The Prosperity Test

Welcome to Worshiping the Word with Pastor Robert Morris. We have been listening through Pastor Roberts' From Dream to Destiny series where he's been sharing about 10 character-building tests that Joseph and Genesis had to endure on the way to his God-ordained destiny. Today Pastor Robert is sharing about the test of prosperity, which happens more often than we think.

Well, let's tune in now. We are continuing our Dream to Destiny series, and we're talking about 10 tests that we must go through to be able to fulfill the destiny God has for our lives. And we're taking these from the life of Joseph. And this week is the prosperity test. The prosperity test. And every person takes this test. As a matter of fact, you take this test every week, every two weeks, every month. Every time you get paid, you take this test. Whom are you going to honor with your finances? And it depends on what you do with the first portion that leaves your checkbook.

That's whom you are honoring for your finances. So we take this test every few weeks. And Joseph took this test. If you remember, Pharaoh had two dreams.

Now I'm going to read you a little bit in Genesis, but I wanted you in Malachi and Exodus for where we're going, all right? Pharaoh had two dreams. He dreamed first that there were seven fat cows that came up out of the river, and then seven lean cows that followed them, and then the seven lean cows ate up the seven fat cows. Then he woke up, he was alarmed, and then he went back to sleep. Then he dreamed again that there were seven grains, heads of grain on a stalk that came up on a stalk, seven good healthy heads of grain, and then a stalk beside it came up with seven blighted heads that were blighted, it says, by the east wind. And then the seven blighted heads ate the seven good heads of grain, and then he woke up. And he called all his wise men and everyone together to see if they could interpret it. No one could. They called Joseph, and here's what he said.

He said, this is the dream. God did it twice to confirm it to you. And what it means is we're going to have seven years of prosperity, seven good years, but then we're going to have seven years of famine. And the seven years of famine could eat up the seven years of prosperity.

So they will not even be remembered because of that. So here's the plan. So that's where I'm going to pick it up. Stay in Malachi, but let me read this to you. Genesis 41, verses 33 through 36. Now therefore, let Pharaoh, this is Joseph speaking, select a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this and let him appoint officers over the land to collect one fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years and let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh and let them keep food in the cities.

Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt that the land may not perish during the famine. So I want you to look at Malachi chapter 3, all right? Malachi 3, verse 8. It says, will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me.

But you say, in what way have we robbed you? Now listen, this is the Lord answering. In tithes and offerings. Verse 9, you are cursed with a curse.

We're going to come back to that. For you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes, bring, one version says, the whole tithe into the storehouse. Now notice again, don't send it to a university, don't give it a Christian school, don't send it to a television ministry, bring it into the storehouse. That there may be food in my house and try or test me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, and see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. And, and, this is like if you order right now, here's the bonus, I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, says the Lord of hosts. Now listen to me carefully.

Please understand this. Here's what got me so burdened two weeks ago. I have people that I'm pastoring that are under a curse. And I know you're under a curse. And I'm going to do everything I can to get you out from under that curse.

But you need to understand this. God says because you're not tithing, you are under curse. Listen to me carefully. God is not cursing you. God's not cursing you. You're under a curse because we live in a cursed world.

A fallen, cursed world. And what God wants to do is bring your finances out from under that curse. So you have to give though the first 10 percent of your income to the Lord because that's how you redeem the rest out from under the curse. Please understand God's not cursing you.

Here's what he's saying. You're under a curse. You're under a curse. If you'll bring that tithe into the storehouse, I will open the windows of heaven and pour out such blessing on you there will not be room enough to receive it.

And I will rebuke the devourer for your sake. Now I hear two testimonies. Tithers and non-tithers all give me the same testimony. I've never heard a different testimony from a tither. Never heard a different testimony from a non-tither.

Here's what tithers, all of them, here's what they say. We are so blessed. Oh, we are so blessed. Would you agree with that, those of you that tithe?

We are so blessed. Here's what non-tithers, all non-tithers give the same testimony. I can't afford to tithe.

Okay, this does not take a rocket science to figure this out. Listen, I can't afford to tithe. Now listen to me carefully.

Listen, if you don't hear anything else, hear this. You will never, never be able to afford to tithe until you tithe. You'll never be able to afford to tithe until you tithe because you're under a curse. Tithing is what breaks the curse because every time you start to get ahead, and some of you here who are non-tithers, you would admit to this, every time you start to get ahead, something else breaks. Something else goes wrong.

Something else happens. You want to know why? Because the devourer is devouring your finances. And he's not only devouring your finances, he's devouring your family. He's devouring your walk with God. He's devouring your kids. He's devouring your marriage. He's a devourer. Listen, God says 10% I'll rebuke the devourer.

Listen, just from a business standpoint, that's a good deal. Doesn't take a genius to figure this out. So, Exodus 13, and let me show you some things about the tithe that you have to understand. It's so much more important because it is the principle of the first that releases the blessing on us. And Joseph did this. Now as you're getting to Exodus 13, let me read you another scripture. Genesis 47 verse 26.

Watch this. Genesis 47, 26. And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one fifth except, watch, except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh's.

We see Joseph saving, and yes, you need to be a good steward. But he says, but whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. This belongs to God. Pharaoh doesn't get this.

The rest of the budget doesn't get this. This belongs to God. And this has to be set apart. This was not an Egyptian practice. This was an Israeli practice. This was a God principle. All right, so, Exodus 13, look at verse one. Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, consecrate to me all the firstborn. It's very important to understand the word first in the Bible. Whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast, it is mine, or it belongs to me. He uses this same word for first fruits.

He uses it for the tithes as well. Then, now look at verse 12. Then you shall set apart to the Lord all that open the womb. That is every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have, the males shall be the Lord's, or shall belong to God. But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with the land, and if you will not redeem it, you shall break its neck. I want to come back to that phrase.

And all the firstborn of man among your sons, you shall redeem. Now, I just want you to notice, by the way, he says if you don't redeem it, if you don't bring it out from under the curse, you're going to break its neck. Listen to me, here's what he's saying. You're going to lose it anyway. Please hear me. The tithe is going out of your account, whether you give it or the devourer takes it.

It's going out. And why don't we give the tithe to God and the other 90% is blessed? 90% with God's blessing goes farther than 100% without. Boy, I know many of you know this and you've seen it work. Would you testify to this?

Yes. All right, now, all right, let me give you three points, all right? Here are the three points. Number one, the firstborn must be sacrificed or redeemed.

That's what we just read next to this. The firstborn must be sacrificed or redeemed. Now, how do you know whether you sacrifice it or redeem it?

Okay, here's how. If it was a clean animal, it had to be sacrificed like a lamb. If it was an unclean animal, it had to be redeemed with the sacrifice of a clean. Let me say it one more time, and I know you think this is real Old Testament tea.

I know you think that, but just stay with me because I'll bring it around to Jesus. If you had an animal and it was a clean animal, it had to be sacrificed. If it was an unclean animal, it had to be redeemed with the sacrifice of a clean animal. Okay, now, everything in the Bible points to Jesus, everything.

Let me tell you how this points to Jesus. Were you born clean or unclean? Unclean, because we were born in sin, right? We were born with a sin nature.

I can prove it very easily. Those of you who are parents, I ask you one question. Did you have to teach your children to be bad or did it come naturally for them? Natural, right? Okay, so we were all born unclean.

Okay, let me ask you this. Was Jesus born unclean or clean? Clean. Listen, the clean had to be sacrificed so the unclean could be redeemed. That's what we just read in our Bibles.

That's what this represents. But here's what you need to understand. Jesus is the first born among many brethren, the Bible tells us. The first born, okay, the first born clean had to be sacrificed so we, the first born unclean, could be redeemed. So let me tell you what this is. So many people, they talk about tithing and they talk about it in a negative way and it so hurts my heart because they don't understand.

You don't even understand. You're talking about Jesus. Listen to me carefully. Jesus is God's tithe. Because you see, you give the tithe first.

You give the tithe in faith. See, God didn't say, wait till your sheep has 10 lambs and then give me one. He said, give me the first one. When you don't have any more, you just have to promise the more.

You only have one. Okay, it takes faith to give the first. See, it's the principle of faith that releases the blessing on our finances.

It's not the last 10%, it's the first 10%. And in the same way, God gave Jesus first before we repented. The Bible says, while we were sinners, Christ died for us. So God gave Jesus first in faith, hoping that we would repent and turn to him. So the first born belongs to God.

All right, now let me show you something else. Number two, the first fruits must be offered. The first fruits must be offered. All right, let me read you a few scriptures. Stay in Exodus 13. Exodus 23 verse 19. The first of the first fruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. Now let me say it again.

Let me just notice this word. It doesn't say that you give the tithe. Do you know why the Bible doesn't use the word give, but it uses the word bring when it talks about tithing?

Because you can't give what doesn't belong to you. You can only bring it. And you're supposed to bring it to the house of the Lord.

That's what read Malachi 3. Let me read you another scripture. Proverbs 3 verses 9 and 10. Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your increase. So your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.

Have you ever thought about this? Why did God ask for all of the silver and the gold from Jericho? When they went in to conquer the promised land, he said bring, he didn't say give, bring all of the silver and gold into the house of the Lord. It's consecrated or set apart for the house of God. Do you know why he said that?

Because Jericho was the first city. What he's saying is you give me the first, the rest are blessed. The rest are redeemed out from under the curse. He didn't say conquer 10 cities and then give me one. Choose which one you want to give me or give me the last one.

He said you give me the first one and the rest are redeemed. It's all through scripture when you understand this principle. Why did God accept Abel's offering? Remember Cain and Abel, the very beginning sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel.

Why did God accept Abel's offering but he didn't accept Cain's offering? If you understand firstborn and firstfruits, you understand it. Firstborn belongs to God, firstfruits belong to God. Okay, watch very carefully.

I'll read it for you. Genesis 4 verses 3 through 5. And in the process of time, now those words are very important. Notice not at the beginning or at the first of the harvest, just in the process of time it came to pass, in other words whenever he felt like it, that Cain brought an offering. Notice it never says first. An offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the what? Firstborn of his flock and of their fat and the Lord respected or received Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering.

It's very simple. God doesn't receive second. God will never be in second place.

I don't care what you say about it or where you think you've got God in your life, I'm telling you it never lowers God. God is preeminent. That means he's higher than all, he's before all, he's above all, he's first of all. God is always first. God is perfect. God can never do anything wrong. He can never not be perfect. He can never not be first. If God plays 18 holes of golf, his score will be 18.

Because if he hits the ball, it's going in the hole. Okay, listen to me. God's first.

Listen very carefully. When you give him an offering that's not first, it is not accepted. It is in his nature, in his character, who he is, he cannot accept it. He couldn't accept Cain's offering because it wasn't first fruits. He only accepts firstborn first fruits. I know people who give every now and then and give in the process of time an offering, whatever they feel like. They determine the amount and they determine the time.

And the time, listen to me, the curse is still on you. Because God accepts only the first. So here's number three, the tithe must be first. The tithe must be first. Leviticus 27 30, and all the tithe of the land. You know what the Hebrew word for all means? Yeah, all. All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree is the Lord's.

There it is again. It belongs to the Lord. It is holy or it is set apart to the Lord. Don't touch what's holy. Don't leave it in your account. Give it to the Lord.

Bring it to the house of God. Okay, the firstborn belongs to God, first fruits belong to God, the tithe belongs to God. Okay, now let me just ask you a question. I'm going to ask you two questions.

And so just stay on just stay with me, all right? You have $1,000. You have 10 $100 bills in your hand. A tithe is 10%. So you have $1,000. How much is the tithe? $100.

I know this is math, but I'll get off of it as quickly as I can, okay? All right, now, so you have 10 $100 bills. The tithe is $100.

So it's one of those bills, right? Okay, which one is the tithe? Yeah, you're saying that because you're in church, and you're listening to this message. But how do you know which one the first one is? Listen to it carefully.

I can tell you how. It's the first one that leaves your hand. That's the tithe. The first one that leaves your hand, and listen, here's what the Bible says, the first one is the redemptive portion.

It has the blessing on. The first one has the potential to redeem the other nine out from under the curse. But here's what some people do. They say, okay, let me set aside some for the mortgage, some for the electric company, some for groceries. Oh, I don't have enough left over for God. Or then they say, and God hears your portion. Okay, listen carefully. He doesn't accept that.

He will not accept last place. And here's the problem. You gave the one with the blessing on it to the mortgage company.

The mortgage company does not have the power to bless your finances. And after the last few years, you ought to know that. Only God has the power. Here's what you do. You say, God, here's yours first. Here's the tithe. Here's what belongs to you.

And now these other nine are blessed. Now, listen to me. I am not legalistic about it.

I'm not legalistic about it. It is your heart. It is your heart. And some of you give 10% and you say, but well, Pastor Robert, I haven't been giving the first. I didn't know to.

It's okay. God sees your heart. And to him who knows to do good and does it not, it is sin. But by the way, now you know. Now you know.

It's the first one. I'm not legalistic, and God's not legalistic. It's your heart. But let me tell you, when you put God first, everything else falls in place. Here's my burden.

Here's my burden as your pastor. You're asking me to help you with two, three, four, five, and six in your life. You're asking me to help you with your marriage, with your finances, with your health, with your family, with your job. You're asking me to help you in all these areas. You're asking me to help you put your life in order. But I cannot, I cannot put two, three, four, five, and six in order in your life if you won't put number one in order.

I can't do it. That's up to you. If you'll put God, and listen, if you put God first, everything else lines up. When you don't have God first, everything in your life's out of order. When you have God first, everything else is in order.

When you have God first, everything else is in order, because God's a God of order. Let me show you one more scripture. We, in Exodus 13, you still there?

Remember we were talking about the firstborn? Okay, here's what God says about it. We left off at verse 13. Look at verse 14. So it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, what is this?

In other words, why are you killing this lamb? That you shall say to him, by strength of hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons already. Okay, here's what he said is going to happen. Think about a little kid, runs into the house and says, dad, dad, dad, the sheep is having its firstborn lamb.

Oh, great. And so the whole family runs out to the barn and they all watch you and they say, oh, the miracle of birth, praise the Lord. And then the dad takes the lamb, goes over, cuts his throat and kills it.

And the little kid is watching this. Of course, you know what he's thinking, don't you? I'm not messing with dad.

I mean, I don't know what that lamb did. He wasn't even here very long, but I know if you get dad mad, I'm not messing with dad. Dad says, sit down, I'm sitting down.

You know, okay. All right, so, but what he's saying is, is one day your son's going to get older and your son is going to notice you do this with all the firstborn. And one day he's going to wonder about it. So one day he's, here's what he said, you're going to walk into the room and your son's going to say, dad, have a seat. There's a habit that you have, and I'm not even sure you know that you do this, dad. But every time one of our animals has a firstborn, you kill it. And dad, we're in the ranching business. And this is cutting into our profits. I've been going over the books, dad. And I just, and again, you might not even be aware of it, but I just wanted to bring it to your attention.

And he said, when your son says that to you, you say to him, son, I need to tell you something about our family that you don't know. We haven't always been in the ranching business. As a matter of fact, we used to be slaves. We didn't own any sheep.

We didn't own any land. We were in bondage. But God, with a mighty hand, delivered us. Therefore, we gladly give to God the firstborn of all of our animals.

Now, listen, here's this written 4,000 years ago, you know? And yet, I had this happen with all three of my kids. All three of my kids, and all three of my kids are grown, married, and tithers now, all of them. And they all testify to the benefits and the blessings of it, because they've gone through seasons like all of us, where they struggle with it, and they got back on track, and they testify to it. Listen to me.

Listen. I remember my oldest son, when he got kind of old enough to kind of read, and write, and you know, no numbers, and all that. I'm in the office one day, and I'm paying the bills, and I'm writing checks. So I write the tithe check first. I put it over to the side, and then I'm going to pay the other. For you younger people here, we used to have these pieces of paper called the checks.

Okay. So I put the tithe check over here, wrote it first, and then when I go to church, I'm going to take it, but I wrote it first. And now I'm paying the bills, you know, doing, I've done God's part, and my son comes in, and he sees it. He said, Dad.

He sees the amount. You know, a tithe check to a kid looks like a gazillion dollars, you know. He said, Dad, why are you giving so much to the church? And I remember that scripture, and I picked him up, and I put him on my lap, and I said, Son, I need to tell you something about Dad that you don't know. But Daddy wasn't always a Christian.

As a matter of fact, Daddy was a very, very, very bad person, and Daddy was in a lot of bondage. But God, with a mighty hand, delivered your Daddy. Therefore, I gladly give to God the first of all of my income. Gladly.

Everything I have, I know it came from His hand. It's a privilege to give Him back the first fruits. We want you to take a moment to think about what Pastor Robert shared today and really listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. If you want to connect with us or check out some of Pastor Robert's other messages, visit pastorrobert.com. And if you haven't already, go follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter so we can be a part of your community. Thank you so much for being with us today. Next time, Pastor Robert is going to share on the test of forgiveness. We hope that you'll tune in then. Have a great week.