THE BLESSED LIFE A Series on Blessing By

THE BLESSED LIFE A Series on Blessing By Pastor Darin Sargent

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE BLESSED? Being blessed means having supernatural power working for you. By contrast, being cursed means having supernatural power working against you.

Our Scriptures: Deut. 14: 29 - So that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 15: 10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

Our Scriptures: 28: 8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. 28: 12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.

GOD MUST BE FIRST • More than 500 verses concerning prayer • 500 verses concerning faith • More than 2000 verses on the subject of money and possessions • Jesus talked about Money in 16 of His 38 parables • MONEY IS ACTUALLY A TEST FROM GOD!!

FIRSTBORN and FIRSTFRUITS • Exodus 13: 2 - Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine • SACRIFICED OR REDEEMED

FIRST OF THE FIRST • Exodus 23: 19 - The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. • Proverbs 3: 9 -10 - 9 Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; 10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.

CONSECRATED or CURSED • Malachi 3: 8 -9 - 8 “ Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘ In what way have we robbed You? ’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.

WHICH WILL YOU CHOOSE? • I AM BLESSED or • I CAN’T AFFORD TO DO THIS

NEXT: LIFE NOT LAW

RESPECT FOR ABEL Genesis 4: 3 -5 3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

Leviticus 27: 30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's: it is holy unto the LORD. Romans 11: 16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. TITHING AND GIVING IS LIFE, NOT LAW

Are You A Steward or An Owner? • God gave Adam and Eve stewardship over the Garden • They were told that they could eat of every tree but ONE!! WHEN WE GIVE WE ARE SHOWING GOD THAT WE ARE STEWARDS OVER HIS BLESSING IN OUR LIVES NOT OWNERS

Tithing is A Test • Matthew 6: 21 - “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ” – YOUR HEART WILL FOLLOW YOUR TREASURE – Tithe - tenth or a tenth part • 10 in the Bible always represents testing

TEST ME • Malachi 3: 10 – 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, " says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

The Righteousness of Grace • Matthew 5: 17 -20 • "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Other Passages • Genesis 14: 18 • 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said: “ Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand. ” And he gave him a tithe of all.

HEBREWS 7: 1 -3

IT’S A HEART THING True tithing comes from the heart Not from some legalistic mindset!!

Matthew 23: 23 • Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

NEXT WEEK • THE PRINCIPLE OF MULTIPLICATION – The subject of OFFERINGS

The Principle of Multiplication • 12 And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place. 13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. 14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. 15 And they did so, and made them all sit down. 16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets. – (LUKE 9: 12 -17)

TWO KEYS TO MULTIPLICATION • SOMETHING MUST BE BLESSED BEFORE IT CAN MULTIPLY – Romans 11: 16 - For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. • ONLY WHAT IS GIVEN AWAY CAN MULTIPLY

Difference between tithing and giving • Tithing is simply returning to God that which He has said is His – You cant give that which doesn’t really belong to you – The firstfruits are the Lords - the rest is yours to keep or give as you choose. It is from this account that you give what the Bible refers to as offerings.

The Power of Offerings • Matthew 25 – 1 st steward – 2 nd steward – 3 rd steward • Malachi 3 - TITHE AND OFFERINGS • REMEMBER THESE TWO PRINCIPLES – We give to the Lord first so that our finances are blessed – We give over and above our tithes because only that which is shared can be multiplied.