – Trusting the Lord Will Reward

Proverbs 3:9-10
Honor the LORD with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.

If we think honouring God first is going to ruin us and leave us poor, we’ve missed it. God is a rewarder. Ultimately, bringing the Lord our first is a matter of trust.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.

When it comes to the principle of first things first, every person will fall into one of two categories: I trust me, or, I trust God.

We don’t give to get. But we do give with an assurance that God has promised to reward, and He is trustworthy.

The Picture – Reflecting the Reality of Jesus

Every time God’s people offered up the firstborn of their livestock and presented their firstfruits, they were pointing forwards to a much greater act to come.

The early Christians (who were familiar with the systems of offerings) described Jesus as the “firstborn” (Colossians 1:15) and the “firstfruits” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

In the act of bringing the tithe, our first and best, we picture the Cross where Jesus died as firsborn, and the empty grave where Jesus rose as the firstfruits.

Few things are as spiritual as putting first things first.
-It declares that God is first in our hearts
-It declares that God’s character is good and trustworthy
-It declares the reality of Jesus and all He’s done and will do for us.