Scripture Reference: 1 Peter 2:5 (AMPC); Genesis 4:1-8 (NKJV); 2 Thessalonians 3:11-12 (KJV); 1 Thessalonians 4:11 (NKJV); Romans 11:16 (NKJV); Nehemiah 10:35-37 (NKJV); Malachi 3:8 (NKJV); Exodus 13:1-2 (NKJV); Proverbs 3:9 (NKJV); Ezekiel 44:30 (AMPC); Romans 4:7-8 (TPT); Romans 12:3-8 (NKJV); Acts 4:32-35 (NKJV); Genesis 22:15-18 (NKJV); Genesis 15:1-5 (NKJV); Hebrews 7:8 (NKJV); Nehemiah 10:35-36 (NKJV); 1 Kings 17:8-14 (NKJV); 1 Corinthians 15:20-25 (NIV); Luke 23:446 (NKJV); 1 John 3:11-12 (NKJV); Deuteronomy 26:17-19 (NKJV); Luke 15:16, 22-23 (NKJV)
Let’s pray and prepare our hearts for the message today. Father, we praise You in the name of Jesus and we are here to say to you today that we honour and we love You. Thank You, Father, that we come by faith and our hearts are ready to hear and to receive. We sang it this morning, Lord, we are going through a new open door into a new era and we are giving our hearts to the truth. Lord, we purpose to be doers of Your Word, Lord Jesus, of the things that we are talking about. Father, I asked You here today for Your anointing on this message, that I will speak with great clarity, great purpose and with Your great anointing on me today, inspired by You, Holy Spirit, as Your messenger to bring this message today. May Your anointing rest on Your people, and we all say; Amen.
Well, Pastor Lynn, once again, it’s a wonderful privilege to be here with you and Pastor Melusi. It is really a privilege when Pastor John like I said previously, asks any one of us to minister here. We are going to conclude with these messages today. Of course, a big, big and lots and lots of love for Pastor John and Sharon, always. They would like to be in two places at one time but they can’t but they really send all the love to you today.
So, will you please open your Bibles at 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 5 this morning. The title of my message is My giving to the Lord. And still, with these stirrings of God in my heart, I’ve realised that actually this morning – and even on our way here – I’ve said day to the Lord, “Yes, Lord, I will say to the people.” I am not going to be long today but I need to finish everything that God gave me to say to you today. And thank you for that. Thank you for that, that you are releasing your faith with me so that we can go there.
First Peter chapter 2 verse 5. Well, it is the Amplified Version. ,[Come] and, like living stones, be yourselves built [into] a spiritual house, for a holy (dedicated, consecrated) priesthood. These words are very important this morning. A priesthood to offer up [those] spiritual sacrifices [that are] acceptable and pleasing to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5 AMPC). Now in verse five, why would the Apostle Peter say that we are living stones that we are being built up into a spiritual house? Why are we being made a holy priesthood? We question mark this morning? While the answer is very clear, and Daniel, thank you, if you will keep it there. You will see in verse five, what is the reason for being living stones for being built up in a spiritual house? Well, it is to offer up spiritual sacrifices. This is a big deal. Now to offer up is more an Old Testament word. But it is right here in the New Testament for all of us to see. It is in our New Covenant. We have been made kings and priests unto God. So for us to understand priesthood, we have to go to the Old Testament, and we must see what God gave us in the Old Testament as examples to see for ourselves. So, I’m going to skip ahead a little bit. You can so long go to Genesis chapter 4 verse 1 this morning.
I think I have got 22 scriptures here this morning. But the Scripture will speak again today. Yes, Pastor Melusi. Well, in the Old Testament we need to see what God is showing us. So, the big question today is; why are we a holy priesthood? And the answer is; to offer up sacrifices every single day like they did in the Old Testament. Well, what happened in the Old Testament? Every day they would come with these sacrifices to bring it to the Lord and to offer it up to the Lord. So please, let us go to Genesis 4 verses 1 to 8.
I’ve got so much to share with you here. And I need to stay with the Lord. Hallelujah. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. I need to stay with the Lord. This is very important. Yes, Holy Spirit. Will you pray with me a second? There are so many things that I have got to share with you here this morning. Father, thank You. I just, I hear you Holy Spirit and I have got to go here this morning. I have got to bring and say what you gave me, Lord, to bring this morning. I’m pressing in Lord, we are Your people. And we are pressing in for everything that You have got to say this morning. Hallelujah. Let us just pray in the Spirit. (Congregation prays in the spirit with Pastor Christi). All that You want to say, Lord. Everything that You want to release today, Lord. have Your way and have Your say. (Congregation continue to pray in the spirit with Pastor Christi) Yes, Lord, every word, every sentence, every flow, Lord, every truth that we need to know, Lord. (Congregation continue to pray in the spirit with Pastor Christi) Yes, Lord, it will be every word, it will be everything that is in Your heart that must be released today in the name of Jesus.
So, we are going to go there, I have got a lot of things, but the Holy Spirit wants me to mention everything that I have got here this morning. So, please keep your finger there in Genesis chapter four, verse one to eight. We will get there in a minute. Now, we need to understand why God has called us to be a holy priesthood. As I said, we have to go to the Old Testament to see then what are the examples that God is showing us regarding the priesthood in the Old Testament. Number one; on an ongoing stream, every single day, offerings would come into the temple, and the people would bring their sacrifices and offerings and the priest would offer it up. We see this was their duty in the Old Testament. They would offer up burnt offerings, peace offerings, drink offerings, meal offerings and it went on and on every single day. They were in the service of offerings. Now, this is very important today for us to answer this question. Are we to be involved with offerings today? And the answer is very obvious; yes. We are supposed to offer up – we in the New Testament – sacrifices and offerings acceptable to God. That is what we saw in verse five. But now; why would God use this word in verse five that we must bring and offer up sacrifices acceptable to the Lord? This word is very, very important because it is a qualifier. It is a qualifier. it means there are sacrifices that are acceptable, and there are sacrifices and offerings which are not acceptable. This is very important.
Now, if we are a New Covenant, spiritual priesthood, a big part of our operation and service is to offer up spiritual sacrifices. Well, then we need to know about it. But first of all, we need to desire to understand the will of God in these things. So, when we talk about offerings – and this is very important to go here – then immediately the minds of people gravitate to money. Immediately. This is what we’re used to. Many, many people immediately will get irritated. Not a few, a lot. Not a few believers, a lot. Pastors – if God would tell pastors we don’t have to preach about this, pastors really would be very happy because it will cut out a lot of persecution. But now God has put it in the Old Covenant and right here in the New Covenant.
We have to be rooted and grounded in what God says because the truth will set us free. So, we’re talking about the offerings of the Lord here. Now, this week in Bible School, Pastor John mentioned firstfruits and offerings a couple of times when he shared with us. Pastor John shared this; God has an economic system. What God said is the best way to live in the Old Covenant, is still what is standing in the New Covenant. God has certain economic indicators. God says first of all and I’m still reading what Pastor John shared with us this week during Bible study. First of all, God will say, “Bring your firstfruits to Me because if you want the rest of your harvest to be blessed, then you bring your firstfruits.” And we’re going to talk about it. “Then, in the second place, you give Me your tithe, then all the extra offerings and givings, extra savings and extra sacrifices.” Because in doing that, we will honour God and put Him first.
And now, this is very important, we’ve talked about this, Pastor John and Sharon, they have ministered on this many times on different subjects. If something is mentioned in the Bible ten times, we all know it’s quite important. If something is mentioned in the Bible a hundred times, we know it’s a huge matter. But when something is mentioned over a thousand times in the Bible – this is how many times God is talking about offerings in the Bible – then it’s a big deal to God. It’s a big deal. Many, many Christians don’t want preachers to talk about offerings, and this is important. Why? They are ignorant, ignorant of the will of God because all those references – over a thousand – is not coming from men and women, it’s coming from God. God is speaking, God is speaking.
Now let’s go to Genesis 4 verses 1 to 8, I’m going to read from the New King James. 1Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord. Verse 2, 2Then she bore again, and this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. 4Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, 5but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. It means he was depressed. 6So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7If you do well, if you do what is right, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” And like we know, the Old King James, you have to master it. Verse 8, 8Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel… and killed him (Genesis 4:1-8 NKJV).
Before we are going to look at the detail. What is an offering? Now, the Hebrew and the Greek words leaves us the idea that the offering is a gift or a present, but still, both a gift and a present must be offered. When I give you a gift, then I’m offering it to you. But now there’s a very important and another side to this coin when it comes to an offering. Just because it is offered or given does not mean it is accepted. That’s very important. God does not accept all offerings. In Malachi – we already, we’ve started there in the first message – in Malachi, God says, “Will I accept this offering from his hand? Only if you bring the offering in righteousness, then I am pleased.” God does not accept all offerings. We have already talked about one of the greatest qualifiers, and we’re going to see the rest today. One of the greatest qualifiers is your heart, the attitude of your heart.
Now, let’s just look at Genesis four again. We’re going to stand still here for a moment, verse four to five, 4Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock… and of course, we’re going to talk about firstfruits today. 4…And the Lord respected Abel and his offering. Verse five, 5but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very, very angry (Genesis 8:4-5 NKJV). What I want you to see here is that God has a very, very strong, and He has very strong opinions when it comes to our gifts. God respected Abel’s offering but for Cain’s offering, God had no respect. Now, why is this response so huge? Both of them brought an offering to the Lord. I want you to see here what happened. God did not say, “Yoh guys, I can see your hearts are actually very great. You took some of your natural stuff, and you wanted to please Me, God, but hey guys, that’s just natural stuff. You don’t have to come and bring Me your natural stuff.” It’s not what happened here, actually the very opposite. No, bringing our offerings, it’s a very serious matter to God.
Now I want you to see the next very important point that God is showing us here. Let’s just read verse three again. And for us now, God wants us to be His people, and He wants to be our God. This is very important for us to set some things right here in our lives. The third verse once again, 3And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain and I’m just putting Abel in here brought an offering of the fruit of the ground. But I want you to see what it says, to the Lord (Genesis 8:3 NKJV). To the Lord, Cain and Abel brought their offerings, the Bible says, and the next verse is telling us the same thing. They brought their offerings to the Lord. That’s why I’ve said to the Holy Spirit late this morning, I said, “Lord, what is the title of this message?” It’s not just tithes, it’s not firstfruits. It’s bringing my offering to the Lord. Why? From today, we need to make a very big adjustment in the way we talk. You must stop talking and using the words that you are giving to the church.
We are giving to the Lord. We must stop talking about giving to missionary work or good work. You must say, “I’m giving to the Lord.” That is why many people say, “All churches just want my money. Pastors are just talking about money and asking for money.” No, it is God – God spoke, and He is still speaking with over a thousand scriptures to tell you what He’s telling us about offerings. So, it’s about my giving to the Lord. It’s about your giving to the Lord and not to the church. That’s very important. How many times did Pastor John tell us, and must Pastor John tell us, “I don’t need your money. I live by faith.” You know how often he shares this with us. Why? We must live by faith and we must know what God says about all the different kinds of offerings.
Also very important; your offerings to the Lord is not my business. And my offerings to the Lord is not your business. This is very, very important. Pastor John helped us with this many years ago. Do not judge someone else’s holy transaction with God. You don’t know what’s going on there. You don’t know. But because of ignorance and pride, people have many things to say, especially when it comes to big giving. Don’t judge, don’t judge. It’s holy between a person and the Lord.
Please go to Second Thessalonians this morning, the third chapter. And I’m going to read also from the King James, verse 11, to 12. 11For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Verse 12, 12Now those who are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread (2 Thessalonians 3:11-12 KJV). Look at 1 Thessalonians 4:11. Now 11that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business. Yoh people, this is a big thing. This is really a big thing in our lives to understand – to mind our own business. Very big. And to work with our own hands, as we commanded you (1 Thessalonians 4:11 NKJV). We must not judge. My giving, your giving – it’s personal before the Lord, and there’s nothing to say about.
Now back to offerings; many, many believers give nothing. And then when they hear about people giving, when it’s talked about, then they get upset, then they get upset. Many people are, of course, ignorant about giving. They don’t know that a spiritual person doesn’t just do something – not a spiritual person. A carnal person will just act on something but not a spiritual person. They are being led by the Lord. Then those people get upset because they do nothing, and those who are walking in the light will show up their lack of commitment, their lack of love, and their lack of honour to the Lord. It will happen, it will happen all the time. We’ve just read the story of Cain and Abel and we are going to go there in detail today. When your giving comes from your heart, with faith, to worship the Lord, it’s spiritual. Then you come with a gift, then you come with a song, then you come because this kind of giving separates itself from natural giving. When it’s from the heart, and with faith, it’s spiritual. Praise the Lord. That’s how God wants us to come.
But unfortunately, many people have a problem with prosperity, we understand that. They do have a problem with prosperity. And that leads to another big problem in the Body of Christ. What is that? What might people think? What will people think if I give this or if I give that? It’s not about what people think. It’s about what the Lord knows and if the Lord is pleased. Full stop.
Back to Genesis 4, I’m going to take you to verses 3 and 4 again. 3And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering, and I want you to see this now, of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Verse 4. But 4Abel also brought of the firstborn, big difference, of his flock and of their fat (Genesis 4:3-4 NKJV). So, from these two verses, it’s very clear that Abel brought the firstfruits, his first and his best to God. But it’s also clear that Cain did bring an offering to God in the process of time, but not the firstfruits. He brought the leftovers. He brought the leftovers. Cain made sure he had enough for himself before he gave. Cain brought an offering but on his own terms. He did not place God first and he decided what he wanted to do.
You remember last week? When you put God first, God is first in everything. God tells us what to do. You do not come and give your offerings on your term. Abel gave his first lamb to God and God accepted his offering. But Cain’s offering was rejected because it was not his first and his best. Many believers do what Cain did. They make sure they have enough money before they see what they can give to God. So, when it’s from our leftovers, we must know today God cannot accept it because it’s not our firstfruits.
The heathen nations around Israel did the same thing. They would keep their firstfruits. They would keep the firstfruits in their barns just in case something will happen to their harvest. Why? Drought can come, fire, hail, even enemies can come in and destroy their harvest. Because of fear they kept the firstfruits to have a seed, just in case. But Israel took their firstfruit and gave it to God, trusting in God, their Source. Now, again this week, and I’m going to go there a lot on what Pastor John ministered. This week Pastor John shared with us that the Jewish people, they do understand the blessing of the Lord and they really, really know how to call on that every day and all the time because God gave them a system for their money. So, let’s see what this system is.
We are going to talk about firstfruits now and tithes and much more. So, let’s see what is this system that God gave the Jewish people. Well, number one; the first thing is they understood they have to bring God their firstfruits. That’s the number one part. Then, secondly, their tithes. And then all other offerings and sacrifices are in the third and the fourth place. By bringing God their firstfruits, they would sanctify all their harvests and other offerings coming after the firstfruits. Now the way they sanctified their firstfruits, and that’s why we know they call their firstfruits terumah, is they had to do two things. Two things they had to do. They had to lift it up, they had to offer it up to the Lord. And number two, they had to place it in the hands of their spiritual authority – in those days the priest, today the pastor.
So, please go to Nehemiah chapter 10. I’m just going to show you a few scriptures here. I already have almost 22 scriptures because, again, you’ll remember what God told us, “Let the Scripture speak.” Let it go into our hearts. I can only do that for myself and you can only do that for yourself. Now, I apologise, Daniel. Can we go to Romans 11:16 first? And thank you. The Jewish people believed in Romans 11:16. We went there last week. 16For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches (Romans 11:16 NKJV). So, what do the Jewish people believe? The Jewish people believe that what is true of the first word of the Torah, is true of the whole book. What is true of the firstborn, is true of the rest of the family. And what is true of the firstfruits, is true of the rest of the harvest. So, they understood how important this principle is.
Now, let’s read Nehemiah chapter ten verse 35 to verse 37. 35And, the Word says, we made ordinances to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, to the house of the Lord; Verse 36, 36to bring the firstborn of our sons and our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks, I want you to see this, to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God. Look at verse 37, 37to bring the firstfruits of our dough, our offerings, the fruit from all kinds of trees, the new wine and oil, to the priests (Nehemiah 10:35-37 NKJV). Now, there is much more to say about this, and I know many of you, and I don’t think there’s a lot of you, can think, “Well, it is stating that this is the law.” I am going to show you this in the New Testament as well.
So, it’s very clear; you put your firstfruits in the hands of your pastor. That’s very important. The Israelites knew to bring their firstfruits, lift it up, you have to offer it up to God, we are now a holy priesthood, and place it in the hands of the priest. Our firstfruits today, it’s exactly the same. We give it to the Lord, by giving it to Pastor John. And we place it then in Pastor John’s hands.
Now, I’ve shared this with you in the past and I’m just going to mention it again. In the past, many people in Witbank came to me and they would give me their firstfruits. And then I had to help them. I had to say to them, “Your heart is very wonderful but I’m not the visionary pastor. I’m not the one called here to do what Pastor John has been called by God.” There are many assistant pastors alongside Pastor John to do the work but the firstfruits must be placed in Pastor John’s hands. So, that’s very, very important.
Well, now we just have to clear something up. Many people think that tithes and firstfruits are the same thing, but it’s not. Your tithe, you bring after the harvest. Your firstfruit you give before the harvest. There’s always some grain ripening before the rest of the harvest is ripe. And this is what the Jewish people and the Israelites did. They took that grain, the first ripe ones, and gave their firstfruits to God. Now, the tithe means a tithe; that is 10% of your income. Now, firstfruits, and in the past, you’ve heard this teaching quite a bit, terumah, your firstfruit, it’s working out to one-fortieth percent. That means, R25 per R1000. Just to give you a very short outline and I know you know it.
Please, go to Malachi three eight that we can just settle the matter on tithe. What does God say about tithes? Malachi 3:8, New King James. 8Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what have we robbed You?’ And look at the answer. In tithes, plural, and offerings (Malachi 3:8 NKJV). Here the Lord talks about the tithe in plural. Now, the Jewish people, and I know you also, you have a great understanding when it comes to tithing. The Jewish people work with three tithes. The first tithe, ten percent, goes to the House of the Lord, not to a needy relative. We will get back to that one. The second tithe, and of course all the tithes are ten percent, is a self tithe. And the third tithe is also ten percent, and it goes to the poor.
So, what the Israelites did; every year they would bring God their tithe. At the same time, they would take a tithe, the same amount, ten percent, for themselves. What a wonderful savings account. But every third year, the self tithe will go to the poor and not to you. That’s how tithing works the way the Jewish people did it. So, every year they would pay only two tithes – first to God and then to themselves. And every third year they always still bring the first tithe to God but in the third time, the third year for them, then the self tithe is going to the poor. So, that is very easy to understand.
Like I said, and this is really the God-smart in what and how your savings account or saving account should look like. There’s much to say about tithes. But just what I have already mentioned today; Malachi says bring your tithe to the House of the Lord. Many people take their tithe and they give it to a relative that is struggling financially or they give it to missionary work. That’s not the right thing to do. When you do that, you change your tithe into giving to the poor. Now you’ve changed the principle with the promises connected to that principle, you change it. You see, tithing, firstfruits, offerings, sowing and reaping and giving to the poor, those principles do not all work on the same principle. It is different principles with different promises.
I want you to go to Exodus 13 with me please this morning, verse one. It’s very interesting to see what God showed Moses here. Exodus 13 verse one, 1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2″Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both man and beast; it is Mine” (Exodus 13:1-2 NKJV). Now that is clear, that is very clear. Firstfruits mean the first one. When you get a new cow, the first calf was given to God immediately. That’s the firstfruit. Why? Because a new cow means a new channel of income. God is now adding to you. He is increasing you. It is a breakthrough in your financial situation. Now, Proverbs three verse nine to ten says, 9Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of your increase (Proverbs 3:9 NKJV). There must be increase for God to get a firstfruit. Very important.
I want you to see what God wanted to teach the Israelites because here is the heart of the matter. We now understand that first the firstfruits and then your tithes. God said, “You bring Me the tithe and then you bring Me the firstfruit”. God was trying to teach them something and get something into their heart. Organise your life where other people come first. Now you have a heart of generosity. Most people just take for themselves; it’s mine, it’s mine, it’s mine. God says now, first to God, save your 10 percent, but every third one goes to the poor. Think about others first before you are just so greedy, and you are chasing after everything that you can see. So, organise your life where other people come first, what does that mean? Righteousness revealed is generosity. Righteousness revealed is generosity. That is who God is; so generous in His love, in His mercy towards us. God wants us to live that way ourselves.
Now, this is very important. When you consecrate something to God, it means that God treats it like it’s His own now. This is important. When you earn a salary, it’s not difficult to work out one-fortieth percent; 25 from every R1000. But I want to go into the part that I’ve shared with you last week that there are practical things when it comes to tithes and firstfruits to understand but then there’s a total different level of giving firstfruits and being led by the Holy Spirit.
For example, Pastor John gave the first music album, as a firstfruit to Brother Jerry. That is a powerful example here for us to see. Now, you remember Romans 11:16, 6For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy (Romans 11:16 NKJV). That means now all music albums that are coming, will be blessed and will receive a very great harvest. Also, this is massive, Pastor John sowed another massive firstfruit. And what is this? To allow all of us to come and study the Word, the Bible School online that Pastor John is now creating all the detail and all the recordings for – he’s sowing that into our lives. That’s a massive firstfruit for the online Bible course that is coming.
Now, this is very important, what I’ve said. When you consecrate something to God, it means that God will treat it now like it’s His own. Because many people say – and we’re going to go there now today – many people say, “Well, God knows He owns my business. God knows I give him my children.” But, but if you want to give something to God, it’s not something you say. If you want to give something to God, you give it through the act of firstfruits, through the doing of it, the acts. If you really want to give God something, you take your first and your best and you offer it up to Him.
Pastor John did not say well, in this ministry, everything belongs to the Lord. It’s so wonderful, God knows. God knows everything in the ministry belongs to Him. No, Pastor John through the act of firstfruits had to sow that first music album to Brother Jerry. All the finances, everything that went and came forth from that album. So what can Pastor John expect? And it’s wonderful to use Pastor John as an example. What can you and I expect? Please, go to Ezekiel 44 verse 30. This is massive. Ezekiel 44 verse 30, 30And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. Can you see we’re back to you place it in your pastor’s hands? The priest here, of course, and I just wrote it here is symbolic of the fivefold ministry, You shall also give to the priest the first of your coarse meal and bread dough. And here it comes. Why, why? Why? So that a blessing may rest on your house (Ezekiel 44:30 AMPC). When you give God your firstfruits, then God’s blessing is resting on your house.
Now all the people, if you talk to believers, all believers they do want the blessing of God to rest on their house. But then you must practice the principle to receive the blessing on your house. Very, very important. You have to give God the legal right to cause the blessing to come onto your house. That’s why these things are very important to understand. Now Ezekiel 44 is very profound because the word house – and you’re going to hear it now this morning – the word house does not mean the physical structure. It means your family, your children, your lineage to come for generations. This is huge. Why? What you give in firstfruits will speak for you and your children for generations to come.
This leading of the Holy Spirit, to give like this, is on a different level than just giving your terumah every month, to work out one-fortieth. Much was at stake when God asked Abraham for his son, his firstfruits. Abraham did not wait till he had 10 sons before he gave Isaac. He gave the first, the only one he had to give. Abraham had only the promise of having more sons. But the blessing was on his house, his lineage to come. Listen to this; when Abraham gave Isaac he consecrated a nation yet to be born, yet to be born. So what do you think our obedience can do?
Now, that’s why the Holy Spirit was so on me here in the beginning because I already had a lot to structure, to share with you what I knew God wanted to share with me. But from this morning God would not leave me alone. So I’m going to add this and it’s short, but you’re going to hear me. We’re talking about the different level of giving. So, will you please go with me to Romans 12. Thank you, Daniel. Before I read Romans 12 – and the Holy Spirit would not leave me alone. At the beginning of this year, when we heard the word of God to Go Big and Go Bold and the Holy Spirit is taking me back here. I mean, I know He’s doing the same thing with you. What did Pastor John say? How many times did Pastor John bring us Ephesians 4:11 to talk about the fivefold, but not only about that, about the different gifts? Ephesians 4, 7And he has generously given each one of us supernatural grace, according to the size of the gift of Christ (Romans 4:7 TPT). I’m going to talk about this right now, according to the size of the gift. It talks about many other things in between because 8… gifts were given to men (Romans 4:8 TPT). Pastor John, Pastor Sharon explained much about the fivefold function to equip the believers. But Pastor John had much to say about the gifts that are now coming and must take their place.
So I want to take you to Romans 12. And, of course, the Bible School is now running for 17 years. I’ll never forget what a privilege it was, you know, Pastor Lynn, Pastor John and you, and many others, and I’m so glad you are still there with us Pastor Lynn, lecturing. Pastor John then with Pastor Lynn took many of the classes in those early years and Pastor John did this specific class. Now, in a nutshell, when Bible School scholars, and we are in the church of the Lord Jesus, we need to understand the gifts that God has given us. So, of course, we’ve got to explain to the first years, that the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit do not belong to you and me. They belong to the Holy Spirit. The Lord can use us at any time in one of those gifts but they do not belong to us. We’re actually just a delivery boy when God wants to use us with the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit.
But please go to Romans chapter 12, the third verse because these gifts that I’m going to just touch on, Pastor John spoke about it many, many, many times in great details. These gifts, one or two or even three, you may have those gifts. These gifts belong to the body, the body, we have these gifts. And, but, I have to emphasise one of the gifts here this morning very specifically because of what the Holy Spirit gave me. Romans 12, the third verse, 3For I say, grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, do not think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but you think soberly, as God has dealt to each one the measure of faith, 4For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function. Verse five, 5so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Verse six is so important, 6Having then gifts differing, we’ve got different gifts, and that is a wonderful thing because God gives us our gifts. According to the grace that is given to us, let us use them (Romans 12:3-6 NKJV).
Now, this is very important, there is a grace for a place. So I have the grace to stand in my place, and you have the grace to stand in your place, and to do and to function in your gift. Very important. That’s why it’s very difficult for people who have not the grace to be in ministry, and then they try to or people that must be in ministry but God actually wants them in the marketplace, you must function in the place with the grace that God has given to you. Now the Word of God says, 6if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, gives generously (with liberality); he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness (Romans 12:6-8 NKJV). So, I can’t give the lesson now that Pastor John taught us many times in the past. I want to talk very quickly about what the Bible talks about; he who gives.
Now, let me just mention this; he who exhorts, those are public speakers. The gift of exhortation to put it in words like this are people who are doing public speaking. Now that can be in many areas. Now, just to give you an idea, there’s a very big danger around a gift like that because when people stand in that place, in public speaking, people tend and it’s very easy to follow them because they’ve got the ability to speak and to inspire people. And there’s a very fine line because those exhorters who are public speakers are not pastors. And many times, many times people choose to follow them. But they do not have the anointing to work with a body of Christ like that. They are supposed to be planted around the Pastor where God has planted them. And that gift is a precious, precious gift in the ministry to have people that can do that sort of thing. Also, just to help you, when he talks about those people who lead are all the people in leadership. I mean, those, there are many, many areas of leadership that you can function in. That’s why you can be an exhorter and have the gift of leadership. Just to quickly, in a nutshell, give it to you. Those who function in the gifts of mercy are all the people in the medical field, somewhere they fit in because of the mercy gift to help. But I want to talk about the gift where God says, “Those who give.” Those are the people who have the gift to make money. It’s just in my own words, just to use it like this, that’s the entrepreneurial gift. I am married to one of those. Grobbies can just make money. When he thinks business – we’ve studied the same thing. I’ve been in the lab with him for many, many years. I don’t have his gift. He just understands that part. There’s many in the body of Christ who have the gift to make money. Now, why am I going there? Because it’s very important to speak about this thing in the body of Christ, every gift according to its grace and what God is giving them. You see, Grobbies, Grobbies is making money. Grobbies must and will give to the Lord what his secretary cannot give because both are in the marketplace but they do not function in the same grace. Now, this is very important. Because when God has a surge for Pastor John, the auditorium, or we have to go to Africa, then all the gifts must give according to their grace. Now, Grobbies’ secretary can give so much and she’s stretching her faith. if she can give an R5000, Grobbies is supposed to bring his R 100 000 because that’s what the gift can do. Grobbies is not teaching in the children’s church. Grobbies is not teaching over there. His gift functions like this. So when it is time to function in the church, it must function like that. We’ve got wonderful gifts looking after the children doing this, doing that and doing that and that’s what God wants us to see here today.
Please go to Acts, the book of Acts chapter four. Now, this is important to talk about because the church is rising. You see, if it’s your gift to work with the children, please help the children. That gift is definitely not on me. And I’m really not joking. I mean, I love children very much but I think you are magnificent when you can teach those little ones. I like to talk to you like this, you can understand what I say. And people have a special gift that can teach the little ones. But that’s really the truth. You know what? A wealthy businessman in our church in Witbank, the one day we had this conversation, so I asked him, I said, “Are you coming to preach on a Sunday?” “Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.” Oh, he was very clear on that. “No, no, no, no, no.” I said, “Are you coming to teach the little children?” “Oh, no, that’s not my part. That’s not my part.” I said, “What is your part?” So, it took a while for him to get it. But this is important to talk about. Why? And here we go to Acts chapter four. I don’t want to get stuck here. But I have to say what God wants to say to me.
These messages that Pastor John wants me to bring that God really pressed on my heart is absolutely what God started through Pastor John and Sharon. First God brought the messages I will take the children and now God is talking about Kingdom finances. So, Pastor John and Sharon already said and taught much about this passage of Scripture. And I want to come in sync with them now, in reading chapter four, verse 32. 32Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. I can tell you, the only way you get in that place is to put your foot in the message, to be one heart and one mind. Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. 33And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all, o stand in their function. Great grace is upon us to step up and to be what God called you and me to be. Verse 34, 34Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; now listen very carefully, for all who were possessors of lands, do you have an ‘s’ after your land? Does your Bible say those who possess a land? My Bible says those who possess lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, 35and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need (Acts 4:32-35 NKJV).
People, we are in that time. We are in that time. Right where we are saying this morning, it’s time for our destiny, for sons and daughters to arise in victory. And that means for every gift. But among us are those who have lands, houses and it’s time for us to bring and to give. It doesn’t matter who you are. The same, the same thing counts for you and me, even if we don’t have that gift. This is very, very important. Why do I go there? Because God is going there with us as a people. We started out to say what you are giving and what you are not giving testifies. This is a big thing. You see, we can’t go forward, Pastor John with everyone around him, can’t go forward if the people who must look and teach in the children’s church are not there. All the helps ministry, all the gifts, including this gift. So, I’m now just really talking about this gift this morning and emphasising that, but that is true for all of us. So, we cannot give forward if some of the gifts think they can stay behind and I do not have to give like that. So, I want to leave this with you this morning because this is right where we are. This is right where we are. And God is going to come to us personally, personally, to what God is going to ask us like he asked Abraham.
Remember what I’ve said to you when He came to Hannah? When Hannah gave her first son, Samuel, there were no other children yet. When she gave God and she obeyed, Samuel could come into the earth, the voice of God. When we start to give on this level of firstfruits, this level of the leading of the Holy Spirit, God can come in here and do things that He could not do yesterday. This is very important. This kind of giving will bring a very great shift and that shift I want to tell you today, that shift is already happening. And I’m going to show you what shift it is. This kind of obeying the Holy Spirit, this kind of obeying the Holy Spirit is going to cause shifts. It’s the time of God, the shift for victory that is about to take place. We all know this word, we pray it, we believe God from 2010, what the Holy Spirit spoke through Pastor John. I want to show you what shift is going to happen.
Let’s go to Genesis 22. Genesis 22, verse 15, 15Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, verse 16, 16and said: “By Myself I have sworn, listen now to what God is saying, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, listen to verse 17, 17blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (Genesis 22:15-18 NKJV). You have heard me, to do what I’ve asked you to do. Whenever God is leading you to give like this, like this, firstfruits on this level, you must know that God is setting you up for something. I mean, that’s all, that’s just the nature of God. That’s just who He is. So, what is that? Now God says, “Abraham, you did this thing, you obeyed Me.” But where did it start for Abraham?
Let’s look at Genesis 15 verse one, New King James. Pastor John ministered powerfully on this. Abraham, one at war, when he went and he got his family back against all of those kings, 1After these things, verse one, Genesis 15, After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” 2But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me? At this stage, it’s very different from what we read in Genesis 22. What will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” Verse four, 4And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5Then He brought him outside (Genesis 15:1-5 NKJV). And He had him look at the stars and the sand to see how much that will be. Here God promised Abraham he will have his own son. Not only that, but this son and his descendants will be very great.
So here in Genesis fifteen, here’s the promise. Here is the prophecy of what’s going to happen. So what happened from Genesis 15 to Genesis 22? A very huge shift happened. God says, “Abraham, because of your act of firstfruits, you have shifted things from just receiving a promise to receiving a sworn oath. Now, Abraham, I’m going to do this.” You see, you can still miss a prophetic word, you can still somewhere drift and not completely go with God. But let’s look at Genesis 22, 16and said: “By Myself I, verse 16, have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17blessing I will bless you, like I just read, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (Genesis 22:16-18 NKJV). This big shift is happening. Why? We all heard Pastor John on Wednesday evening speaking about the Ecclesia, the church rising, having the answers and having dominion. Why? Because we choose to come to church to love the Lord, to obey His Word, to be His people, and let Him be our God, to live righteously in our giving with one another in our giftings, in everything that God has for us. We are stepping up to obey the Word of the Lord. Now God’s integrity is involved. You see this kind of a blessing, you cannot get by the laying on of hands.
This is not going to come because one day you can come to the front and then hands are going to be laid on you. No, this is going to be a leading by the Holy Spirit and an obeying on your part. This blessing, when you choose to obey God like this, the blessing will come to be on your house, your children and your lineage. Why? Through the act of giving firstfruits. Now, still in this flow, I just want to reemphasise this important aspect of giving firstfruits. I’ve shared with you, for the Jews to sanctify the firstfruits, they had to lift it up to God and place it in the hands of the priest. Do you think when God gave them that requirement, God knew what He was doing? Of course. Why would God say you offer it up to Me, you don’t give it to the church? But then Hebrews seven verse eight in the New Testament says, 8Here, on earth, mortal men receive your offerings and your gifts tithes, but in heaven, it is Jesus who is actually receiving them (Hebrews 7:8 NKJV).
So, I’m going to show you why this is not just a nice idea to put your firstfruits in the hands of your pastor. It’s very, very, very important, I just want to show you from the Old Testament, and then we’re going to jump to the New Testament. Nehemiah 10, this time, verse 35 to 37. 35And we made ordinances to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits, like we already read, of all fruit of all trees, year by year. I want to just emphasise it again, again and again, you do this, year by year to the house of the Lord; 36to bring the firstborn of our sons and our cattle. Can you see? We read it but God is not leaving anything out. And then, to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God (Nehemiah 10:35-36 NKJV).
Why is it so important to put the firstfruits in your pastor’s hands? Let’s go to one King 17, verse 8 to 15, also from the New King James. Pastor John ministered very powerfully on this passage of Scripture. 8Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” Verse 10, 10So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” 11And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son – listen to these words, very important – prepare it for myself and my son that we may eat it, and die.” Very important to hear this. 13And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me. Now here firstfruits kicks in. You see here comes a leading of the Holy Spirit that you can’t just in the practical, in the natural calculate. Here comes the leading of the Holy Spirit, and bring it to me and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 14For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry (1 Kings 17:8-14 NKJV). So how many meals could this lady make, this widow? One, there was only enough flour and oil to make one. Elijah said first make me a small cake, then make something for you. There was only flour and oil for one cake. Go and do this says the priest, the pastor, give it to me first.
Now, do we really think that God knows what He’s doing? Yes. When the firstfruit, when your firstfruits are in the right hands, your future cannot die. Your finances, everything about your life cannot die. After the meal, she planned to die, there was no more but in the right hands, it cannot die. This is very important for us today. When it was time to take Jericho is this, again and again, the leading of the Holy Spirit on a different level? Yes, we see it in the Bible. When it was time to take Jericho – and it’s now time to take Jericho, people – the whole of Israel put their firstfruits in the hands of God. God says, “You do not touch that city. You do not touch and take anything that’s in that city.” They obeyed God and they put everything in God’s hands. So, they and their future did not die. Achan, Achan took the firstfruit for himself. He and his family and their future died because they took it. Jesus is our sin offering. Is all of this New Testament? Is all of this New Testament for us today? Jesus is the sin offering on the cross. Jesus is the firstfruit.
Let’s read one Corinthians 15 verse 20. You see, God is taking us. God is taking us. The Holy Spirit is speaking to us in which way and how the Bible makes it very clear that the Holy Spirit will lead us. One Corinthians 15 verse 20, 20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Christ the firstfruits. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. Verse 22, 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet (1 Corinthians 15:20-25 NIV). That’s very important.
Now, we’re back to Romans 11:16, if the root is holy, if the firstfruits are holy, then the rest is holy. In Christ, we are all being made alive. So if we believe in Jesus Christ, so if the root is holy, then the branch is holy. Jesus was lifted high as the sacrifice. Jesus was lifted high and placed into the hands of His Father, His spiritual authority. Luke 23 verse 46, 46And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last breath (Luke 23:46 NKJV). So, do we think God knew when He was saying, lift the firstfruit of My Son up high, put Him into My hands”, our resurrection was guaranteed because Jesus placed His life in the hands of His Father? When our firstfruits are in the right hands, it cannot die. This is very important. This is our trust. This is our trust as the Holy Spirit takes us. And now I’m going to end with this.
It’s very important to see today that when God confronted Cain, he became furious and he was very angry. Because one of the prime manifestations of pride is anger and rebellion. Cain was giving God His leftovers. Many people just want to slip something into an envelope. They don’t want their hearts to be exposed. But Cain killed Abel because he had a corrupt way of thinking. We must understand God is bringing us the messages to purify our hearts. This is what God is doing. One John three verse eleven, 11For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, 12not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous (1 John 3:11-12 NKJV). We’re back to righteous giving. We’re back to God seeking and looking for the righteous ones in a household, in a city. Our right standing, our right choosing in living, our right understanding of the Word of God, our righteousness. We must never find ourselves in the company of a Cain. Many people do not want to hear what the Bible says about money. Many people in the – Pastor John talked about this so many times – yes, pastors, people in the church, people not in the church, have misused money all the time. But this is no, and it does not give you and me an excuse not to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit. When God direct us, when our leading comes from the Holy Spirit, He never takes us to crooks. Ja, when you get yourself in a place, you may end up in a place where you should not be. But when God is directing you as He directed us here, He brings us to a place that He knows these leaders are My people. I want to say to you today, when you have this knowing that you are planted here and you understand this, get in here with your whole heart and give to the Lord, not to man, not to the church. Get in with everything because you are with the Lord and the Holy Spirit is leading you because that house anointing is on Pastor John. It is not on us. It is on him. God will always lead you to His people, to His leaders and to His work. Pastor John is called by God, it is God’s assignment and work that we are all part of.
Now, do you remember, and I know you do, we have started two messages ago, we have started with this important understanding that God says in the book of James, the corrosion of your silver and your gold is testifying against you. And remember we have talked about you cannot use the word testify if there isn’t a legal case. So what you give and what you are not giving, testifies. It speaks. So, I want to take you to Deuteronomy 26 in closing today. Praise the Lord. Alarms can work, they do work – it doesn’t matter – in or out church services. It’s a wonderful thing.
Deuteronomy 26 verse 16, 16“This day the Lord your God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments. Now I just want to say, please go home and read Deuteronomy 26. This whole chapter talks about tithes and firstfruits. So the Bible says, therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. Here God is talking to His people like He is talking to us. Guys, this is what I am saying about tithes and firstfruits. But listen to verse 17, God says, because you are doing this because you do this, 17Today you have proclaimed the Lord to be your God (Deuteronomy 26: 17 NKJV). Can you see where we have started? What do you do when you proclaim? You say something. Then God says in verse 18, 18Also today the Lord has proclaimed you to be His special people (Deuteronomy 26:18 NKJV). So, what do we see? When we choose to come and being led by God this way in our righteous giving, verse 17 says then we proclaim for all to see – our proclamation is speaking into the spiritual realm.
How we live, how we choose to obey God’s Word as we come to church and to the Ecclesia to learn, and as we’re learning about the Ecclesia to understand what is actually happening here when we come to church, then God says everything that we do, everything, our obedience and our giving makes a very huge proclamation. But not only that, in verse 18 God has something to say. He proclaims then back to us that we are His people. That’s where Pastor John started with us. God says, “I am walking among you. You are My people and I am your God.” This is exactly what God is saying in Deuteronomy. And then, and I know once again you heard Pastor John speaking under the anointing on Wednesday evening when he spoke about the Ecclesia rising and taking its place. Why? God says, “You obey me, and you make your proclamation, I then in return have something to say.” And then God says in verse 19, 19and that He will set you high above all nations (Deuteronomy 26:19 NKJV). God says, “I will promote you. I will increase you. I will now favour you above all other nations.” We’ve got the promise of God; this is what He is doing with His church right now. “Because of what you say to Me,” says God, “about your money, you must understand, I am going to speak back to you.” So, we have that expectation.
One thing remains, we have to change. These messages are really, really here, the Scripture is speaking to us. We hear the Holy Spirit. When He started with these messages, both these two massive topics when Pastor John and Sharon started to minister on them, we’ve got to change. So I want to say this to you and I want to just in a very short summary end with the prodigal son – the example of the prodigal son. Because there are many things, just like you, I fully understand that I am coming out of Babylon. And I come to fully understand how Babylon has impacted me. I have to face that on a daily basis. God said to Cain, and I want you to keep this in your mind because this is what God is saying to us. When I read to you from Genesis 4, the Lord said “Cain, won’t you change and do what is right?” You know, in essence, God was saying to Cain, “Cain, why don’t you ask Abel what to do? You can see he is walking in these things. Cain, just ask Abel. Just make the changes and the adjustments. If you do that, it will go well for you.” This is what God is saying to all of us here.”Come on, get out of Babylon. If you don’t know, ask. Don’t kill. Get these things out of your heart and speak and ask. Make the adjustment and change you’ve got to make, just like the prodigal son.”
The prodigal son, he takes his inheritance – I was just when the Lord showed this to me, I was smiling there at my desk. He took his inheritance but what did he do? He took the money. We’re back to money again. He took the money and he did what he wanted to do, live the way he wanted to live. He ended up with nothing. Eating with the pigs. Actually, you don’t have to go there, but Luke 15 verse 16 says – actually, people are wrong when they say – people didn’t want to give him what the pigs were eating. 16And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the [pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything (Luke 15:16 NKJV) You must actually understand how bad his situation was. You know, I have always said he ended up eating with the pigs, but if you go and read the Word of God, they did not want to give him what the pigs were eating.
So he comes to his senses and realises, that in my fathers’ house, even the servants are fed better. And he decided to go back to his father. What does his father do? Who are our heavenly Father today to us? The father said in verse 22, 22“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23And bring the fatted calf here and kill it (Luke 15:22-23 NKJV). The father is celebrating because with God it is not about what you did not do, it is about Who you return to. If we will come back to Him. What He is saying in His Word – the father never ended up saying to him, “I am so glad we are having a party and we are celebrating that you are back, but we’ve got to talk about what you did and at least we’ve got to get the money back.” That is never who God is. The past is over. It is over and done with. This is why God is bringing us these messages; if we will put God first. If we will return to Him and put Him first and say, “Lord, like never before, this is how we choose to live. You lead us, we obey, we put You first.” That is the only thing our heavenly Father is after.
Let’s pray. Father, today again, we want to say to You, thank You. Thank You for Your great, great love, Lord. Thank You that You are so mindful of every single one of us, Lord. You will never leave us alone. Lord, we want to say to You today that we purpose in our hearts to be doers of Your Word. To be doers, not only hearers, Lord. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for Your exceedingly great grace, Your exceedingly great grace that we can change and that we can choose to come to You, Lord, to make the adjustments that we’ve got to make; repent when we’ve got to repent, Lord. Come back to You, come back to You. We love You, Father. Thank You for Your love and Your grace and Jesus, oh, Lord Jesus, the very firstfruits we are talking about firstfruits, You made everything possible for us today, everything. We fall on the blood of Jesus today and we thank You for that Lord. We have it. Thank You, Lord, for exceedingly great grace in leading us and helping us very personally when we are hearing these things, so that we will come and abide in You, in the Vine, in the Root, Lord, so that we can bear much fruit. Father, we are blessed as we go from this place, blessed Lord. Thank You because You gave us even those promises while we are now studying the Word of God during the week. Lord, You are doing miracle after miracle, in and for us. Thank You for supernatural favour. Thank You for supernatural intervention today, this evening, tomorrow, this week, Lord, for Your abundant overflow. We are bursting forth in the fruitfulness of our faithfulness. We are able to do these things because Your great grace, Your help brought us to this place. And now Lord, we want to say to You we love You. We press in for the big things that You have for us and there are many things that we have to get in order Lord, and that is wonderful, and that is our journey; that is our walk with You. Thank You for every message, every Word, every revelation, and every correction that is coming our way. You are wonderful, Lord. We thank You, Lord, that because we come to study the Word of God, we come to give ourselves this year like never before – just like You said through Pastor John – those things we have been struggling with, is just falling out and off our lives. And the prayers that we have already prayed, You are answering those prayers. Father, we love You, we love You Lord Jesus and we love You Holy Spirit. Thank You for Your goodness and Your power every day in us and for us. And we all say; Amen.
I hope you have a magnificent Sunday afternoon. Bye-bye, everyone.
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